Although 2017 has finally arrived, we’re still not done with our best shows of 2016 countdown. Being metalheads, we tend to be a little more diverse than most give us credit for. To polish off our countdown, here are our favorite non-metal shows of last year – with hopefully many more to come in the new year.
Chris – Cypress Hill and Naughty by Nature at Terminal 5
Chris: I caught Cypress Hill and Naughty By Nature for their annual Halloween tour. They ruled and the place reeked of weed to the point where I reeked of weed even though I stuck to beer. You could not get away from it. My only complaint was that it was my first rap show and there were mostly white people there.
Anthony: My first rap show was Hopsin two years ago and he had mostly white people watching him. Oddly enough, it was the same type of crowd when I saw Mobb Deep.
Chris: Oh Hopsin is amazing. I’d love to see him. Such a talented guy. Perhaps I will get him on the pod in 2017.
Birdman – The Beach Boys and The Temptations at Bethel Woods
Anthony: Nice. Bethel Woods is such a cool place.
Lyon: And historic.
Birdman: Went more for The Temps, and was disappointed that this wasn’t a co-headlining tour even though it was marketed as the “Surf and Soul” tour.
Anthony: That happens a lot I’ve noticed.
Birdman: The Temps played all their hits and I bought a shirt of theirs.They had two. Meanwhile, The Beach Boys had two dozen designs.
Anthony: You should wear that when you play in Roargh! How did The Beach Boys sound for their age?
Birdman: On point. Their set was in chronological order.
Lyon: Sick.
Birdman: Problem is my dad was getting tired and we left as they were just beginning the songs from Pet Sounds. Mike Love’s a great frontman even if he’s no Brian Wilson.
Tony – Prophets of Rage at Barclay’s Center
Lyon: Oh awesome! I was hoping they would be good.
Anthony: The two openers weren’t my thing but this show was basically equal to seeing Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill on one bill since they played tracks from all three.
Lyon: Any originals?
Anthony: No, I don’t think they had any at the time. But it was cool to hear all three acts classics.
Birdman: Must’ve been. They have an EP out.
Anthony: That EP is mostly covers. There is an original song on it but they didn’t play it. Maybe they want to wait until they have an album. Mid-set they even had B-Real and Chuck D walk into the audience and rap Cypress and Public Enemy songs with the DJ doing the beats.
Birdman: Sick.
Lyon – Bad Religion with Against Me at Irving Plaza
Lyon: I’m not the biggest fan of the first band, but I understand why people are and everyone was really digging their set. Bad Religion is still fucking amazing and I pitted ’till I couldn’t pit no more.
Birdman: Bad Religion’s a band I really wanna see.
Anthony: Does Bad Religion still play a decent amount of their 80’s stuff?
Lyon: They sure do. It’s my second time seeing them.
Antony: Nice. I’m sure hearing “We Are Only Going to Die…” live would give me Tony Hawk memories.
Birdman: Any chance they played “Leaders and Followers?” Brings back another type of memory.
Lyon: Their energy is unmatched and every song is like, “Oh shit.” They played most of Generator, a few songs from True North, a few Against the Grain and some other sick shit.
The Bonesaw 