Part two of our 2025 year-end concert review features incredible stories from Andy, Jessica, Steve, and superfan Dawn Fontaine. The show kicks off with Dawn who attended 55 shows this year and now books concerts for her favorite band Soraia. Dawn shares her unbelievable experience flying on the Rolling Stones' private jet in 2002, meeting Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and the band, and hearing them play her favorite song the next night. Steve recounts seeing Lady Gaga's mind-blowing performance in Vegas (ranking it in his top 10 all-time), plus St. Vincent, Joan Jett, and Adele. Andy highlights Mdou Moctar's incredible guitar work, the surprise hit of Joe Russo's Almost Dead in Vegas, and Neil Young performing at Meigs Field. The crew also discusses the challenges of presales, the magic of small venues, and their most anticipated 2026 shows including Rush, Iron Maiden, Radiohead, and Guns N' Roses.
Welcome to Part 2 of the second annual Seeing Them Live Year End Concert Review show, where a panel of returning guests share their favorite live music experiences from 2025. Host Charles brings together an eclectic group of music enthusiasts including Andy, Jessica, Steve, and superfan Dawn Fontaine to discuss the most memorable live music experiences of 2025.
Dawn shares highlights from her incredible 55-show year, including intimate performances by New York punk bands The Lousekateers and Typhoid Rosie at JJ's Tavern in Florence, Massachusetts, and her milestone 50th Soraia show at Music Fest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The conversation takes an extraordinary turn when Dawn recounts her once-in-a-lifetime experience winning a contest in 2002 that put her on the Rolling Stones' private jet, where she met and chatted with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and the late Charlie Watts. The band even played her favorite song, "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," at the Denver show the next night. Dawn also discusses her new role booking shows for Soraia, turning her passion for the band into a dream job that allows her to be part of their team.
Steve brings the star power with his account of seeing Lady Gaga at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which he ranks in his top 10 concerts of all time despite not being a superfan. He describes the show as mind-blowing, with incredible choreography, costume changes, and an intimate piano performance of "Die With a Smile" that transformed the energy of the 18,000-person venue. Steve also highlights seeing St. Vincent at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, praising her guitar skills and stage presence influenced by David Byrne, as well as catching Joan Jett with Alanis Morissette and being amazed at how Joan's voice hasn't changed over the decades. His Vegas weekend also included the Psychedelic Furs at House of Blues and Adele at Caesars Palace, making for an unforgettable concert trip.
Andy rounds out the episode with his diverse concert year, starting with the mesmerizing guitar work of Mdou Moctar at The Space and a spontaneous third-row experience seeing Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys at Hard Rock Gary. His spring break trip to Vegas delivered a surprise highlight when he caught Joe Russo's Almost Dead at Brooklyn Bowl, calling it his surprise concert of the year with their incredible double guitar attack. Andy also shares his Bonnaroo experience, seeing Neil Young perform his new song "Crime in the White House" at Meigs Field (where they unknowingly appeared in the music video), and attending Riot Fest to see Jack White and the Beach Boys with John Stamos. The episode wraps with the group discussing their most anticipated 2026 shows, including Iron Maiden, Radiohead, Guns N' Roses with Public Enemy and Ice Cube, and the long-awaited Rush reunion.
BANDS: Adele, Alanis Morissette, Ashley Gavin (comedian), Beach Boys, The, Beaches, The, Billy Idol, Black Crows, The, Buddy Guy, Cocktail Slippers, The, Cure, The, Dead & Company, Dogs in a Pile, Florence and the Machine, Gary Numan, Grunge Worthy, Guns N' Roses, Ice Cube, Idiot Kids, The, Iron Maiden, Jesus and Mary Chain, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Joe Russo's Almost Dead, Lady Gaga, Lamp, Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, Lousekateers, The, Luke Combs, Marcus King, Mdou Moctar, Mighty Suicide Squirrels, The, Mogwai, Neil Young, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Otis and the Elevators, Pretenders, The, Psychedelic Furs, The, Public Enemy, Radiohead, Rolling Stones, The, Rush, Rush Tribute Project, Soraia, Sonic Youth, St. Vincent, Talking Heads, Typhoid Rosie, Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
VENUES:
Aragon Ballroom, Bonnaroo, Brooklyn Bowl, Caesars Palace, Crypto Center, Douglas Park, FM Kirby Center, Foxborough Stadium (Patriots Stadium), Garcia's, Hard Rock (Gary, Indiana), Hotel Figueroa, House of Blues (Las Vegas), JJ's Tavern (Florence, Massachusetts), Meigs Field, Metro, The, Music Fest (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), Redwood Bar (Redwood Grill), Riot Fest, Salt Shed, The, Soldier Field, Space, The, Sphere, The, Tabernacle, The, T-Mobile Arena, United Center, Vic, The, World Music Theater, Zinzenplatz stage (at Music Fest).
[00:00:24] Dawn: And then, probably 20 minutes before we were gonna land, Mick Jagger walks up to me and says, hi, I am Mick Jagger. And I just couldn't even talk. I was just as, he was like my music idol. I wrote a paper on him in high school. I like all his solo music. So it just meant so much to meet him. And at first I could have stuttered. I didn't know what to say and then everything came pouring out so fast.
[00:00:49] Charles: Welcome to part two of our 2025 year-end concert review. Let's get started.
[00:00:55] Next up is Dawn. Dawn, welcome back to Seeing Them Live. [00:01:00] It's been a while.
[00:01:01] Dawn: Yeah. Thank you for having me back.
[00:01:03] Charles: Yeah. And I had several comments from people and they looked at your concert list. We're just like, oh my God. 55 shows. I put it in a ChatGPT just to kind of analyze it a little. I'm sure you have all the stats.
[00:01:16] But out of those shows, you highlighted a handful, which I highlighted for everyone. So I think the first one you have up here is the band called The Lousekateers.
[00:01:25] Dawn: Yeah, so they're a New York punk band from like the New York City area. And the other band that I saw with them is Typhoid Rosie, who's a rock band from New York City. And I had seen both of those bands separately, but I've always wanted to see them together 'cause when they play New York or some other areas, they often do a lot of shows together.
[00:01:48] And the two vocalists, they're both female fronted bands, will jump on stage and do backing vocals when the other band's playing. And I've just always wanted to see that, 'cause I've seen video clips of it. [00:02:00] So I got really excited when I saw that they were coming to JJ's Tavern in Florence, Massachusetts, which is a village in North Hampton, Massachusetts, which has a pretty good music scene. And the tavern, JJ's Tavern is, a small venue, about a hundred capacity.
