Seeing Them Live

Charles Zona
  • 5.0 (13)
  • Music Interviews
  • Updated Biweekly

Seeing Them Live is a podcast featuring memorable concert stories from live music fans. Everyone has a concert story and hopefully one day we'll hear yours.

  1. Aug 9

    S04.E13 - TJ Horn Encounters Fred Durst at Ozzfest

    In this episode, Charles sits down with TJ Horn, a Boston-area drummer who has played with several bands — most notably the critically acclaimed Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys. Beyond his drumming career, TJ is a passionate live music fan who set a personal record in 2025 by attending 75 concerts in a single year. He's also known in certain Boston circles for his live readings of erotic fan fiction. It's a wide-ranging conversation about music, performance, and what it means to love live shows. TJ traces his passion for live music back to a 1994 Depeche Mode concert at the Blockbuster Pavilion in Glen Helen, California — a show his uncle brought him and his family to when he was just 12 years old. That night sparked a lifelong obsession. That same year, his uncle also took him to Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, and the legendary Lollapalooza '94 — where TJ saw the Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, L7, and a then-unknown Green Day, just weeks before they exploded in popularity. Over the years, TJ has accumulated remarkable concert stories: chatting with Fred Durst for 40 minutes at Ozzfest while watching Tool, seeing Porno for Pyros perform a surprise acoustic set on a walkway at Lollapalooza '95, and stumbling upon a tiny 40-person Touché Amoré show after standing in the snow for a wristband. His 75-show year in 2025 came about naturally — fueled by a wide network of friends with different musical tastes, a work schedule that freed up his evenings, and a simple philosophy of saying yes when a cheap ticket or a spare invite came along. On the music-making side, TJ is a self-taught drummer who got his start playing along to Green Day and the Ramones in his bedroom as a military kid who had just moved to Boston. He's gone on to play with bands spanning punk, hardcore, and art-rock, including The Martyrs and a rock opera project featuring Amy Winehouse's saxophonist and members of The Replacements. His longest creative relationship has been with Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys — a theatrical "steam crunk" band known for elaborate costumes, steampunk conventions, annual RPM Challenge albums, and now an upcoming horror sci-fi film directed by Walter himself. TJ also speaks fondly of the erotic fan fiction readings that made him unexpectedly famous in Boston's burlesque and cosplay scene — a side gig that started with dramatic readings of bad dating app messages and turned into a crowd-favorite variety act. For more from TJ, find him on Instagram at @tjbrokenproton. BANDS: A Tribe Called Quest, Amy Winehouse, Beastie Boys, The Boredoms, Boy's Life, The Breeders, Bridgit Calls Me Baby, Coal Chamber, Converge, Cyndi Lauper, Deftones, Depeche Mode, Dropbear, Eagles of Death Metal, Elastica, Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, Face to Face, Fight, George Clinton, Green Day, Hole, Jack White, Jay-Z, L7, Lady Gaga, Less Than Jake, Letters to Cleo, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, Ministry, Motörhead, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Nick Cave, Nine Inch Nails, Ozzy Osbourne, Porno for Pyros, Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Replacements, Rosalía, Salt-N-Pepa, sapling, Sex Pistols, Smashing Pumpkins, Shonen Knife, Soulfly, Stellastar, Stereolab, Suicidal Tendencies, The Killers, Tool, Touché Amoré, Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys. VENUES: Blockbuster Pavilion (Glen Helen, CA), Boston Garden, The Middle East (Boston), San Diego State University's Aztec Bowl. LINKS: TJ Instagram: @tjbrokenproton. Walter Sickert movie "Ashwire": https://www.fangoria.com/ashwire-trailer/ PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST:https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

