Jaime "El-P" Melline of Run the Jewels raps in August 2014 at the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In November at Mezzanine, Run the Jewels turned in one of Nick's 10 favorite shows of 2014.
The adage goes that writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
Even the best things I’ve read about music seem counterintuitive, as if they’re encouraging me to stop reading and rock headphones like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s ubiquitous Beats.
A good album review makes me curious about that record. A strong review of a show makes me wish I had been there.
Writing about live music is like trying to capture lightning in a bottle, only with a smaller chance of electrocution.
I doubt I’ll ever see more live music than I did in 2014. From Atmosphere to Zedd, from !!! (Chk Chk Chk) to ∆ (Alt-J), I saw more than 165 different artists last year alone.
After careful consideration, here’s my attempt to dance about architecture by writing about the most memorable:
Honorable mention
• Alt-J, Oct. 19, at Treasure Island Music Festival
• Cage the Elephant, Dec. 13, at Not So Silent Night
• Disclosure, Aug. 8, at Outside Lands Music Festival
• Gojira, May 1, at The Fox Theater
• Elton John, Oct. 2, at SAP Center
• Fleetwood Mac, Dec. 3, at Oracle Arena
• Lorde, March 27, at The Fox Theater
• Massive Attack, Oct. 19, at Treasure Island Music Festival
• MØ, Oct. 18, at Treasure Island Music Festival
• Neurosis, Dec. 31, at Great American Music Hall
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Aug. 9, at Outside Lands
• Slayer, Nov. 12, at The Fox Theater
• Spin Doctors, June 1, at BottleRock Napa Valley
• Weezer, May 31, at BottleRock Napa Valley
LL Cool J performs June 1, 2014, at BottleRock Napa Valley in Napa. (Photo by Bob McClenahan)
10. LL Cool J
June 1 at BottleRock Napa Valley
at Napa Valley Expo in Napa
If there had been a roof on BottleRock Napa Valley, LL Cool J would've blown it off during his appearance on the final day of festival's second installment. With DJ Z-Trip holding down the beats, LL took the stage with "Mama Said Knock You Out," ripped his polo shirt and still had hits to burn. [
Review]
9. Run the Jewels
Nov. 14, at Mezzanine in San Francisco
Atlanta/Brooklyn hip-hop duo took the stage to Queen’s “We Are the Champions” and then, with a knowing nod, performed like it. Even with Killer Mike sporting a throaty voice and needing El-P to finish some of his lines, the excitement and intensity of the crowd made this a high-octane ride. [
Review]
8. Florence + The Machine
Oct. 26 at Bridge School Benefit XXVIII
at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View
Florence Welch overshadowed everyone on a night when she sang with the likes of Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell and Norah Jones. Welch’s nonchalance, like shaking hands and smiling with Bridge School students between songs, made her soaring voice seem effortless. [
Review]
7. Ryan Adams
Oct. 3 at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco
Ryan Adams’ reputation as a live performer is one of truculence and unpredictability, but the New York-based singer and songwriter was jovial and humorous during a sunset stand on the opening day of Hardly Strictly. Perhaps the most memorable moment came when he and his band made up an
NSFW improv song about a man holding three balloons at the back the park.
Alana Haim of the Los Angeles rock band Haim raises her hands to the crowd during at Outside Lands Music Festival in August 2014 at Golden Gate Park during a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well."
6. Haim
Aug. 9 at Outside Lands Music Festival
at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco
The Los Angeles sisters came to play on the coldest day of this year’s Outside Lands, heating up the main stage during an hourlong appearance. Although the likes of “The Wire” and "Falling" resonated with the crowd, Haim managed to pull everyone in with a confident cover of Peter Greene-era Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well.” [
Review]
5. The Cure
May 30 at BottleRock Napa Valley
at Napa Valley Expo in Napa
Even though the plug was pulled on them at curfew, The Cure turned in a masterful set in one of just three American appearances in 2014. Robert Smith and company rattled off hits from throughout the group’s nearly 40-year career, but also dug deep for the likes of “From the Edge of a Deep Green Sea” and the first “Never Enough” in six years. [
Review]
4. Neutral Milk Hotel
April 8 at The Fox Theater in Oakland
More than 15 years after the release of
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and more than a decade since it last toured, Neutral Milk Hotel emerged for the first of three nights in Oakland. Jeff Mangum had the crowd in his grasp from the moment he took the stage with a solo rendition of “Two-Headed Boy,” the crowd singing along all the way. The band concludes its batch of reunion shows in June in Sacramento and Petaluma. [
Review]
3. Prince & 3rdeyegirl
March 15 at The Fox Theater in Oakland
Probably not The Purple One’s best show even in that same week — he played for
nearly four hours just days earlier — but it’s hard not to look back at the year and see this as a highlight. He opened with a
hot, bluesy rendition of "Let's Go Crazy" and went from there, backed up by a trio of women dubbed 3rdeyegirl. “Oakland, you know how many hits I got?” Prince boasted as he blew through a stretch that included “When Doves Cry,” “I Would Die 4 U,” "Sign o' the Times" and “Purple Rain.” Even after more than two hours, the audience still begged for more. [
Review]
Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips sings "The Golden Path" in August 2014 at Outside Lands Music Festival.
2. The Flaming Lips
Aug. 10 at Outside Lands Music Festival
at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco
Overshadowing Sunday night headliners The Killers, Oklahoma’s The Flaming Lips were weird and wonderful in their undercard appearance on the main stage at Outside Lands’ final day. Performers dressed as a rainbow, a bush and the sun, confetti shot out of cannons and Wayne Coyne surfed the crowd in a giant hamster ball — oh, and the music was great, too, including a psychedelic cover of The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” to close the set. [
Review]
Annie Clark of St. Vincent performs "Surgeon" during her March 2014 appearance at The Fox Theater in Oakland.
1. St. Vincent
March 22 at The Fox Theater in Oakland
When people talk of seeing St. Vincent’s Annie Clark in her prime, they'll speak of seeing her on tour in support of
St. Vincent. Clark was robotic — even her banter felt preprogrammed. But it also felt like a natural part of the act, scuttling in short, choppy steps to and fro the microphone in her black, ankle-boot heels, her electro-shocked, dyed silver hair complementing the image. Sometimes the woman underneath would shine through. She would lose inhibition and pretense when the spell was on her for a guitar solo, such as ripping, distorted fury on “Huey Newton.” By the time encore closer “Your Lips Are Red” ascended into blurry bursts of high-decibel guitar freakout, Clark and company left no doubt that this was her time to shine. [
Review]
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