2009 concerts: Heady mix of music

Published 9:20 pm Friday, January 1, 2010

An iPod Shuffle would be hard-pressed to come up with the mix of bands that played Snohomish County this year.

A Las Vegas headliner staged a benefit concert at Comcast Arena.

A multiplatinum rapper hit a small Marysville club for a short set.

A Chicago hard rock band drew thousands to Everett.

Here, we look back at the biggest concerts of 2009.

Barry Manilow: The iconic singer showcased a giving spirit with his March 15 concert at Comcast Arena.

The show, a version of his Las Vegas revue, brought nearly 6,000 fans to Comcast Arena. Many were ready to sing along to Manilow’s biggest hits, including “Looks Like We Made It” and “Mandy.”

The concert benefited two groups. The show itself raised money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, while Manilow gave 45 violins to Snohomish County music programs after his visit.

Disturbed: Lead singer David Draiman was wheeled onto stage bound to a gurney and dressed like Hannibal Lecter to kick off this Jan. 23 show.

About 5,500 fans came to Comcast Arena to hear Draiman bark his way through the hard rock hits that have helped Disturbed top the Billboard 200 three times in a row.

Fans moshed and pumped their fists in the air to tracks such as “Perfect Insanity” and “Down With the Sickness.”

Juvenile: It was unusual to say the least.

Juvenile, a rapper who has sold nearly 10 million albums, was headlining a May 16 show at J.R. Phinickey’s, a midsize Marysville club on State Avenue.

The concert drew about 400 people on a Saturday night, as Juvenile delivered. He growled his way through a 40-minute set that featured some of his biggest hits, including “Back That Azz Up.”

Melissa Etheridge: The raspy-voiced singer brought her “Live and Alone” tour to the Tulalip Amphitheatre for an outdoor concert on Aug. 17.

Thousands came to hear Etheridge sing tracks such as “I Want to Come Over” and “I’m the Only One.”

She wasn’t the only multiplatinum success story to headline during Tulalip Resort Casino’s summer concert series, however.

Al Green, the Beach Boys and the Doobie Brothers all played the venue within weeks of one another.

ZZ Top: These sharp dressed Texans headlined Comcast Arena on Nov. 23, bringing nearly 5,000 fans to the venue on a Monday night.

ZZ Top is working on a new album with super-producer Rick Rubin. The blues rock group promised to road-test some of that material during the Everett show.

Granted, locals were just as eager to hear the group’s well-worn hits, such as “Legs” and “La Grange.”

Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com.