Open Line: Favorite concerts of 2008
Dan Burn-Forti
Sly, classy Nick Lowe provided one of the year's great show surprises.
We at Decider like to hear our own voices, but we like yours just as much. In Open Line, we throw in our two cents on a question and open it up to discussion. Today’s topic: What were your favorite concerts of 2008? We’ll get it started.
I’m bound to forget some things, because Madison scored a lot of good shows this year, from both local and touring bands. I went out of town for some, but I’ll just keep this list to concerts that actually happened in Madison. Let the disarray begin!
The Walkmen and White Rabbits (1/19, High Noon): This show was so packed that a line stretched out the door into sub-zero nastiness. White Rabbits’ opening set added some bite to the dapper-danciness of some excellent songs, and of course The Walkmen were a lot of fun.
X (3/21, Barrymore Theatre): Exene Cervenka was still menacing, John Doe was still a charmer, and Billy Zoom was still a little weird (especially when he kept going over to grin at a fan who’d flashed her boobs at him early in the set).
Retribution Gospel Choir (3/21, High Noon): Probably because it happened just after X, this show drew a pretty small crowd. Low’s Alan Sparhawk is a brilliant guitar player and does a bitchin’ cover of “Ziggy Stardust.” (He also played that song with his other-other band, The Black-Eyed Snakes, at the High Noon in January.)
Jens Lekman (3/30, Music Hall): This might have been the most purely loveable and fun concert I saw all year.
Cloud Cult + American Music Club (4/11, High Noon): The crowd here seemed more weighted toward Cloud Cult, and some were downright rude during crusty-old American Music Club’s set, but Mark Eitzel and band’s live presence measured up to Cloud Cult’s, which is saying something.
Subtle (5/16, The Annex): In my opinion, the better of the two shows Subtle played in town this year. (Jordan Selbo reviewed the other one.) The crowd at this one seemed a lot more enthusiastic, but both times around, they pulled off some of the most unlikely music being made today.
The Nels Cline Singers + Painted Saints (6/2, High Noon): Hey, if our town's only going to get one famous avant-garde guitarist in a year, Nels Cline's instrumental project is the way to go. Minneapolis' Painted Saints are still one of the Midwest's most under-appreciated bands.
Biff Vs. Vampire (6/21, Mickey’s Tavern): Sorry, I know I’ve raved about this over and over again, but it’s really cool that Biff Blumfumgagnge thought to improvise a live soundtrack to Nosferatu on a warm summer’s night on Mickey’s patio. This show also featured probably the biggest table of idiots I saw out all year: One of them kept yelling and laughing in inappropriate places, really disrupting the mood, and one of them (maybe the same woman) literally held a baby in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
Screamin’ Cyn Cyn And The Pons + Czarbles (6/24, Memorial Union Terrace): This was part of the “Area Band Tuesdays” summer concert series I curated, so it wouldn’t really be fair of me to pretend to “review” it. But I picked bands I thought would deliver, and each did. This show got the best crowd: Apparently, even little kids can appreciate the Pons’ punk-fabulous antics, and Czarbles’ instrumental set got such a loud mix you could hear it pretty well out on the nearby pier. Thanks to all the other artists who played the series: Sleeping In The Aviary, Brown Derby, Zebras, Those Poor Bastards, The Arge, National Beekeepers Society, El Valiente, DJ Pain 1, DJ Papi Love, His And Her Vanities, The Grizzlies, The Takebacks, Crane Your Swan Neck.
Frog Eyes (6/25, Project Lodge): Frog Eyes makes some of the most tortured, sprawling, cryptic indie-rock on Earth. Here, the band drank tequila from a bottle and sweated along with the crowd in the poorly air-conditioned Project Lodge. Carey Mercer plays and sings as ferociously as he scrawls out those massively wordy lyrics, and his voice is a freakishly effective thing.
And The Moneynotes (7/7, High Noon): To think that I almost didn’t see this show at all and was pretty much oblivious about the band before they came. Good thing they returned in November.
Centro-Matic and The Broken West (9/12, Orpheum Stage Door): So, I wrote a calendar blurb about this show that focused (way too much) on Centro-Matic’s occasionally lo-fi leanings. It was off the mark as far as telling people what to expect from the performance: C-M is a mighty, tight, full-sounding band onstage, and when it does pull of the lo-fi thing on record, it’s because they’re good musicians (and one is also a good engineer). The Broken West’s opening set was catchy, and I’m a grump for not sticking around for Langhorne Slim’s set later in the night.
Forward Music Festival (9/19-20, multiple venues): Quite a rich weekend for the musically curious. My highlights: Neko Case, Bob Mould, Monotonix, His And Her Vanities, Stars Like Fleas, The Dials.
