2010 Concert Year in Review
Last year at this time, I was bemoaning how few concerts I'd made it to in 2009. After seeing a mere 10 shows that year, most of which were bands I'd seen previously. As a result, I made the following multi-parted resolution for 2010:
[1] Go see more shows.
[2] Show preference to bands I've not seen before.
[3] Take some risks. Spend $8 to see a band I've never heard of before.
I'm pleased to say that I knocked that resolution out of the park. As you may have already read, I saw 27 concerts in 2010, with a total of 51 different bands. Due to strong ticket-fu (and the generosity of friends), I spent $83 on tickets for those 27 concerts. Perhaps most impressively, of those 51 bands, the only ones I had seen previously were Alejandro Escovedo, Weird Al Yankovic, the Black Angels and Josh Ritter, all of whom I saw for free.
Of the remaining bands, quite a few were bands I knew little about but where I decided to spend $8 (or just got a free ticket) to give them a shot. Here's how the bets played out:
WIN (good, would see again): Daphne Willis, Leslie & the Badgers, Blood Red Shoes
LOSE (bad, or would not see again): Rachel Sage, Tokyo Police Club, Those Darlins
DRAW (fun enough while I was there, but not worth repeating): Jemina Pearl, Rubblebucket, Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles
So it looks like I broke even. Given the minimal amount of money invested, this is acceptable.
Upon close examination of the concert list, I feel that the following were the best shows of 2010:
[1] We Were Promised Jetpacks - first Cleveland appearance. Scottish indie rock.
[2] The Rural Alberta Advantage - second Cleveland appearance. Canadian indie rock.
[3] Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band - Idaho by way of Oberlin folk rock.
[4] Members of Morphine with Jeremy Lyons - first Cleveland appearance of reunion of Boston band.
[5] Blood Red Shoes - first Cleveland appearance. British indie rock.
Despite WWPJ, RAA and BRS being new to town, all three attracted a loyal fanbase that was really into the band. This helps. Crowd energy can raise a band to greater heights. Josh Ritter had a packed room of fans who were singing along even to the new songs, and the Morphine gig was the first reunion in more than a decade and attracted the hard core fans. Maybe the trick to finding good shows is to identify the bands with the most fanatical fans.
The best opening acts of the year were:
[1] Sky Larkin (opened for Blood Red Shoes)
[2] The Rebirth Brass Band (opened for Trombone Shorty)
[3] The Lighthouse & the Whaler (opened for Alejandro Escovedo)
The best shows for AV geeks (aka, good sound & light) were:
[1] Roger Waters "The Wall Live" (duh)
[2] DJ Shadow
[3] Primus
On the whole, there were only four bands that were so terrible that I'd recommend they be avoided in the future. Those bands are: Rachel Sage, Detroit Cobras, Tokyo Police Club, and Those Darlins. Since three of those were $8 bets I wasn't too disappointed in them; only the Detroit Cobras made me sad by being bad.
As another judge of quality, I bought CDs from the following bands:
Rural Alberta Advantage
We Were Promised Jetpacks
Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band (two CDs)
In addition, I won a Daphne Willis CD in a game of hangman that the band conducted from the stage ("cornucopia" was the winning word). I would have bought a Blood Red Shoes album if they hadn't been out of them. After the Stars show xhollydayx went home and immediately bought two Stars CDs (she got one more for her birthday).
