Gig Survey 2015

Top 5 shows of the year?

1. Carly Rae Jepsen, Islington Assembly Hall, 7th December
2. Garbage, Brixton Academy, 8th November
3. Taylor Swift, Hyde Park, 27th June
4. Lucy Rose, Southampton Engine Rooms, 17th March
5. Foxes, Concorde 2, 28th October
6. Anavae, Camden Barfly, 17th December
7. Lucy Rose, Wedgewood Rooms Portsmouth, 14th November
8. PINS, Dome Studio Brighton, 15th May
9. Pvris, Concorde 2, 22nd April
10. Gabrielle Aplin, The Haunt, 8th July

Total number of shows?

27, a drop of 14 from last year, but still respectable.

First show of the year?

Rae Morris, at the Komedia..

Last show of the year?

Anavae, supporting at the Barfly.

Most surprising show?

Carly Rae Jepsen. Considering less than two months before she was just the “Call Me Maybe” girl, this was quite the turnaround in my opinion!

Most disappointing?

Charli XCX wasn’t as fun as I thought it might be. A lot of the Great Escape suffered from me having had two days on site immediately beforehand, so I wasn’t up for a lot of standing.

Farthest travelled?

80 miles to Kentish Town Forum.

States attended shows in?

Cheerful, grateful, euphoric, terrified, bored, knackered.

Venue most visited?

Concorde 2 four times, same as last year (though different bands - Lucy Rose, Charli XCX, Pvris and Foxes)

Worst injury?

My legs took the brunt of it this year. I really suffered at the Great Escape and Pride. A broken heart at the Anavae show when they didn’t have any t-shirts in my size.

Most expensive ticket?

Taylor Swift was the best part of £60, but well worth it. <- a="" applies.="" as="" but="" different="" it="" just="" last="" p="" s="" same="" still="" that="" the="" tour="" year="">

Band seen the most?

Lucy Rose, a whopping seven times.

Best new discovery?

Carly Rae Jepsen! Honourable mentions to: Orla Gartland, Pins, Flyte and Izzy Bizu

Bands seen this year that also broke up this year?

None! Yet.

Friends made at shows?

Lucy’s Rosettes at the Kingston Lucy Rose gig. Possibly Lucy’s husband too. Passing nods to Kieron Gillan and the metalheads at Carly Rae Jepsen, the family at Taylor Swift, the random trio at Garbage. Technically Meg at Anavae, except we were mutual social media followers before that, and never actually saw each other in the tiny venue anyway!

Band members met?

From the top: Lucy Rose several times, Lynn from Pvris, Orla Gartland, PINS, Rae Morris (at a Lucy Rose gig!), Flyte, Gabrielle Aplin, Foxes, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Becca & Jamie from Anavae

Best souvenir from a show?

Lucy Rose tea and Carly Rae Jepsen tee.

Longest time in line?

An hour in the cold before Garbage and Carly Rae.

Shows seen from the barricade [front row]?

Lucy Rose at Concorde 2/Together The People/Wedgewood Rooms, Pins at the Dome Studio, Taylor Swift (from the pleb barrier, at least), Gabrielle Aplin, Foxes at Pride, Carly Rae Jepsen, Anavae.

Most shows in one month?

Excluding The Great Escape, December and March are tied with 3.

Most shows in one week?

2. Charli XCX and Lucy Rose in March, Lucy and Gabrielle Aplin in July, Garbage and Lucy in November, Lucy and Anavae in December.

Biggest crowd?

Taylor Swift, at Hyde Park. 65,000 people!

Any drunk encounters?

None that I recall.

Top 5 best 2015 concert moments:

1. The entire Carly Rae gig. From her singing to my fiancee, to belter after belter, to the Phonogram writer not only being there but complimenting my beard, to the great hugs from CRJ after - everything hit the spot.

2. Taylor Swift managing to top her previous two superb gigs.

3. Lucy Rose’s face lighting up whenever she spotted me and Dana in the audience.

4. Foxes being utterly smiley and fantastic whenever we saw her.

5. PINS at the Dome. I knew nothing about them beforehand beyond a vague “girl group” listing, but they absolutely blew me and Dana away!

Top 3 worst 2015 concert moments:

1. WATIC completely misjudged the crowd at the Kerrang tour gig and acted as if they were the headliner, leading to a lack of any call-and-response and a flat atmosphere.

2. Charli XCX looked like she would have rather been anywhere but at the Concorde 2 gig.

3. Anavae had sold out of large/XL sized t-shirts by the time we got to the merch, and I’m no longer able to fit into a medium.

 It’s weird writing a eulogy directly to someone, on their Facebook wall.

It’s weird because you’ll never read it, but social media gives us the ability to craft a response anyway. A personal way of coping with the grief, laid out for everyone to see. A time capsule, preserving the scant thoughts upon hearing the news, time and date stamped, echoing through eternity…or until the servers click off. 

I didn’t know until today. Facebook’s algorithm, the one that hid your infrequent updates from my feed, today brought a message from a stranger writing on your wall. A search confirmed it. I’ve thought about you on and off lately, little things remind me of you (a train journey through the station you met me at for the weekend we hung out together years ago, The OC theme tune that woke me from a drunken slumber when I crashed on your floor, rediscovering the Auf der Maur album while having a tidy) but I didn’t do anything about it. 

