THE BEST LIVE ACTS OF TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN

2016 may have been colossally shit in almost every respect, but it also happened to be the best year for live music I've ever experienced. It's been a real challenge whittling this list down to a mere fifty acts, so here's some honourable mentions for those that didn't quite make the cut:

Sex Swing, Susanne Sundfor, Low, Cat Power, Fire!, The Boy Least Likely To, Sigur Ros, Bo Ningen, Explosions In The Sky, Daniel Knox, Stars of The Lid, Diet Cig, Liima, Mothers, Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld, Boredoms, Battles, Terry Riley, Floating Points, Mulatu Astatke, Jambinai, LNZNDRF, Merzbow, Orchestra of Spheres, OMD, Shonen Knife, Edwyn Collins, Islam Chipsy, Dilly Dally, Idris Ackamoor, The Joy Formidable, Swans, Marginal Consort and Eleanor Friedberger

50. SLEIGH BELLS- London Tufnell Park Dome

The Brooklyn noise-pop duo are as subtle as Brian Blessed bellowing a ton of bricks off Trump Tower - but dammit, we wouldn't have it any other way.

49. SILVER APPLES- London Corsica Studios

With his self-crafted synthesizer bodged together from "vintage oscillators, sound filters, telegraph keys, radio parts, lab gear and a miscellany of second hand junk", Simeon Coxe III was one of the very first to incorporate electronics into rock music back in 1967. Now 78, he might lack the mullet and formidable sideburns of his youth, but his music still sounds resolutely like the future.

48. MICHAEL ROTHER- London Under The Bridge

75 minutes of vividly-hued Krautrock from the amiable Neu! and Harmonia visionary, whose gloriously fuzzy guitar tones prefigured a whole generation of shoegaze/dream-pop.

47. ANDREW BIRD- London Roundhouse

Ol' Whistlechops may be living the glamorous L.A. lifestyle these days, but damn, he still knows how to loop a violin pretty.

46. PAUL SIMON- London Royal Albert Hall

Paul Simon has written a hell of a lot of good songs in his time. Sadly, he's also written a lot of bollocks too. But despite an uneven setlist and a mediocre sound mix, the unimpeachable encore of The Boxer -> Sound of Silence -> Mrs. Robinson -> Bridge Over Trouble Water elevated a slightly disappointing night to "one to remember."

45. MASSIVE ATTACK- London Brixton Academy

Politically-charged shows are often earnest to the point of cringe, but the Bristolian trip-hoppers' intellegent and striking visuals, manipulating data straight from the internet, synced fantastically with their dark, minimalist vibe. Plus, Horace Andy performing "Angel" was pretty damn special

44. RADIOHEAD- London Roundhouse

Tommy York and his bleepy-bloopy brethren will never be my favourite band in the world, but even I will admit feeling emotion in my cold dead heart when "Exit Music (For A Film)" kicked in.

43. BORIS- London Electric Ballroom

Who needs hearing when you've got Boris? The Japanese three-piece may readily flit between drone, metal, noise-rock and shoegaze, but if there's one thing you can rely on it's that they'll leave your eardrums feeling like a kaiju-ravaged city.

42. GET WELL SOON- London Lexington

Germany's answer to the Divine Comedy have always been inexplicably overlooked by the British music press but more fool them, as Get Well Soon's lushly orchestrated indie-pop remains an underrated delight.

41. AURORA- London Union Chapel

The best thing to come out of Norway since "Take On Me", it seems unlikely that we'll be seeing the elfin 20-year old play venues as intimate as this the future. Her plaintive cover of "Life On Mars" less than a month after Bowie's passing was quite the...cathartic experience.

40. MELT-BANANA- London Tufnell Park Dome

Melt-Banana's uncompromising grindcore assaults prove to be as damaging to my long-term hearing prospects as Donald Trump is to liberal democracy.

39. THE SUN-RA ARKESTRA- London Union Chapel

Interplanetary jazz wizards bring a splash of Saturn and a tsunami of avant-garde squalling to the genteel environs of Highbury and Islington.

38. HOLY FUCK- London Village Underground

I don't know who Allen is, or whether if he is indeed "lovely", but the Toronto quartet sure did him credit over 70 minutes of clattering electro-noise.