Alejandro Escovedo w/The Lighthouse & the Whaler - W 1/13 - Beachland Ballroom
The Rural Alberta Advantage w/The Buried Wires, The Octagon - Su 1/17 - Beachland Tavern
Jemina Pearl w/Spacer Ace - W 2/10 - Beachland Tavern
Daedelus w/Nosaj Thing, Jogger - W 2/17 - Grog Shop
Daphne Willis w/Corissa Bragg - Su 2/28 - Beachland Tavern
Rubblebucket w/Vitium - W 3/10 - Beachland Tavern
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - R 3/11 - Grog Shop
We Were Promised Jetpacks w/The Lonely Forest, Bear Hands - F 3/12 - Grog Shop
Rachael Sage - M 4/19 - Beachland Tavern
Detroit Cobras w/Living Stereo - F 4/23 - Beachland Ballroom
Leslie & The Badgers w/Ferraby Lionheart - W 5/12 - Beachland Tavern
Members of Morphine (with Jeremy Lyons) w/Exploding Lies - R 5/27 - Beachland Tavern
Stars - T 6/08 - Beachland Ballroom
Tokyo Police Club - S 7/24 - Grog Shop
Primus w/Gogol Bordello - T 8/03 - Time Warner Cable Amphitheater
Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles w/The Big Sweet - R 8/12 - Beachland Tavern
Shellac - W 9/01 - Beachland Ballroom
The Breeders w/Times New Viking - R 9/02 - Beachland Ballroom
Weird Al Yankovic - F 9/03 - Time Warner Cable Amphitheater
Studio-A-Rama 2009 - S 9/11 [Missed first three bands]
Prisoners, Nick Riff's Freak Element, Self Destruct Button, Fawn, Afternoon Naps, Sun God, The Black Angels
Those Darlins - T 9/21 - Beachland Tavern
Roger Waters "The Wall Live" - T 9/28 - Quicken Loans Arena
OK Go - W 10/13 - Beachland Ballroom
Blood Red Shoes w/Sky Larkin - R 10/28 - Grog Shop
Trombone Shorty w/The Rebirth Brass Brand - F 11/12 - House of Blues
Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band w/Thieving Irons - M 11/15 - Beachland Ballroom
DJ Shadow w/Pigeon John - R 11/18 - House of Blues
Beachland Tavern - 9 shows
Beachland Ballroom - 7 shows
Grog Shop - 5 shows
HOB Cleveland - 2 shows
TWCA - 2 shows
So in short, my resolution was achieved and I had a much better time at concerts in 2010. I'll try to keep it going in 2011.
[1] Go see more shows.
[2] Show preference to bands I've not seen before.
[3] Take some risks. Spend $8 to see a band I've never heard of before.
I'm pleased to say that I knocked that resolution out of the park. As you may have already read, I saw 27 concerts in 2010, with a total of 51 different bands. Due to strong ticket-fu (and the generosity of friends), I spent $83 on tickets for those 27 concerts. Perhaps most impressively, of those 51 bands, the only ones I had seen previously were Alejandro Escovedo, Weird Al Yankovic, the Black Angels and Josh Ritter, all of whom I saw for free.
Of the remaining bands, quite a few were bands I knew little about but where I decided to spend $8 (or just got a free ticket) to give them a shot. Here's how the bets played out:
WIN (good, would see again): Daphne Willis, Leslie & the Badgers, Blood Red Shoes
LOSE (bad, or would not see again): Rachel Sage, Tokyo Police Club, Those Darlins
DRAW (fun enough while I was there, but not worth repeating): Jemina Pearl, Rubblebucket, Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles
So it looks like I broke even. Given the minimal amount of money invested, this is acceptable.
Upon close examination of the concert list, I feel that the following were the best shows of 2010:
[1] We Were Promised Jetpacks - first Cleveland appearance. Scottish indie rock.
[2] The Rural Alberta Advantage - second Cleveland appearance. Canadian indie rock.
[3] Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band - Idaho by way of Oberlin folk rock.
[4] Members of Morphine with Jeremy Lyons - first Cleveland appearance of reunion of Boston band.
[5] Blood Red Shoes - first Cleveland appearance. British indie rock.
Despite WWPJ, RAA and BRS being new to town, all three attracted a loyal fanbase that was really into the band. This helps. Crowd energy can raise a band to greater heights. Josh Ritter had a packed room of fans who were singing along even to the new songs, and the Morphine gig was the first reunion in more than a decade and attracted the hard core fans. Maybe the trick to finding good shows is to identify the bands with the most fanatical fans.