I don’t know if it would have made a difference, but I regret it. Even a simple brief Facebook messenger conversation would’ve been something. It’s been too long since we spoke last - a length destined to extend for infinity, now. Knowing that I can’t change that is the horrible part. I had my chances and squandered them. I hope that you’re happy now, that you’ve found peace. I could never hug you and tell you it’s going to be alright, as much as I wanted to. I’ll never forget you. When I think back to the friendships forged on the Auf der Maur forum (and if it weren’t for her, and the band opening for her so many years ago, my life would be very different), seeing Jess’s roller derby pictures, or Emma’s updates about her fledgling business, it’ll make me sad that you’re not there to see them. 

Thank you for our brief friendship, Sarah.

 Yesterday I did a thing. I took part in the Brighton Color (sic) Run, a 5k race along Brighton seafront.

This was rather unusual for me, as I don’t tend to regularly exercise. Or even irregularly exercise. I won the race entry as part of a competition to win a month’s supply of coconut water and thought “well, if nobody sponsors me, then I won’t bother”. Unfortunately people sponsored me - £175 so far, against a target of £100 - so I felt I had to go through with it.

I’d checked the weather all week and expected rain. Luckily the rain held off, and it was cloudy with a bit of a chill. Perfect running weather really. The post lately has been rather circumspect (it took me over a fortnight for a pair of Gillingham tickets to get here from Medway) and my race pack hadn’t arrived, so we got down to the starting point down by the Marina in plenty of time. I acquired my brilliant white t-shirt and got changed, then ambled around the starting area. There was a large stage set up with what I assume were instructers from the nearest Virgin Active gym there to warm everybody up with aerobics. I flatly refused to take part in this display of joy, instead dredging up stretches undertaken during Barton Court PE lessons all those years ago.

About 10 to 11 we were herded into the Start chute (which sounds like a really cool massive slide, but isn’t) to get going. Unfortunately the start was delayed by around 20 minutes so I did my best to keep limber/psyched up in the face of a brutal assault of pop songs (if I do this again solo next year then I’ll bring some music of my own - Master of Puppets would’ve been perfect in that situation). Just after ten past we got the signal to start and I passed under the starting banner bang on eleven minutes past eleven.

I planned to take it at a brisk walking pace, because I had all weekend to complete it and had done nothing to prepare my body for sudden exercise. I could see the first paint station (a bright pink inflatable) at the 1k mark along the course, and it was far nearer than I anticipated. I would be there in a jiffy, that would be 20% of the course done, I’d easily do it in my 30 minute target time!

One thing I hadn’t counted on was a detour. To bring the length up to 5k, it utilised the Duke’s Mound Doubleback - an up and back along a side road, that crucially went uphill. (Map link) An unexpected hill section this early on? Horrible. The downhill part was a lot easier, and my pace picked up along that bit, moving to the inside of the course to high-five those coming uphill. 

I arrived at the first paint station to be greeted by the sounds of Guns ‘n’ Roses, a welcome change from endless Rihanna. I didn’t slow down, and wasn’t as covered in pink powdered paint as I should’ve been. Undeterred I continued my brisk walking pace, seeing others overtake me but content. My calves were aching a tad after the jog downhill, so I didn’t want to pace myself against someone fitter than me and knacker myself. As I passed Concord2, the point I knew to be halfway along the seafront road, I spotted someone coming the other way who had already been up and back and applauded him - he was clearly taking it far more seriously than me.

Up to the second paint station, this time a nice dark blue. Ahead of me someone lay down on the powder coated floor and rolled over a few times, getting good and covered. I stepped around them, but slowed through the gauntlet of paint throwers, making sure that they properly blue me. After this point I was regretting not bringing anything to drink with me, but was fairly sure that there was a water station further along. (Mind you, up until a conversation with a colleague on Monday, I was convinced that the race took place on Sunday, so didn’t trust my memory very much.) After passing several chip shops and bars, and a Burger King, I rounded the far end by the Brighton Eye and proceeded back towards the end, grabbing two bottles of water from a water station that thankfully did exist.

Approaching the 3k mark I saw a yellow haze in the air - time to get Simpsonified! Someone noted that I’d done well to escape the paint so far and challenged me to roll through it. Being far too cool to lie down and roll, I executed a haphazard forward roll instead and got a fair bit of colour on my no longer brilliant white t-shirt. Someone called me mellow yellow (quite rightly) as I strode back past Concord2. I passed a group of girls, the middle one of which was smugly commenting how she’d avoided getting too covered, unlike her friends. I walked up behind her and clapped my hands together over her head, showering her with loose yellow dust, and getting a cheer from her mates. Just before the fourth and final paint station (orange) I took a small diversion off the course, over the pavement alongside to a bin by the beach to dispose of my empty water bottle. Not sure I would’ve done so had I been as worn out as I expected, but as I was feeling fine I had no excuse to litter.

Through the final paint and on the home straight, the last few waves of participants were being released. I moved back to the inside of the course and high-fived as many people as I could - I was nearly at the finish and was feeling good about myself. I strolled across the finish line, checking my watch to see I finished in 34 minutes and 15 seconds. As I did I heard a voice calling my name. I looked around and saw my brother, who pointed out that I didn’t look very athletic as I finished, and would I mind going back over the line again to get a few posed pictures? Ever the poser I agreed, and slow-motion ran back over the line in my best over-the-top fashion, much to the amusement of the old lady next to Phil. He then suggested a collapsed picture, and I over-acted my best. 

By this time Dana had caught up with us after taking pictures from the beach side of the course, and I decided to ignore the party in front of the stage, deciding that lying on the grass bank with my girlfriend and brother was much more preferable. We rested for a bit, then walked a further 3k to Kensington’s Cafe in town, where I had a lovely sausage, eggs, chips and beans.