The Best of 2017

Another year has come and gone and it’s time to sum it all up. Here are the top 10 regular shows and top 10 festival sets of 2017.

Top 10 Shows (in chronological order) 1. Escort, Brooklyn Bowl 2. Marian Hill, Music Hall of Williamsburg 3. Deadmau5, Hammerstein Ballroom 4. Too Many Zooz, Brooklyn Bowl 5. Maddy O’Neal, American Beauty 6. Robert Delong, South Street Seaport 7. Lady Gaga, Citi Field 8. Kesha, Hammerstein Ballroom 9. Odesza, Barclays Center 10 Gramatik, Terminal 5

Top 10 Festival Sets 1. Lorde, Governors Ball 2. Flume, Governors Ball 3. Turkuaz, Disc Jam 4. TroyBoi, Electric Forest 5. Odesza, Electric Forest 6. Opiuo, Electric Forest 7. Gramatik, Camp Bisco 8. Pretty Lights, Camp Bisco 9. Barclay Crenshaw, Elements 10. Weezer, The Meadows

Worst 10 Shows In an effort to be a more positive person, I’m not doing this list anymore. But I am 100% happy to discuss the shows I didn’t like with anyone who wants to know. There were many disappointments, unfortunately.

As always, here are some super important awards to bestow:

Biggest Festival Or should I say, “Big”gest festival. That goes to Meadows, for hosting Big Wild, Big Boi, and Big Gigantic.

Nicest Crowd Phish, Madison Square Garden. So polite and friendly!

Most Awkward Moment Stevie Wonder bringing Pharrell on stage at Global Citizen Festival and then embarrassing him by forcing him to sing a song where he didn’t know the lyrics and then embarrassing him even further by making him sing “Happy” 3 times in a row.

Best Venue Brooklyn Bowl

Worst Venue None! I didn’t hate any venues this year, possibly due to the fact that I did not go to a single warehouse party. Truly amazing.

Best Throwback Show Backstreet Boys, Jones Beach. Runner up:  Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Webster Hall

Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Most Joyful Set Turkuaz, Disc Jam. I have never experienced as much collective positive energy as I did during this set. This was not a quiet, peaceful joy. This was a raucous outpouring of happiness. People were dancing as if they were possessed by exuberant spirits.

Best Street Team/Fan BaseRobert Delong, whose street team paints faces during his performances. I traveled all the home on the train like this and I cared not one iota.

Biggest Heartbreak When Elements Festival moved from Brooklyn (within walking distance of my house!) to the Bronx. It was still an A+ festival but man that stung.

Most Pleasant Surprise Vourteque, whom I stumbled upon randomly during Electric Forest. It was a delightful electro-swing set that even the security guards couldn’t help but boogie down to.

Most Evolved Band Bob Moses. The first time I saw them they played deep house. 2 years later they have morphed into an indie rock band? I don’t get it, but I’m okay with it. Runner up – Break Science. After a number of performances with Mark Brownstein and Aron Magner of The Disco Biscuits (as Breaking Biscuits), Break Science has definitely incorporated a jammier sound into their sets.

In Memoriam I saw Charles Bradley perform at Governors Ball this year and he has since left this world because cancer is a bitch. He was a talented, soulful musician. Also – I haven’t seen Linkin Park perform in awhile but Chester Bennington’s death still hurts.

Next up will be everyone’s favorite (and by that I mean my favorite) post, the concert stats! Followed by a goals check-in and maybe goal-setting for 2018 (or maybe I will abandon music-related goals – TBD!).