37. OKKERVIL RIVER- London Islington Assembly Hall

Will Sheff may continue to have an uneasy relationship with the notes he's actually trying to hit, but his erudite folk-rock proved a much-needed salve in the week of the Great Catastrophe.

36. DAHKABRAHKA- London Rich Mix

The act on this list most likely to make Putin cry bitter tears into his Smirnoff, the Ukrainian purveyors of "ethno-chaos" did their beleaguered country proud with an eccentric, colourful fusion of traditional Slavic musical forms, Western pop music and even hip-hop.

35. SAVAGES- London 100 Club

There are many creditable ways to start off your day, but to my mind none of them compares to having Jehnny Beth scream "Husbands" directly into your face at 9 in the morning.

34. HORSE LORDS- London Lexington

If Colin Stetson and Deerhoof formed an off-kilter, Can-infused math-rock band, but with more cowbell, they might sound like Baltimore's Horse Lords. This is no bad thing.

33. JOANNA NEWSOM- End of the Road Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset

Not even the dependably shit British weather could dampen J-No's mesmerising brand of harpin' and squawkin', but man, I'd wish she'd stop ditching "Emily" for  "Monkey & the Fucking Bear".

32. PRIMAL SCREAM- London Brixton Academy

A cogent and sober Bobby Gillespie fronting a blissed-out run through Primal Scream's back catalogue, without making a single controversial comment? Truly, a Christmas miracle.

31. PWR BTTM- London Shacklewell Arms

An elatory sugar-high of a set from the queercore power-pop duo, who sound like Fang Island and bitch like Joan Rivers. 

30. PATTI SMITH- London Hyde Park

A bit too heavy on the post-Horses material to top last year's remarkable Field Day performance, but the High Priestess of Punk's messianic fervour remains the perfect antidote to the cult of bland placidity.

29. IGGY POP- London Royal Albert Hall

Two hours of James Newell Osterberg, Jr, aged 69, putting ever single other rock 'n roll frontman to shame.

28. JEFFREY LEWIS- London DIY Space

Illustrated biographies of Alan Moore! Paeans to English breakfasts and cats on the internet! Half-Yiddish spiels concerning a man's inability to impress a pigeon! Random Faith No More covers! So yeah, just another Jeff Lewis show.

27. MOONFACE- London Hoxton Bar and Kitchen

Wedged in the middle of a Wolf Parade tour, this hastily-assembled live collaboration between Spencer Krug and Finnish kraut-rockers Siinai had no right to sound this gloriously epic.

26. EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROES- London Islington Academy

It's a shame "Home" has been overplayed to death, as it makes it easy to forget that Alex Ebert and co., despite their self-confessed corniness, are one hell of a hoot live.

25. WEAVES- London Scala

Possibly the best band to emerge from Canada since the mid-Noughties, the off-kilter, grungey art-pop of WEAVES is an unabashed riot, fusing the wonkiness of Deerhoof with the lo-fi ferocity of 90's garage-rock. 
 

24. BURT BACHARACH- London Palladium

There's not many performers who can dispatch songs of the calibre of "Walk On By", "I Say A Little Prayer" and "There's Always Something There To Remind Me" within the first ten minutes of their set and still have a gazillion all-time classics in their pocket, but then, not many performers are Burt Bacharach. One can only dream of having his vitality and enthusiasm at the age of 88.

23. EZRA FURMAN- End of the Road Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset

Queer Jew channels Springsteen, produces magic (and a damn fine Arcade Fire cover too).

22. CALEXICO- London Barbican

It is said there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. I'd argue the excellence of Calexico's live shows constitute a third.

21. GRANDADDY- London Oslo

Saw Jason Lytle perform "The Crystal Lake" less than a metre away from me. Not going to lie, it was a bit awkward.

20. TRICOT- London Hoxton Bar and Kitchen

Guitarists whirling, bassists river-dancing, singers draped over the sound-desk, and a room filled with sweat, flailing arms and potent joy. Viva Tricot!

19. SPIRITUALIZED- London Barbican

"ALL I WANT IN LIFE'S A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE TO TAKE THE PAIN AWAY". Wouldn't say no to a gospel choir, though.

18. DAN DEACON- London Roundhouse

Malfunctioning player-pianos. A 25-minute audience participation piece involving five hundred mobile phones blasting out Phil Collins. Dance-offs and human tunnels and overhead projectors and The Crystal Goddamn Cat. Even by Dan Deacon's standards, this was pretty out-there but man, it was tremendous fun.

