FAN MEMORIES

The LIVE fans are the #1 reason that LIVE is still going strong after so many years!  So we asked you, the fans, for your memories and stories relating to Throwing Copper.  The response was overwhelming, and we thank everyone for submitting their stories!  Although we did not have enough room to post everyone’s stories, we wanted to share some of the many, great stories that were received!  It was amazing to read through all the stories and see how widespread the love for LIVE is.  People of many different ages and backgrounds from around the world all share one common bond... LIVE.

I remember traveling in my cousin’s car as he was listening to Throwing Copper.  I hadn't heard of LIVE, but after hearing the slow, calm sound of Lightning Crashes, I just had to hear more of LIVE. These days I'm a huge fan and I now have all of their albums.  Of course 'Throwing Copper' is my favorite.
smythey (Australia)


My girlfriend (at the time) had just introduced me to LIVE’s 1st album.  For my 30th birthday she was taking me to Nantucket Island for the weekend.  We happened to wander into a record store in Woodshole, Ma.  We struck up a conversation with the girl working there and asked her if she heard any new bands that she liked.  She said, "This killer band, LIVE, just came out with a new album."  We immediately bought it and jammed to the CD all weekend.  A few month later we saw LIVE at the gym in Brandeis College (an amazing show).  Since then I have probably seen Live 15-20 times in LA, NYC, PA, MA, GA,NYC,CT and NJ. 
Chris Van Winkle

I bought Throwing Copper as a Christmas present years ago, and we still listen to it all the time.  Every song on the CD has it's own special memory, but when I see the cover, I really think of one particular story.  My son was in the 6th grade and had his first "girlfriend".  We used to take them to Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ probably twice a month.  We'd listen to Throwing Copper at home while getting ready.  Then it would go in the car CD deck when we were on our way there.  Most nights we listened to it again on the way home.  We'd discreetly look in the back seat to see if the kids were holding hands or anything like that and once I caught my son singing "Lightning Crashes" to his little girlfriend.  It was the sweetest thing - they were soooooo in love!!!  My son is now a Sophomore in college and I still have Throwing Copper in my CD deck; in fact I listened to it today.  My husband and I have seen LIVE three times now, and will be seeing them again in a few weeks in Atlantic City.  At the shows, we feel like the old ones in the crowd (we're both 40 soon to be 41) but we sing, dance, and rock all night.  Like I said, I have many fond memories of the CD, but it's the Great Adventure story that always puts a smile on my face.
Keep Rockin
  Janet

My little brother Will and I saw Live perform during their Throwing Copper tour as the result of a bunch of happy accidents.  Live performed at the University at Albany where I was attending college, but at the time I hadn't really heard any of their music.  I had absolutely no intention of going to the show.  When Will found out about it, he demanded that I get tickets and bring him to the concert but the show had sold out.  The two of us spent hours before the show walking around campus trying to find that magical pair of tickets.  About twenty minutes before the doors opened, we managed to find a guy that had a pair of tickets for sale.  Both of us were absolutely stoked, and had the absolute time of our lives.  And the biggest kick in the ass was that I recognized a hell of a lot of LIVE's songs, but just hadn't realized that they were the actual recording artists.  I've been an enormous fan ever since!

Throwing Copper is just one of those albums you can throw in the CD player and listen to all the way through.  It's an album devoted to reminding us that the drama of the human condition, as personal as it may seem, is something we have to share.
Happy Anniversary, Live!
  Pete Dudar (Lisbon Falls, ME)


It was 1995 and I had heard of LIVE from the radio and all, but never really paid any mind (I was 16).  I had recently started going to a new school and was kinda upset that I was leaving a school liked.  But one day a new girl started riding the bus I was on and went to a different school then I did. So I decided to start talking to her to see what she was like.  I found that we liked a lot of the same stuff and then in a letter she wrote how she liked a band called LIVE.  Well, at 16 years old I did not have a lot of money.  The neighborhood I lived in was having a community yard sale, and I decided to get some old crap together to sell. It was a slow day and all I made was $11.00, so on a Sunday evening I made my dad take me to the closest place that sold cassettes (I wanted the CD, but like I said, It was a slow day). That night I think I probably wore that cassette out. So as I thanked my new girlfriend for turning me on to LIVE (Yes, LIVE helped me ask this girl out...the power of music!), she told me she had seen a couple more albums of them.  So (after begging my mom for money) I went and bought the other albums (Four Songs and Mental Jewelry). As the years past I kept an eye on LIVE, buying any import I could find.  I became a huge fan, anything LIVE I had to have. I am now 25 and I can still recall the first time I heard I Alone.  I have since married (Yes to the girl that turned me on to LIVE), and have attended many shows and met the band many times. I have also been thanked by Ed Kowalczyk on stage for a gift I bought him last year in Delaware.  In times of need and times of pain, LIVE has been my backbone for 9 years now.  With many more good years to come, my name is Joshua and I say Thank You To: Ed K- Chad T- Pat D- Chad G- and Adam K....
  Thanks
  Joshua Darone


I first listened to Live in college when Operation Spirit was playing on my friend Alan's CD player.  However, I didn't realize it was them until I heard tracks from Throwing Copper (TC).  The person who introduced me to Live was my best friend of many years, Tiffany.  She would drive me around in the summer of 1994 and play Throwing Copper as loud as possible, pointing out cool base lines, great drum fills, and the most fantastic guitar and vocals I had heard in a long time.  And then there were the lyrics...I was just blown away.  It became the soundtrack to my life.  I wore out my first copy of TC.  Then I saw them perform live for the first time in the winter of 1994 at the Golden Dome in Beaver Falls, PA.  That pretty much changed everything for me.  It became my and Tiff's mission to see them as much as possible, especially if they were within 100 miles of Pittsburgh.  As you have heard so many times in the past, their live shows are just simply dazzling!  I can't count how many times I just stood in the crowd in awe and wanted to absorb all of the energy and throw it right back to them in some magical spiritual way.  To this day, I still get goose bumps when I hear that album. 

