I had the vast pleasure to see of Montreal play live in December 2017. It was an extraordinary show and it reinvigorated my love for live music in a big way, so I vowed to see more concerts in 2018. My wife, Sara, was all too happy to join me in this endeavor, and it’s fair to say that this particular goal was a success. Here’s a Spotify playlist featuring what were in our opinions the best songs we heard live during 2018.
Martin Sexton w/ Chris Trapper – February 3
The year got started a little slowly, as I didn’t see my first concert until February 3. We also didn’t have a babysitter yet, so I attended this one solo, sadly.
I’ve been listening to Syracuse’s Martin Sexton for nearly 20 years. His song “Glory Bound” meant a lot to me as a young singer-songwriter. I’d seen videos of him playing it with Chris Trapper, who opened for him this evening, and it was a huge pleasure to hear them play it live.
I didn’t know Martin was coming to town until just a few hours before. I was so glad to stumble on the event listing and that I was able to snag a ticket at the last minute. In the end, the concert 
only had 50 or 75 people in attendance, and while the low attendance was certainly a bummer for Martin, those who did show up were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime, intimate concert experience.
It was easy to place a chair right at the foot of the stage and be ten feet away from this master singer-songwriter the whole evening. There was a notable lack of “My Maria“, but his setlist included basically every other song I could have wanted. “Gypsy Woman” was particularly absurd.
It was a no-frills, one-man concert that featured some of the most effortless, intricate guitar work I’ve ever heard. Martin Sexton is a warm, personable, and entertaining performer who I hope to hear play many more times in the future.
The Mersey Beatles – February 11
Next was a The Beatles cover band who claims to be the only The Beatles cover band entirely from Liverpool. They were quite good, sticking to a list of almost exclusively big hits, of which I enjoyed “We Can Work It Out” and “Here Comes the Sun” especially. We found an awesome babysitter, so Sara was in attendance with me for everything from here on out unless otherwise noted.
The Addams Family: The Musical – February 24
I’m going to count musical theater as live music because it is. We caught The Addams Family musical put on by the FSU School of Theatre and were very impressed with the production value. The performances, set design, costumes, and everything else was on point. Having all ages of actors played by young twenty-somethings isn’t as jarring as it might be when the makeup and acting can fool you into not knowing that. We have resolved to try to see more FSU shows based on this one. (Full disclosure: we already missed a couple, so our resolve must not be that strong. We are planning to see Hairspray next month.)
Judah & The Lion w/ Tall Heights and Colony House – March 3
I wrote a full review of this show here, and this post is already going to be extremely lengthy, so let’s just post a couple of pictures and move on.
Savannah Stopover Festival – March 10
Again, I wrote a full review of this festival shortly after the event. Suffice to say it was awesome – we saw six great bands, including the one that started this whole “more live music in 2018” thing, of Montreal.
I’ll call out New York’s Gus Dapperton, D.C.’s The War and Treaty, and Austin’s Wild Child as particular treats as well. I didn’t know who he was before seeing him live, but I’ve ended up listening to a lot of Gus Dapperton this year.
Get the Led Out – March 19
Get the Led Out is a six-member group from Philidelphia dedicated to recreating the studio recordings of Led Zeppelin, which differs from a lot of Zeppelin tribute bands that focus on recreating the live performances.
They don’t waste time trying to emulate Zeppelin’s look because they don’t need to – they do that good a job with the sound. GTLO played a 20-song set full of classics spanning Led Zeppelin’s career and was a treat to be sure. We snagged a spot directly at the foot of the stage, which is always a welcome bonus to a general-admission concertgoing experience.
Timber Timbre w/ Lazarus Wilde – March 31
Lazarus Wilde opened by playing seven nice solo tunes reminiscent of Elliott Smith. He’s a Tallahassee local but I haven’t seen any other shows for him yet. Hopefully that will happen at some point.
With a retro, reverb-laden, spacey sound, Canadian pop quartet Timber Timbre provided a mellow and groovy experience. There were not many people in attendance so we could basically move around at will. This is apparently an illicit photo, as at some point in the show a staff member told me I wasn’t allowed to take photos of the band. I thought this was pretty weird, honestly. It was good music, though.
Larkin Poe – April 8
Sara had a busy week so I attended this one with a friend. Larkin Poe is an Atlanta-based roots rock band featuring sisters Megan and Rebecca Lovell. 
The lap steel and tight vocal harmonies are perfect for the southern rock this group brings to the table.
Not a huge crowd at this one, either. Larkin Poe had previously been opening for Bob Seger on tour (awesome) but was apparently trying out headlining on this one. I’ve seen their name pop up since this show, so I suspect we’ll be hearing more from these sisters.