  2. Jul 26

    S04.E12 - The 24/7 Live Music Challenge

    Charles is joined by longtime friend and concert enthusiast Andy to recap their 24/7 Live Music Challenge — an ambitious attempt to see 24 live music events in just seven days, inspired by "Concert Joe" Sarkis of New York, who famously attended 1,000 shows in a single year back in 1992. Based in the Chicago area, Charles and Andy plotted their week using ChatGPT to build efficient nightly itineraries, hitting 24 shows across 16 different clubs without ever buying tickets in advance. They quickly learned that averaging three and a half shows per night was brutal — three shows in one night put them behind schedule, while four was a struggle to pull off even once, let alone repeatedly. The conversation walks through each night in detail, from a jazz set at the historic Green Mill and a punk show at Subterranean to blues legends at Buddy Guy's Legends and Blue Chicago, a folk night at The Hideout, and a storytelling-meets-live-band show at Martyrs that reminded them both of NPR. Along the way they battled real tornado warnings that knocked out power at multiple venues, forcing last-minute audibles, and stumbled into unexpected magic — snagging the last two seats at nearly every stop, watching Buddy Guy hang out in his own club ahead of his 90th birthday, and catching an incredible impromptu bass solo from a musician neither of them had heard of before. By the end of the week, Charles and Andy had hit their goal of 24 shows for a total of just $313 in cover charges (well under the $1,000 budget Andy had braced his wife for), capped off by seeing Santana and the Doobie Brothers at a Tinley Park band shell. Standout moments included the high-energy punk band Squint and Kansas City act Season to Risk at The Liar's Club, while the sheer physical toll — late trains, torrential rain, and blown-out eardrums — made clear why neither of them plans to repeat the full challenge. Still, both agreed it was a rewarding way to break out of their musical comfort zones, discover new venues worth revisiting, and appreciate just how much dedication (and money) serious "concert chasers" like Concert Joe put into their passion. BANDS: Able Baker, Amyl and the Sniffers, Cherry Decay, Dog Caller, Dot, Grateful Dub, Greasy Gravy, Groove Witness, Jerry's Middle Finger, Public Opinion, Santana, Season to Risk, Squint, Tunnel, liverwhip, the Doobie Brothers, La Croix Mystique, Majesty. VENUES:  Andy's Jazz Club, Beat Kitchen, Blue Chicago, Buddy Guy's Legends, Cobra Lounge, Fitzgeralds, Garcia's, Jazz Showcase, Martyrs, Salt Shed, Shubas, Subterranean, The Empty Bottle, The Green Mill, The Hideout, The Hungry Brain, The Liar's Club, Tinley Park (band shell). PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST:https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

  3. Jun 28

    S04.E11 – In the Groove: Exploring Alan’s Concerts and 5,000 Album Archive

    In this episode of Seeing Them Live, Charles interviews Alan Rosenberg. Alan is the creator and host of The Alan Rosenberg Show on YouTube, a channel dedicated to his lifelong passion for music. Growing up on Long Island, New York, Alan was introduced to rock and roll at an early age through his older sister, whose bedroom walls were covered in posters of The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and The Allman Brothers. By age 10, Alan was already building what would become a meticulously catalogued collection of over 5,000 albums — all of which he has listened to multiple times. In this episode, Alan takes host Charles Zona through the roots of his obsession, including the typed yearly album lists he kept starting in 1973, a tradition handed down from his sister that eventually evolved into a comprehensive digital database tracking every album he owns, every song on it, its chart position, and the year he acquired it. Alan shares vivid memories from more than five decades of concert-going, starting with his very first show — The Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden in June 1975, featuring the legendary Lotus Stage and a then-new Ron Wood sitting in as guest guitarist. From there, the conversation moves through highlights including the Stones' massive Steel Wheels Tour at Shea Stadium, a Simon & Garfunkel reunion in Central Park, and what Alan calls perhaps his most purely fun concert experience: seeing The Rolling Stones at the intimate MGM Grand in Las Vegas during the 1999 No Security Tour. A standout moment from the episode is Alan's account of seeing U2 at The Sphere in Las Vegas — a venue he discovered before it became widely known — where the crystal-clear, immersive sound system left him calling it one of the greatest concert experiences of his life. The conversation also covers some of Alan's more disappointing experiences, including a Hackney Diamonds-era Rolling Stones show at MetLife Stadium where the sound quality was, in his words, "atrocious," and a Van Halen reunion show at Jones Beach that failed to deliver. Beyond the concert stories, Charles and Alan dive deep into the philosophy behind The Alan Rosenberg Show, where Alan refuses to review a new album until he has listened to it at least five times — sometimes eight or nine — because, as he puts it, music is deeply personal and mood-dependent. He discusses the decline of new music on classic rock radio, the fearlessness of artists like David Gilmour who still play entire new albums on tour, and why he believes the era of great classic rock concert experiences has fundamentally changed due to ticket prices, stadium sound problems, and the industry's shift toward playing only the hits. Alan also touches on his love of deluxe box sets, his growing appreciation for Taylor Swift's Midnights, and the warm, knowledgeable community he has built around his YouTube channel, which now features close to 600 videos. BANDS: The Allman Brothers, Billy Joel, Blue Öyster Cult, Dave Matthews, David Gilmour, The Eagles, Genesis, Harry Styles, Iron Maiden, James Brown, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, The Moody Blues, Nazareth, Olivia Newton-John, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Ratboys, The Rolling Stones, Ron Wood, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Simon & Garfunkel, Taylor Swift, Tina Turner, U2, Van Halen, Wishbone Ash, The Who, Yes. VENUES:  Brendan Byrne Arena (Meadowlands), Central Park, Jones Beach, Madison Square Garden, MetLife Stadium, MGM Grand, Shea Stadium, The Sphere (Las Vegas), SUNY Albany, The United Center (Chicago), The Vic Theater (Chicago), Westbury Music Theater, World Music Theater (Tinley Park, Illinois). PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST:https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

