Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Top 15 Shows of 2009

2009 was another hell of a year for show-going!

1. Screaming Females, The Steinways, For Science, The Measure (SA), Cheeky, Pregnant, Groucho Marxists @ Maxwell’s, Hoboken, February 7, 2009. Some of the best local New Brunswick/Brooklyn punk bands on 1 bill. Heck yeah. Such a great show. So much fun. A highlight was my friend having a rad time and two-stepping away while I was rockin' out up front during Screaming Females with some cool people including Kate from Cheeky. Preview post here.

2. Thursday, Fall of Troy, Moving Mountains, Kiss Kiss, Young Widows @ Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY. September 20, 2009. Amazing line-up at one of New York's best venues. So much fun being pressed up on the stage and seeing a mix of bands. Finally getting to hear Moving Mountains vocals live (last time I saw them I couldn't hear the vocals) was amazing. Beautiful. What a sweet show. Thursday pics here. Moving Mountains pics here. Kiss Kiss pics here.

3. All Points West Day 1: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Heartless Bastards, Ra Ra Riot, Fleet Foxes, Carolina Liar, Bo Burnham @ Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ. July 31, 2009. Hearing Fleet Foxes in the rain and dancing to Yeah Yeah Yeah's was awesome. Review here.

4. Algernon Cadwallader, Songs for Moms, Each Other’s Mothers, Taigaa @ Silent Barn, Ridgewood, NY, August 2, 2009. Never heard of any of these bands prior to the show. The place was packed by the time Each Others Mother's came on and they "killed it." All the bands were great, the vibe of the show was great. Rock and the single girl review with my comments here.

5. Kevin Devine, Miniature Tigers, Brian Bonz @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, June 7, 2009- 2 hour set from Kevin Devine = amazing. Review here.

6. Screaming Females, Jeff: The Brotherhood, Stupid Party, Bad Blood @ Meat Town USA, New Brunswick, NJ. April 18, 2009. Really rad rock n roll show. I hadn't heard of any of the openers but they immediately impressed me. It was also the first time hearing "Boyfriend," since I first saw Screaming Females in August 2008. Pics here.

7. Life of Agony, Anaka, Dead Men Dreaming, One Brick Down @ Highline Ballroom, New York, NY. December 15, 2009. The openers were underwhelming but Life of Agony was pretty sweet. I hadn't seen them since Hellfest in 2004 so this was a treat. Review and pics here.

8. The Gaslight Anthem, Vision, Communication Redlight @ Wellmont Theatre, Montclair, NJ, December 11, 2009. It was my first time seeing Gaslight and they're extensive set was awesome to hear. That plus Vision owning made this show really nice. Review and pics here.

9. Screaming Females, Trophy Wife, RSO, Curtains of Night @ Meat Town USA, New Brunswick, NJ. June 28, 2009. A hell of a groovy show. The openers were great. Pics and review here.

10. Regina Spektor @ Apple Store SoHo, New York, NY, July 24, 2009. A sweet, free hour long set with my best friends from the lovely songstress who played songs off her new album Far. I was smiling practically the whole set. Review here.

11. Wolfmother, Heartless Bastards, thenewno2 @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. November 9, 2009. A rockin' night in an intimate space at one of Brooklyn's best venues with my best friend. Review and pics here.

12. Matt & Kim, Rude Mechanical Orchestra @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. January 22, 2009. Really fun show. RMO played Beyonce and Le Tigre covers. Matt & Kim played a bunch of songs and had me singing and jumping around.

13. Yula and the eXtended Family, Kiss Kiss, Emilyn Brodsky @ Maxwell’s. December 16, 2009. Really well put together line-up featuring ukulele-folk, circus-punk, and daring instrumentation via Yula and the extended Family. Great night of music. Review here.

14. Warped Tour 2009: Bad Religion, Madina Lake, Exit She Calls, Anti-Flag, Flogging Molly, NOFX. Caught a few great bands. It was rad hearing Bad Religion and Madina Lake were really good. Review here.

15. Bern & The Brights, Jon Foti, Julia Haltigan @ Maxwell’s, Hoboken. November 6, 2009. What a great night of indie-rock. I loved all the instrumentation of the bands. Fun show. The band's really looked like they enjoyed themselves and there was always at least 6 people on stage at any given time. Pics and review here.

Also, need to mention CMJ. Since there were too many shows and running around from one to another I'll just list some of the best bands: Ume, Bodega Girls, Naam, Kiss Kiss, Emilyn Brodsky, Shiragirl, Jeff: the Brotherhood, Red Collar, Look Mexico, Bridge & Tunnel, Mumford & Sons, Japandroids, Fanfarlo, Demander, Lights Resolve, Jukebox the Ghost @ All Over NYC. October 20-23, 2009.

Were you at any of these shows? What did you think?

Which shows did you enjoy?

1 comment:

  1. Kevin Devine was one of my favorites as well. Forgot about Regina Spektor though, that was a good show. And I wish I could have gone to APW. That was a sweet lineup.

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