2006 Concert Year in Review
In 2005 I saw 51 concerts and 95 bands, both my highest totals ever, but I somehow failed to follow the precedent I set for 2004 and 2003 by writing up my 2005 Concert Year in Review. Therefore, even though I still have two more scheduled concerts for this year, I am going to preemptively present my 2006 Concert Year in Review right now, just to be on the safe side.
In 2006 I saw 42 different concerts and 76 total bands at 15 different venues. What were the best shows I saw this year? Well, how about I answer an easier question first? The best week of music this year was without question S 2/25 through W 3/1. In that span I saw The Black Keys, Meat Beat Manifesto, The Fiery Furnaces and Erin Bode. All four of these shows made my best of the year list.
All rankings are subjective, and I might pick a different best show of the year if I look back a year from now, but the worst performances stuck out like a sore thumb. Unquestionably the absolute worst band was Test Pilot, who made my final show at the late, lamented Odeon very painful. She Wants Revenge turned in a horrible effort at the Grog in April, which was compounded by me having chosen to see them over KT Tunstall. Oops. A similar mistake was seeing the distinctly average Joanna Newsome instead of going to Broken Social Scene that night. The Electric 6 didn't make me miss any other show, but that's about all you can say for them. For a band with so many good albums Southern Culture on the Skids was sadly uninspired, and although I believe Lucinda Williams is one of the most talented performers around, the acoustics were so bad at the HOB that night that you could be forgiven for doubting it.
I didn't miss too many shows this year. I wished I'd shelled out for Springsteen at Blossom, and I wish that I hadn't gotten sick on the day of the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Architecture in Helsinki show, but all in all I can't think of too many shows that I really regret missing.
Alright, enough with the negativity. Let's talk about the good shows, starting with my first show of the year. This was the Terence Blanchard Sextet in January, which was also the first show I ever saw at Nighttown, the preeminent jazz club in town. I liked it so much that I went again in February for the John Ellis Quartet, which was almost as good. Finally, gieves, xhollydayx and I caught the enchanting jazz singer Erin Bode there in March. She is someone I will definitely be seeing again.
gieves and I actually went to more than our usual one concert per year; we made it all the way to two. Besides Erin Bode we also caught the oddly enjoyable sounds that were Cibelle. I think gieves actually went to some non-orchestra concerts without me this year, so she's improving :-)
The Black Keys put on two great shows in the Agora Ballroom, putting bookends on the year with one in February and one in November. These were the fourth and fifth times that I'd seen Akron's favorite sons, and although neither show was as good as the three previous times I had seen them (it is hard to match being in the 2nd row on New Year's Eve in Australia in front of 20,000 screaming fans, after all) they were still excellent. Currently Mike Doughty is tied with the Black Keys for 3rd on the bands I've seen the most, or he is if you include his gigs with Soul Coughing, his solo act, the Mike Doughty Band and this year's show, 'An Intimate Evening with Mike Doughty'. Yeah baby! Second place on that prestigious list is held by Moxy Früvous. First place is held by Cincinnati funksters Freebase/Freakbass/Freekbass.
As usual there was a round of concerts by bands who are long past their glory years but still rocking out. Of these, The Zombies were definitely the best. Their show at the Beachland Ballroom was a virtuoso display of musical talent. The Beach Boys were almost as much fun when they brought the Endless Summer to Cain Park. Nils Lofgren moved out from the shadow of The Boss and played a fun show at the Winchester, and Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders tore up the Agora. Sadly, Social Distortion stunk up the joint on the night I went to see them at the HOB with xhollydayx. I'm told that their show the next day was much better, but that doesn't really help me, does it?
