(Top 15) Best Gigs Of 2011

[GTG]

Chronological Order-ish

Americana Road Trip (Wilders/Martin Stephenson/Danny Wilson) - (Cluny2/Central Hotel/Cluny)

Betsey Trotwood Winterlude (Danny ATCOTW, Rockingbirds, Otway, Treetop Flyers, Benjamin Folke Thomas) - (Conway Hall, that London)

Imelda May (O2 Academy, Newcastle)

Decemberists (O2 Academy, Leeds) ***

John Grant (Sage 2)

Simone Felice (Cluny 2)

Women In Punk (Pauline Murray/Viv Albertine/Gina Birch/Helen McCookerybook) - (Central Hotel, Gateshead)

Vin Garbutt (Georgian Theatre, Stockton)

Jim White (Little Theatre, Gateshead)

Villagers (Riverside, Newcastle) ***

Billy Bragg/Smoke Faeries/C W Stoneking (Evolution, Newcastle)

Imploding Inevitable Festival (Felltop Wood, Lake Windermere)

Unthanks/Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band (Durham Cathedral)

Bright Eyes/Jenny & Johnny (Sage) ***

Sophie Ellis-Bextor! (Bents Park, South Shields)

*** - if forced to choose the top 3

[shoebox]

Well, this is what I've done in 2011, in chronological order, thus far:

Smoke Fairies - Tunbridge Wells Forum

Joe Pug - Upstairs at The Garage, Highbury

Iron & Wine - The Roundhouse

Decemberists - Hammersmith Apollo

Singing Adams - Lexington

Suede - Brixton Academy

Smoke Fairies - Royal Function Rooms, Rochester

Belle & Sebastian - The Roundhouse

Dan Mangan - St Pancras Old Church

Destroyer - Heaven

Hop Farm Festival (Saturday) - Paddock Wood

So, only 11. If I had to pick a top 3, I'd go with Destroyer, Suede and Dan Mangan. But none of them were in any way disappointing. Good returns so far.

[GTG]

Good choice

[shoebox]

Never seen Dan Mangan live but I'm confident that, after EOTR, he will be in my end of year Top 10! Just as long as he doesn't play 'Basket' too early in the set as I'll probably be reduced to blubbering me way through the rest of it.

[Wiggum]

15 already? And the best 15? I'd be struggling but, it has been a pretty good year for gigs so far:

Jeffrey Lewis @ Mono (Glasgow)

Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 (AND RINGO DEATHSTARR!!) @ Stereo (Glasgow)

Caitlin Rose @ Stereo (Glasgow)

The Babies @ Stereo (Glasgow)

Dum Dum Girls @ Stereo (Glasgow)

Johnny Reb @ Nice'n'Sleazys (Glasgow)

Explosions in the Sku @ HMV Picture House (Edinburgh)

Warpaint/Clinic @ Stag and Dagger (Glasgow)

Sparrow and the Workshop @ King Tuts (Glasgow)

The Mountain Goats @ King Tuts (Glasgow)

Manic Street Preachers/The Strokes/Primal Scream @ T in the Park.

Not bad so far!

[Sipperana]

2011 thus far - plus notable supports...

The Duke Spirit - Boileroom, Guildford

The Phantom Band - The Railway, Winchester

Les Savy Fav + Pulled Apart By Horses - Heaven, Charing Cross

Emily Barker - St Giles in the Fields, Holborn

The Decemberists + Blind Pilot - Vicar Street, Dublin

David Devant and his Spirit Wife - The Lexington, Islington

The Boxer Rebellion - Heaven, Charing Cross

Elbow + Villagers - Brighton Centre

Simone Felice - The Railway, Winchester

Puressence - The Borderline

The Blockheads - Robin 2, Bilston

Vintage Trouble - The Wheelbarrow, Camden

David Ford - The Borderline

Emily and the Woods - North London Tavern, Kilburn

Erland and the Carnival - The Garage, Islington

Frank Turner + Faranz Nicolay + Ben Marwood - The Railway, Winchester

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - The Garage, Islington

Hot Rats - The Boileroom, Guildford

Vetiver + Marques Toliver - South Street Arts Centre, Reading

Grouplove - West End Centre, Aldershot

They Might Be Giants + Treefight For Sunlight - KOKO, Camden

Hard to single out gigs, but five that stick out for me are:

Les Savy Fav - a wonderfully exuberant show, plus excellent support from PABH

Decemberists - so much more fun than I'd expected them to be

Vintage Trouble - the week they appeared on Later, and the sweatiest gig of the year

Frank Turner - triumphant homecoming gig, with very strong support acts

They Might Be Giants - first time in 14 years and they're better than ever, Treefight were excellent too

[Joe_the_Great]

So far this year:

Sufjan Stevens/DM Stith - Royal Festival Hall x 2

Okkervil River/Singing Adams - Heaven

Ra Ra Riot/Airship - Relentless Garage

Explosions in the Sky/Lichens - Roundhouse

Frontier Ruckus/My First Tooth/Deer Park - The Windmill Brixton

Fleet Foxes/The Bees - HMV Hammersmith

The Leisure Society/Ray Davis etc - Purcell room

Wye Oak/Waters - Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen

Weezer/Male Bonding - O2 Academy Brixton

Washed Out - Rough Trade East

Top 3 would be: Sufjan/Weezer/Wye Oak

[wackojackohighcliffe]

My top 3:

Sufjan Stevens - Brighton Dome

Decemberists/Blind Pilot - Hammersmith Appollo

Hold Steady w/Wintersleep - Southampton Uni

(Tough choices and Bright Eyes I'm sure would've got in if I hadn't ended up in the seating )

[MrSimonW]

So far this year, top 15 in bold.

