Sonic Parthenon's The Year In Music 2009: Part 2 - The Concerts

The record for most gigs in a year (75 in 2007) is safe and looking safe for now but 2009 was not a slouch 365 rotations. There have been a host of memorable shows. Should any unexpected shows arise between now and 11:59:59 on 12/31, I'll retroactively tack it on here.

John Doe and Exene at MHOW

DeVotchKa; Clare & The Reasons @ Webster Hall

Illinois @ Fontana's

Pains of Being Pure at Heart; Cause Co-Motion! @ Mercury Lounge

The Duke Spirit @ MHOW

The Airborne Toxic Event @ Bowery Ballroom

The Ting Tings @ Terminal 5

Chris Cubeta; Bryan Dunn; Shwa Losben @ Mercury Lounge

Camera Obscura @ the Bell House and the Mercury Lounge

The Gaslight Anthem; Heartless Bastards @ Webster Hall

The Hold Steady @ Irving Plaza

Bishop Allen @ MHOW

Neko Case; Joan as Police Woman @ Nokia Theater

In Toronto: BBQ and the Box Elders @ Rancho Relaxo and Quintron & Miss Pussycat and CATL @ The Horseshoe Tavern

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN and BBQ (separate) @ MHOW

Action Painters; The Brunettes @ Mercury Lounge

The Hold Steady @ MHOW

Lucero; Howard Tate @ The Big Apple BBQ

Conor Oberst @ Battery Park (Yes I know I missed Jenny Lewis, stop reminding me!)

Heavy Trash @ Mercury Lounge (Yes I know I missed Those Darlins, stop reminding me!)

Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ South Street Seaport

Mission of Burma did a pool party

Siren Festival 2009: Raveonettes, Grand Duchy, Frightened Rabbit

Shwa @ Merc

M. Ward; Mike Watt and Nels Cline @ SummerStage - Matt put out Hold Time this year which was nice but sort of got lost in the shuffle in the records department.

Blondie; Pat Benatar @ Coney Island

Dinosaur Jr.; The Walkmen @ SummerStage

Alec Gross and Andy Mac @ The Living Room

In-between those two intimate shows, I caught the very not intimate U2 and Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium.

CMJ Marathon 2009: Clare & The Reasons @ Merc, I Was A King, Evan Voytas, and Free Energy @ Santos, Surfer Blood and Savoir Adore @ Brooklyn Bowl - Savoir Adore was only one of a couple bands I had never heard of before going into a gig in 2009 that I came out wanting a whole lot more.

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN and BBQ (together) @ Bowery Ballroom

Athlete; The Postelles @ Bowery Ballroom - The Postelles were one of the few other heretofore unknown bands besides Savoir Adore that really caught my ear purely by live performance.

Longwave; The Grates @ Bowery Ballroom

I Seem to Be a Verb @ 92Y Tribeca

Pixies; Jay Reatard @ Hammerstein

Tim Blane; Patrick Thomas @ Rockwood

Fanfarlo; Freelance Whales @ Webster Hall

What kind of year was 2009? The band with arguably my favorite album of the year and who in the past has been one of my absolute favorite live acts - I didn't get to see them once in 2009. I am talking about Metric. They played once in the city - Terminal 5 in June, right after Fantasies came out. I chose not to go, figuring I would see them elsewhere before the year was over in a more hospitable environ than Terminal 5. Alas, no. Yep, it was that kind of year.