Favorite live shows of 2014

[remphish1]

See any great shows this year? What were some of your favorites? What about disappointments?

 

 

My top Favorites

Wilco Port Chester night 2-Only one of the run I could go to but what a great setlist!

Jeff Tweedy at BAM- Great night!

Damon Albarn-Irving Plaza (Maybe favorite show of the year for me!)

Elbow-Webster Hall (always a good show!)

Interpol-Bowery Ballroom (new album sounded good live nice intimate show)

Jayhawks-Town Hall (great to see the old lineup again)

Justin Currie-Rough Trade (One of my favorite songwriters and I think everyone forgot to show up maybe 30 people there!)

Slowdive-Terminal 5 (WOW!)

The Replacements-Forest Hills (fun!)

 

Slightly disappointing

Beck-Hammerstein (setlist was BLAH!, New Album Blah ) 

Tom Petty-PNC (Love the new album but he didn't play the best ones off it)

Steely Dan- Count Basie (Eh setlist performance was just ok)

Ryan Adams-Count Basie (Too mellow!)

Billy Joel- Madison Square Garden (Come on already drop some of the hits play some deeper cuts already!)

[calvino]

Slow year for me - 3rd Night of Chicago's Dylan run is my top favorite, followed by Night 6 of the Winterlude and a Brötzmann, Drake, and Parker Trio show.

[mondrarytomic]

Wilco - Knoxville

Wilco - Winterlude Night 1

Wilco - Winterlude Night 2

Replacements - Shaky Knees Atlanta 

Replacements - Midway Stadium St. Paul

Pearl Jam Tulsa

Pearl Jam Memphis

 

I traveled way too much but it was worth it. Replacements in Atlanta was one of the greatest live performances for me on a personal level

[Albert Tatlock]

Mavis Staples on her actual 75th birthday at Union Chapel was about the best and certainly the most joyous.

[Chez]

My Top five (in no particular order):

 

Richard Thompson Band -- Space

Alejandro Escovedo & Peter Buck -- Lincoln Hall

Wilco -- Winterlude Night 1

Wilco -- Winterlude Night 6

Jason Isbell & The 500 Unit -- Castle Theater

[nalafej]

The best:

Lucius (@ both Lincoln Hall & High Noon Saloon)

St Vincent @ Riviera

Lucinda Williams @ Reggies

Diarrhrea Planet @ Beat Kitchen

Jenny Lewis @ Park West

Robert Plant @ Riviera

Wilco @ Riviera (Night 3 was my favorite of the 3 I saw - 3,4,6)

 

Dissapointing:

Mavis Staples 75th @Auditorium

Autumn Defense @ Concord

Chris Robinson Brotherhood @Park West

Motley Crue @First Midwest Amphitheatre

[GtrPlyr]

1. Swans (A sonic pummeling from start to finish, tthat was trance inducing and weirdly uplifting)

2. Courtney Barnett (She and her band played with lots of engaging, rocking energy that had me from start to finish)

3. Television (A band I never thought I'd get to see live. Verlaine still plays a mean guitar)

4. The Replacements w/The Hold Steady & Lucero (Surprisingly The Replacements aren't topping my list. A combination of a so-so venue, mediocre sound, and having seen them play better the previous year is probably the reason I suppose)

5. St. Vincent (Solidly paced and well put together show)

6. Mac DeMarco (Mac knows how to have fun on stage and it rubs off on the audience)

7. Spoon (The ever dependable Spoon putting on a great show)

[opsopcopolis]

I had one hell of a year. These are my top ones in no particular order:

 

Umphrey's McGee - 8/8 Hampton Beach, NH

Stevie Wonder - 11/9 Washington, DC

Wilco - 12/12 Chicago, IL

Umphrey's McGee - 10/29 Binghamton, NY

Queens of the Stone Age - 7/14 Providence, RI

White Denim - 2/26 Cambridge, MA

Snarky Puppy - 9/26 Silver Spring, MD

King Crimson - 9/12 Philadelphia, PA

Rival Sons - 10/4 Silver Spring, MD

Nth Power - 11/23 Richmond, VA

The Breakfast - 5/10 Providence, RI

RAQ - 3/06 Cambridge, MA

Billy Cobham Spectrum 40 - 9/11 Washington, DC

[Lammycat]

