The best and worst of 2005: Music

Saturday marks the last day of the year. In 48 hours, it will be 2006.

But before we shut the door on 2005, let's look back at the year's music scene — to see the good, the bad and the ugly.

• LIVE MUSIC WAS plentiful in Utah. Major concerts were led by the Rolling Stones and U2, but there were plenty of other music performances that made their way to venues along the Wasatch Front.

The winners this year were in country music. Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley and Terri Clark, who came as a packaged event, as did Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Wilson and Pat Green. Keith Urban's country-rock show was a hit at the E Center, and Rascal Flatts with Blake Shelton sold out the Delta Center.

A few elder-statesmen country acts also pulled into Utah, including Billy Dean, Charlie Daniels Band, Randy Travis and Brooks & Dunn.

The Red Butte Garden concert series laid it all out with John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, the Flatlanders, Steve Earle, Bruce Hornsby and Nanci Griffith, just to name a few.

Hip-hop fans also found themselves in rappin' heaven, with Snoop Dogg and the Game, 50 Cent, Ludacris, Li'l Jon and Pitbull, and the Black Eyed Peas.

• REUNIONS WERE BIG this year.

Duran Duran, with the original line-up intact, took fans on a nostalgic ride at the Delta Center.

Metalsmiths Judas Priest and Anthrax brought their classic line-ups to the E Center in a double-bill show.

Motley Crue brought its circus act to town.

And Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina buried the hatchet to sit down for a concert in the McKay Events Center.

Then there was the barrage of '80s revival bands that came through town. Franz Ferdinand and the Killers did their thing this year, as did Erasure and Depeche Mode.

The fans who lost out were the metal heads. Sure the Priest/Anthrax and Crue did their thing, as well as Velvet Revolver — but the first major metal show to cancel was the Slipknot/Lamb of God double-bill that would have played the E Center in April. And then there was the heartbreaking cancellation of the much-anticipated Ozzfest, which would have seen Utah hosting rivals Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden at the USANA Amphitheatre in August.

The return of Nine Inch Nails in October helped a bit.

• OTHER NATIONAL and international music happenings got a bit strange in 2005: