My friend Amy and I were killing time before Razorlight took the stage at Tabernacle the other night. We'd spent the last three evenings around one another so the conversation well was sufficiently dry at that point. I was busy visually scanning the crowd when I overheard the girl next to us discussing the sublime experience she had at a limited seating concert for Christina Aguilera. After my inner music snob got through rolling on the floor laughing, I had a brilliant thought. What if, as part of the admission, they printed the first show you'd ever been to, followed by your favorite show square on your forehead. After some discussion, it was decided that the first show you'd ever been to had to be a voluntarily effort on your part for the purpose of seeing that show (i.e. my seeing the Beach Boys after a Braves game doesn't count). Think of the interesting conversation that could be triggered by doing this. Screw buying the world a Coke, this could be the answer to bridging the societal divide. So this stirred the thought pot and I've taken it a step further laying out the 10 best shows I've experienced in my life. They were all a high on so many different levels so let's get to it.

**All concerts were in Atlanta unless otherwise noted.**

1. Tori Amos @ Atlanta Symphony Hall: 08/06/94 - This one holds the dual distinction of being my first and favorite concert. It was senior year in high school, in the midst of my musical awakening (yeah I got a late start), when I first saw Tori. We are talking seventh row seats at Atlanta Symphony Hall on the Under the Pink tour, nonetheless. The fiery haired beauty came out, straddling the piano bench as if to say, "hang on to something or somebody because I'm about to rip into you with everything I've got." The intimacy of her with the piano fused in my mind and would make every show I've seen after that one (I'm on 8 now) a little less special. That evening she was the epitome of everything a musician should be and everything a woman could be. In that moment, she stole my heart and everyone is forever to trail a distant second.

2. Scissor Sisters @ the Roxy: 11/29/04 - Such an auspicious placing for such a young group. This show kind of shocked me. I knew they would be good, but I just couldn't have foreseen that I would have this much fun. For the evening, the Roxy was magically transformed into Queer as Folk's Babylon, and I felt like the straightest guy on the face of the Earth. Homosexual marriage may not be legal in Georgia, but damned if it's going to stop them from partying like it's 1999. It was a tangle of drag show, music upheaval and cultural awakening. "Comfortably Numb" rocked like the slickest disco this side of Saturday Night Fever. Quiet moments like "Mary" and "It Can't Come Quickly Enough" were exactingly poignant. It was a spectacle and then some. Definitely, one of the most fun things I've ever experienced.

3. Shootout Winners (Jennifer Daniels, Daniel Lee, Claire & Bain's Maple Yum Yum & Jeffery Hyde Thompson) @ Eddie's Attic: 06/02 - Every week, Eddie's Attic holds an Open Mic competition where 20 budding artists perform. Each of those weekly winners advances on to the Shootout held every six months. They all compete against one another for the opportunity to take home $1000 and the coveted title of Shootout winner. For one brief second, the planets aligned perfectly and the scheduling guru at Eddie's brought together four of the best Shootout winners to perform as part of the same bill. I had dug up tracks on all of these artists beforehand, but this was the first time I'd seen any of them perform live. Man, what a night of music. They each played about a 45-minute set then they started it all up again, playing another 45. It was like 7 hours of the best independent music you'll ever hear. The talent in that room was staggering. Anyone of these artists can bring down the house on their own; together there are just no words. Seeing them all in a quaint listening room like Eddie's (launching pad for acoustic troubadours like John Mayer and Shawn Mullins) just made it all the sweeter.

4. Morrissey @ Tabernacle: 10/22/04 - I'd been carrying around a rather sizable chip on my shoulder for much too long. Morrissey and Tori were my introduction to music and up until last year, I'd never seen Morrissey live. He once came through Atlanta, touring for Vauxhall and I, which my friend went to yet neglected to tell me about. You see, I was disconnected from the world at the time in Statesboro (pre-Internet) so I had no way of knowing. To say I was pissed at him would be an understatement of mocha grande proportions. All was healed last year when Moz rolled through touring on Quarry. It was a religious experience to be that close to one of the building blocks of my love of music. I can now die a happy man. For more on Morrissey's Quarry tour and the Atlanta show, read the write-up on Live at Earl's Court.