One way I can measure the quality of a show is by how many CDs I buy afterwards. This method isn't foolproof because sometimes I pick up a CD I know I want even if the show isn't that amazing, like the Weakerthans show at the Grog in July. The metric works for The Fiery Furnaces though. After their blazing set of indie rock goodness dominated the Grog in February I picked up two CDs, which was only the second time I ever bought multiple discs from one band after a concert. Other shows that rated me buying a CD strictly on the merits of the band included Jamie Cullum, The Constantines, Josh Ritter, Mike Doughty and Kaki King. There were several others who earned it but who didn't have product with them, notably The Black Keys and The Decemberists.
There was at least one other show that caused me to buy a CD. The Dressy Bessy show at the Beachland Tavern was pretty hot, but the Colorado indie rockers were dwarfed by their opener, a trio from Vancouver called The Immaculate Machine. I purchased their CD Ones & Zeroes and got hooked on that. I lent it to Rob and he got hooked on it to the point of buying all of their other CDs. I saw a lot of really good indie rock this year ( The Fiery Furnaces, Rainer Maria & The Weakerthans among others ) but The Immaculate Machine were without question the best of the bunch. They claimed the title of best show of the year and weren't surpassed until late October.
Before I move on I should point out that The Immaculate Machine was not the only opening act to shine. The Dresden Dolls made Panic! at the Disco look like untalented slobs. Although The Thermals were slightly disappointing live, they were still much better than Cursive, and what little I saw of The Supersuckers prior to the Social Distortion show was pretty darn good. Rainer Maria's support act, Ambulette, could have headlined most shows, and Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival is the good kind of weird.
Anyway, back to the best show of the year. What happened in October to loosen The Immaculate Machine stranglehold on the title? JenW and I traveled to Kent for what was our first trip to the Kent Stage, a converted movie theater that hosted the phenomenal Cowboy Junkies. I had been anticipating seeing the Junkies for years and when they finally came back to northeast Ohio after a 5+ year hiatus Margo Timmins and company did not disappoint. Ok, so they didn't play 'Sweet Jane', but that was the only fault with the show. Their folk-rock performance has earned the coveted title of "Best Show of 2006".
The Immaculate Machine ended up being the second best show of the year, which is the highest a supporting act has ever been on my list. Other bands who earned nominations for the title with spirited performances included the always amazing Fred Eaglesmith, the Fiery Furnaces, The Constantines, The Zombies and The Decemberists. Close behind but definitely in the second rank were Matt Pond PA (my favorite Studio-A headliner thus far), Kaki King, Erin Bode, Meat Beat Manifesto and the first Black Keys show.
Here is the full list of bands I saw this year:
Terence Blanchard Sextet - W 1/18 - Nighttown
Low w/His Name is Alive - S 1/28 - Grog
Test Pilot w/Spare Change? - S 2/4 - Odeon
John Ellis Quartet - W 2/08 - Nighttown
The Black Keys w/Patrick Sweany &
'Miss Alex White & the Red Orchestra' - S 2/25 - Agora Theater
Meat Beat Manifesto w/Dalek - M 2/27 - Grog
Fiery Furnaces w/Deadboy & The Elephantmen - T 2/28 - Grog
Erin Bode - W 3/1 - Nighttown
Lucinda Williams w/Tim Easton - F 3/10 - HOB
The Greencards - S 3/18 - Beachland Tavern
Jamie Cullum- R 3/24 - HOB
Electric 6 w/Rock Kills Kid, The Fever - F 3/31 - Grog
