year in review

The first half of the year was jam-packed with musical adventures, and it only got better in the second half. July found us traversing the country to start the month with a pair of Phish shows in Atlanta and continued through September with the re-opening of Fitzgerald's in Houston, and along with it the rebirth of Houston's indie scene.

Check out my favorite shots from the third quarter of the year after the jump.

All photos by B "Café con Leche" Gutierrez.

This was my first year with BOT. After an awesome show at the end of March, HashBrowns invited me to write a review and post a couple of the photos I took that night. I was already telling everyone that came close to me about the show, so I decided to write it out and share it with everybody else who cared to read it. That was my first step as Café Con Leche, and from there, it's just gotten better.

I didn't cover as many shows as Eggs or HashBrowns, but my number of photos reached the thousands (I published over 1200 on my flickr, and those are just the ones that made the cut. I probably took around 8,000 shots.)

I covered shows in Fayetteville, Little Rock and at Wakarusa in Ozark, AR. But I also traveled a little and covered shows in Tulsa, OK; Kansas City, MO; Dallas, TX; and Los Angeles, CA. One of my most awaited shows was the Jack Johnson concert in Santa Barbara, CA; but I didn't get a photo pass for it, so I just stood in the front row and sang along every single song.

The best part of this journey has been discovering new sounds, bands and styles that I wouldn't seek on my own. So here's to a new year full of music and more awesome photos.

Now go check out my top 10 photos and a couple of extras after the jump. Click the date to view the full review behind each photo, in case you missed it.

The second of my year end photo review consists of shots I took from the beginning of April until the end of June. This is most likely the biggest chunk of pictures that will be featured as I went to a ton of shows in this time span. Included are shots from Free Press Summer Fest and the Houston International Festival as well as a plethora of photos from a grab bag of bands throughout the Houston area.

Check out my favorite photos from April through June after the jump.

I took a lot of pictures this year – probably somewhere near the one hundred and fifty thousand range, give or take a few. Because of that, I came up with several that I've grown a bit more attached to than others. Over the next few weeks, the BOT staff will be posting a host of year-end lists and reviews, so I thought I'd start it all off with a healthy look at the past year in photos. I've been fortunate enough to photograph some amazing bands, and the results are a grandiose caché of visual evidence.

For now, I'll bring you the first quarter of the year, starting with Yo La Tengo at Warehouse Live and ending with El Ten Eleven at Rudyard's. Also including in this batch is one of the best trips ever to Austin for SXSW. Check out my favorite shots of the first quarter of 2010 after the jump!

Scope my favorite albums from 2008 after the jump

Okay, okay, so this list is a little late. In my defense, I just started a new job a few weeks ago and haven't exactly figured out how to effectively balance my time just yet. The good news: the new job will allow us to jet around the country more and cover shows in different cities. So look for more widespread BOT coverage in 2009 – hopefully we'll be heading to a venue near you in the not-too-distant future!

In the meantime, check out my top favorite songs from 2008 after the jump

Throughout 2008 we took an astounding 460 videos, posting them all on YouTube for the world to enjoy. Now we'd like to share our absolute favorites with you as we take our first steps into the new year. Included in this post are videos taken from July to December. First is a video from the most incredible place in the world, Rothbury's Sherwood Forest...

Walking Rothbury - Rothbury, MI - 7/3

Take a trip through the rest of the year's videos after the jump

Throughout 2008 we took an astounding 460 videos, posting them all on YouTube for the world to enjoy. Now we'd like to share our absolute favorites with you as we take our first steps into the new year. Included in this post are videos taken from January to June. We're currently sifting through the rest of the year's videos, so stay tuned for clips from July through December shows in the next few days. Let's start out with our most viewed video of the year...

MGMT - "Weekend Wars" @ Walter's On Washington, Houston, TX - 1/20

Browse the first half of our favorite videos from 2008 after the jump

What a great year for album releases. Many of the bands that I knew would be in my top twenty (My Morning Jacket, Vampire Weekend) made the cut, but this year's list prominently features bands that I started listening to in 2008. There were many great albums that I didn't have room to include this year, but that was bound to happen with the number of great releases that hit shelves in 2008.

Take a look at what albums have had the biggest impact on me this year after the jump

As we continue with BOT's year in review, I now offer my thirty favorite songs of 2008. Both new and older bands grace this year's list, though it mostly draws from new discoveries rather than past favorites. Take a look at what I've been listening to over the last year after the jump.