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..