After the first show, I saw them again on April 3, 1995 at Washington & Jefferson College in WV.  That's the first day I met Ed.  Down the hill walks Ed with a big smile and an outstretched hand to say hello and did we know where a laundry mat was :)  Too funny!  So we got a picture and small-talked and next thing you know, he asked us if we were going to the next show on April 4.  Turns out we got complimentary passes to drive to Mansfield, PA in a blizzard (on Tiff's birthday, no less) to catch the last 30 minutes of their show!  It was still worth it though.  That summer of 1995 was one of the best summers EVER.  My mother bought Tiff and I tickets to see them in Orlando and Miami in late July and we also saw them in Tampa and New Orleans...so it became a 4-stop mini tour for Tiff and I to see our favorite band.  Those were the best shows for me.  Tiff and I still talk about that summer as if it was yesterday.  We were 24 years old.  I would go on to see LIVE'S TC tour another 5 times before the 1997 release of Secret Samadhi.  Each time was unique and took me to places I had never seen before.  Well, the last show I saw on the TC tour was in Pittsburgh at the Starlake Amphitheater.  It was a very memorable show, with cool extras like Cheetah, and a major spiritual-tribal double-rendition of Operation Spirit and TBD.  I was out of my body for that one. 

I know this has been a lot to read, but I will gladly talk about Live any and every time to express my love for them.  I have seen them going on 45 times so far and it truly feels like yesterday.  Those four boys, now all grown up, have contributed to many many moments of sheer bliss in my life.  They have given millions of people their gift of song, performance, and a new way to look at life and love.  They have been true to their ever-evolving style in the face of what can be a controlling music industry.  And most of all, they have had to sacrifice a "normal" life with families and friends just so they can share these gifts.  I will always be a fan.  Here's to many more years of LIVE!!!  And congratulations on a great 10 years of music.  I'll be there in the crowd with a giant smile and a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart. 
  Love,
Heather Larkins
a.k.a. Mama

My name is Tiffany Roman but I am writing on behalf of myself and my best friend, Heather Larkins. I couldn't write about "Throwing Copper Memories" without including my mama, Heather.

Although my memories go back, literally, to the day Mental Jewelry was released, our memories started with Throwing Copper.  Almost all of our friends in Pittsburgh are musicians so the majority of our time was spent in dirty bars around PA listening to good music. The first night we ever hung out we were sitting in my apartment and I played Lightning Crashes for her. She was sucked in just as I was.  That evening we went to see our friends play but instead of visiting with them during their breaks, we went out to my car and played Throwing Copper.

In December of 94 we went to our first show in Beaver Falls and a whole new realm of fun opened up.  That summer Live was touring, so we went to Panama City to spend a few days with our Pittsburgh friends and had plans to see Live in Orlando, which turned into a spontaneous road trip.  We went to shows in Orlando, Miami, Tampa, and New Orleans.  We came home a while and then went to Columbus, Detroit, and Cleveland.  We ended up at
the Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Columbia, MD shows that summer also. It was the most bizarre, ironic, and INSANELY fun time of our lives.

Things haven’t changed much in 10 years. We’ve gratefully gone to over 60 shows from Vegas to Amsterdam, and LIVE's music has affected our lives in a major way. Throwing Copper cemented our friendship. Ever since that trip I can’t imagine my life without Heather in it. We laughed for days straight, “showered” in hotel lobby restrooms, and slept numerous times in a damn Geo Metro! We tested relationships, jobs security, and our family’s patience but we wouldn’t change ONE thing about that summer. It was the best lesson ever on how to live life...and we can’t thank LIVE enough.

Tiffany


My names Graeme Tickle, I'm from Exeter in the United Kingdom and I would just like to say that LIVE is my favorite band of all time and has been since 1995. I first heard of LIVE through 'Throwing Copper' (The best album of all time) and my earliest memory was seeing them perform 'I Alone' on 'The Word' on Channel 4. I was blown away by what was, and still is, my favorite track of all time.

I had a few friends at school that were into Rock music but no-one had ever heard of LIVE and I often felt like I was talking to myself when I raved on about how great they were. One person at my school however had heard of them and was impressed that I had to. He copied the Album onto tape and I instantly fell in love with it, talking about songs such as 'Sh*t Towne' and 'Lightning Crashes' over our lunch hour. He later copied 'Mental Jewelry' and before long I found myself loving that album nearly as much as Throwing Copper.  I have to admit that I was slightly obsessed, and needless to say it wasn't long before I bought both albums on CD, and even managed to get hold of 'I Alone' on CD single with the acoustic version.

