As with my 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 Year in Review features, this article looks back on a year of music with a summary of the highlights. This year, I attended about 35 shows, with hundreds of different sets of incredible talent and music to make sense of, not to mention trying to keep up with all of the studio releases from artists, new and old. This is my attempt to (subjectively) share my favorites of the year, from live shows to new songs and albums. You can also check out my Top 100 Concert Photos of 2016 in that separate article.
2016 was an awesome year, as my wife Shelley has become very serious about photography and had an opportunity to photograph a number of shows right alongside me, and I was thrilled when she’d capture images that were even better than my own! So we have a new passion to share with one another (and have always had the same love for music).
Obviously, the lists that follow below are a reflection of my personal, subjective tastes, so all are truly about the kind of music that most moves and inspires me. I have a pretty broad taste in music, but I think what I like the most is reflected by my choices. I’m sure I missed some awesome new music completely (I always do and find it right after publishing this feature).
Top 10 Concerts of 2016
These are my ten favorite concerts I attended in 2016…
1) “Prince: Piano and a Microphone” (Paramount Theatre | Oakland, California | 2/28/2016)
[CONCERT OF THE YEAR]
It’s hard to even know where to begin to talk about this experience. About a month prior to Prince’s tragic and unexpected passing, it would have been my favorite concert of the year regardless of how events that followed may have colored it in retrospect.
Prince had arranged to put this concert together (in his usual last minute fashion) as a result of his being in the San Francisco Bay Area for Vanity’s funeral. His emotions from this very personal loss were raw and on display throughout the concert.
But the concert was drastically different from any prior Prince concert I’d attended. No band. No guitars! Just as billed; Prince and a piano.
It was highly autobiographical. His most repeated refrain was “we need a new story”. It was at once a candid introduction to a Prince I didn’t know, as well as a goodbye. He seemed preoccupied with his childhood, and painting a vivid image of what that was like for him growing up.
He played two shows that night back to back – my wife Shelley and I attended the earlier of the two (my friend Nick went to both and preferred the first).
The highlight of the show was his rendition of “Little Red Corvette”, wherein he stumbled his way through emotions, stopping to reference “this one girl in particular” as his longing for Vanity became clear. He slowed everything down as he gently sung the words, “girl, your moving too fast, too fast now, too fast… just recently, we lost a dear sister that was moving too fast – too fast, too fast, too fast…”
It was such an amazing experience. One that I will never forget.
~
2) Notes & Words: Benefit For UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland (Chris Martin, Stone Foxes, Dave Eggers, Kelly Corrigan, B.J. Novak)
As I’ve often referenced, Coldplay is one of my favorite bands, and I’ve actually traveled to see (and sometimes meet) the band abroad (London, Paris, Madrid…).
So this show was a really special event outside of any Coldplay-related performance, in that it featured many artists in and out of music and was all in support of raising funds for the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. An awesome evening of entertainment!
In any event, Chris Martin of Coldplay appeared and put on an acoustic performance that was quite special. In addition to his own cover of Prince’s “Raspberry Beret”, bent into “Viva La Vida”, he brought children from the Oakland School for the Arts on stage with him to perform “Purple Rain” that left me speechless. Most of the vocals were provided by the gifted young women and it was nothing short of stunning. What an experience.
~
3) Peter Hook & The Light at The Fillmore (San Francisco, California | 11/5/2016)
Peter Hook has taken a thoughtful approach to his live concert tours in the past three years. Rather than just doing a random set of Joy Division and New Order songs, each year he performs full albums, and he has been doing them in sequential order.
New Order is one of my favorite bands of all time, and Peter Hook is actually my favorite bass player of all time… and his tour of Substance is what I’ve been most anticipating all these years. Did it live up to my expectations? He and his band blew them away. I felt like I was transported back in time, hearing the album live as it had always been meant to be heard. Fucking amazing.
~
4) Chic featuring Nile Rodgers at Fox Theater (Oakland, California | 2/20/2016)
Nile Rodgers is a real legend in music, and was a principal force behind so many favorite artists and songs. What an incredible experience… this show was unbelievable. A dream!
