2005 was weird. And depressing, frustrating, saddening, maddening, sometimes awesome, and often pretty scary. If I was a born-again Christian, I really might think that the Apocalypse was upon us. But since I ain’t, I don’t. Hopefully 2006 brings back civility, compassion, a calmer Mother Nature and an understanding of Constitutional law.

2005 was also filled with music. At least for me. Lots of shows, both local and national. I enjoyed it all. And even though I tend to think of year-end retrospectives as hokey, well, here’s mine. There’s no rhyme or reason to this extensive list. And since I’m sure I’ve left stuff out, please feel free to write in your own personal favorites or least favorites (of anything) from ‘05.

Since I found myself going to a lot of shows this year, I’m not up for naming just one as my favorite. So instead, I’ll list those that stick out from each venue I visited. A cop-out? Definitely.

My favorite concerts of 2005 (in mostly chronological order)

_{Photo by Julie Ramsey/AZNightBuzz.com}
Gogol Bordello at Club Congress.

Solar Culture: The Arcade Fire (Jan. 18). Easiest choice ever. Even though I was stuck in the back, peaking over the crowd to see Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, et al clamboring around on stage, seemingly playing everything in the room to make music. It felt like they had 25 band members that night, there was that much sound filling up the narrow venue. If memory serves they opened with “Wake Up.” And “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” left me numb. Music never sounded so good. And the show was something like $12. Surreal.

Che’s: The Deludes (May 21). The Deludes were the first band I ever saw when I moved to town in the summer of 2004. And I was blown away. This night was the same. Playing in the cramped Che’s quarters, people everywhere, they lit up the joint as I drank down my $1 Pabsts.

The Surly Wench: The Sweat Band, The FANNS and Okmoniks (July 21). This show is a little hazy. And truthfully, I only really remember the Sweat Band and the Okmoniks. That’s not a knock on the FANNS, rather my beer hops-filled brain. Damn you, college! I think some band named Motorama played too. In any case, I remember enjoying the show, and in particular, the Sweat Band’s rockin’ demeanor and the Okmoniks’ danceable punk.

Plush: (tie) Sufjan Stevens (Aug. 2) and the Ozlo farewell show (Nov. 10). I can’t choose between these two. First off, about that Ozlo show. Where did all those girls come from? Seriously. The ladies love cool Ozlo. Just an overall fun show, with Ozlo playing his ass off for all of us. The Sufjan show was an experience in and of itself. The U of Illinois garb, the college cheers. “Chicago.” Being a recent transplant from the Land o’ Lincoln, I appreciated it. Can’t wait till he gets to Maryland. I hope he sings a song about Chesapeake blue crabs and Cal Ripken, Jr.

Heart-Five: Austin Counts (Aug. 10). Since I made it to Heart-Five just once this year, it’s not exactly accurate to call Counts’ concert my favorite of the lot. But I really did enjoy it. The funk-bluesman can play.

The Rialto: The New Pornographers (Oct. 1). Maybe it’s hipster cool to say you like them, but who cares. The New Pornographers rocked that night. I even almost moved my feet. Almost. Playing a mix of stuff from Twin Cinema and Electric Version, drummer Kurt Dahle practically stole the show with his thunder. Then there was the combo vocals of AC Newman and Neko Case. Getting to hear “Use It” live was worth the price alone.

_{Photo Julie Ramsey/AZNightBuzz.com}
Spacefish at the David Bowie Tribute show at Plush.

Club Congress: Gogol Bordello (Oct. 25). I’ve never been one to sit in front of the stage. Even when I was 16 and went to shows where all you did was thrash around in front and stuff, I was always worried someone would knock out my tooth, gash my eye, and leave me looking like Sloth from The Goonies. Yeah, I know, I’m a wuss. But that Gogol Bordello show, damn. I got right up in there. And when that girl was standing up on the drum pounding the hell out of it, I think her sweat dripped on me. Or maybe it was the semi-passed out dude behind me using me as a crutch. Either way, cool.

Vaudeville: Pork Torta and Blowfly (Dec. 5). I didn’t hit up Vaudeville often, so there’s not a huge selection to choose from, but seeing Pork Torta for the first time after hearing so much about them was great. And Clarence Reid, aka Blowfly – with his deliciously nasty funk-raps like “Booty Bus” and Weird Al’ed soul staples like “Shittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” had me laughing all night. Ok, so maybe it ain’t the art form at its finest, but the man can strut and sing.

Ok, those are the venues I checked out this year. Well, I think I was in O’Malley’s once or twice, but I don’t remember seeing anyone play there. Same as goes for the District. The Living Room escaped me, as did Skrappy’s. But metal and screamo ain’t my thing. And besides, I’m almost 30, so hanging out at Skrappy’s would be creepy. And since I avoid the East Side like the plague, I never made it to City Limits.

More music stuff, local and beyond

Most disappointing show: The Decemberists at the Rialto (Sept. 17). Look, I like these guys. I have their CD and they’re on my iTunes and I listen to ‘em a lot. But man this show was a snoozer. Maybe part of the problem was that I was standing all the way in the back, being chatty. But it felt… boring. That is, up until they brought out that huge whale mouth as part of the encore. All of a sudden the great concert I had hoped for happened… for a song. It’s ok, I still like them.

