Going into New Year's Eve, there was no other show as anticipated as My Morning Jacket's first trip to New York City's Madison Square Garden. To play at this famed venue is a sign of taking that next step in the music industry. If you can sell out the Garden, then you've made it, and MMJ did just that. Jim James and the boys brought along white tuxedo's, capes, balloons, and a couple of their favorite friends and cover songs to the stage in the course of their multi-hour, two set show. Especially pleasing was Nicole Atkins second set guest appearance on Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands In The Stream," which is featured in this YouTube clip below.

Check out the rest of the setlist, stream the entire show and watch some videos after the jump

New Year's Eve featured a fair share of prominent shows around the U.S. We plan to bring you video and setlists from several other NYE sets over the next few days, but first let's start with one from The Avett Brothers' performance at Charlotte, NC's Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. As usual, their setlist was impressive, but the true standout has to be this piano-laden cover of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."

Check out The Avett Brothers full NYE setlist after the jump

Throughout 2008 we took an astounding 460 videos, posting them all on YouTube for the world to enjoy. Now we'd like to share our absolute favorites with you as we take our first steps into the new year. Included in this post are videos taken from July to December. First is a video from the most incredible place in the world, Rothbury's Sherwood Forest...

Take a trip through the rest of the year's videos after the jump

Throughout 2008 we took an astounding 460 videos, posting them all on YouTube for the world to enjoy. Now we'd like to share our absolute favorites with you as we take our first steps into the new year. Included in this post are videos taken from January to June. We're currently sifting through the rest of the year's videos, so stay tuned for clips from July through December shows in the next few days. Let's start out with our most viewed video of the year...

Browse the first half of our favorite videos from 2008 after the jump

What a great year for album releases. Many of the bands that I knew would be in my top twenty (My Morning Jacket, Vampire Weekend) made the cut, but this year's list prominently features bands that I started listening to in 2008. There were many great albums that I didn't have room to include this year, but that was bound to happen with the number of great releases that hit shelves in 2008.

Take a look at what albums have had the biggest impact on me this year after the jump

Maligayang bagong taon! Now you know how to say 'Happy New Year' in Tagalog.

As we continue with BOT's year in review, I now offer my thirty favorite songs of 2008. Both new and older bands grace this year's list, though it mostly draws from new discoveries rather than past favorites. Take a look at what I've been listening to over the last year after the jump.

On Saturday, December 13 – the afternoon following their performance at Warehouse Live – the Secret Machines stopped by Houston's Cactus Music & Record Ranch for a special acoustic in-store performance. The night before, we'd caught their normal live show, which featured their moody space rock stylings in all its distorted glory. The next day, frontman Brandon Curtis and guitarist Phil Karnats both donned acoustic guitars (Curtis' still sported tags – a loaner or recent purchase, perhaps?), while drummer Josh Garza kept the beat using maracas, a tambourine and his rhythm-filled hands. The performance was a completely different experience from the Warehouse set – stripped-down, the Machines' music was subtler and almost gentle at times. The short set included a few songs from their new self-titled album, as well as a couple older songs. The acoustic format showed off a new side of the trio, one that we hadn't seen at previous live performances. We weren't the only ones enchanted by the set – Curtis' grandmother beamed from a chair near the stage as he dedicated the last song ("Sad and Lonely," a somewhat curious choice) to her. This makes me wonder if the group's decision to use a quieter, more toned-down approach on this day was related to her attendance. Whatever the reason, their fuzzy psych rock compositions translated surprisingly well into acoustic arrangements and I hope they continue to experiment with their softer side in the future.

View videos and photos from the Secret Machines' in-store performance after the jump

On Friday, December 12, Eggs and I rolled into Houston's Warehouse Live to snag some free hoodies from Camel and check out psych rock Dallasites-turned-New Yorkers The Secret Machines and living rock legend/Lollapalooza creator Perry Farrell. The night didn't exactly turn out the way we'd expected – read about it, plus view photos and videos after the jump

We here at Breakfast On Tour are decidedly fanatical about music, and as a result we've spent a large portion of our adult lives bobbing our heads in front of stages. This past year, though, was hands-down our busiest (so far) in terms of show-going. It's sort of mind-boggling to think back on all the great sets we caught, and when we decided to list our favorites of the year we knew it'd be a daunting task. After much head-scratching and brow-furrowing, though, we persevered – check out Eggs, Cereal and Toast's top 20 shows of the year after the jump!