We saw lots of great shows this year, it's been fun looking back over my reviews. Let's get right to the top 5:

1. The Hold Steady @ Crocodile - ROCKED MY FACE OFF but I wish they were playing with U.S.E instead of Sean Na Na :-)
2. The Mountain Goats @ Neumo's - gave me shivers... an early contender for #1 of the year
3. Valentine's Day 69 Love Songs @ Crocodile - a fun and fitting tribute that introduced us to several good local bands
4. Cloud Cult @ Crocodile - deepened my admiration of Cloud Cult, plus we discovered Daylight Basement! what could be more awesome?
5. The Black Angels @ Triple Door - a crush is born

Honorable mentions:

• Calexico @ Showbox - what a totally freaking talented bunch of dudes
• Sasquatch @ Gorge - maybe it's not fair to judge an all-day festival against smaller shows, but it's hard not to mention a day when we saw Blue Scholars, Arctic Monkeys, Nada Surf and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
• DeVotchKa @ Neumo's- unfortunately we got humped by strangers all night, or else I'd probably have rated it higher