Belated Friday Five:

1. What was the first band you saw in concert?
My first “real” rock concert was when I saw Bryan Adams play in Cologne, Germany during the summer of 1994. I was sixteen. I was there for a study trip and my host sister and her friends took me. I wasn’t the hugest Bryan Adams fan, but every German there knew all the words and that made it so much fun. And come on, “Summer of ’69” is a GREAT song.

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?
Hmmm. Well, historically I always answer R.E.M. to this question, but I haven’t actually been listening to them a lot lately. I think Dar Williams probably gets the most iPod playage these days.

3. What’s your favorite song?
I don’t think I have an absolute favorite. I tend to hear a song on the radio and get obsessed with it, only to drop it two weeks later. Enduring favorites include U2’s “One”, Ani Difranco’s “Both Hands”, and Blondie’s “The Tide is High”.

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
I used to play the trumpet in school, which was a lot of fun but – let’s be honest here – isn’t the sexiest talent to boast. I think secretly I’d love to play something difficult, like the violin or the cello. I’d be afraid to try to learn now though. I have this idea that if you haven’t been playing those since you were three, you’ll probably never get very good.

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?
I don’t think I’d want to meet any of my musical heroes, because they’d probably be really obtuse or confrontational or uncool and then I’d be heartbroken. So I’ll go the starf**ker route and say Elton John. Seriously! We could become best friends and then he’d invite me to fabulous gay costume parties and introduce me to Geri Halliwell and send me thousands of dollars worth of flowers. That’d be neat.