[00:02:16] So it's a very intimate setting to see a band up close. And it was just, yeah, it was just a really memorable show. They did exactly what I wanted to see is when Typhoid Rosie was up there playing Val, the singer from the The Louskateers was doing backing vocals and then it was the opposite when The Lousekateers was, you know, playing Typhoid, Rosie was up there and it was just a really fun high energy, just a great show. And I've seen both of those bands several times. They're two bands that when they come around I have to see 'em.
[00:02:45] Charles: Yeah, because I was reading it said online there kinda like the Ramones and Sex Pistols and The Clash, but at least The Lousekateers.
[00:02:53] Dawn: Yep.
[00:02:54] Charles: And then you went to see Soraia a few times, huh?
[00:02:57] Dawn: Yeah. So the second one I wanted to [00:03:00] highlight was the very first time I saw Soraia in 2022, I discovered them 'cause they opened for Joan Jet and the Blackhearts. And they've played some other shows with Joan Jet since then, but not locally for me to go to. And this one wasn't exactly local either, 'cause I'm in Massachusetts and this was in Wilkes Bury, Pennsylvania. But I was like, yeah, I'm not gonna miss this. Joan Jet did a few like warmup gigs before she did her tour with Billy Idol. And she actually did one much closer to me the weekend before she was in New Hampshire. But I decided not to go to that one because I wanted to go to this one and see Soraia. So, I spent a little extra money and got a front row ticket and it was well worth it. The venue is the FM Kirby Center and it's about an 1800 capacity kind of theater style. It has a mezzanine like balcony level. And of course Soraia they got to do a 45 minute opening set, which was phenomenal.
[00:03:58] They always put on a great [00:04:00] show and I had seen Joan Jett two other times before that, but never from the front row. And to be able to lean on the stage and watch her singing up close, she still sounds as good as she did in the early eighties. I Love Rock and Roll and her other songs, just none of them.
[00:04:17] I Hate Myself Loving You. None of those, they just, she sounded exactly the same as she did back then. Incredible show. And as a big fan of Soraia, it meant a lot to me to be able to see them play the bigger venue and open, again for Joan Jet. Yeah, It was a very memorable show.
[00:04:33] I actually traveled with a couple of my friends who I had met at a Soraia show that live in Rhode Island, and we all drove there together and stuff. So it was a nice time. Really good show.
[00:04:44] Charles: Yeah, I know you're you're into obviously Soraia and both bands, so that must've been really cool night.
[00:04:49] Dawn: Yeah, that, that was also the biggest show I went to of the year, capacity wise. Everything else was under like 200.
[00:04:57] Charles: Because yeah, I was wondering I really did, I ran [00:05:00] your list through ChatGPT and they were all smaller venues, like couple hundred, 400, maybe.
[00:05:05] Dawn: Yeah, yeah. 'cause like the next venue isn't really a music venue. So the reason why I highlighted it there's a punk band from Massachusetts Central Mass called the Mighty Suicide Squirrels. They're a trio. They're a lot of fun. They have great music. And the reason why I highlighted them is they broke up earlier in the year and I was really bummed out 'cause I'd seen them in March and I was like, oh man, this is the last time I'm gonna see them. And I just happened to get a message from, it was the bass player the night before. It might have been two nights before. And he said we got a surprise show coming up. A band dropped off the show and it was, I forget what it was, but it was like an event where there were vendors selling stuff and they had a couple different bands playing, so the Mighty Suicide Squirrels, it was local for them.
[00:05:56] It was about an hour away from me, but I was excited that I'd get to see them [00:06:00] again. And when I drove up, it was really great seeing them all back together. 'cause I'm not sure what the reason was for their breakup, but some of them had seemed a little distant from themselves at the previous show before they broke up.
[00:06:14] And seeing them back together, like old times was great. And I think, I don't know, I'd probably seen them 10 or 12 times before, that was probably their best show. And I'm not exaggerating 'cause I was excited. They got back together. They were just on, everything was just perfect. Their, the vocals, the guitar playing, the drums, everything they were, it was definitely, I told them afterwards I had to be their best show I've ever seen. And they told me they were back. They weren't gonna play as many gigs. I think that was one of the reasons why they had broken up. 'cause they were just band, they were like playing every single weekend and I think it was just getting to be too much. So they don't play as much now, but when they do I make sure I get out to see them 'cause they're just a fun band.
[00:06:58] I would say I am [00:07:00] definitely probably one of their number one fans. I try to get to as many of their shows as I can. Just a great group of guys and it made me just so happy to see them back together and the closeness, and seeing them back, it was just a great feeling. So that was in the summer and then,
[00:07:18] Charles: You got the Soraia show at Music Fest.
[00:07:20] Dawn: Yeah, so Music Fest is a free music festival. Most of it's free in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It happens every year in early August for a week or 10 days. I know they do have a larger stage that is ticketed, but for the most part, most of the shows are free. And I had seen Soraia there a couple years ago and what's cool about it is the stage they play, I wanna say I think it was the Zinzenplatz stage, which seats about 150 to 200 people. They get to do a 90 minute set, which is really long for them, 'cause usually it's half that, it's usually 45 minutes to an hour.
[00:07:56] And what was special about this show is it was my [00:08:00] 50th Soraia show and I only started seeing them since April of 2022. So this was a really special one. They commemorated it. ZouZou, the singer mentioned it during the show. Brianna, the drummer, who's an artist, she had painted a drum head for me with the band's name on it. They signed, they made a special set list for me. It was a very memorable show.
[00:08:23] And then I had a lot of friends there. 'cause I've met a lot of people in Pennsylvania that are Soraia fans. So seeing a lot of them and getting to share the 50th show experience with them was really special.
[00:08:35] Andy: Wow, that's really cool. Dawn, that's a great story. I really that's great how the band treated you too, because I know, me and Charles, we used to see a band when we were in college, Otis in the Elevators, and I made 50 shows with them and it was also a fantastic experience with friends and that was great.
[00:08:53] Dawn: Thank you.
[00:08:54] Jessica: Have you thought about writing a book about what Soraia means to you, Dawn, because you really [00:09:00] have such a beautiful history with them.
[00:09:02] Dawn: Yeah, I've had a lot of people who've asked me if I would write a book, either about that or just about how music's been healing for me. It's definitely something I would consider, but I can't really fathom finding the time to write a book right now. It might be something I'd have to do maybe in my retirement years, I don't know.
