To state the obvious, we here at WKNC love music. A lot. We also love live music. A lot. Most, if not all, of us attend many concerts and music festivals each year. What follows are lists of some of WKNC’s deejays’ favorite shows of the year. They range from national to local acts, regular shows to festivals. Some (myself included) went to so many it was hard to narrow it down to five, so we listed ten. Some lists are in numerical order, others are not. Caribou, Future Islands, and the inaugural Hopscotch Music Festival were some of the most common favorites, among dozens of other acts. Check it out:
Synthesiser Patel (Daytime/Afterhours)
– Chromeo/A-Trak/Kid Sister/Theophilus London @ Congress Theater (Chicago)
– The National/Owen Pallett @ Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
– Metric @ Lollapalooza
– of Montreal @ Cat’s Cradle
– Born Ruffians/Winter Gloves @ Local 506
DJ Mensch (Daytime)
1. The National @ Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
2. Minus The Bear @ Lincoln Theatre
3. Max Indian @ Hopscotch Music Festival
4. Broken Social Scene @ Hopscotch Music Festival
5. The Rosebuds @ Hopscotch Music Festival
May Day (Daytime)
1. Broken Social Scene @ Hopscotch Music Festival
2. Camera Obscura @ Duke Gardens
3. Surfer Blood @ Cat’s Cradle
4. Yeasayer/Javelin @ Cat’s Cradle
5. OK Go @ Lincoln Theatre
DJ Mollypop (Daytime)
1. Paul McCartney @ Sprint Center (Kansas City)
2. The Weepies @ Lincoln Theatre
3. Phoenix @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre
4. Crooked Still @ Casbah
5. The New Pornographers/Dodos/The Duchess and the Duke @ Memorial Hall (UNC-CH)
The Noobhammer (Chainsaw)
1. Scale The Summit/Devin Townsend Project/Cynic/Between the Buried and Me @ The Fillmore Charlotte
2. Sons of Liberty/Iced Earth @ 9:30 Club (Washington, D.C.)
3. Powerglove/Firewind @ Volume 11
4. Valient Thorr/Between the Buried and Me/Mastodon @ Lincoln Theatre
5. Boris @ Cat’s Cradle
Iris G (Daytime)
– Mumford & Sons @ 9:30 Club (Washington, D.C.)
– Ratatat @ MeetFactory (Prague)
Audity (Daytime)
– Active Child @ Hopscotch Music Festival
– Cassis Orange @ Duke Coffeehouse
– Veelee @ Duke Coffeehouse
– Old Bricks @ Kings
– Deerhunter @ Cat’s Cradle
Sarahnade (Daytime/Post Rock Block)
1. Trans-Siberian Orchestra @ RBC Center
2. Local Natives/The Union Line @ The Grey Eagle (Asheville)
3. Phoenix @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre
4. The New Pornographers/Dodos/The Duchess and the Duke @ Memorial Hall (UNC-CH)
5. The Temper Trap/The Kissaway Trail @ Cat’s Cradle
6. This Machine Kills Cancer benefit
DJ Ones (Daytime)
1. Phoenix @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre
2. The New Pornographers @ Memorial Hall (UNC-CH)
3. Broken Social Scene @ Hopscotch Music Festival
4. The Big Pink @ Cat’s Cradle
5. Sharon Van Etten @ Hopscotch Music Festival
DJ Hammerhead (Chainsaw)
1. Municipal Waste/Double Negative/Zeus @ The Milestone (Charlotte)
2. Overkill/Forbidden/Gama Bomb/Evile/Bonded By Blood @ Volume 11
3. D.R.I./Final Curse @ Amos’ Southend (Charlotte)
4. Nemesis/Chainsawdamy/Avalon Steel @ Tremont Music Hall (Charlotte)
