The Concerts: 1998

Some years are marked by significant transitions, and 1998 certainly qualifies as such a year. I started the year working at Michigan Wherehouse Records in Mt. Pleasant, shifting over to the Ann Arbor WHR store when I moved to Brighton in May, only to leave Brighton at the end of August to start my job at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey as a full-time faculty member, a job I hold to this day.

What remained constant, however, was my love of music. Not a lot of shows, but quality over quantity:

Rammstein [The Metro, Chicago 5.4]
Beck [Pine Knob 6.2]
Kraftwerk [State Theatre, Detroit 6.11]
Ivy [Shelter 6.17]
John Fogerty [Pine Knob 6.18]
Curve [St. Andrew’s Hall 6.20]
The Prodigy [State Theatre, Detroit 6.24]
Lilith Fair ‘98 [Pine Knob 7.6]
Tricky [Clutch Cargo’s 7.23]
Smokin’ Grooves ’98 (Public Enemy, Cypress Hill) [Pine Knob 7.29]
Dishwalla [Shelter 8.22]
Esthero [St. Andrew’s Hall 8.22]
Bauhaus [The Riviera, Chicago 8.27]
The Tragically Hip [Orbit Room 9.24]
Family Values Tour (Korn, Rammstein) [The Palace of Auburn Hills 9.30]
The Church [House Of Blues, Chicago 10.1]
The Church [7th House, Pontiac 10.2]
Ratdog [State Theatre, Detroit 11.7]

As usual, so many highlights:

• Having dinner with the guys from Dishwalla and, despite not liking their album that much, really rooting for those super-nice dudes to succeed
• Standing next to Detroit techno heavyweights (Derrick May, Jeff Mills, etc.) with the same awe for Kraftwerk as I was feeling at that moment
• Soaking in the dark theatricality of a fully revived and reunited Bauhaus playing with the coiled energy of a band with something to prove
• The back-to-back experience of The Church as their current line-up settled and found their strength
• Finally seeing Public Enemy on the Smokin' Grooves tour and smelling the most second-hand weed smoke aside from the Steely Dan shows
• Placating my then-girlfriend by going to Ratdog -- featuring former members of the Grateful Dead -- and marveling at the friendly and benign attitude of the fans (although the music was less than compelling for me)
• Hanging backstage with the sweet Canadian dudes from the Hip and seeing Gord Downie's beaming face when I told him I wanted neither pictures nor signed stuff, that instead I just wanted to thank him for making such compelling and meaningful music
• Watching Rammstein bring the spectacle full-blast, either without fire (Chicago) or with (Detroit)

I wish I could say that there were more shows, that I took full advantage of being in Ann Arbor for those months, but it didn't shake out like that. And once I got the Petoskey job, the door was shut on those great WHR years, never to return, which meant that the comp tickets and guest lists trickled to nearly nothing. But at least I have the memories, as well as the hearing loss.