Generally, I like to approach music progressively, so there's no way I expected that the PG's best show of the year would involve a former Pink Floyd member playing a 30-year-old record with a pickup band.

But sometimes you have to give the geezers their due ...

Speaking of the old guard, who still dominate the touring industry, we saw a lot of them skipping Pittsburgh this year, including The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We also missed out on some younger buzz bands along the lines of The Hold Steady and TV on the Radio. It didn't seem to be for lack of interest because a lot of the major shows this year were well-attended.

We'll hope for better in 2007, but in the meantime, here are the best concerts, compiled with input from freelancers Manny Theiner, Ed Masley and John Young.

1. ROGER WATERS
Post-Gazette Pavilion, Sept. 24
The dark genius behind Pink Floyd hit town with an 11-member ensemble to put a human face on the masterpiece "Dark Side of the Moon." They beautifully executed the Floyd vision of high spectacle and jaw-dropping musical precision. Between the wondrous musicianship, the attacks on Bush and the dark immersion into his own obsessions, Waters sent the fans to the parking lot anything but "Comfortably Numb."

2. TOM PETTY/THE ALLMAN BROTHERS
Post-Gazette Pavilion, Aug. 15
With Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks manning the guitars, the Allmans were in typically sizzling form. But the headliners were not to be outgunned. Petty and the Heartbreakers were masterful in a set loaded with beloved, sing-along hits.

3. THE EELS/TOM VERLAINE
Point State Park, June 10
Verlaine, of Television, sculpted a set of cool, haunted, New York-style guitar rock with spare arrangements and songs that kept shifting shapes. The Eels, meanwhile, were a blast. Led by Mark Everett, looking half-crazed in his flight suit and goggles, the band came out with a chip on its shoulder and put on a raunchy, entertaining rock show.

4. SYSTEM OF A DOWN
Post-Gazette Pavilion, July 18
The politically charged Armenian band hit the stage of Ozzfest like Queen on speed, taking all sorts of unexpected twists, from reggae to prog to exotic Arab melodies, while singer Serj Tankian soared and spazzed through a set of songs, heavy on last year's excellent "Mezmerize."

5. THE EX
Garfield Artworks, Dec. 9
The Dutch art-punks, now entering their third decade of playing uncompromising, noisy rock with leftist ideals and leanings towards avant-gardist and global music, closed out the year in top-notch fashion. Especially poignant was their recreation of "State of Shock" and the Hungarian folk song "Hidegen Fujnak a Szelek," originally written 15 years ago with now-deceased cellist Tom Cora.

6. SONIC YOUTH
Mr. Small's, Aug. 29
Per tradition, the venerable New York noise band stayed almost exclusively with the new album, making this one of its more accessible, but no less compelling, shows.

7. NEGATIVLAND
Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Oct. 31
The California experimental sound artists, once infamous for their lawsuit with U2 and Casey Kasem involving the fair use of copyrighted sound material, reclaimed their lost relevance with this two-hour thundering indictment of the current trend of fanatical monotheism.

8. TOOL
Petersen Events Center, Sept. 26
Prog, the slumbering, lumbering behemoth of '70s arenas, has awakens in the guise of Tool, a Lollapalooza-era band that has stayed true to its muse of heavy, moody rock since its inception in the early '90s. Tool barrelled almost nonstop through a set list heavy on tracks from its latest release, "10,000 Days."

9. MICHAEL FRANTI AND SPEARHEAD
Mr. Small's, Nov. 12
Franti, a left-wing provocateur from way back, grooved the sold-out crowd with lively set of rock-reggae that sounded a call of can't-we-all-just-get-along? Franti, a presence at 6-foot-6 with swinging dreads, played about half of "Yell Fire!," a vibrant new CD recorded after he toured the war zones in Baghdad and Gaza.

10. GIRL TALK, MODEY LEMON, CENTIPEDE E'EST
Belvedere's, Nov. 24
The sizable Lawrenceville club was sold out and the mood was high as two of the city's crunchiest indie-rock bands banged out intense sets, followed by a stage-full of revelers for the wondrous mashup of Girl Talk.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

The Minus Five, Club Cafe, March 24: The band, led by once and future Young Fresh Fellow Scott McCaughey, turned up to support a self-titled classic of Lennonesque popcraft. It was a wild night with Peter Buck of R.E.M. in tow.

Steve Wynn, Club Cafe, March 25: Wynn, formerly of the Dream Syndicate, hit town with the Miracle 3 and found his own garage rock niche somewhere between Neil Young and Television.

David Mead, Club Cafe, June 5: There were literally 25 of us in attendance, but we were treated to an amazing set of songs played on keyboard, ukulele and guitar. Mead's voice and writing are amazing.

Wreckless Eric, Brillobox, July 23: It was great when he had Amy Rigby, now his girlfriend, join him onstage, but the highlight was when Sean Lally's band Teen Riot backed him on a closing set of his greatest Stiff Records hits.

Vans Warped Tour, Post-Gazette Pavilion, July 26: It was a blast as usual, and this time Joan Jett was even along for the ride. Highlights: Anti-Flag, Rise Against, Gym Class Heroes, Ayden and NOFX, whose Fat Mike went over a lot better here than he did at PNC Park with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

CSNY, Post-Gazette Pavilion, Sept. 9: Part concert, part political rally, this show made Neil Young's "Living With War" sound better than it was. This would have been higher on the list if the pace hadn't lagged in the second set.

Blue Man Group, Mellon Arena, Sept. 30: Talk about falling between the cracks. Is Blue Man Group's concert tour a performance art troupe parodying a rock concert, or a progressive band taking theatrical rock a dozen steps beyond Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson? Whatever it was, in terms of musical execution and stage dynamics, it was one of the best shows of the year.

Elton John, Mellon Arena, Oct. 6: The pop legend has spent the past three years playing Sin City, but there was no extra schmaltz and no sign of show-biz fatigue. It was just Sir Elton and band for 2 3/4 hours revisiting his amazing catalog and introducing fans to his best new album in decades.

Richard Thompson, Carnegie Lecture Hall, Nov. 10: What else can we say about Richard Thompson that we haven't said already? Once again, the British folk-rock master came to town, this time presented by Calliope, and blew people away with an acoustic guitar and treasure chest of songs.

Chirgilchin, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Nov. 11: Throat singers from the Central Asian region of Tuva, this quartet (only the second of its kind to ever play Pittsburgh) mesmerized the audience with otherworldly vocals but folkloric instrumentation and earthy song topics that seemed oddly familiar. They seemingly created an entirely new record store category: "Country and Eastern."

Witchcraft, Lawrenceville Moose, Nov. 12: The Swedish band, on its first U.S. tour, offered throwback doom metal in the 1970s mold of Black Sabbath. The guitar sounds were big and dynamic, the rhythms changed on a dime, and the appreciative, metal-savvy crowd was eating out of their hands.