Taylor Mac – April 12
Photos weren’t allowed at this event, but you better believe I snapped some when one of the first things that happened was Sara being pulled on stage by Taylor Mac and worshiped by the audience. Yes, really.
This was an abridged version of New York-based Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, which was conceived, developed, and has been performed as a 24-hour work, with each hour focusing on one decade of American history and popular music with a particular focus on how those decades impacted women, LGBTQ, and other oppressed groups.
I can’t say enough good things about this show. Not only is Mac an engaging and charming performer, but judy is also incredibly funny; the show included as much comedy as it did music. Mac won the MacArthur Genius Grant for judy’s efforts with this show. We recently saw Mac on Colbert singing the same song that judy closed the show with and it was a nice reminder of how great it was.
The costumes were majestic, the music was on point, and I have a higher appreciation for drag queens than I once did. I’m so glad we attended this one.
Red Baraat – April 27
This was a really fun but disappointingly short 45-minute show by a Brooklyn-based party band Red Baraat. There’s not a ton of vocals in this music, and I prefer music with vocals, but I’m not complaining about the high-energy brass- and percussion-based dance tunes. I am mildly complaining that they didn’t at least play for an hour, though. There wasn’t even an opener.
Havana Reggae Festival – April 28
We took our son to this festival. It was held on a farm so there was tons of open space for him to run around and make trouble. I think we saw six groups this day, but two stood out the most.
The first was Tallahassee-based Just Chameleons. This band’s singer could really croon and I hope to catch them again around town.
The other standout group was Army Gideon, a roots reggae fusion band based out of Fort Lauderdale. They had a great sound and the addition of occasional violin from the lead singer was not something one often hears in reggae music but worked surprisingly well.
Selywn Birchwood – May 4
It was my first time visiting the Bradfordville Blues Club, a historic one-room cinder-block juke joint that has hosted blues greats for many decades. Tampa guitarist Selwyn Birchwood is a modern great among the classics, and it was highly entertaining to hear him prove it.
Our problem here was that we didn’t know what to expect and thus didn’t plan very well. The show was scheduled to start at 9:00 and the venue advertises its stellar barbecue, so we figured we’d show up a little early, eat a late dinner at 8:30, and enjoy the show. Unfortunately, the lady who does the barbecue had no intention of firing up the grill until 10:00. The show also started late, which if we had known, we might have left to get dinner and then come back.
The band was impressive and played from 9:30 to 11:00. They said they were going to take a short break and come back and play for another hour or two. We could have grabbed barbecue, but at this point, we were worried about how late we were keeping our babysitter, so we ended leaving still hungry and only seeing half the show. That said, the half we did see was well worth it, and now we know better what to expect for next time.
We had one of our longest gap between shows next, but we’re about to make up for it in a big way.
Avenue Q – June 24
We went to New York City for Sara’s birthday, leaving our son with my parents for the week. We stepped off the plane at about noon, took an Uber to our hotel, took a subway to Manhattan, and walked into a matinee performance of Avenue Q with $27.50 rush tickets that were dead-center, front-row.
We saw this show back in 2011, but it’s one of our favorites so we were thrilled to see it again. We liked some individual performances more and others less, but ultimately we were most happy to get into anything at all within about an hour of getting off the plane. It boded well for the rest of our trip.
Chicago (the musical, not the band) – June 25
The next evening we got rush tickets to Chicago. We both agreed this was the weakest show that we saw in New York. That doesn’t mean it was bad, but it just wasn’t as visually or musically interesting as the other shows we ended up seeing. I had also seen this same production before, back in 2008. I think Chicago is among the strongest movie musicals ever made, but it just doesn’t do it for me as much on the stage – which is odd, because I enjoy virtually all music more when it’s performed live.
Our seats were again rush tickets, this time on the second row on the very edge of the right-hand side (the photo is while the band was playing while we were walking out, not from our seats). The view was somewhat obstructed but it’s always exciting to be that close to the actors.
U2 – June 26
This is Sara’s favorite band and she had never seen them live, so I surprised her with tickets. Resale prices were crazy so we were looking at sitting in the upper levels of Madison Square Garden, but then I noticed we could sit behind the stage for roughly the same price. We watched the band from behind for a lot of the night, sure, but they said hi to us often enough, and we agreed it was better than the dots they would have been from the upper deck.
