Our Favorite Concerts of 2007

Spoon @ 9:30 Club
DCist Amanda says:
The logistics surrounding this show were a huge pain in the ass. But for true Spoon fans, it was well worth the trouble. The band played songs spanning their entire career and treated the audience to the rarest of rock happenings: a second, unplanned encore.

Okkervil River @ Rock & Roll Hotel
DCist Valerie Says:
There's something touching when every single member of the band is just so into the
moment that despite all suffering from some sort of bug (go to npr.org and witness Will Sheff's voice cracking at the end of the show) they're still all singing along... during the encore. Besides, Will Sheff wrote the book on turning awkward into awesome.

Jens Lekman @ Black Cat
DCist Valerie says:
Sweden's most blissfully sensitive sampler/singer/songwriter (say that five times fast, I dare ya!)
delivers a set that prompts a kum-ba-yah style sing-a-long that while campy still succeeded in giving me the warm fuzzies.

John Pattitucci @ KC Jazz Club
DCist Sriram says:
A trio of remarkable musicians at the top of their game.

Neko Case @ 9:30 Club
DCist Ian says:
Case's voice never fails to make every show she gives nothing less than spectacular. Her visit in the fall was no exception.

The Decemberists @ Strathmore
DCist Ian says:
Strathmore Hall might seem like a stuffy venue for a rock show, but the Decemberists' theatrical, proggy folk managed to fit in quite well, particularly when they launched into the fan favorite "The Mariner's Revenge Song" complete with whale-costumed roadie coming out on stage and ate a band member. Imagine if Gwar went twee, and dropped the gore. Yeah, kinda like that.

Kings of Leon @ 9:30 Club
DCist Amanda says:
This was the best rock concert I saw all year, hands down. It elevated a band whose music I appreciated to a band I love and will drop anything to see perform again.

DCist Kyle says:
My first time seeing KoL. It was worth the wait.

"Yo! MTV Raps" Party featuring Special Ed
DCist Jacarl says:
Sure, Special Ed was the headliner but the locals stole the show. Flex Mathews, Emoni Fela, and several other D.C.-based acts helped pack the Puma Store in Georgetown to pay tribute to the show that gave hip-hop legs and a musical era many of us look back to with fond memories.

Opening night @ Duke Fest
DCist Sriram says:
A great night of music from a mix of local and internationally known musicians. A great start to a great event.

The Polyphonic Spree @ 9:30 Club
DCist Graham says:
After pronoouncing myself sick of the bloating lineups of indie rock bands, two of my top five shows come from the movement's poster children. As for the Spree, for an act that gets written off as a gimmick, they sure do know how to make that gimmick work for them.

Morrissey @ DAR
DCist Mehan says:
Admittedly, I've seen Morrissey put on better shows in the past but as anyone who has witnessed the Moz in person can tell you, this man's worst shows easily eclipse other bands' best. While his set at DAR could have easily sunk into the same low-energy funk as his previous show at Baltimore's Ram's Head, D.C. Morrissey fans managed to save the day by rushing the stage, hugging and kissing the Moz and generally losing it toward the end of the set. I can't remember the last time that I felt so proud to call this city home.

DCist Kyle says:
I got hit in the face with Moz's mic cord.

The National @ 9:30 Club
DCist Valerie says:
The entire audience was singing along to "Fake Empire" and you could've heard a pin drop in the breaths taken between words. I've never seen an audience so enraptured and it was the sort of moment that makes it worthwhile to have seen a band for the third time in five months.

Dee Dee Bridgewater @ The Kennedy Center
DCist Sriram says:
A truly gifted singer who refuses to conform or accept any limits as to what constitutes "jazz."

Ted Leo @ 9:30 Club
DCist Ian says:
Leo's strong connection to D.C. from his days in Chisel and the early days of his solo career make every one of his local shows seem like a homecoming. I've seen him over half a dozen times since he put out his first record, and he's never failed to make everyone in the room have a good time.

Little Brother @ Black Cat
DCist Jacarl says:
Every once and a while we have to remember that hip-hop music can be fun and funny. Chronicling their struggles as a marginally successful rap duo, Little Brother, consisting of Phonte and Alexandria-born Big Pooh, have created a cult following in part because of their humor, which often takes shots at popular artists. Phonte's riffs on T-Pain, DJ Khaled, and crushed mangoes had the Black Cat audience rolling with laughter, a scene not too common at rap shows.