She Wants Revenge - M 4/12 - Grog
Trampled by Turtles - S 4/15 - Beachland Tavern
Josh Ritter - W 4/19 - Beachland Ballroom
Rainer Maria w/Ambulette - S 5/13 - Grog Shop
Fred Eaglesmith - F 5/19 - Beachland Ballroom
Southern Culture on the Skids w/Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival - R 6/1 - Beachland Ballroom
Nils Lofgren - R 6/14 - Winchester
Mike Doughty's Band w/Kevin Devine - F 6/16 - HOB
The Constantines - F 6/23 - Beachland Tavern
Ministry w/The Revolting Cocks - Su 6/25 - HOB
The Weakerthans w/The New Amsterdams - M 7/10 - Grog
Dressy Bessy w/Immaculate Machine - T 7/11 - Beachland Tavern
Panic! at the Disco w/Dresden Dolls - W 7/12 - Plain Dealer Pavilion
The Black Angels w/The Volta Sound - T 8/01 - Beachland Tavern
Wayne The Train Hancock - M 8/07 - Beachland Tavern
The Cleveland Orchestra "Bugs Bunny on Broadway" - S 8/12 - Blossom
The Beach Boys - R 8/17 - Cain Park Evans
VAST w/Cross Culture - F 8/18 - Agora Ballroom
"Little Steven's Underground Garage" The Zombies w/Mooney Suzuki - F 9/15 -
Beachland Ballroom
Studio-A-Rama 2006 - S 9/16 with
The Jack Fords, Jerk, Rambler 454, C.D. Truth, Susan Weber & Monet's Orbit, Lick the Blade, The Velvematics, The Nice Device, matt pond pa
Cibelle w/blktygr - T 9/19 - Beachland Tavern
Cursive w/The Thermals - W 9/27 - Grog Shop
Social Distortion w/The Supersuckers - T 10/03 - HOB
Kaki King - T 10/17 - Beachland Ballroom
Cowboy Junkies w/'Finlayson & Maize' - R 10/26 - Kent Stage
The Decemberists - R 11/09 - Agora Theater
Joanna Newsome w/Bobby Birdman - F 11/10 - Beachland Ballroom
The Derailers - S 11/11 - Beachland Tavern
The Black Keys - S 11/18 - Agora Theater
The Pretenders w/Living Stereo - Su 12/10 - Agora Theater
Scheduled:
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - F 12/29 - Beachland Ballroom
The Dominick Farinacci Quartet - Su 12/31 - Nighttown
And here's the venue by venue breakdown (all totals subject to quick calculation, aka probable math errors):
The Grog Shop - 8 concerts, 17 bands
Beachland Tavern - 8 concerts, 11 bands
Beachland Ballroom - 6 concerts, 9 bands, 1/1 scheduled
House of Blues - 5 concerts, 9 bands
Agora Theater - 4 concerts, 7 bands
Nighttown - 3 concerts, 3 bands, 1/1 scheduled
Mather Memorial Court Yard - 1 concert, 9 bands
Agora Balloom - 1 concert, 2 bands
Kent Stage - 1 concert, 2 bands
The Odeon - 1 concert, 2 bands, R.I.P.
Plain Dealer Pavilion ( aka Nautica ) - 1 concert, 2 bands
The Winchester - 1 concert, 1 band
Blossom - 1 concert, 1 band ( ok, orchestra )
Cain Park Evans Amphitheater - 1 concert, 1 band
14 venues - 42 concerts, 76 bands ( 2/3 scheduled )
One thing I noticed that I feel was sort of odd was the number of sold out shows I attended. Usually I might see 2 or 3 sold out shows in a year, maybe 5 at most. This year, I saw at least ten sold out shows.
The Black Keys
The Fiery Furnaces
Electric 6
She Wants Revenge
Nils Lofgren
The Weakerthans
Cursive w/The Thermals
Social Distortion
Joanna Newsome
The Black Keys (again)
In addition, there were another 3 to 4 shows that if not sold out completely were very, very close. Perhaps my tastes are becoming more mainstream? Or maybe people are just going to more concerts? Who knows?
The final award goes to the band I saw this year with the best name. I'm not sure how a bluegrass band came out of Duluth, Minnesota, but their music was almost as good as their moniker. Ladies & gentlemen, let's hear it for Trampled By Turtles!
This has been the 2006 Concert Year in Review. Stayed tuned to this journal for more concert calendars and show reviews in 2007. And until then, remember the wisdom of Canada's greatest rock star, Neil Young, and Keep on Rocking in the Free World!
