2008 Concert Year in Review
In 2005, I went to 51 concerts. In 2008, I went to 20 concerts. Yes, paying for a wedding is expensive, but this is still a ridiculously low number, especially considering that I got freebies for more than half of this list. On the bright side, it makes my year in review post a lot simpler to write.
Here's the list:
Fred Eaglesmith w/Kathy Moffat & Andrew Hardin - F 1/11 - Beachland Ballroom
Expecting Rain (CD Release Party) w/Afternoon Naps - S 1/12 - Beachland Tavern
Diana Jones - R 2/14 - Beachland Tavern
They Might Be Giants w/Oppenheimer - W 2/27 - Beachland Ballroom
Mike Doughty's Band - T 3/18 - Beachland Ballroom
British Sea Power w/The 1900s - W 3/26 - Grog Shop
Haale - F 3/28 - Beachland Tavern
Josh Ritter & Hilary Hahn - R 4/10 - Finney Chapel
Casiotone For the Painfully Alone w/Clue To Kalo - Su 4/20 - Beachland Tavern
The Swell Season w/Damien Dempsey - Su 5/11 - Allen Theater @ Playhouse Square
Firewater w/Unsparing Sea - F 5/28 - Beachland Tavern
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Su 6/22 - Blossom
Radiohead w/Grizzly Bear - M 8/05 - Blossom
SMV: Stanley Clarke / Marcus Miller / Victor Wooten - F 8/15 - Cain Park Evans
Studio-A-Rama 2008 - S 9/06 with (missed first band)
- Miss Melvis & the Buford Pusser Experience, Mohammed Cartoon, Pale Hollow, City Breathing, The Lindsay, Lines Across Lines, Beatnik Termites, The Sadies
Sam Phillips - R 9/11 - Beachland Ballroom
Jessica Lea Mayfield w/The Magpies - T 9/16 - Beachland Tavern
The Black Keys w/The Royal Bangs - S 10/11 - EJ Thomas Hall
Alejandro Escovedo - Su 10/19 - Beachland Ballroom
Beatnik Termites w/Elephant Bones - S 11/29 - Beachland Tavern
By Venue:
Beachland Tavern - 7
Beachland Ballroom - 5
Blossom - 2
Grog - 1
EJ Thomas Hall - 1
Cain Park Evans - 1
WRUW - 1
Finney Chapel - 1
PSQ - 1
On the plus side, I saw very few bad concerts. Diana Jones is the only one that where I look back and think that it was a complete waste of my time. Good lyricist, yes. Good performer, no. To be sure, there were some underwhelming shows. Sam Phillips was just so-so, and Tom Petty is firmly in the 'I used to be somebody camp', but even those two had some redeeming value. Even SMV, featuring three of the world's greatest bass players in Clarke, Wooten and Miller was a bit average.
Best Concert:
Firewater, by a huge margin. They put on a phenomenal live act featuring the best trombone player I've ever seen with rhythms inspired by Tod A's sojourn in Thailand, India, Pakistan and Lebanon. I'd absolutely recommend them to just about anybody.
Best Opener:
The 1900s are from Chicago. They opened for British Sea Power. Rock with inter meshed male/female harmonies and catchy lyrics. I hope they come back on top of their own bill some time.
Best Repeats:
Fred Eaglesmith in the Ballroom is much better than the Black Keys in EJ Thomas, mostly because that venue's acoustics isn't at all suited for loud rock shows. Neither was good as Mike Doughty rocking the house in support of Golden Delicious. Other repeats: Beatnik Termites, They Might Be Giants.
Best CD Release Party:
I'm going to give the edge to Expecting Rain, mostly because given their sparse performing schedule it seems that I'm probably not going to get to see them again. Their show in support of St Cecilia Sound System was immensely enjoyable. The Beatnik Termites CD release party was marred by their bassist quitting the day before, which rather changed the sound quality. Jessica Lea Mayfield is way too happy looking to play such dark music, but she put on a great show too.
Best Weirdo:
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Weird preprogrammed noises played by a painfully sincere indie rock kid. It was sort of like watching your buddy noodle around on the synth.
Best Stadium Act at the Height of Their Powers:
I realize that I'm about 8 years late on this realization, but Radiohead is really fucking good live. Seriously. I must remember that 'popular' acts can actually be legitimately good, even now. You know I'm not sure that I've seen to many other bands at the apex of mainstream fame; usually the bands I see never achieve mainstream fame or did so long ago. It's a strange feeling, but not unpleasant.
Others Of Note:
Josh Ritter & Hilary Hahn is a weird team up, given that singer-songwriters don't typically tour with classical violinists, but it worked at some weird level. I'm in no way qualified to judge classical violinists, but Hahn was pretty damn good.
The Swell Season (aka, the band from the movie Once, my favorite movie of 2007) somehow managed to meet my unrealistically high expectations. Every inch of passion from the movie was on display one hundred fold on stage. With Glenn Hansard's primary band the Frames providing backing support, he and Marketa Irglova poured it all out on stage.
