I started going to gigs in 2011. The first one was James Blunt at Biel in Lebanon, and the decade ended with Ragers at la Cinémathèque Québécoise in November 2019. Both were very fun, but nowhere close to my top 10 gigs of the decade.
M83 – Sziget 2016 – A38
I had seen M83 one month before at NOS Alive, but it didn’t have the same magic. In the A38 at Sziget, it had everything: one of my closest friends was here, it was inside a giant tent, the crowd was perfect, they had the Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming hits… ‘Intro’, ‘Outro’, ‘Midnight City’, ‘Wait’, ‘Reunion’, ‘Steve McQueen’, the new songs from Junk that worked perfectly live… ‘Road Blaster’, ‘Do it, Try it’, ‘Go’… the instrumental masterpieces… ‘Couleurs’, ‘Sitting’ and ‘Lower Your Eyelids to Die With The Sun’, with the latter concluding the concert. A song I’d never thought I’d hear live, but here it was, ending one of the most surreal experience in my life, a transcendental connexion with Anthony and the band, a travel into the far away space and the so much closer spirit, my favorite concert, ever, forever.
Arcade Fire – NOS Alive 2016 – Main Stage
Oh my! For a month, my favorite concert ever, until I saw the above concert. The same night on the same stage I also saw M83, but between the two, it’s Arcade Fire‘s performance that stuck in my mind. I’ve been to a few concerts where afterwards I fell in love with the band even more (see below; usually, even when i like the concert, the interest « fades »). And the first one and the most intense was Arcade Fire, who quickly became my favorite band. It’s hard to believe, but as much as you like them on record, it will never compare to seeing them live. Excellent synergy, and almost each song they would change instruments… crazy. It was only one of two festivals shows in Europe that year, so there was a concentration of fans, so the mood and singalong were amazing. I mean, look at the setlist… it started with ‘Ready To Start’, then ‘The Suburbs’, ‘The Suburbs (continued)’ and among others ‘Reflektor’, ‘We Exist’, ‘Intervention’, ‘Keep The Car Running’, ‘My Body is a Cage’, ‘No Cars Go’… but the last run of 5 was the best concert ending I witnessed in my life… ‘Neighborhood#1’, ‘Neighborhood#3’ into ‘Rebellion (Lies)’, then ‘Here Comes The Night Time’, and ‘Wake Up’ to close it off.
Radiohead – NOS Alive 2016 – Main Stage
You figured it out by now, Nos Alive was one hell of a time, and 2016 was one hell of a year. I saw Radiohead the day before Arcade Fire, and they were different awesome. Not as jumpy as the Canadian band, even if it had it craaaazy moments (Jonny Greenwood during ‘Paranoid Android’ anyone?). As the whole tour dictated it, they started the show with the same 5 songs, from their new album A Moon Shaped Pool: ‘Burn The Witch’, ‘Daydreaming’, ‘Decks Dark’, ‘Desert Island Disk’ and ‘Ful Stop’. After that, it could be anything, and while the depth of Radiohead‘s discography makes it difficult to catch all of your favorite songs, I had the chance to hear a lot of mine: from the more famous ‘Reckoner’, ‘Karma Police’ and ‘Creep’, to the less commercial-friendly ‘Exit Music (For a Film), ‘Street Spirits (Fade Out)’. From the calm ‘Nude’ to the crazy ‘Idioteque’ and ‘Everything in its Right Place’ (on the electronic side) and ‘2+2=5’ and ‘There There’ (on the rock side). A lot of other songs in between (22 in total), two encores for the suspense, 2 hours in total… Surreal, as were Thom’s dance moves.
Big Thief – 2019 – La Tulipe
The first three concerts were a given. I had to think about the follow-up, but it quickly became evident: Big Thief‘s show last october in Montréal is it. I also fell more and more in love with the band after the concert. In fact, I couldn’t listen to anything else to be honest. But before that, I wanted to watch them so much that I had bought my ticket for their show in Burlington, Vermont, as the Montréal gig was sold-out. Thanks to reddit, I made a double exchange and finally got the ones for la Tulipe. This concert showed me how much better are headline shows compared to festival ones: the crowd was absolutely stunning! Silent when they had to, singalong-y during other moments. ‘Mary’ was a special moment, as was ‘Not’, and pretty much every song to be honest. The band is so beautiful to watch perform, they seem so close, exchanging looks that mean a lot, exchanging music so organically. ‘Terminal Paradise’, ‘Shark Smile’, ‘Paul’, ‘Real Love’, ‘Masterpiece’, ‘UFOF’… I love Adrianne.
