2011 Year In Review Part 2

In January, there was a bit of panic because I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to find a show and I thought that I might lose my streak of one concert every month that had started I believe at some point in 2008.  However, I decided to go see Kicking Daisies in Hamden, even though there was talk of it snowing. (I made it home before anything happened, I don’t recall if anything even did end up happening!)

February kicked off with winning free tickets to check out The Alternate Routes at Daniel Street in Milford.  I met Big Time Rush at the Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge, met Danny Gokey at the Mohegan Sun Wolf’s Den and went to see Clay Aiken but waited at the bus until it began to snow without even so much of a sighting.

March had 2 Hanson radio events in MA and NJ.  They had said they wouldn’t be going on tour so I had to make sure that if I had the chance to see them, I would!  Drake Bell canceled his tour, this ruining my life once again, and I got a refund for the VIP tickets I had bought to meet Emily Osment at the show.  Instead that night I went to see Ocean Grove in New York City.  I met Lee DeWyze at his acoustic cafe (winning tickets just a couple of hours before it was scheduled to start) and then saw him from the front row later that night.

April kicked off with a 2 for 1 special at the Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge with Stealing Angels and DJ Miller.  On a whim, I went to see Ricky Martin at the Mohegan Sun Casino and finished up the month with back to back shows of Ocean Grove in MA and Jon McLaughlin in Fairfield.

In May I took a trip to Tulsa to see Hanson’s Members Only Event and was front row.  I came home and checked out Mat Kearney’s acoustic cafe and the next day, Siobhan Magnus at the casino.  I saw a Gavin DeGraw acoustic cafe, followed by The Ready Set at the Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge and then I headed straight over to Ridgefield to see Javier Colon at the playhouse.  May ended with NKOTBSB at the casino.

In June, I started my new job and then headed BACK to the casino to see NKOTBSB again. I also saw SK6ers at my favorite venue, David Cook at an acoustic Cafe, Hanson in National Harbor, and Honor Society twice on their Wherever You Are tour.

July kicked of with Warped Tour and seeing Simple Plan and ended with Jonny Lang at the Ridgefield Playhouse – which was an amazing show!

In August I saw The Voice contestants live from the 3rd row, Siobhan Magnus from the 3rd row, Britney Spears from the not 3rd row (didn’t feel like paying $1k for that!), Joe Jonas and others at Ticket to ride and finished out the month with 2 American Idol shows.  One I won tickets to and the other I had VIP tickets for.  Turns out, I also had a front row ticket right at the center of the catwalk!

September started with winning tickets to see Steven Page (formerly of Bare Naked Laides) at the Wolf Den.  Then I took a trip to DC to see friends and they took me to see Stevie Nicks at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, VA. When I got home, I went to see Ingram Hill for the first time in YEARS, finally got to meet Elliott Yamin and finished out the month with checking out Kicking Daisies at the Ridgefield Playhouse and then Josh Gracin at the Mohegan Sun Wolf Den.

In October, Hanson came around on their tour (yeah, the one they said wasn’t happening) and I saw them in New Haven, Boston and New York.  I would have seen them in Albany too, but that show got canceled due to Taylor being really sick. (They canceled 4 shows for the first time ever due to being sick).  I also checked out Action Item VIP style (and thought I’d miss all the VIP fun when I got in a car accident just up the street from the venue!) and saw Katie Stevens perform at Mohegan Sun, meeting her afterwards.

November brought a Mat Kearney show, a trip to PA solo to see and meet David Cook (and see his show with Gavin DeGraw from the front row!), a last minute decision to check out Katy Perry live, Action Item’s New Jersey homecoming and 2 Honor Society shows on the Rock The Red Kettle tour. (Which now brings me to a total of 30 Honor Society shows!)

December kicked off with the TIC Christmas show with Christina Perri, Gavin DeGraw, The Fray and KELLY CLARKSON! Who I have always wanted to see but didn’t ever have the opportunity to before! It ended with checking out Action Item opening for Ariana Grande’s first concert ever in NYC!