  4. Jun 10

    S04.E10 - Love Jones: Making Old School Sounds Cool Again

    In this episode of Seeing Them Live, Charles sits down with Ben Daughtry and Jonathan Palmer of Love Jones — the Louisville-born, LA-based band that has been crafting their unique blend of lounge, soul, pop, and sharp-witted storytelling for over three decades. The conversation kicks off with a shared love of live music, as both Ben and Jonathan trace their concert-going roots back to the same unlikely starting point: Van Halen. Ben recalls sneaking into a show at 14, way too young to be there, watching a then-unknown Van Halen open for Black Sabbath and feeling like "a bomb going off." Jonathan recounts his own Van Halen baptism at Freedom Hall in Louisville on the Women and Children First Invasion Tour — complete with $7.50 festival seating and his mother taking notes in the stands. From there, the episode becomes a wide-ranging tour through decades of live music obsession. The guys swap stories about Ted Nugent crowd surges, jumping on stage with GWAR in New Orleans, playing congas with Tool at an early Lollapalooza, and watching Rage Against the Machine move 60,000 people. Jonathan shares privileged industry moments — seeing The Rolling Stones at a 600-capacity room in New York alongside Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Questlove, and catching Nine-Inch Nails at The Troubadour when they felt "too big for the building." The conversation is fueled by genuine enthusiasm, with each story triggering another in a kind of joyful avalanche of rock and roll memory. The second half of the episode turns to the band's own story — from their residency at Largo on Fairfax, where David Bowie once sat quietly in a booth and Tool's crew became regulars, to their unexpected appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut album Here's to the Losers. Charles and the guys dig into the Cocktail Nation moment of the '90s, the making of their new album The Greatest Show on Earth — written during COVID jam sessions in a Louisville warehouse with crickets chirping and trains passing — and the cinematic, Gil Evans-influenced sound that ties its six expansive tracks together. The episode closes with the band expressing hope to get back on the road, a shout-out to their partnership with Whiskey Thief Distillery, and a tease of possible activity around the 30th anniversary of the film Swingers, on whose soundtrack Love Jones famously appeared. BANDS: Adele, B-52s, Beastie Boys, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Black Sabbath, Chicago, Combustible Edison, Devo, Earth Wind & Fire, Fishbone, Foo Fighters, GWAR, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Love Jones, Metallica, Metric, Molly Hatchet, Morphine, Nine Inch Nails, Oasis, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rolling Stones, Sea and Cake, Steely Dan, Supertramp, Ted Nugent, The Cars, The Cocktails, Tool, Tortoise, Van Halen, ZZ Top. VENUES:  Comiskey Park (Chicago), Freedom Hall (Louisville), Largo (Los Angeles), Largo on Fairfax (Los Angeles), Lollapalooza, Metro (Chicago), Racket (New York City), Rose Bowl (Pasadena), Soldier Field (Chicago), The Troubadour (Los Angeles). PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST:https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

