Best 5 Concerts in last 5 years

[Hey Adrien!]

Man, I miss live music.

Name the best the five concerts you’ve seen in last 5 years.

Mine in no particular order:

D’Angelo @ Forest Hills, Queens, NY: what a treat to see him live after so many years of inactivity and anticipation. So much flavor and fun and even a thunderstorm delay...the electricity!!

David Byrne @ Oakdale: Such fun humanity! Great band, great set and visually stunning.

Sun Kil Moon @ Fairfield One. A difficult to bear three-hour set of dark music and definitely an artist going through some stuff. Such visceral tension in a small theater...hated being there at the moment but never felt like I did at the show and never will again. A full art experience for me.

The Drums @ Elsewhere, Brooklyn: 2nd time watching them live. Johnny Pierce my favorite frontman in indie music. Excellent venue too.

Beach House, Pines Theater, Northampton, MA: Beautiful venue, fun crowd, visually stunning and great band. Sat all the way in the back and soaked it all in.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Man, I miss live music.

I feel that!


No particular order for me too.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at the Moore Theater/Seattle. Probably the best venue in Seattle IMO. They are just so on point and they keep playing forever, you really get your money's worth with them.

First Aid Kit, also Moore Theater. I'd seen them 4 or 5 years previously. They were really good the first time I saw them, but it was obvious they'd really grown in their craft and have mastered live performing. Blew the roof off the place with their cover of Heart's "Crazy On You."

Jenny Lewis...I think it was at the Paramount in Seattle? It's a prettier building than the Moore, slightly higher capacity, but I just don't think the acoustics are as good. Anyway another performer who just had complete mastery on the stage and had the audience eating out of her hand.

Eilen Jewell, Tractor Tavern in Seattle. A small club, kind of a dusty hole in the wall, but a great place to catch some great music by performers who aren't real well known for the most part. Wonderful performance by her.

Alison Sudol (nee A Fine Frenzy), Sunset Tavern in Seattle. The Tractor's nearby cousin. Tiny, 200 capacity. Totally nondescript venue. I didn't really know any of the songs, she didn't play anything from earlier in her career (she has good reasons for that, won't go into it). Her performance blew me away, it was by far the most emotionally raw, open, honest thing I've ever seen. She bared her soul for us. I've experienced musicians doing that for one song during a set, but her entire performance was like that.

 

[dbmill]

Man, I miss live music.

Name the best the five concerts you’ve seen in last 5 years.

Mine in no particular order:

D’Angelo @ Forest Hills, Queens, NY: what a treat to see him live after so many years of inactivity and anticipation. So much flavor and fun and even a thunderstorm delay...the electricity!!

David Byrne @ Oakdale: Such fun humanity! Great band, great set and visually stunning.

Sun Kil Moon @ Fairfield One. A difficult to bear three-hour set of dark music and definitely an artist going through some stuff. Such visceral tension in a small theater...hated being there at the moment but never felt like I did at the show and never will again. A full art experience for me.

The Drums @ Elsewhere, Brooklyn: 2nd time watching them live. Johnny Pierce my favorite frontman in indie music. Excellent venue too.

Beach House, Pines Theater, Northampton, MA: Beautiful venue, fun crowd, visually stunning and great band. Sat all the way in the back and soaked it all in.

I saw David Byrne at the Garde Arts Center in New London on my birthday in 2004. It was probably the best concert that I've ever attended. I had been a fan of the Talking Heads since my days at UConn, but I never saw them in concert. Byrne was touring with the Tosca Strings, which made me a bit nervous since I didn't think the addition of strings to his music would make for a good combination. I was very mistaken in that regard, as I found out that Byrne and the Tosca Strings were indeed a great combination.

 

[Waquoit]

The best show for me in the last 5 years was Roger Waters in the XL a few years ago. It was an audio/visual delight. Other old guy shows I loved were Ian Anderson at Oakdale and Roger Hodgson at Foxwoods. Toto opening for Boz Scaggs was a real good time. I was sick as a dog when I saw Wilco in New Haven but they were so good I was able to relax and enjoy them.