Some years are better than others in terms of album releases, but one area that never fails is in live music. Let's reflect on the best concerts of the past year.
Honorable mentions:
St. Vincent
Nov. 22 at Ryman Auditorium
St. Vincent is undoubtedly one of the most visual artists performing today. Her wild, wacky outfits and stage demeanor recall David Bowie. Her current tour is divided into two parts. The first features her wearing a tube shaped, sensual pink plastic outfit performing the best of her back catalog, and the 2nd act consists of her performing her new album Masseduction in full. The 2nd half is most definitely better. Masseduction is one of the year's best albums, with a full range of heartfelt balladry, twisted electro/rock and roll, and full throttle sensuality. The reason this set missed the top 10 was due to her heavy reliance on a backing track in lieu of a full band.
Nicolas Jaar
April 8 at Marathon Music Works
What I like about Nicolas Jaar is that his sound isn't super saturated with samples; everything is constructed from the ground up, so it all feels very natural. He's not the most obliquely dancable or high energy DJ around, but he is among the more thought provoking producers you'll have the chance to see. One of the most remarkable things he's capable of is enveloping you in a crushing wave of sound, and just when you think you can't take anymore it will suddenly break and dissipate beautifully like foam on a beachead. There isn't a whole ton of melody in his music, until it comes to the immensely booty shaking "Space is Only Noise," a track which offsets Jaar's admittedly monotone vocal with a thick, arresting bassline. The euphoric, extended breakdown that came in before the song's final stanza elevated a great song to the level of a glorious one.
10. The xxJune 10 at BonnarooThe first sight I saw at my first Bonnaroo Late Night was The xx's incredible laser show beaming from Which Stage, and since then had regretted not stopping by to take in some of their set. Catching the band's first performance at Roo since then was never going to erase missing that first time, but did enable them to sneak in and steal a Top 10 slot. The new material carries a large dose of groove and swagger, adding some much needed new dimensions to their sound. When I saw Jamie's solo DJ set a couple years ago, it was clear they were going to come back funkier, more soulful, and with a little bit of an edge without compromising the original sound. Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft's love duets provided the sultry soundtrack for sweating out the hot Manchester night, but Romy impressed with a some honest grit and moxie on cutting tunes like "Infinity" and the short but surprisingly crowd energizing "Intro."
9. Garth Brooks
December 16 at Bridgestone Arena
The greatest spectacle in country music returned to Bridgestone arena after a seven year absence with a two and a half hour extravaganza. Out of all the big stars I've seen, he's one of the absolute best at making himself relatable. Garth reaching out and gesturing toward fans was a regular sight all night. His encore consisted of playing stanzas from songs on signs held up by fans in the stands. Hes got a hits catalog deep enough to rival almost any big act. Fans were dazzled by the strobe lights of "The Thunder Rolls," tropical backgrounds on the big screens during "Three Pina Colodas," or the romantic nostalgia of "The Dance. And to up the ante even further, he announced the night's show was being recorded for a live album. The momentum sagged a bit during the Trisha Yearwood segment and lengthy band introductions, but I never was a big fan of hers anyway.
8. Sturgill Simpson
July 15 at Forecastle
Sturgill's guitar playing is what stands out most about this show. His albums don't give much indication of it but Simpson is a maniac on the axe. It's very rugged and bluesy, with hints of Stevie Ray Vaughan, but still fits in the framework of gritty country music. He reminded me of another guitar player I had seen on this same Forecastle stage a few years ago: Gary Clark Jr. Unlike Clark, however, Simpson has the songwriting chops to back up his playing. His subject matter concerns simple life truths stated directly: the joy of fatherhood on "Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)," his skepticism with religion on "Turtles all the Way Down," and good old fashioned despair on "Living the Dream." Simpson is one of today's most promising country music talents, and still doesn't get enough credit.
7. U2
June 10 at Bonnaroo
Blood red light illuminated the stage for Irish rock titans Friday night headlining performance at Bonnaroo. The occasion? None other than the 30th anniversary of their most esteemed release, "The Joshua Tree," for which they played the album in its entirety. The show started dramatically with early career stunners "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)," followed by propulsive Joshua tree gems "Where the Streets Have no Name" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The momentum slacked up once they got past the album's well known songs. You could tell they weren't used to playing these songs as often. Things got strange on "Exit," where Bono donned a black bowler hat and made a bunch of jerky movements. It looked like he was practicing to be Batman. The new school material made its appearance in the encore, before finishing off with the sublime "One."
6. Opeth
May 4 at War Memorial Auditorium
Six long years had passed since the Swedish prog barons last played Nashville. To be honest, their performance then eschewed much of what endears the band to fans, focusing instead on acoustics and clean vocals while supporting the oft-maligned Heritage album. They made up for all that and more, masterfully mixing the best of their new material with the classic stuff. Old school fans were treated to a guttural gut punch with "Demon of the Fall," a punishing salvo that expertly weaves folky, acoustic proggy passages with black metal bombast. Their always artful frontman, Mikael Akerfeldt, explained the song was written with former bandmate Peter Lindgren in the early days, when they were a couple of junkies in Gothenberg. Set closer Deliverance starts off brutally heavy and ends with a trancelike riff, covering a huge swath of ground over its 13 minute run time. Akerfelt joked you'd have to call your boss to tell him you'd be late after that song. The only disappointment was no Blackwater Park material, especially glaring given that The Drapery Falls had figured into virtually every setlist this tour.
