Top of the year

The other day a friend and I were trying to recall the good live performances of the year. And we struggled. In our minds, this hadn't been a good year for live music in Berlin. So while being cooped up in the house with all that snow falling outside, I took the time to go through my various calendars and pick out good gigs. I wanted to make my Top 10. I have almost suceeded, with a few more than ten. Turns out this year wasn't so bad for live music after all.

1. Quintron & Miss Pussycat at Bang Bang Club
2. The Strange Boys at White Trash Fast Food
3. Ben Butler & Mousepad at West Germany
4. Tune-Yards and Bear In Heaven at Puschenfest, Festsaal Kreuzberg
5. Max Tundra at West Germany
6. MEN at Festsaal Kreuzberg
7. Ganglians at Bang Bang Club / Marie-Antoinette
8. US Girls at Madame Claude
9. Lake at Schokoladen
10. Chain and the Gang at West Germany
11. Tender Forever at West Germany
12. Health & Liars at Volksbühne
13. Soulwax and Atari Teenage Riot at Berlin Festival, Flughafen Tempelhof
14. Wavves at White Trash Fast Food
15. Tussle and Publicist at Bang Bang Club

The following should have also joined the list but more than 15 on a Top 10 would have been too greedy after all: Wild Nothing, dd/mm/yyyy, Japandroids, Kids Explode, Dean Dirg, Screaming Females, No Age, Abe Vigoda, Joan of Arc, Love of Everything, Sissters and probably The Drums but I didn't go to that last one (and regret it).

Oh, and the most atrocious gig I attended this year was Foals at iTunes festival London. Who knows what happened to them but they used to be really good.

Finally, to highlight one band that had the time of their lives this year it seems and were temporarily joined by Justin Pearson (of The Locust and All Leather) and Dennis Lyxzén (of The International Noise Conspiracy, The Lost Patrol Band/Invasionen and AC4) among others: The Bloody Beetroots. I wasn't at this event but I expect it was grant.