The Top 50 NYC Shows of 2014 - Oh My Rockness

Random Rockness

The Top 50 NYC Shows of 2014

December 15, 2014

We've been all about pulling the stats lately. We already told you about the Top 10 Hardest Working Bands in NYC which you read and cherished. You want more dynamic stats like that? You got it! Our calculator can crunch all day, baby.

Below is a list of the Top 50 Shows in NYC in 2014. What does that mean? Not a good question, a GREAT one. Here's how this sausage was made. We sorted allllll the thousands (yes, thousands) of shows we listed this year (by hand!) by how many times you guys saved them using your “My Rockness" accounts.

(“My Rockness" is totally free and if you don't have an account yet you should totally get one and then you can get email alerts when bands you like announce new shows. You can save shows to your calendar -- Google, ical, and some others I think. You can even contribute to next year's Top 50 NYC Shows of 2015 list.)

The results of this unique analytical experiment are here…. and they're spectacular. Have fun taking a trip down memory lane. How many of these shows did you go to?

(You can tell us on Facebook and/or Twitter.)

(photo by David Andrako, courtesy of Celebrate Brooklyn!)

#1: St. Vincent, San Fermin @ Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell (FREE) on 8/9/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 258

St. Vincent earns the top slot as Most Popular Show of 2014 (activate applause machine and ready the free t-shirt cannon blasters for the people in the cheap seats) with this lovely outdoor free show this past August. Annie Clark and crew had an amazing year. Her fourth album, elegantly titled “St. Vincent," was released in February to great acclaim and was recently nominated for something called a Grammie (sp?). And how about that SNL appearance she did way back in May? Did you see that one, kids? Is Dana Carvey still on that show? We just love that church lady of his.


(photo by Durst Breneiser, courtesy of Central Park SummerStage)

#2: Blood Orange, Moses Sumney, Sean Nicholas Savage @ Central Park SummerStage (FREE) on 8/16/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 196

Blood Orange (aka Dev Hynes) seemed to be everywhere in 2014 - including Central Park - where he headlined this free show in August. And as the invisible silver medal that comes with this faux runner-up award suggests, many of you came out to see this one. Although we're not sure it was quite as jammed as Simon & Garfunkel's famous free show there in 1982. Did you know over 500K people went to that one? Whoa, thanks for this irrelevant information, Wikipedia!


(photo by Bryan Bruchman, courtesy of 4Knots Festival)

#3: 4Knots Festival @ South Street Seaport w/ Dinosaur Jr, Mac DeMarco, Those Darlins, Nude Beach, Speedy Ortiz and more (FREE) on 7/12/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 174

Village Voice's always fun 4Knots Fest comes in as the third most popular show of 2014. Do you remember this one? It was free and a bunch of good bands played. They always do. As an added bonus, it was also super close to Pizzeria Uno. And every true New Yorker knows you can't get a more authentic slice than Pizzeria Uno, except maybe Sbarro or lately 7-11. This show deserved to medal and it did.

EDITOR'S UPDATE: WE HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED THAT PIZZERIA UNO CLOSED LAST YEAR FIRST CBGB AND NOW THIS ALL IS LOST


(photo courtesy of Northside Festival)

#4: CHVRCHES, The Range, Hunters @ McCarren Park (Northside Fest) (FREE) on 6/15/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 157

Another free show? We're slowly starting to see a pattern emerge here but Google Analytics hasn't told us what to make if it yet so we're not rushing to judgement. CHVRCHES's synth-pop is perfectly pleasant in every way so it's not a big surprise their McCarren show for Northside Fest ranked as high as it did in 2014. Who doesn't love seeing perfectly pleasant synth-pop under open skies on a warm summer's day? What are you, a monster? BTW, the band's hit song “The Mother We Share" is pretty much the greatest pop song about half-siblings ever written. And that we don't back down from.


(photo by Aylin Gucalp, courtesy of Central Park SummerStage)

#5: Andrew Bird and the Hands of Glory, Luke Temple @ Central Park SummerStage (FREE) on 7/8/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 149

FREE. FREE. FREE. All of these are FREE. Andrew Bird gets the fifth slot for his performance at Central Park SummerStage. Guess his big time violin skills really got to the heart of the matter.


(photo by David Andrako, courtesy of Celebrate Brooklyn!)

#6: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Devendra Banhart, Nicole Atkins @ Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell on 7/26/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 135

Just when you think you've figured out the pattern it gets blown to bits. This show was not free. That's right, this summer you had to pay good money to see Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds headline Prospect Park. You wanna see this Australian post-punk-goth-pop legend? It's gonna cost ya, pal. Was this show worth it? It was a benefit to support Celebrate Brooklyn's free shows that you seemed to enjoy very much this year. Let us know in the comments section Oh My Rockness has thankfully never had!


(photo by David Andrako, courtesy of Celebrate Brooklyn!)

#7: Janelle Monae @ Celebtrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell (FREE) on 6/4/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 127

The pattern reverts back to itself. Janelle Monae played a free show in June to open the Celebrate Brooklyn season and we'll always have the Instagrams to remind us. BTW, if a show takes place at a park do you say it happened “at" Prospect Park or “in" Prospect Park. A.) Janelle Monae played a free show in Prospect Park. B.) Janelle Monae played a free show at Prospect Park. YOU make the call!