~
5) Morrissey at Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino (Reno, California | 11/11/2016)
Morrisssey is one of my all-time favorite artists as well, and I love his (rare) live performances. This was another stellar show. Whenever I see Morrissey, I feel that urge to travel and see back to back shows wherever his tour takes him. They are that incredible, and always different from one another. He remains one of the greatest of my generation.
~
6) Belly at Great American Music Hall (San Francisco, California | 8/26/2016)
I’ve been a huge fan of Tanya Donelly since my teens, in all her incarnations (solo, Throwing Muses, Belly), so this past year I finally got to see her perform live for the first time! It was amazing! Belly and all it’s principals sounded great and it was just such an intimate show (I was standing next to her father in the front row even). Hopefully she will take to the road more in the future.
~
7) Culture Club at Thunder Valley Outdoor Amphitheater (Lincoln, California | 8/19/2016)
Culture Club’s Colour By Numbers was one of the very first cassette tapes I bought as a little kid… though I’d seen Boy George before on a solo tour, I’d never seen Culture Club as a band, so this was a first. Not only was the show amazing, Shelley and I got to meet them as well. A night I will never forget.
~
8) Tears for Fears at Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay (San Diego, California | 10/9/2016)
I’ve seen Tears for Fears a few times in the past couple of years, but this show was my favorite. Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay in San Diego with my wife and two of our close friends, front row center. Doesn’t get much better than that.
~
9) GROUPLOVE at Fox Theater (Oakland, California | 10/6/2016)
With one of my favorite albums of the year in tow, GROUPLOVE put on an explosive show as they always do, and the new music sounded great and translated well to live form. And a cover of Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage”? Heavenly!
~
10) Of Monsters And Men at Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino (Reno, Nevada | 4/15/2016)
I love this band! And they might even transcend their studio recordings, they put on such a stellar live show. This is a band I will always see live, and they always deliver. Such gifts they all have.
~
Top 10 Albums of 2016
I usually do a Top 10 Albums list, but this year I had a hard time “loving” ten albums, and I didn’t want to be disingenuous, so I cut it to five. There are a lot of imperfect albums, but albums that I listen to, in full, over and over… I was very picky. And some of my favorite artists came out with albums this year that just didn’t connect with me and there were some where I would love parts and other parts would just not work for me. So a Top Five.
1) Phantogram – Three
[ALBUM OF THE YEAR]
I’ve been following Phantogram since their second album, Voices, came out back in 2014. I really enjoyed the album, but I was a bigger fan of certain songs, if that makes sense (especially “Black Out Days” – damn, what a song!). I was fortunate to see them live times, and I’ve always been really fascinated with their sound. They have made a lot of appearances of different shows over the years, and it’s so cool how they can do very different takes of their own music. And it truly illustrates how much texture and life there is in every song.
So I was expecting – hoping for – more of the same with Three, and I came away kind of shocked. Far and away their best work, it’s truly stellar. The more I listened to Three, the more I came back to it more and more. It’s infectious. There is no cure except for more Three. Louder Three. I love this album!
An interesting collection of songs, very different from one another, yet it still feels like an album proper. It’s so new and fresh, yet little aspects remind me of things I’ve loved in the past… Sneaker Pimps, Portishead, Beastie Boys, Prince, Depeche Mode… I dunno, a lot of random references, but it taps into something in my brain that does not compute. But I dig it. And it’s all held together by that kinetic internal battle and dance between analog and digital. The music feels like it comes from some retro-futuristic contraption with lots of dials and switches.
2) Grouplove – Big Mess
Grouplove’s first album, Never Trust a Happy Song, found tremendous success with several songs on their debut, most notably “Colours”, “Tongue Tied”, and “Itchin’ on a Photograph”. Grouplove is one of those rare bands that release a first album that is just a masterpiece. The band definitely has an artistic understanding of what makes catchy, engaging, music – the kinds of songs with which, after the first listen, you want to hear them again and again. Most bands are lucky to get one of these on an album, maybe two. Never Trust a Happy Song is, front to back, song after song, just magnificent. And while there is a consistent sound and style overall, it is not repetitive with what works. There is such a diversity in the work… this is a group of musicians with many ideas and they obviously want to work them out – not simply come up with one good song and throw together an album around it.
