For the first time since 2019, I was finally able to experience a full year of live music and I did my best to make the most of it. I saw over 60 live shows this year, all in person, and some of them ranked among the all-time best. One in particular was life-changing to say the least.
In so many ways, it was another surreal year, but for the first time in a long time, live music was there for all of it. This year I finally got back to a festival, saw some of the biggest names in the game, and checked some others off the bucket list. I was fortunate enough to finally catch Rage Against the Machine and Run the Jewels at Madison Square Garden after buying tickets before the pandemic even began, Sharon Van Etten’s album release show at Union Pool, Modest Mouse and Wilco play two of my all-time favorite albums in-full, Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah run, the return of Be Your Own Pet, the sudden and devastating farewell of Low, LCD Soundsystem’s Brooklyn Steel residency, as well as performances by Tame Impala, Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Run the Jewels, and The Smile both in Europe and here at home. While the shows below are ranked in order of greatness, I omitted one that was the clear choice for the best of the year because it was also the moment I lived out a true dream by watching the Strokes from the side of the stage during their headlining set at Primavera Sound while dancing next to Lorde, Brittany Howard, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It was a moment I’ll never forget, and one I constantly pinch myself over to make sure it wasn't a hallucination, yet it felt unfair to include it at the top spot because it was so much more to me than a concert, it was the coolest moment of my entire life.
25 MDOU MOCTAR / BARTEES STRANGE | Brooklyn Academy of Music
24 CHRIS CORSANO / BILL ORCUTT | Baby’s All Right
23 STEREOLAB | Brooklyn Steel
22 KENDRICK LAMAR | Barclays Center
21 YO LA TENGO | The Bowery Ballroom
20 ESG / SISTER NANCY | Elsewhere
19 WILCO | United Palace Theatre
18 MODEST MOUSE | Terminal 5
17 BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE | Webster Hall
16 ALVVAYS | The Bowery Ballroom
15 GROUPER | The Opera House
14 HARRY STYLES | Madison Square Garden
13 SPOON | Baby’s All Right
12 SHARON VAN ETTEN | Union Pool
11 PHOENIX | Radio City Music Hall
10 BIG THIEF | Kings Theatre
08 PLAINS / MJ LENDERMAN | Webster Hall
07 HAIM | Madison Square Garden
06 BEACH HOUSE | Kings Theatre
05 PAVEMENT | Kings Theatre
04 THE SMILE | Kings Theatre
03 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM | Brooklyn Steel
02 YEAH YEAH YEAHS | Primavera Sound
01 RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE / RUN THE JEWELS | Madison Square Garden
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