From my vantage point there are five ideal ways that music can be consumed. In no particular order: #1 - Vinyl. We have a room in our house devoted to music. There are very big speakers. Very old components (like, older than me old), and lots of vinyl records. If you don't know why anyone would want to listen to an album on vinyl instead of streaming or mp3, please take this exit and find the nearest Spotify station. #2 - Headphones. If you can't flood a tower of 15 inch speakers with 1,000 watts of power, go with the next best thing. Headphones (especially these new bass boosting, noise canceling ones) will tune out the world and turn up the subtle nuances of the music that can otherwise get lost. An added bonus is that you don't have to hear yourself sing when you are wearing headphones. #3 - Driving. For me, there is no greater therapy than windows down, stereo up, singing at the top of my lungs at 70 mph. During my three years on the road I am convinced this was the one thing that kept me sane. #4 - Friends. Some of my greatest memories in life involve a room full of people singing together like we were the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Buffett, one hit wonders, anything. Music is magical in its ability to be so intimately personal, while at the same time being communal, and there is no better way to experience it than with your best friends singing along. #5 - Live. Music isn't truly, fully, music, unless it is live. Music at its heart is about expression and connection and you cannot do either any better than live, missed notes, cracked voices, forgotten lyrics and all. I love live music. I can even enjoy music that I typically don't like, if it is live. I've even been converted to music that I hated because I heard it performed live (more about that in a minute). Here are the top five concerts I saw this year in no particular order.
Houndmouth at Miller Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I've raved about Houndmouth over and over on this blog in the past year and I will one more time. It doesn't get much better than this night. I was in Chattanooga, which has rapidly become one of my new favorite cities to visit. I was with an old friend who is just as musically obsessed as I am, that I don't get to hang out with much anymore. I got to visit a couple who are dear friends that have opened their home to me on many occasions and joined me in experiencing many of my greatest joys. I got to eat great local pizza before the show and awesome custom hamburgers after. Oh and did I mention I got to stand at the stage and see Houndmouth for free?!?! I love their record and they are great live. The crowd started kind of sparse and disinterested, but the bad slowly changed that. It was awesome to watch the crowd go from small and half hearted, to packed and partying. During their hour and a half set they won the crowd over. As a bonus I picked up their album on vinyl.
Tab Benoit at the University Auditorium/University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. This was the fulfillment of a long held dream. I've been a fan of Tab Benoit for a long time, I've stayed in his home town and even have a friend who worked at a spa where his wife frequented, but I'd never seen him live. First of all, the venue automatically became one of my all time favorites (the Ryman will always be king). It never was a church but it looks like some kind of Gothic cathedral. It is gorgeous, the campus is gorgeous, the acoustics are fantastic and it has more character than any place I've ever been. On top of that I was able to take my wife and mother in law to share in the experience. We had good seats and it was a very small, intimate show. It was almost more like hanging out with him that being at a concert. He talked with the crowd more than anyone I've ever seen and he took requests for basically the entire setlist. And let me tell you, the dude can flat wear out a guitar. It was mind blowing just to watch him play. And to top it all off I got to meet him after the show and get a picture for the scrapbook.
Soundgarden/Nine Inch Nails at Midflorida Credit Union Amphitheater in Tampa, FL. So much was against this being a good concert. I had worked hard in the yard all day and was exhausted. I had to drive three hours in the rain. It was an amphitheater (I hate amphitheaters). And let's be honest, these "rock stars" are older than me, so I just wasn't sure if they could pull off the cool factor anymore, much less sound good live in their forties. However, there were a few things working in its favor. I was with my oldest, they are two of my favorite bands and I had seen them both in my teens. Nostalgia is always good for bonus points. I first saw Soundgarden at Lollapalooza in Atlanta when I was 15. It was arguably the coolest day in my life, I'll tell you about it sometime. I first saw NIN at Vanderbilt in Nashville my freshman year of college. This is where it all gets very surreal. I remember discovering Led Zeppelin and The Doors when I was a teenager, you know, my parents music, oldies. I have lived long enough to witness my son discover my music, you know oldies. He's a fan of Soundgarden so it was very bizarre to see them with him. Here is where it really takes a turn into the Twilight Zone. I saw NIN when I was 19 (the same age him) and I was there with his mother, who was pregnant with him at the time (though we wouldn't find out for a couple of weeks). I have to admit it was one of those moments where you just think "what a strange turn of events." To top it all off, both acts sounded surprisingly great live. I was honestly expecting the worst, but they sounded good, in fact Soundgarden sounded better than when I heard them 23 years ago.
