A lot of cool things happened in 2018. Or at least I had a lot of cool experiences and was lucky enough to do some cool things.
This was the year I sort of returned to music journalism. Or at least I worked as a credentialed member of the media at a few music events. That counts, right?
I also returned to my first festival love, Bumbershoot, my favorite band played two massive hometown shows, I dabbled in podcasting and I did a whole lot of other awesome things. Here’s a look at some of my favorite music experiences of the year.
I kicked Nancy Wilson off my bucket list
Seattle has produced an abundance of great modern rock artists and back in my music journalist heyday I was fortunate enough to interact and interview most of them. But there was one artist who was on my bucket list that I never managed to talk with, and that artist is Nancy Wilson.
This year I was able to knock her off my personal bucket list while working the red carpet at the MusiCares Concert for Recovery honoring Mike McCready. Talking with Nancy was a delight. We had a great conversation and she shared a terrific story about the early days of Pearl Jam that I had never heard before.
The Anywhere Shows launched
There was a lot of action in the Pearl Jam camp this year and that action motivated me to dip my toes back into the podcasting pool. Earlier this year I launched The Anywhere Shows: A Pearl Jam Fan Podcast with my buddy Jeremy and I had a blast getting in the studio and talking about my favorite band with a whole lot of cool guests. It was one of my favorite things I did this year.
I returned to Bumbershoot this year and I had a great time despite the low attendance and negative feelings a lot of people seem to have due to high ticket prices and a lineup that skewed towards a younger crowd.
Highlights included having a guitar solo actually played on me by the singer of Black Pistol Fire, discovering Great Grandpa, watching Bishop Briggs on the main stage, enjoying a terrific late-night set from the Frenchies in Phoenix, and Blondie. Friggin’ Blondie was there. How could I not have had a good time when Debbie Harry was on the stage?
Candlebox surprised me
I’ll be honest here, I have been holding a decades-long grudge against Candlebox. Back in 1994 I was supposed to see Alice in Chains open for Metallica at Memorial Stadium. That didn’t happen because Layne Staley entered rehab before that concert and AIC was replaced with Candlebox. Teenage me was not happy with the replacement and I’ve held it against the band ever since.
Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting much when I was offered tickets to see Candlebox celebrate its 25th anniversary at the Paramount last summer. But I’m happy to report that the show was excellent and the band sounded really, really, really good. So all is forgiven Candlebox.
Moondoggies and Mudhoney released great albums
Mudhoney and Mooondoggies released two of my favorite albums this year and both inspired me to put my thoughts down into digital ink and write album reviews. Mudhoney’s album was an angry, caustic and humorous commentary on the current state of the world. While Moondoggies’ record was a beautiful masterpiece inspired by classic rock. They equally moved and motivated me to write and appreciate the great music created here in the upper left corner of America.
The Home Shows happened
Pearl Jam played its first hometown concerts in five years and of course I was there. The Home Shows turned into my own personal celebration of Pearl Jam with a media preview of the MoPOP Pearl Jam Home + Away exhibit, a tour of London Bridge Studios (which is where “Ten” was recorded), a Ten Club event at MoPOP and of course the two concerts at Safeco Field. I even ran into Jeff Ament at one point during the week.
I made new friends. I bought tons of merch (hello tasty Home Shows Seattle Pale Ale). I rocked out with 90K+ other fans. I even cried. It was hands down the best concert experience of my life.
