So, i went to over 50 shows this year (so far) and i'd like to share my thought on those which were the best. So here it goes...

1. Ryan Adams - AMAZING. played the setlist in chronological order and blew me away. Great interaction with the crowd, and funnier than most stand-up commedians.

2. Incubus / Sparta - Two great bands in 1 great night. This was also my first "date" with a girl I think I want to spend the rest of my life with.

3. Muse / The Exit - I paid $1.50 for the ticket, saw one of the biggest bands in the world and was introduced to another perfect (imo) band "The Exit". All in a club that holds maybe 1,000 people

4. A.P.C / The Mars Volta - I drove all the way out to Kansas City to see this show and was not disapointed. The only thing that sucked about it was the meathead crowd and having to drive to K.C. and back in one day / night.

5. Mock Orange / Minus the Bear - You cant get much better indie rock in one night.

6. Damien Rice - I cant discribe all the emotions i felt during this show

7. Pearl Jam / Death Cab for Cutie - I feel my love for them fading away, but they still put on a great rock show.

8. Bob Dylan - I fuckin saw him from the backstage / the side of the stage...what have you done with your life?

9. Muse / The Exit (2nd time) - Great show with many suprises. Once again steller performances from two amazing bands

10. Dillinger Escape Plan - Did not let me down, and i went in with high expectations

11. The Strokes - Went in with low expectations and came out an even bigger fan

12. Hella - Crazy instrumental indie rock at it's finest

13. Isis / These Arms are Snakes - I never thought i'd see such amazing bands in such a crappy venue.

14. Wilco - Backstage at this one as well. but i've seen them so many times...

15. The Killers / Ambulance LTD - I nearly got into a car wreck on the way to the show (some fuckin lady decided to STOP ON THE INTERSTAE to pull a U-turn. I got out and threw a soda at her) Good show, but that whole episosde kinda shook me up a bit.

16. Chris Robinson NEM - Only about 30 people showed up to this show but it didnt effect him or the bands performance. He broke out a lot of new stuff and this marked the comeback of Audley Freed.

17. Son Volt - It wasnt the full original lineup, but they played Son Volt songs so i was happy

18. Damage Plan - It seems to have more significance to it now than it did at the time.

19. The Blood Brothers - Crazy motherfuckers

20. Coheed and Cambria - Great live, but the 2 screamo opening bands made me want to leave early, but Rena Maria was good.

I'm also going to Jimmy Eat World / Cake on Thursday so that might slip into the list somewhere.

Rainer Maria? Or is this a different person?

my top 3:

1.R.E.M. at Madison Square Garden
R.E.M. was on fire that night,with angry urgent sounding political rockers in response to four more years of Bush.

2.Morrissey at Radio City Music Hall
alt-rock's greatest showman,sarcastic funny man and the pope of mope all at the same time.An amazing saturday night show.


3.The Pixies
a great,close show with an a+ setlist

Same band. I just didnt feel like looking through all my CD's to figure out how to spell it right.

Okay. I've only heard the name, so I was wondering if I had it wrong.

1. PJ: Soveriegn Center; Reading PA
2. Liz Phair: Electric Factory; Philly
3. Sleater-Kinney: The Trocadero; Philly
4. Curiosa Festival: Tweeter Center; Camden NJ
5. Y100 Feztival (The Strokes, Beastie Boys, The Darkness, Cypress Hill, Burning Brides)
6. Alanis Morrisette / Barenaked Ladies: Mann Center; Philly
7. Silvertide / Shinedown: The Trocadero; Philly
8. Chicago / Earth, Wind and Fire: Tweeter Center; Camden NJ
9. Senses Fail: TLA; Philly (free tickets with freinds)
10. The Used: Electric Factory; Philly (free tickets with freinds)

Bands I seen this year:

0

1. The Arcade Fire
2. Guided By Voices
3. Muse
4. Yonder Mountain String Band
5. The Walkmen


I think I saw more shows, though I can't remember

Alright, so I went to a few concerts this year (not as many as Kilman though) and figured I'd try to rank mine as well. Difficult like whoa


(1) 2004-12-11: The Pixies (opening: TV on the Radio), Hammerstein Ballroom - I may be a little biased, considering this show was only a few days ago, but this show was amazing. When a band who hasn't toured in over 10 years comes back and the whole audience can sing every word to every song, you know you've done something right. There was just so much energy, and having only the barricade between me and Joey was spectacular. Catching a pick from Kim was an added bonus.

(2) 2004-04-06: Death Cab For Cutie / Ben Kweller (opening: Architecture in Helsinki), Irving Plaza - My first show at Irving, and what a great show it was. The Death Cab set was so intimate, and even Ben Kweller tore it up (including a half hour encore with him on guitar. Wow).

(03) 2004-05-01: A Perfect Circle (opening: Mini Kiss and Burning Brides), PNC Bank Arts Center - This was one of those shows you just felt would be special. The audience was so connected with Maynard that night, and they did a special setlist for us. Such a great show.

