Best Shows You Saw This Year!

[MMPJ6306]

Ahh, another dumb year end best of list... I don't think anyone's done this, hope I'm not mistaken.

My favorite shows of the year (excluding anything Jacket related, for fun):
Furthur 4/9
Jack White 5/22
Bruce 9/19
The Stones 12/13

and my favorite Newport Folk set was Gary Clark Jr.

What about you guys?!

[FiddleCastro]

Right now, my top 3 (all tied)

My Morning Jacket - Williamsburg Park
Sharon Van Etten - Not-So-Secret show with Speck Mountain and She Keeps Bees - Cameo Gallery, Williamsburg
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Sandy Benefit - Union Pool, Williamsburg

then followed by
The Who - Quadrophenia & More - Madison Square Garden
Newport Folk Festival
Wilco - Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Daughter, Dum Dum Girls, The Walkmen - Terminal 5, New York
Hospitality & Wild Flag - Webster Hall, New York

Other great live shows by bands above:
MMJ everywhere
SVE 3 night run in Brooklyn and Manhattan & Town Hall show
The Who in Brooklyn and NJ
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival Day 1 featuring The Walkmen, Twin Shadow, Sharon Van Etten, Heather Woods Broderick

[exist10z]

Well, if we were including MMJ, the list would start and end with The Wiltern Shows (and assuming I am not hit by a bus between now and Port Chester, I am betting those would be on the list as well).  But as for non-Jacket related.

Cults @ Ottobar in Baltimore, MD
Real Estate @ Ottobar in Baltimore, MD
Girl Talk @ Firefly Music Festival in Delaware
Jack White @ Firefly Music Festival in Delaware
TV on the Radio @ U.S Open of Sufing in Huntington Beach, CA
Menomena @ The El Rey in Los Angeles, CA
Wilco @ The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA
#1 Radiohead @ Santa Barbara Bowl in SB, CA - maybe the best show of any year that didn't include 3 straight nights of MMJ.

It was a good year for live music for me. 

[rincon]

Best shows I have ever seen , all 3 Wiltern shows. Never thought anything would top Springsteen in 1981.
Only saw 3 other shows, listed in order of awesomeness
New Multitudes Mayan LA
Jayhawks, Avalon LA
Wilco Arlington Santa Barbara

[Fully]

My Morning Jacket  - Red Rocks - Night 1
My Morning Jacket - Forecastle
(I'll quit with the Jacket shows now though I have a couple of others I could put)
Futurebirds - 3rd & Lindsley
Jack White - Carl Perkins Civic Center
Lambchop - American Legion in Nashville
Childish Gambino - Beale Street Music Festival
Om - The Mercy Lounge
The Punch Brothers - The Sonic Stage - Bonnaroo
Gary Clark Jr. - Beale Street Music Festival
Dr. Dog - every time I saw them this year - 3

[exist10z]

Best shows I have ever seen , all 3 Wiltern shows. Never thought anything would top Springsteen in 1981.
Only saw 3 other shows, listed in order of awesomeness
New Multitudes Mayan LA
Jayhawks, Avalon LA
Wilco Arlington Santa Barbara

Same for me, best ever, and I never thought anything would top MSG NYE 2008.

[LBSUNFLWR]

Top 10 Shows I saw in 2012:

Jan 28th: Ryan Adams in Cincinnati (with Jason Isbell opening)
Jan 30th: Ryan Adams in Louisville (with Jason Isbell opening)

Feb 13th: Heartless Bastards at Headliners in Louisville

March 6th: The Head and The Heart at Headliners in Louisville

July 14th: My Morning Jacket at Forecastle
July 15th: Wilco at Forecastle

Aug 19th: Chris Robinson Brotherhood in Cincinnati
Aug 22nd: My Morning Jacket in Chicago (with Band of Horses opening)
Aug 24th: Anders Osborne and Tea Leaf Green in Chicago

Dec 15th: Jason Isbell in Lexington

Must give honorable mention to many other sets at Forecastle: Deer Tick, Houndmouth, Wax Fang, Real Estate, Futurebirds, Justin Townes Earle and Ben Sollee.

[ericm]

Gonna have to give this some more thought, but "Under The Overpass", the Forecastle set, and The Belle of L'Ville afterparty is going to be hard to top.

[robb]

top 10:

1. levon helm in ann arbor (one month to the day before he died)
2. my morning jacket (tie: Forecastle, Columbus)
4. radiohead in auburn hills
5. jack white in detroit
6. justin townes earle in detroit
7. wilco at forecastle (they lose points for getting stuck with a short set)
8. deer tick in detroit
9. alabama shakes in detroit (opening for jack white)
10. dr. dog in detroit

[MrWhippy]

My music geek friends and I always put together top show lists, so here's what I just pulled together for that.  This follows the rule that any artist can only be listed once, or else the list would be mostly MMJ, Richard Thompson, and Springsteen.

