This is me

After thinking about my favorite records of 2008, I got thinking about all the shows I’d been to (approximately 100 this year) , so I formulated another list:

10 christopher o’riley performs the music of radiohead, nick drake, and elliott smith – kimmel center – philly – 2/29/08
9 james hunter – zoellner arts center – bethlehem, pa – 3/14/08
8 gogol bordello – electric factory, philly – 3/1/08
7 flaming lips – jam on the river – philly – 5/24/08
6 scotty hard benefit – highline ballroom – nyc – 3/19/08
5 allman brothers band– bryce jordan center – state college, pa – 10/13/08
4 david byrne – zoellner arts center – bethlehem, pa – 8/16/08
3 the roots – all points west – jersey city, nj – 8/9/08
2 radiohead – all points west – jersey city, nj – 8/9/08
1 derek trucks and susan tedeschi soul stew revival – all good music festival – 7/12/08

honorable mention: the black keys – electric factory – philly, gnarles barkley – stubbs – austin, tx – 9/26/08, and jacob fred jazz odyssey – chris’ jazz cafe – philly – 10/16/08

by the way, lists suck. or to rephrase that, I can’t make lists. I change my mind every 10 minutes. and I don’t like putting numbers to the list. they’re more arbitrary than one would think. I try to think about how much fun I had at the show, the setlist, fluidity of playing, the quality of improv (if applicable), and the band’s growth from the previous time seeing them or my expectations if I haven’t seem them before.