[00:09:21] Jessica: Or maybe a podcast.
[00:09:23] Dawn: Yeah. I like being a guest on podcasts. I don't know if I wanna have my own, but but now I, do en enjoy talking about Soraia and how much they mean to me.
[00:09:33] Charles: Yeah, God, I can't even imagine that happening to me at a show, but Andy was saying, we, yeah, we would see this band Otis in the Elevators, and we made t-shirts and sweatshirts for the band and for the fans, and yeah, we were crazy for these guys. So, yeah, every once in a while they'd give us a shout out in front of this crowd of two 300 people.
[00:09:53] Andy: Invite us up on stage to sing and neither me or Charles would take it up.
[00:09:58] Charles: No. Are you crazy? I'm not doing that. [00:10:00] Yeah. Forget that. Yeah. Yeah. No, that, that's awesome Dawn. And then you have this Soraia-Cocktail Slippers Soraia/Cocktail show.
[00:10:07] Dawn: So, yeah, I put that show on there 'cause I went to all their shows on the northeast run of their tour, which was eight dates in October. And this one was special 'cause it was in Philadelphia, which is Soraia's hometown. So there's always a great crowd. And they did their northeast tour with a Norwegian rock band called The Cocktail Slippers that are on Steven Van Zandt's record label, Wicked Cool Records. That's how they know one another. And I love The Cocktail Slippers. I've seen them a couple times before. They're a great rock band. And then the other band on that bill was The Idiot Kids, which are a fantastic three piece punk band outta Detroit that have also done some mini tours with Soraia.
[00:10:50] So that bill right there, that was probably my favorite show of their Northeast run. And I always love seeing Soraia at home [00:11:00] 'cause the crowd is just even more special. 'cause it's their, family and friends. It's their hometown crowd. So it was a release show. They had released a new EP in September called Confessions of the Vena Cava, and it was their EP release show. And that's another small venue, I think a 200 capacity venue.
[00:11:18] Charles: Yeah. And then Dawn, it seems like once a year I'll have a podcasting moment with somebody, you know, at a show or something. And I guess I had a moment with you in California.
[00:11:29] Dawn: In LA, at the Redwood Grill.
[00:11:31] Charles: It was insane. Uh, I was on vacation and visiting family, and so just by dumb luck that Friday of our trip, we had some downtime. So, I went to Norm's Vintage Guitar Shop. He's got a Netflix special, which is really cool if you ever wanna check that out. It's a guitar shop. He's been selling guitars for 30 years to all these famous musicians and stuff. And he was there and I wanted to check that out after seeing that show.
[00:11:56] And then we went back to the hotel we were staying at the Hotel Figueroa, [00:12:00] which is right by the Crypto Center in downtown Los Angeles. And looking at my phone, I knew Soraia was playing in LA. I'm like, yeah, you know what, day? And wow, it was on the Friday, so where are they playing? And I put in this place what's it called on the Redwood?
[00:12:16] Dawn: Redwood Grill. Yeah. Redwood Bar. Yeah.
[00:12:19] Charles: And the Google Map or Apple Map pops back 1.4 miles away from the hotel. I'm like, oh my God I've gotta go. It's it's right here. So, I go and we watch one of the first bands and then Soraia was gonna come out and I see you standing like on the main floor, but I'm like, we did that podcast, what a year or maybe more ago, and you live in Boston and this is Los Angeles and now what would you be doing here? So, I walked up to you and I said, is your name Dawn? And you're like, yeah. And I'm like, oh my God, I'm Charles Zona.
[00:12:53] Jessica: Oh my God. That's insane.
[00:12:56] Charles: It was crazy. And then so yeah, we took in the [00:13:00] show. Unfortunately, I had to be not unfortunately, but I had to be in my brother's boat down in San Diego at 11 o'clock or something the next morning. So, I had to cut out.
[00:13:09] But yeah, we took in the show and I could not believe you were there. It was nuts. And they're stopping off at other places in Southern California. But then you told me there that this new role with the band and you, do you want to talk about that a little bit?
[00:13:24] Dawn: Yeah, so how it started was in 2024 when they were looking to book their fall tour dates. I had told them about a couple venues and they were just super busy and ZouZou Mansour, the singer said, would you mind reaching out to these three venues and book them for us? I'm like, sure, I don't mind.
[00:13:46] I could help. So I did. It was easy, you know, I helped them you know, find the local bands and stuff and I was like, okay, I kind of like doing this. And I did a little bit of booking for some other local bands shortly after [00:14:00] that, but it was just getting to be a lot, so I was just like, okay, I'm just gonna work with Soraia. And, I didn't know if it was gonna go any further than those three shows, but then, I think it was like late December of last year, ZouZou called me and said, you know, she was looking for someone to help them with booking, and she asked me if I would be willing to help. I said, sure, I'd love to.
[00:14:24] It's easy. It's not even really work for me 'cause I know the band so well personally, their friends, and I'm so passionate about their music and everything that it's very easy for me to do, book shows for them. So, last year I helped them book some of their Midwest tour dates, one of the California shows and then helped with the Northeast shows.
[00:14:47] I don't do all the tour dates, but I help them with a good chunk of 'em and getting the local bands and coordinating the schedule and that's gonna continue into this next year too. I mean, I don't even know how to describe it. It's more of [00:15:00] like a dream come true type thing because I get to be a part of the Soraia team, I guess you would call it, helping them with stuff like that.
[00:15:08] Andy: Congratulations.
[00:15:09] Dawn: Thank you.
[00:15:10] Charles: That's a great story. From just seeing the band initially becoming a super fan to, yeah. Now booking shows for them. That's an incredible story. And when you were on the first time, you had such an incredible moving story that you didn't share a, an interesting concert experience you had which I agree, didn't fit the moment of that show. But now that you're on again, you were on an airplane with the Rolling Stones.
[00:15:36] Dawn: Yeah. That started, that all came about 'cause in 2002, the Rolling Stones did their 40th licks tour. It was a 40th anniversary tour. And I had bought a ticket to see them in Foxborough Mass at the Patriot's Stadium. I think it was called Foxborough Stadium at the time. And when you bought the ticket, it had a note in it saying, or it was in an [00:16:00] email saying, you know, if you register on the back, there's a website you can register and become like a free fan club member and you get entered in this contest.
