As 2012 draws to a close, I’ll take some time now to reflect on some of the best festival performances of the past year. There were an abundance of festivals and as the concert biz continues to sputter, these gargantuan events give attendees the opportunity to check out some of their favorite bands along with some that they may not have had the chance to see before. Here are my favorites of the past year.

Sharon Van Etten, Lollapalooza, Day 1: Heading into the park, there was a smorgasbord of delicious treats awaiting. While I’d heard about the indie rocker’s acclaimed album, I didn’t know what to expect live. Needless to say, Van Etten’s guitar chops along with catchy tunes and a girl next door’s aw shucks charm made her both endearing as a performer, but her songs rocked the socks off the Chicago faithful, which is an accomplishment in it’s own right.

Gary Clark Jr., Lollapalooza, Day 3: While everyone was literally basking in the sunlight, our Male Artist of the Year provided the perfect soundtrack to the afternoon. With a heavy dose of blues, soul, R&B and rock, the Austin-native somehow managed to turn Grant Park into his own club, not easy when there are 20,000 people watching. Yet he did and it was sure memorable.

Tame Impala, Outside Lands, Day 2: To this point, the Australian rockers were on my radar, but hearing them wail through an extensive set, I knew that they were onto something. While the weather wasn’t cooperative, the band wailed and sounded like some of the bands of yesteryear who played in Golden Gate Park. Rightfully so, they were anointed our Band of the Year and judging by their performance, big things are on the horizon for them.

FIDLAR, Lollapalooza, Day 2: The quartet known as Fuck It Dog, Life’s A Risk, brought the intensity from their much-talked about house parties shows and had fans moshing and raging early on Saturday. What makes this even more impressive is that hardly anyone had heard of the punks prior to their set, but after, they were dirty, bloody and bruised. The sign of a great performance.

Of Monsters and Men, Outside Lands, Day 2: While the Icelandic natives were well on their way at this point, it was still nice to see them command such a huge crowd during a late afternoon set. So much so that the entire Sutro stage area was flooded with people, both on the side hill, in front and all the way back where the band looked like Micro Machines. No matter how you saw them, everyone could agree that they were great and the anticipation for album two will be greater than anything the group has done before.