Best & Worst Gigs Of 2009

I learned many lessons from all the concerts I attended this year, important things such as: Bob Dylan fans are grumpy, selfish and have short attention spans but Pearl Jam fans are kind, cool and generally awesome; The Troxy is the worst venue in London unless The Flaming Lips are throwing confetti around the place; Steve Martin is an amazing musician and even more surprising, still very funny; M. Ward really doesn't like cameras; Fleetwood Mac security for the front row is really strict at their shows but the guards can be worn down if you're persistent and appeal to their better nature; going to gigs really sucks when you are ill and, finally, Roger Daltrey of The Who is one of the nicest guys in the whole world. And with that, here are my favourite gigs of the past year. Click on the titles to bring you to my original review of each show.

The Best
1. The Mars Volta at the ICA

2. Neil Young at Hyde Park

3. Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Royal Albert Hall

4. Pearl Jam at Shepherd's Bush Empire

5. Faith No More at Brixton Academy

6. M. Ward at The Borderline

7. Steve Martin at the Royal Festival Hall

8. Fleetwood Mac at Wembley Arena

9. Wilco at The Forum

10. Neko Case at Bush Hall

The Worst
1. Monsters Of Folk at Troxy
2. Bob Dylan at the O2

Monsters Of Folk at Troxy

Photo from Gigwise

Monsters Of Folk

Troxy, 17 November 2009

The guys in Monsters Of Folk, particularly Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, inspire an almost fanatical, blind devotion, maybe that's why I haven't heard a bad word said about their mammoth live show but for me I was a little underwhelmed by it all.

M. Ward at The Borderline

M. Ward

The Borderline, 25 February 2009

Two days later, after what I thought would undoubtedly be my gig of the year with Neko's outstanding Bush Hall show, I made my way to Charing Cross Road to see Matt Ward with his band. Funnily enough the last time I had seen him live was supporting Neko with an entirely acoustic set and he had blown me away with a chilling version of Daniel Johnston's Story Of An Artist played on piano. The shy Mr Ward arrived on stage by himself with just his guitar and immediately entranced the audience with three stark, acoustic numbers beginning with Hold Time, moving onto Lullaby and Chinese Translation.