Maybe even more rare, that sophomore album, Spreading Rumours, was just as stellar. There have been a handful of other bands in the past decade that have had that amazing first album, only to follow it up with a disappointment. Not so with Grouplove.
So I was a bit nervous about this new third album released last month, Big Mess. Could lightning strike three times? With Grouplove, the answer is a resounding “yes”. Not only is Big Mess on par, it might be their best album of the three. End to end, every song is incredible. And not only do they manage to retain their signature sound, but they build on it with an even more mature collection of songs.
You can check out my full, song by song review of the entire album in my review of their live concert tour supporting the new album: LINK
3) Beginners – Pleaser
This is a band I saw live in early 2015 and just loved them, so I’d been eagerly awaiting their debut album. It was worth the wait. The only complaint I have is that I wish it was longer, but you could say that about any great release. Each song is awesome, and it’s one of those albums you can listen to over and over, front to back, while driving around on a nice Spring day with the windows rolled down.
They have such an interesting and unique sound, with catchy pop fueling each song, there’s a lot more interesting stuff going on beneath the smooth surface.
This is definitely a band I expect to blow up at some point. They know how to compose a song and strip it down to the elements that make it work, and Samantha’s vocal tone is very different and her delivery is the driving force behind the hooks.
Really looking forward to seeing what is in the future of this band.
4) Hælos – Full Circle
Brilliant album! This one takes me back to the sort of feelings I’d get closing my eyes and listening to Cranes, Cocteau Twins, and Enigma… but is very different, as it is more electronic, more vocal-driven… every song on this album is just awesome, and it’s all very cohesive as it flows from one song to the next.
I’d never listened to Hælos prior to stumbling across one of the songs, loving it, and getting the full album. I’m really hoping I can check them out live in 2017. Stellar band.
5) M83 – Junk
What a weirdly wonderful album! I don’t think Anthony was going for… well, I honestly don’t know what he was going for… it’s all just so strangely all over the place. But I love it. What a fun and different album. So many awesome tracks. So much diversity. So soundtrack-like, yet not. I don’t know. How do I even talk about it? Go check it out. You may love it too.
~
Top 10 Songs and Favorite 50 Songs of 2016
These are my 50 favorite songs of 2016 – either released on an album that came out during 2016 or released as a single in 2016.
The first ten are my Top 10 favorites, in order (#1 being best), 11-50 are simply listed alphabetically by song title. My only self-imposed restrictions: 1) limiting any one artist to one song in the Top 10 and 2) NOT allowing myself to choose a song that was released on a 2016 album if it first appeared on an EP or as a single prior to 2016…
And actually, it’s 60 songs. I tried to get down to 50, but when I got to 60, I couldn’t find any more to cut. But “Top 50” is just more catchy.
1. “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” by Phantogram
[SONG OF THE YEAR]
Wow, what a song. It has so many elements that I love, but most of all the changes, rhythm and changing tempo. So much drama. So catchy. Fuck, what a song! Phantogram’s best to date. Along with my runner-up choice from them, “You’re Mine”. Honestly, I can’t decide which I love more. Two best songs of the year. Fucking incredible album. Check it out.
Phantogram Runner-Up: “You’re Mine”
2. “Welcome to Your Life” by Grouplove
True to form anthemic music from Grouplove, serving as the lead single to their amazing third album. How can you not love this song? And my runner-up choice… “Good Morning”… oh my God, catchiest song ever?
Grouplove Runner-Up: “Good Morning”
3. “Young Hearts ft. Beginners” by BUNT.
This insanely hot piece of music from “two students from Germany” along with Beginners blows my mind. It’s just so infectious and that pace and sax and keys… Sublime! BUNT. is a German EDM duo creating their own “folk house” tracks. I want a whole album of this. Please.