[00:16:08] And I just did it 'cause I figured why not? Didn't really think much about the contest and went and had a great time at the show. The Pretenders opened, it was a really great time. So then, that was in like September, the fall, winter goes by. I start school. I was a college student at the time. I come home one day from class and my phone rings and it's a woman saying she's with the Rolling Stones fan club. And I was like, okay. And she's you're the grand prize winner in this contest where you'll get a two city tour with the Rolling Stones. And I didn't believe her. I was like, okay, first of all, it's on the other side of the United States.
[00:16:48] I'm a college student, I'm poor. I'm not gonna be able to pay for a plane ticket and buy tickets. And she's you don't have to pay for anything. She says, you just have to send us your ID, the I idea of the person going [00:17:00] with you. So you have to do background checks. We'll book your flights, we'll book your hotels. And I was like, okay. You know, I was still a little skeptical, but, they came through and next thing I know, I'm getting inundated with all this information and an itinerary and everything I gotta do. And you know, it was really weird going into college the next day and telling my professors, I'm gonna miss three days because I'm going on a trip of a lifetime.
[00:17:24] But, they were older professors who knew the Rolling Stones quite well and were like, wow. Yeah, that's really cool. Don't worry about it. So yeah, I flew out from Boston to Phoenix Arizona. As soon as I walked into the hotel room, it was covered with all kinds of Rolling Stones, merch from albums to jackets to everything you can imagine. And then I went to the venue and I remember, I met, somebody there that was affiliated with the band and they brought us backstage and I got to see like all of Keith's guitars and Ronnie's guitars and go out on the stage. [00:18:00] I forgot to mention, they gave me $600 cash to spend as I please, which I didn't really need to buy any merch 'cause they'd given me everything.
[00:18:08] And saw a great show from the front row, which was a first 'cause you know, Stones, tickets are not cheap. So to be able to see them from the front row was a real treat. And the next day someone from the hotel drove us to a location where we boarded a bus with, not the band, but all the other people that work with the band, like the background vocalists, the keyboard player, the saxophone player, just management's people. And we took that bus to the private airstrip where the Rolling Stones jet was. And we boarded.
[00:18:45] And it wasn't like an airplane I had ever been on. I mean there was this big long bar that was covered with all kinds of food. They had like leather couches and a lounge area. It was like, wow, this is crazy. And I just went to the back of the planes. I knew we'd be taken [00:19:00] off. And one by one the Stones came on. The first one was Ronnie Wood, the guitarist. He came back and greeted me with a hug and, it was really cool. I got to talk with him. Now let me just add in. I wasn't allowed to ask for autographs or take any photos.
[00:19:16] They had a photographer with them who took photos and I only got what they gave to me. I had a picture taken with everyone, but I only got the picture with Mick, which was fine because that's the one that means the most to me. But after Ronnie Wood came back, then Charlie Watts came back, who's the late drummer. He was very cool. He didn't look like a band member. He was dressed in a suit. And then Keith Richards came back and was another just super cool experience. But then it was time to take off. Mick didn't come back. I saw him up at the front of the plane. He was running around doing stuff.
[00:19:52] So once we took off, we were flying from Phoenix to Denver, so it was like a 90 minute flight. They said I could go up to the front of the [00:20:00] plane in the lounge area. So I sat on the sofa between Keith and Ronnie and just told them how I became a Rolling Stones fan when I discovered my Dad's Sticky Fingers album, 'cause that's the cool album with the working zipper and the Let It Bleed album. And then I told them I was even in a band in high school and I just wanted to play Rolling Stone songs and just chatted with them for most of the flight. It was a really cool experience.
[00:20:27] And then, probably 20 minutes before we were gonna land, Mick Jagger walks up to me and says, hi, I am Mick Jagger. And I just couldn't even talk. I was just as, he was like my music idol. I wrote a paper on him in high school. I like all his solo music. So it just meant so much to meet him. And at first I could have stuttered. I didn't know what to say and then everything came pouring out so fast. I was like, oh, I like all your solo stuff. This is my favorite song. This is my favorite album. And I just, I needed to catch a breath. I just kept talking so [00:21:00] fast and I got a really great picture with him. And in our brief conversation, I mentioned that Sticky Fingers was my favorite album and Can't You Hear Me Knocking Is my favorite song from that album.
[00:21:12] And the next day, 'cause typically they only ever played one or two songs from that album live. They usually played Brown Sugar and then you might hear Wild Horses. They played five songs from the album. They also played Dead Flowers, Bitch. And My favorite, Can't You Hear Me Knocking? So I don't know if I had any impact on that, any influence from when I told them that.
[00:21:35] And they all acknowledged me when they came out on stage, like throughout the show, they'd wave to me, wink at me, smile, acknowledged that I was, there. It was great. Then, the next day, flew back home. But it's hard to believe it was 20, what, 22 years ago that happened. It was definitely the most unbelievable experience ever.
[00:21:56] Charles: Yeah, that's a crazy story. That'd have to be like a dream.
[00:21:59] Dawn: Yeah, [00:22:00] it's hard to believe.
[00:22:01] Andy: Still shaking my head laughing. Oh man. Dawn, bless you.
[00:22:04] Charles: Anybody else have any questions for Dawn? I know when we talked the first time, you go to about maybe three shows a week or something like that.
[00:22:14] Dawn: Yeah, I've slowed down.
[00:22:15] Steve: This is slow? Call me grape 'cause I'm so jelly.
[00:22:19] Jessica: I know what's your secret?
[00:22:22] Dawn: It's typically one show a week, and it's usually a Saturday night or Sunday matinee. But if Soraia is on tour, if they're in the Northeast, I go to all their shows. I went to three of their California shows, three of their shows in Ohio. So when they're around, I usually try to go to as many of them as possible.
[00:22:44] So that's why the list really adds up. I don't often, sometimes I'll do a Friday night show, but I have to not work that day, otherwise I'm just too tired. But, I mean it's still healing for me and I just enjoy it so much. I still have one more I'm going to next [00:23:00] Saturday and that'll be the last one for the year.
[00:23:02] Charles: So that'll put you at 56, I guess, on the year.
[00:23:04] Dawn: Yeah. Yeah. And then I'll end up posting my total of bands that I saw and venues and how many states I travel to. I usually put like a recap on my social media.
[00:23:16] Charles: Yeah, is there anything you wanna mention about that, Dawn? Like how people can get ahold of you.
[00:23:19] Dawn: Yeah, I mean, I'm mostly on Facebook, just under Dawn Fontaine, and I'm also on Instagram. And, most of my posts are music related. So sometimes I post something on my cats, but most of it's music.
