Kula Shaker at Alexandra Palace Theatre, Friday, 8th of July 2022
It was July 2022, the first day of a small heat wave, and time to venture back to Alexandra Palace for of the best gigs of the year.
The Dandy Warhols at the Roundhouse, Saturday, 25th of June 2022
One particularly exciting aspect of my 2022 gigging life has been rediscovering the live experience of several bands I’d not seen for well over a decade. On this midsummer evening it was time to rediscover a band who I saw seven times in 2003 and then not at all since: the Dandy Warhols.
Pet Shop Boys at the O2, Sunday, 22nd of May 2022
Two years had passed since this gig was supposed to take place in May 2020. A whopping two years and 8 months had come and gone since I actually bought the ticket. I am pretty sure that this gig marked the longest COVID delay of my gigging life, and in a particularly happy landmark, it was my final gig that had been booked in pre-COVID times.
Placebo at Islington Assembly Hall, Thursday, 31st of March 2022
This was a gig like none I have experienced since the distant days of the very early 2000s: a phone-free gig. And it was a revelation. I may be left with no mementoes in the way of photos or videos, but but by the end of the night I found myself wishing that all my gigs could be phone-free from that moment on.
Liam Gallagher at the Royal Albert Hall, Saturday, 26th of March, 2022
Nothing could stop me from attending this once in a lifetime chance to see Liam Gallagher at the Royal Albert Hall. Not even COVID.
Kosheen at the Garage, Saturday, 12th of March, 2022
It was March 2022. Not only was it my birthday month, but I’d just been offered a brilliant new job, my most senior post yet in my 25 year strong NHS career. There was only one way to celebrate: by catching COVID!
Damon Albarn at Troxy, Sunday, 20th of February 2022
The UK feels like a very different place since I was last at a gig two months ago
All the songs of my life, #9 and #10: “Crazy” and “Future Love Paradise” by Seal
The story of the time in 1991 when Seal briefly became my new pop god.
The Charlatans at Brixton Academy, Friday, 10th of December 2021
Another week in December 2021 had passed, full of stress and uncertainty about the immediate future. But then it was Friday night.
Song for the day 10/12/21: Paul Draper, “Omega Man” (feat Steven Wilson)
What’s this? Paul Draper nonchalantly sneaking in with the Single of 2021 just as the year is closing? Yes it is!
SCRUFFY STORMS 