5. Kendrick Lamar
August 30 at Bridgestone Arena
I was unimpressed with Kendrick as a live performer until this set. I left his last two Bonnaroo sets after only a few songs as they seemed to lack substance. But realizing he's one of the great young artists of this generation, I gave him another go. One of the craziest things I've seen is the entire crowd rapping "Humble" to him -- not just the chorus, which would be expected -- pretty much the whole song. You could tell by the look on Kendrick's face he was like damn, and so was I. Other things I appreciate about Kendrick is his ability to set a mood. During "Pride" and "Love," he had this energy going that was so positive and uplifting it could melt all your troubles away if only for those few moments. Also enjoyable was watching him dodge sword swipes from ninjas while donning his alter-ego Kung Fu Kenny.
4. Mayhem
November 27 at Cannery Ballroom
This was like some shit straight out of a graveyard. I knew of the long standing Norwegian black metal band more by reputation than by their actual music, but the novelty of this band playing Nashville, coupled with a pair of positive spins of their debut,
De mysteriis dom Sathanas, convinced me it was worth a shot. Mayhem's set is up there with the greatest visual spectacles I've seen. Mist machines and tortured gargoyle/gravestone statues set the scene, but the centerpiece is vocalist Attila Csihar. Cloaked in tattered robes and demonic facepaint, he looks like a wight bent on delivering unholy retribution. Presentation has been the band's calling card since their early days. The music itself's not too shabby either; the ice cold opening riff of "Freezing Moon" split the crowd's skull like a guillotine blade, as the band blazed through the eight tracks of their debut album. They didn't stick around after that, but the brief performance proved short, sweet, and deadly to the touch.
3. LCD Soundsystem
July 15 at Forecastle
It's been a hell of a comeback. The New York disco/dance/punk outfit's reunion has allowed them to claim their rightful status of one of the best live bands of today after triumphantly overcoming initial chagrin from fans who felt jilted after shelling out for the bombastic "final" performances. I've seen them three times in this run, but their Saturday night headline set at Forecastle is my favorite. The densely layered dance beats of "You Wanted a Hit," the starry eyed melancholy of "Someone Great," the brazen jubilation of "Daft Punk is Playing at My House," and the fist pumping garage energy of "Movement" blew me away from my spot five rows from the front. The setlist was virtually identical to the one they played at Bonnaroo last year -- with one notable exception. I was on my way out of the crowd already when James Murphy announced the band's first ever festival encore: a deliriously twisted rendition of their renowned sing/chant along "Yeah."
2. Radiohead
April 1 at Phillips Arena
Due to their somewhat elusive nature, the simple act of Radiohead announcing dates is an event in itself. This show was part of a small string of dates surrounding their headline Coachella performance, in support of last year's excellent A Moon Shaped Pool. To fans' delight, it featured a great deal more of the band's guitar based back catalog than we're used to seeing from them. Airbag, No Surprises, and fan favorite Iron Lung were among the highlights, but perhaps more astonishing was Subterranean Homesick Alien, an OK Computer cut so deep Thom Yorke warned it might be a little off-kilter, but it was nothing short of beautiful. They closed with Karma Police during the third encore, and, well, if you've never seen Radiohead, you've never lost yourself in show quite like this. I'd seen Yorke before with Atoms for Peace, but it did nothing to prepare me for this. Every individual member of the band is so talented that when the full unit is assembled, they truly are greater than the sum of their parts. This collection of talent is why Radiohead is one of world's truly great bands, arguably the defining band of its generation if there is one.
1. Iron Maiden
June 13 at Bridgestone Arena
The longstanding British metal barons take the top slot after having placed 2nd on my year end list four years ago (behind Paul McCartney's once in a lifetime Bonnaroo performance). I've been big fans since high school, and I was left in awe after seeing them from about 10 feet away from them on the main floor. The energy, imagery, and general trappings of an Iron Maiden show lifted this one to the top. The show opened with Bruce Dickinson standing behind a dimly flickering flame ominously aglow. They then broke into "If Eternity Should Fail," the high octane opening cut from their excellent album The Book of souls, which they were touring for this show. Dickinson delivered a nod to the fans as reflected on all they years they've been around as a band. "The reason for our longevity," he declared, as he surveyed a full house, "I am looking at tonight." He riled them into a frenzy by waving the giant Union Jack flag during "The Trooper," donning monkey and wrestler masks, and unleashing giant monsters during "Number of the Beast." The three headed guitar battery of Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, and Janick Gers unleashed some mischief of their own during the 13 minute epic "The Red and the Black," designed pretty much as a love letter to frenetic guitar solos. Maiden shows are the perfect combo of virtuosity in musicianship and showmanship, and they don't show any signs of slowing down anytime soon.
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