1) Pearl Jam - Deluna Fest. I flew from Minnesota to see Oceans. Saw it. They could have played anything though. Everyone should attend a Deluna Fest. What a beautiful setting. Probably in my top 5 of 28 Pearl Jam shows because of the setting.
2) Foo Fighters - Deluna Fest. See above.
3) Train - Bascilica Block Party. I took my wife, 5 year old, and 2 year old. We sort of saw the band. Mainly, we ate fries and danced with Minneapolis as a backdrop.
4) Jimmy Cliff - Deluna Fest. I can't believe I got to see him play. Many Rivers to Cross is so beautiful.
5) Arctic Monkeys - opening for Black Keys at Target Center. It was strange seeing them outside of First Avenue, but they delivered. R U Mine and Evil Twin sounded huge. I watched a handful of Black Keys songs. Not bad, but not my thing.
6) Coldplay - Xcel Energy Center. This was a gift for my wife. I enjoyed the show though. I know their radio hits and expected to be bored out of my mind. They put on a high energy show though.
7) STP - the Myth. STP in a club was a cool experience. The crowd was lame. The show was standard. Still enjoyed it. I don't think they'll ever play together again.

I think that's it. I'm 35 and don't pursue new music anymore. I'm set for Soundgarden in February. Hopefully 2013 sees me at more shows than 2012.

Gaslight Anthem - Crocodile Club in Seattle. Small club, great crowd, band was on fire. Dave Hause was a really good opening act. Plus i was road tripping with a really hot chick. All in all, a great night.

Paul McCartney - For 70+ he's amazing. An amazing catalogue to draw from and he chooses well.

Bruce Springsteen - It's a production and very manufactured but damn, he does that better than anyone else.

Joe Bonamassa - Impeccable blues.

1. Radiohead- the best show I've ever seen, not just during this year.
2. Jack White
3. Portugal. The Man
4. DMB
5. Grouplove

Neil Young with Crazy Horse at the Hollywood Bowl was among the best shows I've ever seen.

Other shows I enjoyed:
Jesus and Mary Chain at Hollywood Park, Inglewood (a horse race track!)
Jeff Mangum at the Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles
Wild Flag at El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles
Fiona Apple at the Palladium, Los Angeles
Devin Townsend Project at El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles

1. Radiohead - Awesome set in DC, up close feet from the stage on Johnny's side.
2. Brad - Late May show in a small intimate club. Maybe 200 people there. Seeing them lose it during Lift was really fun for everyone there. Got to talk to Stone for a few minutes and get a pic.
3. Radiohead - Camden, NJ show with Like Spinning Plates, Idioteque, and I Might Be Wrong.
4. Neil Young & Crazy Horse with Patti Smith and Everest - Great opening band, Patti was better than I expected, and Neil's set was really intense. That old quote from Eddie about how playing with Neil is like actually being in the cage with the tiger as opposed to watching it from outside the bars seemed fitting.
5. The Who - Fun to watch Zak Starkey drum, see Pete windmill, and hear Quadrophenia in its entirety for the first time ever. I'd never listened to it all the way through before. And then the hits at the end were a nice capper.
6. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Small theater show in DC with lots of good witty banter in between Oasis songs.
7. RNDM - Into You Like A Train alone was worth the ticket. Rockin' set at the Black Cat in DC. Stuverud's a wizard in concert.
8. Weezer - Free gig for the Microsoft Store opening in Pentagon City at 2 PM on a Saturday afternoon. A full electric set of nothing but hits. I took a friend who was home for a few weeks from LA. He'd written a new album of songs inspired by an old love. A few days later we found out his old girlfriend's wake had actually taken place during the time we were at the concert. In 2001, the only show I ever saw with her... Weezer.
9. Bad Religion - Reason Rally on the National Mall in DC. Cold and rainy, but a free full set with guest speakers including Richard Dawkins and Eddie Izzard.
10. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Solid set running through the entire Tyranny of Distance record.

i thought i saw more shows than i did, and not as many mildly embarrassing ones, but looking through my stubs it seems i had a down year in terms of live concerts. maybe i talked about going to shows more often than i ended up actually going. there's a good handful of smaller, local shows i saw but i'm not gonna bother with those.

shows i saw

pj- missoula
rndm- minneapolis
chevelle- minneapolis
dave matthews band- alpine valley (2 shows)
neil diamond- st. paul

river's edge festival- st. paul
dave matthews band
tool
flaming lips
sublime with rome
puscifer
polica

bonnaroo- manchester
radiohead
rhcp
phish
beach boys
the roots
feist
kenny rogers
superjam (d'angelo, questlove, some roots, and some notable others)
black star
gza
alabama shakes
gary clark, jr.
trampled by turtles


of those, it's probably tought to beat the bonnaroo superjam. it was just an incredible hour and a half of music. i really hope it gets released some day. it deserves it. the rndm show a couple weeks back was also fantastic. the dave matthews shows were notable because n2 is the longest show they've ever done (and n1 wasn't much shorter) and they are up there with alpine '08 as the best shows i've ever seen by them.

