2009: The Shows: A Look Back

A look back at the shows of 2009.

I hit 20 (or should on 12/30) and only knowingly missed one show I had tickets for (Do Make Say Think). I am pleased with 20 and it came in bursts. I saw my first show in January and not my second until April. September was my busiest month with five shows, granted 2 of them were the same band.

Here is how stuff shook down in 2009.

January. I went to see Adele at the Somervile Theater. I had never been, and at the tail end of 2008 I really started to dig the Adele cd. I was able to write a review for Melophobe and had a great time doing so, but the site felt dormant with Boston reviews a little later in they year. My review is here.

Fast forward to April and the return of Superdrag to the Paradise. It was April 11th and the band, re-formed touring with new material didn't have a huge crowd, but it was ravenous. Review is here.

May 1st saw me seeing Mogwai at the Wibur Theater. Both were firsts (seeing the band and in this venue). Mogwai had postponed a their Boston show after the drummer fell ill last fall. They balcony was pretty much wide open where I was sitting and they just killed it. Review is here.

June 5th it was time to see Isis for the umteenth time. The place was packed and I was racing down the hall as Pelican was hitting the stage. Pelican was great as always and Isis were pretty heavy as well. Review for this show can be found here.

The very next day was the polar opposite when I caught Phish down at the Comcast Center. I was worried going in to this one, being the only MA show early in the "reunion tour" and on a Saturday, but they were fun. I always try to see them when they are local. You can read what I thought here.

Really changing gears we took the kids to Boston on June 13th to see They Might Be Giants perform their children's material. We had great/close seats and it was just such a blast. The look on the kids faces is 100% worth it. I don't want them to grow up so my wife and I can keep going to these shows. Read about the show here.

At the very end of July (the 31st) Twitter was running a "contest" for free Depeche Mode tickets at the Comcast. I've been a casual fan for years, so what the heck. It was horribly undersold, and the weather was bad to boot. They didn't do as much for me as I had expected. You can see I was less than blown away here.

August 29th I was squeezed in to TT The Bears to see Caspian play their cd release party. It was packed and hotter than balls..and the band killed. They headed off for a Euro tour shortly after and were really in a groove at this show. You can read all about it here.

The very next night it was over to the Bank of America Pavilion to see the Flaming Lips. My buddy Jason called me a day or two before the show reporting he had front row tickets and did I want to go? It was a blast..Explosions in the Sky were one of the openers and it was just such a great fun night. The Lips are one of the most visually fun bands to see live. The review and pictures are here.

September 11th back to the Comcast Center to see Kings of Leon. The band had eluded me on far too many occasions their last trips through town so it was nice to finally see them. Review and a few pictures are here.

Again, as the trend seems to be, the very next night I made it to the new House of Blues in Boston to see The Cult perform one of my favorite records of all time front to back. It was not too crowded and I went with some old buddies. We drank too much and yelled too much. My thoughts can be found here.

September 20th and 21st it was over to the Gillette Stadium to see U2. The massive stage lived up to the hype and the band/show as a whole was "okay". A short Night 1 review is here and the longer night 2 review is here.

September 29th it was back to the Middle East to see Mono. I've seen this band so many times now, they are just awesome live. The night was made even more special to me as Maserati was the opener and I had been really wanting to see them as well. Good thing I did, a few weeks later the drummer from Maserati died by falling down and elevator shaft. The review is here.

October 18th I made it to Great Scott in Boston for the first time ever to see Echo and the Bunnymen. It snowed most of the day which was very odd for the time of year. We had to wait outside while the band soundchecked for ages. The band was decent, but I wanted just that little bit more....a few pictures and review are here.

October 27th it was back the House of Blues for a very sold out Dethklok show..but I went for Mastodon and High on Fire. I was sort of glad I didn't care too much about the headliner. That place gets FULL. My thoughts on it all? Oh..right here.

Halloween night it was down to AS220 in Providence to see Caspian once more. The bummer to this show was they only had 30 minutes or so to play, but on the plus side their set was moved to earlier in the evening. They were awesome as always. Another review is here.

November 14th headed to the TD Garden to see "Star Wars: In Concert" and it was just awesome. I am grateful I won free tickets to this..but I'd honestly pay to see it again in a heartbeat. Read about me "geeking out" right here.

December 2nd saw yet another first for me..my first trip to the middle east upstairs. This time it was to see Russian Circles. Odd choice of a room for them since I swear the last time they played, there were in the larger downstairs room. It is not the best room if you arrive later, but the band made up for it with a great set. Read the review and avoid the crowd(s) right here.

The final show of the year was on December 30th at the Middle East where I saw Caspian yet again. It was part of the "Last Night on Earth" show they have been doing. It was a great time. I didn't do a long review for a few reasons (mostly the holidays/vacation etc). They were in good spirits and played about 1hr. During "Of Foam and Wave" there were four guitar players on stage. It was something to behold.

So, that is about it. I 2010 is already warming up. Hopefully I will see Caspian again in January 1 or 2 times..probably one seems more realistic. Otherwise I have tickets for Wilco in April and would like to see Japandroids and The English Beat before the flowers poke through the snow.

See you at the shows....