[Senator Clay Davis]

Picking a top 5 is so unbelievably hard for me. My number one show is essentially locked in, but after that it’s hard to assign spots for them, so I'll leave them unnumbered.

1. NIN/QOTSA/DFA 1979, November 2005
Well like an idiot, when QOTSA came in I think April of that year I didn't get tickets quick enough and missed it. So really I was going to see QOTSA more than NIN, not that I didn't like NIN, but just not as much as Queens. I also might even say I was liking the DFA 1979 album quite a bit and was almost looking forward to them as much as NIN. And in the end, after it was done NIN was the best of the three, and the other two were pretty awesome too. And the crowd was really good and I was surprised at the quality of the mosh pit. Probably one of the top 3 best ones (i.e. no DBags, just fun) I've enjoyed.

Rock the Bells, San Francisco, August 2007 (Rage Against the Machine/ Wu Tang Clan headliners)
Well when RATM reunited for festival shows I was definitely going to one, and the Rock the Bells shows appealed to me the most by far, being a huge fan of not only RATM and the Wu, but Public Enemy, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, the Roots and Cypress Hill. Too bad Nas wasn't there like he was most other shows, might have made it number one. Besides all the awesomeness of the music, this show is most memorable for the sunburns me and my buddy got. He had it worse than me though, 2nd degree burns on his face. Must have used an entire bottle of aloe vera in about 4 hours.

Tenacious D, Seattle, February 2007
Was planning on visiting a friend in Victoria for reading broke, and lo and behold the freaking D schedule a few shows in the Pacific Northwest, including one in Seattle. Cannot miss this opportunity, so decide to book a ride on the Clipper for a night. Great venue first of all (Paramount Theater), nice and small but still big enough to get a loud crowd, which it most certainly was. Neil Hamburger to open was funny in the he's-trying-to-be-awful-and-his-awfulness-is-actually-pretty-funny. He actually got the crowd pretty riled up at times. And of course the D is the D, he enjoyed the acoustic only part more than the full on rock band part, but it was still amazing. Too bad they scheduled a second show after we had booked our Clipper tickets, because I definitely would have seen the second show. Found out later this show was on the Complete Masterworks 2 DVD.

Pearl Jam, September 2011
Somehow, the last two times Pearl Jam came to town I was on vacation. So this was my first time seeing them, and of course you hear from other fans what the show is going to be like. I was happy that basically anything in their catalog is fair game to be played, and was happy to hear many songs I didn’t expect (which of course consequentially means I didn’t hear some songs I wanted to). Electric energy in the crowd, and really the most diverse crowd at a concert I’ve seen. Two and a half hours and I wish it was four. Should have seen em in Edmonton and Saskatoon too.

The White Stripes, June 2007
Holy crap 2007 was easily the best concert year of my life. Besides the two other shows mentioned, throw in Heaven and Hell/Megadeth, Lamb of God, Rush and my favorite QOTSA show (where I got my sperm hoodie). But the White Stripes was just a little more special than all those great shows. I actually can’t remember a concert where I walked out with a big smile and not just exhausted. Such a fun, fun show. Jack White was in full on God mode, and Meg might not be Neil Peart, but her tits bounce really nice when she bangs on those skins. My Doorbell was a personal highlight.

Honorable Mention (Besides those mentioned):
System of a Down (2005,2006)
Soundgarden/QOTSA (in Vancouver, 2011)
Metallica (March 2004)
Monsters of Rock (2008)....except the beer line. Beyond stupid.

Worst Show: Disturbed (2006? Can’t remember, it sucked after all). Yeah they were 45 minutes late, played for about 65 minutes and generally seemed disinterested.