Popular With Me 2010: My favorite live shows
Kevin Bronson on
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More than 220 shows later, my 2010 draws to a close. I was fortunate to have witnessed some exhilarating live performances the past 12 months. My top 10:
1. Fitz & the Tantrums and the Heavy, July 15 at the Hammer Museum
Yes, some selfish interests were at work on this night, owing to the fact that I had the honor of curating the Hammer’s Also I Like to Rock Series in July. Each of the series’ four shows was electric, but something special was in the air when Fitz & the Tantrums – on their way to becoming one of L.A.’s great breakout bands of 2010 – kicked off the evening with 45 minutes of sweaty soul. Then the Heavy, playing their last U.S. show after three-plus months on tour, shook off the road fatigue to one-up the locals with 45 minutes of furious funk. [Gallery.] Photo by Laurie Scavo.
The next week, a surprisingly good bootleg recording of Fitz’s set emerged on the Internet. I shared it with Patrick Mundy, the excellent engineer who made the shows sound so fantastic. A couple of months later, he sent it back to me – remastered – with this note: “I remember July 15th being a beautiful and hot evening and it got even hotter while Fitz and his amazing group performed (cliché but true). They set the place on fire. I still have no idea where this bootleg came from (the original version that surfaced sounds like either a hand-held 2-track but most likely an XLR mono loop out from the powered Delay line speakers … I suspect this is the case because of some of mono summing artifacts that I can hear). By the way, I can write a huge dissertation on why board out recordings are always different than what happened live, but I thought the bootleg did not do full justice of what really happened at the Hammer that night – that’s why I remastered this live recording. I tried to make the bootleg a little better by remastering the project.” And here are the remastered tracks:
||| Download: Fitz & the Tantrums at the Hammer Museum (116 MB)
2. The National, May 22 at the Wiltern
This photograph probably says more than I could, or did, about this memorable night with Matt Berninger and the National. Remind me to buy a print. [Gallery/review.] Photo by Laurie Scavo.
3. Arcade Fire, Aug. 8 at Lollapalooza
Weather patterns changed. It’s too bad L.A. audiences had to brave the Shrine to see Arcade Fire, but there’s always this year’s Coachella. [Review.]
4. Fever Ray, April 16 at Coachella
I swear Fever Ray made me so delirious that I even liked Pavement later in the festival. [Review/gallery.] Photo by Debi Del Grande.
5. F*cked Up, March 20 at SXSW
Just add mud. [Gallery.]
6. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Aug. 7 at Lollapalooza.
Crack wise about hippies all you want to, but this was a total love-in. [Review.]
7. Teenage Fanclub, Oct. 11 at the El Rey
Hey, it was my birthday. The folks at the El Rey were very kind to me, friends were there, and a bunch of Scotsmen over whom I’ve swooned for two decades played one of the most sparkling sets I’ve ever witnessed. Truly special. [Gallery.] Photo by Laurie Scavo.
8. Cold War Kids, Jan. 22 at the Wiltern
After following these guys from the Silverlake Lounge on up, it was great to see them carry a big room. [Review.] Oh, and by the way, the band distributed a recording of the show afterward.
||| Download: Cold War Kids at the Wiltern (111 MB)
9. The Thermals, Nov. 16, at the El Rey Theatre
Best mosh pit I was in this year, even at a rather underattended show. By the way, why aren’t the Thermals huge stars? Because they’re too cool or too indie to play to Bad Religion’s crowd?
10. Eastern Conference Champions, Spaceland residency
Couple my deep affection for this trio’s music with my hankering to see mind-blowing, set-ending drum circles (yes, Deadly Syndrome, you were there first), and September was a month to remember. Photo by Debi Del Grande.
Which reminds me of another short list
Club shows, of course, are my bread and butter, so here’s a short list of L.A. bands whose shows I highly recommend based on quality of music, proficiency at rocking it and the chances you’ll leave the venue stained in sweat:
Saint Motel
Shadow Shadow Shade
Vanaprasta
Voxhaul Broadcast (pictured)
We Barbarians
i saw alot of great local club shows this year
heck i saw you at most of them too
was very surprised by an ommision from you ” I highly recommend based on quality of music, proficiency at rocking it and the chances you’ll leave the venue stained in sweat: (list)”
Red Cortez
they must be on that list ” I highly recommend based on quality of music, proficiency at rocking it and the chances you’ll leave the venue stained in sweat and you will feel you need to go out and make your place a better place (list:)”
night in and night they took to stages and just lifted the room and demanded those there pay attention no matter how many there were.
seeing them on citywalk was a real odd site but they did not play “welcome to la to the tourists”
Red Cortez demands your attention and deserves it every goddamn night.
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You missed Jonsi at the Wiltern. That was an amazing show if you’re into that. Also, AA Bondy’s various performances (Spaceland & Detroit Bar) had audiences transfixed and quiet — yes, in L.A.