The 17 Best Live Shows of 2017
From Skepta to Spoon, Ron Gallo to Radiohead, we covered the USA this year.
Photo: Getty Images
As we say all the time here at Paste, live music is what keeps our blood pumping. It’s that organic, human connection that occurs between performer and audience, when invisible vibrations become something tangible and universal and transformative, that reminds us why we do this in the first place. It’s why we’re proud to own the world’s largest archive of live recorded music, and why we operate recording studios in New York and in Davenport, Iowa. Sometimes, of course, when we’re not making Paste, we actually have to go outside. And when we do, we’re usually heading for our favorite dive bars, clubs, theaters, arenas and stadiums. Here are the 17 best concerts we saw this past year.
Battle Trance
Jan. 25 | Mississippi Studios | Portland, Ore.
The notion of watching four men playing tenor saxophones nonstop for the better part of an hour might sound like a special kind of torture for some of our readers. But if it is your bailiwick, you likely would have found this evening as transcendent as I did. Travis Laplante, Patrick Breiner, Jeremy Viner and Matt Nelson began the show in silence, eyes closed as they sought a moment of unspoken connection, then spent the rest of their time tearing asunder the thin fabric separating free jazz, avant-rock and contemporary classical. Explosive, percussive and, even for the folks staring at them slack-jawed, exhausting. —Robert Ham
Andy Shauf w/ Aldous Harding
March 22 | The Chapel | San Francisco
Walking in to the mortuary-cum-music venue in San Francisco’s Mission District, the sweet sounds of New Zealand’s Aldous Harding were a relaxing hymnal to open the evening. As Canadian songwriter Andy Shauf took the stage, he was flanked by a keyboard player, drummer and not one, but TWO clarinetists! The arrangement made for a mesmerizing presentation of Shauf and co. coursing through songs from his brilliant latest album, The Party, in one of the most unique live musical set-ups we saw all year. We caught up with Shauf later in the year to talk about his live set-up, etc… and you can read it here. —Adrian Spinelli
Radiohead
April 11| The Greek Theater | Berkeley, Calif.
Three days after a Coachella set plagued by sound issues, Thom Yorke and Radiohead took the stage at the expansive outdoor amphitheater in Berkeley, pairing one of the best bands in the world with one of the best venues in the world. In a light drizzle that stayed in the air for most of the evening, the result was magical. Radiohead churned through a 26-song career-spanning set that opened with “Daydreaming” (from last year’s A Moon Shaped Pool) closed out with “Idioteque” (from 2000’s Kid A) and even featured a stunning rendition of “My Iron Lung” (from 1995’s The Bends). The two-night stint was very sold out and as the last notes were played, you couldn’t escape the collective feeling of sheer awe, gratefulness and glee. We were lucky to be there. —Adrian Spinelli
(Adrian Spinelli)
The New Pornographers
April 14 | Midtown Ballroom | Bend, Ore.
Neko Case’s cheeky charm aside, a New Pornographers show will never ooze charisma and witty banter. But when you have a catalog of songs like the one Carl Newman and company can pull from, it doesn’t have to. On a chilly evening in a drab venue, the New Pornos electrified the small crowd with a non-stop tour of their DayGlo hits. The set was heavy on the bubblegum krautrock of their outstanding 2017 album Whiteout Conditions (highlights included “High Ticket Attractions” and “Clockwise”), supplemented by a handful of deep cuts from their bottomless pool of power-pop bangers (“The Laws Have Changed,” “The Bleeding Heart Show”). Conditions on this night were challenging, but the New Pornographers proved they can warm up any room. —Ben Salmon
Skepta
April 24 | Lincoln Hall | Chicago
Making his Chicago debut on the “Banned From America” tour, British grime artist Skepta packed the house in the expansive Lincoln Hall for a triumphant set following his previously cancelled Lollapalooza 2016 appearance due to visa issues. The crowd skewed young, but dammit if these kids weren’t wearing the anticipation of the past two years on their faces, hanging on Skep’s every breath. The Mercury Prize winner delivered a grime performance at its best—a taste of North London in the Midwest, if you will—dropping every single banger in his arsenal. “Man”? Check. “That’s Not Me”? Check. “Shutdown”? It was the epic closing track. “I came to promote something…that real shit!” he shouted. And the reciprocating energy from the crowd was palpable throughout the night. It was masterful. —Adrian Spinelli
Read: Paste’s full review and photos of Skepta at Lincoln Hall in Chicago
Ron Gallo
May 15 | Shaky Knees Festival | Atlanta
Ron Gallo’s set was unlike any other that I saw in 2017. On this night in Atlanta, Gallo began by demanding that the Shaky Knees crowd take out their “stupid phones” and call their moms, FaceTiming his own so we could all wish her a happy Mother’s Day, sung to the tune of “Happy Birthday.” He then whipped out a piece of paper and read a hilariously rote prepared statement in an exaggerated monotone, explaining that both he and his band are named Ron Gallo and thanking Shaky Knees, LLC, for the opportunity to play their festival. The audience had hardly finished laughing when Gallo and co. launched into the first song from his 2017 LP Heavy Meta “Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me,” an electric rock shredder that swiftly inspired one of the fest’s only mosh pits. Gallo swaggered like a millennial Elvis on acerbic “Why Do You Have Kids?” and gallivanted through the crowd handing out high-fives during a raucous, sprawling cover of Pissed Jeans’ “Spent.” One minute he was rocking the mic like a young Zack de la Rocha, the next pausing for a one-measure “Bleachers solo” (i.e., stopping the song to let Bleachers’ distant set bleed in for a second). As one audience member pointed out, Gallo “has no chill,” and it made for an exhilarating show. —Scott Russell
Wilco
June 23 | Solid Sound Festival | North Adams, Mass.
By popular demand (as determined by an online poll), Wilco opened the first night of their own Solid Sound Festival in western Massachusetts by performing their 1996 album Being There in its entirety. Then, as a surprise, they played all of 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot for the encore. It was magical to hear those songs in order on a beautiful summer night in the Berkshires, and it set the tone for the fifth incarnation of an always-generous, never-dull weekend of music at Mass MoCA. Other highlights included a career-spanning set from Wilco the following night, along with performances from Television, Kevin Morby, Joan Shelley, Big Thief, Kurt Vile and a rare reunion of the late-’60s all-female outsider band The Shaggs. —Eric R. Danton
(Getty Images)
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