2016: The Year of Concerts

Matthew Lew
12 min readDec 17, 2016

--

As we wrap up the year, I wanted to look back, presenting 178 photos of concerts I was lucky to attend. 🙏

🗓 This year I

  • Volunteered and bought tickets, last-minute and months in advance
  • Got soaked from hoses of water during S20 Festival in humid, 90°F Bangkok weather
  • Was drenched miserably on at Treasure Island Music Festival’s 10th and final Anniversary
  • Bought an iPhone 7 to upgrade my photos after having an iPhone 5s 📱
  • Saw performers multiple times including Wet (2), Bob Moses (2), The Knocks (2), and St. Lucia (3).

😅 And made amateur mistakes like

  • Missing Dillion Francis because I forgot my ID
  • Deciding to not go to Wet on Valentine’s Day at The Independent (but got to see at Outside Lands and The Mezzanine)
  • Forgetting Coldplay because I was in LA, even though I planned Coldplay out in advance (but didn’t buy tickets)
  • Leaving Treasure Island Music Festival early because it was completely rained out, missing Sigur Rós

I’d also like to address my concert opinions in award style bullets.

🏆 Live Concert Awards 2016 (LCA’16)

  • Best Stage Presence goes to St. Lucia
  • Best Crowd goes to The Knocks
  • Best Sound goes to Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals
  • Best Visual Effects goes to Troye Sivan and M83
  • Best Opener goes to Shallou
  • Best Small Act goes to Roosevelt
  • Best Major Tour goes to Beyoncé
  • Best Festival goes to S20 Festival
  • Concert of the Year goes to Bob Moses

Got a favorite concert this year? Let me know. And now, the 178 concert photos of 2016.

Majical Cloudz

January 26 at The Chapel

Matt Nathason

February 3 at Ferry Plaza

Troye Sivan

February 8 at The Fox Theater Oakland

The Knocks

February 11 at The Independent

St. Lucia

March 6 at The Independent

Fall Out Boy

March 27 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Father John Misty

April 2 at The Fox Theater Oakland

S20 Songkran Music Festival

April 12 in Bangkok, Thailand

ZHU

April 26 at The Fox Theater Oakland

Beyoncé

May 16 at Levi’s Stadium

Disclosure

May 20 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Bob Moses

May 27 at The Mezzanine

AlunaGeorge

June 3 at The Regency Ballroom

Chairlift at Phono Del Sol Music Festival

July 9 at Potrero del Sol

The National

July 29 at The Greek Theater Berkeley

OutsideLands 2016

August 5 in Golden Gate Park

August 6 in Golden Gate Park

August 7 in Golden Gate Park

Roosevelt (with Shallou)

September 21 at The Chapel

Flume

September 24 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Phantogram

October 5 at The Fox Theater Oakland

St. Lucia

October 7 at The Fox Theater Oakland

Bon Iver

October 20 at The Fox Theater Oakland

Kanye West

October 23 at Oracle Arena

M83

October 27 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Wet

November 4 at The Mezzanine

Bob Moses

November 5 at The Fox Theater Oakland

Rüfüs du Sol

Wednesday November 30 at The Fillmore

--

--

Matthew Lew

Design Infrastructure @DoorDash . Previously @GametimeUnited @Medium & @Eventbrite . I go to way too many concerts. 🏳️‍🌈 Love Brutalism.