  5. May 24

    S04.E09 - From Page to Stage: Mike Bernard Discusses His Book 'Concert Dates'

    In this episode, Charles sits down with Mike Bernard, a Boston-area author, screenwriter, and playwright who came to writing later in life and hasn't slowed down since. Mike has published eight novels, written a stage musical, and optioned multiple screenplays through prestigious competitions including the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, the Page International Screenwriting Awards, ScreenCraft, and the Nantucket Film Festival. The conversation weaves together music, memory, friendship, and the creative life — all anchored in the gritty, soulful sounds of the 1970s and early '80s. Mike's live music journey begins with a memorable — if reluctant — first show: escorting his grandmother to see Liberace at the Cape Cod Melody Tent. His real musical awakening came when he saw the J. Geils Band at the old Boston Garden as a teenager, an experience he still counts among his best. The blues-driven energy of "House Party" and "Musta Got Lost" made a lifelong impression, and he draws a sharp distinction between that era of J. Geils and the MTV-era band that followed. Other standout shows include Elvis Costello at the Cape Cod Coliseum — where the opening silhouettes under blue light during "Watching the Detectives" hit him like a gut punch — and an extraordinary 1990 benefit concert at Worcester's Clark University featuring Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit, Bob Seger, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Jimmy Buffett all on the same bill. And for pure comedic gold, Mike recounts the moment a Little River Band guitar pick landed — and stuck — to his bare thigh at the Melody Tent, with zero competition from the crowd for the souvenir. Charles and Mike then discuss Mike's book Concert Dates; a fictional story told in interview form — inspired by Daisy Jones & The Six — that follows six friends who meet at a concert at age 15 and are reunited decades later through a video diary. The backdrop is the Cape Cod Coliseum, a converted hockey rink that hosted an extraordinary run of classic rock shows from 1972 to 1983, including Van Halen, The Clash, Talking Heads, Peter Frampton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and J. Geils (twelve times). Mike also shares the remarkable story of connecting with photographer Rudy Childs — a previous Seeing Them Live guest — through a Facebook group dedicated to the Coliseum, only to discover that Rudy's candid parking lot photos included a picture of Mike and his own friends from a Clash show. Listeners who enjoy music, nostalgia, and deeply human storytelling will find Concert Dates — and Mike's wider catalog, including Crossing the Sagamore — well worth picking up on Amazon. BANDS: Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Billy Joel, Bob Seger, Bon Iver, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley, Eagles (Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit), Elvis Costello, Engelbert Humperdinck, Frankie Avalon, Huey Lewis and the News, J. Geils Band, Jackson Browne, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Buffett, Liberace, Little River Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band, Neil Young, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton, R.E.M., Ray Charles, Seals and Crofts, Sly & the Family Stone, Talking Heads, The Clash, The Four Tops, Tom Petty, Van Halen. VENUES:  Boston Garden, Cape Cod Coliseum, Cape Cod Melody Tent, United Center (Chicago), University of Illinois lecture hall (Champaign). PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST:https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

