10. Green Day @ The Backroom
Not long before Green Day became what they are now, my future wife asked me to go along with her to a punk show in Austin. She thought I might like one of the bands...and she was right. They were more pop than punk, and they put on a tight live show. The opening act, however, left much to be desired as the singer lit a flag on fire and proceeded to put it out by urinating on stage. Mmmm.

9. Bruce Springsteen @ Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX
I won tickets to this...wouldn't have gone otherwise. It gave me a whole new respect for The Boss. The man puts on quite a show.

8. Will Roger Follies on Broadway
(Sorry...can't remember the actual theater.) My first (and only) Broadway show! Mac Davis as Will Rogers...it was a great show actually...hadn't heard anything about it before then, but I've always been a Will Rogers fan.

7. Motley Crue @ The Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX
Ah, memories of headbanging fun. The show was opened by Warrant, the best of the hair bands IMHO. However, the headliners held their own. It was a fun show...but it's exactly what you think it was...pyro, big hair, etc.

6. Metallica @ The Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX
I never thought they were going to stop playing. Seriously. They just kept going and going and going. Not that that was a bad thing. This was during "the black album" tour...good stuff.

5. Foo Fighters @ The Bronco Bowl, Dallas, TX
What a great show. If you've never seen them live, do it! The energy was incredible.

4. Rent @ the Majestic Theater, Dallas, TX
I heard it was good, but I had no idea. This was an amazing show.

3. Matthew Sweet @ The Galaxy Club, Dallas, TX
I've been a huge Matthew Sweet fan for some time. While much of his work walks a fine line between pop and cheese, it's always fun stuff, with the occassional flash of pure brilliance (Girlfriend, Sick of Myself, etc).

2. Aces Wild @ South Park Skating Rink, Killeen, TX
Ah, you just knew I was going to put something like this on here, didn't you? Yes, my first live performance was in front of thirteen year-olds at a skating rink. But it was fun. The video of the event has remained a well guarded secret for years, but I know it's still out there. We had to find a replacement singer at the last second...poor guy didn't know what he was getting himself into. His name was Steve Martin...really.

1. Grant Lee Buffalo @ Sundance Square, Ft. Worth, TX
I waited a long time to see this show...and then it ended up being a free concert. Good stuff. I got to meet GLP and Joey Peters after the show, and they were really great guys. Heck, I even sent a review and photos to a cool little Grant Lee Buffalo web site that I ended up hosting a couple of years later. (I still do. And while it gets great traffic, it hasn't been updated for over two years.)