U2 played a setlist featuring a lot of the hits but tons of new stuff as well. I was hit by an unfortunate stomach bug during the show and had to get up fairly frequently, but I was glad that the sound filled the whole stadium so I didn’t have to miss a second of music. The use of multimedia, huge structures, massive crowd, and a perfectly crafted set made this one of the biggest shows we saw this year by a lot. It was also the most expensive, but it would have been more reasonable if the tickets weren’t all scooped up by resellers.
Waitress – June 27
Still recovering from my stomach bug, I was feeling weak but didn’t want to miss a single moment of New York entertainment. We got rush tickets to a matinee of Waitress, one of Broadway’s hottest musicals written by pop star Sara Bareilles. Our tickets were in the second row on the far left side; again a partial view but so cool to be that close.
We hadn’t heard of this show and got the tickets as a fallback after a couple other ones we were aiming for sold out. It ended up being great and seems to be a modern hit among Broadway fans. I wouldn’t place it among my top tier of musicals, but I did really enjoy it. Having a chance to sit and be entertained while I recovered from my weak stomach was perfect – I felt basically reinvigorated by the time we left the theater.
Jazz Fusion in Times Square – June 27
It’s always nice to catch a free show, and it’s even better when you have time to kill, weren’t expecting to find said free show, and it is musically interesting. This trio combined traditional Chinese instruments, trombone, and saxophone to create some very unusual sounds.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical – June 27
This was our second fallback show of the day and we were questioning its potential quality, but honestly? It was so incredibly good. We again scored rush tickets, but rather than being toward the front on the side, this time we were way up in the balcony.
We saw a cast of understudies who brought it. It didn’t feel like we were seeing a second tier of actors at all.
This show features songs written by a variety of pop artists spanning many different genres, including David Bowie, Plain White T’s, T.I., Cyndi Lauper, Sara Bareilles (again), John Legend, and more. We were particularly charmed by the song “Just a Simple Sponge” written by Panic! at the Disco.
It was a goofy, lighthearted romp where the journey mattered so much more than the destination. It’s worth seeing, even if one is not inclined toward SpongeBob.
Phantom of the Opera – June 28
We had convinced ourselves that there were no matinees on Thursdays, but that morning I walked by the TKTS booth in Times Square and saw that, sure enough, Phantom of the Opera was playing that afternoon. I snapped up tickets – the only non-rush tickets we purchased on this trip – and we sat in the center-right orchestra only about ten or fifteen rows back.
Phantom was my first musical and this is the third time I’ve seen it. Two actors in particular really made this performance stand out: Raoul’s part was performed in a very relatable, charismatic way, and I’ve never felt so strongly that The Phantom is the villain of this tale. Both actors did a fantastic job that elevated my opinion of this classic even more.
The dancing was oddly the weakest we saw on Broadway that week. I don’t know if it was an off night or if the actors were just really leaning into the characterization of the poorly aligned ballet troupe. It doesn’t really matter; I don’t go to see Phantom for the dancing.
Joel Forrester: Piano in Bryant Park – June 28
We needed something to do before that evening’s performance, and we found a free event in Bryant Park. Pianist Joel Forrester played some great contemporary compositions, bridging the gap between boogie-woogie and Philip Glass, if that’s a gap that can be properly bridged. This was just a really nice, relaxing way to spend an afternoon. I’ll admit I dozed off a couple times, but that was because of the quality of the very peaceful music, not in spite of it. I was pleased we were able to snag a spot behind the piano where I could watch him play.
A Bronx Tale: The Musical – June 28
Here’s another musical that I didn’t know existed before we found ourselves falling back on rush tickets when what we really wanted to see (The Band’s Visit) sold out again. Our seats were in the second or third row on the far right side again.
The show was produced by and based on a film directed by Robert DeNiro. The writer of both the movie and play, Chazz Palminteri, starred in the Sonny role at this performance as well. The music was written by old-school Disney composer Alan Menken.
The real standout of this show was the child actor who played the main character during the first act. It was a sad moment when the character grew up and we didn’t get to see the kid version anymore. He really did shine in his scenes and could sing and dance with the adults, no problem.
I don’t really have anything bad to say about the show, but it doesn’t stick out in my mind as one of the greatest things we saw this year. The performances were solid and there were a couple of nice tunes, but ultimately the story and music were just kind of generic: it felt like it had been done before. That said, this was among the best dancing we saw on Broadway this trip. This was the first performance after the announcement of the show being closed on Broadway (and starting a national tour), which was kind of a cool factor that probably led to more emotion from the cast.
School of Rock: The Musical – June 29
I really like School of Rock as a film and I really like Andrew Lloyd Weber. Unfortunately, the Broadway show lacks the charm of the film, and I feel like Lord Lloyd Weber mailed in the songs on this one.
