December 27, 2022

13th Floor Top Concerts Of 2022 as chosen by Marty Duda

It’s been a weird and wild year but we did have some excellent live music to get us through it. Here now is The 13^th Floor’s Marty Duda with his top 10 concerts of the year.

Hey hey music fans, The 13^th Floor posted over 150 concert reviews this past year with countless photos to accompanying them. I didn’t get to all the shows, but I tried!

Here are my top 10 concerts of 2022 (with a few extras)

10. Brad Paisley/Morgan Evans/Kaylee Bell: Spark Arena – October 8^th Brad, Morgan and Kaylee filled up the Spark Arena finally bringing a big country show to Auckland and what fun we had!

Kiwi country gal Kaylee Bell got things rolling and the fans showed up early in order not to miss her set. Morgan Evans then took the baton and ran with it, rocking the crowd with Kiss Somebody and Song For The Summer while baring his soul during Over For You. Then Brad Paisley took it to the next level with his first-ever NZ show. Click here to read the review.

9. Come Together: Damn The Torpedoes: Aotea Centre – October 29^th The Come Together Series paid tribute this year to The Beatles, Bowie and Fleetwood Mac, all great nights out, but the Tom Petty/Damn The Torpedoes show stood out as something special. Musical director Jol Mulholland should get some kind of award for whipping these shows into shape. The Petty songs need to be heard live and they sounded fantastic here. Click here for the review and photos.

8. American Aquarium: Exit/In (Nashville) – September 14. I found out first hand why they call Nashville “Music City” while attending the week-long AmericanaFest in September. There were literally hundreds of acts playing throughout the week, though none better that American Aquarium. I’ve been a long-time fan, but this was my first chance to see and hear them up close and personal. They did not disappoint. And having Sarah Shook on ahead of them didn’t hurt. Here’s the write-up.

7. The Killers: Spark Arena/Auckland Town Hall – November 21^st. What’s better than seeing The Killers live and large on stage? Seeing them twice on the same night! That’s what happened when the band came to Auckland last month…a full show at Spark Arena and then a more “intimate” thingy at the Town Hall 90 minutes later! Brandon and the boys rocked all night. So did I! Here’s how it went down.

6. Jenny Don’t & The Spurs: Whammy Backroom – November 24^th A few days later and I’m in the much smaller confines of Whammy’s Backroom, still rocking, this time to Jenny Don’t and The Spurs, direct from Portland, Oregon. Jenny can belt ‘em out and the Spurs really know how to rev up the cowpunk. Here’s the lowdown.

5. Sharon Van Etten: Civic Theatre – December 12th It wasn’t all guitars and cowboy boots, there were some evenings of real beauty and one of them was Dec, 12^th at The Civic when Sharon Van Etten and Nadia Reid teamed up to send the crowd into seventh heaven. Good God they were good! Click here for review and photos.

4. Wet Leg: Tuning Fork – July 17. Arguable the coolest band on the planet right now, Wet Leg showed up at the Tuning Fork and proved to all and sundry that the kids are, indeed, alright. Put that on your muffin and butter it! Here’s the 13^th Floor coverage.

3. Guns N’ Roses – Eden Park: December 10^th. The biggest surprise of the year was Guns N’ Roses! Last time I saw them, I was unimpressed. This time I was blown away. These old coots (Axl is 60) rocked for almost three and a half hours, with rain threatening to wash the whole she-bang away at Eden Park. Axl sounded better than he had every right to and Slash wailed for the duration. Best of all, they seemed to be having fun. Maybe it was because they were going home after this show. No matter, it was awesome. Here’s the review.

2. Reb Fountain – Auckland Town Hall: July 29^th. No surprise here…Reb just keeps getting better and better and our Rev Orange Peel tells us this might be her best show to date. I was there too, and I can’t argue with him. Reb Fountain is a powerhouse performer and her band is always pushing the envelope. Here’s the review.

1. Tami Neilson & The APO – Aotea Centre: July 30^th. Perfection is a rare thing, but Tami, her band and the APO may have achieved just that on this July night in Auckland. There was no opening act, just Tami along with that voice, those songs and that stage presence. It doesn’t get any better than this.