Best Concerts 2006

This is the year I started going to shows again - moving to Montreal was what did it. What a great city for live music of all sorts. A festival every week! First there was Suoni Per Il Popolo, then Jazz Fest, Pop at Fringe, Francofolies, Osheaga and Meg and of course the jewel in the crown: Pop Montreal. Not to mention that but I also caught the Halifax Jazz Festival and some of the Vancouver Accordion Festival too. Whew!

Best Concerts 2006

1. Joanna Newsom at Pop Montreal - She stole everyone's hearts with her charm, looked more beautiful than anyone could have possibly imagined, played and sang wonderfully from albums new and old. wow. I'm still swooning.
2. Matthew Grimson at the North End Pub, Halifax, January - Matthew was ON that night playing a slew of first-rate new songs that are just begging to be released, peppering the set with truly gut-busting funny stories and quips. Drunken navy hecklers only added to the show because Matthew handled them with a humor and finesse that blew everyone away. Still canada's greatest unknown songwriter. Someone sign him!?!
3. Sunn O))) with Boris in Vancouver - If I could only ever see one live show again - i would choose Sunn O))). The ultimate experience. Heavy as hell.
4. Celso Machado - daytime concert at Halifax Jazz Fest - Unbelievable showmanship and a true master of guitar and percussion.
5. Ellen Allien & Apparat at Meg After Party in Montreal - wow wow wow wow. This was the best electronic show I have ever seen. Unstoppable rhythms, bold new sound. Apparat's playing was so macho that he deswtroyed an Oxygen8 and Ellen Allien was ravishing in clothes that I'm guessing came from her own collection?
6. Athletic Automaton at Friendship Cove In Montreal - They literally destroyed. Patrick was playing so hard he managed to put his foot through the bass pedal - ever heard of that before? Check this band out immediately.
7. Vashti Bunyan at Pop Montreal - one of the greatest but the sound was mired in problems at a crappy montreal club roky erickson at pop montreal - only complaint? wish roky could've played all night....
8. Dirty Projectors at Sala in Montreal - they totally stole the show from xiu xiu. i just left after they played about one song into xiu xiu's set. what a totally insanely good band. so musical. such great songs.
9. Glass Candy at Pop Montreal - So much disco style. And their music just keeps getting better and better and better. Two years ago I would have pegged them for a short-lived novelty act but i was so so wrong. And, yes, I still have a crush on Ida No.
10. Aids Wolf at Suoni Per Il Popolo in Montreal - Chloe Lum is, like... must be... involved in some sort of heavy, heavy black magikcal type shit to be able to channel the kind of raw energy energy she does with Aids Wolf. Bonus points for making the most beautiful posters in the world under the name Seripop.

Runners Up

1. Pink Mountaintops at Suoni Per Il Popolo Montreal - This should be tagged on the top ten list, but then it wouldn't be a top eleven list and I'm too autistic for that kind of nonsense. I should probably bump something else to make room because this was a totally awesome show.
2. Dinosaur Jr at Osheaga - Childhood heroes but not intimate enough to be really exciting like seeing them back in the day at some small club. Still it was thrilling to finally see them for the first time in years. And equally cool to know that the original Sebadoh lineup - including Gaffney! - is going to be touring early in 2007!
3. Ecstatic Sunshine at O Patro Vys - Killer dual guitar attack. There album was brilliant, but I had no idea that they would be such a great live band too.
4. Ghis Poirier at Meg After Party - this would probably be top 10 but ellen allien & apparat stole the show
5. Brazillian Girls at Osheaga - Somehow Sabina Sciubba manages to be the most avant-garge and the sexiest singer at the same time despite the fact that the two wouldn't appear to go hand in hand. Sabina is always right on target with her langurous voice and larger-than-life, weirder-than-weird, super-sexy stage presence.
6. Guy Klucevsek at the Vancouver Accordion Festival - Wow! This might be top 10 but it was so early in the year... I... did not love... the accordion until i heard this guy's beautiful music.
7. Figurines at the Main Hall, Montreal - This band from Denmark breathed new life into indie rock on record and on stage.