By Sean Muir
Staff Writer

Well here I am, WA, Sean Muir, your school concert reviewer. Some of you may wonder if that means that I only review concerts that happen at the school, right? Not so, actually, I specialize in reviewing concerts outside of school.

My own hobbies include playing music, by means of drums and other forms of percussion, as well as enjoying a wide variety of music styles and genres. My main passions are Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Alternative, and Classical, with favorites like the Eagles, LIVE, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, AC/DC, Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler, Nickelback, 3 Doors Down, George Gershwin, Steve Miller Band, and U2, to name a few.

My musical abilities can be heard in the school and town bands I play in.

I have seen a boatload of concerts in my lifetime; the first one I can remember being the Indigo Girls. I personally have never seen a poor or mediocre concert, but obviously, some were way better than others. If you are looking for a reference to a variety of concerts and musicians, I’m the person to ask.

One of the most unique experiences for me was seeing Mark Knopfler; live at The Boothbay Opera House, Boothbay Harbor, ME, September 20th, 2006. As the former leader of Dire Straits, he put on an intimate performance with his back-up band. To add to the mix, there was no drummer, which allowed for more sound from the guitars, which flooded all my senses with sound.

Going further, the Police came to Boston twice back in July and November 2007, and I was able to see both shows. They are truly one of those bands worthy of stadium shows.

It wasn’t until 2008 when this whole “concert-craze” started for me. I saw bands ranging from the Levon Helm Band to Bruce Cockburn to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (that was something else!) to the Eagles to Rascal Flatts to Lindsay Buckingham, and many more!

The concert surge continued on through late 2008 to 2009. For ’09, the key shows I saw were Jimmy Eat World, LĪVE, The Derek Trucks Band, and Jeff Beck. I did miss, however, Third Eye Blind and 3 Doors Down at the new House of Blues.

This year, my summer consisted of concerts like Los Lobos, Joe Cocker, AC/DC, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Jonny Lang, and the Steve Miller Band.

People have told me that I am absolutely a concert fanatic, but that’s why I’m here. With my reviews,  you all have the ability to post comments, or talk about the concert if you went there as well. There will be photos too, giving you an idea of the atmosphere.

I look forward to reporting as your school concert reviewer, and stay tuned: U2 will be the first concert I review coming up soon! I haven’t ever seen a bad show, but we shall see over the course of the year.