Edit: 4/10/2022 I shouldn't have written this before the end of the year. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings on 12/29 was the runaway show of the year.
In 2006 I saw 42 different concerts and 76 total bands at 15 different venues. What were the best shows I saw this year? Well, how about I answer an easier question first? The best week of music this year was without question S 2/25 through W 3/1. In that span I saw The Black Keys, Meat Beat Manifesto, The Fiery Furnaces and Erin Bode. All four of these shows made my best of the year list.
All rankings are subjective, and I might pick a different best show of the year if I look back a year from now, but the worst performances stuck out like a sore thumb. Unquestionably the absolute worst band was Test Pilot, who made my final show at the late, lamented Odeon very painful. She Wants Revenge turned in a horrible effort at the Grog in April, which was compounded by me having chosen to see them over KT Tunstall. Oops. A similar mistake was seeing the distinctly average Joanna Newsome instead of going to Broken Social Scene that night. The Electric 6 didn't make me miss any other show, but that's about all you can say for them. For a band with so many good albums Southern Culture on the Skids was sadly uninspired, and although I believe Lucinda Williams is one of the most talented performers around, the acoustics were so bad at the HOB that night that you could be forgiven for doubting it.
I didn't miss too many shows this year. I wished I'd shelled out for Springsteen at Blossom, and I wish that I hadn't gotten sick on the day of the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Architecture in Helsinki show, but all in all I can't think of too many shows that I really regret missing.
Alright, enough with the negativity. Let's talk about the good shows, starting with my first show of the year. This was the Terence Blanchard Sextet in January, which was also the first show I ever saw at Nighttown, the preeminent jazz club in town. I liked it so much that I went again in February for the John Ellis Quartet, which was almost as good. Finally, gieves, xhollydayx and I caught the enchanting jazz singer Erin Bode there in March. She is someone I will definitely be seeing again.
gieves and I actually went to more than our usual one concert per year; we made it all the way to two. Besides Erin Bode we also caught the oddly enjoyable sounds that were Cibelle. I think gieves actually went to some non-orchestra concerts without me this year, so she's improving :-)
The Black Keys put on two great shows in the Agora Ballroom, putting bookends on the year with one in February and one in November. These were the fourth and fifth times that I'd seen Akron's favorite sons, and although neither show was as good as the three previous times I had seen them (it is hard to match being in the 2nd row on New Year's Eve in Australia in front of 20,000 screaming fans, after all) they were still excellent. Currently Mike Doughty is tied with the Black Keys for 3rd on the bands I've seen the most, or he is if you include his gigs with Soul Coughing, his solo act, the Mike Doughty Band and this year's show, 'An Intimate Evening with Mike Doughty'. Yeah baby! Second place on that prestigious list is held by Moxy Früvous. First place is held by Cincinnati funksters Freebase/Freakbass/Freekbass.
As usual there was a round of concerts by bands who are long past their glory years but still rocking out. Of these, The Zombies were definitely the best. Their show at the Beachland Ballroom was a virtuoso display of musical talent. The Beach Boys were almost as much fun when they brought the Endless Summer to Cain Park. Nils Lofgren moved out from the shadow of The Boss and played a fun show at the Winchester, and Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders tore up the Agora. Sadly, Social Distortion stunk up the joint on the night I went to see them at the HOB with xhollydayx. I'm told that their show the next day was much better, but that doesn't really help me, does it?
One way I can measure the quality of a show is by how many CDs I buy afterwards. This method isn't foolproof because sometimes I pick up a CD I know I want even if the show isn't that amazing, like the Weakerthans show at the Grog in July. The metric works for The Fiery Furnaces though. After their blazing set of indie rock goodness dominated the Grog in February I picked up two CDs, which was only the second time I ever bought multiple discs from one band after a concert. Other shows that rated me buying a CD strictly on the merits of the band included Jamie Cullum, The Constantines, Josh Ritter, Mike Doughty and Kaki King. There were several others who earned it but who didn't have product with them, notably The Black Keys and The Decemberists.
