Our His & Hers 25 Top Concert Lists Comparison With Video Highlights

Celebrating the anniversary in Montreal

On the way home from seeing Arcade Fire in Montreal (write up, photos and vids in the previous post) Paul and I took the long road trip to transcribe our top 25 concert moments of all time, plus some Honorable Mentions with the overflow of awesome live music.  It has been an ongoing conversation for years and yes, most of the bands we have experienced together. So on the occasion of our anniversary today, I thought I'd list them here as a his and hers compilation.  As a testament to our longevity, The Ritz is now known as Webster Hall and a big thank you to the Bowery Presents for sprucing up venues around New York City, especially the Music Hall of Williamsburg, The Capitol Theater and Bowery Ballroom -- all excellent spots to see a show. And of course we are fuzzy on some of the dates.

As far as compiling the lists, it was hard to put things in any particular order or consider many festival slots since it usually means not seeing an entire set. Both of us did list Franz Ferdinand at Austin City Limits Music Festival (2013) and Flaming Lips at Moogfest (2012), as we got to the stages early to secure a good view for the complete set. I've added videos from those shows here along with one from LCD Soundsystem's first night of the final week of shows for the band, truly epic.  Other matches are the Talking Heads in 1983, which I wrote about recently with the 30th anniversary of the concert doc from the tour, Stop Making Sense, and David Bowie's 1983 "Serious Moonlight" tour. But can you guess which list is Paul's and which is mine? Listen to some of our fave songs on a Spotify playlist here.

LIST #1
1. Talking Heads 1983 (Forest Hills, NYC)
2. David Bowie 1983 (Madison Square Garden, NYC)
3. Flaming Lips 2011 (Moogfest Asheville, NC)
4. Arcade Fire 2014 (Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal)
5. LCD Soundsystem 2011 (Terminal 5 NYC)
6. Franz Ferdinand 2013 (Austin City Limits Music Festival, TX)
7. Moby 2009 (Irving Plaza, NYC)
8. Beck 2014 (Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC)
9. Elbow 2014 (Webster Hall, NYC)
10. Art Brut 2012 (Music Hill of Williamsburg, NYC)
11. Weezer 2006 (Roseland, NYC)
12. Spoon 2018 w/Grizzly Bear (The Captitol Theatre Port Chester, NY) *Update
13. Hot Chip 2010 (Moogfest Asheville, NC)
14. Phantom Planet 2004? (Irving Plaza, NYC)
15. Paul Westerberg 2005? (The Globe Norwalk, CT)
16. David Byrne 2009 (Oxford, UK)
17. David Byrne 2001 (Apollo Theater, NYC)
18. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. 2011 (Bowery Ballroom, NYC)
19. Peter Bjorn & John 2011 (Bowery Ballroom, NYC)
20. The National 2010 (Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC)
21. CAKE 2010 (Irving Plaza, NYC)
22. Gang of Four 1984 (The Ritz, NYC)
23. Octopus Project & Devo 2010 (Moogfest Asheville, NC)
24. Sufjan Stevens 2010 (Beacon Theater, NYC)
25. Iggy Pop 1986 (The Ritz, NYC)

Honorable Mention:
Dandy Warhols 2011 (Webster Hall, NYC)
The Walkmen 2012 (Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC)
Band of Horses 2014 (The Capitol Theatre Port Chester, NY)
Portugal The Man 2012 (Terminal 5, NYC)
Fitz And The Tantrums 2010 (Mercury Lounge, NYC)

I was there!!!!

LIST #2
1. Talking Heads 1983 (Forest Hills, NYC)
2. David Bowie 1983 (Madison Square Garden, NYC)
3. Flaming Lips 2011 (Moogfest Asheville, NC)
4. Arcade Fire 2014 (Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal)
5. LCD Soundsystem 2011 (Terminal 5, NYC)
6. Franz Ferdinand 2013 (Austin City Limits Music Festival, TX)
7. Frank Zappa 1978 (Felt Forum, NYC)
8. Police 1982 (Syracuse University, NY)
9. Gang of Four 1984 (The Ritz, NYC)
10. The Clash 1981 (The Bond, NYC)
11. Beck 2014 (Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC)
12. Phantom Planet 2004? (Irving Plaza, NYC)
13. Orbital 2012 (Moogfest Asheville, NC)
14. Allman Brothers & Eric Clapton 2011 (Beacon Theater, NYC)
15. Yes 1978 (Madison Square Garden, NYC)
16. Paul Westerberg 2005? (The Globe Norwalk, CT)
17. Band of Horses 2014 (The Capitol Theatre Port Chester, NY)
18. Peter Bjorn & John 2011 (Bowery Ballroom, NYC)
19. Spoon 2009 (Roseland, NYC)
20. Weezer 2006 (Roseland, NYC)
21. Atoms for Peace 2013 (Austin City Limits Music Festival, TX)
22. Hot Chip 2010 (Moogfest Asheville, NC)
23. Grateful Dead 1987 (Providence, RI)
24. Fitz and The Tantrums 2010 (Mercury Lounge, NYC)
25. Iggy Pop 1993 (The Ritz, NYC)

Honorable Mention:
The Walkmen 2012 (Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Brooklyn Academy of Music NYC)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. 2011 (Bowery Ballroom, NYC)
Jeff Beck 2009 (B.B. King Blues Club, NYC)
CAKE 2010 (Irving Plaza, NYC)
Sufjan Stevens 2010 (Beacon Theater, NYC)