Jeff Tweedy – Showbams

Lo Moon are officially LA’s newest buzz band after their sold-out show at the Troubadour

November 23, 2017 by Josh Herwitt Leave a Comment

Lo Moon with Psychic Twin //
Troubadour – West Hollywood, CA
November 16th, 2017 //

If there’s one public radio station in Los Angeles that always seems to have its finger on the pulse of all things music, it’s KCRW.

The NPR member station broadcasting from Santa Monica College has long had a penchant for discovering some of today’s most buzzworthy bands, and since 1977, its signature music program “Morning Becomes Eclectic” has played an instrumental role in maintaining what has been a strong track record for years. In fact, quite a few up-and-coming acts have come out of KCRW’s own backyard, whether it has been indie-rock groups like Silverlake’s Local Natives or solo artists such as Inglewood-bred jazz virtuoso Kamasi Washington.

But the latest group from the City of Angels to catch the station’s eye has been Lo Moon, the atmospheric, yet soulful indie-electronic trio that has only officially released three songs to date. One of them is called “Thorns”, which opened their sold-out show last Thursday at the Troubadour. With KCRW sponsoring the event, Illinois native/now LA transplant Erin Fein’s dreamy, synth-pop project Psychic Twin paved the way for the evening’s headliner, as a half-empty room prior to 9 p.m. turned into a crowded one 30 minutes later.

Despite what they call home right now, Lo Moon don’t consider themselves an “LA band,” at least not yet. All three full-time members — Matt Lowell (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Crisanta Baker (bass, keyboards, vocals) and Sam Stewart (guitar, keyboards, vocals) — arrived in LA from different parts of the world and wrote most of their forthcoming debut LP that’s due out next year in Seattle, a city Lowell says helped shape the album’s overall sound.

Lo Moon, sonically, can be somewhat difficult to pin down. With a range of influences, their music has drawn comparisons to many of the UK’s biggest bands: Talk Talk, Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, Radiohead, Massive Attack and The xx, among others. That’s certainly some impressive company to be mentioned in when you get right down to it, especially for a band that took several months to unveil its second song. But Lo Moon have much more than just comparisons to hang their hat on at this point. The three-piece, for one, has inked a deal with Columbia Records and gotten the attention of former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla, who has since signed on to produce its first full length.

Lately though, Lowell, Baker, Stewart and touring member Sterling Laws (drums) have been hitting the road with some pretty big names, including AIR (read our show review here) and Phoenix, with shows lined up next month as support for London Grammar, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and The War on Drugs. With those kind of opportunities this early in the band’s career, don’t be surprised if you find Lo Moon listed on the 2018 Coachella lineup in January.

Back at the Troubadour, Lo Moon ran through a number of tracks that we can expect to hear on their upcoming release, performing “The Right Thing” for the first time before closing the set on a high note with “This Is It”, their sophomore single that you could mistake for a Peter Gabriel song if you didn’t know any better. There’s no question Lowell and company have an affinity for synthesizers, and the limited studio material they’ve revealed so far suggests that. But what also makes them stand out is Lowell himself, who offered a poignant solo rendition on the piano titled “All In” to kick off the band’s brief encore.

Of course, as Lo Moon fans know or will come to know, the show couldn’t have ended without the song that started it all: “Loveless”. The sprawling, seven-minute anthem, which hooked a major record label, an A-list producer and listeners all over the world, is what initially put the threesome on the map, and with Laws’ drum rolls delivering one powerful crescendo after the next down the stretch, the crowd came visibly alive like it hadn’t all night. Sure, this may only be the beginning for these guys, but LA’s newest buzz band knows how to shoot for the moon.

Setlist:
Thorns
The Right Thing (live debut)
Wonderful Life
TTMYMO
Real Love
My Money
Camouflage
This Is It

Encore:
All In (Matt Lowell solo on piano)
Loveless

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Air, Cocteau Twins, Death Cab For Cutie, Jeff Tweedy, Kamasi Washington, KCRW, Lo Moon, Local Natives, London Grammar, Massive Attack, My Bloody Valentine, Peter Gabriel, Phoenix, Psychic Twin, Radiohead, Talk Talk, The War on Drugs, The xx, Troubadour, Wilco

The 25 best live music acts of 2015

December 28, 2015 by The Bam Team 3 Comments

Around this time last year, we shared our 25 favorite live performers of 2014 after spending the past 12 months covering many excellent bands, musicians and DJs. So, with 2015 almost in the books, we thought we would give the same exercise another try, except this year, we made the call to exclude any artists we named in 2014. What fun would it really be to list them two years in a row anyway?