4. “Go (feat. Mai Lan)” by M83
One of the masterpieces off the crazy strange new album from M83, this one is my favorite. Somehow I am a sucker for songs with reverse countdowns…
5. “Gemini Feed” by Banks
Lots of incredible music off of the new album from Banks, but this one is my favorite. This is Banks at her best. So cool.
6. “Stereo” by Beginners
I could honestly pick any song off Pleaser, and my favorite changes constantly, but as I type these words, it’s “Stereo”. Such a hip track.
7. “Pray” by Hælos
Brilliant song off the brilliant new album.
8. “Full Blown Love” by Broods
I absolutely loved Broods first album, but the sophomore release didn’t connect with me much at all, except for a few songs. This one, I adore.
9. “Noise Pollution (feat. Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Zoe Manville)” by Portugal. The Man
Damn, such a cool track. It slows everything down and gets a bit funk. Then speeds up to a different rhythm. Love it.
10. “So Alive” by The Goo Goo Dolls
I was never a huge follower of The Goo Goo Dolls apart from some fondness for their hits in the 90s, but there are a number of stellar songs off of their new album, which is worth picking up.
Special Mention: “Calling the Clock (feat. Alan Wilder)” by Dede
This one came out of nowhere… a singer songwriter’s debut song with Alan Wilder on arrangement? This is the first piece of music in over a quarter of a century that reminds me of my all-time favorite album, Music for the Masses. Wow.
Below are the rest of my Top 50 Songs, in alphabetical order…
| Song | Artist | Album |
| Shut Up Kiss Me | Angel Olsen | MY WOMAN |
| Trainwreck | Banks | The Altar |
| Unicorn | Basto! & Natasha Bedingfield | Unicorn – Single |
| Melting Into One | Beginners | Pleaser |
| What We Are | Beginners | Pleaser |
| Wild Horses | Bishop Briggs | Wild Horses – Single |
| Conscious | Broods | Conscious |
| Heartlines | Broods | Conscious |
| This Is What You Came For (feat. Rihanna) | Calvin Harris | This Is What You Came For (feat. Rihanna) – Single |
| Don’t Call My Name | Down and Outlaws | Above Snakes |
| Lay Me Down | Down and Outlaws | Above Snakes |
| HandClap | Fitz & The Tantrums | Fitz & the Tantrums |
| Cannonball | Grouplove | Big Mess |
| Do You Love Someone | Grouplove | Big Mess |
| Enlighten Me | Grouplove | Big Mess |
| Good Morning | Grouplove | Big Mess |
| Hollywood | Grouplove | Big Mess |
| Spinning | Grouplove | Big Mess |
| Standing in the Sun | Grouplove | Big Mess |
| Traumatized | Grouplove | Big Mess |
| Dust | Hælos | Full Circle |
| Full Circle | Hælos | Full Circle |
| Pale | Hælos | Full Circle |
| Way Down We Go | Kaleo | A / B |
| Lite Brite | KANEHOLLER | Lite Brite – Single |
| Knife | Kitten | Heaven or Somewhere in Between – EP |
| Steal the Night | Kitten | Steal the Night – Single |
| Laser Gun (feat. Mai Lan) | M83 | Junk |
| Final Song | MØ | Final Song – Single |
| Happiness | Pet Shop Boys | Super |
| Answer | Phantogram | Three |
| Cruel World | Phantogram | Three |
| Destroyer | Phantogram | Three |
| Funeral Pyre | Phantogram | Three |
| Run Run Blood | Phantogram | Three |
| Same Old Blues | Phantogram | Three |
| You’re Mine | Phantogram | Three |
| All I Think About Now | Pixies | Head Carrier |
| Um Chagga Lagga | Pixies | Head Carrier |
| Higher | Rihanna | ANTI |
| Never Ending | Rihanna | ANTI |
| Loose | Smoke Season | Ouroboros – EP |
| Boxes | The Goo Goo Dolls | Boxes |
| The Pin | The Goo Goo Dolls | Boxes |
| On Hold | The xx | I See You |
| Kings | Tribe Society | Lucid Dreams – EP |
| Heathens | twenty one pilots | Suicide Squad: The Album |
| Constant Crush | Vérité | Living – EP |
| New Song | Warpaint | Heads Up |
Full Rock Subculture Journal 2016 Concert Review Listing
Friday, February 5th
Seal
Fox Theater in Oakland, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW WITH PHOTOS HERE
Saturday, February 14th
Valentine’s Soul Jam: The Temptations feat. Dennis Edwards, Carl Carlton, and Dr. Funk’s Mind, Body & Soul
Thunder Valley Casino & Resort in Lincoln, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW WITH PHOTOS HERE
Saturday, February 20th
CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers
Fox Theater in Oakland, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW WITH PHOTOS HERE
