The Best Shows I Saw In 2009
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a better year of live music than
- 2001 and 2003 were pretty much neck and neck before, but they
were both missing one key ingredient: a revitalized Phish. I wish I
could’ve squeezed Radiohead in there somehow, but aside from that, it
was as if all my favorite live acts conspired to keep my mind blown for
most of the year. And since most (if not all) of them will be touring
again in the coming months, ’09 may not even hold the crown for long…but
we’ll see. My rule for this list, as always, is only one show per
artist; otherwise, there might have only been three bands on it.
(note: links in
the headings are to my original reviews of these shows, where possible)
Ooops, broke my rule on the first doggone entry. I just couldn’t choose between these two shows, so I’m counting them as one. For the whole Summer Tour, I kept thinking to myself, ‘for a band that just came back from a five-year breakup, Phish is playing amazingly well.’ There were some triumphant moments throughout, moments that showcased a band that was better than it had been since the 90s. Through it all, I kept trying to come up with new words to describe the shows. You’d think I’d be out of things to say about Phish by now. But no other band does the things that Phish does when they are at their best. And at these two shows, they did every one of those things. I’ve never before looked back at a year of live music and come to the conclusion that anything was better than U2, but I have to give the nod to Phish this year; it was too incredible a year for the four boys from Vermont for even U2 to top.
2.
U2: Soldier Field, 13 September
…I’m not suggesting by any means that U2 was not amazing. The 360
Tour is unlike anything that has ever happened. The feeling of
seeing U2 live, for me, is something that nothing else compares to. But
there were a few chinks in the armor on the first two nights of the
U.S. tour. The power of the performance and the spectacle of it all
made these chinks virtually meaningless, but it was a rare example of a
U2 show that wasn’t perfect in every way. Bono’s reimagining of “The
Unforgettable Fire” was just a little awkward at times; his
falsetto was slightly weak. “Your Blue Room”, though a unique treat for
me personally, was just a little shaky. But it may have been
the best “Until The End Of The World” I’ve ever seen. Bono’s natural
voice was better than it’s been since PopMart. “No Line On The
Horizon” and “Magnificent” and “Unknown Caller” burst forth as monuments
to the band’s continuing evolution, proving that the new songs are
still highlights of the show. The remix of “I’ll Go Crazy” took that
evolution even further. “One” with the added lyrics. “Ultra Violet” to
remind us of the thread that runs through the band’s wild catalog.
“Moment Of Surrender”, finally making sense to me in the final notes of
the show. And The Spaceship. My God, The Spaceship.
3.
Secret Chiefs 3: Summer Camp, 23 May
The set was even shorter than usual, and they didn’t even play my
favorite song, but the 45-minute noon performance was worth the whole
ticket price. Wait, I got in free. Anyway, it was the first time I’d
seen drummer Danny Heifitz play since the last Mr. Bungle tour
in 2000. I was a bit worried that he was getting old and couldn’t fill
the large shoes left by Ches Smith; yikes, that was stupid of me. I
stood ten feet from the stage amidst a smattering of fans as Trey
Spruance and his cloaked companions completed an agonizingly long
soundcheck and then made it all worthwhile. There’s just no comparison
on Earth to Secret Chiefs 3. I truly hope Mr. Bungle never gets back
together.
4.
Sonic Youth: Ogden Theatre, 31 July
This had to be my biggest surprise of the year, although it probably
shouldn’t have been. Maybe it was because Thurston and company seemed
so lethargic when I saw them play Daydream Nation at the Pitchfork
Festival a couple years back. Other than that, I saw them one
other time, at Bonnaroo in ‘06.
So this was my first really-o, truly-o Sonic Youth show. For many
years I resisted even liking the band. But the new album is really
good, and it dominated the set. “Anti-Orgasm” set the bar high early in
the show, the closest thing to metal I’ve ever heard coming from SY,
ten times more muscular than the album version. And then there were
four Daydream tracks, which were unbelievable now that they were
free of a strict, preannounced album setlist. Thurston and Kim were
full of nasty passion, and plenty of glorious noise to show the kids
what it really means to shred. Amazing songs and nonstop energy from
start to finish, just like people always told me it could be.
5.
