A year ago, I listed the top 25 shows I saw in 2010. I saw less than 20 shows total in 2011, which is a pretty huge drop off from when I was seeing 70 shows a year in '07 and '08, and that drop is due to a variety of personal and professional factors. Plus I've just gotten really good at flaking out even on shows I really wanted to see and/or told people I was going to. But I made up for the low quantity with quality, because here are 10 really awesome shows I saw this year, with links when I wrote about them:

10. The Dismemberment Plan @ The 9:30 Club. Jan 22nd
9. Jumpcuts @ Joe Squared, May 25th
8. The Songwriter Sessions with Cameron Blake, Sea Couch, Sine Jensen and Adam Trice @ The Golden West, Jan. 15th
7. Out Of Your Head Collective with Susan Alcorn, Mike Cerri, Ethan Snyder and Dustin Carlson @ The Windup Space, Jan. 25th
6. U2 @ M&T Bank Stadium, June 22nd
5. Big In Japan with Katrina Ford, the Water, Infinite Honey, and Avocado Happy Hour @ The Ottobar, Jan. 7
4. White Life and Flock of Dimes @ Soft House, May 5th
3. War On Women and Crimes @ The Charm City Art Space, Oct. 9th
2. Mike Watt & The Missingmen @ The Ottobar, April 1st
1. Steely Dan @ Merriweather Post Pavilion, Aug. 2nd

Honorable mentions to the Foo Fighters, Little Feat and the Nels Cline Singers, among others. One thing I noticed while looking over this list is that several of these shows involved people that are now helping me out with my 30th birthday concert coming up on January 7th, which is definitely not a coincidence. Hopefully I can put on a memorable show on Saturday myself. Come out if you can!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 02, 2012 at 7:52 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.