A Decade In Live Music - Favourite Gigs

I signed off my 2019 -A Year In Live Music blog saying I would likely knock something together as a best of the decade type affair. That is what I have done with these posts (there is another one nearby this one for best gigs). How I am going to do this is go over all the lists I’ve knocked together and try and drag out the best ones for two lists – favourite festival sets of the decade, and favourite gigs of the decade. I’ve decided to split the two lists into two posts (end of the decade isn’t the sort of thing that comes around every 5 years y’know!) Without further ado – the list!

FAVOURITE GIGS OF THE DECADE

To determine this list, I’ve gone back through all the old end of year lists I’ve made of gigs and make a long list of all the ones that I would consider for a best of the decade list. I narrowed it down (!) to 40+ possible gigs and have extracted 15 from there to make the top 15. Because, as with the festival sets list, there were so many that could have made the top 15 of the decade, it felt wrong not to include the ones that made the long list as honourable mentions. As such, here they are (broken down into the years they took place).

Honourable Mentions:

2010 – My Chemical Romance (Hammersmith, London), Stone Sour (Dingwalls, London), Rammstein (Manchester).
2011 – Foo Fighters (National Bowl, Milton Keynes), Manic Street Preachers (The O2, London).
2012 – Pulp (Royal Albert Hall, London), Rammstein (The O2, London), The Wildhearts (The Forum, London).
2013 – Eric Clapton (Royal Albert Hall, London), Eureka Machines (The Borderline, London), Muse (Emirates Stadium, London), The Wildhearts (ABC, Glasgow)
2014 – Foo Fighters (Islington Assembly Hall, London).
2015 – Nightwish (Wembley Arena, London), AC/DC (Wembley Stadium, London), Frank Turner (Guildhall, Southampton).
2016 – Billy Joel (Wembley Stadium, London), Clutch (Roundhouse, London), Weezer (Brixton Academy, London)
2017 – Milk Teeth (Joiners, Southampton), Marmozets (Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth), Weezer (Wembley Arena, London), Metallica (Genting Arena, Birmingham).
2018 – Epica (The Forum, London), Ghost (Royal Albert Hall, London), Slayer (Wembley Arena, London), Volbeat (House of Vans, London)
2019 – Cancer Bats (Boileroom, Guildford), Ghost (Wembley Arena, London), Royal Republic (Engine Rooms, Southampton).

15. Zeal & Ardor – The Haunt, Brighton. December 2018

Original Words: This is a show I’ve wanted to go to since I first listened to the debut album, and immediately had to listen to it again because it was like nothing else I’d ever heard before. This year they released their second album (although I’ve heard the brains behind Zeal and Ardor refer to it as the debut album, with the first one being little more than a demo…either way) and it was bloody great. If I was doing a favourite albums of the year list, it would be in the top 3 probably (having a knife fight with Idles and Ghost). They’ve done 2 London shows before this tour that I’ve been unable to make which has been annoying and, on this tour, I couldn’t make the London show again due to being at the Fireball tour. It was either Brighton and a hotel or missing Z&A again. I found a hotel which was perhaps a 15 second walk away from the venue which was affordable and so, Brighton was a go! I almost didn’t go in to see the support band (was watching the Man in The High Castle) but I am glad I did – blanket were very good.

Zeal and Ardor were fucking great. I had no idea how they would replicate their sound live which added to my excitement of seeing it live. 4 vocalists on stage for the gang chanting which was quite something. The stage at The Haunt was quite small so to see all those people crammed onto it was pretty cool. I loved hearing the first/demo album material, but the new album music live was massive. Also, they played Row Row which I have fully fallen in love with. I will definitely see them live again if the opportunity presents itself. Amazing.

New Words: The chance to see them live sadly has not presented itself to me this year (the band played at least one festival this year in the UK, but one I wasn’t at). I still very much want to see them live again. Not sure if new music is coming, I hope so!

14. Cancer Bats – The Underworld. London. April 2018

Original Words: Before lobbing superlatives at Cancer Bats, a firm nod of approval should be given to both supports, both of whom were very different to one another, Funeral Shakes being a rock n’ roll band and Death by Stereo being a hardcore punk band. Both were really good though. Gun to my head, I would say I preferred Funeral Shakes but take nothing away from Death by Stereo because they were great.

