Photo: Nate Burrell

1. The Blind Eyes Break Up — 3/15/14, Off Broadway

Is it better to burn out or fade away? The Blind Eyes did neither; they simply called it an amicable day after seven good years, three solid releases and a satchel-full of quick, nervy pop songs. They closed out the night, and presumably their career, with “Hold Down the Fort,” a song about perseverance in the face of decay. That night, it sounded like a torch being passed. But to whom? St. Louis hasn’t had many bands as good as the Blind Eyes, so we’ll see who picks up the mantle.

2. Gillian & Dave stage an old-fashioned revue — 6/25/14, the Sheldon Concert Hall

When Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings aren’t touring under Welch’s name and behind her albums, the duo gives Rawlings center-stage under the banner of the Dave Rawlings Machine. Rawlings is a fair singer but a lights-out guitarist, marking their songs with fleet-fingered solos that are every bit as dexterous and challenging as any jazzbo. It turns out he’s a gracious host as well — he and Welch shared the stage with former Old Crow Medicine Show member Willie Watson and mandolin player John Paul Jones, who played bass once upon a time for a little four-piece called Led Zeppelin. Opening with John Hartford’s “Turn Your Radio On” was a nice nod to the U. City son, and the rest of the set touched on the duo’s endless curiosity with American songcraft (at least until they indulged in a little British songcraft, care of Led Zep’s “Going to California,” which was stunning).

3. Dependable indie-rock elder statesmen play the Pageant — 9/20/14 (Spoon) and 11/10/14 (New Pornographers)

Ambling into my middle-30s leaves me little time and even less concern for chasing trends or keeping score of indie rock’s vagaries (to wit: are saxophone solos still A Thing? I really don’t know). It doesn’t hurt that two of the bands that emboldened my love for the form made solid albums in 2014 and played vibrant, status-solidifying sets at the Pageant this fall. Spoon hadn’t played St. Louis since 2007, so opening with “Small Stakes” from 2002’s Kill the Moonlight was a wonderful whiplash, and Britt Daniel’s unassailable, unflappable attitude delivered the band’s sharp-cornered songs. The New Pornographers make time for St. Louis on every tour, but having its three key players — A.C. Newman, Neko Case and Dan Bejar — in tow was a special occasion. The eternally mercurial Bejar took the lead on what felt like a record number of songs compared to his recent outings with the band; my ticket price was redeemed by “Testament to Youth in Verse” alone. Loving these bands probably brands me as a dude of a certain age; so be it.

Jaime Lees is a writer lady in St. Louis, MO. Find her handiwork in The Riverfront Times and on Haikulou.com and Jaimeville.com

Oh man, I saw so much great live music this year. It’s my favorite thing to do and it’s kind of my job, so I’m a lucky lass. As HBIC of HaikuLou.com, I’m part of a team that documents and reviews a decent amount of shows in St. Louis. We’ve been haiku-ing since 2011 and at the end of each year I like to look back on the shows we’ve covered and remember my favorites:

Demonlover with Eric Hall outside Bank Projects, 07/27/14

http://www.haikulou.com/2014/07/demonlover-with-eric-hall-outside-bank.html

I still don’t know what in the heck I witnessed here. Technically, it was just local musicians making some sounds on a folding table in a parking lot, but it was one of the most magical musical things I’ve ever seen. At some point a neighborhood kid took over the microphone and jumped into a free-form jam so perfectly that I’m still not convinced that they all hadn’t practiced it together first.

The Breeders at Off Broadway, 09/02/14

http://www.haikulou.com/2014/09/the-breeders-at-off-broadway-090214.html

I’m a forever fan of anything Breeders related, so this was an easy choice for me. The show was a little disorganized and my friend said he felt like he was sitting in on a band practice, but I didn’t mind. That’s just how the Breeders roll and I love them for it. But what I didn’t quite expect was to be so taken so immediately with the new songs. They were great. One of them was super stoner rock-riffic and I caught myself straight-up deep, slow headbanging.

The Phonocaptors at Plush, 10/10/14

http://www.haikulou.com/2014/10/the-phonocaptors-at-plush-101014.html

I think of Jason Hutto as a brother, and sometimes I forget that I love his music just as much as I love him. This was his farewell show (he recently moved to Texas) and this set was kind of a retrospective of his songs over the years. As he rolled through amazing song after amazing song, I thought about how I’d been watching him play since I was a kid and how lucky I was to have his songs as the awesome rock and roll soundtrack always playing in the background of my little life. I raised my glass and sang along.

Bob McMahon is a writer and musician in St. Louis, MO.