That doesn’t mean it was bad, per se. There were some good moments and I really enjoy shows featuring child actors, but it just didn’t grab me the way so many other shows manage to do. They reused the songs from the movie, and while I like those songs, it’s not great when they remain the strongest songs of the Broadway musical composed by one of the genre’s biggest stars.
Our rush tickets got us seats about 20 or 25 rows back on the far left side. This was by far the theater with the highest number of empty seats during our week in New York, so we moved up five or ten rows during intermission. The low attendance was probably the reason this show’s Broadway run was announced to close shortly after we attended.
New York contributed a lot of shows to our 2018 and we can’t wait to go again! Apparently, it left us fairly satiated with live music, as our second large gap between shows takes place next. That’s okay – we pulled it together for the end of the year.
Alvvays – August 25
Alvvays is a pretty popular band from Toronto, so we were happy that they came to FSU for a free show open to the community. Sara and I planned a night out, but dinner took longer than expected and we only arrived in time for the last seven songs. I can’t complain too much, as it was free, but it’s hard not be a little bummed. It could have been worse, though; I think they’ve got some nice tracks, but they’re not really a band either of us listen to often. Despite arriving late and a relatively large crowd, we got pretty close to the stage, which I’m never not going to like.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé – August 29
So I had this trip to Orlando scheduled for work, and truth be told, I wasn’t especially looking forward to it. My family wasn’t going to be able to join and I have lots going on at home, so it was looking to be pretty disruptive to my week. But then I thought, “Hey, maybe there will be some live music I could go see.” And sure enough, on a Wednesday night, none other than Jay-Z and Beyoncé came to town.
I’ll admit that at the time I wasn’t really a huge fan of either, though certainly an appreciator of some songs, so I bought the cheapest ticket I could find (for like $69). I went in with tempered expectations, but ultimately, this was perhaps the biggest spectacle I’ve ever seen. There was nothing about this event that wasn’t huge and theatrical and exquisite. I was particularly concerned about whether or not there would be a live band or not, and I was not disappointed by the impeccable musicianship and towering tiered layout.
I assumed I would enjoy Beyoncé more than Jay-Z, but by the end of the show, it was impossible to say who I preferred. They shared the stage for most of the evening, and it’s easy to see why they are pop music’s power couple. Perhaps they’re just best as a pair. Despite having an assigned seat, I didn’t sit down once for this entire show, which I consider to be the highest of praise for how good a time I had.
Miscast Musicals – September 15
Theatre Tallahassee, our community theater, put on a $5 event called Miscast Musicals that we were lucky to attend. Ultimately, the miscastings came down to gender swaps, with two women singing “You and Me (But Mostly Me)” and a man singing “Bring on the Men” (“I thought they said typecast musicals,” he said) and later “I Hate Men” (“I’ve changed my mind.”). It was great fun for such a bargain price. They haven’t scheduled another one of these yet, but we would love to go again if they do.
tUnE-yArDs w/ Mattress – September 24
This might just be my favorite concert of the year. Even typing that, I feel all kinds of what-abouts and qualifications come into my head, but if you made me pick just one, this might be it.
Mixing complex rhythms with electronics, ukulele, and loops galore, New England-formed Tune-Yards put on one of the most energizing, engaging, enrapturing shows I’ve ever had the pleasure to attend. Frontwoman Merrill Garbus was absolutely riveting. You just couldn’t take your eyes off her. Add in the extremely tight rhythm section and you’ve got a recipe for one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Ten out of ten, A-plus, Grade A, would attend again one-hundred percent. Bonus points for spots directly at the foot of the stage. Highlights of the night included “Look At Your Hands” and “ABC 123”.
The Wedding Singer: The Musical – November 9
This was a cute show at Theatre Tallahassee. They stayed pretty true to the movie, even reusing the songs from it. They did a nice job with the ’80s theme and everybody played their roles charmingly. I didn’t love the music, which is probably why this didn’t blow away the Broadway world when it was in production. It managed to be cute very well, though.
Sports w/ Ginla – November 14
Ginla, a U.S.-Canadian duo, opened with some nice synth-and-drum songs. I can’t recall a time when I have seen a drummer with so much stage presence. The synth was very mellow, but the drummer brought the energy, leading to a nice balance. “Crown I” is a good example of this.
Next was Sports, a four-piece from Oklahoma with a surprisingly delightful set of theatrics. After setting up, they left for a few minutes and came back in full-body silver-sequined outfits with long, red fringes from the arms. The stage was set up like … something … and the light show was impressive as well.
