Due to the alarming number of musicians who left us in 2016, I decided to go to more concerts in 2017. I even traveled outside of New England for some of them. While I attended 28 shows, I got to see 56 acts perform, including 34 for the first time! It was great to remove so many bands from my bucket list. Equally exciting was seeing so many film score composers touring this year. Last year, I traveled to New York City and Glenside, PA, to see John Carpenter perform back-to-back shows. This year he played Boston, as well as Hans Zimmer, Goblin and Fabio Frizzi. One show, Ronnie Baker Brooks, I had no intention of seeing because I was unfamiliar with his music, but my parents suggested I go and he surprisingly ended up making this list. Modern English is another act I was never interested in seeing. However, after seeing them perform a short set on the Retro Futura Tour, I was hooked. I bought all of their albums and ended up going to see them again only three months later on their own headlining tour. So, without further ado, here is Limelight Magazine’s top 10 concerts of 2017, which is followed by the complete list of shows we’ve seen this year. (Please note: this list does not include any shows booked by JKB Entertainment Group/Limelight Magazine in 2017).

Top 10 Concerts of 2017

1. Roger Waters (TD Garden, Boston)

2. King Crimson (Orpheum Theatre, Boston)

3. Hans Zimmer (Boch Center, Boston)

4. Primus (Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston)

5. Fabio Frizzi (Coolidge Theatre, Brookline)

6. Metallica (Gillette Stadium, Foxboro)

7. Berlin (Thunder Valley Resort Casino, Lincoln, CA)

8. Buckingham McVie (Blue Hills Pavilion, Boston)

9. Modern English (Once Ballroom, Somerville)

10. Ronnie Baker Brooks (Narrows Center, Fall River)

Complete List of Concerts for 2017

February 24 – Blue Oyster Cult with Jack Babineau (Stadium Theatre, Woonsocket)
March 11 – Alan Howarth (Monster Mania Convention, Cherry Hill, NJ)
May 5 – Joe Lynn Turner (Blue Ocean Music Hall, Salisbury)
May 19 – Metallica with Volbeat (Gillette Stadium, Foxboro)
June 22 – Ronnie Baker Brooks (Narrows Center, Fall River)
June 24 – Daryl Hall & John Oates with Tears for Fears (TD Garden, Boston)
June 28 – Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie with The Wallflowers (Blue Hills Pavilion, Boston)
June 29 – Aimee Mann with Jonathan Coulton (Columbus Theatre, Providence)
June 30 – Peter Cetera (Twin River Events Center, Lincoln, RI)
July 23 – Primus with Clutch (Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston)
July 27 – Kansas (Stadium Theatre, Woonsocket)
July 29 – Hans Zimmer (Boch Center, Boston)
July 30 – Blondie & Garbage (Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston)
August 10 – Retro Futura with Howard Jones, The English Beat, Men Without Hats, Modern English, Paul Young and Katrina (Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence)
August 27 – Deep Purple & Alice Cooper with Edgar Winter Band (Xfinity Center, Mansfield)
September 3 – Berlin & Missing Persons with Tony Hadley, Cutting Crew, Naked Eyes, Wang Chang, Trans X, The Flirts, and Pretty Poison (Thunder Valley Resort Casino, Lincoln, CA)
September 7 – Accept (Saban Theatre, Beverly Hills, CA)
September 11 – Lada Gaga (Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA)
September 14 – Scorpions with Megadeth (Santander Arena, Reading, PA)
September 19 – Matthew Sweet with Tommy Keene (Narrows Center, Fall River)
September 27 – Roger Waters (TD Garden, Boston)
October 4 – Yes featuring Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman (Orpheum Theatre, Boston)
October 24 – Fabio Frizzi with Dust Witch (Coolidge Theatre, Brookline)
October 30 – Goblin with Morricone Youth (Sinclair, Cambridge)
November 5 – John McLaughlin with Jimmy Herring (Park Theatre, Cranston)
November 6 – King Crimson (Orpheum Theatre, Boston)
November 13 – Modern English with The Veldt (Once Ballroom, Somerville)
November 15 – John Carpenter (Royale, Boston)