I grew up on music. I know everyone probably says that, but really, the first concert that I went to I was six months old and my parents took me with them to see Chicago. Let’s just say that where it all started. My whole life I’ve been going to concerts. I live for live music. Whether I’m at a happy hour and there is someone singing with an acoustic guitar or I’m at Red Rocks listening to my favorite band, I’m in heaven. Nothing in my life is comparable to music. No person, show, book, movie, or experience will ever mean as much to me as music does. My very favorite moments from my life I can tell you what song I have associated with it in my head.

I’ve seen over 130 artists/bands in concert, thanks to my dad who basically taught me at a young age that it’s okay to waste your entire paycheck on concert tickets. So yeah maybe I’m broke, but at least I’ve see some of the greatest bands in the world perform live. Some people aren’t concert people - and those people suck. Just kidding- but honestly if you’re down to go to concerts, you’re my kind of friend. Shout out to Natalie here – because I’ve dragged her along to tons of concerts where she didn’t know the artist at all, but she came anyways because she’s the real MVP. I see you fatty, thanks for seeing Korn with me and coming to Atmosphere at the Rocks so I wouldn't have to go alone.

There's a pretty good chance that if someone I like is coming to town, I'm going to go see them. One of the worst parts about living in Hawaii is the lack of concerts that come through here. In Colorado, the summers are packed with concerts every single weekend and here we are lucky if we get five good artists a year. With that being said, Hawaii venues are so small that I have essentially been front row to see a few of my favorite artists like Atmosphere, Incubus, Halestorm and G-Eazy. Not to mention, I've added a strong 10 people to my concert list from just free USO shows alone. So we may not get the biggest and the most relevant artists, but I've had some of my best concert experiences on this island.

My brother recently made a spreadsheet of his very favorite artists (my family has a spreadsheet problem) and so I asked him to send the template so that I could fill it out for myself. Ranking your favorite things is not an easy task, but I decided to just go for it. This is a list of my top 20 artists, because most of them aren't really bands!

Just the list:



The spreadsheet as made by my brother!

Atmosphere
Linkin Park
Avenged Sevenfold
Skrillex
Rob Zombie
Macklemore
Halestorm
3 Doors Down
Incubus
Lady Antebellum
Nero
Scorpions
Mastodon
Disturbed
Marilyn Manson
Ke$ha
311
Slightly Stoopid
Journey
Skillet
Matt Nathanson
Eric Hutchinson
Plain White T's
Safety Suit
Quietdrive
We the Kings
Dave Matthews
Jack Johnson
The Prodigy
Air Dubai
The Arctic Monkeys
The Black Keys
Red Painting
Phillip Phillips
Gavin Degraw
Sugarland
Kid Rock
Gretchen Wilson
Big and Rich
Lonestar
Little Big Town
Rodney Atkins
Darryl Worley
Grace Potter
Tim Mcgraw
Kenny Chesney
Blake Shelton
David Nail
Brantley Gilbert
Kory Brunson Band
Dierks Bentley
Chase Rice
Trace Adkins
Miranda Lambert
Thompson Square
Bassnectar
12th Planet
J Devil
Dillon Frances
Borgore
Seth Abrumz
Zedd
Knife Party
Big G
Excision
Flux Pavilion
Iron Maiden
Korn
MSI
Alice in Chains
Beach Boys
Christina Aguilera
Danity Kane
Pussycat Dolls
Elliot Yamin
Josh Hoge
Secondhand Serenade
Jason Mraz
John McLaughlin
Kate Voegle
Kristina Debrage
David Deanda
Adam Lambert
LMFAO
3oh!3
Kat Dahlia
Snoop Dogg
Murs
Eyedeas and Abilities
Aesop Rock
Cypress Hill
G-Eazy
The Grouch
Pepper
KottonMouth Kings
Magic!
Rush
Deep Purple
Dio
Def Leppard
Grand Funk Railroad
Styx
Kansas
Survivor
REO Speedwagon
Van Halen
Chris Cornell
Steel Drum Corps
Relient K
Boys like Girls
All American Rejects
Avril Lavigne
Butch Walker
Poison
Buckcherry
Saving Abel
Cinderella
Warrant
Loverboy
Weezer
Steve Miller band
Stone Sour
Cheap Trick
Blue Oyster Cult
Three Days Grace
Seether
Bullet For My Valentine
Tesla
Pat Benatar
Five Finger Death Punch
Circa Survive
Coheed and Cambria
Jane's Addiction
Volbeat
O.A.R.
Sam Hunt
Lindsey Stirling

I hope I'm not totally predictable and basic here. I see my music taste as extremely diverse. Between my dad ingraining hard rock in my brain as a child, to my brother showing me dubstep, to my friends introducing me to country, high school showing me underground hip hop, and then being just a basic white girl, my music taste is pretty unique. I'd like to think I'm one of the few people who has Taylor Swift, Korn, and Styx on their top 20 bands list? Maybe not.