At the time that I first heard of Live I had only just started getting into Rock music through my brothers tastes in bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. I didn't even own any Albums; 'Throwing Copper' was the first album I ever bought.  Live shaped my music taste and started a CD collection that is now 150 albums +.  American Bands such as Fuel, 3 Doors Down, Eve6, Creed and Staind would never have entered my CD collection if it had not been for Live. In fact every band I listen to is judged on standards that Live set with 'Throwing Copper'. In the summer of '1995' my dream came true when I saw Live, live At Glastonbury Festival. All my friends were not interested in coming to see them so I went alone. In a way though, that was a good thing as there was something about Live that felt very personal to me.  Without wishing to sound arrogant, they were my band.  To top it all off I enjoyed my first ever crowd surf to 'White discussion.'  It really was the start of an era for me, I had just finished school, about to go to College, went to my first ever Festival and had adopted a taste for Rock music pioneered by Live. To this day I reminisce about the day I saw Live at Glastonbury and hope that they come back to England again one day so I can see them again. If any of the band ever get to read this I would just like to say thanks for the music and the memories.
Graeme Tickle
Exeter, United Kingdom


Throwing Copper was the first album I had from Live, and that is the
reason I went to their show in 2002, and was forever after a die-hard fan. 
My best memory of the album came after a dear friend and wonderful person had died.  Anyone who really knew him was still in high school (we still are), and we had a get together and a bonfire to share stories and memories.  As we were sitting there, I put in the album.  I remembered that when they played "Lightning Crashes" acoustic, Ed said it was for a friend who was undoubtedly in heaven, and it seemed appropriate.  The memory sticks because every person there wound up singing the song together...it was beautiful.  Afterwards, little was said, but the song really stuck and moved everyone present.
  -Jim

WOW!  Has it been that long already? I was just 17 years old when I saw the Throwing Copper tour.  I was thrilled to go because I had seen LIVE play when I was 13 at the Del Mar fair grounds and it was instant love.  I went out and bought the Mental Jewelry CD and wore it out.  Then I was a little older and Throwing Copper came out, and was I ever excited.  Most of my friends thought I was a nut case until I made them listen to the album.  In a time where I wasn’t sure about so much in my life, LIVE was there to help me through it with their music.  But I never would have thought it would have brought me through so much in my life and I am ever grateful to them for their music; its kept me sane through the years.  At school I was known as the "LIVE FAN" and even now that I’m 26 I’m still known as the "LIVE FAN.” 

I won tickets to a LIVE concert in August 1995.  I was so excited, and after a lot of pleading we got our parents to let us go.  We were on our way to go see LIVE how much better can it get?  We got to the venue after a few wrong turns (glad we left early).  The first band we saw was Veruca Salt, then PJ Harvey, THEN LIVE... my God we were in 7th heaven!  Our seats may not have been the greatest but it didn't matter, we were having the time of our lives.  The band was so energetic and when Ed decided to run out in the crowd and sing in the isle which was right near where we were I couldn't believe it, Ed was singing in the middle of the venue inches from me.  At 17 that was the best time ever, its my fondest memory of high school, That show will be stuck in my mind forever, and I loved every minute of it.  Even in the next few years after graduation and into college that album has been a big part of my life, and when my best friend Julie passed away in July of 1999 I played her Lightning Crashes in her hospital room only moments before she left us, but her body looked so peaceful and free. I played Lightning Crashes at her funeral services and made a CD with her favorite songs on it and gave it to everyone.  Everyone has a piece of Julie with that CD and a piece of her is in LIVE. These memories will stay in my heart forever as well as the music of LIVE.

Nicole DeMasi

My memory was hearing Shite Town in my mums car and singing along when I was about 6.  She turned it down during the swearing because it was a live version of it.
from Carrie

Throwing Copper was an album that threw a monkey wrench in the gears of ROCK in '94 and woke people up that there is more than power chord grunge.

My girlfriend at the time, turned me onto it when she gave me a copy of Throwing Copper that she made AND a ticket to one of the first shows on the tour at the TLA in Philly. Honestly, I was not a big fan of LIVE prior to that (what an idiot) so I went into that show not knowing what to expect. Walking out of the show that night, I was a believer.  Witnessing Ed wail on "dam at otter creek" while Chad destroyed his China cymbal, changed how I enjoy concerts to this day...nothing has compared to the intensity of a band that was on the verge of exploding into millions of headphones and speakers around the world. Throwing Copper did just that and I feel very privileged to have experienced that early Throwing Copper show because it was obvious that the emotion from the album was coming from an intangible place within the band and out into to the audience.

White, Discussion is by far my favorite song on TC. They shot the original
video for the song at the TLA show that night which made it extra special. I
remember watching Dave Kendal debut it on 120 minutes a couple months later and seeing shots of myself throughout the video.....INCREDIBLE Black and White video.....It was later re-shot somewhere else but it's a fond memory of mine that I was on that original video for my favorite live song....wish I had a copy!
-Tom Mellon (Philadelphia)

How can I forget the first time I ever heard a song from Throwing Copper?  And of course, what other song could it have been than "Lightning Crashes."  I remember that it was late summer at the time and I was at a pool party with some friends.  They had the radio station on and all of a sudden, I just stopped and started to listen to this song that was playing.  I was transfixed, unable to move.  I absorbed the song and the song absorbed me.  The powerful vocals, the chilling lyrics, and mysterious instrumentals blended together in a perfect dance of sound and emotion.  I don't know how long I sat there after the song had ended.  I had never heard anything like that in my entire life.  That one moment has remained with me for years and I doubt it will ever leave.  I can honestly say that the moment I heard that song, I had found my favorite band.  Many songs soon followed.  "Selling the Drama," "I Alone," Pillar of Davidson," and "T.B.D.", amongst all the other songs comprising the perfect album.  Yet "Lightning Crashes" still captivates me like none other, the first LIVE song that I ever heard.

