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John F's Top 5 Concerts · Deprogrammed Music Podcast

0:21
It's Deprogrammed, the podcast where we try to get you into a
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band. That's right, we've done all the
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work for you. All you have to do is press play
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and listen. My name is Justin and I am band
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curious, indeed curious about bands.
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And normally what we would do on an episode of Deprogrammed is
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get a panel of people together, talk about a band and come out
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with a top 10 starter kit list for you to get into the band as
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well. We're not doing that today.
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I don't know how you stumbled across this.
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Please consider hitting subscribe if you have indeed
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just stumbled across this. If you're not new Year, then you
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knew that something was coming up.
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It's Friday. Normally would do AQ and A and
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we'll get back to the Q and as I forgot to prompt questions to be
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aid. So we do not have any questions
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this week. We'll get back to it eventually.
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But last week on the show or on this episode, Joe prompted me
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live to just go off the top of my Dome top five shows and that
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went over well. So we wanted to revisit that
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idea and John popped in and said I would love to do my top five
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and then proceeded to bring 13, which I mean, whatever man,
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it's, it's cool. I.
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Tried. I tried.
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I mean, you know, we at this point in our lives, we've all
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seen a lot of great shows. So do it however you wish.
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Like if you wanted to dust off the the honorable mentions
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briefly and then jump into your list or however you wanted to
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present it, man. Yeah, well, First off, thanks
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for having me and letting me be on this.
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These have been super cool to listen to.
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And it's it's cool to just get like a little quick, quick hit
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of things. So we'll try to keep this brief.
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I could go on for hours. But yeah, like I've, you know,
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being in a band for a while and then like living in a town where
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their shows every night. Like I've probably, I've
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definitely seen more than 1000 concerts in my life.
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So over the last couple of days been going back and trying to
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think of like, OK, what are the ones that are the most
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memorable? And like, a lot of them have
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been great. Like I'm, I tried not to, you
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know, the ones that like my friends bands and stuff.
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Those are all super cool and memorable, but I tried to keep
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to the ones that had extra meaning.
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So I, I did pick 13. I'm going to run through them
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real quick. Some of them I've mentioned
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talked about before on the show, one of those being Shellac in in
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Athens in I think it was 2001. They were touring for 1000 Hertz
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and getting to see them basically playing at a recording
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studio and then getting to play softball with him after the
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show. That makes honorable mention
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because I I don't really remember much of the actual
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performance. It's more the, the like visuals
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of it in the, the softball game after and just being like, like
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thinking like, oh, this is such a unique experience.
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Like, you know, definitely going to remember this Seeing there's
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a band from originally they're from Venezuela that are called
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Zeta. They live in Florida now, but I
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went down to the fest in Gainesville a few years ago and
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Zeta they usually play every year and they're they're great.
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They mix like Latin fusion rhythms with hardcore and it's
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this really interesting thing. They have an album called Maggia
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Infinito, which is amazing. And getting to see them live,
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like I've, I've been wanting to see them for a long time and
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getting to see them just in the afternoon.
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But they, they've got 10 people on stage and switching
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instruments and the guys like they're just, they're not even
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using microphones half the time. So you have to get up close and
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like at one point the guy came out into the crowd and was doing
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like a whole thing. They covered Radiohead, which I
4:09
didn't even realize, the first one of the song, I think it was
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the national anthem from Kid. A incredible, incredible
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performance. Did you get a chance to see him?
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Definitely do. Andy Peterson's Army is a
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hardcore band from, I believe they're from Denmark or Finland.
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They'd come over and played a house in Athens and I was there.
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It's probably 1999 or 2000 and they're like this really furious
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like thrash band. But seeing a band like that in a
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really tight enclosed space with like 2025 people, you're like,
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oh man, this is what it must have been like to see like the
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Circle Jerks in 1979 or or Black Flag in 1980.
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You know, it had that kind of feel to it where there's like
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the best thing about live shows is like when there's like a
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magic in the air, right? There's something like palpable
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in the air that you could feel me like something magical is
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happening right now and I remember that show just walking
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away being like that was something really special because
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they just tore the roof off the place furious like people
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bouncing around It was unbelievable.
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Next Sunny D real Estate in 1998.
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I've been really into them in the when they first came out in
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1990, four 1995, they've broken up in 1995 and I didn't think
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I'd ever get a chance to see them, but they reunited in 98.
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But I had a new album and toured and that was really cool for me.
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I one of my favorite bands and never get thought I'd get a
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chance to see them. So I remember those shows being
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really emotional and just trying to soak it all in and being
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like, oh, this is amazing. Like they're they've gotten back
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together again. They're still around.
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I've gotten to see them four or five Times Now, but the the
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first time this was really, really special seeing them Mets.
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I think I talked about this on the on the Mets episode, seeing
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Mets. I think it was 2013 after they
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were just touring their first album and they played at 529,
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which is a small club in in East Atlanta.
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And I had to work at 5:00 AM the next morning, but I was like,
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I'm not missing Mets. So I the show didn't start till
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like 11 and I'm like, Oh my God, like I'm, I'm not even going to
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sleep tonight. Should I stay?
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Like should I go? I don't I don't know what to do.
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Mets goes on at probably like 12:45 AM and again, just blue
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doors, like so loud, just the place just going crazy.
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There's probably 100 a 150 people there in this in again in
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this tight little enclosed area. And I just remember like just
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buzzing after that show being like Trent got home and like
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slept for three hours, got up and went to work and still just
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like that, that feeling of like, oh, you get goosebumps.
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Like I just saw something really special.
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The last honourable mention that I'll get, I'll get to the top
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five at the drive in getting to see them in 1998 and 19991998,
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they played at the Echo Lounge in Atlanta.
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They opened up for Jimmy World actually, which was a bad move
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on Jimmy World's part because at the Drive in blew them off the
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stage. They were just like a tight ball
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of kinetic energy at that point. Like they would just come on and
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just explode. And I remember after that show
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just being like, Oh my God, this is my favorite band.
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And then in in 1999, they were supposed to play in Atlanta at
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the point, but the point it closed down.
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So I'd emailed their booking agent to be like, hey, you know,
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if they want to come play in Athens, we have a date that
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works out. So we'd love to have them.
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We we would open up if we there's a spot, but yeah, I'd
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love to have it. And then turns out it worked
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out. We got to play without the drive
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in. They were unbelievably amazing.
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And see videos of them. They're incredible live and
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they're got back together again. So we're going to get to the top
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five. My number 5 is the Murder City
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Devils. In.
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Athens in I think it was 2000 or 2001, the dates this gave me
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mold and but it was at a house the ultra mod compound, which is
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this guy Gordon Lamb, who was a writer.
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He still is a writer for the weekly all paper there, but it
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was his house and he would do shows there and it's basically
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in the living room. And so we're going to see the
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mercy devils and they're getting set up like all the you go get
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the amps already getting tuning instruments, tune all that.
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But Spencer, their singers nowhere to be found.
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So they're they start kind of joking around, like, oh, you
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know, where, where is he? You know, I wonder where he went
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off to. So they're, they're like ready
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to start the show and like where's Spencer?
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Can't find him. And they had this roadie named
9:00
Gabe who's like this huge, like hulking, but probably 6-4, you
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know, handlebar mustache, you know, denim cut off jacket, like
9:10
total, like you would think of like a roadie for a rock'n'roll
9:14
band, right. So they're like, we can't find
9:17
him. Nobody knows where he is.
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So Gabe, like, snaps into action, takes off out out the
9:24
door, right at the crowds ready. Like he, he kind of that kind of
9:27
that expectation, the anticipation is building, right?
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Like what's going to happen? So Gabe takes off, comes back a
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minute later with Spencer under his arm, sets him in front of
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the microphone and they kick in and he plays Spencer played the
9:46
whole show with his eyes closed. I think he just got too drunk
9:50
before the show. Whole show with his eyes closed.
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Nailed it. They were just on fire like and
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again, seeing a band like that in in someone's living room is
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something you don't forget and just incredible.
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And so they had played they they come back the next year and
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played in Atlanta at a like a bar and at a club and went to go
10:10
see him. And I saw Spencer before the
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show just like hanging out and I was like, hey, man, I saw you
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guys in in Athens last year when, you know, when they had to
10:20
go get you before the show, Like was that that was a bit right.
10:23
You were doing like a bit. He was like, no, I was, I was
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fucked up. That made it even more cool that
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it wasn't They weren't doing like a bit.
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That was amazing. My number 4 is seeing Against Me
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in Athens on their first tour. And it was just Laura and Kevin,
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Laura playing guitar and Kevin, their first drummer was just
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playing buckets. And I remember it was at the
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this place called the above bookstore.
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It's my friend Robert Newsome was running and they we had a
11:00
basement. They would do shows in the
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basement. And I remember my, my friend
11:05
Matt Roth had gotten a copy of No against me.
11:09
It sent him their 7 inch the crime 7 inch the, the, the
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really the first one that came out.