5. Exmortus/Vektor/Final Curse @ Charlotte’s Underground (Charlotte)
The Blog Lady (Blog Editor/Staff Photographer)
1. The Avett Brothers @ Asheville Civic Center Arena
2. Lost In The Trees @ Cat’s Cradle
3. Mandolin Orange @ Troika Music Festival
4. The Rosebuds @ Hopscotch Music Festival
5. Chatham County Line @ Troika Music Festival
DJ Vice (Daytime)
1. Benji Hughes/The Old Ceremony @ Cat’s Cradle
2. Passion Pit @ The Fillmore Charlotte
3. The Avett Brothers @ Asheville Civic Center Arena
Just John (Daytime)
1. Caribou/Phantogram @ Governor’s Island (New York City)
2. Beach House @ Cat’s Cradle
3. Every Future Islands show
4. Joanna Newsom @ Carolina Theatre
5. Ponytail @ Siren Music Festival
The Cosmic Cowboy (The Church of Bluegrass and the Truer Sound)
1. John Prine @ Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
2. Joanna Newsom @ The National (Richmond) and Variety Playhouse (Atlanta)
3. Cedric Watson and the Bijou Creole/Red Stick Ramblers @ Reynolds Industries Theater (Duke)
4. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy @ Borque’s Social Club (Scot, LA)
5. Charlie Louvin @ Borque’s Social Club (Scot, LA)
DJ Elly May(Daytime)
1. Delta Spirit @ Cat’s Cradle
2. The Rosebuds/Megafaun @ The Pour House
3. Holy Ghost Tent Revival @ The Pour House
4. Minus The Bear @ Lincoln Theatre
5. Turbo Fruits @ Local 506
Lucretia (Chainsaw)
1. Eyehategod/Nachtmystium/Withered/Haarp/Stripmines @ Volume 11
2. Kreator/Voivod/Nachtmystium @ Jaxx (West Springfield, VA)
3. Slang/World Burns To Death/Devour/Stripmines @ Slims
4. Immolation/Vader/Abigail Williams/Lecherous Nocturne @ Volume 11
5. High On Fire/Torche/Kylesa @ Cat’s Cradle
6. Atakke/Parasytic/Devour @ Slims
7. Pentagram/Cough/The Gates of Slumber/Windham @ The Hat Factory (Richmond)
8. Alice In Chains @ Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
9. Hate Eternal/Cannabis Corpse/Malebolgia @ Volume 11
10. Glass Casket/Wrath & Rapture/Malebolgia @ Johnny & Junes (Winston-Salem)
Agent Orange (Daytime)
1. Broken Social Scene @ Hopscotch Music Festival
2. Yeasayer/Javelin @ Cat’s Cradle
3. Caribou/Toro Y Moi @ Cat’s Cradle
4. Annuals/The Light Pines @ Tir Na Nog
5. Ra Ra Riot/Givers @ Cat’s Cradle
Riff Raff (Daytime)
– Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros @ Cat’s Cradle
– Veelee/Lonnie Walker/Future Islands @ Kings
– Beach House/Washed Out @ Cat’s Cradle
– Ludacris @ Reynolds Coliseum
DJ Kligz (Daytime/Local Lunch)
2. Future Islands/Lonnie Walker/Veelee/NAPS @ Kings
3. Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival
4. Beach House @ Cat’s Cradle
5. Caribou/Veelee @ Cat’s Cradle
Chuck (Daytime)
1. LCD Soundsystem @ Pitchfork Music Festival
2. Massive Attack/Jonsi @ MoogFest
3. The National @ Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
4. Wilco @ Durham Performing Arts Center
5. Caltrop/US Christmas/The Curtains of Night @ Nightlight
6. Titus Andronicus/Spider Bags @ Local 506
7. Deerhunter/Schooner @ Cat’s Cradle
8. Deakin @ Hopscotch Music Festival
9. GWAR @ Lincoln Theatre
10. These Are Powers/Lemonade/MNDR @ The Pinhook
What were your favorite shows and/or music festivals of the year?