Michael Bear

I will never forget the first time I heard Lightning Crashes. It led me to buy Throwing Copper, which led me to my first LIVE concert, which led to my long love affair with LIVE's magical music. I was the same age as the guys in the band when I first saw them at Deer Creek Music Center (now Verizon). I will never forget it. They had an all acoustic set where they brought out a couch onto the stage and a makeshift living room complete with Kiss posters. They played all of their wonderful songs and it was so awesome. Ed came down into the crowd on TBD and came very close to where I was. 

Throwing Copper opened a door for me, a pathway I have gone on to see them six times and have a closet full of Live T-shirts (my favorite thing to wear). I have met them and had my picture taken with them and I have to say, they are a part of my everyday existence. I can't get through the dishes without some LIVE tunes. They continue to please and amaze me and
I am so grateful to have them in my life.



I REMEMBER LISTENING TO LIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME AT A JOB I HAD AT A POSTER STORE IN A MALL. MY FRIEND HAD YOUR CASSETTE AND I WAS IMMEDIATELY HOOKED. YOUR MUSIC WAS, AND STILL IS, VERY ORIGINAL AND ENERGETIC. I QUICKLY WENT OUT AND PURCHASED YOUR CD AND NOTICED MENTAL JEWELRY AND GOT IT ALSO. I HAVE BEEN A FAN EVER SINCE! THE FIRST TIME I SAW LIVE WAS ON THE THROWING COPPER TOUR. ME AND MY FOUR FRIENDS PACKED IN MY LITTLE CAR AND DROVE 4 HOURS TO HOUSTON TO SEE YOU AT THE WOODLANDS PAVILION. THE CONCERT WAS AWESOME!!  I REMEMBER ED CAME OUT INTO THE CROWD TO SING PILLAR OF DAVIDSON. HE WAS RIGHT BY OUR AISLE, WHICH WAS PRETTY COOL. I HAVE SINCE SEEN LIVE 4 MORE TIMES AND HAVE NEVER BEEN DISAPPOINTED. THE ONLY REGRET I HAVE IS THAT YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO MY HOME TOWN OF CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS. MAYBE ONE DAY YOU WILL, BUT UNTIL THEN I'LL DRIVE TO OTHER TOWNS TO SEE YOU. CONGRATULATIONS ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THROWING COPPER, ONE OF THE BEST ALBUMS EVER, AND TO MANY MORE YEARS OF LIVE GIVING US FANS SOME OF THE BEST MUSIC OUT THERE.
                                                  SINCERELY,
                                            JOE A HERNANDEZ

I can't say that I was introduced to LIVE by a friend nor was I given a sample of their music and someone saying to me "here, listen to this." You could say I just stumbled across their music and my soul has not been the same since.

Throwing Copper will always have a special place in my heart, it was the album that saw me through my first few years of living away from home.  Too many memories are attached with that album, with each song it brings me back to a certain time, a certain place or reminding me of a certain someone.

One memory I cherish the most is for track number 5.  After spending a big night on the town I went back to a friends house to crash. At some ridiculous hour of the morning I woke up out of my sleep and looked at the TV, which had been left on all night, to see at that exact moment the video clip for "Lightning Crashes."  Unbelievable, you could not have timed it more perfectly.

Another reason Throwing Copper means so much to me is the fact that I went to the Alternative Nation concert/festival in 1995.  Hearing Ed's voice for the first time, belting out "Selling the Drama" and "I Alone," the first time LIVE had graced the shores of Australia, I will never forget that! 

I will always be drawn to Throwing Copper.  It was my first introduction to LIVE, and it's the album that made me fall in love with their music. And as I look back now over the past 10 years it's all those little things that make me think "this is a band my life would not be complete without, their music was destine to be a part of me" and it all started with Throwing Copper.
 
Happy Anniversary Throwing Copper and thank you for the past 10 years!
 
all my love
Bronnie



The first time I heard of Live was from my older brother, TeeJay. He was a guitarist in his own band, but was really into Live. He had Mental Jewelry and loved it so much he bought Throwing Copper the day it came out. He learned most of the riffs and would listen to Selling the Drama and Stage over and over again to get the guitar just right. He would always ask me to come in and listen as he played along to make sure it sounded right. Eventually he asked me if I wanted to learn to play guitar, and the first song he taught me was Lightening Crashes.  I have a lot of fond memories of sitting on his bed at 2 AM talking and listening to TeeJay strum along to LIVE. He saw LIVE in concert on several occasions at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA.  I was 3 years younger and wasn't allowed to go to concerts yet, but he always brought me back a t-shirt. LIVE was our bond!  TeeJay passed away in a
tragic car accident when he was only 18 years old, four years after Throwing Copper came out.  It's sort of funny because the only salvageable CD from the wreck was Throwing Copper, which I kept. Every time I listen to it I’m reminded of him and all those late night chats and learning to play guitar. Throwing Copper and LIVE will always hold a special place in my heart next to Teejay.
-Heather

I have been a fan of this group since Mental Jewelry album. A friend introduced me to this band and when Throwing Copper came out it showed how much better this band gets with every album they do. I have collected all the CD's LIVE has ever written and each one has a different meaning to me. I have lots of memories of this band.

Summer of 94, my friends had just graduated high school and we did nothing but hang out and play Throwing Copper all day long. I learned how to play the drums to this album and have seen LIVE in concert every time they to town. I cant begin to tell you how your songs have touched me in my life for different reasons, and I have had the pleasure of introducing LIVE to people I come in contact with.  Congrats guys on 10+ years and here's to more years to come....see you in June in Anaheim.

