Live Gigs: My Best and Worst Experiences

Generally, this blog has acted to serve two purposes thus far. Either, I’ve used it to flesh out any scholarly considerations I’ve been having – composed in a less academic manner – around my allocated topic of electro swing; or – an intention that I never initially had, but have since come to really enjoy – for writing reviews. In this era of self-isolation, I’ve found a lot of comfort in the time spent writing these blog entries, and any reader will likely have noticed an increase in my output. The more time I spend in quarantine, the more entries I will end up producing, and I certainly hope that I’m able to maintain this enthusiasm.

Consequently, I’m likely to expand upon the types of entry one will find throughout these writings. When the first blogs were generated throughout the ’90s, they were largely treated as online diaries, and whilst it’s unlikely that I’m going to go down that particular avenue – if the reader will permit me a little self-indulgence, I may occasionally blog in something of a more personal style. This post represents the first of such offerings; I’ve been to a lot of gigs in my time, and thought it could be worth detailing the best and worst experiences that I’ve had.

To begin with, my top ten best gigs that I’m lucky enough to have attended:

16/09/13 – Manchester Arena, Manchester

Roger Waters

In 1980, following the release of The Wall, Pink Floyd began to tour the stage show that would rival every concert ever produced in terms of scale. Featuring giant puppets, mini-zeppelins that floated above the audience, a host of actors, and – most notably – an enormous wall that was built across the stage throughout the show, the tour was so expensive that over the two years it was only ever performed 31 times. That was until 2010, when singer Roger Waters decided to re-stage the performance across a world tour that lasted over three years. The date I attended was the third-to-last show, and the final ever performance in Britain. Everything about this show was spectacular, and every aspect of it – the music, the theatrics, the staging, the sound, the animation – was truly world-class.

31/05/17 – 100 Club, London

Goldfinger

Goldfinger are one of my favourite bands of all time, and probably the first band that I ever really loved, so it was an incredibly thrilling experience to get to see them perform live. The night was anticipated for a further reason as well, as this was the first (and so far, only) time I’ve been to a show at the iconic 100 Club on London’s Oxford Street. Just being at a gig in such a legendary venue was enough to give one goose bumps, and the fact that it was a band that meant so much to me made it extra-special. The show was phenomenal; one of the liveliest and most energetic nights I’ve ever had, made all the better by the fact that it was pretty small in scale and therefore quite intimate. I’m particular pleased that one audience member managed to capture on film the stage invasion during ‘Mable’ of which I was a part.

28/04/09 – O2 Academy, Newcastle

Pour Habit

This show was a perfect example of how a support band can sometimes outperform the main headliner. This was at a NoFX concert, and I’d previously never even heard of Pour Habit, but the band just completed blew NoFX out of the water. From the very moment they stepped on stage, it was simply non-stop energy from start to finish. I remember being absolutely amazed at just how much a small band was able to put into a performance, and especially blown away by singer Chuck Green, who’s one of the most wildly charismatic performers I’ve ever seen. I don’t think they’ve ever come back to the UK since, but if they ever do, I’ll be the very first to buy a ticket.

15/08/15 – Boomtown Fair, Winchester

Slamboree

I’ve seen Slamboree many times over the years, and their stage shows are always spectacular, but this first time I saw them is by far the one that stood out the most. For those who’ve yet to experience this juggernaut of a show, Slamboree fuse live music with circus performances for a completely overwhelming sensory experience. They’ve scaled down their performances since 2015, but this particular show was absolute mayhem, with countless circus performers, as well as musical guests including Beans on Toast, Too Many T’s, and My Bad Sister. By the end of the show there were easily close to 30 performers on stage, cementing their status as the perfect festival band.

19/12/11 – Manchester Arena, Manchester

Paul McCartney

So there shouldn’t be any surprise that a Beatle features on this list. I’m not one to generally ever feel starstruck – we all know that every celebrity is ultimately just another human being – but just being in the presence of someone who’s done so much to influence the course of popular music history, and who has legitimately impacted the world in such a significant way – was a unique experience. I’ve seen Paul thrice now – this being the second time – and even in his 70s now he’s still a fantastic performer. Any of these shows could have made this list, but in my opinion this one had the best set-list, consisting of hit after hit after hit. If anyone ever gets the chance to attend a McCartney concert, I would 100% recommend it.

04/05/14 – Swingamajig, Birmingham

The Electric Swing Circus

As with Slamboree, I’ve seen the Electric Swing Circus many many times now, and they likely represent the band I’ve seen more than any other (at one point in 2014, three times in one week!). This show was at the second ever Swingamajig festival, and some real problems due to staging and noise complaints situated the band as the final act to perform in the main arena; the headliner, Molotov Jukebox were unfortunately downgraded to the smaller stage. Despite this slight jumble, in a way it proved effective for the ESC, as they got to close their own festival, and did so in a truly sensational manner. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another show with that many of the audience jumping simultaneously, and I enjoyed it even more so as they closed with ‘Little Phatty’, my favourite of all their tracks and one which gets performed only rarely.

10/08/19 – Boomtown Fair, Winchester

Michael Franti

I’ve spoken about this gig before, in my review of Boomtown 2019. As I mentioned back then, Franti’s enthusiastic and infectious energy was completely unmatched across the entire festival, and – in a way that I’ve never seen before or since – he made every single person feel like an essential part of the show. Being at this show at times felt less like a gig, and more like a community of like-minded people, all singing, dancing, and wanting to make the world a more positive place. Franti’s ability to command the crowd was seriously impressive, and the upbeat nature of the music ensured that by the end of show, every attendee felt completely overjoyed.

