Favorite Shows of 2010

(archiving selected content from my old Wordpress blog!)

Around mid-December my show-going schedule slows to a crawl and then a full stop, which means it’s time to take a look back on the year that was and do some tallying. This year’s final count came to around 110 shows, and a little over 200 different bands - some multiple times, of course. These were my favorites.

1. Jeff Mangum at the Chris Knox Benefit at Le Poisson Rouge, May 6, 2010
It’s unfair that this show should claim the top spot on my list on the strength of one artist’s five song set. So many excellent, notable musicians performed at this benefit, yet while I, along with many others, may have watched and listened to them, our anticipation was mainly centered on one appearance. Everyone has a story about how they first started listening to Neutral Milk Hotel; mine involves trips to Tower Records as a teenager, picking up their free in-store magazine, and seeing In the Aeroplane Over the Sea all over the issue’s list of reader’s desert island discs. I bought it, listened, was hooked, and then heartbroken to discover that bandleader Jeff Mangum had basically become a recluse, no longer releasing music or touring. Still, I came to consider Aeroplane one of my very favorite albums ever, bought into the mystique surrounding Mangum, and kept an ear to the ground for chances to hear these songs performed live. When the Chris Knox benefit was announced with Mangum at the bill was announced, I jumped at the chance, ignoring the pricetag (anyway, it was for a good cause!) and the incredibly likely possibility that I was setting myself up for disappointment. And against all odds, it was all I had hoped for. No, angels didn’t descend from the heavens and lift me up in some moment of ultimate transcendence, but Mangum started off by playing Oh Comely, unamped, in a room of concentrated attention and appreciative silence, followed by a thunder of heartfelt, sincere applause. I wept. He played three more songs. We cheered him back out for an encore, which wound up being a singalong of Engine. It was not the phoned in, one or two song throwing us a bone deal which I had half expected/feared. It was the real deal. I left shortly after, knowing I was missing lots of other great acts but at the same time that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on them or really appreciate them. On the train home from Penn Station, I saw a familiar orange wristband from Le Poisson Rouge on a stranger and struck up a conversation with him about Jeff Mangum.
The organizer had a strict no photo or video policy for this event, so the only photo I have is the one above, taken outside Le Poisson Rouge afterward. I was pretty miffed about that originally but in the end it was better to be able to focus all my attention on the performances, and not have part of directed to exposure and composition. Which isn’t to say that I didn’t bring my camera anyway, just in case the opportunity arose to use it. I did. But it stayed in my bag until I was back outside. It would’ve felt too wrong to interrupt a rare and precious moment with trying to sneak a picture or two.

2. The National & Buke & Gass at Bell House, March 12, 2010
It’s always a treat when you get the opportunity to see one of your favorite bands, who are big enough to sell out multiple nights at multiple-thousand person rooms easily, play in a cozy little room on a rainy night, or on any night, but this night was rainy and windy, and that walk through Gowanus in the weather past quiet warehouses suited the show to come perfectly. The National played a mix of older favorites and new songs from the at that point yet to be released High Violet, and they all sounded wonderful. I was close enough to really notice Matt Berninger’s tics while singing, the way he sort of punches his hands together, how his gestures grow more expansive as he drains more wine from the bottle. I was also close enough to get sort of tangled in his mic cord when he came out into the crowd during Mr. November, typically. My love seeing The National live is rooted less on the strength of their performances and more in simple love of the songs, so seeing them far removed from the action in places like BAM or Prospect Park (the other places I saw them this year) just doesn’t have the same magic as one of these quasi secret warmup shows.

3. Perfume Genius at 92YTribeca, July 20, 2010
I saw Perfume Genius two other times this year, at the Knitting Factory and at a semi-private party in someone’s living room in Bushwick, but this was the first time and in many ways the best. 92YTribeca was the perfect room for this show, comfortable and spacious while still being intimate, dimly and simply lit, a low stage, chairs and ample room for people to sit on the floor and soak it in. Soak it in they did; the room was dead silent while Mike Hadreas played his deceptively simple and beautiful songs of a veritable laundry list of heavy topics. Performing these songs seems to cost him a lot, emotionally, which is unsurprising, and I spent the duration of the show trying in vain to hold back tears, but there’s also something cathartic about laying bare such painful and personal things in front of a roomful of people. Abuse thrives on secrecy and shame; sometimes telling true stories to strangers is one of the most powerful things you can do to strike out against it. After, I found Hadreas outside smoking, wrestled briefly with my usual shyness, and approached him and thanked him for the beautiful set before dashing away. He seemed just as awkward as I felt, but I was glad I said something.
More photos here on BrooklynVegan.

