My Favorite Live Shows of 2009
This is in chronological order, not order of preference. Honorable mentions include PATTON OSWALT at the Keswick Theater, JAY REATARD with SCREAMING FEMALES and WOMEN at Johnny Brenda’s, DEAN AND BRITTA at the Arts Bank and NEGATIVE APPROACH at the First Unitarian Church.
The Dickies – Record Collector (Bordentown, NJ) – January 1, 2009
Appropriately enough, as I type this on January 1st of the new year 2010, this list begins with a show I saw exactly one year ago. The only other time I saw The Dickies (more than fourteen years earlier at City Gardens in Trenton, NJ), they were, frankly, a mess. Classic songs like “Give It Back” were almost unrecognizable since they were played in such a sloppy fashion. I don’t know why they’ve improved so much since then, but they were fabulous at this record store gig, incidentally booked by the same person (RANDY NOW) who booked them so many times at City Gardens in the ’80s and ’90s.
My full review of this show can be found here.
The Feelies with Qatsi – Johnny Brenda’s (Philadelphia, PA) – March 13, 2009
While it was great to see The Feelies open for SONIC YOUTH on July 4th, 2008, nothing can compare to seeing them in a small club with great sound like Johnny Brenda’s.
My full review of this show can be found here.
Neko Case with Crooked Fingers – Keswick Theater (Glenside, PA) – April 10, 2009
I’m not picking this show because it was necessarily better or more memorable than the similar show she played in July at the Kimmel Center, but because she’s my favorite singer alive right now and one of my favorite songwriters, too.
My full review of this show can be found here.
Dinosaur Jr with Mike Watt – Chameleon Club (Lancaster, PA) – May 1, 2009
While Dinosaur Jr’s set wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as the previous ones we’d seen, Watt stole the show with a set of mostly MINUTEMEN songs with his band, appropriately enough named THE MISSINGMEN. Dinosaur Jr bassist LOU BARLOW even joined them for a song, too!
X with Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts – World Cafe Live (Philadelphia, PA) – June 4, 2009
Although EXENE CERVENKA announced publicly that she has MS just a few days before this show, one would never know out from this performance. X are an age-defying force of nature, fully capturing the spirit of their greatest work each time I’ve seen them with their original lineup. It’s too bad that we couldn’t stay for the encore, which I heard featured just Exene and JOHN DOE play acoustic versions of “See How We Are” and other songs, but the main set was simply awesome.
Jay Reatard with TV Smith – Johnny Brenda’s (Philadelphia, PA) – July 4, 2009
Although Jay’s subsequent show at Johnny Brenda’s a few months later (with excellent openers SCREAMING FEMALES and WOMEN) was great, too, the nod has to go to this show with former ADVERTS legend TV Smith. After Smith’s solo set (which we unfortunately got there too late for), Jay played his usual thirty-five minute wham-bam-thank-you-m’am set and then brought out Smith for the encore. At this point, they performed 3 Adverts classic with Jay and his (now former) band backing him. To say that this was excellent was an understatement.
My full review of this show can be found here.
Mark Burgess with The Lost Patrol and The Silence Kit – Blockley Pourhouse (Philadelphia, PA) – August 11, 2009
Out of all the shows on this list, this was by far the biggest surprise of the year.
Could a Mark Burgess solo show where he’s backed up by a pickup band playing CHAMELEONS songs be good? Not only was it good, but it was amazing. Both Burgess and his band were in great form and of course, the song selection was excellent, too.
Naked Raygun with Paint It Black, Shot Baker and Leather – First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA) – September 10, 2009
Naked Raygun’s first Philadelphia show ever (!) was a smashing success. I was in ecstasy as they played just about everything I could have hoped from their ’80s catalog. The new songs sounded great, too!
The Gerunds with Negative Zeros and The Spades – Tritone (Philadelphia, PA) – September 11, 2009
The live debut of Philadelphia’s own Gerunds was simply terrific. A bunch of originals followed up by a cover of THE UNDERTONES‘ “Teenage Kicks” that segued nicely into DAG NASTY‘s “Dag Nasty” made for a very memorable evening.
Rorschach with 1.6 Band and Halo of Snakes – First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA) – September 27, 2009
My full review of this show can be found here.