#1 fan forever,
Jennifer Cook

My friends and I were LIVE fans from the time Mental Jewelry came out and were really excited about Throwing Copper. None of us had ever seen them live so we were looking for a show nearby our town. We were all from Conway, Arkansas and we noticed that the closest place was St Louis. So we packed up in a van and rolled to St. Louis. They were playing at some indoor theater and the show was brilliant to say the least. I've seen LIVE many times and it's still my favorite show. At the end, they were closing with White, Discussion and Ed started taking his clothes off during the middle of the song. Finally he was standing there in his boxer shorts playing with the lights going crazy and then Pat came by and ripped his boxers down. Ed kicked them out in the crowd and was standing there with his guitar over his privates and everyone was going CRAZY! At the end of the song, he said "Thanks and Good night" and then walked off stage. What a great moment!
Brian Roach

I remember the first time I heard Live.  I was in this store that is located in my town, and all of a sudden at the check out line this song comes on (Lightning Crashes), and I remember really liking it.  But I was five yrs old at the time, and the only thing my mom let me listen to was country, so I thought it was bad to like that song.  A few years went by and I still kept getting the song stuck in my head.  Now I listen to Live all the time.

I can't tell you how many times I've listened to "Throwing Copper" while working on stained glass.  Sometimes I have to watch myself because I get taken away by the music, especially when Ed yells "yeah, yeah, yeah" in "I Alone.  So far I haven't cut myself.  I have been listening to this CD and cutting glass together for ten years now. 
Thanks Guys!
Janet

Throwing Copper to me was the turning point in becoming a true Live fan. I had always liked their music before but after listening to the entire album
(which I borrowed from a friend because I liked Pain Lies On The Riverside so much) I was hooked. Since then I have bought all their albums (except for Four Songs which I couldn't find). Here's to another 10 yrs of one of the greatest albums ever made!
  Regards,
Terng Fu (Singapore)




Wow 10 Years!  Well, I began listening to Live when "Operation Spirit" hit the radio waves, and I was addicted.  I followed them closely until the incomparable "Throwing Copper" came out.  LIVE then hit the road on their sold out world tour, and I was lucky enough to catch them in Omaha, NE on May 7th 1995, it was a Wednesday and I was a sophomore in high school. One of the best shows I had ever seen.  I still remember the chills I had when they performed "The Pillar Of Davidson."  I have since seen my favorite band 7 times.  I have always followed LIVE closely since then and had the privilege to meet all of them backstage (I won the Friends of LIVE grand prize) on "The Distance to Here" tour.  LIVE has always rewarded their fans, and they appreciate the following. It was a great to see that VH1 listed Throwing Copper as one of the greatest 20 CD's made! Hopefully we will continue to receive beautiful music from the boys for years to come.

Barry Powell
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
age 26.

What would later become my life's inspiration and my favorite album of all time started, simply enough, as a plea for my sister to turn down her music. It was 1995 and a rough time to be 8 years old. Furthermore, it was going on 10 o'clock, and the music was still floating into my room from down the hall. I was pissed off, and on my way to her room to tell her so, I realized I recognized this song. Humming the tune, I proceeded to knock on her door. Upon entering, I instantly recognized the lyrics: "I alone love you/I alone tempt you/I alone love you/Fear is not the end of this." She had asked me to listen to this band before, which was ridiculous to me at the time; she
listened to music, not me. I supposed that, just once, I could make an exception. I got her to turn down the volume, and on the way out, begrudgingly asked her to record the CD onto tape for me. Life would never be the same.

Sean Kirchheimer
Phoenix, Arizona

I've been a fan since before Throwing Copper, but here's my quick story. 
I was in the Air Force stationed in Kuwait and living in a tent with 12 others. No TV, just a CD player and some CDs guys brought with them.  Needless to say Throwing Copper was played just about all the time.  About thirty days into my tour there they got some acoustic guitars shipped in and my two good buddies and I were rockin out our versions of Selling The Drama and Shit towne in no time. Awesome album that still jams today, brings back memories.  Come back and play Philly again soon!!  Thanks, Joe Hansell

Sound is special to me. At age five, my family and I learned that I had hearing impairment. The doctors predicted that by the time I was mid-forties, I would go completely deaf.
 
Today (April 11) was my birthday. I turned 23- the halfway mark towards the impending moment when the world around me goes silent, and the only voice I hear will be the noiseless one in my head. But I'm not scared.  No, that would be blasphemous. Because by the time I reach that point when I can no longer hear, I expect to have listened to each of LIVE's albums a hundred times each.
 
It was five years ago that I first learned of LIVE. My roommate in the college dorms placed a copper-colored disc into the CD player and skipped to track five. Soft guitar strums filled the room and was soon joined by an unmistakable voice. I had heard "Lightening Crashes" on rock radio before, but my lack of hearing made it impossible for me to hear what the lyrics were, or who the artist was. By the time the song was over, I had been transported to a place that only LIVE can take me.
 
That weekend, I drove home to visit my parents. I borrowed Throwing Copper from my roommate and listened to the CD for three straight hours. Afterwards, I purchase my own copy, and I've run Throwing Copper through my CD player until I know the words and rhythms by heart. When "The Dam at Otter Creek" begins pounding out the bass, I turn up the volume until my car seat is shaking. When Ed begins screaming “I alone love you,” I believe in the words. The moment before "T.B.D." reaches the crescendo, I tense up then release my pent up anger onto the steering wheel of the car and the seat besides me. And when I hear the words, “Look where all this talking got us, baby,” I'm reminded that soon I will no longer talk to anyone.
   