4. John Shade, Britt Daniel, Annie Clark, Justin Vernon, Shara Worden, Songer Singwriter at the BrooklynVegan & Bowery Presents Benefit for Haiti at Music Hall of Williamsburg, January 23, 2010
It’s sort of a copout to include a benefit show on a best of list, isn’t it? From the get go you’re bringing together musicians who probably aren’t already touring together, and the opportunities arise for collaborations that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. It’s too easy. Actually, it really isn’t, and while I’ve attended my share of benefit shows, for the sake of the causes they support, the musicians who are playing, or both, the performances themselves don’t always stick out in my mind. This was one of those rare near perfect ones, beginning to end, with the only sour note for me personally being some of the comedians (but I’m not really a comedy person, so whatever, take that with a grain of salt). Annie Clark’s cover of Mistaken for Strangers was hauntingly beautiful, but the real highlights of the night came whenever musical MVP Justin Vernon took the stage. He, Annie Clark, and members of Megafaun came together to form supergroup Songer Singwriter for one night only (alas!). They played a gorgeous cover of Harvest Moon, a version of Jolene full of epic guitar shredding, and ended with Annie Lennox’s Why, featuring Vernon pushing his vocal skills to their height.

5. Extra Lens, John Vanderslice, & Dan Mangan at Mercury Lounge (CMJ), October 21, 2010
I had a fun, extremely busy CMJ this year. I took the week off from work and ran around back and forth from the Lower East Side to Williamsburg shooting day parties and nighttime showcases for BrooklynVegan. I saw a lot of bands (obviously) and enjoyed some of them quite a bit, but when you’re that oversaturated in music and seeing mostly abbreviated sets it’s hard for anything to really stand out amidst the clamor. This show was the antithesis to all of that, and in some ways a very not-CMJ showcase; I doubt that very many people turned up halfway through, or left early, and if they did, they missed out. I was unfamiliar with Dan Mangan but totally charmed by his set, in particular when he led the audience in a singalong of “robots need love too, they want to be loved by you.” John Vanderslice was delightful and personable. He asked if we were going to any showcases after this one, and suggested we all meet and hang out in a park instead. Even stacked against the many tempting showcase options scheduled all night, it sounded like an incredibly good idea. The Extra Lens brings together powerhouses John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno, and as you can imagine, they kicked ass. I didn’t try to find John Vanderslice in a park afterward, but I abandoned the showcase I had planned on going to, knowing it just wouldn’t come anywhere near this, and not wanting to spoil the good feeling.
More photos here on BrooklynVegan.

6. Belle & Sebastian & Teenage Fanclub at Williamsburg Waterfront, September 30, 2010
Hurricane conditions were in the forecast leading up to this show, and Williamsburg Waterfront, as it is a state park located right on the East River, is notorious for pulling the plug on shows as soon as the weather looks like it’ll turn sour. All day I monitored the situation with some trepidation - I’ve been listening to Belle & Sebastian since I was a teenager and had never seen them live, and had looked forward to this show for months. Also, I was supposed to be shooting, and the prospect of bringing my camera and lenses into the wet and windy elements comes with a certain amount of anxiety and consideration of the merits of various weather protection (aka glorified plastic bags). Well, the show went on as scheduled (mostly - the set times were pushed up by half an hour) and while the sky remained a threatening grey, no rain fell. That element of uncertainty, of knowing that the sky could open up and things could be shut down at any time, made the music sound all the sweeter. And even though, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve been listening to Belle & Sebastian for ages, I had no idea how unabashedly fun they’d be live. It took serious force of will not to start dancing and singing along to I’m a Cuckoo, which they played during the first three songs in the photo pit. After that, though, I found myself a space off to the side to watch from, and let loose during Sukie in the Graveyard.
More photos here on BrooklynVegan.

7. Jens Lekman at The Green Building, December 10, 2010
My first time seeing Jens Lekman, and it was just as lovely as I had hoped. Jens is just a delightful human being. I think it’s impossible to be in close proximity to him and not fall totally under his charming spell. His first two shows in NY in ages were, as he put it, an attempt to fall back in love with the city, after a vaguely alluded to heartbroken experience in Coney Island that made him hate it. Hopefully the rapt attention of the enthusiastic crowd convinced him that NY still loves him, and he should come back, preferably often. I only wish I would have stayed after, when Jens made good on his promise to sing any songs he didn’t play to fans into their ears. Jens, It Was a Strange Time in My Life next time, please!
More photos here on BrooklynVegan.

8. Au Revoir Simone, Class Actress, & Alexa Wilding at Highline Ballroom, January 7, 2010
The first show I went to this year, and still one of my favorites. A sort of ladies night at Highline Ballroom, headlined by Au Revoir Simone performing wearing poufy white dresses under the dreamiest lighting, feathers, and fake snow. So so pretty. To close out the night, the ladies of Au Revoir Simone brought Elizabeth Harper or Class Actress and Alexa Wilding back onstage to sing Can’t Get You Out of my Head, acappella.

9. Owen Pallett, Extra Life, & The Luyas at Webster Hall, April 22, 2010
I consider this the first time I really saw Owen Pallett, even though it was actually the third. On both previous occasions circumstances led to abbreviated performances, and I left slightly disappointed but still determined to see an actual Owen Pallett show not compromised by injury or illness. No disappointment this time! Owen’s Webster Hall show was a glorious display of his ridiculously precise violin playing, in front of one of the most respectful crowds I’ve ever experienced there. He played my favorites from Heartland, the wistfully melancholy E is for Estranged and anthemic Lewis Takes off His Shirt, older favorites recorded under his previous Final Fantasy moniker, and ended with a Mariah Carey cover, Fantasy. Truly, the guy has a great sense of humor. As an added bonus, The Luyas opened this show, their first official one in NY, and thus my love affair with them began - so wonderfully quirky, I made a point of seeing them again two nights later.

10. The New Pornographers, The Dodos, & The Dutchess and the Duke at Terminal 5, June 19, 2010
The first of the three times I saw The New Pornographers this year, and definitely my favorite. Neko Case and Dan Bejar were both in the house, and I wasn’t shooting, leaving me free to find a spot in the balcony with my friends and sing and dance along to my heart’s content. Sometimes like attracts like, and my friend Theresa and I wound up dancing the set away with two awesome ladies we met by chance, culminating in an ecstatic run through the balcony during the climax of Bleeding Heart Show. It was undoubtably the most fun I’ve ever had at T5, and even the small intimate set at Bell House the next night paled in comparison.
I only brought a point and shoot camera to this show, which I barely used, but more photos from The New Pornographer’s December show at Terminal 5 with Ted Leo & The Pharmacists opening here on BrooklynVegan.

Honorable Mentions

11. Shout Out Louds & Freelance Whales at Webster Hall, May 5, 2010
Feel-good Swedish pop is best experienced live. I was in a shitty mood going into this show, and had my spirits totally lifted by it. It also helped that I wound up with some of my favorite photos that I took all year from the super pretty lighting.

12. Lost in the Trees & The Loom at Mercury Lounge, August 23, 2010
A rainy, stormy night suited an intimate show of beautiful folk music enriched by strings perfectly. Lost in the Trees lovingly recreated the songs from their haunting album, All Alone in an Empty House onstage, finally winding up playing in the middle of the floor at Mercury Lounge, surrounded by the crowd, unamped. If I were rating individual moments of the year, in terms of sheer goose-bump inducing magic, this one would be right up near the very top.
More photos here on BrooklynVegan.

13. Ra Ra Riot & The Antlers at Brooklyn Academy of Music, February 5, 2010
It’s always a thrill to see some of your favorite very deserving local(ish) bands blow up, and play to huge enthusiastic crowds in an elegant, ornate theater, like BAM. So enthusiastic, in fact, that many left their seats to stand in the orchestra pit in front of the stage, which honestly I’ve never seen done at BAM - it’s just not that kind of place. Separately Ra Ra Riot and The Antlers are two of my favorite bands to see live, so bringing them together on the same bill was just gravy.

Bands I saw this year that didn’t make the above list, but who may have flown under your radar and you should definitely make an effort to go see (in alphabetical order):
Alcoholic Faith Mission, Allo Darlin’, Arms, Basia Bulat, Braids, Dark Dark Dark, First Aid Kit, Glasser, Lia Ices, Little Scream, Lower Dens, Miracles of Modern Science, Mountain Man, Peggy Sue, Pepper Rabbit, Prince Rama, Ravens & Chimes, Scary Mansion, Sharon Van Etten, She Keeps Bees, Think About Life, Woom, Wye Oak

A few bands I’m disappointed I missed seeing this year (in alphabetical order):
Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae, Jonsi, Sufjan Stevens, Villagers