Best Concerts of 2019

[arturs]

My two favorite shows of 2019 represent the two opposite ends of my musical spectrum

#1 was Thumbscrew at the Iowa City Jazz Festival. A great late night event in an intimate venue. After about 20 minutes it wasn't really even music anymore but rather a snake that was crawling up my spine and into my brain, giving it a good scrubbing from the inside out. No pharmaceuticals were involved in this highly unique experience.

A close #2 was Deep Purple in Minneapolis. Completely rejuvenated, Gillan sounded way better than when I saw them last in '07 or on any of the live DVDs I have from the new millennium. The rest of the band were tight and spot on too. Good head-banging fun.

Honorable Mentions; shows where I really connected with that the artists were doing:
Nick Lowe & Los Straightjackets - IC/Englert Theater.
Brand X - Sellersville Theater.
Tomeka Reid Quartet - U Iowa.

Other worthy shows:
Kansas -POKR tour; Des Moines
Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Dave Alvin - Iowa City Arts Fest
The Bad Plus - IC Jazz Fest.

[AdventAlan]

Greetings,

We were lucky enough to see some really great shows this year. My very top picks (in chronological order)

- The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa at the Scottish Rite Auditorium (5/2)
- KENSO at Club Citta' (11/3)
- Béla Fleck & the Flecktones at the State Theatre (12/6)

Cheers,


Alan

[elliottnow]

Yes - Irvine, CA
KISS - St Louis
Nick Mason -St Louis
Obituary/Abbath/Midnight/Devil Driver - St Louis

[Ten Thumbs]

Neil Young solo - Vancouver
Tal Nationale and Garrifuna Collective combined - Salmon Arm
The Musical Box - Vancouver
Whitehorse- Whitehorse
Jeff Lynn'e ELO- Vancouver
Om Sound - Salmon Arm
Our Lady Peace - Vancouver
Loudon Wainwright III- Vancouver
Kim Mitchell - Vancouver
Danny Michel because I saw him 4x

[Trane]

very small year for me in terms of concert, but seen Yokaï and Commander Spoon (both local JR/F bands) and they were brillant

aybe I'll remember more concerts seen this year as the w-e goes on.

[Dok]

St. Paul and the Broken Bones last night in Knoxville. They practically blew the roof off the Tennessee Theatre to a sold out crowd. Knew the soundman from the days of yore and he recognized me immediately even after some 20+ years and gave me a big hug. Really great show and sound. Went with another old friend who had broken his arm about a month ago so it was somehow fitting.

[Fracktured]

Charlie Daniels and The Allman Betts Band

Strawbs

Edgar Winter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Wah3]

The Yardbirds – The Egg 3/16/19
Pat Metheny’s Side Eye Project – The Egg 3/30/19
Adrian Belew The Egg 4/20/19
Brian Auger – The Egg 5/5/19
Moshulu (David Sancious, Jeff Berlin, Dennis Chambers, Oz Noy)– Van Dyck 5/15/19
Dennis DeYoung – Empire State Plaza 7/4/19
Hartley’s Encore – Empire State Plaza 7/24/19
Marbin – The Low Beat 6/21/19
Frank Gambale – Van Dyck 9/13/19
Progstock – Rahway NJ 10/11-13/19 w/ Saga, Brand X, Nektar, 3.2, Phideaux, Discipline, Salem Hill, Rocket Scientists, The Cyberiam, Rachel Flowers, Randy McStine, Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius, Melanie Mau & Martin Schnella, Valdez, Kinetic Element and Paul Bielatowicz & Dave Bainbridge
Billy Cobham’s Crosswinds Project – The Egg 10/23/19

[helicase]

Saw Tangerine Dream in October and they were great. Never thought I'd say that about post-mid-80s TD. First time I saw them live, because I was a bit too young back in their heyday.

[SteveSly]

My shows for the year:

Jan 5: Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band / Larkin Poe – Van Andel Arena Grand Rapids MI: Great show. Bob was in fine form and I thought his voice was actually better than when I saw him 6 years ago. This was his farewell tour, so if I never see him again this was a great way to go out. Opening act Larkin Poe was a nice surprise. They are fronted by two sisters and were really good. I have a feeling they are going to go far.