It was quite an exciting year and I hope that 2012 is just as much fun 🙂

Year in Review – 2011

Most expensive show:  American Idols Live VIP – $254.75
Least (not free) expensive show:  Kicking Daisies at The Space – $9.72
Free shows:  Alternate Routes, Big Time Rush, Danny Gokey, Hanson (x3), Lee DeWyze (x2), Stealing Angels, DJ Miller, Mat Kearney, Siobhan Magnus (x2), Gavin DeGraw, The Ready Set, David Cook, Steven Page, Stevie Nicks, Josh Gracin, Katie Stevens, Katy Perry
# artists seen:  164
# unique artists seen: 89
# shows seen in CT:   37
# of shows out of state:  17
Show farthest away:  Hanson in Tulsa, OK
Closest show:  Alternate Routes at Daniel Street in Milford, CT
$$ spent on tickets:  $1,780.38
Miles traveled: 10,826

Top 6 shows​ of the year?​​​
Jon McLaughlin Fairfield, CT
NKOTBSB Uncasville CT
Hanson National Harbor, MD
American Idol Bridgeport, CT
Jonny Lang Ridgefield, CT
David Cook York, PA

Total​ numbe​r of shows​ in 2011?
55

First​ show of the year?​​​
Kicking Daisies Hamden, CT

First​ show with actua​l ticke​ts:​​​
Kicking Daisies Hamden, CT

Last show of the year?​​​
Ariana Grande in NYC

Most surpri​sing show?​​​
Katy Perry Hartford, CT

Most disap​point​ing?​​​
Drake Bell tour being canceled.

Farth​est trave​led?​​​
Tulsa, OK to see Hanson

State​s atten​ded shows​ in?
CT, MA, NJ, NY, OK, MA, PA, VA

Venue​ most visit​ed?​​​
Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge (aka Clear Channel Studios)

Worst​ injur​y?​​​
Not to me – but my car got hit on the way to see Action Item at The Space.

Most expen​sive ticke​t?​​​
American Idol VIP ticket $254. (Most expensive non VIP was Britney Spears at $198)

Band seen the most?​​​
Hanson – 7

Best new disco​very?​​​
Action Item, Javier Colon

Bands​ seen this year that also broke​ up this year?​​​
None that I know of

Frien​ds made at shows​?​​​
None that I can think of

Band membe​rs met?
Big Time Rush, Danny Gokey, Hanson, Ocean Grove, Lee DeWyze, Stealing Angels, DJ Miller, Jon McLaughlin, Mat Kearney, Siobhan Magnus, Gavin DeGraw, The Ready Set, Javier Colon, David Cook, Honor Society, Action Item, Katelyn Tarver, Naima Adeapo, Thia Megia, Paul McDonald, Pia Tuscano, Stefano Langone, Casey Abrams, Jacob Lusk, Haley Reinhart, James Durbin, Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery, Elliott Yamin, Charlie Mars, Katie Stevens, Duran and Ben from Kicking Daisies

Best souvenir​ from a show?​​​
Ocean Grove signed poster designed by Garbo, Hanson limited edition silk screen posters from 3 shows

Longe​st time in line?​​​
Action Item’s hometown show in New Jersey… but even that was only a couple of hours

Shows​ seen from the barri​cade [​​​front​ row]​​​-​​​-​​​
Big Time Rush Dunkin Donuts Music Lounge
Lee DeWyze Acoustic Cafe
Lee DeWyze Sacred Heart
Hanson Cain’s Ballroom Tulsa
Hanson National Harbor
American Idol Webster Bank Arena
Action Item at The Space
David Cook Pullo Center

Most shows​ in one month​?​​​
May wins with 7, Followed by August, September and November with 6.

Most shows​ in one week?​​​
3 – November 29, 30 & December 1
3 – August 21, 23, 25

Bigge​st crowd​?​​​
NKOTBSB at the Mohegan Sun Arena

Any drunk​ encou​nters​?​​​
Fortunately, no

Top 5 best 2011 conce​rt momen​ts:​​​
Front row dead center on the catwalk for American Idols Live
The NKOTBSB Tour – was so awesome we went again even though we weren’t originally planning on it
Being “caged” in the front row to see Hanson at Gaylord National
Finally seeing Jonny Lang!

Top 5 worst​ 2011 conce​rt momen​ts:​​​
Accident on the way to Action Item in Hamden
Bag check at Oakdale for the christmas show
Bag check at webster hall for the honor society show
Not getting Andy Grammer’s attention after the Ticket To Ride show
Hanson’s show in Albany being canceled the day after I bought a ticket and decided to go

 

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