[00:23:34] Charles: Thanks for sharing that story with us. I think about that from time to time. Man, gotta get Dawn back on here and tell this story.
[00:23:41] Dawn: Thanks for having me. I appreciate you all having me back. I can't wait to hear the episode, and it was great seeing you all meeting you all.
[00:23:48]
[00:24:14] Charles: All right, that brings us to Steve. You got Lady Gaga at the top of your list, and I just wanna say one, how'd you get those tickets? 'Cause when I tried, the Ticket Master message was like, there's 28,000 people in front of you. And I was like, yeah, that's not gonna happen.
[00:24:31] Steve: So, this is a funny story. I hadn't planned it. So Just don't mean to bore everybody. My wife's a assistant principal at our high school and just over the years teaching, she's just become that. Like her summer went from eight weeks to like four weeks, 'cause so much pre-planning and stuff like that. So, it turned out that weekend that she was going there. I had just been planning on a Psychedelic Furs out in Vegas. I was like, let's just go. I love the furs. You love the Furs, it's [00:25:00] Vegas. Why not? So, I had booked this, planned it, had the Furs tickets and everything.
[00:25:06] She comes up to me, she's, hey Gaga's touring. Yeah. They're going here, and here. Okay, I'll bite. Where's here. Of course, New York. All these places I don't want to go. And she's like, Vegas. All right. A little more curious. When in Vegas, July. Oh, boy. When in July. And looks it up. She's oh there are three dates in this, and this. All right. Sign up. Because we were going, I was gonna surprise you. We're gonna be in Vegas that weekend. Let's get her done.
[00:25:35] So yeah, she's been a part of fan club forever, so you just go and I signed up too, and they actually let me in. So she manned a pc. I manned a pc. And I actually just got tickets. And it wasn't at a small venue, it was at T-Mobile, which is the hockey arena where the nights play. We got tickets for the Saturday show, 'cause of course we had the Furs on Friday. And so just made a whole concert, Vegas weekend out of it.
[00:25:56] It was great. Don't get me wrong, I like Gaga. I'm [00:26:00] not mad at her, but I'm not, I wanna say I'm a fan. She's good. You're gonna hear her songs, you can't get away from her. But I have never been. Just from someone that's been to a lot of concerts, I'd easily put it in my top 10.
[00:26:12] Jessica: Wow.
[00:26:13] Steve: The performance itself, it was mind blowing. Just, it was on point. Just the choreography, the costume changes and the sets were great. And then even when she just, she had a big elongated stage, so even when she went to the end with just her piano at the end, and she uh, of course, because I need to remember the current song with her and Bruno Mars
[00:26:33] Jessica: Die With a Smile.
[00:26:34] Steve: Thank you. Which actually, I do really love that song. Even when she did that, I was just, it went from this high, it high, I don't wanna say high velocity, but this high energy show just as intimate as you and 18,000 of your bestest friends could be. The mood changed that fast and it was just like, wow. It was just something to be a part of. But to answer your question, we just lucked out because again, I think it was because, I don't know, because Vegas is [00:27:00] a big draw.
[00:27:00] Charles: Yeah, it just seems like sometimes you get in and sometimes there's 28,000 people in front of you.
[00:27:06] Steve: Very true.
[00:27:07] Andy: Destiny Charles, Destiny.
[00:27:09] Charles: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That's awesome that you got to see that. 'Cause yeah, I wanted to go, and just check it out and maybe bring my daughter and my wife and stuff.
[00:27:17] Jessica: That was a great album she did this year. Mayhem.
[00:27:20] Steve: Yeah, again, my wife had it, so I listened to it. I was like, I'm not mad at this. It's I think I've got one or two in my own collection. I'm not mad at them. Just, I think I got 'em for my wife and just n you know, iTunes. Yeah, I still rock iTunes. So they're in there. No, but again, it was just such a great show and the crowd was electric. Again, don't get me wrong, some of the stuff I can't unbleached my eyes. It's gonna happen. But, great show. Great seats. First time at that arena, and again, it was just at the hockey arena, which I think was 18,000. Great sightlines there at the T-Mobile which is right off the strip. It was a great time there. Sometimes you go to, I don't wanna say stadiums, but like some [00:28:00] of these arenas just aren't, the acoustics are god awful sometimes, and just stuff. No, it was a perfect venue for her show. And let's see, the Furs that same night we're at the House of Blues.
[00:28:11] Charles: Yeah. Was that with Gary Newman opening up?
[00:28:14] Steve: No, They didn't. Believe it or not, they didn't have an opener on that one.
[00:28:18] Charles: Okay. Wow. Because yeah, when we saw them this year, yeah, it's my wife's favorite band. And Gary Newman opened up. I looked it up after the show 'cause I couldn't believe the way he moves on stage. I think he's 67 or 68. He was moving around like he is like 25. Like these crazy moves and stuff. And the other thing I didn't realize is after Nine Inch Nails came out, he was influenced by Nine Inch Nails, big time. And so all of the songs other than that Cars song that he had to play for everyone was mainly like Nine Inch Nails inspired.
[00:28:55] And he had these two guys on either side of the stage, I think maybe one was a bass [00:29:00] player, one was the guitar player. They looked like they were from the Blue Man group. They looked the same. Like they're wearing the, kinda the same garb. They had their head shaved, they were tall, they were thin, and one guy's like talking to himself, the guitar player as the show's going on, it was very blue man groupie. What is going on with this dude?
[00:29:18] But they were great, and he was unbelievable the way he did his moves on stage and stuff. Yeah, I would've been in the hospital after one song of doing that. But other than that one song I didn't know much about Gary Newman.
[00:29:32] Steve: I've only heard the one major hit.
[00:29:35] Charles: Yeah, it's night and day. From that song to what he plays now is very Trent Rezner sounding, which was cool and surprising. And yeah they put on a great show. But you didn't see that.
[00:29:47] Steve: No, the Vegas one, they only had themselves. It was like one of a couple tours, the stops that they didn't have anybody, which was perfectly fine because, they've got enough catalog to keep everybody well entertained.
[00:29:59] Charles: A great place [00:30:00] to see 'em, the House of Blues Venue.
[00:30:01] Steve: No, absolutely.
[00:30:03] Charles: Then uh, Steve, you got St. Vincent on here?
