Best Gigs Of 2013

Although I didn't go to as many shows this year there were still definite highlights and a few shows that I will never forget. I got to see Neil Young with Crazy Horse for the first time, a longtime dream, not to mention seeing Christine McVie briefly reunite with Fleetwood Mac for Don't Stop at the O2 Arena. I didn't do the festival thing this year (after last year's double dose of rain and mud it was something of a relief to be honest) or see as many new artists but I did get to see a few artists that have long been on my wishlist, like Patty Griffin and Grace Potter, as well as old favourites like Dinosaur Jr and Cat Power. So all in all not a bad year and 2014 is already shaping up to be great too. But for now here's my favourite shows from 2013: 

10. Built To Spill at Electric Ballroom

9. Patty Griffin at the Union Chapel

8. Simone Dinnerstein & Tift Merritt at the Purcell Room

7. Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell at Hammersmith Apollo

6. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals at Bush Hall

5. Neko Case at The Forum

4. Arcade Fire (as The Reflektors) at the Roundhouse

3. Fleetwood Mac at the O2 Arena

2. David Byrne & St. Vincent at the Roundhouse

1. Neil Young & Crazy Horse at the O2 Arena

Patty Griffin at the Union Chapel

Patty Griffin 
Josephine Oniyama 
Union Chapel, 25 July 2013

The Union Chapel really has to be one of the most beautiful venues in London. On a hot summer night, it is beautifully cool and as the sun sets through the stunning stained glass windows it really is something quite magical. Into this otherworldly atmosphere a beautiful girl in towering high heels and red head scarf totters on stage and straps on an acoustic guitar.

Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy at The Forum

Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy
Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara
The Forum, 2 September 2010

Thinking back Led Zeppelin was one of the first bands I fell in love with. I remember waking up early before school just so I could listen to them in order to get my Zep fix for the day and sleeping under an enormous, almost wall-sized, poster of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page that I had got free with some magazine. And, although I moved on to other bands, I actually never stopped loving the Zep so really, all these years on, I don't know why I had never seen Robert Plant live. Sure, like millions of others, I had applied for tickets for the one-off Led Zeppelin reunion but, as recently as 1998, I could have seen him play with Jimmy Page. But for whatever reasons, despite having seen him numerous times out and about in London, this was the first time I had ever attempted to see him in concert and fortunately for me it was a fairly small gig at the Forum in Kentish Town.