2018 Year in Review
Welcome to the 5th annual â52 Shows Year in Reviewâ post! Time to see how we did.
This is a bittersweet wrap-up post - I saw a lot of great music, but I couldnât hit 52. Letâs see what happened.
I actually got off to a pretty strong start - 18 shows in the first 4 months put me on pace for 54 over the course of the year. July, September and October killed me, though - I was in Croatia for two weeks, and had eight weddings this Summer and Fall. I definitely had some peaks and valleys. A more interesting story comes up when you look at the venue breakdown.
Over the past few years, Iâve usually seen 20+ shows across Mercury Lounge and Rockwood Music Hall. Those venues are my favorites - both smaller, more intimate settings, with bands who havenât yet hit is as big as they might. This year, I only saw 8 shows across those two venues: more than a dozen less than my average, or the difference, in this case, between 39 and 52 - missing or hitting my goal. It seems that I had less time to just stop by my favorite small venues to see emerging artists - Iâll have to focus on that in 2019.
While I didnât hit the goal this year, I still saw a number of new artists and explored some new venues, even making it down to New Orleans to explore Frenchman street. Hereâs to more adventures in 2019!