As 2010 winds down, we’ve still got a bunch of potentially terrific shows to look forward to, including Ludacris at the Allstate Arena (Sunday), Elvis Costello at the Chicago Theatre (Monday) and the Hold Steady at Lincoln Hall (Dec. 30), plus a gaggle of New Year’s Eve shows that we’ll preview in future columns.

But it’s also time to take stock and look back on a year of heavy-duty concert-going. Out of more than 100 shows I attended, here are my favorites from 2010:

1. Gorillaz, Oct. 16 at UIC Pavilion: The cartoon band invented by Blur’s Damon Albarn and Jamie “Tank Girl” Hewlett more than a decade ago has morphed into a real band, with more than 30 musicians and singers, including a core group built on former Clash members Mick Jones and Paul Simonon. Albarn orchestrates it all, blending hip-hop, dub reggae, Eastern music, punk, soul and myriad other genres into a soundtrack for a dying planet that doesn’t sound like a eulogy at all. Instead, it becomes one the year’s biggest dance parties. 

Alex Chilton performs at the SXSW festival in 2004. (Jack Plunkett, AP)

Paul Westerberg and the Replacements spoke for countless artists and diehard fans when they wrote a song called "Alex Chilton" in 1987.

"Children by the millions sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round/They sing, 'I'm in love, what's that song?/ I'm in love with that song.' "

Chilton, who died Wednesday in New Orleans of a heart attack at age 59, was a cult artist for most of his career, better known for the bands and artists he inspired, including R.E.M., Wilco, Jeff Buckley and the Replacements, than his own music. Yet his legacy endures, most especially the three studio albums he recorded with his group Big Star in Memphis during the '70s. Big Star was a group ahead of its time, its merger of British Invasion-style guitar melody and Southern soul a template for what would become known as "power pop." But it was virtually unheard in its time; the third Big Star album, "Sister Lovers," was released long after Chilton had walked away from the group utterly discouraged by its lack of success.