[00:30:07] Steve: Yeah, so St. Vincent's been on, she's been up there on my list of, as I'm trying to get people that I absolutely see, she, she doesn't tour all that often, and when she does they, so many people just for some reason don't hit Atlanta. I had tickets for the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs in Chicago. You know the story 'cause I offered 'em to you 'cause I couldn't make it, but they were up on my list.
[00:30:27] But, so she came and my gosh, she was great. Had really great tickets to see her. She was at the Tabernacle, which is a redone House of Blues here. Was sitting right over the stage, up top. And God just a phenomenal show. She's another one. You never know what you're gonna get with Annie. 'Cause we're friends and I can call her Annie like that. No, no. But just saying, I don't know if anyone's ever seen any of her live performances sometimes.
[00:30:54] I should say, I don't know when, but she worked with David Byrne a lot from Talking Heads. I don't [00:31:00] know if there was recent or not, but she, I know she did an album or two with him. So you saw a lot of his influence on her, just like her stage, like presence. I don't know if you ever watched Stop Making Sense, or you just have seen David Bird action. But she was emulating a lot of that, which was great if you knew what she was doing.
[00:31:17] But again, she's so talented my God, just to see her live. She rocks. Don't know if anybody saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where she came in and did stuff with Nirvana and they got inducted. I mean, she's old school. She can shred, she will pick up a guitar and she's up there.
[00:31:33] And she just puts on, she puts on a show at the end of the day. She puts on a great to great show. So that I, that was a great show for me as well. Let's see, moving on, just Jesus of Mary Chain. Since we last talked, I flew up to Chicago, we went to the Salt Shed saw Jesus of Mary Chain and the Psychedelic Furs again.
[00:31:51] And again, you don't think about it. And this, to branch off a hair bit. I was on iTunes 'cause I'm old and they had their [00:32:00] essentials and 35 years old, 40 years old. And you're like, okay, I'll take a look. What's odd there? Click it. They're like, Jesus of Mary Chain, Psycho Candy. I'm just like, God, I'm old because that's one of my favorite albums.
[00:32:11] But God, you just don't realize how long, or you forget just how long these bands have been doing it. So that was great to see them as well. And you just forget. People age 'cause only seeing them for so long. When you and I went, I was like, God, I forgot this guy's this old, but.
[00:32:26] Charles: Yeah, they were good when we saw them.
[00:32:27] Steve: I got to see Alanis Morrissette and Joan Jett locally. They came to an outdoor venue here. Dawn said, Joan Jet sounds just like she did. I don't know how she does it. No, she hasn't gotten gravely, nothing. She sounds awesome. It was such a great show, and she's one I had never seen before that's great to check her off.
[00:32:47] Jessica: So funny. How many of you saw her this year? She was really accessible.
[00:32:52] Steve: Because I know she toured with Billy Idol she toured with Alanis and I think she picked up somebody else for another part of their tour too. But just, [00:33:00] yeah.
[00:33:00] Charles: Yeah. Steve, you mentioned like how she sounds the same. I went to see Buddy Guy this year a month before his 89th birthday. And if you closed your eyes, you would not be able to tell if it was 89-year-old Buddy Guy playing, or from 20, 30 years ago. I don't know how these artists do this, but yeah, he was fantastic. It was unbelievable.
[00:33:21] Steve: Good living and thank goodness, ' cause yeah, sometimes you can't tell. And then lastly, again, out in Vegas, got to see Adele. She puts on a fantastic show and again, she's another one I can, I think this is the way the world now and there's probably a podcast for later, but she's like. You can't get tickets really, unless you're like part of the fan club and you're signing up because so much gets sold through pre-sales now and just stuff like that. You almost have to go that route.
[00:33:45] So again, we had been part since we saw her in London, so again, it was just like, Hey, and the reason was, 'cause this was supposed to be her last tour, the final tour ever. All right, let's go. Went out there and again phenomenal show [00:34:00] out in Vegas. She's just at Caesars. She had redone the theater a bit, added a few more screens, so just made her stage present just like that much wider. And it was pretty phenomenal.
[00:34:11] Charles: Yeah, Steve, you mentioned like these presales and I never understand like what kind of presale it is, you know, like, so sometimes it's just for the VIP seats that are super expensive or, I know one I saw The Cure, I think they were just like, the last time I saw them, they were like presale, balcony seats only at the United Center.
[00:34:31] So it was weird. Yeah, you have to sign up for the fan club, which I just recently did that for the first time. You might have saw on my list, I listed at the end there, 2026, Iron Maiden. I joined their fan club, which was like 36 bucks. And they gave you a presale code and that was for like every seat at whatever they call it now. We know it as the World Music Theater back in the day. But yeah, I just never understand the presale, like [00:35:00] what is being pre-sold? Is it the whole venue?
[00:35:02] Steve: So it depends on the person. Some people are only some like you said, a lot of it is, so not only is it just presale for certain sections, but like their VIP packages, which, you know, or hospitality packages, depending how they name it. Sometimes you get some merch, sometimes it's a meet and greet, it's the high end stuff. Some of these presales are just, sometimes it's just the stuff by the stage or like the first two. It really depends. It's not like you don't have full access to a lot of it. There have been times where I didn't have a pre-sale and I got really good seats just as a general public as compared to what someone who was a member got. It's really random.
[00:35:44] Jessica: And I don't think it has to do with discount tickets, right? It's just more of where you get a peak before anybody else does for general admission.
[00:35:52] Steve: Yeah, you just get the first chance to buy up a boatload of tickets to resale. That's just really all it is nowadays. And unfortunately, it is part of the [00:36:00] game you gotta play with some of these bigger acts I feel.
[00:36:02] Andy: Like Charles was saying he did the Iron Maiden for us and I did the Rush where I signed up early and got my stuff and again was, number 14,000 in line. But somehow it ended up kicking in where I got through pretty quick and we didn't get bad tickets. So we'll see. But again, I'm with you guys. Is it because you get the presale code, what does it get you in? You never know. And like you said, Steve it depends on who the artist is, I think, and what the venue's letting them deal and, taking away.
[00:36:28] Steve: Yeah. The bad thing about that is when they do that, it's usually these artists, they do all their shows at one time. So it is not like you're 14,000 in line for your venue. You're just 14,000 in line. You might really only be like maybe a thousand deep for your venue, but you're just worse off in line, that's just how they go. Don't get me wrong, I've been there too, and it's a scary site to see when you're like, okay, good thing I don't have anything to do for the next couple of hours. Watch that clock trickle down.
