Tiffany's Top 10 Shows of 2012!
Every year, Noisography gets to head out to hundreds of shows, all over the East Coast.
Nine times out of 10 every show we see, is great in one way or another, so I thought that I would take a moment to share my Top 10 favorite shows of 2012.
They are...
10. INSTRUMENTS, Force Fields, Rockville Warriors & MVMNTS @ Michael's
July 28th 2012
This show makes it to this list, because I engineered it to be one of the best shows I've ever seen/heard to date.
Four bands that all combine the elements of every single band that I am utterly in love with. There were minimal vocals, 3/4 of of the bands featured more than one bass guitar, the combined collection of effect pedals was probably the equivalent of a fully stocked specialty music shop and lastly, they were all loud as fuck.
09. Scientists of Sound @ Evolve Festival
July 20th 2012
I am a HUGE sucker for Sunrise sets...
These guys danced all of us crazy Evolvers - who refused to head to bed at 4am on the 1st night of the festival - happily, all the way into day number two!
These guys have energy - ALL THE ENERGY!
Check them out when they head into your neighborhood.
08. Gravity Strike @ Messtival
August 11th 2012
Messtival 5, as I lie in my tent attempting sleep, in the middle of the woods somewhere in New Brunswick, I am woken from my troubled slumber to this...
Gravity Strike. I remember laying on the air mattress poking Dan saying "Hey! What is this? Dan? Who is this?" Then jumping out of the tent to investigate!
After their set I was so jazzed, I ended up staying awake the rest of the night to watch the sun poke out from the night time clouds. It was glorious.
07. Greber @ Gus' Pub
February 22nd 2012
Have you seen Greber live?
If you haven't - woa - you really should.
You have never seen such amazing & brutal music come out of a bass & drum two piece.
Greber will shake your guts loose - and you'll like it.
06. Like A Motorcycle @ Halifax Pop Explosion
October 20th 2012
Like A Motorcycle have come a long way since I first saw them, and seeing them open for The Pack A.D during the Halifax Pop Explosion this year, was proof that they have been working their asses off.
The set was tight, fun, energetic and you could see the band's pride beaming through as they bounced around the stage. They were having so much fun and in turn the crowd was having a shit ton of fun too!
I seriously wanted them to rock the rest of the night away!
05. King Tuff @ Halifax Pop Explosion
In between covering HPX for Noisography as well as working social media for HPX, somehow I missed the connection between King Tuff & Witch.
I am a major Witch fan - Major.
So why I did not pick up that King Tuff was actually the amazing voice behind the band I love so much, I have no idea. I actually got wind of it while reading a Coast article and nearly threw the paper across the room when the idea clicked. I HAD to hear this voice in person!
Now the styles of music between Witch & King Tuff are quite different - but the voice is the same.
Kyle Thomas, is a brilliant song writer, an entertaining front man and well as mentioned above one of the most unique voices I have ever heard.
I smiled the entire time during King Tuff's set.
I was pleased.
04. Deerhoof @ Evolve Festival
July 20th 2012
This show ranked this high because of two distinct things:
#1: It was awesome!
#2: I've always disliked Deerhoof.
Yup, that's right. I have never really been a huge fan of Deerhoof. As most people will tell you, you either like Deerhoof, or you don't. They don't have a lot of really 'on the fence' fans that I know of. The turn off for me has always been the vocals - they just seem off, in comparison to the music in my opinion.
There is actually a gig poster hanging in my bedroom, from eons ago, when Dan went to go see them at the Marquee (w/ Dog Day & Rich Aucoin). I specifically remember refusing to go to the show, because I disliked them so much.
Dan told me to give them a chance during Evolve this year and well - I'm glad I did. They were one of my highlights from that entire festival! The energy, the riffage, it was all soooooo good.
03. Jon Epworth & Soul Mange @ Nova Scotia Music Week
November 10th 2012
Never have I been as close to tears during a show, as I was during this set at NSMW.
I was having a pretty shittastic weekend to be honest, forgetting camera batteries, getting stupid sick and feeling like death, over stressed and just plain tired - but as soon as I walked into that room and heard the first song by Mr. Epworth and his crew, it was like all the stress and bad mojo was just washed away.
This performance was epic.
That's the only way to really put it.
Epic.
02. MOGWAI @ The Metropolis
June 17th 2012
Of course a Mogwai gig would make it to this list.
Anyone who knows me at all, could of guessed that.
This was the 3rd time I have seen these guys live and they never disappoint! Huge sound, perfect lighting and well - tight as fuck.
Then again, that goes without saying, for a band who have been perfecting their craft for the better part of 15 years, at this point.
Getting to officially photograph the band during their performance, was also quite the highlight. It's one of those things that I've always dreamed of doing - becoming a live music photographer who actually gets to photograph their absolute favorite band, ever.
Hanging out with the guys afterwards, over a couple of drinks, was definitely a plus to this show as well. They are unbelievably sweet gents, who I look forward to seeing again, the next time they're back in Canada. Probably won't be for another 2 years or so, but whenever they come back - I'll be there!
01. YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN @ Sappyfest
August 3rd 2012
This was a moment for me.
I had no idea who these guys were, or what they did.
I heard a bunch of people telling me it was pretty great, but I am usually pretty skeptical, so I didn't take much notice.
By midway through the 1st song of YT//ST's set, I was completely mesmerized. I don't think I have been that taken by a live performance since the 1st time I saw Mogwai back in 2009 (see #2 on this list, that's a big deal!).
Following Sappy, I also managed to catch 2 live performances from YT//ST at the Halifax Pop Explosion. The secret guest performances at Gus' was mind blowing and the church show was utterly inspirational.
