Best concerts of 2009

The music industry spent most of 2009 insisting it was dying. Album sales were collapsing, record labels were panicking and every executive seemed to have discovered the phrase “new business model”. Meanwhile the bands did the only sensible thing: they got in the van and hit the road.

Good for them. Even better for me.

I somehow managed to squeeze in around 80 concerts this year. Days and nights spent in dark clubs, festival tents and sticky venues where the bass was louder than common sense and strangers instantly became lifelong friends just because they recognized the logo on someone’s t-shirt.

Douglas McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb, having a happy day at work.

Some of the gigs stood out above the rest.

• The Klinik at Tinitus – Dirk Ivens reminded everyone why he’s one of industrial music’s true legends. Watching him perform was like seeing your intimidating uncle casually outlift a room full of gym enthusiasts. Johan van Roy and Andy LaPlegua at the same festival suddenly looked like eager apprentices in comparison. (Read more about the Tinitus festival)
• Nitzer Ebb at Brewhouse – The dynamic duo Douglas McCarthy and Bon Harris reunited years ago, but thankfully nobody told them they were supposed to act their age. The entire venue bounced in perfect synchronization, shouting every chorus as if it were some ancient tribal ritual.
• Røyksopp at Arvikafestivalen – The large Apollo tent became a cathedral of raised hands when the Norwegian electronica cut through the air with surgical precision. Then Robyn walked on stage and ten thousand people collectively forgot whatever dignity they had left. (Read more about Arvikafestivalen 2009)
• Nine Inch Nails at Arvikafestivalen – Trent Reznor announced this as the farewell tour. If you’re going to say goodbye, throwing a keyboard off the stage is a perfectly respectable way to do it. (Read more about Arvikafestivalen 2009)
• Leaetherstrip at Club Target – Danish powerhouse Claus Larsen proved once again that old-school EBM is less a genre than a controlled detonation. The venue was tiny and the audience responded like they had been waiting years for permission to lose their minds.

Kraftwerk in Randers, Denmark.

The rest of the year wasn’t exactly lacking. I also caught Front 242, Kraftwerk, DAF, Depeche Mode, Jean-Michel Jarre, Thåström, Fever Ray, Thermostatic, Aesthetic Perfection, Marilyn Manson, Kite, Elegant Machinery, Sturm Café, Covenant, Suicide Commando, Slipknot, Pet Shop Boys, Combichrist, Necro Facility, Hearts of Black Science, Morrissey, Bob Hund, Korn, Emmon, Mr Jones Machine, And One, Mind in a Box, Opeth, Volbeat, Mobile Homes, Dupont, Kopfer Kat, De/Vision, Welle Erdball, Code64, Snow Patrol, Disturbed and enough other bands that my hearing has probably filed a formal complaint.

Next year is shaping up nicely and tickets are already secured for Depeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb, Henry Rollins, Rammstein and Kent. See you at the front row.