One-year Anniversary

I've learned a few things after a year of audience reviews. Namely:

- An attentive audience at a great show makes for a lousy review
- All-ages crowds are more interesting than over-21 crowds
- I so need a travel budget. Seattle is way too white.

With that in mind, let's revisit some notable crowds and sometimes notable performances.

MC5 featuring Mark Arm & Evan Dando was the gig in New York that started it all, and gave me a soft spot for old fart rocker shows. Shortly thereafter came the Dayglo Abortions, which is about as punk as Canada gets - the crowd was hard core and polite. John Mayer, who I gather is still famous, put on a lovely show for teenagers. Then came American Idols Live! which needs no explanation and YES I am very excited for the next one.

Scissor Sisters, right when they were reaching their peak here, was hot. No, like HOT. Bumbershoot eventually came along, and with it joyous shows by USE, Death Cab, and the Presidents, and Public Enemy. This joy reminds me that I do love me some teeny-bopper shows, and Hilary & Haylie Duff filled my joy void one night. Decidedly not teeny-bopper-esque then came Fanalyst obsession Jon Brion, who I could go on about but for now will spare you.

In October I ended up at this little folk festival in Canada and saw a weird/good show by Justin Rutledge, who is now on his way to fame. Remember when Minnie Driver released an album and toured? Well, I do. But the highlight of that month was most certainly the Oracle Gathering, which you'll just need to read about.

Perhaps you have been living under a rock (or live outside of Seattle, which is a reasonable excuse) and haven't heard about the Iron Composer, but their November show was the first one I saw. I expected more from Fatboy Slim, but learned a valuable lesson about venue layout.

The new year brought a string of excellent learning opportunities, starting with the landmark open letter to singer-songwriters post that actually prompted a private REPLY from one of its subjects. Eep. Cher is, well, Cher. The Citizen Cope show is a study in what performers offer their audiences. We learned how old rockers rock out in Austin at the New York Dolls show, and how to orchestrate a spectacle back here at the U2 show.

We veer to the world of musical sort-of theater at the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes performance. And then I veer off the philosophical deep end watching Mike Doughty. And most recently, the summer music festivals are summed up in one review in Sasquatch vs. Endfest, then wind up with the fantastic OK Go show at the Comet.

Onward to another year.