Favorite comment that may or may not have been an insult: The Year of Acceleration’s Scott O’Gorman telling me that “AZNightBuzz was a lot cooler when Ryan [Christie] and George worked there” one night at Che’s. As I wondered who the hell this George was, I realized it was me. “I’m George!” I replied, “And I’m still there!”. A second later, he hugged me. Good times.

Favorite thing about the local music scene: (tie) Tom Walbank’s skills on the guitar and harp and Spacefish’s synchronized rocking. Walbank looks like he’s channeling every blues musician that ever lived when he’s playing. He’s that good. As for Spacefish. The basketball unis, the classic covers, the synched jams… thanks for entertaining us.

Best album purchase: (tie) Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois and Common’s Be. Ok, “purchase” is the wrong word, because Be was burned for me by my girlfriend. So, Common, I owe you like $13.99. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked Be as much as Like Water for Chocolate (though knew right away I liked it better than 2002’s Electric Circus). At first it felt a little too Kanye West-ern (not a bad thing), who helped produce the album. But it grew on me, and grew and grew. And “Chi City” and “Real People” are what I love about hip hop.

Worst song of the year history of time: “My Humps” by the Black Eyed Peas. I hate this band more than anything else. And this “song” is the worst thing that’s ever been audibly released by the human body in the history of mankind. And it’s a worldwide hit. I need to leave this planet.

Song that got stuck in my head way too often (in a good way): “Soul Meets Body” by Death Cab for Cutie. Coffee-like in its addictive properties.

_{Photo courtesy of the Black Eyed Peas.}
People of Earth, the only way to stop the BEP is to stop
buying their records. Please! For the good of us all!

Song that got stuck in my head way too often (in a bad way): “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani. This shit is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! This shit is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! This shit is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! This shit is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! This shit is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! (Now it’s stuck in your head too, mwahahahaha!)

And some more from 2005

Favorite sauce at La Salsa: Either the “buena” or their avocado cream sauce. I really have no clue what it is. I mean, it’s not quite guacamole right? But it’s delicious. Sometimes I just pour that stuff straight into my mouth right there at the fixin’s bar. So if you see a guy standing there with avocado cream all over his face and shirt, say “hey Jorge.”

Favorite television show (series): Arrested Development. If this show does indeed get cancelled (again), then I’m going to make it my life’s mission to get every FOX executive responsible for this decision framed for a crime and sent to prison. Then they can spend their days reenacting their favorite moments from Prison Break. The stuff AD gets past the censors makes me think the censors are too dense to pick up on the subtlety.

Favorite television show (episode): The Paris Hilton episode of South Park. I thought I’d never see something more wrong than Paris Hilton coughing up semen as her pet Chihuahua committed suicide. Then I saw the way the “whore-off” ends.

_{Photo courtesy of BBC}
“I’ve created an atmosphere where I’m a friend first,
boss second. Probably entertainer third.”

Best DVD purchase: The Office (BBC version). My cousin called me last spring and said, wherever you are right now, drive to Best Buy and buy the The Office. I did as was told, and ended up watching both seasons in like two nights. The show is so cringe-inducing funny that I had to pause it several times because I just couldn’t take it anymore. David Brent should be everyone’s boss. There’s something sad and touching in Ricky Gervais’ portrayal of the pathetic, idiotic Brent. The American version of the show has been pleasantly funny and at times hilarious, but it will never match the genius of “Free Love on the Free Love Freeway.”

Worst DVD purchase: The Blair Witch Project. Here’s why Best Buy is the devil. Because they have 15 registers but only 2 open, leaving you waiting in long lines next to “bargain bins” of $5.99 DVDs. ”$5.99!” you think, picking up The Blair Witch Project. “Why, I’d be stupid not to buy it.” Then later, you put it in, only to realize it’s a horribly dated – and really boring – movie.

Movie that I definitely thought would suck but ended up not sucking at all: Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Maybe George Lucas planned on making the first two prequels so bad that the last one looks like a masterpiece in comparison. But really I just think the first two end up looking kind of useless, with Sith having the best part of the back-story: Jedi’s killed, Anakin turning into Vader, etc. So when my kids watch these movies in the future, we’ll pretend Episodes I and II never happened. Similar to what ESPN’s Sports Guy does with Rocky V.

Movie that I definitely thought would suck and ended up sucking even worse: XXX: The State of the Union. I saw this on a flight to Boston. I paid $3 for those cheap little earphones too. Mr. Cube, I want my $3.

And finally…

Best prediction for how things will turn out in 2006: Good stuff will happen, bad stuff will happen. Some band will make a record that some people will say is the best of the year. Others will call it trite and unadventurous and rate it 4.3. The Tucson music scene will continue to thrive, and people will argue incessantly about it. Some celebrity will embarrass him or herself, while another celebrity will resurrect his or her career. Here’s hoping it’s one of the Coreys. Happy New Year, folks.