This was a free show and this band doesn’t seem to have the biggest following yet (hence setting up their own equipment), but they performed like a group that’s been doing it for decades. It’s cool to see an up and coming band put so much thought into every aspect of their show. This show may take the title for the most pleasant surprise of the year.
We once again managed to be right up against the stage. We got more aggressive about this as the year went on because, ultimately, we just wanted it more than everyone else. Oklahoma is a long way away, but I hope I get the chance to see these guys play again. The juicy guitar and synth sounds were absolutely perfect. I especially enjoyed “Don’t Tell Me“.
Futurebirds – November 23
This was another free show, this one in the Tallahassee downtown area, right in the shadow of the capitol building, the evening before the last football game of the season. “Downtown Getdown” is a thing we’ve long heard about in Tallahassee, but we never actually took the step to attend before. But this was a band we wanted to catch after we missed them earlier in the year, so we figured we’d give a shot to taking our son, which could not have been more perfect, as there was a bounce house set up literally next to the stage. This meant we got to watch a cool band for the evening without having to fight to control our boy or pay a babysitter. That’s value.
The five-piece from Athens, Georgia, sounded great. They had a nice Allman Brothers-esque sound: a little twang, but undeniably rock and roll. Their cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” was cool, but their sound is best typified by the smoothness of “Rodeo“.
Kishi Bashi w/ Linqua Franqa and Pip the Pansy – December 31
We traveled to Athens, Georgia, for New Year’s Eve with my parents kindly watching our son again. It’s an extremely cute town basically identical in size to Tallahassee. The real attraction to the city, of course, was Athens-based solo artist Kishi Bashi.
Dinner took longer than expected – really, it was narrowing down the many options of downtown Athens to a single choice that took the longest – so we arrived only in time for the last song by the first opener, Atlanta’s Pip the Pansy. We were sad we missed her full set because it was a really fun song. She wore a full-body pink leotard, had some nice dance tunes, and showed off some stellar jazz flute skills.
Athens’s Linqua Franqa was next. This solo hip-hop artist had a massive stage presence, could sing and rap with excellent flow, and just largely pumped up the crowd in exactly the way openers are supposed to do. Since the event, I’ve learned that the 26-year-old, apart from performing as Linqua Franqa, is working on a doctorate in linguistics and recently won a seat as county commissioner in Athens.
At about 11:00, it was time for headliner Kishi Bashi. Opening with the upbeat and poetic “Carry On Phenomenon“, the four-piece band was greeted by an absolutely pumped crowd. Kishi Bashi is the stage name of solo artist Kaoru Ishibashi, an eclectic singer-songwriter whose style is hard to describe and can’t really be comprehended by listening to just one song. Despite our late arrival and the sold-out house, we managed to find ourselves again at the very foot of the stage and maintained that spot for the rest of the evening.
Joining Kishi Bashi this evening were three other musicians who switched off playing bass, banjo, guitar, synthesizer, drums, and contributing backup vocals from song to song. Moving through varied greats like “Hey Big Star“, “m’Lover“, and “Ode to My Next Life“, the crowd’s excitement was renewed each time we recognized a song.
As midnight approached, the other musicians slowly filtered off stage, leaving Kishi Bashi on his own to perform what I consider to be his masterpiece, bittersweet love song “I Am The Antichrist To You”. Performed by Kishi Bashi solo on the violin with heavy use of looping, this evocative and heartfelt song was simply incredible to hear live. He used a heavy delay effect in this performance with great impact, something I haven’t heard in any recordings of this song.
He finished four minutes before midnight, so we waited until he led the crowd in the countdown. I thought it was an interesting choice to play his slowest, most somber song moments before the big New Year’s celebration, but it was sublime, so perhaps it was in fact the perfect choice.
The confetti cannons went off and the band celebrated with champagne before launching into the second half of the show. Getting the crowd re-pumped with “It All Began With a Burst“, the second half of the show featured just as many fantastic songs as the first, including the glorious “Hahaha Pt.2“, the joyful “Honeybody“, and another favorite of mine, “Can’t Let Go, Juno“.
Feeling absolutely exuberant about the show, the crowd got another thrill in the encore. Bringing out all acoustic instruments, the band squeezed their way into the middle of the crowd and led a singalong of Talking Heads classic “This Must Be the Place” and the delicate “Manchester“. “Haven’t felt this alive in a long time,” indeed.
It added a personal touch to a show that already exuded warmth, charm, and love. Kishi Bashi was clearly glad to be home, and Athens was clearly glad to have him there.
This was a remarkable concert to end the year on and one of my favorites we attended to be sure. And hey – I think we can probably also count it as our first concert of 2019, yes?
All photos by Danny Brown except where otherwise indicated.