In the end, it wasn’t an easy task whittling down our list to 25, but some tough decisions had to be made. Those who didn’t make the cut but still deserve to be mentioned here include the following artists and bands (in alphabetical order) who we either covered at their own show and/or at a music festival this year:

AlunaGeorge, Ariel Pink, BADBADNOTGOOD, Bad Religion, Battles, Beirut, Belle and Sebastian, Big Grams, Billy Idol, Black Lips, The Black Keys, Blonde Redhead, BØRNS, BROODS, Built to Spill, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Chet Faker, Chromeo, City and Colour, Classixx, Cold War Kids, Dâm-Funk, Damien Rice, Death Cab for Cutie, Dengue Fever, Django Django, Dr. Dog, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Failure, The Flaming Lips, Flight Facilities, Goldroom, Glen Hansard, The Glitch Mob, Gorgon City, Holly Herndon, Interpol, Israel Nash, James Bay, Jeff Tweedy, Jenny Lewis, The Jesus and Mary Chain, JMSN, Jose Gonzalez, Jurassic 5, Kanye West, Kindness, King Tuff, Marina and the Diamonds, Miami Horror, Milky Chance, Modest Mouse, Morrissey, MS MR, Les Sins, Lotus, Natalie Prass, Neon Indian, ODESZA, Of Montreal, Oneohtrix Point Never, Panda Bear, Penguin Prison, Phantogram, Portugal. The Man, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Purity Ring, Ratatat, Royal Blood, San Fermin, Shlohmo, Slow Magic, SOHN, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, STRFKR, Surfer Blood, Talib Kweli, Tame Impala, Tennis, Toro y Moi, Tycho, Umphrey’s McGee, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Vintage Trouble, Vulfpeck, Widespread Panic, YACHT.

Now, without further ado, The Bam Team presents our 25 favorite live performers of 2015.

The Bam Team’s 5 Favorite Shows, Albums & Songs of 2015

Listen to The Bam Team’s favorite songs of 2015:

25. Lord Huron

The audience reacted with just as much enthusiasm during classic Lord Huron tunes as they did in hearing brand-new material, especially during fan favorites like “She Lit a Fire” and back-to-back rockabilly-tinged jams “The World Ender” and “Fool for Love”. At this point, the crowd had not only warmed up to Lord Huron’s infectious stage presence, but also gave into their buoyant vibes as mini dance parties broke out throughout the venue. -Molly Kish, photo by Steve Carlson

24. Puscifer

Maynard James Keenan and friends have established themselves as not just a group of musicians who play songs on stage, but rather an assemblage of entertainers that provide their viewers and fans with something they may not have ever seen before — a true experience. Paying homage to the likes of Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd and the glory days of the rock opera, Puscifer have a very special way of combining their music with a stage show that offers so much more than just music. -Scotland Miller, photo by Mike Rosati

23. Viet Cong

Once the appetizer had been digested, Viet Cong were taking the stage and beginning a theme of quirky banter that eased the crowd into the blistering set as opposed to bombardment. Within the first few chords, it was evident that continued time on the road found the band at the peak of perfection. -Kevin Quandt, photo by Diana Cordero

22. Kate Tempest

This decade will likely be known for the death of “genre,” the end of how groups have been contained into categories like R&B or rap since the birth of record labels. And with dance music on the rise, digitized conventions are creeping into pop, rap and indie music on the regular. With music more accessible than ever and for free, listeners are willing to experiment with their auditory material — and amalgamation is the natural result. Tempest represents this change as much or more than anyone as we enter the smack-dab middle of this decade. And that includes Kanye West, Sylvan Esso or Run the Jewels. -Mike Frash, photo by James Nagel

21. Deerhunter

Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox talked about how he decided on the way over to the island that he wouldn’t play many songs, how he took ayahuasca on Saturday night in LA and he was surprised at how reserved the TIMF audience was. He said we were “polite like the Japanese.” Bradford, that’s what we call “respect” — and you’ve earned it. -Mike Frash, photo by Marc Fong

