2007 Concert Survey

Enjoy! Here's to another year with Judakris and many, many more shows.

Individual Acts:

Most Anticipated
K: Kings of Leon. I knew J was such a big fan and I really wanted to see what the hype was all about. I left the show a fan- enough said.

J: The Police. In December of 2006, not knowing a reunion was about to be announced I had read Andy Summer’s book and watched Stewart Copeland’s DVD about The Police and was wishing for an opportunity to see them live. The tickets went on sale in March and the show wasn’t scheduled until July, which is a rather long wait. It was also the priciest concert ticket of the year!


Best Storyteller
K: Pete Yorn. He's a natural.

J: Ana Matronic from Scissor Sisters. She worked the crowd and they ate it with a spoon.


Best Showman
K: Gerard Way during Projekt Revolution. I feel like I have watched him grow up as a performer, but even in his early days he demanded the audience's attention. He just seemed to fully realize his potential at PR, owning everything and everyone.

J: Chuck Berry. The man is 80 years old and rocks a captain’s hat with a sequined shirt.


Show That Gave Us Best Story to Tell
K: Red Hot Chili Peppers, just because it was my first time and the first time we were to write something for a real publication. The evening was an adventure.

J: Foo Fighters. To see Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen walk out on stage was thrilling.


Most Disappointing Act
K: Taking Back Sunday at Projekt Revolution. It was my first time seeing them and I thought I would really like them. They tried to entertain, but the lead singer came out looking and sounding more like a hyperactive dog than anything appealing. Sorry dude- maybe if you don't try so hard…

J: Fiction Plane – All I can say is nepotism. One comes to expect a better opening act at an arena tour. We saw Kanye West open for U2 for cryin out loud!


Best Production
K: MCR at Projekt Revolution.

J: Even though Foo Fighters had two stages that they played on during the show, I am giving this to The Killers because I just didn’t expect it having seen them once before. The stage was Vegas meets bordello.


Best Sound
K: Scissor Sisters

J: Morrisey. I didn’t expect the opening chords of How Soon is Now? to sound just like the record.


Funniest Act
K: Snowden. That crazy bassist /keyboardist distracted a lot of people from the rest of the band and not in a good way. I hope there's been a band meeting about it.

J: Southern Culture on the Skids. I mean this in a good way, unlike Snowden (ugh).

Best Connection with the Audience
K: Gnarls Barkley.

J: I agree with K. We were all praying in the house of Gnarls Barkley that night.


Most Creative Production
K: Gnarls Barkley because of their costume themes that coincide with the opening song that evening. At our show they wore flightsuits and sang Bowie's Space Oddity.

J: Foo Fighters. As I mentioned earlier, they had two stages set up for the performance. One was for the rock and the other was for the more acoustic numbers.


Most Impressive Production
K: Red Hot Chili Peppers.

J: Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Biggest Ass-Hole Lead Singer
K: Not one this year. Could it be that 2007 was a very good year?

J: I second that!


Sexiest Lead Singer
K: Morrissey. That man could have come onstage with a walker and the temperature would still have risen.

J: Dave Grohl. Most of the men in the audience had a heterosexual crush on him.

Best Scream
K: Ajatarra. I may not be the audience for that band, but the vocalist kicked ass.

J: Dave Grohl. Yes, I know, not very original.

Worst Opening Act
K: Snowden.

J: Snowden – Having to watch this band twice was as painful as it got in 2007. I had nightmares that KoL would bring them over to the UK for their tour here. Fortunately, Manchester Orchestra opened instead.

Honorable Mention
K: I have a tie - Mindless Self Indulgence and Swallow the Sun

J: I have a tie as well. The Features – It’s rare that I buy a CD after a show of the opening band. Earl Greyhound – We saw them in a tiny bar in St. Louis but they played like it was a packed arena.

Shows:

Best People Watching
K: HIM at Projekt Revolution. Where I was on the lawn people were just going at it with each other. It was pretty crazy.

J: Chuck Berry. The audience was very diverse.

Best Post-Show Feeling
K: Another tie - MCR in Chicago and HIM in St. Louis.

J: Kings of Leon in St. Louis. Besides Snowden, this was the perfect concert experience from the fact that it was on a Friday, to the venue, to my concert partner, to our seats, and the mood of the band.

Most Anticipated Song Not Performed
K: Sigillum Diaboli - HIM

J: Red Morning Light – Kings of Leon

Most Disappointing Night
K: I can't name one really disappointing night in 2007. Wow.

J: I can’t either.