Nick Lowe (10/12, Barrymore): I was determined not to miss this solo-acoustic show, though I was also completely unsure what to expect. It turns out it’s hard not to get entranced by Lowe’s sweetly spaced-out voice and cheeky elegance. Probably the pleasant concert surprise of the year.
Mount Eerie + Julie Doiron (10/21, Gates Of Heaven): Julie Doiron’s lovable but not the least bit cutesy, Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum is odd but not off-putting, and the Gates has enough atmosphere and natural acoustics to rival any club in town.
Anyway, there are limits to even my rambling. It's time to put a lid on it and let you readers do some talking. Here’s the rest of the awesomeness, briefly:
People Noise (1/6, High Noon)
The Midwest Beat (2/9, Crystal Corner Bar)
Christopher O’Riley (3/8, Wisconsin Union Theater)
Jonathan Richman + Vic Chesnutt (3/13, Orpheum Stage Door)
Make A Rising + Kitty Rhombus (3/17, Nottingham Co-Op)
Black Mountain (3/23, High Noon)
Enon + His And Her Vanities (4/20, The Annex)
The New Pornographers + Okkervil River (4/21, Orpheum Theatre)
The Acorn (4/27, Café Montmartre)
Dietrich Gosser (5/4 and way too far into the wee hours of 5/5, but that’s OK, Corral Room)
We Versus The Shark (5/7, Nottingham Co-Op)
Frightened Rabbit (5/30, High Noon)
Birthday Suits (6/4, Revolution Cycles)
Icarus Himself + Vid Libert (6/7, Mother Fool's Coffeehouse)
Dub Trio + Czarbles, Dick The Bruiser (7/25, High Noon)
The Cowboy And The Frenchman (7/26, Project Lodge)
Melvins + Big Business (8/3, High Noon)
Wye Oak (8/11, High Noon Saloon)
The Blind Shake (9/22, Frequency)
Broken Social Scene + Land Of Talk (10/11, Wisconsin Union Theater): Reviewed here.
Alejandro Escovedo (10/16, High Noon)
Pigeon John (11/5, High Noon): Reviewed here by Jordan Selbo.
Loudon Wainwright III (11/16, Majestic Theatre): Reviewed here.
Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings (12/3, Barrymore): Reviewed here.
The Midwest Beat (2/9, Crystal Corner Bar)
Christopher O’Riley (3/8, Wisconsin Union Theater)
Jonathan Richman + Vic Chesnutt (3/13, Orpheum Stage Door)
Make A Rising + Kitty Rhombus (3/17, Nottingham Co-Op)
Black Mountain (3/23, High Noon)
Enon + His And Her Vanities (4/20, The Annex)
The New Pornographers + Okkervil River (4/21, Orpheum Theatre)
The Acorn (4/27, Café Montmartre)
Dietrich Gosser (5/4 and way too far into the wee hours of 5/5, but that’s OK, Corral Room)
We Versus The Shark (5/7, Nottingham Co-Op)
Frightened Rabbit (5/30, High Noon)
Birthday Suits (6/4, Revolution Cycles)
Icarus Himself + Vid Libert (6/7, Mother Fool's Coffeehouse)
Dub Trio + Czarbles, Dick The Bruiser (7/25, High Noon)
The Cowboy And The Frenchman (7/26, Project Lodge)
Melvins + Big Business (8/3, High Noon)
Wye Oak (8/11, High Noon Saloon)
The Blind Shake (9/22, Frequency)
Broken Social Scene + Land Of Talk (10/11, Wisconsin Union Theater): Reviewed here.
Alejandro Escovedo (10/16, High Noon)
Pigeon John (11/5, High Noon): Reviewed here by Jordan Selbo.
Loudon Wainwright III (11/16, Majestic Theatre): Reviewed here.
Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings (12/3, Barrymore): Reviewed here.
Plus whatever I’m forgetting.
Shows I feel dumb for missing: Jim White + Vid Libert (5/8, Orpheum Stage Door), KatJonBand (9/23, Frequency), Eef Barzelay (8/7, Café Montmartre).
Does anybody remember laff-ta?: Neil Hamburger (9/10, High Noon) and The Found Footage Festival (6/27, Stage Door) made excruciatingly funny returns to town this year, but for whatever reason, 2008 felt a little light on comedy. Am I forgetting something entirely? Maybe I just got spoiled in 2007, when Louis C.K., Zach Galifianakis, Brian Regan, and Eugene Mirman all came to town. But Tim & Eric are slated to come through next month, so maybe things will pick up in ’09.
Fire away. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