There was at least one other show that caused me to buy a CD. The Dressy Bessy show at the Beachland Tavern was pretty hot, but the Colorado indie rockers were dwarfed by their opener, a trio from Vancouver called The Immaculate Machine. I purchased their CD Ones & Zeroes and got hooked on that. I lent it to Rob and he got hooked on it to the point of buying all of their other CDs. I saw a lot of really good indie rock this year ( The Fiery Furnaces, Rainer Maria & The Weakerthans among others ) but The Immaculate Machine were without question the best of the bunch. They claimed the title of best show of the year and weren't surpassed until late October.
Before I move on I should point out that The Immaculate Machine was not the only opening act to shine. The Dresden Dolls made Panic! at the Disco look like untalented slobs. Although The Thermals were slightly disappointing live, they were still much better than Cursive, and what little I saw of The Supersuckers prior to the Social Distortion show was pretty darn good. Rainer Maria's support act, Ambulette, could have headlined most shows, and Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival is the good kind of weird.
Anyway, back to the best show of the year. What happened in October to loosen The Immaculate Machine stranglehold on the title? JenW and I traveled to Kent for what was our first trip to the Kent Stage, a converted movie theater that hosted the phenomenal Cowboy Junkies. I had been anticipating seeing the Junkies for years and when they finally came back to northeast Ohio after a 5+ year hiatus Margo Timmins and company did not disappoint. Ok, so they didn't play 'Sweet Jane', but that was the only fault with the show. Their folk-rock performance has earned the coveted title of "Best Show of 2006".
The Immaculate Machine ended up being the second best show of the year, which is the highest a supporting act has ever been on my list. Other bands who earned nominations for the title with spirited performances included the always amazing Fred Eaglesmith, the Fiery Furnaces, The Constantines, The Zombies and The Decemberists. Close behind but definitely in the second rank were Matt Pond PA (my favorite Studio-A headliner thus far), Kaki King, Erin Bode, Meat Beat Manifesto and the first Black Keys show.
Here is the full list of bands I saw this year:
Terence Blanchard Sextet - W 1/18 - Nighttown
Low w/His Name is Alive - S 1/28 - Grog
Test Pilot w/Spare Change? - S 2/4 - Odeon
John Ellis Quartet - W 2/08 - Nighttown
The Black Keys w/Patrick Sweany &
'Miss Alex White & the Red Orchestra' - S 2/25 - Agora Theater
Meat Beat Manifesto w/Dalek - M 2/27 - Grog
Fiery Furnaces w/Deadboy & The Elephantmen - T 2/28 - Grog
Erin Bode - W 3/1 - Nighttown
Lucinda Williams w/Tim Easton - F 3/10 - HOB
The Greencards - S 3/18 - Beachland Tavern
Jamie Cullum- R 3/24 - HOB
Electric 6 w/Rock Kills Kid, The Fever - F 3/31 - Grog
She Wants Revenge - M 4/12 - Grog
Trampled by Turtles - S 4/15 - Beachland Tavern
Josh Ritter - W 4/19 - Beachland Ballroom
Rainer Maria w/Ambulette - S 5/13 - Grog Shop
Fred Eaglesmith - F 5/19 - Beachland Ballroom
Southern Culture on the Skids w/Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival - R 6/1 - Beachland Ballroom
Nils Lofgren - R 6/14 - Winchester
Mike Doughty's Band w/Kevin Devine - F 6/16 - HOB
The Constantines - F 6/23 - Beachland Tavern