1. Beck

2. Spoon

3. The New Pornographers

Sometimes it’s as simple as seeing three of your favorite acts play your favorite songs to a passionate fanbase at The Pageant. I’ve been dying to see Beck since I was a child and Odelay rocked my world. To this day, it’s in my top 5 favorite albums ever, so hearing Beck not only play its hits but deep cuts like “Minus” and “Novocane” put a giant grin on my face. I’d seen Spoon and The New Pornographers before, but both of their respective shows this year were the best performances of theirs that I witnessed.

Honorable mentions in no particular order:

Daniel Rossen at Mercy Lounge in Nashville – One of the few songwriters who can overcome my general dislike of solo performances.

Tristen and Middle Class Fashion at Off Broadway – Old favorites may win the day, but I was stunned by the talent of this Nashville via Chicagoland pop musician and her crack band. She has some killer hooks delivered by a great raspy voice and a crack band. Apparently she’s been working with David Beeman at Native Sound Studio, and I can’t wait to hear what they come up with. I was less shocked by Middle Class Fashion’s new material, but only because they’ve set a standard of excellence.

White Reaper at Firebird – Another act I’d not heard of who turned out to be a wonderful surprise. I came to see new local quartet Hell Night, who put on a walloping set of post-punk hardcore, and found these Louisville kids to be right up my alley. They play punchy garage rock in the Ty Segall/Jay Reatard mode. It’s no wonder Polyvinyl signed them.

Bruiser Queen’s CD Release Party at Off Broadway – BQ always make their shows parties with their raucous rock and fun stage presence, but their space-age outfits, donation of glow sticks to the crowd and special guest performers put this particular concert over the top.

Electric Six at Firebird – My band got to open for one of my favorite groups ever. Of course it will show up on this list.

Tok at El Lenador – This show was supposed to be the first at the new Livery, but the place hadn’t opened yet. It was a trip to see a group at El Lenador again, and it proved to be a perfect fit for Tok’s righteous loud rock.

Tilts at Firebird – Speaking of righteous loud rock, these guys always bring it. One St. Louis show a year is not enough!

Bass Drum of Death at The Demo – Super underrated group. Maybe they just have too normal of a sound for a music culture where every critic is looking for something to hang a new buzzword on? Whatever the case, they make ass-kicking rock with good harmonies and the guitars sound so good in person. Local trio Without Hazard, themselves very underrated, played a great opening set, too. (Full disclosure: I liked Without Hazard enough to make one of their members join my band.)

Chris Bay is the Chief Content Officer and DJ at KDHX.

Hiss Golden Messenger at Orange County Social Club (Carrboro, NC) – July 14

This show was part of the Merge 25 festival, celebrating the Merge label’s 25th anniversary in its hometown. This show took place in the afternoon, and was meant to be a small, low-key show featuring some of the label’s smaller artists that was a bit auxiliary to the fest’s stacked nighttime lineup.

Forecasted storms moved the set from OCSC’s back lot indoors to its tiny bar space. But the July heat never broke and the rain never came, so we were all packed in with the AC failing to keep up, and bodies so tight that moving through the room was difficult, and getting to the bar impossible. This discomfort just heightened the intensity of the soulful Americana that leapt from from the fingers and vocal chords of Michael Taylor and his band, which included William Tyler, at least one member of Megafaun, and a host of other Triangle music scene veterans.

You have to understand that Hiss Golden Messenger was then a new-to-me band that put out my favorite record of the year, and seeing these songs performed live for the first time at the height of my love for them, in this setting, was as perfect a face-to-face meeting as could be hoped for.

Centro-matic at Off Broadway – December 16

Centro-matic’s last show ever in St. Louis. I can’t say that I’ve been seeing Centro-matic live since the ’90s like some folks can, but I can say that I’ve seen them more than almost any other band in the years since first seeing them live in 2007 at the Tap Room as part of Twangfest 11. That 2007 show lead in a roundabout way to my involvement with Twangfest and KDHX, and to me eventually booking Centro-matic to play at Twangfest 18 in June of this year.

Between that 2007 show and this one, I saw a lot of great Centro-matic shows, and I’ve never seen the band play a set that was anything less than solidly good. That’s one of the characteristics of this hard-working band: It’s always had its head down with a workingman’s attitude, making deceptively complex rock with startling consistency.

Anyway, this was the band’s St. Louis stop on its farewell tour, and it was amazing. Something over two hours and three encores after the band started, it left the Off Broadway stage for the last time, having left everything out on it. Goodbye, Centro-matic. St. Louis loves you.

Spoon at The Pageant – September 20

There weren’t any extenuating circumstances that made this a great show. The band wasn’t breaking up, the weather was pretty normal. Spoon simply put on an energetic, flawless performance, proving again that despite the fact that they’re often thought of as a studio band, they have serious live performance chops.

COMING SOON: Parts II and III (Fans/Photogs and Musicians!) of IWTAS’ Top Shows of 2014 series.