The best and worst Indianapolis-area concerts of 2023 — and one we can't agree on

This year could be seen as a bit of a gap year for major, big-name concerts in the Indianapolis area.

In 2022, we were spoiled by a few major makeup shows (The Eagles, Elton John) in addition to the usual crop. Next year, we get three nights of Taylor Swift.

But 2023 saw several pop icons (Pink, Janet Jackson), several farewell shows from rock legends (Eagles, Kiss, Dead & Company) and a host of other good-to-great shows. Here are my picks for some of the best and worst shows that either myself or a colleague attended.

One big caveat to this year's list: I was on paternity leave for three months during the summer and fall concert season, which means I missed some major shows — Shania Twain, Nickelback, Pantera, Snoop Dogg. Let me know how they were, if you went.

Indy also had two major postponements: Aerosmith and Pearl Jam. Take both of these facts into account before flaying me for these choices, please.

THE BEST

Pink

I hurled every superlative I could think of at Pink's Nov. 7 performance at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, but here's another: It was unquestionably the best show I saw in 2023.

Here's what I wrote at the time: "It was a remarkable performance from a singular star. She is one of one. This was everything I look for in a pop performance: Stunning vocals, engaging choreography, multiple visual elements with lights, costumes and dancers, a few curveball song variations and covers and the absence of a mid-show lull."

We have all been blessed even further with an immediate follow-up show set for Oct. 12 at Lucas Oil Stadium and featuring Sheryl Crow. I have it circled and underlined on my calendar.

Eagles

Consistency is key, and here we have the first of several repeats from last year's best-and-worst list. The Eagles returned to Gainbridge for a pair of shows on their (alleged) farewell tour.

While I can't speak for night two, night one was spectacular.

From my review: "The birds of prey opened their beaks and let loose an astonishing array of rock vocals — six and seven-part harmonies, with five lead vocalists rotating throughout the night … It was a technically perfect show. I could not find a single flaw in the musicianship, sound, visuals, vocals or even the setlist."

If that truly is it for Don Henley and company, then they left us with something memorable.

Dave Matthews Band

When I first moved here, an editor explained that several bands have an almost-cult like following at Ruoff Music Center: Phish, incarnations of the Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band.

I checked off the final name during one stormy, particularly epic summer evening, and DMB is by far my favorite of the Deer Creek jam legacies. They were glorious. I entered a skeptic, and left with reverence and muddy shoes.

I wrote at the time: "A packed house was treated to an astounding allotment of musical textures, singing styles and general wizardry. Even the boring or weird songs, of which there were only a few, had a little something interesting to chew on — a whistle or saxophone solo, a startling tempo change."

Janet Jackson

This list would not be complete without a Hoosier.

The pride of Gary put on a memorable master class in old-school pop work. Her May performance was actually my second time reviewing her in six years, and she has not lost a step.

My read: "At the apex of Janet Jackson's season-opening Friday night show at Ruoff Music Center, I couldn't spot more than a few empty chairs or gaps in a sea of people washed up on the amphitheater lawn.

It's rare for everyone to stay for the entire concert. You've got a babysitter. Work in the morning. An itch to not wait behind 24,000 people in traffic.

But on this night, nobody was going anywhere until they saw the 57-year-old Indiana native and her pack of dancers cut that floor to "Rhythm Nation."

THE WORST

Dead & Company

We come at last to the second repeat entry on this year's list.

Look, I am not going to beat a Dead horse or his Company. In two reviews and now two year-end recaps, I've explained that, for me, Dead & Company just don't have it. At least, not in the two shows I've seen.

From the review: "Why does this band, made up of excellent musicians with an endless catalog, choose to bore the pants off its audience? Even the most rabid fan is forced — forced — to take 10-minute chunks of a three-and-a-half hour show off to chat and hang out while the group on stage takes meandering detours in the middle of a song."

Soul Asylum

This one is not mine. I like "Runaway Train," "Black Gold" and "Somebody to Shove" as much as the next guy. But our summer intern, Heather Bushman, was not at all impressed when the '90s alternative group opened for Bryan Adams at this year's Carb Day.

From her review: "Opener Soul Asylum didn’t help matters, with an hourlong set that felt more like background music than a rock show … No one seemed all that into it, including lead singer Dave Pirner, who took a swig of his Solo cup in between each song and spoke to the audience only in short spurts. He preceded a song that rhymed 'funeral' and 'urinal' with two jokes that elicited the most passionate reaction from the crowd all set – a groan en masse."

Tough beat for the Asylum.

THE DISPUTED

Fall Out Boy

Bushman also wasn't a huge fan of Fall Out Boy's July 16 visit to Ruoff.

She wrote: "To bemoan volume at a rock concert feels heinous, but believe me, it’s warranted. Ruoff does not have the luxury of stadium size, so those explosives were merely feet away. The first few rattled me so much that I spent the rest of the show cautious of every upcoming chorus or big moment, hands never far from my ears lest I need to protect myself from a repeat performance.

Fall Out Boy, at least on this tour, falls firmly onto team Doing Too Much. If the pyro wasn’t enough, the visuals left no doubt as to the excess."

But fear not, fellow millennials, because she will not get away with this heresy unchallenged. Although I was on paternity leave, my wife and I wrangled a babysitter and attended as lowly fans.

Yes, the effects were a little on the loud side, but they fit the show. The band sounded great, and the audience was going absolutely bananas for the entire performance. People knew every word of even the deepest of cuts.

File this one under "agree to disagree."

Looking for things to do? Our newsletter has the best concerts, art, shows and more — and the stories behind them

Rory Appleton is the pop culture reporter at IndyStar. Contact him at 317-552-9044 and rappleton@indystar.com, or follow him on Twitter at @RoryEHAppleton.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis concerts: The best and worst performances of 2023