[00:36:56] Charles: Yeah, it's not good when you're that deep, but like you said, [00:37:00] sometimes it pays off or it's not as far as you think.
[00:37:03] Steve: It does. My next plans, so only people I've bought so far, Florence and the Machine are touring again. Love Seeing Florence. So got her tickets. Guns N Roses is touring. I like Guns n Roses as we all who doesn't, we all did do whatevers. Not the biggest fan, but, they're touring and three stops that I'm really interested in. They've got a set of their tour with Public Enemy. Public Enemy, yes. A couple shows. One being in Vegas with the Black Crows. That could be interesting. That could be a very good time. And lastly, the one that's gonna be here, my neck of the woods in Atlanta, Ice Cube's gonna be with them. First off, like with PE and Ice Cube? Wow, that's a great but yet weird pairing. Just, I never would've seen that, but still. That's a great pairing. And then the Black Crows would, again, never seen them.
[00:37:53] That's one I could check off. Won't be mad if I don't, but they'll be at The World, whatever it's called with Public Enemy. [00:38:00] So it's a thought. I could come home for this and then, 'cause down here, they're not till September and that's July when they go back home. So I'm planning on that. But otherwise I have to play by ear. There's nobody really touring I know of so far. You know, Yeah, Yeah. Yeahs. If they hit the road again, I will move heaven and earth to get to a show that time as well. But see how that goes. But That's really is about it for me this year and, upcoming.
[00:38:22] Charles: Anybody have any questions for Steve?
[00:38:25] Jessica: I like St. Vincent. She's really hip. You're right with David Byrne, 'cause she really has like her own kind of art pop kind of rock side. She's very unique.
[00:38:34] Steve: Absolutely.
[00:38:34] Jessica: And she was very big at my college radio station. We used to play her music a lot and I think they still do just as a, as an honorable artist.
[00:38:44] Steve: I wish more people knew of her, 'cause she's really talented and there's not an album I don't like. And if I had to say one is the worst and it's nowhere even closer to worse, it was Daddy's Home and Only 'cause it was slower because I love, 'cause she could rock out and I, I just [00:39:00] love to rock out. She could jam. So that one was about her least jammy album I should say. And it's still a phenomenal album. It's just slower.
[00:39:09] Jessica: Last year she did great with Dave Grohl on the drums too. She was awesome.
[00:39:14] Steve: Yeah, but again, she's talented. Everyone should YouTube it or watch that Nirvana introduction with her singing. But, or just try and catch some of her footage. And again, it is funny 'cause she changes her look so often. You never know what you're getting as well.
[00:39:29] Jessica: And that's where she gets to be Lady Gaga.
[00:39:32] Steve: Because when I saw her, because most of the people are seeing her with the long, the short, frizzy blonde hair just poofed out and stuff. When I saw her, she was a brunette and she was just wearing like, almost the Robert Palmer esque tuxedo, tuxedo skirt suit looking thing. But again, she rocked it and it was just a great show.
[00:39:51] Charles: No, Thanks for sharing that, Steve. Yeah, and course if you come up this way, I'll go with you to Guns N Roses.
[00:39:57] Steve: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:39:58] Charles: Last time I saw Public [00:40:00] Enemy was at the Aragon Ballroom. I don't even know what, what year it was, but they were playing with Sonic Youth, which was a interesting double bill.
[00:40:07] Steve: I think it was at the same tour. I didn't go with you, but I know I've seen them together. I don't know if it was at Lollapalooza or that Aragon. But I know I've seen them. I think with the Lollapalooza when they toured.
[00:40:19] Charles: Yeah, let me know.
[00:40:21] Steve: Absolutely friend.
[00:40:22] Charles: I'll, uh, definitely tag along. All right. Andy, last but not least.
[00:40:26] Andy: So yeah, we started off our year with Mdou Moctar at the Space and he was fabulous. And again, like you were saying at that place was amazing. And that's my yeah, 2025 nice small venues and it was fantastic. And again I be honest, me and you have spoke, I'm gonna wanna try and see him every kind of time he comes around possible right now, especially while he is still, you can see him at a small venue 'cause he's unbelievable. And it's almost, every time I see him, I just look at his finger picking and it's just astounding.
[00:40:56] Then I went and I saw Los Lobos and Los Lonely [00:41:00] Boys at the Hard Rock in Gary, Indiana, which is honestly pretty nice little sterile venue that you get to see some good shows at. And the most notable thing about that was it was one of the hit and run shows where I hit StubHub on Saturday morning. And they had four third row seats, less than face value. And I hit 'em and it actually came through and it was a great night. And, took some friends and it ended up turning out really nice where didn't even plan on going.
[00:41:26] Yeah. I had an idea that I wanted to check out the tickets. And again, it's close to my house. It was only 20 minute drive, but it was Los Lobos is always fabulous and, you know, and the Los Lonely Boys were really surprising. Then the next one I saw with you Charles was Mogwai. And that was honestly, out of, we've spoke about this out of the concerts of 2025, that was probably the low light. But I went in not knowing anything going in. And again, I would love to love going to the Metro and I haven't been there in years. And it was it was different, that's for sure.
[00:41:54] Charles: That was a recommendation from Scott Patrick Wiener, who's been on the show several [00:42:00] times, one of his favorite bands. It's synthy but like moody.
[00:42:05] Andy: I saw that they were opening up for Radiohead somewhere. In Europe or somebody else, like in that genre. And I go, I could picture that, but again, it was different. And then I made it to Vegas for spring break. Since I'm a teacher, I try to do a destination show every year, spring break, and I went out to see the Dead & Company and visit one of our buddies, but honestly better than the Dead & Company at the sphere since it was the second time I saw them. And I had way different seats and I was real close on the floor.
[00:42:32] I saw Joe Russo's Almost Dead at the Brooklyn Bowl, which was another fabulous, smaller venue, and they killed it. They were just unbelievable. I still think it was my surprise concert of the year, where, I love the jam bands and everything, but they just blew it away. Their double guitar attack was just great. And then after the show, we had some drinks and everything, and then we're waiting for Uber behind one of the hotels, and Tom Metzger, the lead guitar player, from the band is [00:43:00] catching his Uber there too.
[00:43:01] So we got take a picture and talk to him and praise him. And it was really neat. Yeah, just again, mixing with stars outta nowhere. And he goes, I'm nobody, what are you guys acting like? But they're like, no, dude you were killing it. It was good. And he's in a new band called Lamp that I want to go see too, Charles. It's coming around again and I believe they're playing Garcia's, so that might be someone, you know, that, that see.
