My first gigs of my 30s saw me carrying on where I’d left off in my twenties, with another duo of shows from the Manics. This 2005 Manics tour has some legendary status amongst their fans. Not promoting any album, just the “Past, Present and Future” of the […]
Seeing out my gigging 2004 in the best way possible: a Manic Street Preachers winter tour. It was a year and a half since I’d last seen the Manics, at Move festival and the HMV signing of summer 2003, and my life had changed drastically in that time. […]
My first time seeing the Prodigy, who just turned out to be one of the greatest live bands I’ve ever seen. ‘Absolutely bloody amazing.‘ If I have any regrets when I look back on my gigging life, one is absolutely certain: it took me far, far too long […]
A dazzling and quite literally dizzying gig from Nick and co. 2004 was coming to an end. It had been a year marked by a sudden and intense explosion in my social life, especially during the spring and summer months. By November things had settled down somewhat, but […]
A glorious gig from the glorious Delays. Looking back on my music-fan life from my current 45-year-old vantage point, one thing becomes very clear. The turn of the millennium marks a stark divide in my musical obsessions, and every band that I truly and utterly love began their […]
My last David Bowie gig – and the UK’s as well. David Bowie’s headlining set at the Isle of Wight festival in 2004 marks the end of an era. For me, it was my last ever David Bowie gig, less than a year after I first got the […]
A summer seaside frolic with My Boys. June 2004 stands out in my memory as a bright and shiny month. On the 1st of the month I had my final exam for my psychology diploma, and my mind was full of plans for an exciting future pursuing a […]
A stormingly entertaining evening from Duran Duran. At a bit past midnight on the first of January 2004, I stumbled slightly champagne-dazzled into the spare room of my parents’ flat in Canada, to log onto their computer with only one thought on my mind: I must buy a […]
March 2004. A month full of Placebo gigs and major life-changing events. “Run away from all your boredom…” My first gig of 2004 saw me much the same person as I’d been for the previous few years. I was still living in hospital accommodation, working part time at […]
Seeing out my 2003 gigging year in style with the delightful Mark Owen. ‘Still a little pop genius.’ My last gig of 2003 also marked an end to three weeks of almost non-stop gigging. I was thoroughly exhausted, not least because I was preparing for a trip to […]