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They had an EP before that, but it wasn't really well, well
11:20
released, well publicized. So the we get the crime 7 inch
11:23
and they had sent it to him to book a show.
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So I remember going there and that's like, you got to hear
11:30
this record. So we go to the bookstore and he
11:32
plays it and we're like, Oh my God, this is like at that time
11:37
you're like this, Oh my God, this is the greatest thing I've
11:39
ever heard. Like the songs are catchy.
11:41
Like it's this, it's kind of folky punk.
11:44
But like, he's got these energy and these kids are from
11:46
Gainesville and they want to come play.
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So we set up the show and just in this again in the small
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little basement, seeing just the two of them, Laura and Kevin
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playing and her putting like all this emotion of these songs and
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they're playing all the early songs.
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I remember they played impact, which is a was a bonus track on
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the on the EP when the CD came out.
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And I remember just being just being blown away and like I
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grabbed the setlist, like I still have it and like the flyer
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for the show and like, Oh my God, guys like come back soon.
12:21
Like what, like who are you? Where did this come from?
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And like, we kind of got to know them a little bit, and we would
12:28
book shows from them when they would come up for the next few
12:30
years until they kind of graduated to the next level of,
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like, not playing basement shows anymore.
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Yeah, that was. And like, I remember thinking,
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like, this is going to change the world.
12:40
This is amazing. And it's sort of did.
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Yeah. My number 3 is Frank Turner and
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this one, like we haven't done a Frank Turner episode, even
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though I'd really love to for for many different reasons.
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This one's super important to me, which we will get into if
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slash when we do that episode. If anyone's out there and wants
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to do it, please let me know let Justin know.
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So Frank Turner is this British singer-songwriter.
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He's been around forever. He's huge in in England and
13:18
Europe, but he you know, medium, medium sized famous here.
13:24
But he did a show he played at a festival in Decatur.
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This is probably 2013, 2014, maybe 2015.
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But like the, you know, a festival with some like other
13:38
not like a punk festival or anything, just like some like
13:42
regular bands playing. So he played in the afternoon
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and then on his social media, he was like, oh, we're looking,
13:49
we're looking for another show to play tonight.
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We're looking for another show. Stay tuned.
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We're we're going to try to, we're going to try to work
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something out. We're going to try to do a
13:55
bonus. So we're driving around and
14:01
trying to figure out what's going to happen.
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And then it turns out like we're like, didn't go home.
14:06
Like we got to stick around in case he plays another show.
14:09
So it turns out he like eventually works it out.
14:11
He's like, oh, we're going to meet at this park in little five
14:15
points. It's like kind of this little
14:17
grassy concrete. It's not really a a park like
14:21
you would think of like a wide open space.
14:23
It's like a little park in between some shops in the road,
14:26
right? It's probably 30 feet by 50 feet
14:29
just as open air little area with some tables and some grass
14:32
and a tree. And like, you know, it's a
14:33
little little sitting area. Kind of he's like, we're going
14:37
to meet there at like 10 o'clock 9:00 be there.
14:41
It's we're just doing a pop up show, right?
14:44
So get there. There's probably again, maybe 50
14:48
people there kind of hanging around.
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He shows up, just runs out with an acoustic guitar and we kind
14:55
of like they kind of make this little semicircle and he starts
14:58
playing and he played for almost an hour just acoustic like
15:04
busking on the street. And that was, it was incredible.
15:09
And like, he actually covered damn it by Blink 182 at one
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point. Didn't expect that guy.
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Which was, yeah, amazing. And actually one of the songs
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from this, I guess they had recorded it when he put out a
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box set the next year. And there there was a a bonus
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disc called 10 for 10. They he did a version of a song
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called English Curse, which is an acapella song about, you
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know, the old, old, like the old England, like the kings and
15:41
legend for the kind of that that kind of a thing.
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And the version of English Curse from this show is on that box
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that is called Atlanta Curse. But definitely check that out.
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And that's always cool that like that we have a record of that
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show and that it made it onto that onto that box that he
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thought it was cool enough to release.
16:02
So the next two are pretty important.
16:07
My number 2 is seeing Pearl Jam in Charlotte in 2013.
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So I had seen Pearl Jam in 1998 in Atlanta and that was more
16:20
like a thing like, OK, I'm into getting into punk rock now.
16:23
Like Pearl Jam is not gonna be my favorite band anymore.
16:26
I'll just go see them and then that'll be it, right?
16:29
And like I'll, I'll say I'll be able to see that, say that I've
16:31
seen them move on like in a punk band, like Pearl Jam's not cool.
