Blog

Radiohead - Scottrade Center - 3/9
Buckethead - 2720 Cherokee - 7/26
Band of Horses/My Morning Jacket - Peabody Theater - 8/8
Circle Of Buzzards/Sentridoh/Sebadoh - Off Broadway - 8/15
Son Volt/Phantogram/Dinosaur Jr./Girl Talk - LouFest -8/25/12
Cults/Dawes/Dr. Dog/The Flaming Lips - LouFest - 8/26/12
Making Movies/Tennis - Off Broadway - 9/27
Murder City Players/The Skatalites - Off Broadway - 10/23
The Sea and Cake - Luminary Center for the Arts
Why? - Luminary Center for the Arts - 11/5
Neil Hamburger - Firebird - 11/13
Many Places/The Feed - 12/28

Voting is now open for the April LP Group listening session on Twitter. This month's theme is "Alt-Country Classics"

This will involve anyone who is interested listening to the same album on Twitter at the same time and having a bit of a discussion.

Send five votes to @Lpgrp from the list before 10pm on Friday 16th March 2012. The number only will do. You are unable to vote for an album you nominated.

Please send a Direct Message or a Mention.

Please send all of your comments to @LPGrp. This will hopefully clear the clutter from your timelines for your followers.

To follow the session search @LPGrp with a program such as Tweetdeck.

Everyone is welcome!

The session will take place at 9pm on Sunday 1st April 2012

The previous @lpgrp Sessions are as follows;

January - 'Great album' - Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
February - 'Debut' - Portisthead - Dummy
March - 'Women' - PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
…

Alternative country (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, or Americana) is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music. It has been used to describe country music bands and artists that have incorporated influences ranging from roots rock, bluegrass, rockabilly, honky-tonk, alternative rock, folk rock, and particularly punk.

16 Horsepower - Sackcloth 'n' Ashes (1996)
Alejandro Escovedo - Thirteen Years (1994)
Alice Texas - Sad Days (2005)
The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism (2007)
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle (2009)
Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue (1998)
Blue Rodeo - Five Days in July (1993)
Bob Wayne - Blood to Dust (2006)
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - I See a Darkness (1999)
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (2005)
The Broken Family Band - Balls (2006)
Caitlin Cary - While You Weren't Looking (2002)
Calexico - The Black Light (1998)
Califone - Quicksand/Cradlesnakes (2003)
…

*-Date needed
**-Recording

1977
XX/XX/77 TV Toy
Morristown, NJ*

1982
05/05/82 David Bromberg
Princeton College, Princeton, NJ (front row center)
11/06/82 Jefferson Starship/.38 Special
Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
12/03/82 Rush/Rory Gallagher
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

1983
02/13/83 Aerosmith
Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
02/22/83 Eric Clapton
Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
05/05/83 Journey
Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
08/18/83 The Police/Joan Jett/R.E.M.
Shea Stadium, Flushing, NY**

1984
02/07/84 The Police/Reflex
Convention Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
05/07/84 Yes
Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ **
06/21/84 Modern English/Men Without Hats
The Ritz, New York, NY (Backstage)*
06/24/84 Grateful Dead
Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga, NY**
06/27/84 King Crimson
Pier 84, New York, NY**
07/16/84 David Gilmour
Pier 84, New York, NY
…

Irritatingly, although there are plenty of tools for analysing last.fm listening stats, I can't find an equivalent for event listings, so this has had to be fairly painfully manual.

I attended 126 shows this year, up 3 from last year and an average of a gig every 2.9 days. I've watched approximately 238 distinct bands/artists.

My most frequently seen artists were (showing everybody I caught three or more times):

Unit Nine (7 shows)
Aidy (5 shows)
The Mekons (4 shows)
Sachanovak (4 shows)
Eureka Stockade (3 shows)
Spiers & Boden / Jon Boden (3 shows)
Midway Still (3 shows)
The Pony Collaboration (3 shows)
The Travis Waltons (3 shows)
The Whybirds (3 shows)

Strangely, this will bear little resemblance to the meat of this article, my favourite gigs of the year. Notable by their absence, though, are The Broken Family Band. Sob.

So, breaking with my usual convention and starting with #10 first, to preserve suspense:

…

The venues are in San Francisco, Ca unless noted. Will add comments later. If you have comments, just message me or give me a shout.

Acetone 11.24.93 Slim's
Adamski 6.27.90 I-Beam
American Music Club 5.3.93 Slim's
Armoured Saint Central Park Bandshell La Palma,Ca
The Auteurs 4.22.93 Paradise Lounge
Beachwood Sparks Bottom Of The Hill
Beachwood Sparks Slim's
Beat Farmers 8.11.90 Slim's(First Set)
Beck 4.18.94 Slim's
Adrian Belew 9.16.89 Jones Beach Amphitheatre Wantagh,NY
Adrian Belew 9.17.89 Garden State Arts Center Holmdel,NJ
The Bel-Fires LA Street Scene LA,Ca
Belly 4.13.93 Slim's(First Show)
Bettie Serveert 10.17.93 Great American Music Hall
Bettie Serveert 4.6.93 Club Oasis San Jose,Ca
Bettie Serveert The Fillmore
Beulah Bimbo's
The Black Watch 2.17.94 Bottom Of The Hill
Blake Babies 2.11.91 Slim's
Blood on the Saddle LA Street Scene LA,Ca
Blow-Up The Roxy Hollywood,Ca
The Blue Aeroplanes 7.1.90 The Warfield
Blue Nile 8.1.90 Great American Music Hall
The Bluetones 9.11.96 Bottom Of The Hill
…