Wow! We can’t believe 2009 has come to an end. This year saw a lot in music, and so did the staff at Buntology. Between Phish, festies, and a smattering of new and classic rock concerts, it’s going to be hard to top all of the awesome performances 2009 had to offer.

But, before we look at the music, let’s take a second to remember the great musicians that passed away this year: Ron Asheton (The Stooges), Jay Bennet (Wilco), Bob Bogle (The Ventures), Ean Evans (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Adam Goldstein (“DJ AM”), Kelly Groucutt (Electric Light Orchestra), and Michael Jackson (Jackson 5). Rest in peace!

But with death comes rebirth, and this year the stork brought us many new “super-groups” like Them Crooked Vultures, The Deadweather, Further and Tinted Windows. This past year we have seen the rise of young artists like Passion Pit,  Asher Roth, Matt & Kim and Gogol Bordello. We have also seen some older bands dust off their Fenders and start playing again, like The Flaming Lips, Weezer and Blink 182.

Blink 182 reunited this year, not only to record, but also to tour and play shows through the US last summer. Though Blink has not released any new music yet, they have are currently working on a new album. Another band that reunited after a break for a few years was Phish. They released a new album “Joy” and have went on an extensive summer and fall tour. Of course one of the highlights of Buntology staffer Ivan’s summer was the performance by Sir Paul McCartney, who played a show at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass.

How about some other musical highlights of the year? In no particular order…

Who can forget the all-nighter Angela and Neil pulled at this year’s Wormtown Music Festival in Greenfield, Mass.? Or Les Claypool playing “Mushroom Men” with his whamola at the House of Blues in Boston? How about the not-so-heady vibes at Gathering of the Vibes, which was remedied

by the amazing time had at Rothbury Festival in Michigan? Another great memory of 2009 was all the Man Man shows editor Angela and writer Ivan were able to see, culminating to an interview with Honus Honus himself!

Speaking of Ivan, remember when he saw Big D and the Kids Table in Northampton, Mass. last month? And don’t even get me started on the countless number of Phish shows that were attended by Buntology staffers this year…

So many concerts, so little time, which is probably why the year flew by so quickly. We here at Buntology can’t wait to see what 2010 will bring us musically, and we can’t for you, our devoted readers, to be right there with us.

Happy New Year!!!