Top 10 Favorite Concerts of 2007
 

We always talk about favorite albums of the year but what about your favorite concerts.

In no particular order here's my top 10:

1. Daft Punk - Keyspan Park, NY
2. Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem/Les Savy Fav/Blonde Redhead - Randall's Island, NY
3. Sunset Rubdown - Bowery Ballroom, NY
4. Pitchfork Music Festival (especially Sonic Youth) - Union Park, Chicago
5. LCD Soundsystem - Bowery Ballroom, NY
6. Ted Leo Rx/The Thermals - McCarren Pool, NY
7. Girl Talk/Dan Deacon - Webster Hall, NY
8. The Decemberists - Millenium Park, Chicago
9. The Ponys/Deerhunter/Black Lips - The Mink, Houston
10. The Hold Steady/Art Brut - Terminal 5, NY

This was a great year for shows. Here were some of my favorites

Lawrence Arms/American Steel/The Falcon/Sundowner - The Casbah, San Diego
Tim Barry/William Elliot Whitmore - The Casbah, San Diego
The Draft/Dead To Me/Gaslight Anthem - The Knitting Factory, Hollywood
Chuck Ragan - The Knitting Factory, Hollywood
No Use For a Name/Whole Wheat Bread/The Flatliners - The Casbah, San Diego
Rocky Votolato/Drag the River - The Casbah, San Diego
Jesse Malin/Chuck Ragan - The Casbah, San Diego
Avail/The Draft - The Casbah, San Diego
Drag The River/Tim Barry - The Casbah, San Diego

Only show I went to: Rakim, Ghostface Killah and Brother Ali on the Hip Hop Live Tour in Philadelphia. Completely amazing.

I only saw a handful of shows this year, but they were all great. In no order:

Tony Bennett - Caesar's Palace, Atlantic City
The Roots - Richmond, VA
Pink Martini - The Mosque*, Richmond
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Innsbrook, Richmond
Carbon Leaf - Innsbrook, Richmond

Since the Flood Zone closed down years ago there's been a huge void, but my fine city finally got aTWO venues - Toad's Place & the National - that attract mid-level national acts. Hopefully, I'll see more shows in '08, but I still have my hang-ups (ticket prices, weekday show ending times are not "employed people friendly").

I already have tickets for the Michael Showalter & Michael Ian Black show in February. It's stand-up comedy, but that's still a show. :)

*They renamed it Richmond's Landmark Theatre in the PC-crazy 90s, but it'll always be the Mosque to me.

How were the Roots? I'd love to see them--especially with the whole home crowd :)

Good year for me.

Top Ten:

1. Mekons - Cleveland
2. Alejandro Escovedo / Chuck Prophet - Cincinnati
3. Blue Rodeo / Ron Sexsmith / Luke Doucet - Cleveland
4. Mountain Goats - Cincinnati
5. Merle Haggard / George Jones - Columbus
6. Old 97s - Cincinnati
7. Matthew Ryan / Tim Easton - Columbus
8. Tommy Womack - Cleveland
9. Bishop Allen - Dayton
10. Rodney Crowell - Cincinnati

Other good shows I saw
Mary Gauthier, Bruce Robison, Cloud Cult, Gogol Bordello, Joe Firstman, Bottle Rockets, Lemonheads

They were great, as usual. This was probably the 4th time that I've seen them. They're definitely one of the best live bands out there.

This time out they had a tuba (or maybe it was a Sousaphone) player, which was cool. It was an outdoor show and, probably since it was free, it was packed. I was on the lawn with absolutely no view of the stage for the first half of the show, but moved a lot closer in the second half.

But I was kind of let down that they weren't joined by D'Angelo or (Mad) Skillz, two Richmond artists that are affiliated with the Roots. The presence of one or both of them would've put the night over the top.

Also, the show was part of the Jamestown anniversary and Black Thought went on some anti-Jamestown soapbox during part of the concert. It kind of made me wonder why they accepted the offer to do the show in the first place if we were celebrating such "evil".

Top 9:

1. Arcade Fire w/ Handsome Furs at Massey Hall in Toronto, ON
2. Girl Talk at Soundlab in Buffalo, NY
3. The Roots/Guster/Jason Mraz at University at Buffalo, NY
4. The New Pornographers at the Riviera in Buffalo, NY
5. The Decemberists at Center For the Arts in Buffalo, NY
6. Lupe Fiasco at RIT in Rochester, NY
7. Dropkick Murphys at The Square in Buffalo, NY
8. Streetlight Manifesto/Reel Big Fish/Less Than Jake/Against All Authority at Waterstreet in Rochester, NY
9. Jack's Mannequin/Reel Big Fish/All-American Rejects at CFA in Buffalo, NY

How was Merle? I've always wanted to see him live.

This was my first time seeing him and he was in fine voice. I wish I could say the same for Jones, but both men seemed to have a great time and the crowd ate it up.

The highlight was a short set they did together.

Can I even remember all of this years shows? I see so many of my favorite bands year after year that I tend to forget what was when sometimes. Here are a few I DO remember loving:

- Secret Chiefs 3 @ The Troubadour
- Dimmu Borgir @ The Wiltern
- Danzig @ The Grove
- Megadeth @ The Grove
- Type O Negative (3 times this year alone!) @ the House of Blues
- Queens of the Stone Age w/ Mastodon @ Nokia Theater

The year's not over. The Supersuckers are playing tomorrow! And there's many shows New Year's Eve!!!

