2015 was an epic year for the jam band and live music community. The Grateful Dead celebrated their 50th anniversary, Phish was turning the hose on just about a nightly basis and the scene couldn’t be more ripe with fresh and exciting new bands.  Rock, funk, jamtronica, bluegrass. Take your pick, because they were all represented this year in the music that we just can’t wait to go out and see time after time.

Here are 10 of our favorite shows from 2015:

10) moe. at Best Buy Theater, New York, NY – 3/14/15

Buffalo, NY product moe. celebrated their 25th anniversary this year and with it a number of memorable runs of performances, particularly a pair of shows at the Best Buy Theater in New York City in mid-March. Night two saw the band delve into stalwart selections, “32 Things,” “Head,” “Blue Jeans Pizza” and featured the Conehead Buddha horns on several songs down the home stretch of the show: “Not Coming Down,” “Threw It All Away,” and “Dr. Graffenberg.”

9) Lettuce and The Motet at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO – 6/5/15

It’s awfully hard to not root for hard-working bands like Lettuce and The Motet. Having paid their dues time and time again over two-plus decades, it all paid off this summer with a headlining gig for Lettuce the infamous Red Rocks Amphitheatre with Colorado natives The Motet. These bands were born to FUNK UP Red Rocks, and they did not disappoint!

Lettuce Setlist: Big Anthem, By Any Shmeeans Necessary, Colorado Knows How To Party, Get Greasy, Chief, Phyllis, Breakout > Relax > Jesus Dre >  Trap > Madison Square, Squadlive > Lettsanity, Lett Zeppelin, Do It Like You Do > Makin’ My Way Back Home

8) Greensky Bluegrass at Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY – 1/29/15

Way back in January, Greensky Bluegrass welcomed in two Brooklyn natives Eric Krasno (Soulive, Lettuce) and Andy Falco (Infamous Stringdusters) to their show at the Brooklyn Bowl for some of the greatest collaborations we’ve seen all year, including a cover of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Midnight Rider.” Take a listen to complete show audio as well as video of “Midnight Rider” below:

7) Foundation Of Funk at Tipitina’s, New Orleans, LA – 6/13/15

Back in June, a gathering of New Orleans funk royalty was brought together under the banner of “Foundation Of Funk.” Featuring legends like George Porter Jr. and Zigaboo Modeliste of the Funky Meters and Ivan Neville and Tony Hall of Dumpstaphunk, this night of proved to be one of the funkiest get downs of the year.

6) Pretty Lights & The Analog Future Band at Telluride Town Park, Telluride, CO – 8/28 & 8/29

Just on paper the combination of Pretty Lights and Telluride, CO sounds incredible. In full translation, it was an absolute spectacle to behold. With Adam Deitch, Eric Krasno, Borahm Lee, Brian Coogan, Eric Bloom, Scott Flynn, and Chris Karns in tow, PL dominated his high-energy beats and rhythms, setting the ski-town ablaze this summer.

5) Widespread Panic at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO – 6/27/15

Red Rocks performances of any kind are generally not to be looked over, especially when a band like Widespread Panic announces a multi-night run at the storied Colorado venue. For three sold-out nights in June, Panic electrified the crowd with a healthy dose of vintage WSMFP and some great cover songs, including selections from The Band, Tom Waits, Traffic, Yes as well as the Grateful Dead. Saturday night’s performance in particular was one for the books, as the band wound a cover of the Dead’s “Cream Puff War” into their classic “Holden Oversoul” and concluded with an encore of Traffic’s “Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys” book-ending a “Tie Your Shoes” segue. There’s a reason WSP broke the record for most consecutive sold-out shows at Red Rocks.

Set I: Surprise Valley > Junior > Old Neighborhood > Bust It Big > Cotton Was King, Walkin’ (For Your Love), Steven’s Cat, Honky Red > Surprise Valley > Love Tractor

Set Two: Let’s Get Down To Business, Little Kin, Barstools and Dreamers, Saint Ex, Airplane > Rebirtha > Jam > Drums > Diner, Blue Indian, Holden Oversoul > Cream Puff War > Holden Oversoul

Encore: Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys* > Tie Your Shoes > Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys

* with Bill Bass on percussion

4) Sco-Mule at Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham, NC – 3/3/15

Linking up for their first performances in over a decade, jazz fusion guitarist John Scofield and Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule have an undeniable chemistry on stage. During their March 3rd appearance in Durham, NC, they were joined by one of the most elite saxophone players in the world, Branford Marsalis, for versions of The Band’s “Shape I’m In,” Traffic’s “Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys,” the Allman Brothers Band’s “Dreams,” and Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro-Blue.”

