From vinyl records to selfies with singers, Woodland teachers have brought in all types of concert memorabilia to show off. A display case in front of the media center puts a collection of CDs, concert shirts, and pictures on exhibit. The strings of concert tickets include classics such as B.B. King, Pearl Jam, and Phil Collins.
Teachers at Woodland enjoy various kinds of music, many teachers listen to everything from pop to 80s hair metal. Jodie D’Alexander estimates that she has been to at least 15 Def Leppard concerts.
“I definitely am an 80s hair metal kind of person,” D’Alexander said.
Loren Luddy listens to different types of music depending on what she’s doing at the time. Her music of choice for workouts include Latin and pop music with artists like Shakira. But Luddy says that she also listens to music on the opposite end of the spectrum as well such as classic rock. Some of her favorites that Luddy grew up listening to include Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, and Fleetwood Mac.
“So I also like and listen to a lot of classic rock because that’s what I grew up with,” said Luddy.
Mike Magas enjoys a vast variety of music genres like hip hop, jazz, rock, grunge, reggae, and classical.
“Growing up as a kid, some of my favorite bands were the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zeppelin,” Magas mentioned. “Then my first concert was ZZ Top.
With such a large variety of music tastes, it gets hard to keep track of how many concerts Woodland teachers have seen. Luddy says that she has been to approximately 20 big name concerts, but also countless outdoor concerts in her childhood.
“When I was a kid, we used to go to outdoor concerts all the time. I remember the Beach Boys and NRBQ,” Luddy stated.
Magas believes he has been to at least 100 shows including artists like the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He also mentioned that he’s seen several shows at the New Haven Coliseum before it closed in 2002.
“Yes was a big band in the 70s. I saw Yes back-to-back nights in New Haven, at the old New Haven Coliseum,” said Magas.
Some of the most popular artists that D’Alexander has seen live involve Steve Miller Band, Pat Benatar, and One Direction. She attended her first concert at about 12 years old when she saw Air Supply in Hartford. Most recently she got to see Post Malone in concert at the Xfinity Theater in Hartford. One of the best concerts that Luddy says she has ever seen was Stone Temple Pilots.
“Stone Temple Pilots in Spain was an amazing and crazy concert; they were incredible live,” Luddy said.
The earliest concert that Luddy can remember seeing was Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. The latest concert she has seen was Twenty One Pilots and she is going to see Shakira again this year. The first concert Magas ever saw was ZZ Top in 1975, a classic rock band from Houston who are still playing shows all over the country today.
Big names aren’t the only shows that teachers enjoy; anywhere they can find music that’s where they’ll go. The last concert Magas has seen was actually his own son’s band.
“The week of New Year this past year,” Magas stated. “I saw my son’s band play in Worcester Mass at the Worcester Palladium.”
