2023 was a banner year of touring for many of our artists, with the app boasting nearly 3,000 shows from 2023 available for streaming. Among the myriad of standout moments, we’ve gathered the most-listened-to shows as determined by you, the fans!
From the last bow on Dead & Company’s Final Tour to Goosemas, Metallica’s M72 World Tour kick off and Bruce Springsteen’s New Jersey homecoming, there’s something for all tastes in this list. Dig into each artist’s catalog and discover new favorites with these as a jumping-off point. There’s so much to uncover from the year in live music!
The official and professionally-mixed audio from all these concerts are available to stream in the nugs app. Sign up for a free trial to listen, or for a limited time, save on a year of streaming with our Year End Sale!
2023’s Top Streamed Shows:
(In order of most listens in 2023, including shows from 2023 and New Year’s 2022. Inclusions are capped at one show per artist.)
This is it, the best of the best, the top shows streamed in 2022! Packed with musical moments, the thirty concerts here truly shine, but this list is just a small sampling of the amazing artists in our catalog, and the standout performances we were blessed to hear this year. Explore the fan favorites below, then dig in and find the show that speaks to you.
The official and professionally-mixed audio from all these concerts are available with a free nugs.net streaming trial. This is also our final 2022 Year In Review post, if you missed any of the others, explore them all including Top Guest Sit-Ins, App Enhancements, Top Cover Songs, and more.
(Statistical clarification for those wondering; the list is in order of most listens in 2022, including shows from 2022 and archival concerts, capped at 1 show per band.)
It’s not just about delivering you the best in class concert audio and video, day in and out we’re striving to bring more value to our subscribers and enhance our product. Over the course of 2022 we made significant advancements to our app, a lot of it you’ve seen, and a lot of work goes on in the backend to enhance your streaming experience. There’s so much to celebrate from 2022’s advancements, but here’s a few that we’re really proud to share in our 2022 Year In Review recap.
P.S. Please make sure your app is updated to the latest version to take full advantage of the features and upgrades below.
Subscriber Exclusive Livestreams Our subscribers gained a big new benefit this year with the launch of Subscriber Exclusive Livestreams! These shows are available to all paid subscribers for no additional cost, and have featured live and archival concerts from Metallica to Billy Strings, Wilco, The Revivalists, Goose, and many more. This feature has fast become a fan favorite, and we’re working hard on adding these shows to our streaming on-demand catalog. Stay tuned, there’s some big announcements in store here for 2023.
CarPlay Enhancements We redesigned the CarPlay interface to be more intuitive, and introduced Recommendations and Continue Listening into your driving experience. We also fixed some key bugs including; resuming songs after an incoming call, fixing broken images, and implementing a more intuitive navigation to find the music you love.
Android Auto For the first time, Android users were able to utilize Android Auto to enhance their listening experience while driving! Android Auto support unlocked a number of key features for users including an intuitive interface for playing as well as browsing the nugs.net catalog directly through your car’s display. Our latest features like Recommendations and Continue Listening were also added for a seamless experience between your app and your vehicle.
Android SD Card Support Even more great news for Android users, 2022 saw the added support of SD cards for offline downloads, allowing users to use the extra space on their SD card to download more shows. This means you are no longer limited by the on-phone storage limit and can download many more shows to listen to when you can’t (or don’t want to) stream them over data.
Recommended Shows (Personalized Recommendations) Finding new music to listen to has never been easier! New in 2022, we’re taking cues from your favorite music and are now introducing artists to explore and shows you’ve never heard before. Check it out in the ‘For You’ section of the app, and find a new or archival concert we think you’ll love!
Continue Listening Pick up where you left off. Now, jumping back into the show you were listening to earlier today (or last week) has never been easier. We’ve saved the show you’ve been listening to, so you can jump back in and listen to that encore.
Player UI Facelift One of the most visible changes to nugs.net in 2022 was the new design of our player screen. We did away with the circular scrub bar and instituted a more user friendly interface for controlling your audio playback.
For You Screen We added a new tab to the nugs.net mobile app in 2022 – the ‘For You’ screen. This new feature allows you to keep up-to-date with your favorite artists and their new content, making sure you never miss a show from artists you follow. Recommended Shows and the Continue Listening feature has been added here too, providing an easy place to discover new music and jump back into shows you’ve started.
Genres One of the biggest additions to the nugs.net website this year has been the Genres tab on the Browse Artists page. You can easily bounce between genres and check out our catalog’s offering, whether it’s Classic Rock, Metal, or Jamgrass, we’ve got you covered.
Recently Added Want to know what the absolutely freshest shows on nugs.net are? Now you can know. Our Recently Added landing page provides an easy to view list of the latest releases on the platform. Whether it’s a show from last night, or a recently unearthed archive from 1988, you can always listen to the latest show ASAP by checking out the Recently Added page.
