I don’t go to many concerts any more, but I’ve seen some decent ones in the past. The few I can remember include:
Laurie Anderson, Richard Thompson, Paul McCartney, Puffy Ami Yumi, Neil Young, Sonic Youth, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Robyn Hitchcock, REM, They Might Be Giants, Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Simon, Olodun, Ska-P, Lou Reed, Randy Newman, David Byrne, Elvis Costello, Sting, The Pixies, Love and Rockets, El Vez, Alarmel Valli, Billy Bragg, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Billy Joel,
B-52s, Momokusu Iwata
Aw too bad.
I just got off a “Little Steven’s Underground Garage Cruise”. About 25 bands playing multiple sets over 4 days. The headliners, X and Social Distortion are from my stomping grounds, where I have seen both several times over the last 45 years. Both turned in good sets, but I really dug the opportunity to see some bands that rarely make it to the West Coast. The Woggles have to be the most energetic band in the world made up of sexagenarians (second place to the Fleshtones, who were also there.) Extra points to the Woggles for bringing go-go dancers. Palmyra Delran of The Friggs resurrected The Coolies who she formed with Kim Shatuck (RIP) of the Muffs with two Pandoras I last saw on stage more than 40 years ago. My favorite band these days, Los Straitjackets not only played multiple sets, but also broke up into several side project bands playing late night frat party sessions: The Sound Minds, The Neanderthals, and, perhaps my new favorite band, Goons!. Deke Dickerson not only did a set with the Straitjackets, but also brought back his band from the 1980s, Untamed Youth who had a great set. I caught shows by the bigger names like Low Cut Connie, Bang and Pop, and the Baseball Project, but it was these smaller ephemeral groups that were the most fun.
Friday Mrs. Intergalactic Gladiator and I went to see a show featuring some Chicago-area bands and we really enjoyed our time.
The band there that I really wanted to see was [Malört and Savior] (Malört & Savior) and I really thought they delivered. They sounded good, they brought the energy, and they didn’t spend their time on stage goofing around between songs. They are a bit of a gimmick band, but they have some fun, well-crafted (imo) songs. Their latest song released is called “On the Day it Finally Happens” and they are pretty coy about what they’re talking about, but it is about a certain political figure.
Saw Alabama Shakes last night at the MGM Music Hall @ Fenway. Wow, Brittany Howard is a force of nature.
I’m also getting to the age where a lone person standing up in front of me, causing a chain reaction forcing a whole bunch of people to stand up behind them is a major disappointment.
It’s been a great year, concert-wise, for me. Last Saturday I saw Gogol Bordello, nearly lost my glasses, briefly lost a shoe, and just about achieved liftoff in the pit. Absolutely drenched afterwards. At Summer Breeze, Gojira, Machine Head, and Royal Republic got me to jump in 35°C heat. Hanabie absolutely killed, but my definite highlight was Sólstafir. Bill Callahan in July was warm and intimate and devastating, and Rainer von Vielen’s throat singing briefly lifted me to another plane of existence. Patrick Wolf was fragile and unbreakable, funny and heartbreaking all at once, and the Pixies tore through their set non-stop. Donots are always all out, and it always feels like the world could be a little bit better in that crowd. Thees Uhlmann of Tomte fame was a quiet force. But I think my favorite concert from the last year was Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds on the first date of their Wild God tour. There was a definite whiff of transcendence there.
What. Man, I want to see him. I think Tomte was mostly him anyway, but I feel like he’s kept up standards after their dissolution.
I have a fantasy that I find a time window where Tocotronic, Kettcar, Uhlmann, and die Sterne all line up, and I go to Germany for a couple of weeks.
This would be called “The Big Hamburger Schule Reunion and Nostalgia Tour”. The only band missing are Blumfeld.
For a long time Blumfeld wasn’t available here in the US, and by the time they were, I forgot to listen to them…I should give them a try.
I’m adding one still-extant, non-Hamburger band to my wishlist: the Notwist.
Upcoming shows: The Penske File and the OBGMs on two consecutive nights.
Can’t wait!
Bob Mould on Friday!
I’d be totally down for that!
You might get that chance soon, they’ve just announced a new album & tour: The Notwist kündigen neues Album an und kommen 2026 auf Tour
Geil!
I’ve seen the Notwist once, at the Haldern Pop Festival in 2000 (on a bill with Belle And Sebastian, Ian Brown, Supergrass and some other great bands). They were great.
The wife and I just saw Wet Leg at the Salt Shed here in Chicago last week. Mary in the Junkyard was their opener and both acts were great. I’m not familiar with the opening act but they sounded good, sort of a younger version of Wet Leg maybe. I also didn’t realize that Wet Leg has a new album so I didn’t recognize the songs from that; still worth it for me though. The Salt Shed is a great music venue as well, imo.
There’s a phrase to make me feel old.
My wife and I saw James McMurtry out in the Chicago suburbs back in late August. Was a good show and very much enjoyed the set despite it being a bajillion degrees with rainforest humidity. His new album is great. We got a bit of amusement out of the couple in front of us with my wife immediately saying “Those two are totally MAGA” and me responding “No way, they’re totally at the wrong show then” but, sure enough, there was a number of songs where they just stood in stony silence while everyone else applauded.
I’d love to see him again somewhere a bit more climate controlled. I actually missed him at the Old School of Folk Music a couple months earlier because I thought my wife wouldn’t be interested but I should be thankful he performed in the suburbs soon after and I still got my chance to see his set.
I thought exactly the same 
. I only discovered Wet Leg a few years ago, and they’re very much a new band to me (like all bands coming up after the year 2000, which seems to have been my watershed for becoming an old fart).
Me too. I’ve just become familiar with Wet Leg recently, but it looks like they’ve been together since 2019, which doesn’t sound too long to me.
Mary in the Junkyard formed during COVID, per Wikipedia, and they released their first LP In 2024.
I really feel that a casual reading of his songs could lead someone to a wildly wrong opinion, since so many of them have character viewpoints. Color me unsurprised but delighted that someone found themselves in the wrong place.
Also a ticket I wouldn’t mind catching. I somehow never managed to see them live—maybe the upcoming tour’s an opportunity. By some strange turn of events I only got into them via their side project with US hip hop outfit Themselves, 13 & God. Now looking up their wikipedia entry, that the first link there is to the project’s Myspace page is my current ‘hell, I’m old’ moment…
I’ve got tickets to see them in October, really looking forward to that. But I’m with those for whom ‘younger version of Wet Leg’ sounds like ‘shouldn’t you be in school?’.