I saw Spiritualized for the eighth time last week. Makes me think about the first times I saw a band once, twice, three times ....

ONE. First concert : Depeche Mode 22/06/90, Exhibition Stadium, Toronto. Openers were Nitzer Ebb and Jesus and Mary Chain. Talk about a stacked bill. I HATED the Mary Chain. What a racket. I wish I could see their set again, knowing what I know now.

TWO. Sunscreem : 22/07/93, Kingswood Music Theatre, Toronto. Yes, the first band I ever saw twice is a band that nobody likely remembers. Both times they were openers, first for Inspiral Carpets and this time for New Order. Sunscreem weren't a great band by any means, but if they'd come along four years later than they did, they'd have been Republica in place of Republica. Not that it would have helped, because you don't see any of the electronica class of 1997 around these days. But they would have sold a lot more records.

THREE. Orbital : 04/07/96, Opera House, Toronto. This was Orbital at the peak of their powers, playing the most high profile gigs of their career in support of "In Sides", bringing indie kids and ravers together (back when both of those distinct groups existed and rarely came together for anything) to dance to protest songs about oil spills and the Bosnian conflict.

FOUR. Suede : 10/05/97, Barrymore Music Hall, Ottawa. This was the day after I saw them for the third time (in Toronto). For their first visit (June 1993), Suede played the now-defunct Palladium on Danforth and the scene was one of total madness. It was the closest I will ever come to experiencing a 90's version of those 60's Beatles concerts that our parents are always talking about (except, perhaps, Depeche Mode June 1994, which I've already written about on these pages). I have the bootleg, but all I can remember about the gig is lots of screaming and getting crushed. And asking my friend Ernie what he thought about the gig -- his answer, "I had to take a crap the whole time".

In two subsequent interviews during the next year (that I know of), Brett Anderson referred to that June 1993 concert as his favourite Suede concert ever, and Toronto as his favourite city to play in. Their next visit (Feb 1995) resulted in similar carnage and hysteria, so of course both band and city were jacked up good for visit number three. Except that 50 % of the formula didn't equate, the band came out, giving it everything they had, milking the opening bars of "She", and the crowd responded with ... nothing. No screaming, no pushing, no nothing. To this day, I have no idea how this happened. It seems implausible that every Suede fan in the city grew up all at once, but in any case, the band melted away right in front of my eyes, the disappointment on their faces was obvious. I was embarrassed for my city, too embarrassed to even sing along and single myself out. All around me, people stood politely and silently. The band played "Europe is Our Playground" and it was deathly boring. They just wanted to get all six of its swirling minutes over with.

In Ottawa the next night, they came out very blase, probably still let down from the night before and wondering why they had to stop in this nondescript city instead of heading straight to Montreal. But they were met by a crowd that went completely bonkers for them. It was the Palladium gig all over again. And their reactions were fascinating -- half-assing it initially because they expected nothing from Ottawa, but gradually becoming re-sold on themselves via the energy of the crowd. "Europe" was damned fine on this night. The strange thing is, many of the fans in attendance weren't even hardcore Suede fans. The fact is, so many (foreign) bands play only T.O. and Montreal without stopping in Ottawa, so that Ottawa music fans seldom see notable gigs in their own city. Thus, anytime a significant band does play there, everyone gets really excited and shows up ready to have a great time. This was my favourite of the four Suede gigs, not so much for the music as it was for the uniqueness of the experience.

Regardless, the band likely harboured bad feelings from the tour, because they haven't played North America since.

FIVE. Orbital: 15/10/01, Opera House, Toronto. This, on the other hand, was not the peak of the band's powers. They were more concerned with dancing and waving their hands like little kids (for both themselves and the audience). That pretty much sums up their post-"In Sides" recorded output as well. Good, but disappointing, considering the lofty standards they've set. I'll have no complaints if I never hear "Chime" played live again.

SIX. Spiritualized: 26/04/02, Opera House, Toronto. Not quite as good as their gig from the previous November that featured a 583-member horn section, but it was still the usual excellence. The "Let it Come Down" tours were the only SPZ gigs to regularly feature encores. Jason must have figured the rearranged and updated version of "Lord Can You Hear Me" was a natural fit as a nightly encore. I've never seen them encore before or since.

7*. I didn't think it was fair to include local bands on this list, because of the far greater oppurtunity to see them. Otherwise, 27/03/03 would mark the inclusion of Polmo Polpo. Furthermore, I have never seen a PP headlining gig (do any exist?), he was always opening for another band or sharing a bill with one or more bands. Plus, if you add up the total time of all seven performances I've seen, they wouldn't crack the three hour mark. So it goes with PP, 15 or 20 minutes of magnificence and then nothing.

SEVEN. Mogwai: 22/09/03, Fillmore, San Francisco. An astounding gig, my second favourite Mogwai show behind the May 2001 gig at the Phoenix with Bardo Pond. Fully recovered from the illnesses which plagued them during their swing through Toronto two weeks previous, the volume was cranked back up and the set times extended. Plus *dancing* in many areas of the crowd. I love SF.

EIGHT. Spiritualized: 20/10/03, Opera House, Toronto. It's strange how one venue appears four times on this list. This gig is notable for being about 10 X better than their concert in the same venue 24 hours earlier, played to about half as many people. My guess is the day off from travel gave the band a bit more energy. It's refreshing that they've gotten out of their "Shine a Light"/"Electric Mainline"/"Electricity" rut, and are promoting their new album by playing the new songs for a change. That said, I hope that Jason Pierce isn't believing the revisionist press and is convinced that "Let It Come Down" was a poor record. In the live sets, that album has been erased from history, and I really don't want to imagine a world where "Don't Just Do Something" is never played live again.

NINE. ????