Self-Service Portal While our customer service team loves helping our subscribers, we know sometimes it’s easier to just do it yourself. That’s why we launched a totally new Self-Service Portal in 2022 for managing your subscription. Easily upgrade to HiFi, manage your payment method, or update your billing address with just a few clicks.
This week’s 2022 retrospective takes us down the rabbit hole of our favorite cover songs from the last year. ‘Subjective’ is a key word here, and to keep it at 25 covers with no more then one per artist, presented some tough decisions. This list is solid though and each song deserving of a listen, so dig and find a new version of your old favorites.
nugs.net subscribers, in the mobile app you can stream all the tracks below in the playlist here. New to nugs.net? The professionally-mixed audio from all these songs/concerts are available to stream with a 7-day free trial.
The (Subjective) Best Covers Of 2022 (in artist alphabetical order):
BILLY STRINGS “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath (w/Widespread Panic’s Duane Trucks) 10/31/2022 – Asheville, NC
BOBBY WEIR & WOLF BROS “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis (First time played) 3/10/2022 – Memphis, TN
DOGS IN A PILE “Great Balls Of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis 10/28/2022 – New Orleans, LA
DOPAPOD “Brain Stew” by Green Day 11/04/2022 – Boston, MA
EGGY “Madman Across The Water,” by Elton John (Also featured the Dead’s “Slipknot” and Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” teases) 10/31/2022 – Charleston, SC
GOOSE “So Fresh, So Clean” by Outkast (With very special guest Big Boi from Outkast) 10/8/2022 – Austin, TX
GOV’T MULE “Big Bottom” by Spinal Tap 10/29/2022 – New Orleans, LA
In addition to last night’s show, we’re constantly adding to our streaming service iconic concerts throughout time. In this week’s 2022 Year In Review we take a look back at these archives, highlighting our top streamed shows from year’s past, that were added to the nugs.net app in 2022. The professionally-mixed audio from all these concerts are available to stream with a 7-day free trial to nugs.net.
Top Streamed Archives – Added in 2022 (in alphabetical order):
Having a special guest sit-in at a show can make for a unique and one-of-a-kind experience, and some of the most memorable concert moments. In this week’s 2022 Year In Review we take a look back at some of our favorite guest appearances of the year, and shows that are destined to be legendary concerts. The list of honorable mentions is exhaustive, and it’s challenging to pick just one from each band to highlight, but hopefully you find a show here to stream again or discover for the first time. Dig in and chime in, we’d love to hear your favorite guest sit-ins of the year.
Our Favorite Guest Appearances Of 2022 (in order of show date):
MY MORNING JACKET: 3/2/2022 – Riviera Cancun, MX
Featuring Phish’s Trey Anastasio for the three-song encore at their annual One Big Holiday festival. The following nights featured Brittany Howard and more.
Listen back to one of the sweetest moments of the year as Jack’s then girlfriend Olivia Jean joins him on stage for a proper marriage proposal, then wedding!
This show was nothing but guests, a night of funky Grateful Dead tunes featuring Steve Kimock, John Medeski, Al Schnier, John Kimock, George Porter Jr., Reed Mathis, plus very special guest Duane Betts.
The Ryman run featured guests each night, and the closing night saw legends Les Claypool, Bobby Weir, Ronnie McCoury, and Marty Stuart join the stage for one of the year’s best concerts.
PIGEONS PLAYING PING PONG: 5/21/2022 – Thornville, OH
Billed as ‘The Domefest All-Stars’, the show featured PPPP with guests Peter Anspach of Goose, Jake Brownstein of Eggy, plus members of Funk You and more. Peter also joined the Pigeon’s earlier set at the fest.
THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS: 5/6/2022 – Morrison, CO
Red Rocks always brings out the best in a band, and the best guests. In this show we see Paul Hoffman from Greensky Bluegrass, members of California Honeydrops, and Karina Rykman.
In the band’s debut at Radio City Music Hall, the show started with an all acoustic set followed by a second set and encore with surprise guest appearances by Father John Misty and Phish’s Trey Anastasio. Later in the year, we’d get ‘TABoose’ tour and tons of top-notch Trey sit-ins, but this is where it started.
THE STRING CHEESE INCIDENT: 7/17/2022 – Morrison, CO
Few shows were bigger this year then SCI’s Red Rocks performance, featuring an all Grateful Dead second set and guests Billy Strings and The Infamous Stringdusters Andy Hall.
At the Northwest String Summit we heard a number of acoustic tunes and also saw guests Paul Hoffman of Greensky, Yonder Mountain’s Allie Kral, and Jennifer Hartswick.
This throwdown at Fiddler’s Green featured guests Jerry Douglas, SCI’s Kyle Hollingsworth, Ronnie McCoury, as well as Jay Collins, Steven Bernstein, and Erik Lawrence .