20. Faith No More

It can be hard to know what to expect from a crew like Faith No More and their eccentric, yet prolific members. The entire stage was dressed in white, from the curtains to the amplifiers to the mic stands. Lining the entire length of the stage and any flat surface that would support them were thousands of dollars worth of beautiful, fresh flowers. The abundance of purples and pinks, reds and yellows created a very comfortable and soothing, yet incredibly eerie feeling as to what was about to happen next. Once the setup was complete and the lights dropped, the crowd was let in to the stark contrast that is the weird world of Faith No More. -Scotland Miller, photo by Greg Ramar

19. Sufjan Stevens

Stevens spoke of the need for community in the throes of grief, and the audience ably did their part to help him through this very public grieving process. At the end of the main set, a young woman crashed the stage to offer a bemused Sufjan something (a hug? words of love and encouragement?), and it seemed wholly appropriate, as if the audience needed in some small way to collectively reach out to the man after he bared his soul so openly. -Steve Carlson, photo by Steve Carlson

18. Allen Stone

In many ways, Stone’s ideological stance on technology shapes not only his set as a performer but also his fan base. Watching an Allen Stone show, one can feel certain that all pretenses will be left at the door and those surrounding you will be committing their full attention to the music. Midway through Stone’s set, the venue was completely under his charismatic spell. The audience actively followed the Seattle-born frontman’s lead as he prompted a group participation “2-step” and rolled through crowd favorites from his self-titled LP and latest album Radius. -Molly Kish, photo by Tom Dellinger

17. The Kills

Mosshart, tall and slender, strutted her way through just about all of it, displaying a bravado that exudes both sex and confidence, while Hince handled his axe like a bona fide rock star, eventually playing some slide guitar during the gritty, blues-infused track “Pots and Pans” that got the crowd roaring after it was over. After all, it’s that blues/garage-rock overlap, along with the chemistry exhibited between Mosshart and Hince onstage, that makes The Kills such a captivating rock ‘n’ roll act to see live these days. -Josh Herwitt, photo by Josh Herwitt

16. The Chemical Brothers

Directly following their dramatic entrance to a recording of Junior Parker’s epic “Tomorrow Never Knows”, the duo kicked off their career-spanning set with crowd favorite “Hey Boy, Hey Girl” from 1999’s Surrender. They launched into a full-blown frenzy from that moment on, and the UK dance legends went hard (no pun intended) throughout the rest of their two-hour performance, debuting live remixes of new material from their 2015 release Born in the Echoes while interspersing nostalgia-inducing EDM classics off their seven previous albums. -Molly Kish, photo by Justin Yee

15. Eagles of Death Metal

EODM have the perfect style as a rock band, one that takes itself just seriously enough. As a whole, they are a hard, fast and tightly-wound production, with their silly lyrics and even sillier frontman bringing a perfect balance to what you want to see at a rock show. Closing with “Speaking in Tongues”, EODM walked off the stage at the Great American Music Hall knowing that they had accomplished what they came to do — to prove that rock ain’t dead. -Brett Ruffenach, photo by Mike Rosati

14. Florence + the Machine

Welch lapped around the inside ring of the bowl, stopping briefly at the sound stage. What a cool moment. -James Nagel, photo by James Nagel

13. Sturgill Simpson

Simpson has stage presence, that is without a doubt. The conviction of his voice bolsters his words as he describes a life of highs and lows, trials and tribulations. This was evident on renditions of songs like “Turtles All the Way Down”. If there is a song to capture your attention and convince you of Simpson’s talents as a songwriter, this is one of them. Just like that of his predecessors, he writes music that goes against the grain of popular country music. It may be defined as “outlaw country,” but I personally feel it is music that resonates with a wider audience than that of its counterparts. -Kory Thibeault, photo by Kory Thibeault

12. alt-J

The 2012 Mercury Prize winners echoed a semblance to that of Sigur Rós or Volcano Choir, leaving audience members entranced in a near-altered state while observing the foursome. The biggest fan responses erupted during the band’s singalong favorites “Breezeblocks”, “Fitzpleasure” and their token cover of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day”. -Molly Kish, photo by Mike Rosati

11. Hot Chip

In recent years, only ever getting the chance to see the outfit in stripped-down DJ sets or as part of side projects/collaborations, the afternoon crowd full of die-hard, nu-disco fans were not disappointed as the UK dance veterans set the polo fields ablaze. Refraining from any slow builders, Hot Chip performed an hour-long set of career-spanning bangers, keeping the crowd moving with hit after hit, that seamlessly blended into one another. The set procured one of the most viral dance party moments of the festival, with the audience spiraling into a collective bliss as it came to a close. -Molly Kish, photo by Josh Herwitt

