January 2, 2024

Noise Floor’s Best of 2023

Noise Floor Photography: 2023/04/25 - 100 Gecs &emdash; — *100 Gecs at Roadrunner*

Recapping another packed year in gigs, music and photos.

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As at the end of most years since I began this whole concert photography thing, I took a look back at my archives for the past 12 months this week and thought to myself, “Did I actually do all of that?” For better or worse (though mostly the former), the answer is yes – to the tune of around 150 shows and 5 festivals in 2023. Those numbers still feel a little outlandish, but after a decade in the game I suppose I ought to accept them as an average at this point.

So yes, 2023 was another busy one – though weirdly it often felt like less of a show-going gauntlet than usual. I did plenty of freelance work – including another stint on the Nice, a Fest photo team, coverage for Bowery Boston on their new Suffolk Downs venue and a host of huge shows for the Globe – plenty of coverage for the blog, and documented a bunch of shows more casually. I shot more gigs on film (often with very much non–professional gear) than ever before and came away with some images I never would’ve gotten otherwise (see grainy instances of Taylor and Bruce below). In short, who I was shooting (and who I was shooting for) reached a pretty satisfying balance this year that I’d really like to keep rolling into 2024.

The highlights were numerous, and you can see many of them in the gallery below, though the year did threaten to peak early with a trip to L.A. for Numero 20 – a festival of reunited bands celebrating the venerated reissue label’s two decade anniversary with a lineup plucked straight from my teenage dreams. Seeing Unwound on stage (twice!) this year was enough to make 2023 an all-timer in and of itself. But so was getting up close with hundreds of other artists in spaces very big and very small – experiences ranging from seeing one of the final Squitch shows in a venue that was essentially an unventilated hallway to me and the Gillette Stadium house photographer being the only two shooters covering Stevie Nicks in the rain from the 50-yard line.

Boston’e year in touring acts was a wild one, featuring long-awaited returns from the likes of Death Grips, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Walkmen, The Postal Service and Bikini Kill, and local debuts from Chat Pile, High Vis and Black Country, New Road. Things hummed along on the local front too, with O’Brien’s booking stacked bills practically every night, the Sil hosting two gigs a week and homegrown fests like Somergloom and the aforementioned Nice boasting bigger and better editions than ever before. And that’s just the fraction of stuff I managed to make it to.

As always, it remains an insane privilege to do this year after year. I’ve been documenting live music around Boston long enough to see bands, venues and what feels like whole scene eras come and go, and I feel lucky to have caught so much of it on camera over the past decade-plus. I’ve also gotten to know many of the folks who make it all run behind the scenes or on stage, and remain grateful for the trust that any of them have placed in me to do that. Boston’s music scene is a vibrant one full of dedicated people – don’t let the ever-swirling doomsaying (and the Great Scott Taco Bell situation) convince you otherwise.

On the subject of the year in music more broadly, I’ve already spilled some ink on my favorite records for the Globe’s mid-year and year-end lists and won’t go on at much length here. Suffice to say though, solid year! Lana’s hot streak continues, Gecs double down, Drain make crossover thrash fun again, Lankum transfix with some positively eerie trad-folk. Lots of good stuff.

Find my usual mega-playlist and (very) loosely ranked top 50 below, and keep scrolling for a look back at my favorite images of the year, spanning last January to last week. Thanks for reading, and see you in the new year.

Top 50 records of 2023: