S04.E14 - Jen’s Addiction: The Chronicles of Vinyl and Live Music

In this episode of Seeing Them Live, Charles welcomes Jennifer Edwards, the creator and host of the YouTube channel Jen's Addiction, where she shares her passions for music, vinyl collecting, comic books, art, and classic horror. A self-described nostalgic with a deep emotional connection to vinyl, Jennifer explains why records are more than just a listening format — they're art you can hold, display, and collect. She and Charles dive into the perennial debate of vinyl versus CDs versus streaming, with Jennifer making the case that the warmth and nuance of a record — the fingers on the strings, the imperfections, the artwork — create an experience that digital formats simply can't replicate. She also shares her adventures in bulk collecting, including purchasing a collection of 3,000 CDs, and offers practical advice for collectors navigating Discogs, first pressings, and the sometimes-murky world of limited-edition numbering. The conversation then turns to Jennifer's lifelong concert-going journey, starting with her very first show — The Romantics at the Long Center in Lafayette, Indiana, when she was around 14 years old. That experience was transformative, igniting a passion not just for live music but for playing it, leading her to pick up the bass guitar at 16 and briefly front a band called The Llamas. Jennifer recounts some of her best concert moments, including seeing The Damned from the front row at Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville, catching The Cure on the Disintegration Tour, and watching Neil Peart's drum solos with Rush. She also shares an unforgettable encounter with Ogre, the singer of Skinny Puppy, at a monster convention — a conversation that lasted over an hour and ranged from music to horses and left her feeling that meeting an idol later in life, when both people are in a better place, can be far more meaningful than a fleeting interaction in the chaos of youth. Jennifer opens up about her most disappointing concert experience — the Jane's Addiction reunion show in Indiana, which was canceled just a few shows before the end of the tour, leaving her heartbroken after looking forward to seeing both Jane's Addiction and Love and Rockets. She also describes her most surprising concert: the 1995 Grateful Dead show at Deer Creek, where the crowd turned unruly, fans broke through the back fence during "Desolation Row," and the band kept playing as the situation spiraled — an eerie precursor to the end of the Dead era. The episode wraps with Jennifer sharing cherished pieces of her concert ephemera, including a Power Station T-shirt from a legendary teenage adventure in Cincinnati (where a photo lab worker handed her extra prints from John Taylor's personal camera) and a pair of drumsticks caught from Jesus and Mary Chain drummer Zach Alford. She also discusses her approach to album reviews on her channel — favoring enthusiasm over critical jargon — and encourages listeners to find their passion, engage with creators, and be part of the conversation. You can find Jennifer on YouTube at @JensAddiction. BANDS: Adam Ant, Bauhaus, The Beatles, The Bel-Airs, Chic, The Cramps, The Cure, The Damned, Danzig, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Fontaines DC, Gary Numan, The Grateful Dead, Howard Jones, Jane's Addiction, Jesus and Mary Chain, Julie London, The Kinks, The Llamas, Love and Rockets, Madonna, Peter Murphy, Pink Floyd, Power Station, The Psychedelic Furs, Robert Palmer, The Rolling Stones, The Romantics, Rush, Skinny Puppy, Squeeze, Tin Machine. VENUES: Aragon Ballroom, Brooklyn Bowl, Brown County Amphitheatre, Credit One Amphitheatre, Deer Creek, Elliot Hall of Music, Holiday Star Theater, Hollywood Casino, Long Center, The Metro, Old National Center, The Salt Shed, Soldier Field, Tweeter Center. LINKS: YouTube at @JensAddiction. PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST: https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708