(04) 2004-07-14: Prince (with Sheila E, opening: Morris Day), Madison Square Garden - Prince. On his final tour with his old material. With Morris Day as a secret guest. 'nuff said.

(05) 2004-11-09: Modest Mouse (opening: ?), Radio City Music Hall - Better than the first time I saw them, despite the fact that Radio City really wasn't the right venue for them. I love these guys.

(06) 2004-05-07: A Perfect Circle (opening: Mini Kiss and Burning Brides), Nassau Coliseum Seeing one of your favorite bands perform while you're literally only a few feet away and watching a skilled guitarist right in front of you is great. It's even better when you're able to communicate with said guitarist while James Iha does a solo cover of "After Hours" by VU.

(07) 2004-06-09: No Doubt / Blink 182 (opening: The Living End), Jones Beach Ampitheatre - I could care less for Blink, but No Doubt was marvellous. I have so much more respect for them after seeing them live. Gwen is able to do all kinds of insane dance moves on stage and still sing without a backing vocal. That's REAL talent.

(08) 2004-08-19: Guided By Voices (with Ambulance Ltd.), Pier 41 on the Hudson River - Guided By Voices is a great band, and I'm pretty said I'll never get to see them again. Wish I would've found them earlier. I'm so glad I wound up at this free show, largely due to Ambulance Ltd. They did this awesome cover of Floyd's "Fearless."

(09) 2004-07-31: Curiosa Festival (The Cure, Mogwai, Thursday, The Rapture, Interpol), Randall's Island - Enjoyable show, but The Cure wasn't as great as I expected and Interpol didn't meet my expectations. Mogwai, on the other hand, was brilliant and The Rapture were great as well. Expensive, though.

(10) 2004-07-17: Siren Music Festival (Death Cab For Cutie, Blonde Redhead, Har Mar Superstar, TV on the Radio, Vue, Fiery Furnaces, The Ponys), Coney Island - Placing this show at 10 was difficult, but I'm getting down to the really amazing stuff. I stood outside in 90+ degree weather, between a barricade and people trying to get closer. I LOVED Death Cab (they opened with my favorite song) and TV on the Radio.

(11) 2004-06-29: Eric Clapton (opening: Robert Randolph and the Family Band), Madison Square Garden - Clapton does a great show, but it was marred by the fact that he plays the exact same show every night. Including the encores. Including the same special guests during the encore every night.

(12) 2004-07-06: The Black Keys, World Financial Center - Great live show, but the crowd was wack. It was free though, so it's all good. I'd love to see them again.

(13) 2004-08-08: Modest Mouse (opening: Wolf Parade and French Toast), Hammerstein Ballroom - I love Modest Mouse, but they made us wait 2 hours before starting the opening bands. And then we had to sit through two opening acts. This show was enhanced by some um.. stuff.. that was laced (very enjoyable high, but not as great as the second time I saw them).

(14) 2004-06-23: Madonna, Madison Square Garden - I'm rating this on music performance, I guess. It was great to see her and she had one of the most amazing stage shows I'll probably ever see, but it wasn't as special as the other shows I saw.

(15) 2004-08-16: Tsunami Bomb (with: Lawrence Arms, Pipe Down, and two other crappy bands whose names I forgot), The Downtown - Went because I had dragged my friend to most of the aforementioned shows and felt it was only fair. Love the venue, but I hated the 4 bands that played before TB. The headliner wasn't too bad.

Me too

No kidding. I forgot Guided by Voices, The Black Keys, Prince, The Dresden Dolls, Taking Back Sunday, The Hives, and many others that all diserve mentioning.

The Arcade Fire owned everybody else on my list

Is all you do is go to concerts?

It sure seems like it sometimes. I know the names of all the bouncers at the 3 major clubs in St. Louis and they all know me. (Pops, The Pageant, and Mississippi Nights)

i only saw two concerts this year, rush and david bowie, but they were both extremely awesome.

I've only been to three concerts this year. I would have went to more, but I needed some money. Then I heard about the Cream reunion.

The best was definitely Eric Clapton in Chicago on 7/17/04. Same setlist every night, but damn it doesn't matter.

Quite close to that would be John Hiatt. He did a solo acoustic show, and David Lindley opened. This was on 7/14/04 at The Pageant in St. Louis. He's so good, so underrated, and very nice. I had the pleasure of meeting him after the show.

Next would be the Bob Dylan concert in Peoria, IL on 8/25/04. It was awesome to see Bob, and the concert was very good. All of these concerts rank quite closely to each other.

I'm bummed that I missed REM and then a chance to see the VFC tour (Bruce, REM, Bright Eyes, and Fogerty).

i loved PJ in kissimmee

I envy you.

you're so indy

Yea, it was a good show. They played 3 hours.