Six Greatest Live Shows I Saw In 2008

Page 1 of 3

[Above: Of Montreal gets its weird on at the Tabernacle.]

My granny-hermit tendencies really showed themselves this year, and I found myself going to fewer live shows than I did in the salad days of aught-seven. (Oh, to be 23 again!) Still, I seem to have managed quality over quantity: There weren't all that many to parse through, but my favorite shows of the year sure were great. 

6. Radiohead - Atlanta, Ga. - Lakewood Ampitheater - 5/8
Not sure if the band's legions of fanboys and girls would rank this among the great Radiohead concerts, but it was my first time seeing them live and was every bit the sensory and emotional overload I'd been pining for since high school. It was like being trapped in a giant Light Brite, swaddled in the most unsettlingly beautiful music in the universe. Afterwards, some friends and I watched Michael Stipe being denied entrance backstage while a crowd of baffled fans shouted his credentials at the security guard on his behalf. Best. Night. Ever!

5. The Everybodyfields - Greensboro, N.C. - Triad Stage - 7/24
Though I'd just seen them two weeks before at the Earl in Atlanta, when my boyfriend and I found ourselves in Greensboro the same week the Everybodyfields were playing there-- a block away from our hotel, no less-- we just couldn't stay away. Playing to a packed and blissfully attentive audience (the Earl crowd had been, uh, a bit chatty), the band was in fine form and played a ton of new songs, including “Worth Keeping” (see it Live at Paste right here) and “Another Man,” the latter featuring a kazoo solo from Jill at which I literally spilled my beer in delight.