All the Live Art I Witnessed in 2008
What is live art? Well, in my world, it is anything that is performed, experienced, or interacted with solely in a live setting. It can be a play, a concert, or a museum exhibition. It can be a comedy show, a lecture, or a podcast taping. It doesn’t really matter, so long as it is happening in front of me, and I am there to see it in the moment.
This list will not be as extensive as some of my others, mostly because these things cost money and time, in a way the other culture consumables do not, but I still managed to engage with more than a fair share of live art over the course of 12 months. It is a list which I will organize in chronological order, and categorize thusly:
music
play
COMEDY
visual art
lecture/reading/other
January
1/19 Tim Seely — Tractor Tavern
1/30 Nada Surf, Port O’Brien — The Triple Door
1/31 MGMT, Yeasayer, Black Mountain — Neumos
February
2/2 The Fucking Eagles — Lo-Fi
2/15 Fleet Foxes — The Vera Project
2/16 Foals — Chop Suey
March
3/27 Nada Surf, Sea Wolf — The Showbox
April
4/11 Avett Brothers — Neumos
May
5/16 French Kicks — Chop Suey
5/24 The Whigs — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/24 Neko Case — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/24 Fleet Foxes — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/24 Destroyer — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/24 Beirut — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/24 The New Pornographers — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/24 Modest Mouse — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/24 The National — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/24 R.E.M. — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/25 White Rabbits — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/25 Mates of State — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/25 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/25 Rogue Wave — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/25 Tegan & Sara — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/25 Death Cab for Cutie — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/25 The Cure — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/26 Yeasayer — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/26 Whalebones — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/26 Thao With the Get Down Stay Down — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/26 Pela — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/26 Rodrigo y Gabriela — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/26 Built to Spill — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/26 Flight of the Conchords — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
5/26 The Flaming Lips — Sasquatch Festival / The Gorge
June
6/25 Ravens & Chimes — High Dive
6/26 Gatling Gs — Easy Street Queen Anne
July
7/9 Foo Fighters — KeyArena
7/12 The Helio Sequence — Sub Pop 20 / Marymoor Park
7/12 Fleet Foxes — Sub Pop 20 / Marymoor Park
7/12 Low — Sub Pop 20 / Marymoor Park
7/12 Mudhoney — Sub Pop 20 / Marymoor Park
7/12 The Vaselines — Sub Pop 20 / Marymoor Park
7/12 Iron & Wine — Sub Pop 20 / Marymoor Park
7/12 Flight of the Conchords — Sub Pop 20 / Marymoor Park
7/14 Wolf Parade, Foals, Listening Party — Neumos
7/22 Joseph Arthur — The Triple Door
7/23 Andrew Bird, Josh Ritter — Woodland Park Zoo
7/25 United State of Electronica — Capitol Hill Block Party
7/25 Menomena — Capitol Hill Block Party
7/25 Girl Talk — Capitol Hill Block Party
7/25 Vampire Weekend — Capitol Hill Block Party
7/25 Les Savy Fav — Capitol Hill Block Party
August
8/2 Eef Barzelay — Tractor Tavern
8/20 Radiohead — White River Amphitheatre
8/30 Band of Horses — Bumbershoot
8/30 Beck — Bumbershoot
8/30 Nada Surf — Bumbershoot
8/30 Neko Case — Bumbershoot
8/31 Final Fantasy — Bumbershoot
8/31 Kathleen Edwards — Bumbershoot
8/31 Stone Temple Pilots — Bumbershoot
8/31 Tapes n Tapes — Bumbershoot
8/31 The Black Keys — Bumbershoot
8/31 The Whigs — Bumbershoot
8/31 These Arms Are Snakes — Bumbershoot
September
9/1 Arthur & Yu — Bumbershoot
9/1 Blitzen Trapper — Bumbershoot
9/1 Chip Kidd, Joshua Ferris — Bumbershoot
9/1 Dan Deacon — Bumbershoot
9/1 Head Like a Kite — Bumbershoot
9/1 John Vanderslice — Bumbershoot
9/1 Langhorne Slim — Bumbershoot
9/1 Minus the Bear — Bumbershoot
9/1 Sondre Lerche — Bumbershoot
9/1 Two Gallants — Bumbershoot
9/13 The Veils — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/13 Blitzen Trapper — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/13 The Hood Internet — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/13 Vampire Weekend — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/13 Silversun Pickups — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/13 Atmosphere — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/14 The Avett Brothers — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/14 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/14 The Kills — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/14 Band of Horses — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/14 Akron/Family — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/14 TV on the Radio — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/14 CSS — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/14 Justice — Monolith Festival / Red Rocks
9/22 Head Like a Kite — Neumos
October
10/5 Ralph Stanley — Hardly Strictly Bluegrass / Golden Gate Park
10/5 Elvis Costello — Hardly Strictly Bluegrass / Golden Gate Park
10/5 Iron & Wine — Hardly Strictly Bluegrass / Golden Gate Park
10/5 Loudon Wainwright III — Hardly Strictly Bluegrass / Golden Gate Park
10/5 Iron & Wine — Bimbo’s 365
10/8 Cut Copy, Presets — The Showbox
10/30 Teatro ZinZanni — Teatro ZinZanni
November
11/8 Nelly, Tone Loc — The Paramount
11/15 You Can’t Take It With You — Shorecrest High School
December
12/5 The Adding Machine — ACT Theatre
12/12 Bon Iver, The Tallest Man on Earth — Music Hall of Williamsburg
12/13 Ravens & Chimes — Crash Mansion