Fabulous question, nkotbie....
I signed up in October 2001, likely to ask a question about a show or something, but I didn't look at the forum really. I started reading early last summer, around April or May...? I must have looked in for something in particular, then found cool information on local shows I didn't know about -- Fort Reno, Live on Penn, stuff at Black Cat I wouldn't have seen until I read about them here. By last year, I at least knew what a forum was because I'd joined and read the Foo Fighters forum to find out about the shows, new singles' B-sides, etc. (I was obsessed with Foo for a short time there.
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) And it's pretty obvious I can't keep much to myself, so I started posting.
Funny thing is how, before I met anyone but started to learn some of the folks on the board, I'd look around at a show and wonder if anyone there was Lulu or paige or walkie or the scientist. One time at Fort Reno there were these two very indie coolster gals sitting a couple blankets away and I thought that they had to be a couple of the 9:30 Club board gals! And there was a girl in a pirate costume and that's around when y'all were talking about pirate luuuurv. Crazy, huh.
I was going to Black Cat and 9:30 Club regularly before last summer, but not nearly as often as I go now. I probably went to 15 shows a year in 2001, 2002, and I hit over 50 in 2003.
I know we talk about a lot of other shit here, but it's the music and the local news that it's all about for me. It's so much more useful than a random forum on music because I find out what's coming up and can 'debrief' on it with folks who were at the shows. Oh yeah, and that crazy music swapping!