March 12: All Them Witches / Opening Act I Don’t Remember – The Stache Grand Rapids MI: I discovered All Them Witches through Classic Rock Magazine and I really like what they do. This was a great little show in an Intimate venue.

March 15: Tab Benoit / Eric Johansson / Eric McFadden / Jake Kershaw – State Theater Kalamazoo MI: Tab is always great, but this time he brought along two of the artists that record on his record label who were both great too. Top it off with local blues prodigy Jake Kershaw and it was about 4 hours of killer rocking blues.

April 19: Black Stone Cherry / Tyler Bryant And The Shakedown – Elevation Grand Rapids MI: Two great young bands in one bill. Southern rock and modern blues rock. Fantastic stuff.

May 3, 4, 5: ROSfest – Sarasota Opera House, Sarasota Florida – What can I say, a fantastic weekend of music with a great lineup.

May 18: Riverside / Contrive – The Magic Stick Detroit MI: I had just seen Riverside at ROSfest and this performance was even better.

June 13: Thank You Scientist / Bent Knee / Intransient – The Pyramid Scheme Grand Rapids MI: 3 fantastic young bands that always deliver.

July 27: Queen / Adam Lambert – Little Ceasers Arena Detroit MI: This one totally exceeded expectations. One of the best arena shows I have ever been to.

August 8: Jon Anderson – 20 Monroe Live Grand Rapids MI: I totally love this one. Jon was in fine voice with a great band. They did interesting re-interpretations of Yes material as well as solo stuff.

August 11: Todd Snider, Bells Brewery Kalamazoo MI: I have not seen Todd in many years. He remains one of the great American story tellers.

October 3: Steve Hackett, 20 Monroe Live Grand Rapids MI – As always Hackett was great.

October 14: Ghost, Delta Plex arena Grand Rapids MI – There is a reason Ghost has gotten as big as they have. They just keep getting better and this was a killer show.

November 9: Tool / Killing Joke, Little Ceaser’s Arena Detroit Michigan – Tool put on a spectacular show as usual featuring a lot of material from his new album.

November 15: Tommy Castro / Tinsley Ellis, State Theater Kalamazoo MI: Tommy is always great. The jam with Tinsley at the end was killer.

[Man In The Mountain]

Best shows I've seen this year:

Steve Hackett: Chicago
Jon Anderson: Waukegan IL
Samantha Fish: Nov/Chicago

[Shadow]

Been to a fair amount of shows this year but nothing incredibly mind blowing.

[Kcrimso]

My top 5:

1. In Love With (WHS Teatteri, Helsinki)
2. Magma (Sideways Festival, Helsinki)
3. Fred Frith Trio (Tampere Jazz Happening, Tampere)
4. "Pekka Pohjola Group" (Tavastia Club, Helsinki)
5. Sigurdur Rögnvaldsson's Dark Forest (Juttutupa, Helsinki)

[3LockBox]

ELO

[Rufus]

Devin Townsend-Empath Vol. 1

[Dan Marsh]

King Crimson - Philadelphia
Bob Dylan - Philadelphia

[Shadow]

Been to a fair amount of shows this year but nothing incredibly mind blowing.

Maybe the Crimson in Philly.

[mike_hunt]

Here are my favorites out of about 40 shows attended + Big Ears...

Black Midi - Chapel Hill NC
Fire! - Big Ears
Nils Frahm - Big Ears
Pile - Chapel Hill NC
Irreversible Entanglements - Big Ears
The Messthetics - Big Ears
Angel Olsen - Saxapahaw NC
Oh Sees - Chapel Hill NC
Wilco - Cary NC
Deerhoof - Durham NC
Lonnie Holley & The Messthetics - Big Ears
Deafkids (opened for Neurosis, stole the show) - Chapel Hill NC
Oren Ambarchi - Big Ears
Spiritualized - Big Ears
YOB - Raleigh NC
Steve Gunn - Chapel Hill NC
Alvin Lucier + Ever Present Orchestra - Big Ears
Sleep - Charlotte NC
Kikagaku Moyo - Raleigh NC (also saw Chapel Hill later in the year, Raleigh was better show)
Tool - Raleigh NC
King Crimson - Atlanta (also saw DC, but thought this was the better show)
Peter Murphy - Chapel Hill NC