10. Dan Deacon

One of the toughest things to do in the world of electronic music is to sound organic, to imbue a sense of heart into the digitized nature of ones and zeroes. The Baltimore native accomplishes this through his hilarious and improvisational free-form, stand-up comedy, which thrives on wandering non sequiturs. And he mirrors this by adapting his insane-train of sound to meet and exceed the energy in the room. The “America” suite finished off the show with an extended doom metal quality that gave a sense that no aesthetic boundaries can contain Deacon’s sense of musical exploration. -Mike Frash, photo by Pedro Paredes

9. FKA twigs

British singer-songwriter Tahliah Debrett Barnett, better known as FKA twigs, has been all the rage lately after performing at Coachella in April, and she closed out FYF in style, donning an elaborate burgundy- and gold-colored robe for her Sunday night set. Just the week before, the 27-year-old fiancée of actor/musician Robert Pattinson released her brand-new EP M3LL155X, and with it receiving high marks from a number of music outlets, there were quite a few fans who stuck around after 11:30 p.m. on a “school night” to watch her perform some of them, including the opening track “Figure 8”, “In Time” and “Glass & Patron”. FKA twigs might be one of the most compelling live acts out there right now, and after scheduling Purity Ring to close out The Lawn the night before, FYF seemed to make a point of letting women rule that stage in the late-night hours this year. -Josh Herwitt, photo by Josh Herwitt

8. Empire of the Sun

As Steele belted out “Alive”, the hit single off the band’s sophomore studio album Ice on the Dune, to close things out, he brought the audience to a transcendent place of exhilaration. Crowd members embraced and danced amongst a like-minded family of people lost in the moment, even if it involved intergalactic creatures dancing in colored smoke and a crowned Emperor playing without his bandmate on stage. EOTS shows are a special kind of magic that regardless of the material’s absurd nature, translate into an experience unlike anything else. -Molly Kish, photo by Steve Carlson

7. My Morning Jacket

Though it was more than understandable to see the band play a large majority of The Waterfall for its first performance at the Santa Barbara Bowl in almost four years, there were plenty of other deep cuts mixed in over the next two hours, from “Bermuda Highway” to “Mahgeetah” to “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2”. After all, it’s no secret that My Morning Jacket have always been good to their most loyal and dedicated fans, and in once again taking song requests as part of their “Spontaneous Curation Series,” they made sure to dig up many of the classics from their seminal album Z, including “Wordless Chorus” and “Off the Record” one after the other in the middle of a loaded, four-song encore. -Josh Herwitt, photo by Josh Herwitt

6. Jamie xx

Throughout his tour, Smith has refused to compromise his individual style for the sake of appeasing either extreme of his now commercially hybrid audience. Whereas those familiar with his early XL Records mixtapes were satiated by his intermingling of Gil Scott-Heron and Idris Muhammad samples between hits, his newfound post-In Colour fans experienced equally breathtaking moments with the crowd hitting peak energy levels during the encore chorus of “Loud Places” amidst the glow of a warped-speed, neon-green strobe light. Other notable moments included the near-religious choral drop of “Gosh” that escalated the packed house to spiritual levels of enthusiasm, bathed in the glowing sparkle of Smith’s staggeringly iridescent ceiling to floor disco ball and stage lights. -Molly Kish, photo by James Nagel

5. Elton John

The star-spangled legend sat at his majestic piano as the sun went down on Sunday and moved the crowd with his brilliant playing. The adoring audience hung on every word and joined in singing his most popular hits. Walking off stage quickly after his last song, the audience demanded more and Elton happily obliged. With rumors of Lion King songs being played at past performances, some doting fans wanted a second encore to the tune of “Circle of Life”. While he didn’t indulge the Lion King fans, his stellar performance was a perfect ending to an amazing weekend at Outside Lands, leaving everyone’s festival tank full of love. -Nik Crossman, photo by James Nagel

4. Father John Misty

Father John (Sassypants) Misty has his festival game on point, and he has progressed his I Love You, Honeybear songs into epic plateaus since premiering them in the Santa Cruz mountains last February. He spewed banter like an Stephen Colbert-esque contrarian, saying, “Look at these suckers with their hair blowing all over the place.” And as he approached the mic for more improv-snark later on, Tillman paused to say, “Sorry, I have nothing to say. Ha.” FJM was speechless for once, but granted, it might have been set up for “Bored in the USA”, a song that should be considered an American classic at this point. -Mike Frash, photo by Pedro Paredes