British Sea Power - Camden Barfly

Kings Go Forth - Jazz Cafe

Jefferey Lewis and Peter Stampfel - Brixton Windmill

Shhh Festival (Stuart Braithwaite, Still Corners, Conquering Animal Sound, Fuzzy Lights) - Cecil Sharp House

Benni Hemm Hemm (Ja Ja Ja night) - The Lexington

Freelance Whales and Broken Records - XOYO

The Langley Sisters, Ed Harcourt and Kristina Train - The Lexington

Aidan Moffatt with Aidan Moffatt (And Bill Wells) and Aidan Moffatt (and the best-ofs) - Bush Hall

Lia Ices - Brixton Windmill

Mogwai - Brixton Academy

Efterklang - Scala

The Phantom Band, Found - Dingwalls

The Decemberists - Hammersmith Apollo

Read and Shout (Jens Lekman, Darren Hayman) - Nettleford Hall

Will Sheff - St Pancras Old Church

Team Me, When Saints Go Machine (Ja Ja Ja night) - The Lexington

Architecture in Helsinki - XOYO

Martin Carr - The Slaughtered Lamb

Lone Wolf - The Cricketers Kingston

Candi Staton - Jazz Cafe

Obits - The Lexington

Thee Single Spies - Tamesis Dock

Sufjan Stevens - Royal Festival Hall

Dark Dark Dark - Bandstand Busking, Hampstead Heath

Okkervil River, Singing Adams - Heaven

Explosions in the Sky - Roundhouse

Mercury Rev - Roundhouse

Mountain Goats - Koko

Thurston Moore, Michael Chapman - Union Chapel

Leigh Folk Festival (Tidow and O'Hooley) - Leigh On Sea

Dan Mangan, Singing Adams - St Pancras Old Church

Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr, Deerhoof - Alexander Palace

The Langley Sisters - St Pancras Old Church

Latitude Festival (They Might Be Giants, The Duke and the King, OMD, My Morning Jacket)

[baroquepop]

Living in the remote north of Scotland, I don't get to many noteworthy gigs, but I made the trip to Newcastle (sorry, I mean Gateshead!) for Sufjan Stevens and it was definitely worth the journey. A spectacular show.

Mr SimonW, I'm impressed by your gig-going and interested to note your top picks. I assume you'd recommend Lia Ices at EOTR.

Edited July 20, 2011 by baroquepop

[Sipperana]

MrSimonW - you need to get out less

[Sipperana]

I'd forgotten to mention Bandstand Busking, which covers Thousands, Copy Haho, Leisure Society and Jesca Hoop. All good, but 10-20 mins of one band isn't enough to qualify as a gig as such.

[Infinite Jest]

These are in reverse order because that's how Songkick records them...best gigs are in bold

The 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch Festival 2011

The Flaming Lips with Dinosaur Jr. and Deerhoof at Alexandra Palace

The Hop Farm Festival 2011 (Morrissey, Stooges, Lou Reed, Patti Smith)

Arcade Fire with Mumford & Sons and Beirut

Big Boi with Yasmin at Heaven

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic at HMV Forum

Civil Civic with Ungdomskulen at The Shacklewell Arms

The Phoenix Foundation and The Title Sequence at Scala

Primavera Sound Festival 2011 (Pulp etc)

Okkervil River with The Singing Adams at Heaven

Everything Everything with Post War Years at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire

Glasvegas with Still Corners and Ren Harvieu at HMV Forum

The Low Anthem with The Head and the Heart at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre

Primal Scream doing Screamadelicaat O2 Academy Brixton

The Decemberists with Blind Pilot at HMV Hammersmith Apollo

Surfer Blood with No Joy and Blind Pilot at Scala

The Phoenix Foundation with The Dallas Guild at The Borderline

Kellermensch with Årabrot and Deathcrush at The Lexington

Crocodiles with Cloud Nothings and Paris Suit Yourself at Barfly Camden

Chameleons Vox with This Is Radio Silence and Adoration at O2 Academy Islington

The Vaselines at XOYO

Joe Pug, upstairs at the Garage

Edited July 21, 2011 by Infinite Jest

[perfectpassion]

MrSimonW - you need to get out less

[Yokel Again]

Similarly abit jealous. Don't get to nearly enough gigs at all at the minute. Still, got tickets for Bon Iver! Hurrah!

[GTG]

The Hop Farm Festival 2011 (Morrissey, Stooges, Lou Reed, Patti Smith)

[MrSimonW]

Mr SimonW, I'm impressed by your gig-going and interested to note your top picks. I assume you'd recommend Lia Ices at EOTR.

[Infinite Jest]

Was that day as outstanding as it looked on paper? Were you just there for the day or did you see Prince?

[Sipperana]

LOL I thought this thread was called "I've been to more gigs than you" nahnah.

[wackojackohighcliffe]

I think it's more like the "Who lives nearest to all the London venues" thread...

Anyway I can now add Soldier at the Monarch to the list and, come Saturday, Mogwai at the Roundhouse.

[M.G.Frogworthy]

Katzenjammer - Glastonbury

[Sipperana]

Someone was lucky enough to get those tickets then...

[Sipperana]

Katzenjammer - Glastonbury

[Infinite Jest]

Which meant that we had to wait in the standby queue, cos the ticket had his name on it and they were being pernickity about ID.

[Better Late...]

Reporting from Up North...

The Hold Steady - Manchester (Ritz)

White Lies - Manchester (Apollo)

Decemberists - Manchester (Academy)

Elbow (and Villagers) - Manchester (MEN Arena)

Dan Sartain - Manchester (Deaf Institute)

Courteeners - Wigan (Haigh Hall Country Park)

Roger Daltrey - Manchester (Bridgewater Hall)

Athlete - Salford (The Lowry)

Plus assorted tribute bands at Glastonbudget on a foray to The Midlands...