27/10/18 – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

David Byrne

I’m a huge fan of the Talking Heads, so when I heard that David Byrne was coming to Cardiff on his American Utopia tour I bought a ticket immediately. The man has so many classic songs in his back catalogue that it would be difficult for him not to put on a great show, but he really excelled himself through this performance. The minimalistic staging was the most unique I’ve ever seen, with a completely empty space only inhabited by those musicians needed for each particular song; the uniformed collection of performers all carried their instruments on and off stage with them – even the percussionists. The show was brilliant, and Byrne’s renowned idiosyncratic quirks were utterly charming.

22/04/10 – O2 Academy, Newcastle

The Inspector Cluzo

The Inspector Cluzo are a little-known French blues-rock duo, notorious for their animosity towards bass players. Back in my gigging days – in which I was a bassist myself – my band were booked to support them for their Newcastle show, and as with Pour Habit, I was completely unfamiliar with the act prior to the booking. I must say though – I am so incredibly glad I got to play this gig. Definitely one of the smallest shows I’ve ever attended, with an audience of only 10-20, the Inspector Cluzo didn’t let this hinder their performance one bit, and played one of the most energetic sets I’ve ever witnessed. Having only two members was not a limitation at all for this band, and groups of many more members could easily learn a lot from them.

12/12/15 – O2 Ritz, Manchester

Caravan Palace

The final act I’ll mention is Caravan Palace, who played this gig in Manchester following the release of their <|°_°|> album. Despite my rather critical take on their latest album, Caravan Palace are a fantastic act, and this is showcased no better than through their live performances. There’s one moment from this gig in particular that stands out in my memory, where during the performance of ‘Midnight’, saxophonist Camille Chapelière was strutting around the smoky stage with his baritone sax, and I just remember thinking, “there’s no way that anyone could not enjoy this right now”.

•

These are the performances that stand out for me as some of the greatest gigs I’ve been to – and as gigs are such an important part of my life, constitute some of the greatest nights I’ve ever had. But of course, I’ve also attended some truly awful shows. These nights stick out in my memory as well, but for very different reasons. Whilst I could certainly write as extensive a list as the previous – in the spirit of positivity, I’m only going to list five:

20/03/19 – The Jazz Café, London

Stetsasonic

This show was an incredible disappointment – not in the least because it had the potential to be extraordinary. Set to play their first UK show in 28 years, hip hop legends Stetsasonic had fans coming from all over the country for the occasion, including myself who’d travelled over to London for the night. When it came to it, the show was a disaster. Only three of the seven members of the band bothered to turn up, they clearly hadn’t spent any time rehearsing, and were on stage for less than an hour. Responding to boos, the band were forced back on stage at the end of the show, but having not prepared anything, the night was reduced to some kind of bizarre hip hop karaoke, in which they simply sang over the top of other people’s songs. Indeed, the whole thing was so unquestionably dreadful that both the band and the venue eventually had to put out an official apology.

A sincere apology to our fans in the UK. We are truly sorry to disappoint https://t.co/f6n6yR9gml

— Daddy-O (@professordaddyo) March 22, 2019

24/05/18 – O2 Academy Islington, London

Guttermouth

This was a similar situation. Again, I’d travelled across to London for this performance, that served as the band’s first UK show in I’m not sure how long, but at least a decade. In this case, the show started off brilliantly, and the first 15-20 minutes were exactly what I’d been anticipating. However, it quickly became very apparent that singer Mark Adkins had taken some kind of narcotic, as his unique energy evaporated to the point where he was standing spaced out at the back of the stage, barely managing to deliver his lines. After only 45 minutes the band left the stage, and the lights came up without even an encore, leaving the audience completely bemused and frustrated.

11/12/15 – O2 Academy, Sheffield

Yorkshire Rats

This was a simple case of the promoter booking the completely wrong act as support. The show was being headlined by CJ Ramone, and when you’ve got a performance from a literal Ramone (admittedly, one of lesser significance, but nevertheless), the support should be sufficiently proficient in recognition that the headliner hails from one of the greatest bands of all time. Instead, the Yorkshire Rats comprised a kind of indie-pop outfit, wholly unsuitable for this gig, and who displayed a kind of sneering arrogance throughout their performance that was completely off-putting and tasteless.

24/06/12 – Stadium of Light, Sunderland

The Wombats

This was a very similar case, but on a much larger scale. Supporting the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the 49,000 capacity Stadium of Light, I don’t have any kind of understanding as to why this particular band was booked to perform. Pretentious, ill-suited to the gig, and just plain boring, there was nothing about their performance that was even remotely entertaining. Like with CJ Ramone, the night was saved by a fantastic performance from the headliner, but this one section of the show represented nothing but abject embarrassment.

08/08/14 – Boomtown Fair, Winchester

Shaggy

2014 was the first year I ever attended Boomtown Fair, and as one will presume due to several appearances of the festival on my top ten list, the weekend is generally phenomenal. Occasionally however, the festival features performances that are simply ludicrous. Shaggy was one of those instances. I didn’t expect this show to be impressive at all, but I went along in the hope of finding some enjoyment on a “so-bad-it’s-good” level. This show surpassed that type of ironic entertainment however, and reminding me of this xkcd comic, reached new depths of awfulness. Barely performing at all, Shaggy spent the majority of his time dancing around to short snippets of other performer’s tracks. In the end I left after about 25 minutes. Absolutely dire.

•

There are many more gigs that I could add to both lists, but I will leave it here. Any of the times I’ve seen Goldfish could easily be placed alongside the best gigs recollected here; and Damian Marley’s performance at Boomtown 2016 narrowly missed out on inclusion in the worst list. In a way, I’m kind of appreciative of the bad shows, because it makes you realise just how impressive the good ones are. There’s nothing I love more than attending live shows, and when you do get a gig that stands out as much as the best ones listed here, the experience is unparalleled.