[00:43:21] Then, like I said, I saw The Dead at the Sphere, which is a unbelievable thing. But I probably won't go to it again. You're paying $400. And after the first time I saw 'em, which was again unbelievable experience, this one was a little different than, again, we were real close on the floor. So it was a whole different whole different experience.
[00:43:38] Then I had Grunge Worthy, just a local band that does tons of covers in 90s grunge, and my wife Nancy, just loved them. We went and saw them at a bar with some of our friends, and it was just a nice place with 'em, about 40 or 50 like-minded people having a good time. It was sort of surprising.
[00:43:54] And then I made it to Bonnaroo, which was my story I've told you guys on, my episode this [00:44:00] year. And it was an experience that I'll never forget. But again, like I told you guys before I saw some good bands there. I saw some great EDM. Dogs in a Pile was unbelievable there. And yeah, we saw them later in the year, but the show there just blew me away. And that was still really good. And I got to see Luke Combs playing with Marcus King, which I thought was really cool.
[00:44:20] Then I put this in, just sort of for my daughter. I went and saw this comedian Ashley Gavin and I never knew anything about her and my daughter's pretty alternative. And I went to the Vic and had no clue and it was wild. One of the wildest comedy shows I've been to in the last 20 years. This girl, she was like a female Dice Man. But, she was, wow. And, so if you ever see her, she's a big podcaster too, and she has stuff out there, but she was really amusing. And again, it was a fun show.
[00:44:45] And then I went and saw Neil Young at Meigs Field in Chicago and that was great. Neil never lets me down. Unbelievable. He broke out his new song, Crime in the White House. We didn't even know he was filming the video that they made for it. While we're [00:45:00] out in wide, we could hear him playing it. That's when they filmed it. And that was his video that he did for it. He was great, again.
[00:45:06] Charles: Andy, was that a makeup show? 'cause didn't he cancel on you?
[00:45:09] Andy: Yeah. He canceled the year before when him and the band got the COVID. He didn't call it a makeup show, he just called a part of the tour, but he brought it up and said, Hey, I'm sorry. And Neil was all, but again, that, that was one of the biggest letdowns of 2024 is when I was going to the show. We were on the train and it got canceled. While you're on the train, your ticket disappears and goes Neil's not playing anymore. You better, turn around. But Neil was great.
[00:45:33] And then went and saw Riot Fest. Took that in and that was a good experience. Again, it was rather strange. I'm not a big fan of going to Douglas Park over on the West side, but it was an experience and I loved seeing Jack White and it was, good as I could expect out of him. I thought he was really cool.
[00:45:48] And the Beach Boys was a blast in the past, 'cause honestly, we spoke about it. We really, we were going, Hey, we've seen them. And we did see 'em back in 1985 at the First Farm Aid, [00:46:00] it was a, it was very different that for sure with John Stamos and the crowd there.
[00:46:05] Charles: Yeah. John Stamos, he played drums on a song or two and he was playing guitar.
[00:46:09] Andy: Yeah, he had all the shit going. It was a nice opener for Jack White, that's for sure.
[00:46:13] Charles: Yeah.
[00:46:15] Andy: One of the weirdest surprises of the year was going to see the Rush Tribute Project. And this all came about before Rush even announced themselves.
[00:46:23] 'cause my wife is a, that's one of her favorite bands is Rush, and it's one that I've never seen. And me and you spoke about this. So then for her birthday, which was that week, we got a nice hotel up in Milwaukee and I saw that these guys were really one of the best Rush cover bands in the world. And they go do the Rush Fest up in Ontario and these other things. And so we went there and it was great. Honestly, I hate saying that these cover bands do a good honest justice, but it was a fun time, beautiful.
[00:46:52] The fans were loving it and it was just a good thousand people there just having a time of their life. It just made me really look [00:47:00] forward to Rush this summer. 'Cause that's my biggest thing I'm looking forward to is honestly, Steven, as I was saying, it's everything we talked about today. It's Iron Maiden, Radiohead, Guns n Roses. Rush. Those are the four things I'm looking forward to in 2026. And the biggest problem though is they're in all big places, though. That's gonna be the problem.
[00:47:21] Because Radiohead's gonna be at Soldier Field if they play, which, that's one of the worst. But again, I'm ready to go and I'm, I'll go to see 'em when they come too. So we'll see. And I hope they play the Chicago leg.
[00:47:32] And then the last concert I saw last month was Dogs in a Pile did a residency at Garcia's, and I love that place. I just wish it was close to my house so I could go once a week, like Dawn and start racking up some shows. Because man, again, a nice place, charging $8 for a beer, I looked at Dawn's list and I go, man, I had a pretty crappy year. I saw about 12 things, only one a month. And then my wife's what do you mean you saw too many?
[00:47:55] Charles: It's all relative, right?
[00:47:57] Andy: Yeah, that's what I figured. But then we talk about it. I'd like to do [00:48:00] a show every other week. Not do a Dawn, but again, try to do 25 a year. But we'll see.
[00:48:05] Charles: Yeah. And Summer's experience with Bridget Calls Me Baby. When we were there seeing Dogs in a Pile of Garcias you were standing next to the bass player of Dogs a Pile. His dad was at the show.
[00:48:17] Andy: Yeah. And it was funny. He just goes, Hey, what do you see? I go, I saw him at Bonnaroo. I go, they were great, this and that. And he goes, oh really? You went down there? I go, yeah. Went and saw him. He goes, yeah, I'm the bass player's dad, and next thing you know, it was a nice little five minute talk with the bass player's dad. And then he came over during the break and he is standing right there talking to the whole group and everything. Again, a nice experience just being right there in the middle of it. And, that's what you hit with these nice small venues though. I don't think we're meeting Getty Lee's dad at the UC. ,
[00:48:44] Charles: No, I don't think so. No. But yeah, that was cool. That's a great venue. Like you said, it's small, it's like terraced. So at that show, they had the main floor, a slice of the main floor cleared of tables, and you had two levels of tables, and then a bar in the back, [00:49:00] which where we were standing up above then the tables. And it's really well thought out. And it's a really nice venue, a great place to see a band.
[00:49:09] Steve: Absolutely. Hey, somebody I'm checking out. Someone turned me onto them. A girl band called The Beaches.
[00:49:14]
Charles:
Okay. yeah, It was a great year for concerts and I appreciate everyone who came on to share their concert experiences and and yeah, we just look forward to 2026.