(photo by Aylin Gucalp, courtesy of Central Park SummerStage)

#8: Bonobo, Cibo Matto @ Central Park SummerStage (FREE) on 7/13/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 122

Yes, Bonobo at (in?) Central Park was another free show and hang on while we do some quick calculator crunches here. OK, the stats staring back at us suggest that 7 out of the top 8 most popular shows of 2014 were free (and they were ALL outside). How unusual. How bizarre. What does it all mean? Where do we go from here? What have we learned and why? Show your work.


#9: Caribou, Jessy Lanza @ Webster Hall on 11/14/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 119


#10: Warpaint, Yellowbirds @ Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell (FREE) on 6/26/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 118


#11: Arcade Fire, The Unicorns, Dan Deacon @ Barclays Center on 8/23/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 116


#12: Governors Ball Day 1 with Outkast, Phoenix, TV On The Radio, Julian Casablancas + The Voidz, Grimes, Neko Case, Washed Out and more on 6/6/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 112


#13: Dum Dum Girls, Hospitality, TEEN @ Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell (FREE) on 6/21/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 111


#14: Thee Oh Sees, The Blind Shake, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard @ McCarren Park (Northside Fest) (FREE) on 6/14/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 106


#15: Caribou, Jessy Lanza @ Webster Hall on 11/12/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 104


#16: Arcade Fire, The Unicorns, Dan Deacon @ Barclays Center on 8/22/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 103


#17: Jose Gonzales, yMusic (performing works by Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner and Son Lux) @ Damrosch Bandshell (FREE) on 7/31/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 98


#18: Alt-J, Mikky Ekko @ Beacon Theatre on 11/16/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 96


#19: Future Islands, Omar Souleyman, Mas Ysa @ House of Vans (FREE w/ RSVP) on 8/7/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 96


#20: Devendra Banhart, Stephin Merrit (of Magnetic Fields), Iron and Wine @ BAM on 9/19/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 90


#21: Tame Impala, Delicate Steve @ Beacon Theatre on 11/9/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 87


#22: Ty Segall, WAND, Axis:sovA @ Webster Hall on 9/17/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 85


#23: Baths, Young Fathers, P. Morris @ Bowery Ballroom on 4/25/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 80


#24: Real Estate, Peaking Lights, Regal Degal, Tom Scharpling (DJ Set) @ Terminal 5 on 10/2/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 79


#25: Parquet Courts, Blues Control, PC Worship @ Webster Hall on 12/11/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 79


#26: New Pornographers, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Hammerstein Ballroom on 11/17/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 77


#27: The Black Keys, Cage The Elephant @ Barclays Center on 9/24/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 75


#28: Mac DeMarco, Delicate Steve, Hunters @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar on 1/10/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 75


#29: Governors Ball Day 2 with Jack White, The Strokes, Skrillex, Disclosure, Spoon, Broken Bells, Sleigh Bells, Tanlines and more on 6/7/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 73


#30: Beirut, RatKing, Malang Jobarteh @ 50 Kent (Northside Festival) on 6/14/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 72


#31: Arctic Monkeys, Deerhunter @ Madison Square Garden on 2/8/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 72


#32: Neutral Milk Hotel, Circulatory System @ Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell on 7/22/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 72


#33: Temples, Here We Go Magic, Spires @ Pier 84 on 8/9/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 71


#34: The Black Lips, Natural Child @ Webster Hall on 4/17/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 71


#35: The War On Drugs, Woods, Julianna Barwick @ 50 Kent (Northside Festival) on 6/15/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 69


#36: Wavves, Habibi, Big Muff Radio @ Baby's All Right on 8/9/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 69


#37: Crystal Stilts, Weekend, Yvette, Elsa @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar on 2/8/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 69


#38: Spoon, !!!, Operators @ Central Park SummerStage on 9/10/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 69


#39: Beck @ Central Park SummerStage on 7/1/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 69


#40: Modest Mouse, Brand New @ Forest Hills Stadium on 8/9/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 69


#41: DIIV, Splashh, PAWS, Nuns, Beach Day @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar on 10/21/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 68


#42: OH MY ROCKNESS presents: Widowspeak, Jessica Pratt, Porches, Ponyhof, DJ Whoa My Blobness @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar on 2/21/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 67


#43: Mac DeMarco, Connan Mockasin, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard @ Terminal 5 on 11/4/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 67


#44: Joanna Gruesome, Big Ups @ South Street Seaport (FREE) on 8/29/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 66


#45: Arcade Fire, Dan Deacon, The Unicorns, Television @ Barclays Center on 8/24/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 65


#46: OH MY ROCKNESS TURNS 10 FEST with Black Lips, King Khan & BBQ Show, Habibi @ Irving Plaza on 9/30/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 65


#47: Neutral Milk Hotel, Circulatory System @ Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell on 7/23/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 65


#48: Warpaint, Liam Finn, Guy Blakeslee @ Webster Hall on 10/14/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 65


#49: The National, MS MR @ Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell on 6/19/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 64


#50: Neutral Milk Hotel @ Webster Hall on 1/27/14

Number of My Rockness Saves: 64


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