  6. May 5

    S04.E08 – Steve Comes Clean About His First Concert

    In this episode, Charles interviews filmmaker and vinyl enthusiast Steve Herold, best known for the award-winning short film Death of an Umbrella Salesman. Steve takes us back to the summer of 1984 and his first concert — the Thompson Twins on their Into the Gap tour at the Garden State Arts Center in New Jersey. He shares how the show almost didn't happen, thanks to a failed attempt to see Van Halen at Madison Square Garden, and how that near-miss planted the seed for a lifetime of concert-going. The real coming-of-age concert moment, Steve admits, came two years later when he finally saw David Lee Roth on his debut solo tour — a far wilder introduction to arena rock than the Thompson Twins had provided. Steve opens up about his most memorable concert experiences, including his best-ever shows: the New Jersey alternative band Dramarama at the legendary Fast Lane in Asbury Park in the early '90s. Those packed, sweat-soaked club nights — where getting to the bathroom was nearly impossible and crowd surfing was mandatory — turned Steve into a devoted fan and shaped his love of small-venue rock. He also recounts the 1996 Sex Pistols reunion at New York's Roseland Ballroom, an evening of full-on debauchery that ended with him and a friend finding a $50 bill on the floor — money that had fallen from the pockets of crowd surfers — and heading out to continue the night on someone else's dime. The image of punk-show attendees pouring out of Roseland and colliding with Broadway theatergoers on the sidewalk is one of the episode's most vivid moments. Beyond concerts, the conversation dives into Steve's YouTube channel, where he has spent years showcasing his vinyl and CD collection and visiting independent record stores during his travels for TV production work. He reflects on how the channel introduced him to a whole new community of fellow collectors — friendships that have taken him to record stores in Reno, Southern California, Long Island, and Charleston, South Carolina. Steve also discusses his filmmaking work, including the upcoming documentary about a former Hot Tuna drummer who is also a visual artist, and two music videos he directed for his friend's garage rock band Manflesh, one of which is set to screen at the Coney Island Film Festival. The episode wraps with a shared appreciation for the Wet Leg concert both Charles and Steve attended in 2025, and a laugh-out-loud detour into the chaotic legacy of G.G. Allin. BANDS: Agent Orange, David Lee Roth, Dramarama, Eagles, G.G. Allin & the Murder Junkies, Goldfinger, Hot Tuna, Jeff the Brotherhood, L7, Lady Gaga, Manflesh, Ram Jam, Sex Pistols, The Strokes, Thompson Twins, Van Halen, Wet Leg, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. VENUES:  Aragon Ballroom (Chicago), Chicago Stadium, Coney Island Film Festival, Exit (Chicago), Fast Lane (Asbury Park), Garden State Arts Center (New Jersey), Lounge Ax (Chicago), Madison Square Garden (New York), Maxwell's (Hoboken), Monster Music (Charleston), Roseland Ballroom (New York), Stone Pony (Asbury Park). PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST:https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

  7. Apr 17

    S04.E07 – Victor Watches Jack White Hit the Eject Button

    In this episode, Charles sits down with Victor Gurbo, a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and guitar builder from Brooklyn, New York. Victor's musical journey began early — literally from infancy, when his father discovered that Traveling Wilburys recordings were the only thing that could calm a crying baby Victor. That early imprinting on Dylan's collaborators set the stage for a lifelong obsession with live music, particularly the work of Bob Dylan, whom Victor estimates he has seen between 20 and 30 times. The conversation opens with Victor recounting his very first concert at age nine — an Arlo Guthrie show in Martha's Vineyard — a memory that exists more in fragments than in full, including nodding off during parts of the set, only to snap back awake for "Alice's Restaurant." The episode is rich with vivid concert memories. Victor shares stories of seeing Levon Helm multiple times at the Beacon Theatre and Terminal 5, reflecting on how Helm's deep love for his audience was palpable, especially after his battle with throat cancer. Victor also recounts a bittersweet Conor Oberst show in 2008, where he got to hear a then-unreleased song that would later appear on the next album — the kind of "you were there first" moment that makes live music so irreplaceable. But perhaps the most memorable story is the infamous Jack White show at Radio City Music Hall in 2012. After losing their tickets outside the venue and spending an hour on hold with StubHub, Victor and his friend were gifted front-row seats by a compassionate employee — only to watch White cut the show short, apparently unhappy with the audience's energy. For Victor, a performer himself, the experience was deeply personal and left a lasting impression on how he thinks about the relationship between an artist and their crowd. Victor's life as a performer and craftsman are equally compelling. After ordering a custom guitar from legendary New York luthier Rick Kelly — who famously builds instruments from the reclaimed wood of demolished Manhattan buildings — and waiting four and a half years for it to arrive, Victor taught himself to build guitars in the meantime, eventually winning Best Band in Brooklyn at NPR's Battle of the Boroughs in 2013 with an instrument he made himself. Since then, the band has performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Carnegie Hall, where a mid-show equipment failure became the crowd's favorite moment of the night. Most recently, Victor released Gurbo and Company Live 2025, a live album recorded at NYC's Cafe Wha? featuring eight tracks, including covers of Bob Dylan's arrangement of "Rollin' & Tumblin'" and Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues." Victor can be found on all social platforms as Victor V. Gurbo, and his website has upcoming show dates and vinyl copies of his pandemic-era home recording project, Outrun the Invisible Man. BANDS: Amos Lee, Arlo Guthrie, Beach Boys, Beatles, Bob Dylan, Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst, Jack White, Johnny Cash, John Prine, Levon Helm, Mad Meg, Merle Haggard, Neil Young, Phoebe Snow, Scotia Rose, The Cure, The Villalobos Brothers, Traveling Wilburys, U2, Weezer, White Stripes, Willie Nelson. VENUES:  Beacon Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Cafe Wha?, Carnegie Hall, China Club, Governor's Ball, Highline Ballroom, Jones Beach, Mercury Lounge, NPR Green Space, Radio City Music Hall, Riot Fest, Terminal 5. PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST:https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

