Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Ted's gotta be the most passionate performer I've ever seen. He blazes through a whole bunch (good long set) of songs at top speed, but they remain extremely melodic. Also, the audience loves him, so their's a big cloud of joy hanging over the proceedings. And Ted is really intelligent and friendly, so he'll argue with audience members (i.e. me) over the definition of syndicalism. He's also willing to hand out for 2 hours after the show to meet every fan and discuss the state of punk rock.

Gogol Bordello - Half the band are really good session musicians. Then the lead singer, the two dancing girls, and occasionally the violinst act like lunatics, playing improvised percussion instruments like buckets, and climbing the security guards. Songs lend themselves to the whole crazy-gypsy party atmosphere

Man Man - True performance art. The band stands in circle with synthesizers, guitars, horns, kazoos and drums at the ready. They never stop playing for the whole set and have these crazed tribal chants for transitions. They also built their own kazoos to make these amazing shrieks. Also, Honus Honus, the frontman likes to throw feathers and holy water at the audience. He also pulls props out of a bag and waves them around.

The Hold Steady - It's like going to a party with a bunch of friendly drunks where you listen to one guy talk about all his exploits at other parties. Amazing msuicianship and copious amounts of hard liquor make these guys a joy to watch.

Menomena - I just really like their songs, and they have really powerful sound which improves them immensley. It's also cool to watch each guy play 3 or 4 instruments and fiddle with computer programs.

Worst:

Death Cab for Cutie/ Franz Ferdinand: Awful, ill-conceived tour. The sound sucked, the venue was enormous, and the crowd was mostly ther to see Death Cab, so they were stone-still throughout Franz's pretty good (except for sound) dance rock set. Then everyone was taking myspace pictures and weepiong through the pedestrian death cab set. I hate the youth of America (I'm 18, so this isn't really bigotry)

Bruce Sprinsteen (Solo) - Everyone is boring without a band. And again, huge venues make rock boring. So this was really boring. Plus, he played sooo much shit from the loathsome devils and dust record. When I saw the seeger sessions tour, bruce kicked ass.

my friends and I have some very important rules about how to remain cool at a concert:

1) do not listen to the band in question on the drive to the show. you will get your fill.

2) never wear the band's shirt to the show. no matter how much you love the band, you are too cool for them. but always wear a band shirt.

3) always stand in the front. if there is a mosh pit, stand near it or dive in. violence = fun.

Actually that last rule was tested for me last night. I went to see this emo/punk band called Bayside (they aren't ver good, but I had nothing to do). The pit was mostly full of moshers but also contained a contingent of hardcore dancers. If you are unfamiliar with contemporary punk rock, moshers are people who run around in circles and crash into eachother at high speed, whereas hardcore kids basically do high speed capoeira. These groups do not go together well. The hardcore dancers made the pit a deathly dangerous place My friend who was in the pit said he got roundhouse kicked in the back. I got thrown into a the corner of a piller. Eventually tensions between the harcore kids and the moshers came to a head, egged on by overeager security. a fight broke out, blood was spilt, cops were called. but I suppose that's how a punk show should work.