Ministry w/The Revolting Cocks - Su 6/25 - HOB
The Weakerthans w/The New Amsterdams - M 7/10 - Grog
Dressy Bessy w/Immaculate Machine - T 7/11 - Beachland Tavern
Panic! at the Disco w/Dresden Dolls - W 7/12 - Plain Dealer Pavilion
The Black Angels w/The Volta Sound - T 8/01 - Beachland Tavern
Wayne The Train Hancock - M 8/07 - Beachland Tavern
The Cleveland Orchestra "Bugs Bunny on Broadway" - S 8/12 - Blossom
The Beach Boys - R 8/17 - Cain Park Evans
VAST w/Cross Culture - F 8/18 - Agora Ballroom
"Little Steven's Underground Garage" The Zombies w/Mooney Suzuki - F 9/15 -
Beachland Ballroom
Studio-A-Rama 2006 - S 9/16 with
The Jack Fords, Jerk, Rambler 454, C.D. Truth, Susan Weber & Monet's Orbit, Lick the Blade, The Velvematics, The Nice Device, matt pond pa
Cibelle w/blktygr - T 9/19 - Beachland Tavern
Cursive w/The Thermals - W 9/27 - Grog Shop
Social Distortion w/The Supersuckers - T 10/03 - HOB
Kaki King - T 10/17 - Beachland Ballroom
Cowboy Junkies w/'Finlayson & Maize' - R 10/26 - Kent Stage
The Decemberists - R 11/09 - Agora Theater
Joanna Newsome w/Bobby Birdman - F 11/10 - Beachland Ballroom
The Derailers - S 11/11 - Beachland Tavern
The Black Keys - S 11/18 - Agora Theater
The Pretenders w/Living Stereo - Su 12/10 - Agora Theater
Scheduled:
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - F 12/29 - Beachland Ballroom
The Dominick Farinacci Quartet - Su 12/31 - Nighttown
And here's the venue by venue breakdown (all totals subject to quick calculation, aka probable math errors):
The Grog Shop - 8 concerts, 17 bands
Beachland Tavern - 8 concerts, 11 bands
Beachland Ballroom - 6 concerts, 9 bands, 1/1 scheduled
House of Blues - 5 concerts, 9 bands
Agora Theater - 4 concerts, 7 bands
Nighttown - 3 concerts, 3 bands, 1/1 scheduled
Mather Memorial Court Yard - 1 concert, 9 bands
Agora Balloom - 1 concert, 2 bands
Kent Stage - 1 concert, 2 bands
The Odeon - 1 concert, 2 bands, R.I.P.
Plain Dealer Pavilion ( aka Nautica ) - 1 concert, 2 bands
The Winchester - 1 concert, 1 band
Blossom - 1 concert, 1 band ( ok, orchestra )
Cain Park Evans Amphitheater - 1 concert, 1 band
14 venues - 42 concerts, 76 bands ( 2/3 scheduled )
One thing I noticed that I feel was sort of odd was the number of sold out shows I attended. Usually I might see 2 or 3 sold out shows in a year, maybe 5 at most. This year, I saw at least ten sold out shows.
The Black Keys
The Fiery Furnaces
Electric 6
She Wants Revenge
Nils Lofgren
The Weakerthans
Cursive w/The Thermals
Social Distortion
Joanna Newsome
The Black Keys (again)
In addition, there were another 3 to 4 shows that if not sold out completely were very, very close. Perhaps my tastes are becoming more mainstream? Or maybe people are just going to more concerts? Who knows?
The final award goes to the band I saw this year with the best name. I'm not sure how a bluegrass band came out of Duluth, Minnesota, but their music was almost as good as their moniker. Ladies & gentlemen, let's hear it for Trampled By Turtles!
This has been the 2006 Concert Year in Review. Stayed tuned to this journal for more concert calendars and show reviews in 2007. And until then, remember the wisdom of Canada's greatest rock star, Neil Young, and Keep on Rocking in the Free World!
Edit: 4/10/2022 I shouldn't have written this before the end of the year. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings on 12/29 was the runaway show of the year.