What a year for live music
2011 was absolutely the most amazing year of live concerts that I have experienced in my life so far. I have been going to shows regularly since 1982, this August will mark 30 years of attending live concerts so when I make that statement, I do not make it very lightly.
I saw a lot of Punk and New Wave shows in the 80′s and some amazing artists like The Police, The Dead Kennedy’s, Black Flag, Oingo Boingo, The Cure & PIL.
In the 90′s my shows were all over the spectrum and I saw a lot of diverse acts like Neil Young, Buddy Guy, The Black Crowes, REM, U2, The Pixies, Social Distortion, X, Peter Murphy & Pearl Jam
I mention this history because in the 29 years I have been going to concerts I have seem some amazing gems through the years as well as some pretty bad ones as well. In all that time, I cannot recall a single year that I experienced so many amazing shows in a row.
My 2011 concert year kicked off by seeing some riveting blues by John Hammond with Robin and our friends Mark & Nikki. He was actually the opening act and we left after he walked off stage. No sense sticking around for what would have been a letdown compared the the amazing show we witnessed for sixty minutes.
A short while later Mark and I saw Robert Plant and the Band of Joy which was a long time wish of mine. I was too young to see Led Zeppelin tour but I still got chills watching Robert Plant on stage.
Bill and I saw Wynton Marsalis play some incredible Jazz to a very welcoming crowd in Portland at the Schnitzer Concert Hall.
A week later, Robin and I saw the first of two absolutely phenomenal shows just one month apart. The first was Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt just singing their songs and telling great stories. The second was Gillian Welch & David Rawlings touring with their first new album in almost a decade. Those two summer shows firmly cracked into my long stable top five best concerts of all time list. I am still stunned at how incredible these two acoustic shows were last summer.
The August sunshine and the zoo combined for two great back to back shows of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Imelda May. Big band swing and kick ass rockabilly at their finest. The end of summer came with a very fun show by CAKE outdoors at the Edgefield.
The fall kicked into place by seeing Boom Chick come through Portland again and Frank and Moselle stayed with Robin and I at our house. Boom Chick have really grown in their art over the last year and I love the new music. They were kind enough to give me an advanced copy to their new songs and I enjoy them even more than Show Pony which I didn’t think was possible. I can’t wait to see them live again soon.
Robin and I finished the year off on December 23rd by seeing Brian Setzer perform some serious kick ass rockabilly and fulfilling a life long goal of ours to see him live. He did not disappoint and I’m glad I pushed through my fever I had to see what was an absolutely perfect book end to such an unique and incredible musical year.
2012 is starting out with Emily Wells next week and Wilco next month so we will see if it can live up to the last 12 months.