Avett Brothers/Ratdog- Red Rocks

Jane's Addiction- Ogden Theater, Denver

Hard Working Americans- Boulder Theater

Todd Snider/Jason Isbell- Ogden Theater

[Oil Can Boyd]

Top five (in no order but all in the Boston area):

 

Neutral Milk Hotel

Slint

Feelies

Replacements

Throwing Muses/Tanya Donelly

[tinnitus photography]

i'll have my best live shows list done over the weekend...still trying to figure out the top records of the year.

[RaspberryJam]

High points

 

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - NYC

White Denim - NYC

Jeff Tweedy - Northampton MA

Deer Tick - aftershow at Newport Folk

Jack White - Newport

Benjamin Booker - Newport

Wilco - Port Chester

 

Low points (well, not low points. Maybe just not up to expectations)

 

Umphree's in Utica, NY - seemed canned

Jeff Tweedy at Mt. Jam and Newport - they got better as they toured though

The Avetts at Mt. Jam  My friend made a comment that they are Mumford and Son with better hair.  I'd seen them before and they were great, so that was a dissapointment.

 

I saw lots of other good music.  It was a good year.

[opsopcopolis]

 

Umphree's in Utica, NY - seemed canned

 

Curious what about that show seemed canned to you.  The first three or four songs have some fantastic improv.  Rest of the show is pretty standard though.  

[roadhse ma]

1) Bruce Springsteen in Albany / Long Time Fan Outstanding Performance.Ghost of Tom Joad w/ Tom Morello even got Ramrod !

2) Wilco Port Chester Opening Night My Favorite US Band for 20 yrs of Less Just when I think they are hitting there stride ..

they find a way to take it up a notch

3) Jack White at Fenway Such a talent.. hope he restarts the Racontuers at some point. We got the sublime Steady as She Goes

4) Lucero at Sinclair in Cambridge Very Talented Songwriter caught them opening for the Dropkicks (not a good fit) But really well balanced onstage with great delivery. No one that ive seen in 30 yrs can match JT in banter, Ben is pretty good at crowd /band dialog and pacing.

5) Will most likely be Johnnyswim Christmas at Sinclair this Sat. If you have not ckd out this couple's songs, give em a listen. Caught them earlier in the year and they are impressive live.

6) Tweedy at Berklee Great night for the Band Jeff was in Fine Voice,I'm grateful they made a Boston Stop.Although the Acoustics are solid there the vibe isn't imho. Would prefer Tweedy or Wilco at the Orpheum,Wang, or even Somerville Theater.

 

May your next year be filled with Happiness and a Variety of Good Music.

[remphish1]

I tell ya what we have a very diverse group here! Very few overlaps with groups!

[RaspberryJam]

Curious what about that show seemed canned to you.  The first three or four songs have some fantastic improv.  Rest of the show is pretty standard though.  

Well, first off it was pouring.  So maybe they had had enough.  But, I wish I could put my finger on it....It seemed like they were taking the cheap way to the top.  "OK, the crowd likes it when we sound like we are peaking, so, let's make it sound like we are peaking repeatedly, and let's not really do anything different.  Just peak.  Over and over.  And just when they think we're done, let's peak again."  I'm in no way criticizing their musical abilities, maybe I wasn't in the right mood. 

[opsopcopolis]

Well, first off it was pouring.  So maybe they had had enough.  But, I wish I could put my finger on it....It seemed like they were taking the cheap way to the top.  "OK, the crowd likes it when we sound like we are peaking, so, let's make it sound like we are peaking repeatedly, and let's not really do anything different.  Just peak.  Over and over.  And just when they think we're done, let's peak again."  I'm in no way criticizing their musical abilities, maybe I wasn't in the right mood.