The best opening acts of the year were:
[1] Sky Larkin (opened for Blood Red Shoes)
[2] The Rebirth Brass Band (opened for Trombone Shorty)
[3] The Lighthouse & the Whaler (opened for Alejandro Escovedo)
The best shows for AV geeks (aka, good sound & light) were:
[1] Roger Waters "The Wall Live" (duh)
[2] DJ Shadow
[3] Primus
On the whole, there were only four bands that were so terrible that I'd recommend they be avoided in the future. Those bands are: Rachel Sage, Detroit Cobras, Tokyo Police Club, and Those Darlins. Since three of those were $8 bets I wasn't too disappointed in them; only the Detroit Cobras made me sad by being bad.
As another judge of quality, I bought CDs from the following bands:
Rural Alberta Advantage
We Were Promised Jetpacks
Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band (two CDs)
In addition, I won a Daphne Willis CD in a game of hangman that the band conducted from the stage ("cornucopia" was the winning word). I would have bought a Blood Red Shoes album if they hadn't been out of them. After the Stars show xhollydayx went home and immediately bought two Stars CDs (she got one more for her birthday).
Alejandro Escovedo w/The Lighthouse & the Whaler - W 1/13 - Beachland Ballroom
The Rural Alberta Advantage w/The Buried Wires, The Octagon - Su 1/17 - Beachland Tavern
Jemina Pearl w/Spacer Ace - W 2/10 - Beachland Tavern
Daedelus w/Nosaj Thing, Jogger - W 2/17 - Grog Shop
Daphne Willis w/Corissa Bragg - Su 2/28 - Beachland Tavern
Rubblebucket w/Vitium - W 3/10 - Beachland Tavern
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - R 3/11 - Grog Shop
We Were Promised Jetpacks w/The Lonely Forest, Bear Hands - F 3/12 - Grog Shop
Rachael Sage - M 4/19 - Beachland Tavern
Detroit Cobras w/Living Stereo - F 4/23 - Beachland Ballroom
Leslie & The Badgers w/Ferraby Lionheart - W 5/12 - Beachland Tavern
Members of Morphine (with Jeremy Lyons) w/Exploding Lies - R 5/27 - Beachland Tavern
Stars - T 6/08 - Beachland Ballroom
Tokyo Police Club - S 7/24 - Grog Shop
Primus w/Gogol Bordello - T 8/03 - Time Warner Cable Amphitheater
Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles w/The Big Sweet - R 8/12 - Beachland Tavern
Shellac - W 9/01 - Beachland Ballroom
The Breeders w/Times New Viking - R 9/02 - Beachland Ballroom
Weird Al Yankovic - F 9/03 - Time Warner Cable Amphitheater
Studio-A-Rama 2009 - S 9/11 [Missed first three bands]
Prisoners, Nick Riff's Freak Element, Self Destruct Button, Fawn, Afternoon Naps, Sun God, The Black Angels
Those Darlins - T 9/21 - Beachland Tavern
Roger Waters "The Wall Live" - T 9/28 - Quicken Loans Arena
OK Go - W 10/13 - Beachland Ballroom
Blood Red Shoes w/Sky Larkin - R 10/28 - Grog Shop
Trombone Shorty w/The Rebirth Brass Brand - F 11/12 - House of Blues
Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band w/Thieving Irons - M 11/15 - Beachland Ballroom
DJ Shadow w/Pigeon John - R 11/18 - House of Blues
Beachland Tavern - 9 shows
Beachland Ballroom - 7 shows
Grog Shop - 5 shows
HOB Cleveland - 2 shows
TWCA - 2 shows
So in short, my resolution was achieved and I had a much better time at concerts in 2010. I'll try to keep it going in 2011.