Our favorite concerts of 2010

We spent a lot of time at concerts this year, and what do we have to show for it? A lot of exhausted mornings, significant hearing loss, and some fond memories. Here, our A.V. Club local writers and photographers recall their favorites.

Tune-Yards, 7th Street Entry, April 2
Tune-Yards is Merrill Garbus, an Oakland multi-instrumentalist whose 2009 album, BiRd-BrAiNs, is bejeweled with intricate drum patterns and abrasive samples. At the Entry, she recreated those patchwork compositions live, with bassist Nate Brenner as her only assistance, by looping beats from a snare and tom, while accompanying herself on a ukulele she alternately strummed and thumped and picked. Yet this feat of instrumental juggling wasn’t even the main attraction. Garbus is a crazily wide-ranging vocalist, and whether adapting her voice to a folkie lilt or an African chant or a theatrical belt, she’s playful but never twee, virtuosic but never showoffish, melodically intricate but never atonal. The night’s headliner, Xiu Xiu, wasn’t even worth staying for—some acts are just unfollowable. [Keith Harris]

Jónsi, Pantages Theatre, April 24-25
There aren’t enough positive adjectives in the English language to describe Jónsi’s show at the Pantages Theatre in April, but beautiful, stunning, and awe-inspiring all come to mind. Jónsi is the guitarist and vocalist for Sigur Rós, and this was his first outing on his own to support his 2010 album, Go. A team of theatrical designers created the set for this tour, and it showed. Details, details, details—from the burned-out greenhouse to the lovely animation to Jónsi’s costume, everything was well-thought-out and perfectly satisfying. [Stacy Schwartz]

Gayngs, First Avenue, May 14
Let’s face it: Most of us were probably at least a little disappointed with our experiences at our own proms—especially those of us whose dates ended up slow-dancing with some lanky sophomore jackass. But back in May, Gayngs offered us the chance at redemption with their release show for Relayted. Everyone was dressed to the nines in the puffiest, powder-bluest formalwear they could find. All anyone could talk about the next day was how Prince nearly got up and played the encore with the Midwest supergroup. But the show’s transcendent moment came before that: Justin Vernon’s dead-on Bizzy Bone impression on “The Last Prom On Earth” triggered a massive balloon drop, and while the ivory balloons rained down emblazoned with the gold Gayngs logo, everyone got to feel, at least for a moment, like the king or queen of their own private prom. [Steve McPherson]

Mos Def, Guthrie Theater, Aug. 23
Recording artist Mos Def didn’t do live performer Mos Def many favors when he released 2009’s The Ecstatic. The standout album wanders and rambles, unconcerned with radio playability and more interested in loitering in crate-dug samples from around the globe. Making this particular show even odder was the setting: Mos made a temporary home on the Guthrie’s Streetcar Named Desire set, sauntering out onto a balcony as part of his grand entrance and, of course, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to yell, “Stella!” high into the rafters. The MC handily mixed new and old tracks as if Ecstatic wasn’t an experimental curve ball, and just like his album, he was in no hurry to get to the end, happily dancing to old vinyl spun by his DJs in between songs. [Lindsey Thomas]

K’Naan, First Avenue, Oct. 16
Somali-born rapper K’Naan united what seemed to be an entire city—or at the very least, a packed venue—on a crisp Saturday night in October. During his anthemic international hit, “Wavin’ Flag” (made famous by its use as a World Cup song), the audience raised their fists and the flags of their countries high, a moment that just radiated pure inspiration and joy. [Alexa Jones]

Deerhunter, Fine Line Music Cafe, Oct. 23
Bradford Cox, Deerhunter’s spindly brainchild, is a one-of-a-kind dude. He’s weird, but we love it. He acts like a 9-year-old, but we just laugh. He actually saved those teenage tape recordings we all used to make—and they’re good! Cox used his pseudo-naïveté to create a magical shoegazing experience at the band’s Fine Line show. While he smelled his armpits and eroticized stoned-to-the-bone bassist Josh Fauver, Deerhunter sonically assaulted the pitch-perfect acoustics of the club with stunning versions of classics (“Nothing Ever Happened,” “Little Kids”) and nearly all of its latest record, Halcyon Digest. The band’s Misfit Toy-like lineup looks strangely piecemeal onstage, as if each member has his own agenda, but these guys are still one of the most incredible, engaging groups playing today. [Dusty Altena]

A Celebration Of The Life Of Micheal “Eyedea” Larsen, First Avenue, Nov. 9
One very human reaction to a memorial show for a 28-year-old, particularly someone as great as Eyedea, is hating that the show exists—you want the person to be alive. How can a night of entertainment answer this sentiment? Very well, it turns out, and the key was Kathy Averill, Eyedea’s mom, who organized the event and mustered the eloquence to give everyone permission to feel whatever, including pleasure. The friends-and-family-made video of Mikey’s life was documentary-quality, but also funny and loose, and so was the concert. Aesop Rock performed with Kimya Dawson, the Battlecats danced, the Abstract Pack rapped, and Alpha Consumer sang, “Sleep tight, baby.” Abilities spun an Eyedea set that made his love plain, his hand dancing in the air to his partner’s rapid-fire flow. In the closing cipher, Felipe rapped about Eyedea getting him to play live drums on tour. Eyedea pushed everyone he loved to be better, Slug said afterward. The proof was all around. [Peter S. Scholtes]