I saw a lot of good music this year, also missed a lot of shows I had anticipated seeing. Of those I caught, these are the ones that stand out

The Ex w/ Brass Unbound
5/18 @ Lee's Palace, Toronto
The Ex are always my favourite band every time I see them play, and I think of the 3 times I've seen them, all are in my Top 20 all-time. This one in particular, with Brass Unbound, was amazing, though just less so than their transcendent last visit with Getatchew Mekuria! I love the tension of their volume and repetition, build and build and incessant release, and the spirit of everything they have to sing. Love them.

Dublab: Tonalism
w/ Isla Craig, Gushee, Not the Wind Not the Flag, DNTEL, Teebs, Frosty, Julia Holter, Matthewdavid, The Luyas
6/10 @ The Music Gallery, Toronto
24 acts in 12 hours, lasting until 6am, in The Music Gallery, Toronto's leading avant-garde church/music institution, Tonalism hosted by LA's Dublab. An experiment in ambient immersion, with virtually uninterrupted bliss blasts and gorgeous projections. Highlights were Julia Holter's premiere acoustic piano set at 4:30am, The Luyas surprise performance, and DNTEL.

DD/MM/YYYY
w/ Metz @ Sneaky Dee's, Toronto
Favourite Toronto band, recently disbanded and 4/5 reformed as Absolutely Free, performing a raucous set during NXNE. The band was tight tonight, and perhaps reeling off news of their upcoming split. Great crowd energy as well.

3/31 - Destroyer, War on Drugs @ Lee's Palace, Toronto, and
8/24 - The War on Drugs @ Drake Hotel, Toronto, and
12/9 - The War on Drugs @ Horseshoe, Toronto
All three shows were wonderful. The first made me realize how much I would love this band. They stole the show easily from Destroyer, by being propulsive and awesome. The show at the Drake in August, on a terribly stormy night, is still being talked about. The recent December show was blisteringly loud, and remarkably drunken, included "Touch of Grey" cover which was actually really well done. Latter two shows featured Joe from Destroyer guesting on sax!

Ike Reilly Salesmen & Racists 10th Anniversary gig @ the Bottom Lounge
Ike Reilly @ Double Door, the day after Thanksgiving
The Fleshtones, sometime in June @ Double Door
Jon Langford & Skull Orchard, opening for Candy Gold sometime in late Spring, also @ Double Door
Jason & The Scorchers, early spring @ Double Door
NY Dolls, mid-July @ Double Door

Jimmy Webb, Tom Russell & Jesse Winchester @ Largo

I'll take any chance I can to see Jesse Winchester. He's one of my favorite artists. He was great and it was awesome to see people who went to see Jimmy Webb and didn't know Jesse be blown away by him. There is a reason why Webb is a legend though and it was great to get to see him too. This was my first exposure to Tom Russell and I was impressed by him as well. What a lineup.

The Undertones @ Echoplex

They played the debut album in its entirity and then continued playing alot longer. I had wondered whether they'd be worth seeing without Feargal Sharkey but they were great.

Pharoah Sanders @ the Catalina Bar & Grill

This was probably my fourth or fifth time seeing him. He's getting really up there in age and walks very slowly but he can still blow that horn. Makes the list mainly because opportunities like this are getting to be fewer and far between. I used to go see a jazz legend every 6 weeks at a small club, now I get the opportunity maybe a couple of times a year. They are retiring, dying off or cutting way back on their performance/touring schedules.

The Watkins Family Hour w/ special guests, Michael Nesmith, Fiona Apple & Grant Lee Phillips @ Largo

The Watkins Family Hour is Sean and Sara Watson from Nickelcreek's monthly residency at Largo. They are always joined by special guests. I went to this one because I'm a big fan of Michael Nesmith who gets remembered as a Monkee when he should be remembered as a country rock pioneer. He was even better than I expected.

Meryl Haggard & Kris Kristofferson @ the Greek

They played separately, together and alternated songs on lead pulling from two huge catalogs of great songs and even covered Townes together in a duet. Awesome.

Garland Jeffreys @ the Grammy Museum

Just because I never thought I'd get to see him. He's doing a larger tour this winter though so I hope to catch him again.

Rebirth Brass Band @ Sainte Rock

Damn they're fun. If you aren't smiling at a show like this then you're dead inside.

Jane Birkin @ the Luckman

Two hours of Serge Gainsbourg songs backed by a crack Japanese band with proceeds (I think) going to earthquake/tsunami vicitims.

I can only recall going to two concerts this year...thats how lame I am...Tennis @ Doug Fir and Wye Oak at Mississippi Studios.

Destroyer/War On Drugs - The EARL
Cut Copy - The Masquerade/Georgia Theatre
Ty Segall/Thee Oh Sees - The EARL
The Flaming Lips (Soft Bulletin Show) - The Tabernacle

nobunny/hot machines @ empty bottle, 1/1
- two really great garage rock bands at their finest.