17. TEETH OF THE SEA- London Tufnell Park Dome

Always thought Teeth of the Sea's oppressive aural dystopia naturally evoked "1984". Now I'm thinking it's a little more "2017".

16. OPERATORS- London Lexington

Potentially the best Dan Boeckner side-project yet, Operators take the zest and furious energy of The Handsome Furs and marries them to scintillating, hard-edged synth-rock. Much 80's, very dance. Wow!

15. CHARLES BRADLEY- London Rough Trade East

Given his recent cancer diagnosis, I'm even more honoured to have had the opportunity to catch the Screaming Eagle of Soul performing a set to 100 very lucky people. "Spine-tingling" doesn't do it justice.

14. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM- Lovebox Festival, Victoria Park, London

Five years ago, Win Butler told James Murphy to "Shut Up And Play The Hits". At Victoria Park, he took that advice to heart.

13. OTOBOKE BEAVER- London Brixton Windmill

Four whirling, immaculately-dressed dervishes of garage-rock energy, hitting the perfect mid-point between the unabashed fun-times of Shonen Knife and the explosive brilliance of Bo Ningen. When a gig ends up with one guitarist writhing on the venue floor before the other piles right on top of her, you know it's a good 'un.

12. BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE- End of the Road Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset

Hearing "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" performed live for the first time since 2008 was "totes emosh", as the kids might say. Rest of the show was alright too.

11. STEVIE WONDER- London Hyde Park

Only Stevie Wonder could take four hours to play an album that clocks in at 90 minutes, but then what do you expect from a man for whom the line between genius and self-indulgence has never been terribly well-defined? That said, for every interminable solo or inexplicable cover, we got a moment of such exquisite brilliance that it truly took your breath away. And let's face it, there's few set-closers that can even get close to touching "Superstition".

10. ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF- London St. John's, Bethnal Green

The only gig I've ever been to that's caused masonry to fall off a church. Guess that's what you get for booking the harbinger of the Apocalypse.

9. ZA!- London DIY Space

Channelling Calexico, Deerhoof, Captain Beefheart, the Buena Vista Social Club and Acid Mothers Temple all in the space of 50 minutes, the relentlessly exuberant Catalans proved their Arcade Fire-topping set at Primavera 2014 wasn't a fluke: they really are one of the best live bands in the world right now.

8. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN- London Wembley Stadium

Badlands->Jungleland->Born To Run->Dancing In The Dark->10th Avenue Freezeout->Shout->Bobby Jean->Thunder Road. FLAWLESS VICTORY.

7. BJORK- London Royal Albert Hall

The best single live music moment of 2016? Bjork giggling in delight when the audience spontaneously sang the refrain of "Pagan Poetry" back at her. 

6. BRIAN WILSON- NOS Primavera, Parque da Cidade, Porto

Brian Wilson is basically a zombified Chuck McGill these days, but even he cracked a smile or two during this sublime performance of "Pet Sounds" (and a myriad other hits) under the setting Portuguese sun.

5. XENIA RUBINOS- London Birthdays

Being a tired, embittered old troll it's rare that I'm genuinely blown away by a new artist, but Xenia Rubinos truly is The Real Deal - a funky, political blend of R&B, Cuban rap and indie-rock, delivered by one of the most magnetic performers I've seen since Janelle Monae. 

4. CAROLE KING- London Hyde Park

65,000 people singing along to "You've Got A Friend". Can't really beat that.

3. TITUS ANDRONICUS- NOS Primavera, Parque da Cidade, Porto

A show that left me physically, mentally and emotionally broken. #toooldformoshpits

2. WOLF PARADE- London Scala

God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans, but persuading Wolf Parade to reform after a six-year hiatus was definitely one of his better wheezes. 

1. KAMASI WASHINGTON- London Royal Albert Hall

One of the greatest contemporary jazz groups on the planet, backed by a 20-piece gospel choir and a 36-piece string section? Of course it was going to be my gig of the year. True, some of the arrangements were a little bit too enamoured with Star Trek: The Original series, but when everything clicked, it sounded more transcendent than Piers Morgan suffocating to death in the depths of Trump's rectum.

(And for previous editions of this self-indulgent nonsense, now in its 11th year, here are the lists for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015)