[Bake 2]

-This Is Not This Heat/ San Francisco
-Massacre/ San Francisco
-Behold The Arctopus/ Sacramento
-Nik Bartsch, Ronin/ Winters CA
-The Aristocrats/ Sacramento
-Son of Goldfinger/ Berkeley
-Soft Machine/ Berkeley
-Billy Cobham/ Napa CA
-Gentlemen Surfer w/PAK Sacramento
-Thumbscrew/ Sacramento
-Marc Ducret & Samuel Blaser/ Sacramento
-Brand X/ Sacramento

[AlanShaw]

For me (UK-based), in no particular order:
Snarky Puppy @ Royal Albert Hall
Herbie Hancock @ Barbican
Lydian Collective with Capital Orchestra @ Cadogan Hall
RPWL @ Boston Music Room
Bill Laurance @ Stables, Milton Keynes

[Phlakaton]

Lost Crowns @ ABC Convention, Salisbury
Gong @ ABC Convention
Display Team @ ABC Convention
Arch Garrison @ ABC

[NogbadTheBad]

Jealous

[progholio]

Marty Smith & His Fabulous Superlatives in January (Raucous bar show, Marty and his guys are just an incredible band)

Denny Laine (doing the first Moodies and Band On The Run albums)

Adrian Belew w/Saul Zonana in March (special mention that Saul is an uber talented and very cool dude)

Vanilla Fudge (they sounded fucking fantastic!!)

Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets (one of my top 10 shows of all time)

Kikagaku Moyo (highly recommended!!)

Martin Barre w/Dee Palmer & Clive Bunker - 2 consecutive nights was a blast!

Bent Knee & Thank You Scientist in Indianapolis (worst club ever yet Bent Knee managed to carry on as professionals, TYS were a little more vocal about the situation)

Jimmy Vaugan (small theater show, fucking fantastic performance and he is a super nice guy!)

Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express (always a fantastic live show)

Progday XXV (enjoyed the whole weekend start to finish!)

Jazzfest in Columbia Mo with Marbin, Dawn Weber's Naked Rock Fight & Paa Kow & his Afro-Fusion Orchestra (all were fantastic!)

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives in Sept (Acoustic theater show)

Rob Fetters house concert in Columbia, MO (Wow!!!)

Stereolab in Milwaukee with Bitchin' Bajas (another of my top 10 best shows ever! The Bajas were the perfect opener)

Adrian Belew w/Saul Zonana in Milwaukee the night after Stereolab, what a weekend!

The Pat Travers Band (finally got to check this one off my list and damn fun it was)

Wilco w/The Bottlerockets (a fantastic St Louis homecoming with both bands)

Honorable Mention Tribute Shows -
Liverpool Legends Beatles Tribute

Thrak King Crimson Tribute (we don't get the real thing in these parts and these guys did a stellar job)

Brooklyn Charmers Steely Dan Tribute (Utterly fantastic and can certainly scratch the Dan itch. Turns out the "Donald Fagen" keyboardist is Colin Peterik, son of Jim Peterik of Ides of March, Survivor fame - a very talented bunch for sure)

Biggest disappointment was the cancellation of Sloan last month and not scoring tix to the sold out Lennon/Claypool.

[Rajaz]

In NO particular order of preference or by 2019 date:

The Flower Kings - Montreal - Club Soda
Riverside - Montreal - Club Soda
Saga - Quebec - CEGEP Auditorium
Marillion - Montreal - Weekend 2019 - L'Olympia
Bryan Adams - Halifax - Scotiabank Center
Roger Hodgson - Halifax - Sounders Room (3 nights)
PROGSTOCK 2019 - Rahway NJ - Saga/Nektar/Robert Berry 3.2/Brand X/Rocket Scientists/ +11 more

[Paul]

Top for me:

King Crimson - Royal Albert Hall
Big Big Train - Hackney Empire
Marillion - Royal Albert Hall
Magma - Islington Asembly Hall
Steve Hackett - Hammersmith
PFM - ULU