2009/07/30 My Bloody Valentine (The National, Richmond, VA) -- a dream come true, show of the year
2009/06/08 The Decemberists/Andrew Bird/Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD) -- probably the second best show of the year
2009/08/28 The Flaming Lips/Explosions in the Sky (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD) -- this show made me smile with all the over-the-top theatrics and fun, my #3 show of the year
2009/01/17 The Raveonettes (Black Cat, Washington, DC) -- fun show, better than their recent 9:30 Club show
2009/01/18 Moby (DJ) (9:30 Club, Washington, DC) -- Inauguration night, epic power outage with Moby drumming on buckets to keep us entertained until the power came back on
2009/03/18 AC Newman/The Broken West (Black Cat, Washington, DC) -- better than some New Pornographers shows I've been to, openers were excellent as well
2009/04/17 Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down (Black Cat, Washington, DC) -- Thao is so awesome; I love her energy and off-kilter rhythms
2009/10/07 The Gossip/MEN/Apache Beat (9:30 Club, Washington, DC) -- the "dance-y-est" show of the year, the 9:30 Club was hopping all night
2009/06/09 TV on the Radio (9:30 Club, Washington, DC) -- always an excellent show
2008/10/27 Van Morrison (Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD) -- Van went deep catalog, playing a lot of obscure favorites; I loved every song
2009/11/09 The Swell Season (9:30 Club, Washington, DC) -- a magical evening, even the new material was excellent
2009/11/30 Pixies/Jay Reatard (D.A.R. Constitution Hall, Washington, DC) -- IMHO, this was better than the 2004 reunion show at D.A.R.
