Our Tasty Top 10 of ‘22
Char-Crüe-terie, Marshmello, Blackberry and other flavors that topped our 2022 menu of live music.
Angie and I hit the road for live music in 2022: festival grounds, stadiums, theaters and rock clubs, from Green Bay to Miami, front row to nose bleeds. Rock, rap, pop, metal, alternative, country … you name it, we experienced it.
Our concert menu was as flavorful as the pre-show meals and, yes, that includes tailgating. Here is our top 10 list of our favorite live music shows of 2022.
10. Marshmello
You’re only as young as you feel, right? Angie (not in her 20s) joined a bachelorette party for her good friend’s daughter (in her 20s). After to-die-for shrimp cerviche at TeQuiztlan, they clubbed in Miami to DJ Marshmello, who made it a night to remember for all ages.
Story Night Club, Miami
9. Bon Jovi
My aunt Nan and I are only 12 years apart. She’s more like my older sister, and we’ve shared many concerts together, including my first Bon Jovi concert. So when he came back to Milwaukee, we got tickets, scarfed down some concession fare and sang our hearts out with our favorite frontman (mellower yet forever a rockstar).
Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
8. Clutch
My first “live” Clutch show was a pandemic stream. Cool, but, as I discovered, did not touch the energy and powerful preaching of Neil Fallon in person. My husband Shawn (Clutch’s biggest fan) and I witnessed it all at the newer, intimate concert venue with not a bad standing-room spot in the house.
Epic Event Center, Green Bay
7. Violent Femmes
When I was 11, I fell hard for the Femmes and kept “Add It Up” on repeat (i.e., rewind and replay). The Milwaukee band returned home for the summer's Big Gig, where Angie and I bleachered up to hear a few of their classics while on our 10-plus-band itinerary. One of those tunes was “Country Death Song:” I could’ve died happy.
Relive our favorite festival moments (and food) on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Summerfest, Milwaukee
6. Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett
After pandemic delays, The Stadium Tour was on. We had a long night ahead of us (7 hours!), so we primed our energy with pre-show tailgating snacks, including my “Mötley char-Crüe-terie” board and Angie’s “Sad Song” Cowboy Caviar (get it?). We checked the rocker queen herself, Joan Jett, off our bucket lists and both agreed that Def Leppard took the live performance crown.
American Family Field, Milwaukee
5. Chris Stapleton With Morgan Wade and Elle King
Angie and I agree: all three acts deserve a headline here. (Okay, four, if you count the Southern comfort food we enjoyed at Milwaukee’s Tupelo Honey.) But seriously, Morgan’s outlaw vibe and Elle’s contagious vibrado more than lived up to their opening roles for Stapleton, who was everything you knew he’d be.
Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
4. Blackberry Smoke
No. 10. Shawn and I hit double digits in the number of times we’ve seen Blackberry Smoke. This milestone deserved prime Row 2 seats (aisle, of course) at the historical theater, where we conversed with other super fans. We are more than a bit obsessed with this underrated rock band.
Riverside Theatre, Milwaukee
3. Florida Georgia Line
Angie and her crew risked life and limb to see their favorite acts at Country Thunder. Literally! Intimating clouds rolled in and major thunderstorms evacuated the grounds on night one. Fortunately, day two brought sunshine and an incredible performance by Florida Georgia Line – one of the band’s last before solo ventures.
Country Thunder, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin
2. Puscifer
Maynard James Keenan is a live show genius, and he put all his creativity on display for Puscifer’s Existential Reckoning tour. From the frontman’s multiple personalities and Karina Round’s haunting vocals, this out-of-this-world show was so good Shawn and I had to see it twice. (And we swore to secrecy.)
Chicago Theatre, Chicago, and Old National Centre, Indianapolis
1. NKOTB Mixtape Tour
Angie and her “Golden Girls” reunited for the Mixtape Tour featuring their favorite boys from Boston. From the party pit, Angie, Julie, Heather and Hilde swooned, sang and soaked up some serious nostalgia with Rick Astley, Salt-n-Pepa, En Vogue and, of course, New Kids on the Block.
Revisit our story on these NKOTB super fans.
Allstate Arena, Chicago