 

Right, I forgot about the rain. That's a pretty accurate criticism, especially this past year or so. Lots of peaking not a whole lot of patience

[PopTodd]

Justin Currie-Rough Trade (One of my favorite songwriters and I think everyone forgot to show up maybe 30 people there!)

Another one that I would love to see. Only just getting familiar with him, outside of the couple of radio songs. Brilliant songwriter, and incredible, underrated singer.

[remphish1]

Another one that I would love to see. Only just getting familiar with him, outside of the couple of radio songs. Brilliant songwriter, and incredible, underrated singer.

Best part of the show is he played my request!

[Boss_Tweedy]

In no particular order:

 

1. Jeff Tweedy, Vic Theatre (night two)

2. St. Vincent

3. Old 97's (always a good live show)

4. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

5. Afghan Whigs

 

[remphish1]

In no particular order:

 

1. Jeff Tweedy, Vic Theatre (night two)

2. St. Vincent

3. Old 97's (always a good live show)

4. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

5. Afghan Whigs

Good call on the Whigs! I forgot I saw them twice on this tour!

[worldrecordplayer]

In no particular order (actually, chronologically as I'm going through my 2014 concerts journal), all shows in Boston area unless noted:

 

1. Camper Van and Cracker, January 17, always a highlight show for me

2. Soulive/Bowlive, March 19 (with Susan Tedeschi and Joe Russo)

3. Drive By Truckers, March 21 (first time seeing them)

4. War on Drugs, April 17 (another first time)

5. Warren Haynes and Boston Pops playing the music of Jerry Garcia, May 15

6. Lockn' (can I list the entire festival-and exclude Willie Nelson and Petty)-fantastic 4 days of music for me

7.Tweedy

8. Allmans at Beacon, October 21, first night of the final 6 night run

9. An Evening With Wilco, night 2 at Port Chester, October 29

10. Lucero, November 9 (another first time)

11. Ryan Adams, November 18 (another first time)

 

Looking over my journal, I didn't see a "bad" show in 2014.  Honorable mentions would include Trombone Shorty, Galactic and Charles Bradley, White Denim, Phish, Neil (acoustic), Lucinda and Soulive and TTB.

 

Pretty good year for me, even though I didn't make it to JazzFest this year.

[Yaz Rock]

Top Six:

1. Wilco - October 28/29/30, 2014, Capitol Theater, Port Chester, NY
2. Lucius - December 6, 2014, Terminal 5, New York City
3. TWEEDY - September 23, 2014, Brooklyn Academy of Music
4. Soul Asylum - September 27, 2014, The Wolf Den, Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
5. The Spring Standards - December 28, 2013, Mercury Lounge, New York (Gonna count it since we're not done with 2014 yet and it was less than 365 days ago). I also caught a Heather Robb solo show in April and that was fantastic,

6. Neko Case - May 7, 2014 - The Egg, Albany, NY.

Honorable mention - The Old 97s/Madison King show at Brooklyn Bowl that was canceled due to a neighborhood power outage, resulting in a sidewalk acoustic set by Rhett Miller. Certainly a memorable night!

It's been a real long time since I left a show disappointed, but once in a while I feel less enthusiastic than usual. I saw Richard Thompson in the fall, and it was just too similar to the last 2-3 solo tours I've seen. I also caught Los Lobos on the opening for Buddy Guy tour, and while they understandably played a hits-type setlist, they too have been falling into a predictable groove the last few years.

[The Inside of Outside]

Conor Oberst/Dawes @ Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, NY

Jenny Lewis @ State Theater in Portland, ME

Cracker @ Asylum in Portland, ME

Tweedy @ The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH

[NoJ]

The Giving Tree Band on 8/10/14 at VeggieFest in Naperhell was an especially cookin' show.

 

Also, their show at the Lisle Depot Days on 9/13/14 was a hot set on a chilly night.