Maybe the doctors are right and when I reach my mid-forties, I will never hear another baby cry.  Maybe they're right and someday I will never again hear the crash of the thunder after the lightning. And maybe, just maybe, someday I will never listen to another song from LIVE. But I don't care. Because in my head, no matter how deaf I become, I will always hear the sound of LIVE, singing to me, comforting me, letting me know that I might not be able to hear it, but I can feel it.

-Kevin Garrison -2004

Early 1995.  Listening to the radio in Seattle, I heard a song, "Selling the Drama", and it caught my ear.  The 2nd or 3rd time I heard it, I wrote the name of the band, LIVE, down so that I could check them out at the record store.  A few weeks later, I heard another song, "I Alone," but the DJ neglected to mention the name.  The next time, They again said it was LIVE!  That was it.  Later in the week, I asked mom for a ride to the mall (I was 16 and only had a learners permit) to buy Throwing Copper.  The rest, as they say, is a beautiful history.  That's where it began, and it hasn't slowed down a bit since.

Later that summer, A group of 7 of us piled into mom and dad's minivan, and drove 3 hours to the tiny town of George, WA, home of one of the most beautiful venues in the country, the George at George, to see LIVE.  It was our first trip to the George, and the first time to see LIVE.  We eagerly sat through the opening acts (PJ Harvey and Veruca Salt), dying to hear Live.  As the sun set and the crew changed sets, the venue filled to capacity, we moved from the lawn to the main floor, creeping ever closer to the stage.  The lights went off, the crowd went wild, and feedback and guitar rang through the speakers.  1 by 1, the boys made their way onto the stage, playing the opening notes to "the dam at otter creek."  The sound, the lighting, timed with every beat, the warn night, everything was perfect.    The show played on, playing all the songs we wanted to see: "Beauty of Gray", "Iris", "Lightning Crashes," and the best song ever written, "Pillar of Davidson."  Every time I listen to "Copper", the opening notes on "Dam at Otter Creek" bring me right back to that night at the George.  I've seen the band 9 more times since, in Seattle, Anaheim, and New York, and I have tickets for the show on the 23rd of April in Atlantic City (and I'm hoping to win the contest for the show on the 22nd in NYC).  I've been lucky enough to meet the band 3 times, and even saw Adam K. as a surprise guest at the Tonic Lounge in NY!  This has been an amazing journey for me.  LIVE has influenced and helped me
through so much in my life.  Ten years since Throwing Copper...Amazing!  It feels like last week.
Thank You,
Graham Keavney

Well, I was in the seventh grade when LIVE came to my town. I was so excited to go to my first concert alone! No parents was a big deal at that age! I had my ticket weeks in advance and was just SO excited to see the guys. I was a new fan, so I didn't know a lot of their music, but I was still thrilled to get to see them. Let me just say, having a known band play our little town is a big deal. I live in a fairly small town and it's not often we get bands here that aren't local. But about two weeks before the show, I got into a little bit of trouble at school. Mom made me sell my LIVE ticket. That was SO hard. Not as hard as the night of the show though.

I remember that Live Unplugged was on MTV that night. So, while I thought of everyone having a good time at the show only a few miles away, I ate popcorn and cried while I watched the guys do their unplugged thing on the tube. It was quite pitiful to tell ya the truth. But I was miserable.

BUT! Good DID come out of that! That show solidified me as a fan. It turned me onto their older music and got me more familiar with their "latest" stuff.

Six years later...I got a second chance to see them and they did not disappoint. Now, I am waiting for another show to come close to me.

Thanks!
  ~Heidi Jo Postlewait

Throwing Copper and LIVE actually brought me and my fiance back in to the music loop...being in our 40's and up..we grew up with the 70's rock and into the early 80's..but by the mid to late 80's music wasn't doing it for us..we were one of those couples with perpetual "oldies" "classic rock" stations in the car.  CD purchases were limited to Beatles CDs, and maybe classic rock collections.  We heard about bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, but those were now the "young" peoples things and mosh pits looked a little to dangerous for our age.  Then one day I happened to tune into one of the local rock stations here in DC area (DC101).  Someone was really putting out there..it was a new fresh rock sound (for me anyway), but of course the dj's don't tell you the song or the name of the band.  It took me almost 2 days trying to find the same song. I kept searching the rock stations, and finally on my way home from work 99.1 whfs, played it again.  This time they told me "Selling the Drama" by LIVE.
I was hooked, went to circuit city, asked for LIVE, and have been a fan since.
p.s. thought the last CD "birds of pray" was great...just a thanks from us.
Neil & Kim

I was 16 when "Throwing Copper" came out. I had embarked on the greatest adventure of my young life, a 12 month stay in the US (I'm a native Dane).
I lived in a shitty host family, that treated me less than well, but later that year I was allowed to move to a wonderful family. The year in the States ended up as an amazing memory and a great experience. I listened to LIVE on the radio and knew that I had to have that CD. I got it, I loved it, and I went home. 18 months later, after grieving at the fact that "Mental Jewelry" was not available to buy in Denmark, I was back in the States to get my copy right away.  After that I've been on the doorstep of the stores for every other release, I was at the 1997 "Secret Samadhi" tour concert in Copenhagen, heard Live at the Roskilde Festival in 1997, and attended the "Birds of Pray" concert in 2003.