Alejandro Escovedo should have played 20 minutes longer, but he still was quite good and worth seeing again.
Hopefully next year this post will have more bands to talk about.
Here's the list:
Fred Eaglesmith w/Kathy Moffat & Andrew Hardin - F 1/11 - Beachland Ballroom
Expecting Rain (CD Release Party) w/Afternoon Naps - S 1/12 - Beachland Tavern
Diana Jones - R 2/14 - Beachland Tavern
They Might Be Giants w/Oppenheimer - W 2/27 - Beachland Ballroom
Mike Doughty's Band - T 3/18 - Beachland Ballroom
British Sea Power w/The 1900s - W 3/26 - Grog Shop
Haale - F 3/28 - Beachland Tavern
Josh Ritter & Hilary Hahn - R 4/10 - Finney Chapel
Casiotone For the Painfully Alone w/Clue To Kalo - Su 4/20 - Beachland Tavern
The Swell Season w/Damien Dempsey - Su 5/11 - Allen Theater @ Playhouse Square
Firewater w/Unsparing Sea - F 5/28 - Beachland Tavern
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Su 6/22 - Blossom
Radiohead w/Grizzly Bear - M 8/05 - Blossom
SMV: Stanley Clarke / Marcus Miller / Victor Wooten - F 8/15 - Cain Park Evans
Studio-A-Rama 2008 - S 9/06 with (missed first band)
- Miss Melvis & the Buford Pusser Experience, Mohammed Cartoon, Pale Hollow, City Breathing, The Lindsay, Lines Across Lines, Beatnik Termites, The Sadies
Sam Phillips - R 9/11 - Beachland Ballroom
Jessica Lea Mayfield w/The Magpies - T 9/16 - Beachland Tavern
The Black Keys w/The Royal Bangs - S 10/11 - EJ Thomas Hall
Alejandro Escovedo - Su 10/19 - Beachland Ballroom
Beatnik Termites w/Elephant Bones - S 11/29 - Beachland Tavern
By Venue:
Beachland Tavern - 7
Beachland Ballroom - 5
Blossom - 2
Grog - 1
EJ Thomas Hall - 1
Cain Park Evans - 1
WRUW - 1
Finney Chapel - 1
PSQ - 1
On the plus side, I saw very few bad concerts. Diana Jones is the only one that where I look back and think that it was a complete waste of my time. Good lyricist, yes. Good performer, no. To be sure, there were some underwhelming shows. Sam Phillips was just so-so, and Tom Petty is firmly in the 'I used to be somebody camp', but even those two had some redeeming value. Even SMV, featuring three of the world's greatest bass players in Clarke, Wooten and Miller was a bit average.
Best Concert:
Firewater, by a huge margin. They put on a phenomenal live act featuring the best trombone player I've ever seen with rhythms inspired by Tod A's sojourn in Thailand, India, Pakistan and Lebanon. I'd absolutely recommend them to just about anybody.
Best Opener:
The 1900s are from Chicago. They opened for British Sea Power. Rock with inter meshed male/female harmonies and catchy lyrics. I hope they come back on top of their own bill some time.
Best Repeats:
Fred Eaglesmith in the Ballroom is much better than the Black Keys in EJ Thomas, mostly because that venue's acoustics isn't at all suited for loud rock shows. Neither was good as Mike Doughty rocking the house in support of Golden Delicious. Other repeats: Beatnik Termites, They Might Be Giants.
Best CD Release Party:
I'm going to give the edge to Expecting Rain, mostly because given their sparse performing schedule it seems that I'm probably not going to get to see them again. Their show in support of St Cecilia Sound System was immensely enjoyable. The Beatnik Termites CD release party was marred by their bassist quitting the day before, which rather changed the sound quality. Jessica Lea Mayfield is way too happy looking to play such dark music, but she put on a great show too.
Best Weirdo:
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Weird preprogrammed noises played by a painfully sincere indie rock kid. It was sort of like watching your buddy noodle around on the synth.
Best Stadium Act at the Height of Their Powers:
I realize that I'm about 8 years late on this realization, but Radiohead is really fucking good live. Seriously. I must remember that 'popular' acts can actually be legitimately good, even now. You know I'm not sure that I've seen to many other bands at the apex of mainstream fame; usually the bands I see never achieve mainstream fame or did so long ago. It's a strange feeling, but not unpleasant.
Others Of Note:
Josh Ritter & Hilary Hahn is a weird team up, given that singer-songwriters don't typically tour with classical violinists, but it worked at some weird level. I'm in no way qualified to judge classical violinists, but Hahn was pretty damn good.
The Swell Season (aka, the band from the movie Once, my favorite movie of 2007) somehow managed to meet my unrealistically high expectations. Every inch of passion from the movie was on display one hundred fold on stage. With Glenn Hansard's primary band the Frames providing backing support, he and Marketa Irglova poured it all out on stage.
Alejandro Escovedo should have played 20 minutes longer, but he still was quite good and worth seeing again.
Hopefully next year this post will have more bands to talk about.