It was a good year for picture taking, as we were able to get into some really awesome shows and festivals. Some of these photos I picked because I think they’re really good. Others I chose because of my own personal feelings toward them. So, if you see a pic and think “I saw your photos from that show and there were much better ones,” you may be right. Very thankful for all the artists who let us take photos this year, looking forward to doing it again in 2016.

10. The Tallest Man On Earth at Thalia Hall-I wasn’t the biggest fan of his latest record, but his performance had a lot more energy than I expected and I ended up loving it.

9. Weezer at 80/35 Music Festival-Rivers seemed a bit disinterested in the show, but they played a good amount off Pinkerton and The Blue Album so I was happy.

8. Ghost at The Riviera Theatre-Not necessarily my cup of tea, musically, but they really go all out on their stage show. Papa Emeritus III is a great subject of which to take pictures.

7. Run The Jewels at 80/35 Music Festival-This is definitely not my best photo from the set, but I like the pose of them together like this.

6. Gary Clark jr at Summer Fest-Only went to Summer Fest to see him, and he did not disappoint. Keeping the blues alive in the mainstream all by himself.

5. St Vincent playing with Wire at Thalia Hall-This was a cool show because St Vincent was only there to play guitar on one song with Wire. It was fun to watch her watching them to make sure she was getting it right.

4. Jeff Tweedy playing with Wilco at Pitchfork-Wilco’s best performance in ages. Played Star Wars straight through and came off like a band 20 years younger. Also, Jeff kinda stands like Elvis Costello here.

3. Natalie Prass at Pitchfork-Very first performance on the first day of Pitchfork can be rough. Here, Natalie and her guitar player do their best Gene Simmons impression.

2. July Talk at Subterranean-If you want to see a great rock show, head out to July Talk the next time they come around. Peter and Leah have a weird on stage chemistry that can be both loving and antagonizing.

1. Chance The Rapper at Pitchfork-This is his city and he made the most of it. The lights were amazing, he looked amazing, the band behind him played amazing. What a show. Chicagoan of the year indeed.