Top 5 shows of the year?
- Garbage – May 8th (Troxy, London)
- Rammstein – February 24th (BT Cellnet Arena, London)
- Lucy Rose – November 12th (Coalition, Brighton)
- Blood Red Shoes – April 27th (Concorde 2, Brighton)
- We Are The In Crowd – February 2nd (Hammersmith Odeon, London)
Total number of shows? A meagre 10 – tied with last year, my lowest since 2003.
First show of the year?
We Are The In Crowd (supporting All Time Low) at the Hammy O. Cracking support set, and I was done by 8pm.
We Are The In Crowd (supporting All Time Low) at the Hammy O. Cracking support set, and I was done by 8pm.
Last show of the year?
Lucy Rose at Coalition. Beautiful gig, the girl’s going to be huge – which is ironic, because she’s tiny in real life.
Lucy Rose at Coalition. Beautiful gig, the girl’s going to be huge – which is ironic, because she’s tiny in real life.
Most surprising show?
Garbage in Paris. Mostly because I only found out about it a week before.
Garbage in Paris. Mostly because I only found out about it a week before.
Most disappointing? Garbage in Paris, but because I was tired from walking around the city for the day beforehand.
Farthest travelled? Paris. 300 odd miles away.
States attended shows in? Cheerful, grateful, euphoric, terrified, bored, knackered.
Venue most visited? Resident Records for Blood Red Shoes – counting a trip on Record Store Day.
Worst injury? Blisters from Paris.
Most expensive ticket? Rammstein was rather expensive. £40 a pop.
Band seen the most? Blood Red Shoes and Garbage, three times each.
Best new discovery? Lucy Rose.
Bands seen this year that also broke up this year? None, although I was expecting a certain underground band to officially call it a day.
Friends made at shows? None. Anti-social sod that I am. (Although most of the time I was with Dana, and at Garbage I saw some old friends).
Band members met? Garbage pre-gig in Paris, Lucy Rose on Brighton beach, and a nice chat about flats with Steve and Laura-Mary from Blood Red Shoes (does that even count any more?).
Best souvenir from a show? Lucy Rose tea. Lovely stuff. Having to limit myself to one per day.
Longest time in line? A few hours before Garbage in Paris, and a few hours knocking around the BT Cellnet Arena before Rammstein.
Shows seen from the barricade [front row]? Got pretty close for WATIC, the Garbage gig at the Troxy, and Blood Red Shoes in Brighton.
Most shows in one month? February had two.
Most shows in one week? 1.
Biggest crowd? Rammstein at the BT Cellnet Arena.
Any drunk encounters? Aside from a Kopparberg before BRS in Concord, I was sober for all of the gigs.
Top 5 best 2011 concert moments:
1. The moment that Shirley Manson strutted on stage at the Troxy. Garbage were back.
2. Garbage’s Troxy gig in general. The band knew they had a hardcore following who welcomed them back, but rather than rest on their laurels knowing that the crowd would adore them regardless, they gave a top notch performance as a thank you. Not a single pillock in the crowd either, just full of people happy to be there.
3. Rammstein playing a Greatest Hits set. They pulled out tracks that I hadn’t ever seen live, and the sets/props to match. It really was astounding.
4. Blood Red Shoes blowing the crowd away in Brighton.
5. The cuddly awesomeness of Lucy Rose.
Top 3 worst 2011 concert moments:
1. Real life getting in the way of several gigs that I had to pull out of (WATIC in Brighton and London, Rolo Tomassi)
2. My age preventing me from enjoying other gigs due to fatigue.
3. The ticket fiasco pre-BRS at Heaven. Sorry Steve, sorry to the person at Seetickets that you shouted at.
