Best Gigs Of 2022

I only went to six gigs this year! Sadly the list gets smaller every year but at least it's longer than during the Covid years, so I am definitely grateful for the few I did see. Also, every one I went to was great! So I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I also got to see two artists live that I've wanted to see for years: Lindsey Buckingham doing a solo show and at long last Jewel! I think you can guess which ones were my absolute favourites then... 

1. Lindsey Buckingham at the London Palladium

2. Jewel at Omeara

3. Sierra Ferrell at Scala

4. Julia Jacklin & Erin Rae at the Roundhouse

5. Goldfrapp & Alison Sudol at the Royal Festival Hall

6. Joan As Police Woman at the Union Chapel

Lindsey Buckingham at the London Palladium

Lindsey Buckingham

London Palladium, 1 October 2022 

So, after all these years Lindsey finally played his first ever UK date but the rest of the European tour was cancelled the next day. I feel so lucky I saw one of only two dates that he actually played but hope Mr Buckingham is okay. What a night though! 

My Favourite Albums Of 2021

16. Marina Allen - Candlepower 

15. Margo Cilker - Pohorylle

14. Ashley Monroe - Rosegold

13. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over The Country Club

12. Pearl Charles - Magic Mirror

11. Kacey Musgraves - Star-Crossed

10. Dinosaur Jr. - Sweep It Into Space

9. St. Vincent - Daddy's Home

8. Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days

7. Juliana Hatfield - Blood 

6. Sierra Ferrell - Long Time Coming

5. Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita

4. Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters

3. Snail Mail - Valentine 

2. Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham 

1. Marina - Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land

Lindsey Buckingham "On The Wrong Side"

Can't wait for the new Lindsey Buckingham album!

My Favourite Albums Of 2017

This year has definitely been an interesting one musically, with women in particular releasing many of the best albums of any genre. That wasn't reflected well enough in the end of year polls, in my opinion, but it certainly is in my list. I actually included a couple more men in my first draft before realising that in my heart these were the albums that won me over more than anything else this year regardless of gender.

Buckingham McVie

We've all been waiting for a new Fleetwood Mac album for 13 years now and a new one with Christine McVie involved for far longer (1987's Tango In The Night is the last with the full Rumours line-up in fact). Sadly, although Christine, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, have all been in the studio together recording new material, Stevie Nicks declined to be involved. Everything from disagreements with Buckingham, writer's block to disillusionment with record sales these days (Stevie's own lame excuse) have been suggested but at the end of the day I guess no one really knows the truth. Thankfully though, Lindsey and Christine got tired waiting for Stevie and have decided to release the album sans Stevie as Buckingham McVie (they could have released it as Fleetwood Mac really given Say You Will was an all-but-one-member album too). The first track, In My World, is classic Lindsey with a nice little sampled grunts that seem to be a homage to his classic Mac track Big Love. Can't wait for the rest of the album, out on 7 June, and hear Lindsey and Christine's wonderful harmonies once again. I have a feeling Stevie may regret her decision not to join in on this one.

Fleetwood Mac at O2 Arena

Fleetwood Mac

O2 Arena, 27 June 2015

It's such a different experience being down at the front at an arena show, it's almost like seeing an entirely different concert. A month ago I saw the Mac's return with Christine McVie back in the band at an excellent vantage point in the side seats. In a lot of ways I feel I saw more of the show that time as I could see the whole band at all times and watch the cool films that were playing behind them and really just concentrate on the music. That said, it is undeniably thrilling to be up close to your heroes and see all the action close enough to be able to reach out and touch them or hear things they are saying away from the microphones.

Fleetwood Mac at O2 Arena

Fleetwood Mac

O2 Arena, 28 May 2015

Well, this was a long time coming: I finally saw the classic Rumours line-up of the Mac in concert. Aside from Christine McVie’s brief appearance with the band a couple of years back at the O2 (which I wrote about here), in all my years of being a fan it was the one thing that sadly eluded me. Although Buckingham Nicks have always been my favourites, it was Christine who drew me to the band in the first place when I first saw the video for Everywhere many years ago, so the promise of seeing her and hearing her play some of her many hits with the Mac this time was my main reason for paying a ridiculous amount (seriously, I don’t think I would do it for anyone but them) to see the band again for the eighth time.

Fleetwood Mac at O2 Arena

 
Fleetwood Mac
O2 Arena, 25 September 2013

It's no shock to anyone who knows me (or anyone who has ever read this blog) that Fleetwood Mac are my favourite ever band: I've loved them since I was 12 or 13 years old when I first heard Tango In The Night but never got to see them live until 2003. Thankfully, I've seen them quite a few times since and tonight was my seventh time in all. I'd have liked it to have been the eighth and ninth too but unfortunately this time around the already expensive tickets were practically twice the price. That said, I was pretty content to just see them the once this time given how little they change the setlist these days but began to severely regret only having one ticket when rumours began to swirl that former member Christine McVie, the woman with all the hits and was such a huge part of the Mac's success who I had never seen play live with the band, was going to make a guest appearance at one of the shows. As my ticket was for the second of three nights I was sure I had missed my chance, as these things mainly happened on the last night.

The Afghan Whigs are back...

The good news is one of my favourite ever bands is reuniting and playing a gig in London. The bad news is that I can't make it to the show. I just hope they'll announce a few non-festival dates later in the year because I would love to see them again. In other crappy news, another of my heroes, Lindsey Buckingham, whose solo show I have been waiting years to see, has cancelled his first ever UK solo tour because his guitarist has hurt his back. All in all this has been a pretty depressing December so far.

Fleetwood Mac at Wembley

Fleetwood Mac
Wembley Arena, 6 November 2009
For my third Fleetwood Mac concert in a week I was expecting more of the same, and while the set list didn't change, the final show of the European tour took me by surprise because it was really something magical.

Two nights of Fleetwood Mac at Wembley

Photo by Suzy Vermoesen

Fleetwood Mac
Wembley Arena, 30 & 31 October 2009

When I was 14 my Dad took me to see Stevie Nicks as a birthday present. I was madly obsessed with her and Fleetwood Mac at the time and even though our seats were terrible, and by all accounts it was one of her least impressive tours voice- and energy-wise, it was a magical evening for me and started what would be a lifelong passion for music, concerts and, of course, anything Fleetwood Mac.

Happy birthday Tusk!

Fleetwood Mac's legendary double album Tusk was first released on this day, October 15, back in 1979. Thirty years on it still sounds as good if not better and it's still my favourite ever album. At the time it was considered something of a flop (having only sold a few million compared with the massive selling Rumours, once the biggest selling album in the world) and Lindsey Buckingham's folly for daring to experiment with the band's signature sound. But in the years since it's become hugely influential (it was even covered in its entirety by cult band Camper Van Beethoven) and many now consider it to be their best album, me included. Over the years it's come to mean a lot to me and I love it all from Lindsey's weird and punky hillbilly stomps to Christine's soft, moody and sensual lullabies to Stevie Nicks' dreamy, spaced-out tales of lost love, I really do believe it to be a work of true genius and I wanted to recognise the day that Tusk was first unleashed onto the public. So Happy Birthday Tusk!

My Favourite Albums Of 2008

I thought I may as well start off with a list of my favourite albums from 2008, because it probably best sets the scene for what will be on this blog. In order to compile my astonishingly brilliant list I am using this foolproof equation to calculate the perfect top 10: my most played albums on last.fm + the albums I think I like best + whatever ones are the coolest. It's an incredibly mathematical, painstaking process that obviously has taken me weeks to perfect, which is why I'm only posting it now. So at long last, here it is: