Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 8

Cheech & Chong/Willie Nelson, Verizon Wireless Theater/House of Blues, October 31: "This morning Aftermath thought his notes had vanished entirely before realizing he had simply mistook the back cover of his notebook for the front. Halloween 2008 was high times indeed."

Randy Weeks, Discovery Green, November 6: "New songs like 'Fine Way To Treat Me,' 'Hard To Believe' [and] 'Just A Little Bit of Sleep" all melded perfectly with Weeks' previous material and a funky cover of 'Down Home Girl.' (William Michael Smith)

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Warehouse Live, November 6: "The further down the mountain Trail of Dead starts, and the slower they climb, the more stunning the payoff at the end. That was the case with opener "It Was There That I Saw You," which seemed almost frozen in place until Jason Reece's seismic drums came crashing in like the Kool-Aid Man through the studio's back wall."

Madonna, Minute Maid Park, November 16: "About half the set came from this year's Hard Candy, and there was only one song from Like a Virgin and no 'Papa Don't Preach,' no 'Lucky Star,' no 'Express Yourself.' They weren't missed, mostly because like Madonna herself, nobody stopped moving long enough to notice."

Supersuckers, November 18, Continental Club: "10:08 p.m.: 'Suckers on any minute. That's all I care about now. Everything else too complicated.' 10:54 p.m.: 'God damn this is a great rock and roll band.' 11:03 p.m.: 'I'm past due. And then some. Can't you tell? This is exactly what I need. Damn the torpedoes.'" - Chris Gray