Listening to "Throwing Copper" always takes me back, not to the bad stuff, but to the amazing friendships that have lasted for the past ten years, people that have come to visit here and who receive me when I return, to the laughter and the adventure that brought me to love the English language above all and ventured to major in it at college. "Throwing Copper" takes me to the couch in the basement of my friend's house in Hickory North Carolina, where I sat, longing for home at times, yet living out the American Dream!
That's my memory!
Christina Larsen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

My name is Barbara, I have been an Live fan for 8 years now.  About 3 years ago I graduated from high school, and I went to study to be a nurse. The first time I went to work in the hospital as a student nurse, there was a patient I will never forget.  This patient was a victim of a terrible accident. She was paralyzed from the waist down. This accident occurred on the 10th of October.  That was the same date of one the concerts LIVE played here in Belgium.  She was also a great fan of Live and was planning to go to that concert that night, but wasn't able due to the accident.
Being a big fan of Live myself we immediately starting to talk about the band, about our favorite songs, and so on.  I gave here my ticket from that night. After 3 weeks I went back to school and I didn't hear from her again.  Now about two weeks ago, I walked passed radiology because I had to pick up a patient. As I walked through the long corridor I saw a woman waiting, she looked familiar but I didn't have much time. I picked up my patient and started to walk back. As I passed her again, she stopped me and asked me if I was the one who gave her the ticket to the LIVE show on October 10th. The woman waiting at radiology was the same patient from 3 years ago. She told me that one of her biggest dreams came true last year as she was able to go to the LIVE concert in Brussels. She told me she had never forgot about me, and every time she hears the song 'Lightening Crashes' she thinks about me, because that is one of my favorite songs. She was totally recovered, she was able to walk again and looked great.  I was really shocked about this, I had tears in my eyes as she told her story.

Because of this event, I love LIVE even more. Their music is able to bring two strangers together and share a special connection. I will never forget that woman, and I want to thank the guys for their music. There are no words to describe how they make me feel, I can't wait till they come back to Belgium.

Lots of Love
Barbara Van Wijmeersch

I started college in the fall of 1993, and got my first CD player for Christmas that year, Throwing Copper was the first CD I ever bought (honestly).  I was a resident advisor in the dorms (University of California, Riverside) my second year, and my hallmates teased me for playing that CD over and over and over for months, it was the only thing I ever played.  (it's amazing cuz...I never get tired of hearing it...it always puts me in a good mood, and makes me remember my college days).  I can't believe its been 10 years!! 

Christine Dauphine
Los Angeles, CA


I had heard of Live when "Mental Jewelry" came out, even seen their first video.  But I didn't catch on to the Live fever then, even though I love the album now.  Later, in the summer of 1995, my friend Carl had the "Throwing Copper" CD.  I borrowed it and never gave it back, eventually buying him a new copy.  I remember listening to "The Dam at Otter Creek," "I Alone," and "Lightning Crashes" over and over again in my car.  It was the longest time before I made it past track 7.  For Carl's birthday I bought tickets to see Live at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.  The show was in August.  I still hadn't listened to the whole album when we went to the show.  Like they have done on several of their first tours, they opened with the first three songs from the album in order.  "The Dam at Otter Creek" was simply amazing.  The crowd echoed "be he-ere now be he-ere now."  The band played an acoustic set within the show that was also very good.  But the highlight of the evening was a song I didn't yet know, which would become one of my all time favorites.  The song started out, the powerful bass line repeating, Ed half singing, half speaking into the microphone.  He disappeared later in the song.  I didn't realize he had left the stage until he appeared over to our left about twenty rows up the left hand aisle.  A purple spotlight made him glow as he belted out the climax "In the moment I was losing my head..." and I think I lost mine.  Ed's voice took my breath away.  Every time I hear "T.B.D" I can close my eyes and see him up in the crowd at Irvine Meadows.  At the time Carl and I hadn't known each other very long.  Since then we have traveled across the country together and lived high in the rocky mountains for a ski season.  And along the way we listened to a lot of Live.  We have become best friends.  The beginnings of that friendship introduced me to my favorite band, at a show outside on an August night at Irvine Meadows.  We have both seen them many times, and even once more together.  Since then I have seen Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, which every band agrees is a spectacular venue, and at Fiddler's Green in October in the snow with Counting Crows, as well as at small places like The Paramount Theatre and The Fillmore (Denver), and I took my girlfriend to see them on our first date at The Ogden Theatre on the "V" tour.  That was two and a half years ago.  And she's hooked, she listens to "Voodoo Lady" on her running mix.  But of all the great shows I've had the opportunity to go to, that first one in Southern California is what has opened a lot of the doors to being Live.  And the distance from there to here for me is "an invisible Mississippi, ganges or a nile, I can feel the quiet river rage forcin' my lips into a smile."  Thank you for 10 years.

Paul Barsa
Denver, CO

1996. I was a freshman at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. I had left behind everything that an 18-year-old thinks is important, my car, my boyfriend, and my “boombox.” I did take with me everything I could carry that mattered most, my tattered journal and all the LIVE CDs I owned.

The year was coming to a close and I was waiting patiently for finals to be over and my boyfriend to come get me so we could celebrate our anniversary. I had to get him a gift but what to get? We loved concerts and had made a habit of going to EVERY LIVE concert when they came to Chicago to play the Metro.

I was sitting on the steps of my College (wearing a LIVE tee shirt) when a friend tripped over me accidentally. We laughed about it and they made a comment about my shirt and how she also liked Live.  She said she was going to their concert in Deer Creek that weekend. "Their what!?" I thought.  “Where is that? Can I still get tickets?”  Deer Creek was this relatively new outdoor venue in Indiana and we could buy student tickets on campus. She had gotten hers there.

