Top 5 shows of the year?
- We Are The In Crowd - May 10th (Roundhouse, London)
- Lucy Rose - August 22nd (Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth)
- Bruce Springsteen - June 30th (Olympic Park, London)
- Paramore - September 27th (Wembley Arena, London)
- Bon Jovi - July 5th (Hyde Park, London)
Total number of shows? 21, more than double last year.
First show of the year? Blood Red Shoes’ only UK gig of the year, with Rolo Tomassi supporting and some great friends to watch it with.
Last show of the year?
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down at a pub in Dalston. A free gig in a pub with a good cider choice.
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down at a pub in Dalston. A free gig in a pub with a good cider choice.
Most surprising show?
Bon Jovi, because I only realised I’d won tickets to it four days beforehand, and didn’t actually believe I’d won them until that afternoon.
Bon Jovi, because I only realised I’d won tickets to it four days beforehand, and didn’t actually believe I’d won them until that afternoon.
Most disappointing? The crowd for the Lorde/Nina Nesbitt hallowe'en show weren’t really into either artist, which was disappointing. The Gabrielle Aplin crowd at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire were annoying as hell and several got a frowning of a lifetime.
Farthest travelled? 80 miles to Wembley Arena.
States attended shows in? Cheerful, grateful, euphoric, terrified, bored, knackered.
Venue most visited? Shepherd’s Bush Empire three times (Blood Red Shoes, Lucy Rose, Gabrielle Aplin) just edges out the brace of times I visited Islington Bar Academy (both Anavae), Hyde Park (Bon Jovi/Lucy Rose) and The Haunt (Nina Nesbitt/Mt. Wolf)
Worst injury? None!
Most expensive ticket? The Boss was £60, however that alone was value for money. Considering going to that gig won me free tickets to Bon Jovi a week later, which gave us enough of an idea of the venue to see Lucy Rose free the following week, that £60 paid for nearly 7 hours of live music!
Band seen the most? Lucy Rose and Nina Nesbitt, both three times.
Best new discovery? Nina Nesbitt, Gabrielle Aplin, Pawws, Lorde, Haim, Mt. Wolf, Dog In The Snow
Bands seen this year that also broke up this year? Mt. Wolf called it a day about a month after we saw them.
Friends made at shows? Becca, technically.
Band members met? A bumper year this year. In chronological order, I met Becca from Anavae at both Anavae gigs, both of Of Verona, the Marmozets guitarist, Lucy Rose at both the Hyde Park and Portsmouth gigs, Becca from Anavae, Billy from The Subways and Alexi from Johnny Foreigner at Paramore (none of whom were playing), Nina Nesbitt after her Brighton gig, Lorde walked past me at the Vevo gig, and Katie Mt. Wolf at the Brighton gig.
Best souvenir from a show? My WATIC and Springsteen t-shirts have been worn frequently.
Longest time in line? Probably the half hour before the Vevo show. Most of the time we’ve gone to the pub instead.
Shows seen from the barricade [front row]? Lucy Rose in Hyde Park & Portsmouth was the nearest I got.
Most shows in one month? Four in November.
Most shows in one week? WATIC, Lucy Rose and Marmozets in a glorious 7 days in May.
Biggest crowd? The Boss, at the Olympic Park.
Any drunk encounters? No, not really.
Top 5 best 2013 concert moments:
1. Making Lucy Rose laugh at the Hyde Park and Portsmouth gigs by gesturing “hand size” instead of “answers” in Middle Of The Bed.
2. Blood Red Shoes performing to their biggest ever headline crowd, and bumping into around a dozen people I knew at the gig.
3. Bruce Springsteen dancing with his mother and sister during his set.
4. Free Bon Jovi gig!
5. Pictures at the We Are The In Crowd gig. I’m in the band selfie they took from the stage, and Tay liked my pic of them I put on Instagram.
Top 3 worst 2013 concert moments:
1. The crowd at Gabrielle Aplin, who were mostly there for her Xmas single, to try and impress a date, or to gossip with a mate.
2. The crowd at the Vevo Hallowe'en gig, who completely ignored Nina Nesbitt and Lorde’s set.
3. Selena Gomez’s support act. I realise that I’m not her target demographic, but I can do without a Jonas Brothers/Busted group of wannabes. Annoyingly, they’re supporting Taylor Swift next month too.
