bands i’ve seen

I love music. Music all day, every day. All sorts of music, really, although I steer clear of death metal, Christian rock and Kanye West and his diamond-encrusted teeth. I used to read blogs like Pitchfork and La Blogothèque, Consequence of Sound and Largehearted Boy, to keep abreast of what was going on in the music world but I can’t keep up with the new kids these days — too busy raising a new kid of my own. No, these days I listen to podcasts and sip herbal tea.

I used to go to gigs and festivals. I used to leave the house at 9pm on a school night to go see a band, even if it was some random band that I’d never heard of before. Nowadays, no band on the planet could get me out from under the duvet after 9pm. Unless Bowie came back to life and was giving a farewell concert. Then, for sure. But I ain’t leaving this bed for anyone other than Bowie.

Here are just some of the bands that I’ve seen (that I can remember) over the past 20 years:

Arcade Fire x 3
Bassnectar
Beach House
Beirut
Big Daddy Kane
Blue Rodeo
Bombay Bicycle Club
Bon Iver
Bran Van 3000
Broken Social Scene
Buck 65 x 2
Calexico
Cat Power
Cinematic Orchestra
Coldplay
Conjure One
Craig Cardiff
Daniel Bélanger
Death Cab for Cutie
Delerium
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Efterklang
Elbow
Ember Swift
Feist
Future Islands
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Great Lake Swimmers
Haerts
Jack Johnson
Jay Z
Jess Clemons
Justin Timberlake
K-OS
Kathleen Edwards
Keane
Kinnie Starr
Kool & The Gang
Laura Marling
Lianne la Haves
Lykke Li
Lucky Dube
Massive Attack
Matt Good
Metric
Michael Franti x 4
Modest Mouse
Mr. Something Something
Mumford and Sons x 2
Owen Platt
Polica
Roger Waters
Röyksopp
Sarah Harmer
Sarah McLachlan
Scissor Sisters
Shad
Sia
Siskiyou
Skratch Bastid
Stars
Stone Roses
The Invisible
The Killers
The National x 3
The Rolling Stones
The Roots
The Temper Trap
The Villagers
The Walkmen x 2
The XX
Thievery Corporation
Tori Amos
Tribe Called Quest
Washed Out
Wintersleep
Yann Perrault

My dad starting my musical education at a young age and I am trying to pass on my love of music to Wren. When motherhood gets a little dull and repetitive (which happens from time to time), I say, “Right, time to listen to a new track kiddo.” I mean, there’s only so many times the wheels on the bus can go round and round and the Grand Old Duke of York can march up the damn hill again. Am I right? So I pick a song at random and together we sing and dance in the kitchen. Wren headbangs to almost anything, even classical music, and the moves in her dancing repertoire keep evolving. She recently started to twirl, which is all kinds of magic.

I may not be in the know anymore, but when I’m dancing in the kitchen with my kid, and I see her experiencing music, that’s all the hip I need to be. And actually, come to think of it, I am going to a gig in the new year — José Gonzalez — so maybe I have a little cool left in me after all.