Their Levon Helm Studios debut saw Ben Atkind of Goose and Rusted Root’s Michael Glabicki join in, amongst a slew of debut covers by The Band & Rusted Root.
Part of John Mayer’s Rise For The River benefit concerts, this full show featured his Dead & Company bandmate Bobby Weir for a very special acoustic duo performance.
Hard to pass shows with Mike Campbell and John Popper as our favorite, but this concert with guests Oteil Burbridge and Tom Guarna on ABB’s “Dreams” and Oteil with Eric Krasno on the Grateful Dead’s “Sugaree” really shines.
A must listen, featuring an all acoustic set, before a horns-driven second set with Morphine’s Dana Colley and Trey Anastasio Band’s Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman.
In this special 9/11 performance in NYC, fans were treated to a guest appearance by the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Chad Smith on Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
It was just a one set performance for Mempho Music Festival, but it was a big one with The Allman Brothers Band’s Chuck Leavell joining in for 4 songs including “Jessica.”
With surprise guests ranging from Billy Strings to members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, & P-Funk, this show’s diversity in guests puts it as a standout moment.
This Thanksgiving day show saw their introduction into the Colorado Music Hall Of Fame, LoS then welcomed Sam Bush for the entire show, Billy Failing from Billy Strings, Lindsay Lou, and more!
At The Helping Hands Benefit Concert, the show featured an acoustic set with Avi Vinocur, three live debuts, and St. Vincent on “Nothing Else Matters.”.
In the week’s ahead we’ll be taking retrospective trip through the year of live music, including best cover songs, favorite guest sit-ins, and more. This week, we take a look back at our new-to-streaming artist in 2022, from icons of classic rock to new bands exploding upon the scene, we’ve added nearly 30 artists this year and we’re not done yet! Explore the catalogs below, then delve in to their official concert audio with a nugs.net free trial.
NEW STREAMING ARTISTS ADDED IN 2022…
Apollo Suns (19 shows): Jazz, funk, and psychedelic grooves.
Bruce Springsteen (200+ shows): Iconic singer-songwriter, streaming exclusively on nugs.net and for the first time ever.
CBDB (4 shows): Prog rock, jamband, and “joy funk”.
Daniel Donato (55 shows): Cosmic Country from Nashville, TN.
Darkside (5 shows): Electronic, psychedelic and progressive rock.
Dogs In A Pile (14 shows): Improvisation jam with deep roots in psychedelia, jazz, fusion, funk, traditional, and rock & roll.
Doom Flamingo (7 shows): A “six-headed synthwave beast” fronted by Kanika Moore, and Ryan Stasik of Umphrey’s McGee
Eminence Ensemble (21 shows) Rock to funk, metal, electronic, soul, and hip-hop.
Grateful Dead (161 shows) One of the most influential bands in music history, and the complete streaming catalog is on nugs.net.
Holly Bowling (35 shows) Solo pianist with a specialty in Grateful Dead & Phish covers.
Horseshoes & Hand Grenades (7 shows): Progressive High-Energy String Band with roots in old-time, folk and bluegrass.
Iron Maiden (20 shows): British heavy metal leaders, active from the 1970’s to today.
Jimi Hendrix (5 shows): One of the most influential electric guitarists of all time.
Karina Rykman (2 shows): Bassist that “straddles the worlds of jam rock and indie pop drenched in psychedelia“.
Led Zeppelin (27 shows): One of the most successful and influential bands in the history of rock and roll.
Little Feat(5 shows): One of our newest additions with an everlasting legacy, with a sound that’s a fusion of rock, funk, country, and ‘New Orleans swamp boogie‘.
Neighbor (16 shows): Ambitious composition, soulful balladry, and a fearless approach to their lengthy improvisations.
Neil Young (39 shows): One of the most celebrated artists in music history, “touching on everything from noise-rock and synth pop to blues and rockabilly”.
Pixies (33 shows): Pioneers of the alt-rock movement that helped blaze the trail for artists from Nirvana to Radiohead and Pearl Jam.
Sammy Hagar (2 shows): Front man of Van Halen, he’s considered to be one of rock music’s most dynamic and prolific artists.
TAND(21 shows): South Florida improv-rock, the band is known for their expressive songwriting and vast catalog of originals and covers.
The Revivalists (23 shows): Great instrumental and vocal talents, they bring a new element of New Orleans flare to rock.
Yak Attack(10 shows): Electronic power-trio blends live-looping, house, breakbeat, electro-funk, drum & bass with a touch of trip-hop.
Yam Yam (5 shows): A vibrant blend of jazz, jam, funk, and soul.
YES (19 shows): Pioneers of progressive rock, with a “daunting virtuosity, cosmic lyrics, complex musical textures, and powerful yet delicate lead vocals”.
