Mine was seeing my favourite band in my favourite live venue.
!
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For me it was definitely going back to more concerts after having not been to many in the previous couple of years. Just this week alone was enough to be a highlight as I saw Danny Brown at the Empty Bottle on 12/28 and Dehd at the Empty Bottle on 12/30.
Danny Brown:
Dehd:
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Mine was seeing The Weeknd in Chicago. Not a huge fan, but was the best concert I’ve ever seen. The production value alone was absolutely amazing.
The best part was Doja Cat was scheduled to open for him, but dropped out for vocal issues.
And get this, she was replaced by Mike Dean. The synth legend himself. And he is the reason I bought the Moog Grandmother and Matriarch.
And on stage he was playing both live. Just a great experience.
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Definitely loved seeing a return to how things were before live music disappeared a few years ago. It’s such a nourishing thing for me and I’ve missed it dearly.
Tie for best experience this year:
Joel Ross in a small jazz club on Vancouver Island. 50 people in the crowd. Heroic musicianship and powerful energy. Joel destroys the vibes. Unreal.
Bill Frisell in Seattle. Bill has been a big influence throughout my life and his trio was just amazing. Also enjoyed a great wine bar that evening and the whole night was totally memorable.
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Porridge Radio at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds for me.
Also there was something quite important about the 1 rave I went to - it showed me that I just can’t be arsed with it all anymore. 40 this year and who knows how many 100s of them I did in between 18 and the start of lockdown.
The only thing that makes me have hope I might enjoy one is showing NO compromise and going to see something that happens to be freakishly up my street across a whole lineup with incredible sound… So good that I can imagine myself being happy with no party accessories at all and just absorbing the music The chances of my friends highlighting that rave, and wanting to go, are minimal.
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- Foo Fighters play Australia’s first post-Covid arena show in Geelong. Not a huge Foo Fighters fan but they were a fantastic arena band - every song was rearranged live in some way and Dave Grohl has that rare ability to make a huge stadium show feel somehow personal and inclusive. Gutted that less than two weeks later Taylor Hawkins was dead.
- Sharon Van Etten’s show a couple of weeks ago at a newly renovated theatre in Northcote, Melbourne. Great gig, but the icing on top was her casual announcement in the encore that although she never gets to play her big duet with Angel Olsen live she was making an exception this time because someone had requested it. That person being the Killers’ Brandon Flowers who pops up on stage out of nowhere and proceeds to sing Olsen’s parts with some gusto before disappearing again. Great stuff.
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Actually the album Moment by Dark Tranquillity, which I first listened to in 2022, and was probably one of my most listened albums of the year.
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I only went to a couple of club nights last year. Definitely slowing down but I still enjoy them, even if I’m ready to go by about 2-3am these days!
We’ll see how this holds up in my 50th year on this rock.
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Being able to catch a Justice set is top of the list. Love crossing names off the ole bucket list.
Runner up was seeing Front 242 again after 29 years lol.
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Westside Gunn vs. Smoke DZA at trees in Dallas was a highlight for me. West brought out Stove God Cooks, Armani Caesar, Rome Streets, Daringer, Boldy James, and probably others I’m forgetting. He rapped his ass off for nearly 2 hours. Smoke DZA killed it too.
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Between DJ Nobu at a warehouse this past summer and The Smile at the Shrine Auditorium two weeks back.
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Definitely high on my want-to-see list. I’m also hoping the Wu-Tang/Nas show comes to UK in 2023, and the Goldie/DJ Bone hookup. And more Godflesh shows, I really need to see them again.
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dropping a tab at the best place on earth in Portugal.
I have no idea who was playing that night but it was magic, as always…
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My 4 year old bashing some sort of bell thing at his first performance with his music class.
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My best musical experience this year was four December days of experimental organ music in a former (small, and very cozy) Copenhagen church made music venue, that really drew home the point that organs just are big strange acoustic synthesizers.
Highlights was a performance on a homemade organ sculpture by Ea Borre, a gloriously static 8 hour composition by John Cage, and Olga Witte’s wild and crazy trio for organ and two trombones.
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