Check out some fan-shot video of “Dreams” below:

Set I: Lay Your Burden Down, Unring The Bell, Thorazine Shuffle, Captured, Instrumental Illness* > Jeep On 35* > Hottentot*

Set II: The Shape I’m In^ > Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys^ > Dreams^, Mule > I’ve Been Working > Mule > Soulshine > Tupelo Honey > Soulshine

Encore: Afro-Blue^^

Notes: *with John Scofield
^with John Scofield and Branford Marsalis
^^with John Scofield, Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzoet One: Surprise Valley > Junior > Old Neighborhood > Bust It Big > Cotton Was King, Walkin’ (For Your Love), Steven’s Cat, Honky Red > Surprise Valley > Love Tractor

3) Eric Clapton at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 5/3/15

Eric Clapton celebrated his 70th birthday this year with a pair of shows at Madison Square Garden this year, inviting on a number of guests throughout his stay including Derek Trucks, John Mayer and Doyle Bramhall II. Take a look at Trucks and Bramhall II sitting in on a set-closing rendition of “Let It Rain,” below:

Setlist: Somebody’s Knocking, Key to the Highway (Charles Segar ), Pretending (w/ John Mayer), Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon cover), You Are So Beautiful (Billy Preston, Paul Carrack on vocals), Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith, Nathan East on vocals), I Shot The Sheriff (The Wailers), Driftin’ Blues (Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers, acoustic), Nobody Know You When You’re Down and Out (Jimmy Cox, acoustic), Tears in Heaven (acoustic), Layla (Derek and the Dominos, acoustic), Before You Accuse Me (Bo Diddley cover, w/ Jimmy Vaughan), Wonderful Tonight, Cross Road Blues (Robert Johnson), Little Queen of Spades (Robert Johnson), Let It Rain (w/ Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II)

Encore: High Times We Went (Joe Cocker cover, w/ Trucks, Mayer, Bramhall, Vaughan)

2) Phish at Magnaball Festival, Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, NY – 8/22/15

It’s been well chronicled how prolific 2015 has been for Phish. The quartet from Vermont continues to evolve and is playing some of the best music of their careers. With a highly successful summer tour coming to a head at a sold-out Magnaball Festival at Watkins Glen International, fans were rewarded with an amazing three nights of music at the transformed racetrack. Day two at Watkins included an exceptional day set on top of Phish’s two-set traditional format, which included one of the best sequences of the summer in “Tweezer” > “Prince Caspian,” and was all capped off with an unforgettable “Drive-In Jam.” 

Set I: Divided Sky, The Moma Dance > Mound, Army of One, Scabbard > Sample in a Jar, Tube, Halfway to the Moon, Camel Walk, How Many People Are You, When the Circus Comes, Undermind > Run Like an Antelope

Set II: Wolfman’s Brother, Halley’s Comet > 46 Days -> Backwards Down the Number Line > Tweezer > Prince Caspian

Set III: Meatstick > Blaze On -> Possum > Cities > Light > 555, Wading in the Velvet Sea > Walls of the Cave

Encore: Boogie On Reggae Woman > Tweezer Reprise

Set IV: Drive-In Jam

1) Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years Of The Grateful Dead

2015 was owned by the celebration of the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary, and rightfully so. The Core Four remaining members of the Dead, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart recruited Phish’s Trey Anastasio, former Dead keyboard player Bruce Hornsby, and Jeff (Furthur and Ratdog) to play a run of shows dubbed Fare Thee Well to commemorate the Dead’s legacy with all four remaining members to share the stage for the final time (although the jury still seems to be out on this notion). Culminating in two performances in Santa Clara (June 27-28) and three in Chicago (July 3-5), these five shows were of the most significant of any post-Jerry Garcia, Dead related project. What a long strange trip they took us on this summer.

