RANDY RAY
Favorite Live Performances of 2009
1. Phish – Hampton, VA – 3/6/09
2. Phish – Indio, CA – 10/31/09
3. Elvis Costello, Allen Toussaint, and friends – Manchester, TN – 6/13/09
4. Zappa Plays Zappa – Phoenix, AZ – 2/26/09
5 Moonalice – Mesa, AZ – 3/28/09
Favorite 2009 Release
1. Porcupine Tree – The Incident
2. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
3. Gov’t Mule – By a Thread
4. Michael Hurley – Ida Con Snock
5. White Denim – Fits
Favorite Reissue
1. The Beatles – entire catalogue on mono and stereo
2. Phish – Clifford Ball
3. Grateful Dead – Road Trips, v. 2, n. 2, Carousel 2/14/68
Go To Disc Or Show (not from 2009)
1. Phish – 11/22/97
2. John Coltrane – Ascension and Interstellar Space
3. Beatles for Sale
4. Led Zeppelin – 1973 European tour, specifically the German dates
5. Porcupine Tree – entire discography
*****
JOHN GATTA
Favorite Live Performances of 2009
1. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, 11/22/09, Buffalo, NY , HSBC Arena with the full performance of “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” at what may have been the band’s last hurrah.
2. The Dead, 05/02/09, Philadelphia (Wachovia) Spectrum because the band was very “on” that night and the crowd’s singing overpowered the PA volume levels.
3. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, 11/10/09, Cleveland, OH , Quicken Loans Arena with the full performance of “Born to Run” and shaming many of those more than half of Springsteen’s age.
Favorite 2009 Release
1. “The Sun Came Out” 7 Worlds Collide An ad hoc grouping with members of Wilco and Radiohead glued together by the delicious pop smarts of Neil Finn.
2. Grateful Dead Winterland June 1977: The Complete Recordings WOW! It wasn’t all left at Barton Hall.
3. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Live Anthology because it was about time they dropped the humility and showed the world what they’re really all about.
4. The Flaming Lips Embryonic Just you wait! I was right about the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique and Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk. You’ll come around to this psychedelic freak out that throbs and pulses like a liquid light show of the mind/“Veckatimest” Grizzly Bear floats by in all its velvety hazy glory like an extended version of Brian Wilson producing the Beatles’ “Sun King” with the aid of Tim Finn.
5. The Black Crowes Before the Frost…Until the Freeze Practice makes perfect.
6. (bonus) Avett Brothers I and Love and You Deep, visceral, haunting and lasting.
Favorite Reissue
1. The Beatles remasters because it’s THE BEATLES!
2. Big Star Keep An Eye on the Sky (box set) finally made me a believer.
3. Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique /DEVO Are We Not Men? We Are DEVO! because both were and remain brilliant.
4. Olatunji Drums of Passion / More Drums of Passion – goes to the heart of the matter.
Go To Disc Or Show (not from 2009)
1. Bob Mould Workbook
2. The Clash London Calling
3. The Band A Musical History Disc 3
4. Sly and the Family Stone Greatest Hits
5. Diga Rhythm Band Diga
6. Chromeo Fancy Footwork
*****
BRIAN FERDMAN
Favorite Live Performances of 2009
1. 7-16-09 I Want To Take You Higher – Steven Bernstein’s Millenial Territory Orchestra with Special Guest pay tribute to Sly & The Family Stone at Castle Clinton in NYC (We weren’t even halfway through and I knew it was the show of the year. http://ferdmania.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-want-to-take-you-higher-show-of-year.html )
2. 11-7-09 Anders Osborne at Sullivan Hall NYC
3. 4-29-09 Chazfest New Orleans, LA
4. 11-24-09 Phish Philadelphia, PA
5. 4-29-09 George Porter, Jr., Teresa Anderson, Johnny Vidacovich, and Anders Osborne at Tipitina’s New Orleans, LA
Favorite 2009 Release
1. Preservation Hall jazz Band – New Orleans Preservation, Vol. I
2. U2 – No Line on the Horizon
3. The Lost Fingers – Lost in the ‘80s
4. Afroskull – To Obscurity and Beyond
5. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears – Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is
Favorite Reissue
1. The Beatles Remasters
2. The Rolling Stones Remasters
Go To Disc Or Show (not from 2009)
1. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings’ 100 Days 100 Nights
2. Stax/Volt Revue Live in Norway (DVD)
3. Tom Jones – This is Tom Jones Vol. I (DVD)
4. Grateful Dead – American Beauty
5. Lou Donaldson – Midnight Creeper
No Comments comments associated with this post