This show was Cancer Bats playing Hail Destroyer in full. The first time I saw Cancer Bats was in 2009 on what was essentially the Hail Destroyer tour which I remember was a short headline set but it blew me away. 10 years on and they were playing this album in full and it was incredible. I loved hearing the songs that don’t usually get a live airing, alongside all the classics which will regularly find their way into a Cancer Bats set list. I also liked the anecdotes throughout, including one moment where Liam was being very gracious towards the crowd, thanking everyone for their continued support. It was a really nice moment, but then the band launched into Sorceress – which is probably one of the most aggressive from the album. The band kicked off the show with 3 songs from Dead Set on Living, which is no poor way to start a Cancer Bats show. The encore of 2 new songs, Pneumonia Hawk and N.I.B (a Black Sabbath cover) capped off a breath-taking evening. Best CB show I’ve been to? Would certainly be in the top 3.

New Words: Nothing much more to add to this really. The inclusion of this gig was run close by the show I saw this year at the Boileroom in Guildford, but the reason this one won, quite simply, was the set list. Hail Destroyer in full? Just wonderful.

13. Pearl Jam – National Bowl, Milton Keynes. July 2014

Original Words: I fell to sleep during the main support act, which probably says all I need to say about them. Pearl Jam though were magnificent. They were on stage for nearly 3 hours. I had given thought to trying to get near the front but decided instead to sit on the hill instead and watch from a distance. I’m glad I did that as it was an ace experience. The only downside to this gig was of my own doing which was choosing the worst time to go to the toilet. As I entered the urinals, I could hear Pearl Jam start playing Even Flow. Poor call on my part, but then the whole thing was just immense so it was alright in the end.

12. Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls – Guildhall, Portsmouth. February 2014

Original Words: Before talking about how good Frank Turner was, I want to just give a quick tip of the cap in the direction of Flogging Molly, who were the main support for the evening. Had they headlined, I’d have left more than happy and that gig probably would have made this list (perhaps not number 1 but still). They were outstanding and set the bar really quite high. I guess the thing about having supports that set the bar quite high is that it means you really have to do something to be better, and Frank Turner managed it with ease. Picking a setlist covering all of his albums, while still leaning heavily on his latest release Tape Deck Heart, he pretty much played the perfect setlist as far as I’m concerned. For some of these entries, I’ve picked highlights but really, this was all just superb. So good in fact I was actually a little bit gutted when I couldn’t make the September tour which took in towns he doesn’t normally play

New Words: Similar to the Cancer Bats entry, I knew a Frank Turner gig would make this list, but which one? All of the headline shows I’ve been to have been excellent. In the end, this decision was taken for a number of reasons, including it being the first headline show of Frank’s that I went to, the set list being bloody good (I mean, they all usually are) and Flogging Molly in support, who I would probably suggest are the best support band I’ve seen this decade. Maybe that’ll be another list? Probably not though.

11. Avantasia – The Forum, London. March 2016

Original Words: I’d seen Avantasia twice before this night, both times headlining Wacken festivals and both times they were my band of the festival. I did not anticipate they would play a UK headline show and this view was reinforced when Team Rock Radio were plugging Bloodstock Open Air in 2013 and mentioned just about every band playing apart from Avantasia – who were sub-headlining the Saturday night. One of the publications that fall under the banner of Team Rock, Metal Hammer, when reviewing the festival wrote something like apart from the 500 diehards there, no-one could care less – can’t imagine why that could be. Anyway, fan boy annoyance aside (not least as I couldn’t make that show), when a headline show was announced, I snapped up a ticket immediately.

It was “an evening with” set up in that there was no support band. Doors opened at 7, Avantasia came on at 8. The new material from Ghostlights worked so well live as did all my old favourites that I had seen previously at Wacken. Tobias Sammet was only not on stage for 3 of the 24 songs of the night (sadly, two of them are my favourites but no matter) which is pretty damn impressive. It was everything I hoped it would be and then some. Looking back at the set list from that night now, I’m really struggling to not say “all of it!” were I to be asked about the highlight – and that to me is the sign of a great gig. I’ve spoken about this gig without once giving mention to Michael Kiske. My favourite Avantasia songs that have more than one singer usually feature him, and he was so good during this gig. That isn’t to say the other singers and musicians weren’t great, because they all were. I think the thing which made it gig of the year for me was seeing this music that I absolutely love in such an intimate setting, given the context of the previous times I had seen them. They were always great at Wacken, but this was just something else. I remember watching their first live DVD, and there was a clip of them playing a venue in Argentina the size of The Forum. I remember wishing they would do something similar in London, and speculating just how incredible it would be (and then being annoyed because it would never happen). It did, and it was (and then some).