Take a listen to the July 4th performance from Fare Thee Well below:

Setlist: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA – 6/27/15

Set I: Jam -> Truckin’, Uncle John’s Band, Alligator -> Cumberland Blues, Born Cross-Eyed > Cream Puff War, Viola Lee Blues

Set II: Cryptical Envelopment -> Dark Star -> St. Stephen -> The Eleven -> Turn On Your Love Light -> Drums/Space -> What’s Become Of The Baby -> The Other One – > Morning Dew

Encore: Casey Jones

Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA – 6/28/15

Set I: Feel Like A Stranger, New Minglewood Blues, Brown-Eyed Women, Loose Lucy, Loser, Row Jimmy, Alabama Getaway, Black Peter, Hell In A Bucket

Set II: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo -> Wharf Rat -> Eyes of the World -> He’s Gone -> *Drums/Space -> I Need A Miracle -> Death Don’t Have No Mercy -> Sugar Magnolia

Encore: Brokedown Palace

* with Sikiru Adepoju on talking drum

Soldier Field, Chicago, IL – 7/3/15

Set I: Box Of Rain, Jack Straw, Bertha > Passenger, The Wheel > Crazy Fingers > The Music Never Stopped

Set II: Mason’s Children > Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain > Drums > Space > New Potato Caboose > Playing In The Band > Let It Grow > Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower

Encore: Ripple

Soldier Field, Chicago, IL – 7/4/15

Set I: Shakedown Street, Liberty, Standing On The Moon, Me & My Uncle, Tennessee Jed, Cumberland Blues, Little Red Rooster, Friend Of The Devil, Deal

Set II: Bird Song, The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion), Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance, West L.A. Fadeaway, Foolish Heart, Drums > Space > Stella Blue > One More Saturday Night

Encore: U.S. Blues

Solider Field, Chicago, IL – 7/5/15

Set I: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Estimated Prophet, Built To Last, Samson & Delilah, Mountains Of The Moon > Throwing Stones

Set II: Truckin’, Cassidy, Althea, Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > Unbroken Chain, Days Between > Not Fade Away

Encore: Touch Of Grey

Encore 2: Attics Of My Life

Honorable Mentions:

String Cheese Incident at McDonald Theater, Eugene, OR – 1/18/15

Umphrey’s McGee at UMBowl VI, Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV – 5/1/15

Tedeschi Trucks Band at SummerStage, Central Park , New York City, 5/18/15

Setlist: Made up Mind, Do I Look Worried, Midnight in Harlem, Get What You Deserve, I’ve Got A Feeling*, Jam* > Keep on Growing*, Key to Highway*, There’s a Break in Every Road, Bring it on Home To Me**, Tell Mama**, Idle Wind > Drums > Idle Wind, I Pity the Fool, The Storm

Encore: Bound for Glory, More and More

* – with Doyle Bramhall II
** – with Sharon Jones and Doyle Bramhall II

 Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY – 10/2/15

 

Yonder Mountain String Band at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO – 8/21/15

Set I: Around You, Left Me in a Hole, Only A Northern Song> Sidewalk Stars> Only A Northern Song, I’ve Got A Name, Another Day, Black Sheep, All Aboard> New Dusty Miller> All Aboard

Set II: Drawing A Melody, Criminal, The End Is Not In Sight, I’m Lost, It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City> Eat In Go Deaf Eat Out Go Broke> It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City, Jolene, 40 Miles from Denver, Landfall, Love Before You Can’t, Insult And An Elbow, Angel> Robots> Angel
Encore: Traffic Jam*> Jaywalking*> Traffic Jam*

* with Greensky Bluegrass

STS9 at The Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD – 10/31/15

SET 1:
HB WALKS TO SCHOOL>
ABCees
Poseidon
Possibilities
You’re It
Hidden Hand, Hidden Fist
Arigato
Life’s Sweet Breath

SET 2:
Love Don’t Terrorize
ONE A DAY
When The Dust Settles
Eb
Evasive Maneuvers
NEW NEW 4 U U
Dance
Click Lang Echo

Encore: JUST THANKS, STS9