3. Kendrick Lamar

As Kendrick Lamar’s incredible performance began to wrap up with his newest single “Alright”, a group of fans in the crowd proceeded to lift someone up in a wheelchair, who, if I recall correctly, was the same guy who had his photo famously taken at Outside Lands in 2013. Kendrick took notice and called him out — his sense of sincere appreciation for a place like the Bay Area was written all over his face. -Brett Ruffenach, photo by Marc Fong

2. Caribou

Described by fellow musician Dan Deacon as “one of the most brilliant acts touring right now” just before their set, Caribou lived up to the hype. Starting with “Our Love”, the four-piece band led by Dan Snaith perfectly set the stage for the next hour — a series of tightly wound compositions that, as the song progresses, expand in rhythmic complexity before reaching a climax that will get even the most tired Sunday afternoon crowd moving. Heavily augmenting its live performances from its studio recordings, the band’s live rendition of “Jamelia” in particular was a highlight of the set. Caribou is a band not to be missed. -Brett Ruffenach, photo by Justin Yee

1. D’Angelo & The Vanguard

One of the most anticipated sets of the entire weekend was none other than D’Angelo’s — and for good reason. The R&B/neo-soul singer-songwriter hadn’t put out an album in 14 years until he suddenly dropped his 2014 masterpiece Black Messiah last December, so you knew that getting the rare opportunity to see Michael Eugene Archer work a crowd at FYF would be something special. Sounding more like a youthful James Brown than a wannabe Prince (we still don’t totally understand where those comparisons are coming from), D’Angelo and his eight-piece backing band The Vanguard took the audience for a ride as they doled out new and old hits. -Josh Herwitt, photo by Josh Herwitt

Filed Under: Best of, Best of 2015, Editor's Picks, Featured Tagged With: Allen Stone, Alt-J, Bad Religion, Battles, BØRNS, Beirut, Belle and Sebastian, Best of 2015, Big Grams, Billy Idol, Black Lips, Blonde Redhead, Broods, Built To Spill, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Chet Faker, Chromeo, City and Colour, Classixx, Cold War Kids, D'Angelo, D'Angelo and the Vanguard, dam-funk, Damien Rice, Dan Deacon, Death Cab For Cutie, Deerhunter, Dengue Fever, Django Django, Dr. Dog, Eagles of Death Metal, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Empire of the Sun, Failure, Faith No More, Father John Misty, FKA twigs, Flight Facilities, Florence & the Machine, Glen Hansard, Goldroom, Gorgon City, Holly Herndon, Hot Chip, Interpol, Israel Nash, James Bay, Jamie xx, Jeff Tweedy, Jenny Lewis, JMSN, Jose Gonzalez, Jurassic 5, Kanye West, Kate Tempest, Kendrick Lamar, Kindness, King Tuff, Les Sins, Lord Huron, Lotus, Marina and the Diamonds, Miami Horror, Milky Chance, Modest Mouse, Morrissey, MS MR, My Morning Jacket, Natalie Prass, Neon Indian, Odesza, Of Montreal, Oneohtrix Point Never, Panda Bear, Penguin Prison, Phantogram, Portugal. The Man, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Purity Ring, Puscifer, Ratatat, Royal Blood, San Fermin, Shlohmo, Slow Magic, SOHN, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, STRFKR, Sturgill Simpson, Sufjan Stevens, Surfer Blood, Talib Kweli, Tame Impala, Tennis, The Black Keys, The Chemical Brothers, The Flaming Lips, The Glitch Mob, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Kills, Toro Y Moi, Tycho, Umphrey's McGee, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Viet Cong, Vintage Trouble, Vulfpeck, Widespread Panic, YACHT

Tweedy have a full circle moment at The Fillmore

March 19, 2015 by Mike Frash 2 Comments

Photos by Pedro Paredes // Written by Mike Frash //

Tweedy //
The Fillmore – San Francisco
March 17th & 18th, 2015 //

Tweedy, the familial duo of Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and his percussive son Spencer, only began touring last year in support of Sukierae, an under-appreciated 20-track LP. The two shows at The Fillmore in SF this week marked a charming, nostalgic occasion for the frontman and living legend.