16:36
Whatever. So I saw them and then I didn't
16:39
see them for 14 years. I had gone in 2012, I'd starting
16:46
to get back into their live stuff and but they, they never
16:49
came down before that actually. But they never played down here.
16:53
Like famously they never came and played the South or hardly
16:56
ever. So I'd gone to see them in
16:59
Memphis in 2012 and it was incredible.
17:02
Like they're still great. They, you know, they're at any
17:06
time they're liable to play anything out of the catalog,
17:09
right? The set list changes nightly.
17:11
You never know what you're going to hear.
17:12
People track what they what they hear.
17:15
You know, if you guys know, if you listen to those Pearl Jam
17:19
Championship edition, we, we definitely talked about it.
17:23
But the Charlotte show was the next year, 2013.
17:26
And that was when I was more, I was like, OK, I'm going to get
17:28
back into this. And they came down, they didn't
17:30
play Atlanta that year. So I drove up to Charlotte, got
17:34
there like the night before and I think I was like the 6th or
17:38
7th person in line, right? So I was like, alright, I'm
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going to get a good spot here. So waiting around all day for
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the show, get up to the rail and I'm right in front of Ed on the
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rail. I'm like, this is going to be
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incredible. Like I was closer to him than
17:56
the drummer, which is just unbelievable.
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And so finally, you know, they, they come out on stage and you
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know when you like a feel a responsibility when you're up
18:10
that close, right? You're like, I have to be, have
18:12
to be, you have to be on your game.
18:13
Like you have to be participating.
18:14
You have to be singing along. You have to make it special
18:16
because you're right there. So I'm like screaming along to
18:19
every song doing my thing. At one point he saw me and he
18:23
pointed at me and like threw a pic at me.
18:26
Missed of course, but the bouncer was nice enough to, to
18:29
grab it off the floor and give it to me.
18:32
But the cool part was like about, you know, 2/3 of the way
18:35
through the shore or whatever. He goes on this kind of rant
18:40
about, oh, you know, their, their album Lightning Voltage
18:42
just come out. It was just number one in the
18:45
Billboard rock charts or whatever.
18:46
So he's talking about he's like, oh, it's nice to have, you know,
18:49
be recognized for this record that we just put out and have it
18:52
be #1 we didn't even have to show our tits, right?
18:56
So, and for me, I'm like this, something clicks in my head and
19:02
I point over at Stone, who's on the side and I'm like, come on,
19:07
let's go show him. And so people see me and they
19:12
kind of join in. It kind of becomes a little
19:13
thing. So we're all pointing at Stone,
19:15
the guitar player, like, come on, show us.
19:17
You got to, you got to pull the shirt up.
19:18
You got to do it. So he gives a quick nod, pulls
19:22
the shirt up. And then of course, everybody
19:23
gets gets a big cheer. Everybody, the band kind of
19:26
laughs about it. So I kind of got to participate
19:30
in that moment with them. And then later on during the
19:33
song, I think the song elderly woman behind the counter in a
19:36
small town, there's a part where he's like, I seem to recognize
19:40
your breath or something. He changed it to breast in the
19:44
in the lyric and looked over at it and kind of did a little
19:46
thing. So and that was the first time
19:48
I'd gotten to see them on the rail.
19:49
I've been on the rail since then.
19:52
They came to Atlanta finally again last year, got to be on
19:55
the rail for those, which is incredible.
19:57
But that Charlotte when really sticks out as the first time.
20:01
I got to kind of be a part of it and and see them up close and
20:04
personal. So that's my #2 my number one is
20:10
of course, my favorite band, Fugazi.
20:12
They'd come and played two shows at Atlanta and Athens in 1999.
20:20
So I'd gone down to the Atlanta show the night before.
20:24
And I had taken my little handheld recorder to get like
20:28
them to do an ID for the radio station.
20:31
And I was talking to them and I was like, hey, I have a DJ shift
20:36
at the college radio station tomorrow.
20:39
If you guys want. I would love to have you come up
20:41
and you can just play records and we'll talk and just it'll be
20:44
kind of casual and it'll be cool.
20:47
Like I'm like, this would be amazing.
20:49
Like people would love to hear it.
20:50
I would love to hear Fugazi, like just talk about records and
20:52
play some of their favorite songs, you know, but I'm like,
20:54
we have vinyl. We can we can actually play
20:56
records. So they're like, yeah, you know,
21:00
we'll we'll let you know. Like we'll see if we can work it
21:02
out. Thanks.