  8. Mar 29

    S04.E06 – Banda AL9: Moments That Shaped Their Music

    In this episode of Seeing Them Live, host Charles sits down with brothers Matheus and Thiago Khouri of the Brazilian rock band Banda AL9. The duo shares the story of their first concert experience — seeing Paul McCartney at Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo in 2010, when Matheus was just 12 and Thiago was 10. Raised by rock-and-roll-loving parents who saw Queen at the same stadium in 1985, the brothers grew up immersed in the music of the Beatles, Deep Purple, and other classic acts. Their father taught them guitar, and before long they were forming bands with school friends. The name "Banda AL9" itself is a nod to a street name in Portuguese and the number nine, inspired by Jack Black's declaration in School of Rock that nine is a magic number. The conversation traces the band's rise from humble beginnings posting cover songs on Facebook and YouTube in 2013 to becoming a viral sensation. After strategically building a fan base with acoustic covers of fifties and sixties rock classics, they released their debut EP of Portuguese-language originals in 2019, with the song "Ela Me Ligou" becoming their first viral hit in Brazil. The pandemic era saw them recording a live studio album just before lockdowns began, and by 2023, everything changed. Their original song "Charma De Amor" exploded on TikTok and Instagram, reaching audiences far beyond Brazil. This caught the attention of world-famous DJ Steve Aoki, who invited them to perform at Tomorrowland and encouraged them to record in English — leading to the international hit "She Calls Me Love." Matheus and Thiago also discuss their exciting new chapter with Little Steven Van Zandt's Wicked Cool Records label. Through a connection with artist Kurt Baker, Steven heard their music, loved it, and signed them — even writing an original song for the band, set for release in July alongside their new album, Hey, Hey, We're Banda AL9. The brothers recount their whirlwind first trip to New York City, which included a live session at SiriusXM's Underground Garage, a free concert at the Cutting Room, and meeting Nickelodeon star Drake Bell. The episode wraps up with an acoustic performance of their latest single, "She Can Do It All," and talk of a potential U.S. tour later in the summer — with a stop in Chicago for fried chicken and deep-dish pizza high on their wish list. BANDS: Banda AL9, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen (E Street Band), Deep Purple, Little Richard, Queen. VENUES: Allianz Parque, Cutting Room, Morumbi Stadium, SiriusXM, Tomorrowland. PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST:https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Seeing Them Live is a podcast featuring memorable concert stories from live music fans. Everyone has a concert story and hopefully one day we'll hear yours.

Information

  • Creator
    Charles Zona
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    62
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    Seeing Them Live