Sunday, February 28th
Prince: A Piano & A Microphone
Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Sunday, March 20th
Styx
Bob Hope Theatre in Stockton, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Friday, March 25th
Smashing Pumpkins with Liz Phair
The Masonic in San Francisco, California
Thursday, April 14th
Of Monsters and Men
Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Monday, April 18th
CHVRCHES and Wolf Alice
Fox Theater in Oakland, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Sunday, April 17th
Lush
The Warfield in San Francisco, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Tuesday, April 26th
The Heavy
The Independent in San Francisco, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Saturday, April 30th
Notes & Words: Benefit For UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland (Chris Martin, Stone Foxes, Dave Eggers, Kelly Corrigan, B.J. Novak)
Fox Theater in Oakland, California
– READ FULL EVENT REVIEW HERE
Saturday, May 14th
Jewel
Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Grass Valley, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Thursday, May 26th
The Cure
Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Saturday, June 4th
Live 105’s BFD 2016 (The Offspring, Fitz And The Tantrums, Silversun Pickups, The Naked And Famous, and BØRNS, Bad Religion, Wolfmother, The Wombats, Jake Bugg, Broods, The Story So Far, Lucius, Finish Ticket, Never Shout Never, The Strumbellas, Reuben And The Dark, and JR JR.)
Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE: PART 1
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE: PART 2
Saturday, June 11th
V101’s Summer Jam: Keith Sweat, K-Ci & JoJo, SWV, Slick Rick, SWV and Doug E. Fresh
Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California
Thursday, July 14th
Darius Rucker
Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphy’s, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Friday, July 15th
Goo Goo Dolls
Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphy’s, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Wednesday, July 27th
Sublime with Rome
Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphy’s, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Saturday, August 6th
Train with The English Beat
Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphys, CA
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Friday, August 19th
Culture Club with Information Society
Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Sunday, August 21st
Lynyrd Skynyrd with Peter Frampton
Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphy’s, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Friday, August 26th
Belly
Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Sunday, September 4th
Rewind Fest ’16/Lost 80s Live (Wang Chung, A Flock of Seagulls, Berlin, Cutting Crew, Farrington + Mann The original When In Rome (UK) , Tommy Tutone , Nu Shooz , The Motels, Animotion)
Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Saturday, September 24th
Garbage
The Masonic in San Francisco, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Friday, September 30th
ZZ Top
Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphy’s, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Thursday, October 6th
GROUPLOVE
Fox Theater in Oakland, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Sunday, October 9th
Tears for Fears
Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay in San Diego, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Wednesday, October 26th
Pixies
Ace of Spades in Sacramento, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Friday, October 28th
V101’s Halloween House Party ’16 (Arrested Development, Kool Moe Dee & The Treacherous Three, DJ Wiz)
Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California
Saturday, November 5th
An Evening With Peter Hook & The Light
The Fillmore in San Francisco, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Friday, November 11th
Morrissey
Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Thursday, December 8th
KFOG’s Concert for Kids with Band of Horses, Blind Pilot and The Revivalists
The Masonic in San Francisco, California
– READ FULL CONCERT REVIEW HERE
Jason DeBord
(916) 813-1797
[email protected]