My picks (so far):

The Wildhearts at the Key Club in Hell-A
Turbonegro
Cheap Trick
Radio Birdman
Hoodoo Gurus
The Queers
Van Halen

Are you going to the show at Brick by Brick? They always put on a hell of show.

They sure do! Seen them over 30 times in the past 15-16 years...

1. Muse/Cold War Kids - Agannis Arena
2. Beastie Boys Gala Event - Opera House
3. Amy Winehouse / Mika / Razorlight - La Zona Rosa, Austin (SXSW)
4. Bryan Ferry/Joan Armatrading - The Palais, Melbourne, Australia
5. Robert Randolph & Family Band - Redhook Brewery (Portsmouth NH)
6. Sara Borges& the Broken Singles - Tupelo Music Hall (Londonderry, NH)
7. Mutemath - Paradise Rock Club
8. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Bank of America Pavilion (opening for Gov't Mule)
9. Forro In The Dark (w/guest David Byrne) - SXSW (at some motel pool)
10. Midlake - New Orleans (forget the name of the bar, it was near the convention center)

1. ZO2 - Bridgeville, PA (My 1st birthday show)
2. Britny Fox - Bridgeville, PA
3. Butch Walker & The Let's Go Out Tonites (The Honorary Title, Rocket) - Columbus, OH
4. ZO2 (Bombay Black, Naked Beggars) - Secaucus, NJ
5. Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Cleveland, OH
6. Devon Allman's Honeytribe - Youngstown, OH
7. ZO2 (Receptor, Hollywood Hangover) - Staten Island, NY
8. The Clarks (Ford Thurston, Sunny Days) - Struthers, OH
9. Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Youngstown, OH
10. Alter Bridge (Another Animal) - Youngstown, OH

(Alter Bridge was great, and might've moved up a spot or two if Myles hadn't been under the weather. Though he did a mighty job just to show up, let alone put on the show he did.

If you meant 10 different acts, add Poison (Ratt, Vains of Jenna), White Lion, and Fixer to the list.)

Only went to two...but they both kicked ass.

White Stripes in Portland, Maine

The Beastie Boys at the Bank Of America Pavilion in Boston, Mass.

Led Zeppelin - O2 Arena London
Rage Against The Machine - Vegoose
Daft Punk - Vegoose
Gogol Bordello - Hammersmith Apollo London
Beastie Boys - Werchter Belgium
Justice - Pukkelpop Belgium
Nine Inch Nails - Paradiso Amsterdam (both concerts)
Manic Street Preachers - Astoria London
Rob Zombie - Duluth MN
Morrissey - Hammerstein Ballroom New York
Chris Cornell - Melkweg Amsterdam
Dizzee Rascal - Pukkelpop Belgium


Couldn't narrow it down to 10. But Led Zep was definetly number 1 on the list!

Only went to shows at two festivals; here is how I would rank the performances:

1. Soulwax (Nite Versions) - Coachella
2. Muse - ACL
3. Justice - Coachella
4. Klaxons - Coachella
5. Digitalism - Coachella
6. MSTRKRFT - Coachella
7. LCD Soundsystem - Coachella
8. Bjork - ACL
9. Rage Against the Machine - Coachella
10. Hot Chip - Coachella

Only got to one show this year: Deep Purple. and it was AMAZING....and LOUD.

Flogging Molly
Dropkick Murphy
Icp/Necro
Tech n9ne
Dying Fetus put on a surprinsingly good show
Powerman 5000
Black Label Society
Blake Shelton

were among the main shows that stood out for me this year with rob zombie coming next week

1 - Rage Against the Machine - Coachella
2 - The Police - US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
3 - Van Halen - Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, AZ
4 - Muse - Mesa Amphitheater - Mesa, AZ
5 - Ken Andrews - The Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ (saw him twice, really great shows)
6 - Arcade Fire - Coachella
7 - Peeping Tom - Coachella
8 - Gogol Bordello - Marquee Theater - Tempe, AZ (Only about 100 people or so!)
9 - Bob Seger - US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
10 - The Fields - Coachella

Rock the Bells in San Bernadino

Rage Against the Machine
Wu-Tang Clan
Public Enemy
Nas
Cypress Hill
The Roots
Mos Def
Talib Kweli
Mf Doom
Jedi Mind Tricks
Immortal Technique


Best concert I've ever been to.

I didn't go to any shows this year. Stupid Wisconsin. :(

1) Heaven & Hell / Megadeth / Down (Monteal)
2) Family Values (Saratoga Springs NY)
3) Shadows Fall / Lacuna Coil (Clifton Park NY)
4) Ozzfest (Mansfield Mass)
5) Slayer / Marilyn Manson (Montreal)
6) Lamb of God / Trivium / Machine Head (Montreal)
7) Brand New Sin (Syracuse NY)
8) Doro (Montreal)
9) Paul Dianno (Montreal)
10) LA Guns (Clifton Park NY)

I'm going to get flack for this but the worst concert I saw was Van Halen in Montreal. I heard nothing but good things about the tour, but in Montreal they were just sloppy. (the setlist would have been great if half the songs could be recognized) Heaven and Hell by contrast were like a well oiled machine that sounded like legends.