That summer, I went home to Michigan. I hit a few record stores, looking for VH's albums, but nobody'd ever heard of them. That kind of annoyed me, but I figured, hey, no biggie.
Sophomore year, my friends and I made the trek to Ziggy's to see at least 2 VH concerts, as well as hitting them at Cat's Cradle in Cary, NC, once or twice. Sadly, we didn't catch the Ziggy's concerts at which "Live Stages" was taped. Ah, well. By the end of these concerts, I was starting to learn the words to most of their songs. I now knew the difference between Matt and Keith and even knew who Chöpper was (though he left shortly thereafter). I went home, and, via their web site and Aware Records, bought copies of all three of their CD's thus far. This was pretty much the turning point for me between mere admiration of a band that played good music and nigh-obsession. ;-) I learned all the words to all their songs, and even started to get into their opening bands (check out the Gathering Field and Jonasay).
Over the next two years, I went to more concerts, and when I left mid-senior year to take a year off of school, thought I might just collapse from being cut off of my NC-based supply of VH concerts. Luckily, in August of 1999, I was able to travel to Massachusetts and New York to visit friends, and catch a couple of VH performances on the way. While at the Boston Paradise show, I even attended the taping of the "We Are" video, which was pretty darned cool. At the Ortley Beach, NJ show, the venue was not cool and VH didn't play for long, but I did manage to have drunken (on my side) conversations with Matt, Keith, and Ed, so that was also fun. Later that fall, I hit a show in Cincinnati with my brother, and converted him into a fan as well. :-)
Now, I am back in North Carolina, and have plans to see my favorite band at least three more times before I graduate. If you'll be at any of those shows, let me know!
