Mike Boehm’s Favorite Concerts

1. Bob Dylan (Pacific Amphitheatre, Oct. 1). A wonderful surprise. Instead of the burnout his fans have come to dread, we got burning guitar licks nobody knew he had, and a degree of vocal alertness we feared he had lost.

2. Midnight Oil (Irvine Meadows, Oct. 2). A prime rock band on a prime night.

3. Rosalie Sorrels (Ball Junior High School, Anaheim, May 8). This old-line folk singer touched her audience deeply, both with her singing and her eloquent, insightful spoken narratives. A singular performer.

4. Graham Parker (Coach House, Oct. 21). A fine solo concert, showcasing the strength of his songwriting.

5. Iris DeMent (Coach House, Aug. 24). Another excellent solo show, by the best young folk-country performer in the land. Authentically rustic and warmly affecting.

6. Randy Newman (Irvine Barclay Theatre, Dec. 4). Another solo performer in peak form. Extremely funny, sometimes touching, and subtly subversive.

7. Barenaked Ladies (Coach House, Aug. 28). These Canadians may be the best young entertainers in rock with their impressive skills, nonstop action, playful wit and complete zest for live performance.

8. Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians (Coach House, April 24). His songs and his band are so good that you almost begrudge him his between-songs sallies of impromptu wit. And vice-versa.

9. Pontiac Brothers reunion (Bogart’s, April 30). Highlighted by Matt Simon vocals that were more confident than in the ‘80s, when the band actually existed. Shall we make this an annual tradition? And could we please have a Pontiacs/Liquor Giants double feature? A fan insists.

10. Dr. John (Rhythm Cafe, Feb. 20). Mama Rebennack was in the house, and her son and his ace band made sure she and the rest of us got the full New Orleans Mardi Gras experience.

Second Ten (in order): Dick Dale (Coach House, July 3); Richard Thompson with Danny Thompson (Coach House, Jan. 24); Neil Young with Booker T & the MG’s (Pacific Amphitheatre, Sept. 9); Frank Black (Coach House, July 11); John Hiatt (Coach House, Sept. 7); NRBQ (Coach House, Jan. 30); “In Their Own Words” with Allen Toussaint, Guy Clark, Joe Ely, Michelle Shocked (Rhythm Cafe, Jan. 29); “The Melbourne Shuffle” with Paul Kelly, Archie Roach, Chris Wilson, Deborah Conway and others (Coach House, March 22); Matthew Sweet (and especially his lead guitarist Richard Lloyd) (Coach House, Oct. 9); Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen (Shade Tree Stringed Instruments, Feb. 27).

Jim Washburn’s Favorite Concerts 1. Richard Thompson (the Coach House, Jan. 24): Thompson may be the most complete solo artist in rock. His stagecraft is so assured and immediate, and his acoustic guitar work so densely detailed, that few bands could approach the intensity of his solo gigs. Joining acoustic bassist Danny Thompson for this show only freed up his guitar to fly even wilder, while his grave-deep voice delineated a near album’s-worth of new story-songs.

2. Neil Young (Pacific Amphitheatre, Sept. 9): Even though his feedback-crazed guitar work ran roughshod over Booker T and the MGs’ taut musical backing, this show still stood as one of Young’s most satisfyingly unfettered musical outings, and showed why he is both an inspiration and a challenge to musicians decades his junior.

3. Jimmie Dale Gilmore (the Coach House, Oct. 12): Texan Gilmore didn’t let a nagging sound mix keep this from being a rich and intimate evening of his singular take on country music. His unique, quavery voice sounded as if it could be coming from an old 78 record; the questing spiritual themes of his songs were timeless.

4. Pete Townshend (the Wiltern, L.A., July 29): Perhaps Townshend’s hearing problems only bother him when he doesn’t like the music, for he was cranking loud for this show, and clearly having more fun than he’d had onstage with the Who in decades. While one of the few aging rockers who writes to his age, he still rose to the flash and fire of his ‘60s self.

5. Rodney Crowell (the Crazy Horse Steak House, April 5): Crowell’s songs never sounded so personal as they did here, where he was joined only by ex-Desert Rose Band guitarist John Jorgensen. The empathy between the two recalled the old pairing of Jackson Browne and David Lindley, and moved Crowell to sing with even more than his usual ache and verve.

6. David (Kid) Ramos, Willie J Campbell and Stephen Hodges (Croce’s, San Diego, May 21): This one-time reunion of old James Harman Band members made for a spirited impromptu night of passionate, free-flying blues.

7. The Posies (the Coach House, Aug. 14): One got the feeling that this quartet from Seattle was a mite discomfited playing for a seated dining audience instead of to the seething dance floor its power-pop deserves, but this still was a remarkable display of hard-rocking melody.

8. The Gipsy Kings (Irvine Meadows, June 20): Even more than on past visits, the Kings and leather-throated singer Nicolas Reyes turned their show into a dance party. It lacked only caravans and a campfire to set the mood.

9. Emmylou Harris (the Coach House, Aug. 21): For all the excellence of Harris’ electric bands, the purity, integrity and feeling in her voice seem to have found their ideal mate in the acoustic bluegrass-tinted Nash Ramblers.

10. Jonathan Richman (Bogarts, Jan. 15): Immediate, unpredictable and nakedly emotional. For my money, Richman is what the essence of rock and roll is all about.

Noel Davis’ Favorite Concerts 1. Ian Tyson (Coach House, Aug. 30): In his first Orange County appearance since his folk days, Tyson sang of the wide-open spaces of his Canadian ranch. His message seemed especially poignant at a time when the last open spaces in Southern California are rapidly becoming covered with housing developments.

2. Pam Tillis (Crazy Horse, May 18): Tillis was smart, funny and twangy at the same time. With her literate but traditional songs, she showed that you don’t have to be dumb to be down-home.

3. Pickit Line, Rose Canyon Bluegrass Band and the Grateful Dudes (Shade Tree, Jan. 10): This summit meeting of local bluegrass talent featured hot picking, high spirits and plenty of humor.

4. Hal Ketchum (Coach House, June 1): Grittier and more down to earth in person than he is on his recorded material, Ketchum delivered some terrific songs with a spare emotionalism that couldn’t fail to touch the listeners.

5. L7 (Coach House, July 5): This all woman band bashed out insightful songs with a bratty sense of humor and unflagging energy that reminded you of what rock ‘n’ roll was all about.