ólafur arnalds @ museum of contemporary art, 1/30
- gorgeous electronic/experimental/classical compositions with subtly brilliant lights and videos shadowing the music.

disappears @ empty bottle, 5/6
- this made up for 2 lackluster performances by them earlier in the year with a pummelling set that reminded me why i fell for their blend of krautrock and punk.

primavera sound, 5/25-29
- this is the best festival i've ever been to. i saw 60+ bands over 5 days. highlights were (in chronological order) caribou, grinderman drowning out the walkmen but "the rat" conquering for its 4 minutes, garotas suecas, pulp, kurt vile drowning out einstürzende neubauten and then making a back to the future joke, pissed jeans, the suicide of western culture, holy ghost and mercury rev performing deserter's songs in its entirety.

pitchfork, 7/15-17
- every year i'm lukewarm on the pitchfork lineup and every year i still go and have fun. this year i was most impressed with cold cave wearing leather jackets in 90°F facing the sun and pumping out heavy synthpop, keith morris' stories before/after every off! song and the ensuing chaos, cut copy's ability to wind up a crowd and tv on the radio for covering "waiting room."

wild flag @ wicker park fest, 7/23
- even though wild flag is a new band, i'd been hearing about them for months by july, so expectations were pretty high when i finally saw them. and they were terrific. the guitar sound and the wailing were exactly what i needed that night. whatever i apparently didn't care for in sleater-kinney was absent and their cover of "beast of burden" was great.

way out west, 8/12-13
- this was sort of a last-minute excursion based on headliners - prince, kanye west, pulp and robyn. needless to say, it ruled. prince playing "let's go crazy" for 30,000 people in a forest in sweden? tons of purple confetti blasting out of cannons for "purple rain"? amazing. the big surprise for me was a swedish garage rock band called pascal (not to be confused with the other one). they killed it. (even though this was great, i can't discuss this festival without also noting that i had 2 critical lapses in judgment. i was under the impression that there was a midnight curfew, so i left at 11:57 during "when doves cry." what i missed was another half-hour of prince that partially featured kanye. also, i missed planningtorock because she played in a hidden room of a building where i was watching wu lyf.)

fun fun fun fest, 11/4-6
- this wasn't even on my radar until two weeks beforehand when i noticed murder city devils, hot snakes and kid dynamite on the lineup. i witnessed a danzig trainwreck. i saw ryan gosling and terence malick countless times trying to fit in with the crowd. (yeah, right.) i rocked out to thee oh sees, davila 666, hum, slayer and aforementioned bands. and i caught a super tight russian circles set that had a friend and i both wondering where that band had been when we'd seen them before.

ryan adams @ cadillac palace theater, 12/11
- 2 hours of a brilliant but sometimes difficult songwriter in a good mood (even if complaining about skyrim) and playing a hell of a set to a very respectful audience.

wilco @ metro, 12/16
- sometimes before a show i make a mental wish list of songs i'd like to hear. i'm usually lucky if i hear a few of those. i think i heard all but one on this night. and they sounded phenomenal. aside from fucking jerks standing in front of me, i had a blast.

also receiving votes: apteka reminding me of smashing pumpkins, justin townes earle making jokes about rehab and singing what must've been difficult songs for him, nicole atkins' hips, a recall to high school at a face to face show and realizing i'm the old guy now, booker t playing "green onions", tim harrington's insanity at 2 les savy fav shows over a weekend, the sword covering zz top on a blistering hot night, 2.5-hour foo fighters set in a 1,100-capacity venue (and seeing both wynonna judd and aaron paul there), bryan ferry singing "jealous guy" and m83's "couleurs" as a set closer.

DBT at The Georgia Theatre over the summer was better than Wilco in Montgomery. But I think the best show I saw was The Alabama Shakes and DBT at The Alabama Theater in Tuscaloosa. I missed MMJ @ The Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre the week before. Blah.

I only went to a few shows this year, but they were all doozies:

Raphael Saadiq @ Park West, Chicago
The man is a born performer. Puts a ton of sweat into it. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's touring in support of a great record.

k.d. lang @ Ravinia, outside of Chicago
Just put out a great record and has what may be her best band ever. Still, the crowd was a bit too docile and it took a little bit away from what should have been a great show. Still a damn good one, though.

Ray Davies @ The Chicago Theatre
First time ever seeing Ray, and I just happened to have 6th row seats in an amazing venue. Bottom line: Ray is a freak, a ton of fun, and the man's still got it. One of the best shows that I've seen in a long time. Maybe top-20 of ever (still needs review). Awesome.

I had a blast at the Further show I saw this summer at The Mann. They seemed really on and in the mood for songs and song focused noodling and it was oppressively hot out but that somehow made the night more fun.

I saw Wilco in Baltimore and they were very solid, but at no point was I deeply moved.

My favorite show of the year was my friend's CD release party. She played awesome and the sound was perfect and it was a great mix of people young and old and the booze was free.