Top 15 shows of 2012:
1.  MMJ - Red Rocks (night 2 gets slight edge over night 1)
2.  Spiritualized - 9:30 Club, DC
3.  Richard Thompson, City Winery, NYC (all requests show)
4.  Radiohead, tie between Key Arena, Seattle and Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
5.  Pulp, Coachella
6.  Leonard Cohen, Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX
7.  Meshuggah, Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
8.  Tool, Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
9.  Public Image Limited, Fun Fun Fun Fest
10.  The Who, Verizon Center, DC
11.  Swans, Black Cat, DC
12.  Jack White, Virgin Freefest
13.  Neil Young and Crazy Horse/Patti Smith/Everest, Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA
14.  Electric Wizard, Maryland Deathfest
15.  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Verizon Center, DC


Honorable mentions:
Bob Mould, 9:30 Club, DC
Dead Can Dance, Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA
Jesus and Mary Chain, 9:30 Club, CD
Band of Skulls, 9:30 Club, DC
A Place to Bury Strangers, Mohawk, Austin, TX
Diamond Rugs, Fun Fun Fun Fest,
Jason Isbell, solo, Rams Head, Annapolis, MD
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, 9:30 Club, DC
Napalm Death, Fun Fun Fun Fest
Peter Gabriel, Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA
Godflesh, Maryland Deathfest
Converge, Fun Fun Fun Fest
Tomahawk, Fun Fun Fun Fest
New Multitudes, Birchmere, Alexandria, VA
Gary Clark Jr., Newport Folk Festival
Mastodon, Fillmore Silver Spring
Deafheaven, DC9, DC
Wilco, Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA
Afghan Whigs, Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC

[zanjam]

My Morning Jacket  - Red Rocks - Night 1
My Morning Jacket - Forecastle
(I'll quit with the Jacket shows now though I have a couple of others I could put)
Futurebirds - 3rd & Lindsley
Jack White - Carl Perkins Civic Center
Lambchop - American Legion in Nashville
Childish Gambino - Beale Street Music Festival
Om - The Mercy Lounge
The Punch Brothers - The Sonic Stage - Bonnaroo
Gary Clark Jr. - Beale Street Music Festival
Dr. Dog - every time I saw them this year - 3

You mean to tell me night two does not make the cut?!?!

[manonthemoon]

Strong year overall, but I'll only do one show per band for a top 5.

1.  Red Fang @ Sonar in Baltimore
2.  MMJ MPP in MD
3.  And you'll know us by the trail of dead R&R Hotel Washington DC
4.  Jeff the Brotherhood Red Palace DC
5.  Black Tusk Kingdom Richmond, VA

[johnnYYac]

I got a nice sampling of music this year.  Lots of Jacket, of course.  Highlights...

Jim and Carl @ Keene, NH

MMJ @ Under the Overpass, Newport, Philly, and MPP

Alabama Shakes @ Burlington, VT

New Multitudes @ Boston, MA

Roger Waters The Wall

Heartless Bastards and Futurebirds @ Boston, MA

Peter Frampton @ Worcester, MA

[Penny Lane]

Jason Isbell in Headhunter's backyard
MMJ 'Under the overpass' show at Forecastle
Drive-by Truckers  NYE with Alabama Shakes and Booker T
Deer Tick--Middle Brother-Blues Cafe post Newport FF
MMJ Forecastle set
Mike Cooley, Athens GA Melting Point
Patterson Hood, Annapolis
Deer Tick/Felice Bros-Boston
New Multitudes


worst show endured
Better than Ezra (Jazz Fest)

best and worst at same time
MMJ (Jazz Fest) rail spot with food poisoning (EEK)

[Tracy 2112]

Alabama Shakes- Proud Larry's in Oxford, Miss.

Rush- Nashville, Enormo-dome

Roger Waters The Wall- Nashville, Enormo-dome

Explosions in the Sky- Ryman Auditorium

Neil Young & Crazy Horse; Alabama Shakes opened, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

[ralph]

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Hollywood Bowl
Yim Yames - Boogie
MMJ w/ Dawes support - Sydney
Jonathan Wilson - Melbourne
Jsaon Isbell - Melbourne

[EverythingChanges]

MMJ FORECASTLE

Also, Roger Waters the WALL

[weeniebeenie]

Soundgarden- Sydney Entertainment Centre
MMJ- The Enmore Theatre
Buddy Guy- Bluesfest
Steve Earle- Bluesfest

[Ob1jacobe]

ACL
- jack white
- father John misty
- m83
- Weezer
- the shins
- war on drugs
- metric

Disappointed
Alabama shakes ( bad time, bad stage, bad spot... Band sounded good I just couldn't enjoy)
Black Keys

Looking forward to in early 2013
- tame Impala
- Alabama Shakes
- frightened rabbit

[Shug]

3.  Richard Thompson, City Winery, NYC (all requests show)

Mr. Whippy, do you have a setlist for what was played?  I used to be really into Richard Thompson, saw him live a whole bunch and collected lots of recordings.  I got burned out and bummed out with his live show song choices (basically ignoring his incredible earlier music) around about Mock Tudor.  I'd like to see what an all-request setlist would look like!