I read a list the other day that ran down the Top 10 things you'll regret when you get older.
The No. 1 regret on the list was not traveling more, and that's certainly true. Don't think that you'll travel when you're older. Once you get older, you generally realize that you haven't traveled enough.
Shawn Ryan
But No. 5 on the list was never seeing live shows by the bands or artists you truly love. Got me to thinking.
I'm lucky. For about 15 years, my job was reviewing concerts. I did the job in Birmingham, Ala., and 90 percent of the biggest tours came through town when I was there, even huge stadium shows like the Rolling Stones, U2 and Pink Floyd.
I went to a ton of shows when I was a teenager in the 1970s, so I saw a bunch of bands from that era - the Who, Jethro Tull, Queen, Yes, among others.
Even so, there are several bands I wish I'd seen.
* Led Zeppelin. Had a chance in 1977, but Zeppelin and Pink Floyd were coming to Atlanta the same week and, as a college student, I couldn't afford both. My roommate said he'd seen Zeppelin a couple of years before and they were lousy. So we went to see Pink Floyd. Bad choice. Floyd stunk up the place. In fairness, it was the "Animals" tour and that was a stinky album.
Zeppelin played a couple of days after Floyd. Friends who went to that show came back genuflecting to the godlike wonder that was Zeppelin.
* Deep Purple Mark II. The version with Ian Gillan as lead singer. Saw Mark III and Mark IV, but Gillan will always be the voice of Deep Purple.
* Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Overblown and pretentious? Oh, heck yeah. And I'm a huge fan.
* Genesis with Peter Gabriel. "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" ranks in the Top 10 of my favorite albums. I would've loved to have seen the band perform it live.
* Status Quo. One of the great boogie bands of all time. Huge in Britain, couldn't get arrested in the States. The only time I had a chance to see them, they came to Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, but it was an 18-and-up place and I was 17.
* Be Bop Deluxe. A bit on the odd, overblown side, but the British band nailed the pop/prog sound.
* The Guess Who. I still think Burton Cummings is one of the great, underrated singers in rock.
* Frank Zappa. I know folks who've seen him live and say he never plays anything you expect him to play. No "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," no "Valley Girl," no "Dinah-Moe Humm." Doesn't matter. It's rare that you get a chance to see a genius composer and a tremendous guitarist at the same time.
Contact Shawn Ryan at sryan@timesfreepress.com.