Hmmm. I guess I'd go with these:

Trombone Shorty - New Orleans Jazzfest

I'd never heard a single note by him and the people we were with who live down there (and their parents) all said he was the one thing they were defintely going to see. That particular stage area was absolutely packed when he finally took the stage. I was expecting some classic NOLA jazz type of thing but they came out to funk and distorted guitar power chords and he went nuts on the trumpet. The place went crazy. One of the most fun and energetic shows I went to all year. Even better, he tempered it with some laid back covers like Satchmo's "On The Sunny Side of the Street". Definitely a hometown show and there's a reason why he's going to be a headliner next year. Great showman. Just one of those shows where it's impossible to not get swept up by the enery around you.

Arcade Fire - New Orleans Jazzfest

They headlined the day before at one of the bigger stages. My first time seeing them and they were worth the wait. Just the right mix of rum punch, pilsner urquell, and the sun going down. They were so appreciative to be there and talked several times about the obscure artists they had seen and were going to see. One of the heritage themes of the weekend was Haiti so of course they played "Haiti. I didn't realize how anthemic and perfectly suited to outdoor stages so many of their songs were. Really impressed and made The Suburbs finally click. Also, extra points for them having Cyndi Lauper come out to cover "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and then her in turn playing with them on "Sprawl II". Great show.

Continued:

The Futurebirds - Macon, GA

Was down there for this summer music fest and they were playing one of the local venues which is just essentially a bar with a small "stage" raised about a foot off the ground. Not sure if it was the mix of UGA grads in Macon, people home for the summer, or just music starved Macon but this was one of the most bonkers show I went to all year. Hot as holy hell but NO ONE wanted to leave including myself. I'd only recent gotten one of their EP's but I left a total fan. This band is on the verge of exploding and when I saw them at a 2 night sold out show a couple months later in Athens it only confirmed it for me. They all just seem to genuinely having fun and enjoying the success that they're starting to see.

Gillian Welch - Variety Playhouse, ATL

Just her and Dave Rawlings and was one of the most respectful crowd experiences I've ever had at the Variety (which is usually a pretty rowdy rock crowd). You could hear a pin drop during some of the more quiet songs. They just make magic together. By the time they covered "I'll Fly Away" you'd have thought we were at some Southern Revival.

My Morning Jacket/Neko Case - Verizon Amphitheater, Alpharetta, GA

A case of collision between great band, great venue, and great friends, made a good show great.
Not to mention they are as good as they've ever been live. They rocked, they stretched out their more ambient tendencies, and even did a spot on cover of "Stop Draggin My Heart Around" with Neko Case playing the part of Stevie Nicks. "One Big Holiday" never, ever fails.

The Piss Lollies in-store at Volcanic Tongue. Shut down by cops just like Beatles rooftop gig, except not on a rooftop (just under a roof though). Their 'You Love It Cold And Gold' album was also the best LP of the year. In fact The Piss Lollies and Black Lips are the only reason I fucking wake up any more.

Yeah, that was a really fun evening.

I don't think I saw more than a couple of shows this year. I had to skip a ton of great shows this summer because of other obligations. The only real highlight was Mudhoney and Pearl Jam doing "Search And Destroy".

If I was the type to make resolutions I'd resolve to see more live music this year.

favorites out of the 70+ shows I saw in 2011


1/18/11 - Wanda Jackson & The Third Man House Band/The Thornbills @ Third Man Records
1/30/11 - Drive-By Truckers @ Third Man Records
3/20/11 - Queens of the Stone Age @ Ryman Auditorium
3/24/11 - Godspeed You! Black Emperor @ Cannery Ballroom
4/9/11 - Destroyer/The War on Drugs @ Mercy Lounge
5/13/11 - Cave Singers/Fleet Foxes @ Ryman Auditorium
5/19/11 - The Flaming Lips @ Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
8/27/11 - Angel Snow/Alison Krauss & Union Station @ Ryman Auditorium
9/16/11 Santigold @ ACL - Austin, TX
9/23/11 - Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit @ Cannery Ballroom
9/24/11 - JEFF the Brotherhood @ Neuhoff Complex
10/01/11 - Wilco/Nick Lowe @ Ryman
11/19/11 - Wanda Jackson @ Marathon Music Works

I forgot about GBV at the Festival Pier. Holy shit that was fun, I had a grin on my face the whole show and they were pouring the jack at like six fingers for $8

Did not see many at all, but Andrew Bird continues to mesmerize a room like no one else. His charm and talent will never wear on me.

tweedy solo, iron & wine, andrew bird, fleet foxes and my morning jacket ALL put on incredible shows, but i have to give my favorite show of the year to ryan adams "secret warm up gig" in front of barely 300 of us. never before has a show completely changed my thoughts on an artist and made me go back and discover all those albums i ignored before.

I have seen them 4x in the past 14 months (3 times in Charlotte, once at Bonnaroo) and each successive time in Charlotte they play a slightly larger venue and draw larger crowds. Big fan of this band, especially when I am able to see them in small venues.

Shows from...

OFF!
Cut/Copy
Tame Impala
Suede
The National
Twin Shadow