The Blow @ Black Cat
DCist Mehan says:
I first saw Khaela Maricich about 10 years ago, playing to a group of 20 kids at a YMCA in a small town in Wisconsin. Though she showed promise at the time, she was anything but a confident performer. What a difference a decade can make. At her recent Black Cat gig, Maricich navigated the stage like an old pro: crafting a coherent narrative for her songs to fit into, using found objects as props and commanding the attention of the entire room--even though she was alone on stage with an iPod for a backing band. One part karaoke, one part performance art, the Blow's live show is not to be missed.

The Whigs @ Rock and Roll Hotel
DCist Graham says:
These guys must have come through town four or five times last year. On this particular stop, they packed the punch of three bands in a blistering 45 minute set.

Global Drum Project @ Lisner
DCist Sriram says
Four of the world's greatest percussionists who can make the drum sing. A rhythm lover's dream.

Garland of Hours @ Black Cat
DCist Ian says:
First of all, I'm a sucker for a cello-fronted rock band. But beyond that, this show just felt special to me, because it felt like the sort of "family affair" that I hadn't been to in a while in this town. The set from Amy Domingues' band was solid and inventive. The crowd wasn't big, but everyone there seemed really happy to be there, and a friend of opener Benjy Ferree had brought her tow-headed little girl, who was wearing comically large ear protection, and shyly interacting with Ferree while he was on playing his set of back-porch folk rock. At the homey Black Cat backstage on a cool spring evening, there was a communal feeling that was once commonplace at D.C. shows but has sadly grown more rare in recent years.

Stevie Wonder @ Verizon Center
DCist Jacarl says:
There's not much to say here other than it was Stevie. That should speak volumes.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone with the Donkeys @ the Red and Black
DCist Mehan says:
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (neé Owen Ashworth) has been touring behind an army of battery-powered keyboards for years now, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect when he announced that he would briefly step away from the Casios and tour with San Diego's Donkeys as his backing band. Surprisingly, CTFPA's lo-fi character studies translate remarkably well to the new format, with Ashworth's empathy for his fictional, post-collegiate misanthropes shining through even more brightly over the Donkey's country-tinged compositions.

Jason Isbell @ Rock and Roll Hotel
DCist Graham says:
The Drive-By Truckers were one of my favorite bands, and I was sad to see Isbell leave. But this show made it clear that this is a man who needs to follow his muse wherever she may lead him.

MC Hammer @ Woodrow Wilson Plaza
DCist Jacarl says:
For all the flack he's caught for various reasons, the Hammerman proved he can still entertain. For his encore, he came off stage and mixed in with the crowd, much to their delight. Other memorable moments included a protege artist named Pleasure's ode to the magnificence of Trojan-brand condoms and the realization those in attendence made that Hammer doesn't own his master recordings, hence the karaoke-esque version of "U Can't Touch This."

Justin Timberlake @ Verizon Center
DCist Amanda says:
My heart's first true love will always be intimate rock shows in small clubs, but this super-sized arena gig was an example of how those things should be done. It was all spectacle, energy, stunning visuals and raw talent from one of pop music's most talented men. And the dancing! My GOD, the dancing!

The Arcade Fire at DAR Constitution Hall
DCist Graham says:
Predictable? Perhaps, but it ain't easy to play to a crowd with massive expectations and come up trumps. They keep expanding in every way possible, and, if you complained about seeing them at DAR this time around, how are you gonna feel when only FedEx Field can hold them?

Patrick Wolf @ 9:30 Club
I've wanted to see Patrick Wolf for years now, yet it seems like wherever I am is always where he isn't. I was finally able to catch him at the Black Cat this year and while it wasn't at all what I had expected, I was bowled over nonetheless. Placing the emphasis on strings rather than samplers, Wolf and his band adroitly reimagined even the most claustrophobic electronic compositions in his songbook as triumphant orch-pop numbers. As far as D.C. debuts go, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one this year than Patrick Wolf's.

Photo by Kyle Gustafson