Trevor Hall with Tubby Love & Cas Haley at Ringside in St. Petersburg, FL. This one caught me off guard. It had all the makings for a great night from the start. I'm on a date weekend with Her in St. Pete, so there was that, however, I didn't really want to be there because I hated Trevor Hall, but she loves him, and I'm nothing if not a husband who wants to make every wish come true, so I went. Expectations couldn't be lower. Oh how I was surprised. Despite the fact that the demographic wasn't mine (mostly real hippies and wanna be hippies), the atmosphere was good and the music was fantastic. Trevor Hall won me over with that live performance. We were right against the stage and it was very stripped down: upright bass, acoustic guitar, guy playing a wooden box, huge ring of keys (not kidding) and various other jingly items. The music was simple, genuine and powerful. I became a fan that night. I also dug the opening act Tubby Love, who is....I don't even know how to describe him. It's like he walked out of the rainforest having been raised by mother nature and wild animals. He was like a Mowgli with a guitar. He made animals sounds and sang about injustice, corporate greed and environmentalism (none of which are topics that are in my political wheelhouse), and yet he convinced me to listen, and if not agree, to at lest respect his point of view. For two months now I have listened to these two artists almost everyday since. That is what live music can do. I can't wait to see them live again now that I can sing along. Awwww yeah, awwww yeah (inside joke).
Trombone Shorty at Curtis Hixon Park in Tampa, FL. This was a dream come true. I have been dying to see Trombone Shorty for a long time and I finally was able to back in March. He did not disappoint. The setting was perfect. Palm trees, sunset, lazy river, downtown Tampa (which is one of my favorite cities). Trombone Shorty puts on arguably the best show I've ever seen. The electricity, his energy, his level of performance just blew the place away. And that is saying something since it was an outdoor show and that is a hard atmosphere to control, but he owned it from the moment he took the stage until he walked off. Honestly, it was like seeing a young James Brown. The worst part of the show was that I was alone (although I did meet a lady beside me who was from Fayetteville, TN, 25 miles from where I am from) and that I haven't been able to see him live since. I am hooked and will be seeing Trombone Shorty every opportunity I have.
Honorable mention - Dr. John at Aaron Bessant Park Amphitheater in Panama City Beach, FL. Here is the truth, the show wasn't great at all, but....it was Mardi Gras weekend, it was at the beach, it was a getaway weekend with Her, it was FREE and we were right up next to the stage, oh, and did I mention it was Dr. John!?!? Yet another artist I had been dying to see for so long. All in all, the experience was worth it even if the show itself wasn't great.
That's my list of the five (six) best concerts I saw this year. I missed out on a few that I'm still kicking myself over (Jason Isbell in Live Oak, FL, literally 30 minutes from my house and at the Ryman; Kermit Ruffins in Jacksonville, FL; Houndmouth at the Ryman with Drive By Truckers; Chris Robinson Brotherhood in Live Oak, FL), but I've got a few awesome ones I'll get to mark off the bucket list in 2015 (Voice Of The Wetland Allstars in January in Tallahassee and a Valentine's Weekend getaway with Her to St. Pete to see Harry Connick Jr). I have a feeling those two are already on my top five for 2015.
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