Having just crossed The Stone Roses (finally) off my list of bands I have wanted to see live – something which hadn’t been looking very promising prior to 2012 – it got me thinking about some of the other great gigs or sets I have ever seen. I’ve been to quite a few festivals and plenty of live shows but some stick in the mind a little more for whatever reason.
I’ve picked out a selection of 8 here (not including The Stone Roses). They all get on this list for different reasons but they all have one thing in common; for the duration of their existence these gigs were very, very good.
#8 Madness – Nynex Arena, Manchester
My very first live music gig (if you don’t count classical music spectaculars at Tatton Park
#7 Newton Manchester
Occasionally an act comes along that you simply need to experience live in order to appreciate how talented they are and to get a better understanding of what they and their music are all about. Newton Faulkner is that guy. First things first, he is good, very good. He is even better live. It is not just the music but the whole ambience and good old fashioned “down-to-earthiness” he brings which makes him so appealing. He is busy (playing almost every sound himself via a bizarre arrangement of contraptions), he is conversational throughout and he appears to be having just as much fun playing to the audience as the audience is watching him. The Lowry was the perfect setting too, feeling slightly more intimate than an outdoor stage or big venue yet with exceptional acoustics which really enhanced the full range of sounds and tones Newton brings. Oh and he looks a bit like Sideshow Bob!
#6 The Proclaimers – T in the Park (2003)
Sometimes a good gig can be made as much by the company you are in as the band themselves. T in the Park 2003 was a festival that will forever live in the memory; I have more stories to tell from those 3 days deep in the Fife countryside than from every other festival put together. This day particularly there was a buzz in the air, it was 30+ degrees and the sun was shining. Mid afternoon found a group of about 6-8 of us standing at the 2nd stage at T in the Park surrounded by thousands of (mainly) Scots dancing like a bunch of absolute monkeys to I’m Gonna Be (500 miles). We danced like that for the best part of an hour, basking in the simple pleasures of good old-fashioned tunes you can sing your heart out to and the after effects of too much Tennents, Buckfast and general revellery from the night before.
#5 Ocean Colour Scene – Manchester
I’m a big believer that going to see a band live should be a completely different experience when compared to listening to an album by yourself at home. It’s a vastly contrasting environment and the last thing you want is to simply hear the album as you would at home. EXCEPT this time. Ocean Colour Scene’s “Moseley Shoals” Tour was the antithesis of everything I’ve just said, and it was brilliant. Despite knowing (for the first ¾ of the gig anyway) exactly what was coming next the sense of excitement was still there throughout. From the opening bars of Riverboat Song, through Day We Caught the Train and The Circle and on into some of the lesser known gems towards the end of the album, this was an example of how to keep it simple and yet it was an absolute triumph. Sometimes, when an album is this good, just play the damn thing from start to finish. Oh, and the “extra” tunes after the break didn’t exactly let the side down either.
#4 Foo Fighters – Leeds Festival (2002)
Nirvana were ones of those bands that I was generally aware of without really knowing a great deal of their stuff. Every knew Kurt Cobain and his story but a couple of years before I’d caught a few songs from a band called the Foo Fighters lead by someone that one of my friends described as “the REALLY talented one out of Nirvana”. It was decent enough and between that 2000 show and this one I’d bought everything they had ever recorded and was fully ready for the follow-up. What I wasn’t ready for was Dave Grohl’s energy, enthusiasm and considerable talent. Make no mistake, this is no drummer who ended up leading a band by a curious set of circumstances, Dave Grohl is as good a front man as there is out right now. He is multi-talented (just check out the Foo’s first album where he plays everything himself), a real showman and a seemingly genuinely likeable guy who doesn’t appear to take himself too seriously, no doubt influenced by the torment from seeing Cobain destroyed by the same thing. On this night he and the band were simply magnificent and this was a tour de force of live grunge/soft rock. From the opening choppy guitar work at the start of All My Life through classics such as Monkey Wrench, Learn to Fly and My Hero to the sensational encore consisting of the acoustic, haunting Tired of You and the magnificence of Everlong this was breathtaking.
#3 The Prodigy – V Festival (2005)
Three years after seeing a pretty disappointing Prodigy set at Leeds Festival I didn’t have massive hopes for this gig but the alternative was the Scissor Sisters and (with all due respect) there wasn’t much of a conversation to be had. What a decision. Part of Prodigy’s 10 year celebrations, this was simply mind-blowing from the opening notes through 90 minutes of bedlam to a jaw-dropping finish on Smack My Bitch Up and Outer Space. Every band member was on top form and the razor sharp performances still bring a tingle all these years later. Fireworks were going off, the whole place absolutely buzzed from start to finish and words really can’t articulate what it felt to be in that crowd that night.
#2 Muse – Lancashire CCC (2010)
I am an unashamed Muse fan. I have everything they have ever released and have seen them numerous times in concert spanning the years and all the studio albums. Of all the Muse gigs though, something about this early September evening at Old Trafford CC will live in the memory for a long time. Firstly, I think this was the first “big” gig I’d been to with the wife which is always a fun experience. I was expecting great things and was not disappointed. As the sun set over the stage; the explosion of noise, sound and vibrancy started and didn’t stop for nigh on 2 hours. Matt Bellamy’s haunting voice transcends the whole thing but these guys really are a perfect combination of power and finesse and are masters of performance. Song after song was performed to perfection with the patented Muse touches; think long solos, huge sing-a-longs, expertly choreographed lights/effects and a playlist picked to perfection with the ideal balance of new, old, slow and fast. This was (and still is) a band at the absolute height of their powers.
#1 Oasis – Reading Festival (2000)
My first festival, first night headliners, pouring rain, electrical thunderstorm going off all around the venue. This was, quite simply, the greatest set or gig I have ever had the privilege to witness. It was mind-blowing, nerve-tingling and almost life-alteringly good. They’ve had their ups and downs but on this August night in a field in Southern England , Oasis were simply transcendent. This was live music at its absolute pinnacle, nothing else seemed to matter except to be there and soak in every single minute. They were simply epic from start to finish. Every time I hear Don’t Look Back in Anger my whole body shivers as I remember this night. Noel barely sang a word of it; he didn’t need to as the crowd sang it for him. Champagne Supernova would have lifted every roof off every venue in the world bar none and the sing-along to Wonderwall could probably have been heard around the globe. For a 20 year old (at the time) Mancunian this was seminal. Possibly I will never see or hear the like again but to have witnessed something like this just once is enough.
There are so many more fantastic gigs and sets I’ve seen and still so many more bands I want to make sure I catch at some point. The next blog (yes I AM back to doing this regularly) will cover the greatest bands I’ve never seen (now thankfully that list is minus The Stone Roses). With Freddie For a Day coming up on 5th September to honour the mercurial Freddie Mercury it is fitting that Queen will be sat quite prominently on that list!
Till next time
DT
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