Dinosaur Jr. — Oct. 26 at Riot Room, Kansas City, Mo.

Growing up, grunge was one my favorite genres. I grew up with bands like Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam, so seeing one of the grunge innovators live was quite a treat.

I was defiantly one of the youngest patrons that night in the Riot Room. Much as I expected, the clientele was mostly aging men possibly trying to relive their angsty youth even though probably all have mortgages and families. That didn’t stop them from breaking out the ripped jeans and button-down flannel shirts.

There may also have been the tallest man alive in the crowd, a man that even Cole Aldrich would have to look up to. Another one of my favorite concertgoers was the creeper leaning against the wall in the back with a massive blue faux-hawk and a T-shirt that said “Girls wink for sex.” Aside from a new crowd I was not used to, the band was pretty good.

The music was wonderful and exactly what I expected, but the vocals became too repetitive at times, much like on their albums. It just doesn’t seem the lead singer has enough range to really belt out anything special. But he does have a unique voice, which is something.

Overall the show was good and dependable, something you can expect from a band that has been dependable for nearly 30 years.

Tiësto — Oct. 29 at the Uptown Theater, Kansas City, Mo.

The night started out badly as security confiscated my glow sticks as I was going in. That and the opening DJ played an uninspired 90 minutes. He literally stood on stage and talked on his cell phone for about two minutes in the middle of the set.

But everything turned around after Tiësto came on stage. He put on one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen, and is probably the best DJ show I’ve seen. He mixed good range of music from trance classics like Zombie Nation to modern day rock songs from U2 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Tiësto definitely proved why he is one of the top two DJs in the world.

On stage there was a massive LED board that had amazing visuals, but the whole set looked crammed. There were also no lasers, which was disappointing. I don’t know what it is about lasers, but they always make the night more enjoyable.

Being in the sold out crowd was almost unbearably hot, and my girlfriend and I had to sit the last 30 minutes in the back of the theater. Also dehydrated, we were too cheap to buy the $4 bottled water and too classy to drink from the bathroom water faucets, so we nabbed some water bottles that were set down by someone. Not the most sanitary option, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Our Lady Peace — Oct. 31 at Power and Light District, Kansas City, Mo.

The stars just aligned for me on this show. Our Lady Peace was of my favorite bands when I was growing up, and I haven’t seen them for about six years. When I found out they were coming to Kansas City for a free show on Halloween at one of my favorite places to see live shows, the Kansas City Live stage in the Power and Light District, I flipped.

Because the show was on Halloween, and I’m usually not one to dress up for Halloween, I didn’t. At 5 p.m. when I realized that I still didn’t have a costume for the night and was still in my pajamas, I just rolled with it and wore a bathrobe and pajamas to the show. I was definitely the most comfortable person there.

After a decent set by opener Company of Thieves, Our Lady Peace came on and put on a great show. They played mostly hits and singles instead of the usual new crap most bands play when promoting a new album which was great.

I haven’t heard the new album, but based on the songs I heard that they played off it, I’m assuming it’s not very good. I also had a tough break as I only heard the final 15 seconds of my favorite song, One Man Army, missing the rest while I was in the bathroom.

The highlight of the night was the encore when American Idol winner David Cook came on stage to guest sing on Naveed while the members of Company of Thieves came back on stage, dressed as the full cast of Wizard of Oz, and did a chorus line on stage.