Following this week's trend of Milwaukee music publications posting their top concerts of the year, I'm following it up with my top 5 concerts that I saw in Milwaukee this year. 2014 was a great year for concerts and all of the bands that made it on the Tuesday Top 5 are bands that I saw for the first time this year, so this is a very hard list to put together.
5) Anvil @ The Metal Grill 5/2/14
The thrash metal pioneers ventured through the US for the fist time in years and I caught them at the very small and brand new venue called The Metal Grill (they serve Trooper Beer!). The show started with Lips playing a solo while standing in the middle of the crowd. Then came about 2 hours of every Anvil song you could ever want to hear. Robb is one of the best drummers in metal (by far the best stick twirler) and Lips is young at heart and can still play and sing. Such a great show, just a shame that it wasn't at a bigger venue (meaning they are a bigger band).
4) Outkast @ Marcus Amphitheater (Summerfest) 6/29/14
In the past 2 years I've been to quite a few hip hop shows (thanks Ben) and Outkast was by far the best (Kanye was a close second). They were not promoting any new material, so it was simply a greatest hits show. You always seem to forget just how many hits Outkast had though because they are always under the shadow of "The Way You Move" and "Hey Ya". It was a huge dance party with everyone excited to see (for the last time) Outkast here in Milwaukee. The live band and video screens were added bonuses. It may have been the last time they come to Brew City, but at least they ended with this show.
Note: Ranking my top 3 is like picking a favorite child. This was a hard decision.
3) Jack White @ The Rave 7/21/14
I've been a huge Jack White fan since I first heard Fell in Love with a Girl however many years ago it was. Despite the fact that The Rave was close to triple digits with a sold out crowd and $3.50 12oz cups of water, the night was one of the greatest concert experiences of my life. Jack and his band (RIP Ikey Owens) played classics from all of Jack's projects including some of my favorites Icky Thump, Fell in Love with a Girl, and Steady as She Goes. I know what you're thinking, how is Jack freaking White only #3? If we got more than a few seconds of Ball and Biscuit and Freedom at 21, then it would've been a perfect night. Only getting a short snippet of Ball and Biscuit left a sour taste in my mouth. BUT being there when Jack plays Seven Nation Army live is worth any price of admission.
2) Slayer @ The Rave 5/16/14
Well really this night was about Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies, and Slayer. This was my first time seeing Slayer and boy was it a good one. I know I missed out on seeing Slayer in the classic lineup, but Gary pulled double duty with Exodus and Slayer in the same night which was pretty amazing. Slayer went on a week long run before ending the week in Columbus at the Rock on the Range festival. The show we got was about an hour and half of all of the classics; so much so that all of the songs played were off their first 5 albums. Sure there are some great songs that have come later in their career, but nothing stands up to their first 5 albums. The concert was nothing but sheer power, force, and thrash metal gold. This was just after the 1 year anniversary of Jeff's passing, so it made the closer of Angel of Death seem that much more meaningful. I saw them this summer as well at Rock USA, but nothing will stand up to the Rave performance.
1) Queens of the Stone Age @ The Riverside Theater 5/7/14
Not only had I waited to see Queens of the Stone Age forever it seems like, but this was my first real opportunity to catch them live as well and there was no way that I was missing it. The show sold out within a few hours of going on sale (which proves there were more people than just myself excited to see them). Not only was it all of the QOTSA hits you would expect to hear, but we were also treated to the majority of their newest (and in my opinion best) album ...Like Clockwork. They came right out and played No One Knows as their second song which just meant, this was going to be a night to remember. The lasting image for me of the show was during a moment of reverb heavy tones in between songs, Josh had a cigarette in his mouth and just put his hands up throwing the horns high in the air with the only light on the stage was coming from behind the band; it was just such a badass image. I just hope that I don't have to wait another lifetime to see them again.
Side note, Reignwolf is a very close #6. I'm confident that the next time I see him, it'll be in a much bigger venue that the Rave's side bar.
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