my top 11 favorite shows of 2009

11) 07/03 The Gay Blades, Person L, The Dangerous Summer, Ace Enders at El Corazon

This was such a fun night. I went to this show by myself, the day before I had to wake up in the middle of the night to drive to California and it was so worth it. Not a lot of people came out to this so it kind of felt like we were just all friends... that sounds stupid. You'd get it if you were there, I guess. Seriously though, everyone on this tour was so friendly and funny and nice.

10) 05/21 honeydove, Brian Bonz, Miniature Tigers, Kevin Devine at Chop Suey

This... also... was a fun night. Ballgame. Ballgame. Ballgame. Miniature Tigers was so good. What a great sweater. There's not really a lot to say about this other than it was just a night that made me really happy. Kevin Devine owns a piece of my hear forever and ever until the end of the world. The end.

9) 05/15 Winston Audio, fun., Audrye Sessions, Manchester Orchestra at El Corazon

I counted down to this one for so long. SO. LONG. fun. was everything I hoped for and more. The First Single. Meeting Nate was so overwhelming for me. The guys of fun. are some of the nicest people I've ever met. I was so stoked for Manchester. It was so great. All those people crowded in there yelling the words to Virgin songs.

8) 06/20 Devotchka and Third Eye Blind at Sodo

To be honest, I wasn't expecting this show to be as good as it was. When Liv and I talk about it now, she says it wouldn't be one of her favorites just because of Stephen's ego. Hahaaa. Well. Regardless, I left that night raving about the show. They played ALMOST everything I could have possibly wanted them to (minus that one song that will always make me cry). God of Wine was amazing. Amazing.

7) 10/14 The Builders & The Butchers, Manchester Orchestra, Brand New at Sodo

They played Seventy times 7. And Jude Law. And Mix Tape. For whatever reason, I didn't really think I'd ever see Mix Tape live. You Won't Know and I had to yell that one part at the top of my lungs before I would let myself get out of the crowd. I was a mess, hah. Play Crack the Sky. I really want to believe that Seattle got the best night of Play Crack the Sky. Andy and Rory singing with Jesse at the end. It was the closest thing to perfection. Manchester's set so, so good. They played Where Have You Been and it made me so happy. They hadn't played it at all so far on the tour. Afterwards, talking to Chris. He's probably one of my favorite people. He brought me back in my mind to South so much when I said I had to leave and he was like "Can we hug it out?!??!" He wanted a polaroid of the two of us for his journal, haha. I love that guy.

6) 10/15 Monsters of Folk at the Paramount
Everyone on this tour is so talented. I can not put that effectively into words. M. Ward was so charismatic and he reminded me so much of Johnny Cash, haha. Jim James. Jim James. That is all. Everyone needs more Jim James in his or her life. Conor. It meant to much to me to see songs from I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning live. That night was so good. I remember seeing people dressed up as Max from Where the Wild Things Are in the streets headed to the midnight premiere as I left Seattle that night.

5) 09/10 Chester French, Taking Back Sunday, Weezer, Blink 182 at White River

BLEW. MY. MIND. Just... everyone was so happy. I was so happy. They were so entertaining and funny and they played almost everything I wanted them to and this night just makes me happy. Travis Barker is really fucking talented.

4) 03/28 Brand New acoustic at Nuemo’s

I LOVE ALASKA AND VOLCANOES! I got lucky on this one. Drove up to Seattle on short notice by myself the day I got some pretty bad news and this made me forget about stuff for a while. I love Brand New fans. And Jesse Lacey. Even though he can't remember the words to any of his own songs. So much fun. I don't even know how many hours I waited in the rain for this but it was so awesome.

3) 05/23 SASQUATCH! (Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot, Animal Collective, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Decemberists, Bon Iver, Kings of Leon, Crystal Castles, and more?) at the Gorge

I felt so infinite this weekend. Liv and I were so free, the world was beautiful and I am realizing that this makes it sound like we were really high or something (which.... well. It's Sasquatch. If you know Sasquatch, you would not be shocked. hahaha). But this was so fun. I swear I'm going for the whole weekend this next year. I have to. The best people are at Sasquatch, everyone's so chill and nice. The weather was perfect and hot. Ran into a few friends and saw almost everyone I wanted to. There are two things I remember the most about this day. Passion Pit. Liv and I were laying in the grass behind the crowd and I just remember thinking about how HAPPY everyone was right then and I couldn't help but grin. The second thing is Bon Iver. Bon Iver was one of the things I was most excited about at Sasquatch and Liv kept asking if we could leave and go to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs instead. We watched about half of Bon Iver's set and it was amzing. Skinny Love gave me chills and The Wolves was perfect. That part where he just had everyone yell any noise at all drives me crazy. It was beautiful. Every now and then, Liv and I try to recreate that but it's never as good. I kept seeing you around that day and it made me so nervous.

2) 08/06 Vedera, Jack’s Mannequin, The Fray at the Paramount

SO. THIS YEAR I FINALLY SAW ANDREW MCMAHON. It finally happened for me and I tried to take it all in. I feel like I had to wait forever for this but it was so perfect. Meeting Andrew was more than I could ask for. I cried during Bruised. It was sort of like... hear that bass... intro... thing... realize what is happening... look at Liv and freak out... start singing the words and COMPLETELY lose it. American Girl and Watch the Sky. Watch the Sky. Watch the Sky. I don't want to say that this night was me saying goodbye to the Fray because it wasn't. But it was me saying goodbye to the Fray I used to know and the relationship I used to have with them. I'll always fall back on HTSAL every now and then and it's done more for me than I could ever fully explain AT ALL. But they've moved on, I've moved on. I'll still come see them everytime they're in town. This was just my time to step back and watch things from further away and try to grasp some understanding for it. Also, Rod proved to me that he was not a complete asshole that night. I was so surprised by his kindness and the interest he showed in what we were talking about. I think that's another thing that... you had to be there to full understand.

1) 07/16 Augustana and Counting Crows at Marymoor
07/17 Augustana and Counting Crows at Maryhill

These two are getting clumped together just because it was the same tour. The Saturday Night Rebel Rockers Traveling Circus and Medicine Show TOUR. I feel like this second night changed me or something. This was the best night of my year and I'll never forget it. The first night we went was the first night of the tour. I loved how they sped up Fire and slowed down Still Ain't. I honestly never thought I would see them play Still Ain't Over You that way. Somewhere in the nostalgia of missing these two shows in the next months, Liv and I both gained an appreciation for Counting Crows... sometimes they're hard to take seriously because of Adam but you have to love him. Hahaa. Washington Square that second night. That's what I remember the most. Boston, "Washington, where there's a couple of real good people that know our names." "Sorry about all the pieces of paper." "We didn't know if you guys were here!!" I miss South but I'm so happy we got to talk to him that night. I could probably go on forever. I'm just going to say that I wish I could relive this whole weekend, but mostly July 17th.