Puppy Dogs and Ice Cream Makes Top Show of 2010 by CityPages

Written by Erik Hess

From beginning to end, 2010 has kept us busy running from venue to venue in pursuit of some phenomenal live music. Gimme Noise's team of writers and photographers fanned out across the Twin Cities to catch as many shows as we could, and each of us ended up with our own diverse and distinctive list of favorites.

Behold: The best concerts we caught around town in 2010, from Jonsi to Willie to Mark Mallman's 78-hour song.

ERIK HESS, photographer and writer

1. Puppy Dogs and Ice Cream (w/ Eyedea, Kristoff Krane, Eric Blair, Anthony Cox, JT Bates) (12/30/2009), Eyedea, Kristoff Krane, No Bird Sing freestyle jams at Honey (03/26/2010), No Bird Sing, Face Candy and Mayda freestyle jams at Honey (06/18/2010)

I know it's three shows but they were the most moving live music experiences I witnessed all year, by far. I'll just leave it at that.

2. Mark Mallman Marathon 3 at the Turf Club (10/07/2010-10/10/2010)

78 hours of madness. Hundreds of collaborators changing out every hour. Amazing music. Mark Mallman is a mad genius.

3. P.O.S. Pre-Coachella Band Warmup Shows at the Turf Club, Triple Rock and Nick & Eddie (04/12/2010-04/14/2010)

The live P.O.S. experience with B.B.B./M.D.S. backing him up is beyond intense. These "secret" shows were a rare treat.

4. Marijuana Deathsquads Wednesday residency at Nick & Eddie (Weekly from 02/03/2010-08/25/2010)

Between the never-ending list of collaborators and the fascinating assortment of attendees, these shows became quite a force to be reckoned with.

5. LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium (10/23/2010)

Best dance party of the year. Period. Kele's show at the Entry gets an honorable mention though.

6. Holy Fuck at the Turf Club (06/03/2010)

This is a band that simply must be seen live to be believed and the Turf was the perfect venue for them.

7. Southern Songbook at the Southern Theater (11/14/2010)

An amazing night of jazz standards performed by some of the most talented local musicians in one of the must beautiful venues in the Twin Cities.

8. Tame Impala, Stardeath and White Dwarfs at the Entry (11/27/2010)

Incredibly intense psych-rock madness from Stardeath and blissed-out, infectious grooves from Tame Impala made for an amazing experience.

9. Peelander-Z at the Turf Club (10/19/2010)

These guys are the epitome of rock and roll fun.

10. Gastro Non Grata's Vagabond Vacation at First Avenue & 7th Street Entry (Pink Mink, Private Dancer, Unknown Prophets, Birthday Suits, Guystorm, Fuck Knights, Moonstone, Rifflord) (06/27/2010)

Wickedly well-curated lineup of awesome MSP music combined with amazing food at one of the greatest rock venues in the nation.

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