Umphrey’s McGee: Summer Camp, 23 May
Somehow, I was still somewhat on the fence about UM before this
festival. I think back on it now, and I wonder, how is that possible?
I’ve seen the band an awful lot and never been disappointed. I’ve been
very impressed with the band’s skill and versatility every time. I’d
even been witness to some stellar fan/band synergy prior to Summer Camp
’09. I guess I was just waiting for these guys to show me something
legendary, to elevate them beyond the collection of fun-loving but
amazing musicians I already knew them to be. This was that show. For
long stretches during this show, I couldn’t see six smiling, goofy faces
onstage; I could only feel the visceral image that my head created as
it experienced the extreme power of the heaviest performance ever put on
at a hippie jamband festival. As moe. surely had already begun its
anticlimactic closing set at the stage across the grounds, I felt as
though this set anointed UM as the new gods of prog-jam, whether moe.
knew it or not.
6. Dave Matthews Band: Alpine Valley, 19 July
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but my interest in the DMB had been
seriously waning prior to this show. These guys experienced a career
low point right around the same time as Phish (albeit without the long
breaks), around the middle of the decade, when the new tunes just
weren’t quite grabbing me and the jams seemed to peel identically off
the cookie cutter every night. The loss of sax/flautist LeRoi Moore was
a huge blow, but I had to admit that the band, augmented by Jeff Coffin on
sax, regained my attention at Rothbury in 2008, after I
hadn’t seen ‘em in three years. But there was still a bit of a prefab
sheen at that show. It was scraped raw at Alpine Valley on my birthday
in a performance that seemed to evoke all the grieving and renewal and
celebration that the death of a fallen comrade demanded. Dave’s voice
wasn’t perfect but it was passionately flawed, and the rest of the guys
were getting heavy and experimental like I haven’t seen in years. And
they were psychically pulling out all the songs I wanted to hear,
including a setlist-deviation to cap the encore with a psycho
“Halloween”. Best “#41” I’ve ever heard. Carter Beauford restaking his
claim as possibly the best drummer alive. Three and a half hours of
everything I needed to be excited about Dave again.
7.
Wilco: UIC Pavilion, 18 October
I know a lot of people would say that I completely missed Wilco’s best
years, that the Jay
Bennett (RIP) years were the peak, etc. Even if Jeff Tweedy is
becoming an elder statesman, he doesn’t show it when he performs. The
guy’s just got an easy self-deprecating stage presence that endears him
to his people, and he was spilling over with obvious gratitude in this
hometown show that signaled a sort of graduation to the larger stage of
the UIC Pavilion. Tweedy balances his humor judiciously with a passion
in his playing and singing that seems to gain momentum as he gets older;
the detachment and scoffery has been replaced by a genuine desire to
convey something, even if that something isn’t blatantly emoted. Nels
Cline emerged as Tweedy’s perfect foil, plying the underlying anguish
and yearning through his electric guitar. Drummer Glenn Kotche
continues to evolve the old songs even as he hammers home the new ones.
Climaxes like “A Shot In The Arm”, “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”,
“Misunderstood” and “Handshake Drugs” crackled with a grudging release
of tension that it seems only Wilco knows how to convey. Maybe the old
Wilco did it just as well, but that band didn’t have “Bull Black Nova”
or “Sonny Feeling” or “One Wing”, performances that forced me to totally
reexamine the new album and discover that I love it. Always a sign of a
great show.
8. The
Celebrated Workingman: Cactus Club, 22 August
Milwaukee’s best band experienced its ups and downs in 2009, but the
highs were oh so high. On the heels of a somewhat exhausted performance
on the Fourth of July, this set was a return to form and then some. It
never hurts to know that the other best band in town, Decibully, is coming up
right after you and will not falter. So frontman Mark Waldoch and crew
played the best set I’ve seen out of them yet. New drummer Joe
Kirschling had found his groove, adding a distinct finesse to the songs
and instinctively feeling out the more loosely-arranged passages as if
he’d been back there for years. CWM lives and dies by Waldoch’s
performance, however, and on this night he was at his bombastic best,
urging the rest of the band to ever-increasing levels of melodrama like
Morrissey with an actual reason to cry. This isn’t a band to bother
picking apart on a technical level; emotions are splattered across the
room according to Waldoch’s ability to channel them, and the band swells
and surges behind his conduction. If it weren’t for the
perfectly-crafted, edge-of-prog pop songs and actual singing, these guys
would make a great punk rock band, because it’s that barely-contained
madness that propels you, and after nights like this, you emerge soaked
and you wake up sore.