Jeff Tweedy has long been known for his gifted ability for stage banter, and Tuesday evening was no exception.

He introduced many songs with the band by stating their time measure, perhaps to keep the band focused and on the same page — the patriarch introduced the band with a backhanded but likely truthful comment, saying he brings the handful of young musicians on the road to “keep Spencer company.” To me, the band sounded great most of the night — we can’t all be as good as Nels Cline.

When beginning to introduce his son Spencer on drums, Jeff brought up the documentary “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart,” a fascinating documentary that chronicles the chaotic process of creating and distributing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco’s seminal album. He recalled his 11-year-old running around The Fillmore in the early aughts as Wilco played some of their best songs before the album had even released. Then, he looked back at his son, now on stage behind the drum kit.

What a full circle moment.

Take a look at this section of the documentary here. Skip ahead to 1:17:30 to see Spencer on the tour bus playing drums on his lap and quizzing his dad on which Wilco song he was playing while Jeff guesses.

The film then goes into Wilco performing “Heavy Metal Drummer” at The Fillmore before Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was released.

The music of Tweedy is essentially Wilco Jr., just as catchy and memorable but simplified. The 30-song setlist was split into two sections, the first half with the full band and the rest solo-acoustic as Jeff played Wilco tunes and covers.

As always, the man has a Mona Lisa stage presence, making it feel like he’s always looking at you. Mr. Tweedy is a man in tune to his surroundings.

He also referenced a handful of children near the front of the stage throughout the night, noting that they only used their earplugs in between songs as a sort of “earmuffs” measure and that their presence made him feel “uncomfortable.”

Perhaps it was the thought of how much time has passed since Spencer was their age that made Mr. Tweedy feel a tad anxious.

Filed Under: Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy, The Fillmore, Tweedy

The 15 best stage banter spewing musicians in live music today

November 13, 2014 by The Bam Team 9 Comments

Photo by Sam Heller // Written by Mike Frash & Kevin Quandt //

For better or worse, these 15 artists entertain, control and impact the collective mindset of a capacity crowd with between-song bantering as much as their music. Here’s a hint: we like our banter dry.

What did we miss? Drop us a comment to to continue the flow.

15. Dan Deacon
Dan Deacon’s stage banter serves the purpose of helping to curate a mad, collective experience. If you’ve never taken the Dan Deacon plunge, do it. And come with an open heart and mind. -MF

14. Samuel Herring (Future Islands)
Samuel Herring’s motivational banter nicely segues into Future Islands’ songs, combining over-the-top crowd engagement, fully-committed dance moves and passion that boarders on possession. For example, when introducing “Lighthouse” (watch above at 4:24), Herring says “this is a song about those dark moments in our lives, and the friends and the family that bring us back.” Here the introduction makes you ponder about the song’s lyrical meaning, magnifying its importance. -MF

13. Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)
Billie Joe Armstrong has already had a long, epic career on stage and has seen it all and has done it all. After one logs as much time as Green Day on stage, some epic moments in banter/antic history are bound to happen. In the early days, they egged on the crowd to pelt them with clumps of mud, while more recently Billie Joe has decided to take his anger out on the teleprompter crew and likely be extension, Clear Channel. -KQ

12. Tom Waits
Tom Waits is no doubt one of a kind, and the man surely isn’t a road warrior these days on the live circuit. But he did perform at Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit last year to steal the show with his banter as much as his iconic, raspy voice. -MF

11. Dave Matthews
If the whole music thing doesn’t work out for Dave Matthews, he can likely take up a career in being an aspiring stand-up comedian as he has entertained crowds between songs for decades. The stream-of-conscience delivery that Matthews regularly launches into has become a fond pastime for longtime fans, even going as far to create an endearing term for it known as “davespeak”. -KQ

10. Jack White
White can talk up a storm during his gratifying live performances — no doubt he’s in the running for best live musical act of 2014. The biggest rock star in the world made headlines earlier this year at Fenway Park when he trashed Rolling Stone while also dumping on the Foo Fighters. But White’s banter can also be fun, lighthearted and engaging, something most everyone can appreciate. -MF

9. Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age)
Ya don’t fuck with Josh Homme when he is onstage. Period. However, if this happens, you should be prepared to be entertained, as he will fully launch into a tirade of epic proportions upon his deserved target. I weep for those who have been on the receiving end of these legendary diatribes. -KQ

8. Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams’s passion flows from him like an angst-filled teenager, often spastic and random. But at his headlining show at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass this year, Adams transitioned his banter into an impromptu gem revolving around a someone holding balloons in the back of the park in SF. If you haven’t yet, listen to his new album — it’s wholly deserving of being his self titled record. Also, watch this montage of banter highlights from the aughts. -MF

7. Les Claypool
Les Claypool is weird in all the right ways. And he’s willing to stop mid-show and comment on circumstances that surround him, whether he gets spit on from the pit, gets hit with an empty water bottle by some spunion or if he witnesses two chicks brawling front and center. -MF

6. Jeff Tweedy
Tweedy has interpreted Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” as historical spoken word poetry. There’s the time the Wilco frontman told the story of ending up two doors down from former bandmate Jay Farrar in Mexico. No matter the show, his banter contains the all important element of surprise, even that time he said “I’m trying to balance fun with crushing depression. Always a challenge.” Dry wit and wisdom define the man, yes indeed. -MF

5. Run the Jewels (Killer Mike and El-P)
El-P and Killer Mike are two of the most creative minds in music, plain and simple. You hear it in their rhymes and in El-P’s production, but also in how they grasp control of the crowd between songs. A perfect example: El Producto’s recent story about meeting Mark Kozelek before they took to their competing sets at Fun Fun Fun Fest. El got his crowd to yell “Suck My Dick Sun Kil Moon”, injecting Run the Jewels into Kozelek’s war on The War on Drugs. And the duo’s banter about finding your own 36″ Chain is an empowering lesson of personal pride and swagger over materialism. On top of that, count on Killer Mike and El-P to crush every moment with excitement and ownership. Just never forget, Run the Jewels is not for your children. -MF

4. Mac Demarco
Mac Demarco holds a mellow, irreverent spirit that is contagious. He can also stage dive like a boss, too. Then there was that time he performed naked and semi-attempted to stick the mic up his bum. He’ll never live it down. He often introduces his songs with a healthy dose of charm, and you gotta love his propensity for spontaneity. The key ingredient: Demarco ain’t afraid to engage with his audience and among the band, creating a spoken word moment out of nothing. -MF

3. Kanye West
Stage banter usually means an epic rant or four when it comes to Yeezus live, and some of the soliloquies this year have lasted longer than a Type II Phish jam. At London Wireless Festival, Kanye gave a 20 minute-plus speech, he addressed the “Fuck Kanye” mantra, attacked the media and proclaimed he’s the No. 1 fucking rock star on the planet in his return to Bonnaroo. And at Outside Lands this year, West commanded that we “make some circles … and push whoever is next to you and shit.” In most all cases, Kanye’s stage banter collects both awes and boos, while at the same time, signifying his narcissistic tendencies better than any South Park joke or comedic parody. -MF

2. Father John Misty
I know it’s early, but J. Tillman is on a legendary path. Sure, he’s a captivating storyteller, but he also has the uncanny ability to add improvised, add-on words and phrases at the end of each line at a whim (particularly with his acoustic performances). You get the sense that Tillman looks to keep things interesting for himself above all else, a quality that churns out memorable performances night after night. Most impressively, Father John Misty has created a performance space that consistently questions our collective reality, hoisting his freak flag high and daring you to come along for the adventure. What’s ultimately so captivating is how he doesn’t let you in on the joke, if there even is one to begin with. -MF

1. Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon)
Kozelek has had a career-defining year that has spanned beyond the brilliant Benji. His stage banter included telling one festival audience “all you rednecks, shut the fuck up”, and in the musical feud of the year, Koz fought a one-sided battle against The War on Drugs, going on a relentless campaign against the band when their overlapping festival sets sent the WOD speaker sound across the field to invade Sun Kil Moon’s set.

To commemorate the beef, Kozelek wrote a song, “War on Drugs: Suck My Cock”, which describes how the whole thing began — with stage banter, bringing the whole thing full circle by creating a song that he promised on the stage that day. Talk about manifesting reality. By the way, Mark, I was at The War on Drugs show at The Fillmore that night, and I didn’t take no bridge or tunnel.

It’s improvised stage banter on a genius level while also often abrasive, cruel and surly. But holy shit does it suck you in like a controlling bully on the schoolyard, forcing you to stand still so you aren’t the next target. And if you’re doubting Kozelek’s banter at all, just listen to these wise words. -MF