Gruff Rhys performs at DC9 on Oct. 11, 2018, in one of the best shows of the year. (Photos by Kyle Gustafson)

Editor’s Note: This year, we asked our bloggers to name their Top 10 shows of 2018 or choose their Top 10 photos of the year. We will run them over the course of mid-December as our Best of the Year posts.

Kyle Gustafson provided us his Top 10 concerts of the year — most of which he shot personally! Check out Kyle’s Top 10 shows.

1 – Janelle Monae @ The Anthem — 7/20/18

Easily the best show I saw this year. I genuinely got emotional three different times during this show. It was so uplifting! She’s been the best act out there for a while; it’s just that everyone else is finally figuring that out.

2 – David Byrne @ The Anthem — 5/12/18

The second best show I saw this year — an amazing production visually and musically from top to bottom.

3 – Noel Gallagher @ Masonic Temple, Detroit — 2/9/18

The 2018 tour opener! I got to hear the live debut’s of “Fort Knox,” “Keep on Reaching,” and “Dead in the Water.” I also shared a photo pit with Sharon Latham. A cracking night all around! He was just as good at The Anthem a few days later.

4 – Broken Social Scene @ Rams Head Live — 4/6/18

Sadly, BSS’s amazing album Hug of Thunder didn’t click for me until they had already come through DC, so I was very glad to catch them in Baltimore on the back end of this tour. Ariel Engle did a great job filling in for all the various female vocalists in the BSS crew.

5 – New Order @ The Anthem — 8/28/18

New Order still slaps.

6 – Miguel @ The Anthem — 9/4/18

This dude is absolutely electric on stage and incredibly fun to photograph.

7 – Lykke Li @ The Lincoln Theater — 10/5/18

I am all in on her latest album, So Sad So Sexy, and this show was a silky, sultry treat.

8 – Nine Inch Nails @ The Anthem — 10/9/18

An all out assault on the senses. I was so happy to finally hear “I’m Afraid of Americans” live. The Jesus and Mary Chain opened — and they were class. (The Jesus and Mary Chain are pictured here, as we didn’t have a photo pass for NIN.)

9 – Gruff Rhys @ DC9 — 10/11/18

Babelberg is Gruff’s best set of songs in almost a decade. Also, this night was my 10th wedding anniversary, and Gruff dedicated the Super Furry Animal song “Fire in My Heart” to my wife and I. He’s the best.

10 – Christine and the Queens @ 9:30 Club — 11/4/18

This show was a bananas dance-off that made you feel like an extra on the set of a “Thriller”-era music video. So much fun.