1) Grizzly Bear - Radio City Music Hall - 24th September: I swooned over this gig in a previous blog entry and so I can't really add anything other than the re-emphasise that this was the best concert I have ever been to.
2) Nada Surf - Webster Hall (7th of April) + Bowery Ballroom (14th/15th of December): A bit of a cheat, putting up 3 shows as one, but there you go. If I were being picky then maybe the Webster Hall show was the pick of the bunch in terms of a performance although the Bowery Ballroom shows felt more special, perhaps because they were the last two shows of the tour and they played a huge setlist which included songs from every album. I've been a fan of the band since their debut album and been seeing them live for over 10 years, but I never thought I'd get to hear something like Deeper Well so it was a genuine thrill when they broke that one out (of which I took a video which can be viewed here). Nada Surf are a hugely special band for me and they always deliver.
3) Chromatics - New Museum - 5th of September: This was a free gig (sponsored by pitchfork if I recall correctly), which included an afterparty on the roof. Chromatics put on an incredible performance and to cap the evening sipping free wine looking over Manhattan at night whilst enjoying a DJ set by Oneohtrix Point Never is probably something I will remember for many years to come.
5) Diiv - Music Hall Williamsburg - 18th of October: This was a Captured Tracks CMJ showcase event, which also included Dignan Porch, Thieves Like Us and Mac DeMarco (who was good, but was better when we saw him headline a show at Death By Audio in August). I'd also seen Diiv earlier in the summer at an outdoor gig which was very good, but their performance here was almost brutal. The only downside was the amount of douchebags who crowdsurf, I don't really understand it, shows aren't about individuals in the audience yet some people seem to think they are... anyway, it was a spectacular performance.
6) Bob Mould - Williamsburg Park 7th of September: Another show I have already reviewed, Bob was really on form!
7) TV On the Radio - Commodore Barry Park - 25th of August: TVotR are one of my favourite bands, and I've had the pleasure of seeing them a couple of times in London over the years, but both times have had a few issues with the sound. Not only did this show have a triumphant home-gig feel to it, but the sound was also spot on and the the band ripped through an extraordinary set.
8) Dan Deacon / John Maus / Roomrunner - Hudson River Rocks - 12th of July: This was a free outdoor event, I'm mentioning all three acts because they were all fantastic for different reasons. Despite being dogged by technical issues throughout, Roomrunner pummelled the crowd with their abrasive grunge-influenced sound. John Maus performs with a passion and spirit that is perhaps unrivaled, what should be little more than glorified karaoke turns into some kind of fantastically demented pop sermon. Finally, Dan Deacon takes audience participation to new levels, creating dance-offs and all sorts of games in the crowd (of course, as an uptight Englishman who internalises everything, I moved off to the side to enjoy from a distance!), backed by two drummers who disappear into a blur of activity, Deacon's music is equally as enchanting as his earnest between-song banter.
9) Ty Segall - The Well - 22nd of September: A joint headline show with Thee Oh Sees, who were also highly enjoyable, but Ty Segall's set certainly stole the show. The crowd again was a little bit annoying for my liking (I did wince when someone crowd surfed over the barrier (where there were no guards) and landed head first onto concrete - "medic!"), but Segall's fat guitar licks was a sonic assault in its own right.
10) Rush - Barclays Center - 22nd of October: Personal bias may find them sneaking into 10th place, or perhaps I have tried to counter that and they really should be higher... regardless, Rush put on a great show in support of their latest album, Clockwork Angels (which I reviewed earlier in the year), with a setlist that seemed more fresh than recent tours and backed by a string section on many songs gave a different dynamic to the show.