Worakls – 2019 – S.A.T.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzTkbbplwe9/
My first concert in Montréal. Like for Big Thief, I went by myself. I had high expectations but nothing would prepare me to what I witnessed. After a nice afternoon in the park, I walked to the venue. Then, Worakls started playing… the best electronic music concert I’ve ever attended! Even when I didn’t know the song, it was a hit. Some hit hard, some moved towards the more melodic part of his art. ‘Salzburg’, of course, was amazing, but my « Oh my God what is happening » moment was for ‘Adagio for Square’… a pure pleasure that I hope to witness at Osheaga next summer. Anyway… he concluded his set with ‘Crow’, the most dnb and dancey of his songs, followed by ‘Pandemonium’, which just… destroyed the venue! By then, I was already behind most of the crowd trying to get my breath back! Merci!
Noel Gallagher – Déferlantes 2012 – Main Stage
The first time I actually flew to watch an artist I liked. I was a big, big fan of Oasis at the time so it was logical for me to catch Noel. It didn’t disappoint. At the time, my favorite concert, until I went to Sziget. Many reasons explain that: first festival, with one of my closest friends, first travel actually, the first one 5 times in a row in Europe. The concert itself was so good… front row like 18yo groupies, singing every lyrics, from his -amazing- solo album with ‘Everybody’s On the Run’, ‘If I Had a Gun’, ‘AKA… Broken Arrow’… to the many Oasis classics… ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, ‘Half The World Away’… He even shared a few words with Radé. I was happy for days after the show.
Max Cooper + John Digweed – Sziget 2016 – Colosseum
It wasn’t a B2B but Digweed and Cooper played one after another. We caught them on the Colosseum on the last day of the festival. The music was great, even amazing, but what made it make it into this top is everything that surrounded it: the friends, the festival, the emotions, the stage, the strangers, the lovers, the feelings, the rain… you can imagine what kind of night it was. We spent around 6 hours at the Colosseum, until the sunrise, and I will never forget Max Cooper and John Digweed. The latter closed the stage, but I actually prefered the spacey music of the former.
The Bloody Beetroots – Sziget 2014 – A38
Another one for Sziget, and another perfect gig in the A38, but this one was special… I went by myself, after the Deadmau5 show: a surreal experience, with the crowd climbing the metallic poles of the tent, with a giant moshpit happening pretty much everywhere. And still, if you knew the songs (I knew a few), you could also enjoy the music. But what happened that night was more about the energy, the symbiosis between the crowd. It was unbelievable! Stromae’s concert that same year was the most packed concert I’ve ever attended, but The Bloody Beetroots one was just the craziest one. They even stopped the show for a few minutes because of how dangerous it got. Words can’t describe, and certainly not this crappy video, but it can give you a small idea.
Tame Impala – NOS Alive 2016 – Main Stage
Again, NOS Alive 2016. Best line-up ever in one of the most beautiful city -and campsite. I saw Tame Impala in between Foals and Radiohead, during the sunset. Currents was my favorite album of 2015, so imagine my reaction when they started the concert with ‘Let it Happen’, one of my favorite songs ever! and live, when Kevin Parker sings « I will not vanish and you will not scare… » with the robotic voice… magic! It starts with a bang and continues with more… ‘Elephant’, ‘The Less I Know The Better’, ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’, and ends with an amazing live performance of ‘New Persons, Same Old Mistake’. After Foals, it was the perfect transition to the magic of Radiohead. I saw Tame Impala again in 2019 at Osheaga, with almost the same setlist, and it was exactly like before, with a twist: ‘Mutant Gossip‘ is WOAW!
Salut C’est Cool – 2019 – S.A.T
It surprises me that Salut C’est Cool are on this top 10, and Beach House or Sigur Ros aren’t… but it all comes down to the atmosphere, not just the fact that I saw an act. I saw the latter two at festivals, with a talking crowd, while the french act was just a pure hour of bliss. A bit like The Bloody Beetroots concert, it was a dedicated crowd, a closed space, a giant moshpit, but also a guy doing the VJ but practically drawing stuff live on a paint-like application. Silly, easy things that just added to the silliness of the concert. Another great moment with some close friends. Weird techno, funny singers… it was like a french parody of an Elrow show.
If I could choose a few more:
Foals
Kasabian
Stromae
Deadmau5
Skrillex
Muse
Manu Chao
Sigur Ros
Beach House
Hot Chip
Deluxe
Teapot Industries
Taxi 404
The Chemical Brothers
Ratatat
Godspeed You!Black Emperor
God is an Astronaut
Backpack N' Stuff 