2007 Show Review

Well, because I'm weird I keep a list of all the bands I see live. 2007 was a good year, even without attending Bonnaroo.

Alexi Murdoch - Headliner's Music Hall
Andrew Bird - Buskirk-Chumley Theater
Backyard Tire Fire - The Vogue
Charlie Louvin - The Brown Theatre
Damien Rice - The Louisville Palace
Dierks Bentley - Freedom Hall
Govt Mule - The Vogue
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - The Vogue
Jason Aldean - Freedom Hall
Jenny Devoe - The Vogue
Jim James - The Rudyard Kipling
JJ Grey & Mofro - The Bluebird
JJ Grey & Mofro - The Vogue
John Butler Trio - Headliner's Music Hall
Josh Turner - The Great Lawn at Waterfront Park
Kellie Pickler - Freedom Hall
Ki: Theory - Headliner's Music Hall
Man Man - The Egyptian Room
Midnight Movies - Headliner's Music Hall
Modest Mouse - The Egyptian Room
Nickel Creek - The Ryman Auditorium
Patty Griffin - The Vogue
Paula Cole - The Brown Theatre
Rascal Flatts - Freedom Hall
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - The Brown Theatre
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - The Brown Theatre
Ryan Shaw - WFPK Studios
Sarah Elizabeth Whitehead - The Rudyard Kipling
Shaggy Wanda - The Bluebird
Shooter Jennings - The Bluebird
Suzanne Vega - The Brown Theatre
Terremoto - The Vogue
The National - Headliner's Music Hall
Trace Adkins - Freedom Hall
Vietnam - The Brown Theatre

Since it's the end of the year, I'm obligated to also make a best-of list. SO, the best five live performances I saw were (in no particular order):

Damien Rice - Beautiful show. Damien Rice is surprisingly funny on stage. The highlight of the show was when he sang Cannonball without any amplification. Pretty impressive in a 4000 seat theatre.
Dierks Bentley - Not only did Dierks have a set of bluegrass songs within his larger set, but he came out into the crowd. Not pretentious rock star style with the stage in middle of the crowd, but jumped off stage on whim and ran around in the crowd. It was a really fun show.
JJ Grey & Mofro (at The Bluebird) - Small crowd (people are dumb). Small venue. Great party. JJ Grey got pretty drunk and at one point was lying on his back singing a song. It was great. The Bluebird is so small that the fans always end up buying drinks for the artists. Then it gets wild.
Nickel Creek - The final show of the Farewell For Now tour. At The Ryman. Incredible show. Enough said.
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - This was his second show at The Brown. He is as weird as he is an incredible musician. Meaning that he is really weird and really incredible.
Ryan Shaw - This was a WFPK live lunch and because they were playing it over the air, it was in this little recording studio with a tiny crowd. Ryan Shaw has great energy and made it really fun. Plus I got a set list. Plus, I talked to Ryan.

You probably noticed that my top five had six. Well, it's my top five, so if I want it to have six it can. It should be noted that I didn't get to see My Morning Jacket this year, and that is sad.

The most disappointing show was the Govt Mule show at The Vogue. While faithful, the Govt Mule fans are terrible. I was really excited for the show too.

Just saw Patterson Hood's reviews for shows of the year over on Jambase, and now I'm kicking myself for not picking up those sweet tix to see Bruce Springsteen at Conseco in Indianapolis. Maybe $100 a pop, was worth it. Maybe, I just remembered that I'm broke.

Song Recommendation - Aint Love Strange by Paul Thorn