Complete list in date order (UK date format! And yes, I keep a spreadsheet...):
Dum Dum Girls
|
07/02/2012
|
Music Hall of Williamsburg
|
Vivian Girls
|
10/02/2012
|
Gansevoort Plaza
|
Barry Adamson
|
20/02/2012
|
Other Music
|
Lee Ranaldo
|
20/03/2012
|
Other Music
|
Nada Surf
|
07/04/2012
|
Webster Hall
|
Pulp
|
11/04/2012
|
Radio City Music Hall
|
Terry Malts
|
20/04/2012
|
Mercury Lounge
|
Mark Lanegan Band
|
10/05/2012
|
Webster Hall
|
Violens
|
16/05/2012
|
(le) poisson rouge
|
The Adicts
|
17/05/2012
|
Best Buy Theater
|
La Sera
|
19/05/2012
|
Cameo Gallery
|
The Clean
|
05/06/2012
|
(le) poisson rouge
|
Rain Machine
|
09/06/2012
|
Union Pool
|
Laura Marling
|
14/06/2012
|
Prospect Park
|
Kurt Vile
|
16/06/2012
|
Central Park
|
Veronica Falls
|
29/06/2012
|
South Street Seaport
|
Guided by Voices, TPoBPAH, Cloud Nothings, War on Drugs
|
07/07/2012
|
Central Park
|
Dan Deacon / John Maus / Roomrunner
|
12/07/2012
|
Hudson River Park - Pier 84
|
Carina Round
|
24/07/2012
|
Knitting Factory
|
Mordus
|
02/08/2012
|
Fontanas
|
Wild Flag / Misson Of Burma / Ted Leo
|
03/08/2012
|
Prospect Park
|
Diiv, Wild Nothing & Grimes
|
09/08/2012
|
Hudson River Park - Pier 84
|
Little Dragon
|
10/08/2012
|
Prospect Park
|
Eternal Summers
|
12/08/2012
|
Fulton Stall Market
|
Nude Beach
|
13/08/2012
|
Other Music
|
The Drums
|
22/08/2012
|
Brooklyn Bowl
|
TV On the Radio
|
25/08/2012
|
Commodore Barry Park
|
Mac DeMarco
|
30/08/2012
|
Death By Audio
|
Chromatics
|
05/09/2012
|
New Museum
|
La Sera
|
06/09/2012
|
Helmut Lang
|
Bob Mould
|
07/09/2012
|
Williamsburg Park
|
Jesus and Mary Chain
|
13/09/2012
|
Irving Plaza
|
Jesus and Mary Chain
|
14/09/2012
|
Irving Plaza
|
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
|
15/09/2012
|
Union Transfer, Philadelphia
|
Thee Oh Sees / Ty Segall
|
22/09/2012
|
The Well
|
Grizzly Bear
|
24/09/2012
|
Radio City Music Hall
|
Widowspeak
|
26/09/2012
|
Brooklyn Bowl
|
Neil Young and Crazy Horse / Foo Fighters / Black Keys
|
29/09/2012
|
Central Park
|
Dum Dum Girls
|
01/10/2012
|
Other Music
|
Afghan Whigs
|
05/10/2012
|
Terminal 5
|
Adam Ant
|
06/10/2012
|
Best Buy Theater
|
Port-Royal
|
12/10/2012
|
Pianos
|
Fletcher C. Johnson
|
17/10/2012
|
Pianos (upstairs)
|
Braids
|
17/10/2012
|
Pianos
|
Diiv, Thieves Like Us, Mac DeMarco, Dignan Porch
|
18/10/2012
|
Music Hall of Williamsburg
|
Gap Dream
|
20/10/2012
|
Big Snow Buffalo Lodge
|
Rush
|
22/10/2012
|
Barclays Center
|
Louis CK
|
24/10/2012
|
NY City Center
|
Bitch Magnet
|
25/10/2012
|
(le) poisson rouge
|
Molly Nilsson
|
04/11/2012
|
Public Assembly
|
The Fresh and Onlys
|
08/11/2012
|
Music Hall of Williamsburg
|
Animal Collective
|
05/12/2012
|
Terminal 5
|
Subsonics
|
07/12/2012
|
The Grand Victory
|
Of Montreal
|
11/12/2012
|
Webster Hall
|
Nada Surf
|
14/12/2012
|
Bowery Ballroom
|
Nada Surf
|
15/12/2012
|
Bowery Ballroom
|
Blood Orange
|
17/12/2012
|
Sony Store
|
Metz
|
18/12/2012
|
Generation Records
|
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