Top 10 Concerts

FROM THE MORNING CALL

The two best concerts I attended in 2011 had a lot in common.

Each featured a veteran rocker at the peak of his ability to connect to the audience, playing precisely the right songs and performing them precisely the right way. And at each show, the artist played with palpable passion.

It shouldn't be a surprise, then, that the two shows that were my favorite were so alike. They were by the same performer, John Mellencamp, in February at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia and in November at Reading's Sovereign Performing Arts Center.

It shouldn't be a surprise, either, then, that another artist I saw twice in 2011, Owl City — Nov. 12 at Crocodile Rock Cafe in Allentown, and June 25 at the Mann Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia — were my next two favorite concerts.


While Mellencamp's shows seared into your soul, Owl City's shows were far more intellectual, with the music having a lot of elements of symphonic classical music, and his lyrics were witty, interesting and touching. But his shows, especially the one at Croc Rock, also were fun.

What is a surprise is how many of my favorite shows this year were in smaller venues. My eight top shows all were in venues with crowd capacities of 1,500 or fewer.

But it was that kind of year in concerts. The huge shows were OK, but the smaller shows shone. Musikfest's new Steel Stage main venue at SteelStacks had very good shows, and set attendance records, and the Allentown Fair's lineup was solid. But between them, only one show made my Top 10.

It was a game-changing year for small concerts in the Lehigh Valley area with the opening of Musikfest Cafe at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks .

Musikfest Cafe offered up about 125 shows in its first eight months — I attended 20, plus others at the new outdoors Levitt Pavilion. Most were good, but just one made my Top 10. Four, however, are among my Top 50 concerts of the year.

In fairness, I missed perhaps the biggest show of the year: U2's 360-Degrees tour at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field. I also missed Marc Anthony at Allentown Fair and a few Musikfest Cafe shows I wanted to see — Edwin McCain and Marc Cohn, for example. The reviewers for those shows said they were great.

This year, I saw 165 concerts in 47 venues. So I'm confident I got a solid cross-section of what came through eastern Pennsylvania.

Here are the Top 10:

1. John Mellencamp Nov. 4, Sovereign Center for Performing Arts, Reading, and, Feb. 2 at Academy of Music, Philadelphia: More than almost any of his stylistic forebears, or contemporaries, Mellencamp has faced aging not with the sage understanding of a Bob Dylan or the sad searching of a Bruce Springsteen, but with the same defiance that has always marked his music. His shows were celebrations of that defiance — both were about two hours, with more than 20 songs each, including nearly all his hits. In Mellencamp's case, oh yeah, life goes on.

2. Owl City, Nov. 12 at Crocodile Rock Cafe, Allentown, and June 25, The Mann Center for Performing Arts, Philadelphia: In a world where debauchery is promoted as fun in hits by Katy Perry and LMFAO, it's a pleasant surprise that Owl City's innocent, uplifting and orchestral songs have found double-platinum success. It also helps that the music is sparklingly good. The show at The Mann Center had the extra benefit of having an excellent opening set by Mat Kearney, but by the time Owl City played Croc Rock five months later, he had added slightly more of a rock vibe and clearly was more confident.

3. Lucinda Williams, Oct. 28, Symphony Hall, Allentown: In the highlight of a strong new series of popular music concerts, Symphony Hall became a seedy dive on the swampy back road of a Southern town, where Lucinda Williams offered up her sins and sought forgiveness in front of a crowd who found solace in her sharing. She poured her heart out for nearly two hours.

4. Bryan Adams, March 13, State Theatre, Easton: The Canadian pop-rocker played the virtually the same Bare Bones Tour set he played a year earlier at Allentown Symphony Hall, and again, it was great. For just over two hours, with an astonishing 29 songs long, each infused with emotion, Adams seemed to push his voice — always more passionate than pure, but remarkably well-preserved — to the limits of its range and expressiveness.

5. English Beat, Jan. 6, Sellersville Theater 1894: Ska music defies age, able to be played in its original form without ever sounding dated. And The English Beat delivered the music as fresh and vibrant as if they were showing off the 18 songs they played in 110 minutes — some 30 years old — for the first time. And the sold-out crowd, many also 30 years older, danced.

6. Snoop Dogg, April 27, Crocodile Rock Cafe, Allentown: He showed up more than an hour late and played just 65 minutes. But Snoop schooled the crowded Croc in what a rapper should be. He was insanely cool, with swagger other MCs can only wish for. At times he sang with disdain, other times laid-back, and he squeezed 19 songs (some of them short) into the set. When it finally comes down to it, he's still the Doggfather.

7. Steve Miller Band, April 30, Musikfest Cafe, Bethlehem: Far more than just a concert, the inaugural performance in the Valley's newest venue, which was not open to the public, was a memorable celebration. But as a concert, it was pretty memorable, too. Miller captured just the right mood for the cafe's first-ever show, playing his classic-rock hits, rousing electric and acoustic blues and more with both reverence and fun.

8. Social Distortion, Nov. 20, Sherman Theater, Stroudsburg: Social Distortion not only is still around after nearly 40 years, but it also is making some of the best music of its career. The show demonstrated that Social D has aged punk rock precisely as it should have — with a sneer and guitars blazing, by turns rebellious and reverent, current and classic.

9. Straight No Chaser, Aug. 11, Sands Steel Stage, Musikfest: It took a cappella group Straight No Chaser, with Allentown native Jerome Collins and Fork Township native Walter Chase, 3 1/2 years to finally play the Lehigh Valley after its viral YouTube video of "The 12 Days of Christmas" mashed up with Toto's "Africa" got it signed to a record contract. But what a triumphant return. It headlined Musikfest with a show lasting nearly two hours, covering 22 full songs (or mash-ups of songs) and three medleys that included parts of 26 others, running a broad variety of styles and ranging from good to stunning.

10. Rod Stewart/Stevie Nicks, April 5, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia: If there's one thing Stewart and Nicks' show proved, it's that time, indeed, marches on. While Nicks turned slower, lighter and — dare I say it, matronly — to adjust for the limitations of voice and age, Stewart barreled forward with a damn-the-torpedoes attitude that made his set far more enjoyable, faults and all.

Honorable mentions: Paul Anka, May 9, Musik at The Sands, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem; Edwin McCain, March 26 at Mount Airy Casino; Glen Campbell, Sept. 15, University of Pennsylvania; Gin Blossoms, June 19, Sellersville Theater 1894.

For a list of my Top 50 concerts of the year, go to http://www.morningcall.com/lehighvalleymusic.

http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/music/mc-top-10-concerts-of-the-year-20111229,0,5068025.story