5. Ours @ Cotton Club: 10/16/01 - You know this was a kickin' show if it made the list despite being at the venue I love to hate, the horribly ventilated Cotton Club. We've left shows early because the smoke just stacks up, overwhelming your tired lungs. I didn't know what to expect from these guys. Gnecco was rumored to be the return of the late Jeff Buckley, and Distorted Lullabies had been one of my addiction disks for a while. They came out looking a bit Goth and just blistered into their perfectly layered tunes. My ears were shattered, but I'd discovered so much more buried in these songs as a courtesy of their performance that evening. Distorted Lullabies has been a top 10 disk ever since, and Ours remains the most promising band to deliver an assaulting rock show.

6. Dave Matthews Band @ Legends in Statesboro: 08/94 - The year was 1994, and it was the week prior to venturing into the frightening waters of my freshman year at Georgia Southern. My recently met roommate said he was going to check out this band playing over at Legends called the Dave Matthews Band. "Who?", was my reply. They were below nobodies at the time. Grudgingly, I went along and saw a band on the fringe of greatness. They were so smooth and tight, feeding off each other's sound. About a month later, "What Would You Say" became a radio staple, exploding them into the stratosphere, never to be seen in a hole in the wall like that again.

7. Coldplay @ Grady Cole Center in Charlotte: 01/25/03 - So how cool would it be, if you could see Coldplay performing in your high school gymnasium -- minus that sweaty sock smell of course? We're not talking pre-Parachutes days, but during the mania that was A Rush of Blood to the Head. That is exactly what this show was. They did an abbreviated tour of more intimate venues and one of their stops was this community college in Charlotte. Somehow, they packed the feel of their arena show into that shoebox so the place was booming. The acoustics were top notch, the energy was electric and Coldplay rocked the living daylights out of that gymnasium.

8. Norah Jones @ Variety Playhouse: 03/23/02 - Did you realize that there was a time when Norah Jones was opening for John Mayer? I'm not talking about arena selling out John. This was hungry, pre-'running through the halls of his high school/screaming at the top of his lungs' John. Anyway, Norah had just come off that stint to garner a following big enough to play a venue like Variety, which seats around 800. It was her biggest show to date and you could see she was visibly nervous in her first number to start the evening. Once she settled into her music, sinking her fingers into the keys and opening up that heavenly voice, the nerves had vanished and everyone was entranced by this angel. She gave me goose bumps the entire evening. If that weren't enough, one of the best, yet to be discovered artists, David Ryan Harris, opened for her. He has one of the best live shows around and was jockeying hard for that ten spot before I decided to spread the wealth.

9. The Cardigans @ Variety Playhouse: 02/11/97 - "Love Fool" had just begun to saturate the airwaves, transforming the Cardigans into an international sensation. I hated every damn minute of it because I loved them for the savvy, fresh pop group they were, not the syrupy bubble gum hit that even your mom knew all the words to. Nina was so friggin' sexy that night sporting tight leather pants and an accentuating camo top. Once I got my drool cup firmly strapped to my chin, the focus returned on the music. The Swedes put on the perfect set as a group at the top of their musical form. Pop has never been sweeter.

10. Ryan Adams @ Variety Playhouse: 10/28/01 - And Mr. Adams gives us the Variety trifecta. Ryan was just pulling himself out of the shadows of Whiskeytown with the release of the stunning Heartbreaker. He came onstage, started to play and just wouldn't quit. He had so much raw energy and passion for the music that you couldn't drag him off that stage. He performed two encores that went 30 minutes to an hour apiece. Yes the encore. It was insane. He ran out of his own songs so he began pulling out Sabbath and Black Flag covers. I didn't get much sleep that night, but that was worth the keyboard prints on my face the next day. My companion for the evening may disagree with this selection since she fell asleep (I'm still trying to figure that one out happened), but I'm standing fast to my choice.

Closing notes: Like any all time list, we are dealing with a moving target here. Next month, I could see a couple shows that completely disrupt the fabric of this list. Actually, I have to say that would be pretty cool. I mean I still haven't seen Keane, Sade, Rachael Yamagata, Radiohead, Fiona Apple -- spiraling on into infinity. All we can do is write out our memories in pencil because there are lots of great ones still yet to join the party.

Email this article to a friend