At the start of the year I made a little promise to myself to see more bands live. I love live music, the atmosphere, the crowd, the sing-alongs. 2011 had the tough target of 1 to beat. I kicked off with Professor Green at Leeds Academy in April. Rap is one of my guilty pleasures and I became a bit obsessed with Pro. The gig was great, loads of energy, D.P.M.O was my highlight of the evening.
A week later and it was Alkaline Trio at Middlesbrough Empire. What a cute venue! Trio were supported by Dave Hause who was awesome. I rarely like a support act but I loved him! Trio were great as always, playing my favourite songs and some that I had forgotten how much I liked.
NOFX at Newcastle. The thing that got me here was Less than Jake. I didn't have anyone to go with so wasn't going to bother, but then I couldn't just sit about knowing that they were playing 45mins away from me! So I went on a little adventure and it was so worth it. Less than Jake were their usual brilliant selves. Always full of energy, I can't help but be happy at an LTJ gig. Great selection of songs, great singalongs. NOFX were ok. There was some moments of brilliance, but then some moments of boredom. I've seen them twice at Leeds Fest and loved both times, full of laughter so I was a bit confused (and miffed) at the boredom.
Bruce Springsteen. What a legend. No support act and played for 3 hours solid, you can't fault him. There was some new stuff and the obvious songs but then some gems pulled from the massive back catalogue and requests from the crowd. The singalongs to the last run of hit songs was immense.
Green Day at Shepherds Bush. Best. Gig. Ever. No arguments. No exaggeration. Probably the most expensive gig I've been to if you factor in travel and hotel but so worth it! The week before was spent waiting for the announcement of a secret show and then there was the stress of getting a ticket and organising everything then waiting in the queue for what felt like forever, anticipation levels were high. Getting in to the venue, you could feel the excitement. Sold out in seconds, it was jam packed. I was pretty much in the middle to start with but got to the front-ish after a few songs, it was hot, sweaty and mental. There was a good mix of new songs, old-ish songs and really old songs. I love that this was a gig and not a massive concert, nothing fancy just the guys having fun. Highlights were Billie Joe's dancing, Going to Pasalacqua played by a guy from the crowd and King for a Day. LOVE that song especially live, what's not to love about a saxophone/kazoo off?
The Road to Warped ended my gig adventures. Manchester with LTJ headlining then Leeds with NFG at the top spot. Both epic. I really enjoyed NFG, I wouldn't class myself as a fan, but I enjoyed them both nights. Leeds marked 16 times seeing Less than Jake and they honestly never get old. The dodgy jokes, random stuff happening on stage, the sing along to Plastic Cup Politics, I'd watch it every night if I could.
2013 kicks off with The Gaslight Anthem then Green Day. Bring it on.
No comments:
Post a Comment