Mid Year Best Live Shows

haven't been to as many shows as i would've liked but these were all standouts:

Mission of Burma/Versus @ Black Cat
X/Detroit Cobras @ 930 Club
Burning Brides @ Black Cat

the hold steady @ ram's head live
drive-by truckers @ dragonfly
the national @ messiah
levon helm @ electric factory
barack obama @ wilmington rally

Swell Season @ Meyerhoff, Baltimore, one of teh best shows of my life.

(plugging it, www.playedlastnight.com has the d/l available to buy if you'd like, it's f'ing amazing)

a very close second, would also be in the top 10

kathleen edwards @ birchmere

R.E.M. @ Raleigh
A Place To Bury Strangers/Holy F*ck
Pearl Jam/Ted Leo
The Meatmen/Rustbuckit @ The Ottobar
The Cure
Black Mountain
Dead Meadow
Jens Lekman

Nada Surf @ 9:30
Dropkick Murphys @ Merriweather (last night!)
Sea Wolf @ Rock & Roll Hotel
Fleet Foxes @ Black Cat
Destroyer @ Black Cat
Gutter Twins @ 930

Portishead @ Coachella
Kraftwerk @ Coachella
The Verve @ Coachella
Spiritualized @ Coachella
Wilco @ 930
Raconteurs @ 930
Nada Surf @ 930
Fleet Foxes @ Black Cat
Pearl Jam @ Verizon
Editors @ 930

I don't think I've hardly been to any shows this year that weren't BRMC shows. So ummm….

BRMC in Athens, Columbus, and Milwaukee (I think I liked those best…it's all sort of blurring now, ahem)

the Duke Spirit opening for them, especially in Madison (Their drummer burst an ear drum during the tour, he finally took a night off in Madison and the rest of the band played an acoustic set, which was surprisingly amazing…until the drummer came on stage and they finished the set as usual, totally blowing us away. Really impressive to hear a band play both ways back to back, and absolutely EXCEL.)

Devotchka at 9:30

Voltaire & Bella Morte in Richmond

Autolux in San Francisco

wait, BRMC in Covington, KY was badass too…both the in-store and the show

Elbow at the Synagogue

Originally posted by Glass Arm Shattering:
Elbow at the Synagogue

Easily my favorite show of the year.

The Silver Beats - 9:30
Clutch - Henry Fonda Theater (LA)
From The Jam - Birchmere
Woven Hand - The Note (Chicago)
Iron Maiden - Merriweather

Can't believe the Sex Pistols are on a world tour and only doing one city in each country. And for the US, that city was Las Vegas. I missed it. Bummer that I missed X at the 9:30 too, but I guess I've seen them enough.

Best mid-year-ish shows I HAVE seen:

Peter Hammill*- Jammin' Java, Vienna, VA
Cure- Radio City Music Hall, NY
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso*- NEARfest, Bethlehem, PA

Now would someone please get the Cocteau Twins, Stone Roses and the Catherine Wheel back together?

*Prog fans check them out!

Didn't you see them on some kind of zipcode tour in California?

Originally posted by OscarTheWilde:
Bummer that I missed X at the 9:30 too, but I guess I've seen them enough.

Originally posted by eddie:
The Silver Beats - 9:30

Oh shit, I totally forgot about this show! I'd throw this between Wilco and the Hives on my list (ranked 5.5?).

in no particular order

the b-52s
r.e.m.
radiohead
the hives
nada surf
+ the silver beats
+ flight of the conchords

Firewater @ Ottobar

Social Distortion @ House of Blues (Anaheim)
The Cure @ Patriot Center
X @ 9:30
Marilyn Manson @ Electric Factory
Lou Reed @ 9:30

Radiohead@Nissan
Flight of the Conchords@Lisner
PJ@VABeach/Camden/DC
Buffalo Tom@Black Cat
Honeychuck@9:30 (well, it was *my* favorite live show this year!!!!!) :D

Drive By Truckers at the club. Hands-down for me.

Yes, econo, what a mammary!

When I was living temporarily in LA in the mid-90s, X did indeed do a tour of the zip codes in southern California. I saw them in two zip codes as I recall.

But I had previously seen them back in their early 80s heyday (an Ontario Theater show on Columbia Rd in Adams Morgan springs immediately to mind), so by then it was already nostalgic.