So off I went running and praying that there would be two more tickets left.  The booth was open but the sign on the door was disheartening. “ALL SHOWS SOLD OUT FOR DEER CREEK.” What now? I could have cried. But instead I sucked up my courage and walked to the booth.
“Please,” I said, “do you have any tickets left for LIVE at Deer Creek this Friday night.”  The lady in the box smiled sweetly and said three words that made me burst into tears. “Yes, I do.  They just released Section D. It is wide open. Which row do you want?”

I picked my row, ran home to my dorm, and called my boyfriend. The week flew by and Friday came none too soon. He picked me up and we drove like wildfire to make it to the concert on time.  It was perfection. Section D was off to the far left of the stage. The view was neck paining but we could see everything and everyone. As we made our way back to our seats after the opening act I noticed a big black box, like the one they carry equipment in, sitting in front of our row. Strange, I thought. The band took the stage, the crowd roared, the house was packed now. I was enthralled. Then, 30 minutes into LIVE’s act the band walked off stage. My heart sank into my stomach. The house lights came up, the stage lights went off. I heard moving, mics were left on. Strange.

Lights dimmed and the stage burned with a warm, homey glow. There were rugs and couches. The band, except for Ed, was sitting center stage and jamming like a high school garage band. I could hear humming but the house lights were off and it was well past 10pm. In the country that means no light but the moon and the stars. But they were tucked neatly behind big clouds. The humming continued and I thought it was my boyfriend singing along. When I turned to him he was staring at me mouth agape. It was not him humming. But it grew louder and louder. The first cords of t.b.d. played on stage and the humming was right next to me.

A small spotlight came up and there, on the box I had cursed for blocking my path earlier in the night, was Ed humming and swaying. He looked right at me (at least I felt like that) and sang the song with such grace and surety that I fell in love with the music all over again. He sang pillar of Davidson too and the whole time I felt like it was just for me. It was a perfect night. It is my favorite concert memory of the many I caught those first years they toured the country.

Marisa Cowan


I was at a friends house just sitting around, relaxing etc.  He handed me Throwing Copper and at that time I hadn't even heard of Live. I looked at it and said: Throwing Copper.....Live? Who the hell is Throwing Copper? Of course he had a good laugh. He lent me the CD and ever since I've been a huge fan!

DJ Hoebel
Rotterdam, The Netherlands


I have been a fan of Live since Throwing Copper came out.  The first concert I ever went to was during the Throwing Copper tour when they played at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas.  I was absolutely hooked from that time.  Since then, this is one of the only bands that I own all of their CD's and listen to them religiously.  I have been to several of their shows, but the best one was when I was in college.  I went to Texas A&M University in College Station, TX and they played a concert there a few years ago.  I was actually able to meet them and take pictures with Ed and Chad Taylor.  It was great!  One of my dreams come true!

Thanks for letting me give my input!  Happy 10th Anniversary to Throwing Copper!

-Kim Dolfi


Originally from Pennsylvania, I was familiar with Live from the days of Mental Jewelry.  Living in central PA, just outside of York, it was hard to go anywhere without hearing about the band.  I was 13 years old when Throwing Copper had been released, and a huge fan of the record.  A few months after the release, before I Alone was released for radio play, I was transferred to a different central Pennsylvania school.  During my first tour of the new school, the guidance counselor walked me by a door that had a Live T-shirt and poster attached to it.  I questioned her about this, and she told me that Ed's father was a teacher and that I would have his class beginning that same afternoon.  I was EXTREMELY excited.  Mr. Kowalczyk was not only an amazing teacher, but he included updates about the guys in every class.  It was an incredible experience to have him as a teacher and for him to include us, as fans of the band, in the personal aspect of it.  He frequently brought back autographs for those that requested them, and while we were very persistent about him trying to get them to perform for our school, it never panned out.  The high school was directly next to the middle school, and after I moved up in grades, my friends and I would continue to visit Mr. Kowalczyk and ask for updates.  It was an experience that I will never forget and the Throwing Copper album brings back those amazing memories and those of my very first Live concert at Hershey Stadium.  Live has been an incredible influence on my life, and I'm proud to say that I've spent over 10 years as a devoted fan of my favorite band. 

Amy Berg
Vero Beach, FL

WOW, IT SEEMS LIKE AGES AGO THAT MY BEST FRIEND AND I WERE CRUISING THE STREETS OF NORTHERN VA IN HIS T-TOP CAMARO LISTENING TO "I ALONE" SINGING AT THE TOP OF OUR LUNGS, ESPECIALLY THE PART AT THE END OF "I ALONE" WHERE ED SCREAMS "YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!"  TRACK AFTER TRACK ON THE THROWING COPPER CD GOT BETTER AND BETTER.  SINCE MENTAL JEWELRY I HAVE EVER LIVE ALBUM, BEEN TO WELL OVER 25 CONCERTS THROUGHOUT VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND.  "I ALONE" BRINGS BACK GREAT MEMORIES, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY THE START OF ME AND LIVE, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY SOMETHING ME AND MY BEST FRIEND STILL TO THIS DAY SHARE ON A DAILY BASIS.  THANKS LIVE FOR ALL THE GREAT MEMORIES, IT HAS BEEN SOMETHING I WILL NEVER FORGET AS LONG AS I LIVE!

Mike Romano

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