Failure

I'd been waiting almost two decades to hear Failure live. I got the first opportunity this passed February, playing their first show since the late 90's. It. Was. Amazing.
Then they announced a nation wide tour and (GASP) new material. If you don't know their music, you've probably heard a band that cites them as an influence. There are almost no "modern rock" bands that would sound the way they do without having Failure around. Best known for their 1996 hit "Stuck On You", they really defined a genre. Too heavy for pop, too abstract for alternative, too spacy for rock. And live? They do not dissapoint. This show spanned all three records (with a heavy leaning on their middle effort, "Magnified", which was thrilling), along with a new track they have yest to record. The majority of the audience was clearly long time fans, but I brought along two friends whose first exposure to them was this concert. They became immediate fans :) If you haven't heard a lot of their work, just go see them live. If you're already familiar, you were at the show the other night. In any event, you need to check them out.