Messing around with COIN at BottleRock Napa Valley on May 25, 2018. Photo: Roman Gokhman. I think this column is morphing into more of a “my favorite Roman stories” list, but what still holds true is that memorable interviews still lead better stories. I tell the RIFF staff, which…

Bruno Mars performs at BottleRock Napa on May 27, 2018. This is the final in a three-part series. Read how I’m scoring my list and find out about my “special consideration” acts in PART 1 and 10 through 6 in PART 2. Favorite Shows 2017 | Favorite Shows 2016 | Favorite Shows 2015 Favorite Shows 2014 |…

Christine and the Queens perform at Fox Theater in Oakland on Oct. 26, 2018. Photo: Shawn Robbins. This is the second in a three-part series. Read the introduction to learn how I’m scoring my list and find out about my “special consideration” in PART 1. Favorite Shows 2017 | Favorite Shows…

Bonus points to whoever can guess the drummer in this Alessio Neri photo. It’s that time of year where I, like the past six years, count down my favorite musical experiences. I attended 56 concerts this year, up from 54 last year and 51 the year before. I gave up…

  Kanye West performs at the SAP Center in San Jose on Nov. 17, 2016. Photo: Paige K. Parsons Goodbye, 2017. It was great knowing you! Not really. Actually, 2017 sucked … except for the music; the music was great! Hello, 2018. It’s time to look forward to what is to come…

Courtesy Kaique Rocha Happy New Year from the RIFF Team! We decided to do something a little different for our weekly Tuesday Tracks new music column. Below, we present to you 10 tracks to help settle in to the first day of 2018. Some of these are traditional, while some…