10. David Gilmour - Live at Pompeii (Columbia)
Yeah, I'm as surprised as anyone at placing a 2017 era live album from David Gilmour on a list like this, but it's hard to deny how fantastic this performance was. Looking back to the historic Pink Floyd performance from 1972, Gilmour revisited Pompeii in mid 2016 - this time with an actual paying audience. The setlist presents a nice balance between newer Gimour solo work and Pink Floyd classics, most impressive is how well it all blends together and how fantastic that band performs. Definitely worth watching the Blu-Ray if you have the change, this is visually stunning as well.
9. Brant Bjork - Europe '16 (Napalm)
Despite being one of the founding members of desert/stoner rock standard bearers Kyuss, Brant Bjork remains criminally underrated in the wider musical world. Thankfully for fans in the know, he's continued to release killer solo records ever since, not to mention his work in later projects like Vista Chino and his time in Fu Manchu. This double-disc release is pulled from tours in Europe with his Low Desert Punk Band, but it seems to serve as a really nice encapsulation of his solo years. A great place to start for the uninitiated.
8. Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders - Garcia Live Volume Nine (ATO)
This two disc set captures of an early version of what would later become Legion of Mary on a summer night in Berkeley, 1974. Heads will automatically know to expect quality from Garcia and Saunders, even more so when that quality is recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson as it is here. This is a killer show, anchored by Billy Kreutzmann's drumming and a twenty-minute jam on Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come".
7. Royal Trux - Platinum Tips + Ice Cream (Drag City)
Although I've read that there is some doubt as to just how authentic this might be as a "live" document, I'm so happy to have the actual Royal Trux back that I really don't care. While both Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema hit some high points on their own, there is nothing like the explosive combination of the two of them together. The duo rearranges and reinterprets their back catalog to great, sometimes confounding, effect here - always fascinating.
6. Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks Volume 23: 1/22/78 (Rhino)
This was a long time fan favorite that finally got released in an official capacity in 2017 as part of the stellar Dave's Picks series. Coming off of their killer year in 1977, this show found the band in the Pacific Northwest and in a playful mood. A lot of attention gets paid, rightfully so, to the Close Encounters theme jam in "The Other One", but there are a lot of other stellar moments to here. Another reason to thank Betty Cantor-Jackson, as this comes from her recently returned boards.
5. Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Betty's Blends, Vol. 3: Self-Rising, Southern Blends (Silver Arrow)
Not to dump too much (well deserved) praise on Betty, but she is still at it, though this time she spends her free time behind the boards for Chris Robinson Brotherhoood, as captured on this compilation of performances from the group's Fall 2015 tour. It's a great collection that shows where the band was growing and grooving during that year.
4. Causa Sui - Live in Copenhagen (El Paraiso)
I've been a big fan of this Dutch instrumental cosmic rock band for quite some time, so I was really happy to see a 3xCD release coming out that captured the release parties for their 2013 and 2016 records, both recording in Copenhagen - especially since these guys very rarely hit the stage anywhere. The band hits a ton of different modes and tones, from laid back grooves to more dissonant almost free-jazz when they bring Johan Riedenlow and his saxophone up on stage. I was blown away by this one.
3. Sleater-Kinney - Live in Paris (Sub Pop)
Sleater-Kinney's killer comeback record, No Cities To Love, was as thrilling as it was unexpected after so many years off and thankfully we were also blessed with a live document from that album's tour. The setlist pulls from all over their career, but most remarkable is how tight and ferocious the trio sounds on every single song. It makes you wish it hadn't taken so long to get an official live document in the hands of fans.
2. Phish - St. Louis '93 (JEMP)
I love the way Phish has handled their archival live releases by bundling shows thematically or geographically. The latest example is this 6xCD set that collects two full shows, both recorded in St. Louis in 1993 - one in April, one in August. Killer versions of "Split Open and Melt", "You Enjoy Myself" and "Mike's Song > Weekapaug Groove" all get airings in the box, which captures the band in the years just before they exploded into a national phenomenon.
1. Grateful Dead - May 1977: Get Shown the Light (Rhino)
Another lovingly packaged box set from the Dead folks, this time pulling together four full shows from early May 1977, including May 8, 1977 at Cornell - long considered by many fans to be the single best Dead show ever played. I'm not sure about that, I tend to believe that would be Veneta '72, but it is a good one. Most eye-opening, though, is how killer the shows around it are - this band was absolutely on fire, ripping off all-time versions of song after song. A must hear for Deadheads around the world.
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