I can't wait to see what this band does next!
Nine times out of 10 every show we see, is great in one way or another, so I thought that I would take a moment to share my Top 10 favorite shows of 2012.
They are...
10. INSTRUMENTS, Force Fields, Rockville Warriors & MVMNTS @ Michael's
July 28th 2012
This show makes it to this list, because I engineered it to be one of the best shows I've ever seen/heard to date.
Four bands that all combine the elements of every single band that I am utterly in love with. There were minimal vocals, 3/4 of of the bands featured more than one bass guitar, the combined collection of effect pedals was probably the equivalent of a fully stocked specialty music shop and lastly, they were all loud as fuck.
09. Scientists of Sound @ Evolve Festival
July 20th 2012
I am a HUGE sucker for Sunrise sets...
These guys danced all of us crazy Evolvers - who refused to head to bed at 4am on the 1st night of the festival - happily, all the way into day number two!
These guys have energy - ALL THE ENERGY!
Check them out when they head into your neighborhood.
08. Gravity Strike @ Messtival
August 11th 2012
Messtival 5, as I lie in my tent attempting sleep, in the middle of the woods somewhere in New Brunswick, I am woken from my troubled slumber to this...
Gravity Strike. I remember laying on the air mattress poking Dan saying "Hey! What is this? Dan? Who is this?" Then jumping out of the tent to investigate!
After their set I was so jazzed, I ended up staying awake the rest of the night to watch the sun poke out from the night time clouds. It was glorious.
07. Greber @ Gus' Pub
February 22nd 2012
Have you seen Greber live?
If you haven't - woa - you really should.
You have never seen such amazing & brutal music come out of a bass & drum two piece.
Greber will shake your guts loose - and you'll like it.
06. Like A Motorcycle @ Halifax Pop Explosion
October 20th 2012
Like A Motorcycle have come a long way since I first saw them, and seeing them open for The Pack A.D during the Halifax Pop Explosion this year, was proof that they have been working their asses off.
The set was tight, fun, energetic and you could see the band's pride beaming through as they bounced around the stage. They were having so much fun and in turn the crowd was having a shit ton of fun too!
I seriously wanted them to rock the rest of the night away!
05. King Tuff @ Halifax Pop Explosion
In between covering HPX for Noisography as well as working social media for HPX, somehow I missed the connection between King Tuff & Witch.
I am a major Witch fan - Major.
So why I did not pick up that King Tuff was actually the amazing voice behind the band I love so much, I have no idea. I actually got wind of it while reading a Coast article and nearly threw the paper across the room when the idea clicked. I HAD to hear this voice in person!
Now the styles of music between Witch & King Tuff are quite different - but the voice is the same.
Kyle Thomas, is a brilliant song writer, an entertaining front man and well as mentioned above one of the most unique voices I have ever heard.
I smiled the entire time during King Tuff's set.
I was pleased.
04. Deerhoof @ Evolve Festival
July 20th 2012
This show ranked this high because of two distinct things:
#1: It was awesome!
#2: I've always disliked Deerhoof.
Yup, that's right. I have never really been a huge fan of Deerhoof. As most people will tell you, you either like Deerhoof, or you don't. They don't have a lot of really 'on the fence' fans that I know of. The turn off for me has always been the vocals - they just seem off, in comparison to the music in my opinion.
There is actually a gig poster hanging in my bedroom, from eons ago, when Dan went to go see them at the Marquee (w/ Dog Day & Rich Aucoin). I specifically remember refusing to go to the show, because I disliked them so much.
Dan told me to give them a chance during Evolve this year and well - I'm glad I did. They were one of my highlights from that entire festival! The energy, the riffage, it was all soooooo good.
03. Jon Epworth & Soul Mange @ Nova Scotia Music Week
November 10th 2012
Never have I been as close to tears during a show, as I was during this set at NSMW.
I was having a pretty shittastic weekend to be honest, forgetting camera batteries, getting stupid sick and feeling like death, over stressed and just plain tired - but as soon as I walked into that room and heard the first song by Mr. Epworth and his crew, it was like all the stress and bad mojo was just washed away.
This performance was epic.
That's the only way to really put it.
Epic.
02. MOGWAI @ The Metropolis
June 17th 2012
Of course a Mogwai gig would make it to this list.Anyone who knows me at all, could of guessed that.
This was the 3rd time I have seen these guys live and they never disappoint! Huge sound, perfect lighting and well - tight as fuck.
Then again, that goes without saying, for a band who have been perfecting their craft for the better part of 15 years, at this point.
Getting to officially photograph the band during their performance, was also quite the highlight. It's one of those things that I've always dreamed of doing - becoming a live music photographer who actually gets to photograph their absolute favorite band, ever.
Hanging out with the guys afterwards, over a couple of drinks, was definitely a plus to this show as well. They are unbelievably sweet gents, who I look forward to seeing again, the next time they're back in Canada. Probably won't be for another 2 years or so, but whenever they come back - I'll be there!
01. YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN @ Sappyfest
August 3rd 2012
This was a moment for me.I had no idea who these guys were, or what they did.
I heard a bunch of people telling me it was pretty great, but I am usually pretty skeptical, so I didn't take much notice.
By midway through the 1st song of YT//ST's set, I was completely mesmerized. I don't think I have been that taken by a live performance since the 1st time I saw Mogwai back in 2009 (see #2 on this list, that's a big deal!).
Following Sappy, I also managed to catch 2 live performances from YT//ST at the Halifax Pop Explosion. The secret guest performances at Gus' was mind blowing and the church show was utterly inspirational.
I can't wait to see what this band does next!
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