1. Ed Vedder 2x
2. Wilco
3. Dr. Dog
4. DMB
5. Built to Spill

The Flaming Lips-Loufesst in St. Louis. Rained....rained some more. Then the Lips played and it was awesome. Confetti, balloons...you know the drill.
Wilco-not as good as in the past but i'm not a fan of the last few albums.

I'm seeing Murder By Death in a few weeks, that should be good.


Here's the race for the prize joygasm from Loufest:

Mynabirds
Conor Oberst
Wilco

Neil at Red Rocks
Pygmy Shrews
Ed in Memphis
Neil at MSG
Melvins
The Men
The Blind Shake
Austerity Program
Lee Ranaldo
Mount Carmel
Endless Boogie
OBN IIIs
White Wires

I didn't see very much this year, unless I'm forgetting something.

1. Earth
2. Shellac
3. Soundgarden

Soundgarden were good, Shellac were very very good and Earth were amazing. Still wish Radiohead played here.

Lots of good stuff coming up in early 2013 I'm looking forward to: Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin, My Bloody Valentine, Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

planning on going to a burlesque show next sunday, will keep the thread updated

Kitty Night is a fun time out.

My top 12 of 2012

01- Pearl Jam - Ziggo Dome Amsterdam II
02- Eddie Vedder - Carre Amsterdam
03- My Morning Jacket - Tivoli Utrecht
04- Soundgarden - Pinkpop
05- Jack White - HMH Amsterdam
06- Tom Petty - HMH Amsterdam
07- Mark Lanegan - Paradiso Amsterdam
08- Wild Flag - Melkweg Amsterdam
09- Leonard Cohen - Olympic Stadium Amsterdam
10- Tame Impala - Paradiso Amsterdam
11- Ken Stringfellow - Paradiso Amsterdam
12- Grizzly Bear - Paradiso Amsterdam

Y'all ranking stuff, not rating.

Elephant Revival - late January - The Compound, PHX - A - These guys are a lot of fun.
Moksha - february - The Compound, PHX - B - Never heard of these guys, but enjoyed their style of funk/jam. Didn't stay for the second band (Quactus).
Lost in the Trees - march - Plush, Tucson - C - Nothing really wrong with what they did, but the show started way late, and had to sit through Poor Moon. So the set we drove two hours to see started at like 11:30 and only lasted 45 minutes.
Punch Brothers - march 10 - El Rey, Los Angeles - B - One of my least favorite Punch Brothers shows, played lots of "new album" type of stuff.
Greensky Bluegrass - march - The Compound, PHX - A- - Surprisingly good. Liked the 80s covers they did.
Head For The Hills - april 5 - The Compound, PHX - B+ - Played well, but the crowd was pretty light... So hard to really get going.
Carolina Chocolate Drops / David Wax Museum - april 6 - UCLA - DWM A+, CCD B+ - David Wax was incredibly entertaining; wasn't the most fun CCD has been... but maybe because Wax upstaged them.
Steven Wilson - april 7 - House of Blues, Los Angeles - A+ - It was a production, but you expect that from SW. Sound was impeccable. Incredible musicians.
Andrew Bird / Laura Marling - late april - Mesa Arts Center, Mesa - A- - Wasn't quite as awesome as I hoped. Marling is incredibly talented, as is Bird. Loved seeing Bird do all the loops.
Great Lake Swimmers - may - Sail Inn, Tempe - B- - Didn't seem as into it because of the change of venue.

to be continued, after I decide how to do festivals...

i dont remember good the shows from this year, but i could say Mark Lanegan was the special one.
It was cool to see Dinosaur jr and the foos too.

Moved away from the Bay Area, so only 3 shows for me this year:

Neurosis: (A)- heavy, intense, loud. First time I'd seen them since 1994 - I was blown away.

Radiohead: (B)- great setlist, but the older stuff was too electronic for me.

Ghost/Mastodon/Opeth - Ghost put on a great show. Love their album and they were much heavier live (A). Mastodon, although they are my 2nd favorite band, were very boring. (C-). Left before Opeth. (Inc)

Jay Z
everything else

Wait, what?

My list will be something like:

Pearl Jam - Amsterdam 2
Portishead - Antwerp
Sigur Ros - Antwerp

Still seeing Lanegan the 23rd, but I can't really imagine it getting better than these 3.