9.
STS9: Summerfest, 1 July
This was the Tribe’s last show before heading to Rothbury, so we all
figured it was going to be a family-friendly, try-out-new-shit,
rest-up-for-the-main-event show, but hey, for the price of Summerfest
admission, you can’t pass it up. Oops, I guess we learned the
definition of the “sleeper” show. The guys came onstage early and
played for over two hours, no holds barred, pulling out big guns like
“Rent” and “The Rabble” and destroying them. It almost made me not
jealous of the people who were going to Rothbury.
10.Animal
Collective: Lollapalooza, 8 August
Sooner or later, Animal Collective may end up playing big, outdoor
venues and regularly blowing people’s minds, but the group is not there
yet. Yet for some odd reason, the band’s sound engineers have been
pretending they’re in a big open field for a year or so, which doesn’t
work in a club or theater, but here in Grant Park, well, it worked a
little better, still nowhere near perfection. But the performance was
pure magic. You had the majority of the people bitching that they
didn’t play “My Girls” or “Summertime Clothes”, and the jaded hardcore
fans bitching that the set was too similar to other sets of the tour.
Then there was me, just constantly marveling at the rearrangement of
familiar tunes (even since May), the drifting in and out of songs that
hadn’t been released yet, the spasms of vocal creativity…after the
unlistenable show at the Riverside, this was redemption for AC in my
eyes. If this band ever gets every one of its components into high gear
at once, it will change music forever.
Honorable Mention:
Bruce
Springsteen: United Center, 20 September
It says a lot about how great a year it was that this show didn't make
my top ten. I spent most of my life skeptical of The Boss, but I knew
I'd have to see him live some day or risk a huge crack in my
credibility. I can honestly say I was shocked by how good this show
was. Maybe I don't know much about the rock and roll lifestyle, but I
was under the impression that it runs a body down. Clearly, not so with
Bruce. No 60-year-old I've ever seen has that much energy. Few
40-year-olds do. Max Weinberg is not a flashy drummer, but he is the
perfect combination of nuance and power, and you just don't quite get
that full effect from E Street Band records. Little Steven looks a
little more worn-n-torn, but he rocks out just as hard as anybody, and
the whole band rarely made a misstep, even when they were learning
audience requests right on the spot. They even cut my favorite
Springsteen song ("I'm On Fire") from the setlist, played my two least
favorite Springsteen tunes ("Cover Me" and "I'm Going Down"), and I
still loved every minute of it.
Grizzly Bear: Pabst Theater, 9 June
I first saw Grizzly Bear at a cramped, poorly-ventilated hole in the
wall in Chicago, and it was effing amazing. The next two sightings were
at festivals; still good, but just really not the proper venue for this
band. So the show at the Pabst was exactly what I needed to start
liking the new album in earnest, except the problem is that it's nowhere
near as good as what this band does live. It's not like there's a ton
of improv, or any real surprises, but somehow, Ed Droste and Daniel
Rossen just sing so much better live than on record; it doesn't even
make sense. And the band just pulls off a much more dynamic, emotional
impact when they're right there in front of you, making the records seem
a bit precious by comparison. The odd indie darling that actually
lives up to the critical praise in the live setting.
Mogwai:
Turner Hall Ballroom, 9 May
I was on a long Mogwai drought, and I admit, I was worried that they
wouldn't be as good now, what with the lackluster few albums since
2003's Happy Songs For Happy People. Nah. As impressive as
ever, and bringing new life to the newer songs...as ever. So many
imitators out there, and they'll just never be as good as Mogwai.
Buckethead:
Barrymore Theatre, 17 September
You might get tired of me calling him the greatest guitarist alive, but
with apologies to Jimmy Page, nobody right now could stand up and
hold a candle to Buckethead. Here he is at 40 years old, even though I
saw some missteps at Summer Camp, playing with those impossibly long
fingers as if each one is part of the guitar. The way that mask
stares blankly into space makes you just feel stupid for not being able
to do anything as well as this guy does what he does.