Big Bad Concert Rankings: 110-101

It’s finally here, the Top 100! I’m not going to lie to you, this was hard trying to get to 200 shows so I could round out this list. I realized my numbering only went so far in November, so I put myself on the venue schedule for an exhausting tour in the final months of 2020. Yes, it was all worth it to get those numbers, even if some concerts didn’t place to where you’ll see them moving forward. Prince Royce, a Latinx show that I somehow forgot was an entrant at 129, and new December shows Damien Escobar (125) and Chevelle (177) were also back-added. What you see moving forward the cream of the crop. I did not include the Jane Lynch Christmas special, as that show had a ‘variety special’ feel to it rather than an intentional concert experience.

110 - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers [Steve Winwood]

I know many of you are frothing at the mouth by this point. Tom Petty? THE Tom Petty? At 110? First off, THE quintessential Tom Petty was not present during this concert and probably ceased to be a decade before this concert ever took place. Looking back, I’m not sure how he even walked to the stage. He sort of appeared from the aether to play 2 hours of twangy rock music and, my personal favorite, End of the Line, by the Traveling Wilburys.

109 - Nas

Until Nas, I never saw a rap show longer than an hour. And while I’m terrible at remembering song lyrics, Nas was in full flow mode and lifted the crowd so well that the words never stopped because if he wasn’t rapping, everyone in the venue wouldn’t dare skip a beat for him.

108 - New Politics

I wanted to see this band since college, and I’m glad I wasn’t 10 years too old to see them. Seeing them perform Yeah Yeah Yeah hit me right in senior year feels.

107 - Miike Snow

During my junior and senior year transition into being a good student, I would bring my parent’s old Sirius XM radio boombox into the library and listen to XMU and pair my hours-long study time to the best of Indie Rock. Miike Snow’s Animal was one of the top hits in 2009 and in my ear for probably the same amount of time my Public Economics voice was. I got a B in that class. Cut to 10 years later and now I’ve seen Miike Snow live and also understand Cap and Trade.

106 - The Wallflowers [BoDeans, Anna Nalick]

Listen to these three songs to get the perfect idea of what this proper summer concert was. Anna Nalick’s Satellite, BoDeans’ Naked, Wallflowers’ One Headlight. The Wallflowers also played their David Bowie Heroes cover from the 1998 iteration of Godzilla — a Top 10 cover from a Bottom 10 movie.

105 - Dustin Lynch [Mitchell Tenpenny]

There are three quasi-country acts on this list to come, but this is the last ‘true country’ artist. Country music isn’t something I seek out, but I’m not dismissing it entirely. And let’s be real, there are always differences in country quality. You’re not going to put Floria Georgia Line on the same plane as George Strait. Dustin Lynch perfectly balanced those two acts. He was rowdy, fun, interesting, short, lyrically sound, short, entertaining, and definitely responsible for a few pregnancies that night. Mitchell Tenpenny is also going to be huge. Maybe not in the same way Swift was opening for Rascal Flatts, but more so than any other newbie opener I've seen.

To top it off, Lynch’s best performance of the night wasn’t from his own catalog. He crushed Flo Rida’s My House. If I complied the best songs from all these shows in another list, it’d be in the top 20.

104 - Tokyo Police Club

It’s the first of the ‘Clubs’ on this list. Another heavy favorite from the Sirius Boombox, Tokyo Police Club had a big poppy, upbeat hits, but their acoustic take on Tesselate was a show highlight. I bought an LP CD from that show and thought I lost in until earlier this year when I found it behind Eagles’ Hotel California.

103 - The Lumineers [Mt. Joy, JS Ondara]

For me, I can tell it’s going to be a good show when the openers make me want to buy merch. JS Ondara was quite good. Came on, did the set, went off. Mt. Joy was also decent, but Ondara had a dream-like staying power throughout both opening sets.

The Lumineers were as expected, which is a strength unlike a few others on this list. I think I’ve mentioned how much I like receiving CDs with tickets and this was no exception. After listening to III a few times before the show, the storyline thread weaved between songs was a real treat.

102 - Melissa Etheridge

If you were to ask me what I thought my dad’s favorite artist was in the mid-90s, I would’ve said Melissa Etheridge hands down. He had to own every album. I’m not sure he listens to her now, but her albums were a staple. Combined with the classic hits and the pure nostalgia, this show should rank much higher if it wasn’t also a Christmas show. My apathy for the holiday notwithstanding, I don’t like Christmas music, and Mariah Carey is wholeheartedly to blame.

101 - Brand New

I was happily on my way to see Delta Spirit at the Johnson Controls stage at Summerfest when I saw a crowd amassing by the Miller Lite Oasis. I saw the headliner was Brand New but couldn’t place them as something I’ve heard before. So, I texted my friend who looked like they would listen to all that sort of emo post-hardcore, “I wear leather both ironically and for warmth,” attitude. I told them my options, Delta Spirit, who would play in Grand Rapids later that month, or Brand New, a band I’ve never heard before but the crowd made it look promising.

“Brand New.”
“By far, Brand New.”

I went to Wikipedia to look up the band and found out the lead, Jesse Lacey, used to be the bassist for Taking Back Sunday, one of my favorites, so that was neat. They told me to check out Spotify, which I wouldn’t get for another three years, but I managed to find a good signal spot on the grounds to open YouTube and play a few tracks.

Summerfest has no natural pit areas beyond the first 15 feet, so it’s all bleacher benches and picnic tables. Because of this, people are less likely to move after daytime and evening sets if the headliner is worthwhile. That said, I guess inferior interior plumbing got the better of some people and I managed to wriggle my way into a good position near the middle.

And it did not disappoint one bit. A woman started crying after the first note of the first song. Weeping. Visibly shaking with the emo part of emotional. Without context you’d think she just lost her family in the Great Potato Famine of 1845. Exhausted, I left with a greater appreciation of the band and bought an album once I got home.

Three years later Lacey was hit with several accusations of sexual misconduct, offered a horrible Kevin Spacey-esque apology, and fell out of favor with my friend. Stay in the moment, kids, sometimes it’s better that way.