2010.
49 gigs (2 festivals).
182 bands.
It's down on the last few years, that's for sure. I'm not sure who to blame... My old job with it's travel, my new job and settling in, old age, having seen a lot of bands before and not wanting to see them or the GFC, I just didn't go to as many gigs this year. That being said, some of my favourite gigs of my life have been this year, specifically the last few months. So let's begin:
5. I've had to call this one a tie, as I just could not take one of these off my list, they were both amazing.
5a) Mark Lanegan, July 6 @ the Zoo
Two men: one standing with an acoustic guitar; the other singing such beautiful songs. I can't remember last time I stood there absolutely spellbound by someone's voice (maybe the Thrills in 2008). I didn't know most of the songs (except for the one Queens of the Stone Age song he threw in at the end) but it didn't matter. When someone can sing that beautifully and command such a presence with just his voice, it is truly memorable. I may have even swooned a little.
5b) Revival Tour (Tim Barry, Ben Nichols, Frank Turner, Chuck Ragan), April 28 @ the Rosemount Hotel (Perth)
Sure, I was disappointed that I was travelling for work through their Brisbane show, but seeing this in Perth was probably even better.
4 great punk singers on acoustic guitar, with 2 backup multi-instrumentalists, getting together randomly on stage for 3 hours, playing their own songs, each other's songs and whatever they felt like in a neo-punk-folk-country style. Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Frank Turner, Tim Barry (Avail) and Ben Nichols (Lucero) are even better performers acoustic than they are with full bands. Not to mention the fact that I made some great friends that night and even met the guys.
4. The Pixes, July 31 @ the Zoo
A last minute announcement was made that this was the warm up show for the Pixies before they headlined Splendour in the Grass the next day. The show was unexpected. Earlier in the year I saw them play a fairly mediocre and lacklustre performance at the Convention Centre and had actually written them off as no more than a cash machine living off our fond memories. But then, given the opportunity to see them play a tiny-ass club with ~450 other people, I could not say no!
They rocked through 28 of their classics on a stage that couldn't even fit their setup properly. I was standing less than 2 metres from them (compared to the Convention Centre where I was probably 100 metres away). It was a very rare one-off gig, and I will never go see them again, so as not to tarnish this special performance.
My full review is here.
(FYI, apparently their headlining set at Splendour the next day was horrible. So I'm glad we got to see it privately).
3. Graf Orlock, Dangers, June 19, Burst City
One of the main reasons I started blogging was for the band Dangers. At the start of the year I was obsessed with this band, and still am. I started blogging because I wanted to share this album with as many friends as possible. So when they came out on a little DIY tour of Australia I had to go, as it may have be the only chance we will ever get.
Having seen Dangers and Graf play the Tempo Bar the day before, I was already excited. But seeing them play a little club hall, with an amazing all ages crowd (and BYO alcohol) was an experience. Everyone there was really getting into it and the main bands went all out. Even the four local bands opening were great, leading to just a huge evening of hardcore music (which was followed by seeing Carpathian play another gig and Australia play a World Cup soccer game. It was just a huge day).
My short review is here.
2. Dave Hause, Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, December 11 @ the Zoo
This gig would have been amazing purely for Hot Water Music playing one of their rare live performances or for the Bouncing Souls doing their first Australian tour in about 3 years or even for a nice unplugged set from the lead singer of the Loved Ones. But what made this gig memorable was the encore. All 3 international acts came on together to sing each other's songs, changing instruments/singers mid song sometime. This was what an encore should always be and capped off an amazing evening.
My full review is here.
Drumroll....
1. Baroness, October 17 @ the Zoo
I've never seen a band enjoy themselves on stage so much. I've never seen a predominantly metal crowd like so spellbound and in awe of what they were seeing. Put those together and Baroness just fed off the raw energy and put on an amazing show. They showed how talented they were as musicians and just couldn't stop smiling and enjoying themselves the whole set. A set, mind you, which went an extra 30 minutes past the scheduled ending time. A set which included an encore of a song they hardly play, because they enjoyed themselves so goddamn much. And a set which ended with a band absolutely humbled and thanking us like it was also the best night of their life. Lucy and I just walked out smiling and giggling like little school girls in love, it was that amazing.
My short review is here.
2010 was full of great gigs for me. Some of these will be top 5 of all time for me, I just know it. However, 2011 is shaping up to be even better. I'll be seeing some of my favourite bands like Future of the Left, Interpol, Sufjan, Streetlight Manifesto, La Dispute, Primus, Belle and Sebastian and the Hold Steady. I'm also heading to at least 4 more festivals. And that's just all in the first few months of the year. 2011 is set to blow me away with live music.
Happy New Year to my readers
