2013 In Review

I know I'm not caught up on my reviews but I need to put together my best of lists for the year.  So here we go.


Top 5 Pavilion Shows: 13 Total

1. The Postal Service - Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. Andrew McMahon - Merriweather Post Pavilion 
3. Of Monsters and Men - Merriweather Post Pavilion
4. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Wolftrap 
5. Fun. - Merriweather Post Pavilion

This includes shows at Wolftrap, Merriweather, and Jiffy Lube Live.  For some of these venues I had pit tickets or seated tickets and for some of them I had lawn seats, but the top 5 below there is a mix of pit tickets and seated tickets.  The Postal Service was one of the best shows I went to this year, and the best show I've ever seen at a Pavilion, it exceeded every expectation I had for the show.  Andrew McMahon comes in at second and perhaps would have been higher but as he was a middle opener, he had a smaller setlist and as an outdoor show it did not compare to the intimacy of his 930 Club show, but it was a very important show because it taught me the value of getting to the venue early and getting to the front of the crowd against the rail.  Of Monsters and Men was my birthday show and quite a fun show at that.  They are a band that is arising out of the popularity of bands such as The Lumineers and Mumford and Sons but I think they have many more dimensions to their music and style that both of the aformentioned bands do not possess.  Grace Potter and the Nocturnals put on quite the amazing show at Wolftrap, but when compared to a club show at Ram's Head Live it was not as good, but still quite the amazing event.  Fun. is a young band who, unlike other young bands I have seen, was quite ready to handle a venue as big as Merriweather and had the skill and energy to carry a show while keeping the crowd entirely engrossed, even through a cold downpour on the lawn.

Theater shows include shows at Lincoln Theatre, Beacon Theatre, and Birchmere (except flex stage)

Top 5 Theater Shows: 6 Total

1. Sara Bareilles - Lincoln Theatre
2. Travis - Lincoln Theatre
3. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Beacon Theatre 
4. Matt Nathanson - Lincoln Theatre
5. Hugh Laurie - Birchmere 

What can be said about Sara Bareilles.  In any other year she would have been the best show I had seen with any one of her three shows and while this was the least of the three for me, it still blew me away.  In actuality, perhaps the only reason this was the weakest of the three shows is the intimacy of the 930 Club show or the energy of standing against the front rail I experienced at Not So Silent Christmas.  Travis is a band that I had to choose between that show and another show I attended, and the decision in retrospect was without question the best right one.  I have been listening to them for nearly ten years and this show was everything I wanted out of them with even more.  Tom Petty is still an unbelievably talented performer and still performs fantastically and this show was part of a special set of five that was designed for b-sides, rarities and covers and we were delivered a setlist of which anyTom Petty fan would be truly envious.  Matt Nathanson is another artist that I have listened to on the periphery for years but recently started listening to more, and this show made me very glad that I did.  I went to the Hugh Laurie show for the fact that it was Hugh Laurie and ended up seeing a show that was twenty-five percent self-deprcication comedy and seventy-five percent fantastic New Orleans style blues.

Stadium and arena shows include The Patriot Center, Verizon Center, 1st Mariner Arena, Nationals Stadium, and RFK Stadium Lot, DAR Constitution Hall

Top 5 Arena or Stadium Shows: 10 Total

1. Paramore - The Patriot Center
2. Nine Inch Nails - Verizon Center
3. Sigur Rós - The Patriot Center 
4. The Rolling Stones - Verizon Center
5. Pearl Jam - 1st Mariner Arena

My only real regret out of the Paramore show is that I only went to one Paramore show this year, it included more from a show than I even thought Paramore could deliver including a song that I had somehow missed by Paramore that is incidentally my favorite by them now.  For Nine Inch Nails, I was in the pit, and it was the most aggressive pit I've ever been, which although I should have been expecting surprised me a little bit and took me out of the show a bit while I adjusted.  Overall it was a great show although my expectations were so high that it was a little bit of a letdown at times, but the inclusion of The Day the World Went Away was something I had quite hoped would happen.  Sigur Rós was a show I only went to at the last minute because of the additional release of floor tickets.  I know now that to miss any Sigur Rós show would be a tragedy.  They put on the most unique and mesmerizingly beautiful concert I have ever been to and expect will ever attend.  The Rolling Stones are a band that could very easily command any size crowd in any place and who at least to me felt like they had never lost a step, although that could have just been because of the excitability of Mick Jagger and his singing.  Pearl Jam is a band that I have wanted to see for a very long time, if nothings else because one of my closest friends, Jeremy Clarke, has sung their live praises for so long that I would have had to see what he was talking about even if I wasn't a fan.  He was right and I was not disappointed.  In fact, I would go as far to say as that I received more from the show than I was expecting and even felt the intimacy of a club show during certain points that you would almost never expect out of multi-thousand person arena.


Club shows include 930 Club, Ram's Head Live, The National, Fillmore Silver Spring, Birchmere Flex Stage, Sixth and I.

