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It’s December, which means everybody and their drummer is releasing the year’s “Best Of” lists. I’m pretty sure Paste magazine even solicited a Best Albums list their mailroom guy (which is actually pretty cool), though I can’t find it anywhere on their site. Closer to home, Sound On The Sound is offering up its choices, and KEXP and Three Imaginary Girls are polling for theirs. Me? sure, I’ll bow to the peer pressure and join in. “Tencember” kicks off with a list of the ten best shows I saw this year.

1 – The National at Sasquatch – Bus problems made the band miss their planned set time, and they ended up playing on a small stage at the same time tourmates Modest Mouse took the big one. I chose to miss Modest Mouse, and have never questioned that decision for a moment — The National played the show of a lifetime. It was intense, intimate, engrossing, and so good that the crowd demanded an encore, which the band had neither expected nor planned for. Surprised and humbled, they played it anyway.

2 – Monotonix at Bumbershoot – This was the show that famously got shut down after fifteen minutes. While it lasted, it was the most fun I’ve seen people having at a show. Ever.

3 – The Cops at The Showbox – After a busy spring, The Cops played only a few shows this summer, including this one opening for The Long Winters. The rested and refreshed band stormed the stage, started rocking right away, and held that energy through the whole show. Always a good live band, this time The Cops totally killed it. Like, in a good way.

4 – The Shackletons at Bumbershoot – It’s a delightful experience to suddenly and unexpectedly fall in love with a band, and that’s what happened to me with the Shackletons one sunny Labor Day Weekend afternoon. Mark Redding is part preacher, part punk rocker, and somehow it totally works — he had the crowd enraptured. Almost as fun as falling for the band myself was looking around and seeing the rest of the audience doing it, too.

5 – The Constantines at Sugar (Victoria, BC) – The Constantines are a good live band, but I also include this show for sentimental reasons. Seeing your favorite group with the best friend who introduced you to said group makes for a pretty good night indeed.

6 – Mudhoney at Subpop 20 – I think it was about a million degrees outside this day, but it didn’t stop the crowd from slamming and churning and totally surrendering themselves to Mudhoney’s energy and power.

7 – Zeke at the Capitol Hill Block Party – It had been a long, crowded day at the Block Party, and I decided to celebrate the end of it with a few whiskey sours and some punk. I was just liquored up enough to really let loose and jump into the pit, and though I came out of the show with a ruined skirt and two days of muscle soreness, I had the time of my life.

8 – Phantom Planet at El Corazon – I get the impression that Phantom Planet is not a popular band to like. Whatever. They’re cute, they’re enthusiastic, and they make good music. Also, my husband and I both like them, which is pretty rare. We danced our booties off and went home happy.

9 – Grace Potter and The Nocturnals at Neumos – These guys are some of the most talented musicians touring today, and they just get better and better. They also have a corps of loyal fans who show up at every show excited and ready to have a good time. These elements combined with a good opener and a great setlist (including a cover of Paint It Black) to make the best of the three GPN shows I’ve seen.

10 – Schoolyard Heroes at the Capitol Hill Block Party – I love Schoolyard Heroes. So, I found out that night, do roughly twenty thousand teenagers. And heck, I can’t blame them; this Tacoma threesome is not only musically talented, but obviously loves to perform, and doesn’t mind too much when overenthusiastic fans jump on stage and join in.