21:04
You know, we'll see. So I'm, so I get to the radio
21:08
station the, the next day, the day of the Athens show, and I'm
21:14
at the, I'm sitting at the, you know, the board and getting
21:17
ready to go my shift and the phone rings and it's Brendan
21:22
Canty from Fugazi. And he's like, hey, man, like
21:26
we're not going to be able to make it.
21:27
We ended up hanging out with some friends and we're just kind
21:29
of chilling out, like, thanks for the invite, but we're not
21:32
going to be able to do it. I was like, I totally understand
21:35
what's not a problem, right? I, I was not holding them to it.
21:39
You go hang out with your friends.
21:40
It's totally fine. I'll be OK.
21:42
So I decided instead to just play 2 hours of however, three
21:49
hours of Fugazi during my show. So I was like pulling out stuff
21:53
from all across the catalog up to that point, just trying to
21:57
mix and match, just playing different songs, talking about
21:59
the show. So that, so I did that.
22:04
Go back, get to the show right up front.
22:09
And if you go to the Fugazi live series page for the show,
22:12
there's a picture, they have some pictures from the show and
22:16
you can see me with my half Mohawk or whatever in the in the
22:21
front row. And so Ian comes out and he's
22:26
like, where's the, where's the DJ?
22:27
Where's the DJ? And I'm like, I'm like, what?
22:30
OK, I'm, I'm here. And he's like, yeah, like you,
22:35
you're on your, you know, he's like, I thought you'd be fucking
22:39
sick of us by now. I'm surprised you're here.
22:42
Don't believe me? I I was always going to be here.
22:44
It's it's it's cool. So they go through the show and
22:47
like they played like something like 35 songs of look, I'm
22:51
looking at this. It's like almost two hours, one
22:53
of the longest shows in their in their history.
22:56
And they get to the encore that quote UN quote encore.
23:01
And he looks at me, Ian looks at me and he goes, you're working
23:06
on your 5th fucking hour of us today.
23:08
And I'm like, yeah, like that should be everyday.
23:11
Like what is? I don't see the problem.
23:14
And he's like, we should we should give you a reward like
23:18
with you should get something for that.
23:20
He's like, what song do you want to hear?
23:21
I'm like, Oh my God, like, and I I like this moment lives in my
23:25
brain constantly. Like time slows down, you know,
23:28
you get that whole thing. We're like, Oh my God, like what
23:31
am I gonna do? Like I need to remember this
23:33
moment. And like people are slapping on
23:37
the back like my friends are there like, Oh my God.
23:40
And so I like scream out. I'm like, I'm trying to think of
23:44
like, Oh my, they've already played 30 something songs.
23:47
I'm like, Oh my God, what have they?
23:48
What have they not played that I would want to hear?
23:52
So I scream out great cop, which is one of my favorite songs from
23:56
in on the kill Taylor, like in on the kill taker, like a super
23:59
fast 1 and I'm like great cop and I can and you can hear this
24:05
on the bootleg. There's a there's a bootleg of
24:07
the show that I have and he goes right.
24:11
He goes. I usually introduce the song by
24:13
saying you'd make a great cop, you fucking pig.
24:16
And they just like kick into the song.
24:17
Like again, they they've been playing like almost two hours at
24:21
this point, but I'm like, I still get goosebumps thinking
24:24
about it. And I remember as the songs
24:26
playing like, I need to remember this.
24:28
This is the coolest moment of my entire life.
24:32
And yeah, just I'm being blown away.
24:35
And like they they played a couple more songs and then the
24:37
show ended. I as I'm walking out just on a
24:40
high and like people coming up to me like, oh, that was a great
24:42
choice. Like, oh, good job.
24:44
Like super cool and like one of the coolest moments of my life.
24:48
So that is that is my number one and those are some of the best
24:52
shows I ever saw. Man, that's some heavy hitters,
24:56
folks. Good luck following that.
25:00
So we do a lot of these type of conversations on our after the
25:03
fact. I want to point that out here.
25:05
So if you enjoy these conversations and they become
25:09
conversations on after the fact, you can pledge the
25:12
patreonpatreon.com/oh. Hi Justin, it's only a dollar a
25:16
month. I understand if you can, but if
25:18
you can, dollar a month gets you in the door and there's more
25:22
back and forth this. I wanted to just give John the
25:24
floor because I had the floor last week when we did this.
25:27
If if you want to do this as well, let me know.
25:29
We'll we'll line it up. We'll try to figure out a time
25:32
to do it. And thanks again, John, for
25:34
sharing and. Thank you.
25:36
We will see you all on Monday, bye.