Top 10 Club Shows: 30 Total

1. Taking Back Sunday - Ram's Head Live
2. Bloc Party - Ram's Head Live
3. 30 Second to Mars - The National
4. Not So Silent Christmas - Fillmore Silver Spring
5. Andrew McMahon - 930 Club
6. The Naked and Famous - 930 Club
7. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Ram's Head Live
8. Sara Bareilles - 930 Club
9. Coheed and Cambria - 930 Club 
10. Twenty One Pilots - The National 

This list was the hardest to compile as many of these artists I have seen multiple times and most I saw multiple times this year.  The top two are interchangeable and the two main reasons that Taking Back Sunday gets the lead there is that they are my favorite live band who I've seen six times now, and as recent as last november, and have a bigger effect on me than most other bands and I was also against the front rail which increases the intensity of a show.  Bloc Party put on what is easily in the top five concerts I have ever attended and surprised me even after they put on what might be my favorite concert of my life less than six months previous.  A lot of what blew me away about the 30 Seconds to Mars show was it was the 30 Seconds to Mars show that I have always expected.  Last time I saw them the sound quality was not as good and it was a non-seated show where we had seats so the crowd wasn't smashed together which didn't provide the right environment for them, but this show was everything I ever wanted.  Not So Silent Christmas was composed of four artists, Plain White T's, Gavin Degraw, Matt Nathanson and Sara Bareilles, and while it was not my favorite Sara Bareilles show of the year, the combination of being against the front rail and the combined performances of all the artists made this quite the awesome show.  This Andrew McMahon show reinvigorated my love for the man as a musician and a person and made me regretful of every show, and there have been some, of him in every form that I have skipped since I saw Something Corporate in 2004.  The Naked and Famous was nothing short of wonderful and had I not had a Sara Bareilles show I would have seen them two nights in a row, the show met my expectations, which for a band as young as they are is not an easy feat.  Grace Potter started the show strong with a cover, which was pandering to the city it was in so a smart choice, and for a band to do that is risky and it paid off, she's able to use her bluesy rock voice to very easily slide between her own music and some great choices of covers to put on a exciting show and I worry she may have outgrown club size venues which makes me quite sad.  This was by and far the best Sara Bareilles show I attended and made me go from enjoying her music to falling in love with her as an artist, but due to the addition of other artists, the longer Not So Silent Christmas show was an overall better show.  This was the Coheed show that I have always been waiting for, while the previous two shows I went to were good, they were each lacking one small thing and this show was not lacking anything at all.  Twenty One Pilots was perhaps my biggest discovery in music at a concert this year and had it not been for scheduling conflicts there may have been two other Twenty One Pilots shows vying for a spot on this list.

Small venues include Jammin' Java, Ram's Head on State, The Hamilton, Ram's Head Center Stage. 

Top 5 Small Venue Shows: 8 Total

1. Joseph Arthur - Jammin' Java
2. Wakey!Wakey! - Jammin' Java
3. Rhett Miller - The Hamilton
4. Joseph Arthur - Ram's Head On Stage
5. Rhett Miller - Jammin' Java

Best production is best stage show including lights, and overall show beyond the music itself.

Best Production:

1. Sigur Rós - The Patriot Center
2. Nine Inch Nails - Verizon Center
3. How to Destroy Angels - Fillmore Silver Spring
4. Muse - Verizon Center
5. The Rolling Stones - Verizon Center

Best solo acts is performers who at least for the majority of their performance were on stage alone with no backing band.

Best Solo Acts:

1. Sara Bareilles - 930 Club
2. Rhett Miller - The Hamilton
3. Wakey!Wakey! - Jammin' Java
4. Rhett Miller - Jammin' Java
5. Rebecca Perl - The Hamilton (2nd Show)

Guest Singers Songs are the best songs sang by main acts featuring either other performers form their show or outside of the shows.

Best Guest Singer Songs:

1. OAR with Andrew McMahon and Allen Stone - Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen cover)
2. Wakey!Wakey! with Suzanna Choffel - Irresistible
3. Marc Roberge (OAR) with Andrew McMahon - Over and Over
4. Rhett Miller with Black Prairie - Wreck of the Old '97 (Johnny Cash Cover)
5. Nancy and Beth featuring Nick Offerman - Smell Yo Dick

Top Ten Cover Songs:

1. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (First Time) - White Rabbits (Jefferson Airplane)
2. Sara Bareilles - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John)
3. Bloc Party - We Found Love excerpt (Rihanna)
4. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
5. Rhett Miller with Black Prairie - Wreck of the Old '97 (Johnny Cash)
6. 30 Seconds to Mars - Bad Romance excerpt (Lady Gaga)
7. Pearl Jam - Keep on Rockin' in the Free World (Neil Young)
8. 30 Seconds to Mars - Stay (Rihanna)
9. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Paint it Black (The Rolling Stones)
10. Glen Hansard - Smile (Pearl Jam)

Biggest Letdowns:

1. She & Him - Wolftrap
2. Alkaline Trio - Ram's Head Live
3. Dropkick Murphy's 930 Club

Top Ten Shows: 69 Total

1. Taking Back Sunday - Ram's Head Live
2. Bloc Party - Ram's Head Live
3. 30 Seconds to Mars - The National
4. Paramore - The Patriot Center
5. The Postal Service - Merriweather Post Pavilion
6. Not So Silent Christmas - Fillmore Silver Spring
7. Andrew McMahon - 930 Club
8. The Naked and Famous - 930 Club
9. Sara Bareilles - 930 Club
10. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Ram's Head Live

Best Artist Discovered at a Concert: Twenty One Pilots
Best Opener: Lucy Rose
Band Most Want to see Again: Paramore

Second Best Overall Venue for the Year: 930 Club
Best Overall Venue for the Year: Ram's Head Live
Person I attended the most concerts with: David Nelson, 20

Top Performer of the Year: Sara Bareilles