10: Atlas Sound: Logos- A complex, densely layered atmosphere of gorgeous sounds..gets better with repeated listens
9: Sonic Youth: The Eternal: This band never seems to disappoint
8: Dinosaur Jr: Farm: I thoroughly enjoy listening to the way J. Mascis trys to sing over his distorted melodies, and trys to convey beautiful melodies in the sonic disturbance of these songs
7: Passion Pit-Manners: An eye opening musical pallette of ideas and thoughts and longings on love done with great vision and excitement
6: Muse- The Resistance: Anyone who trys to convey a message through music with a sonic onslaught and over the top melodies in mind is ok by me
5: Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest: Totally dig the sophistication of singing, songwriting and use of instruments..terrific album from the get go
4: Pet Shop Boys- Yes: Nothing like sophisticated electonic dance pop of the highest order..the Pet Shop Boys remain the kings of this genre
3: St. Vincent- Actor: Each song presents it’s own imaginary world where you can dive right on in..compelling, enchanting and downright disturbing at the same time..
2: Mastodon- Crack the Skye: A mammmoth onslaught of sound, tightly knit with a crack the whip band whom never seem to disappoint..scary how good these guys are
1: Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion: And what makes this album number one in my book is not just the singing and songwriting accompanied with gorgeous melodies, on each and every song: but also its staying power, and that it was officially released back on January 20…and it still sounds fresh and clean…an awesome achievement!!

10: The Pixies-  Aragon Ballroom- 11/20/09: Terrific show, great camaraderie,and awesome to hear “Doolittle” in its entirety
9:  Rob Zombie- Aragon Ballroom- 11/22/09: A blast furnace of a show, even for a Sunday night, Rob being ever the showman.
8: Mastodon- Aragon Ballroom- 10/17/09: Another scorched earth and take no prisoners kind of show..a sonic, mind melting experience from beginning to end..they should have been the headliner!
7: Bob Dylan- Aragon Ballroom- 10/31/09: Have seen Bob 4 times this year alone…having photographed Bob at least 50 times by now over the years, this night was without a doubt one of the top 3 performances I’ve seen of him..he sounded great, the band was great..maybe because it was Halloween night..
6: Kylie Minogue- UIC Pavillion- 10/07/09: First time on a major tour of the states; it was a raucous affair, elegant in every way..a high spirited dance event in every way
5: Flaming Lips- Allstate Arena- 12/11/09: A celebration of life and all its joy, sung through the bandleader Wayne Coyne and his companions..visually striking, musically satisfying.
4: Pet Shop Boys- Chicago Theatre- 9/14/09: They do not skip a beat..Neil and Chris are the absolute kings when it comes to sophisticated electronic dance pop..they can do no wrong
3: Leonard Cohen- Chicago Theatre- 05/05/09: A deeply spiritual ultimately uplifting evening on all counts.no one is more debonair, elegant, humble and thoughtful than Leonard Cohen..I mean NO ONE..
2: Nine Inch Nails- Northerly Island- 05/29/09: A searing, blistering affirmation on the complexity of Trent’s music, pushed to the hilt with a backup band that could do no wrong in blasting through these songs as if they knew in advance that armegeddon was the day after..
1: Tool- Lollapalooza- 08/15/09- The absolute total concert experience..superb visuals, superb band, superb song selection…the craziest crowd that I’ve experienced in all of my years of shooting shows…a shout out to the United States Marine Corps for helping protect me from the onslaught of body surfers and mosh-pit fighters..

The Flaming Lips with Phoenix and Pete Yorn
The Lips: A Visual Feast Topped with a Sonic Onslaught

You know that this is going to be a good show when you see mainman Wayne Coyne out on the stage 30 minutes before his band goes on prepping and preparing his grab bag of treats he’s gonna throw out to the crowd during his band’s set. A non-stop showman, providing a conductor’s mind set with a kids appetite for everything visual- Wayne strikes a chord of letting yourself go- and try your best to stay in the moment. A Wayne mantra might be like- ENJOY THIS NIGHT OR ELSE!
A compulsive master of ceremonies from the start:

1. All band members except Wayne emerge from the most private of parts of a woman’s anatomy amidst a giant LED screen to wave “hello”
2. Wayne in his gigantic bubble rolling through the crowd
3. Confetti- lots and lots of confetti in all shapes and sizes
4. Balloons- lots and lots of balloons of all shapes and sizes
5. More confetti, from canons and shooters
6. Wayne standing on the shoulders of a stage hand in an oversized apesuit
7. Wayne with lots of shakers, playing them to the microphone
8. Lots of cymbal crashing
9. Lots and lots of gong thwacking
10. Couch time onstage with the hand-picked ladies plucked from the audience
11. Muted trumpet playing to a funeral march
12. Megaphone blasting with strobelight attached to Wayne’s chest to emphasize the sonic blsat of optimism of the beauty of life
13. And on and on.

All in all,  a celebration of life and love with a healthy dose of sonic psycedelic freak-out.
Had a great time photographing this spectacle!
Phoenix: Sad to hear the news about the drummer’s mother not in good health…the acoustic set was just ok..simply too short of a set.
Pete Yorn: Decent enough set- talented bunch of musicians.
The night definitely belongs to the Lips and nothing but the Lips…