New Words: Nothing more to add really. This show was immense.

10. Metallica – The O2 Arena, London. October 2017

Original Words: Picking between two Metallica gigs in one year is like picking your favourite child (I guess, being childless I’m not quite sure if that is true). I felt it would be cheating to have them tied for the same place (which in prep for this, I noted I did in a previous year for Frank Turner gigs – but there were a lot more to pick from in 2015 – probably). Anyhow, Kvelertak are a band that need crystal clear sound live for people to hear just how good they are. Alas, this was not to be on this night (or at the Birmingham gig, so I’m guessing they made the best of what they could have). Metallica though, I mean, damn. I really like most of their latest album, and the stuff they played from it was just great – especially Moth Into Flame. The older material was, as ever, stunning. One of the best bits of this gig for me was going with a mate who had never seen Metallica before. When the band had just finished One, he looked at me and said, “that was awesome!” to which I replied “well, it is about to get better” with a shit-eating grin on my face. Just as he asked how, the band kicked into Master of Puppets. That, that’s how!

New Words: I actually ranked the Birmingham gig in the 2017 gig of the year above this one, and on reflection I would swap them round. This was my favourite Metallica gig (excluding festival headline slots) of the decade I think simply because of what I refer to in the original words – being at the gig with someone who had never seen Metallica and wanted to for years. Just every now and then exchanging looks which didn’t require the words, but were saying “this is fucking good!” Full disclosure, I almost had the


9. Rage Against The Machine – Finsbury Park, London. June 2010

Original Words: The effort that went into this gig was quite something. It all started from the race for Christmas No1 in 2009; would it be X-Factor or RATM? Well, as we all know it was RATM that won the day in the end. They announced during the campaign that should they win, they would hold a victory party in London which included them playing a gig. Now, I’d have been up for this anyway because I love RATM, but it was also free. Now not only did this spark my interest but also seemingly most of the damn country! Getting tickets was a thankless two hour epic but we got there in the end. The actual gig was awesome in that there were loads of people outside asking if they can “buy tickets” for this gig that’s a) free; and b) has tickets that have individual photos of the ticket holder on.

Anyway! We arrived in time to see Gogol Bordello. They were pretty damn good actually – a very fun band. If memory serves, I remember thinking their set got a bit long after a while. They were good but it was a touch repetitive by the end. Annoyingly, I can’t accurately confirm what I thought at the time because apparently I didn’t review the gig, oh well. RATM were superb though which made everything good. The pre-show cartoon introduction from Simon Cowell was hilarious. Testify is such a good song for them to open with. The set was quite different to the one I saw in Germany as well so that was quite cool. I now love White Riot by The Clash because of this gig. Before the last song (Killing in the Name – like I really needed to type that), they played a clip of McElderrys song which got heavily booed. The song purchasing statistics came up which showed that not only did RATM win, they won by a wide margin. With the words “YOU MADE HISTORY!” on the big screens, Killing in the Name started. Excellent

New Words: Not a lot to add really. I saw a fake poster which very much suggested a RATM tour in 2020. It was a fake but apparently RATM are going to be back. Would that mean a UK show/shows? I hope so. I think it would be great if they did another open air gig similar to Finsbury Park. A new album would also be nice (although in the spirit of honesty, I didn’t listen to any of Prophets of Rage). 

8. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – The Ricoh Arena, Coventry. June 2016

Original Words: Going to this gig ticked a box for me, in that I’d wanted to see Springsteen live for quite a while but never got round to doing so. I have spoken to a number of people about his live shows and every review was glowing. My parents, who had seen him once before this gig, said they didn’t know exactly what was going on (he played Darkness on the Edge of Town in full), but they could tell it was something special. This gig just happened to fall on my Mum’s birthday, so I went to visit them and we all went to see Springsteen together. In the US, he had been touring the album The River. I was a bit disappointed when that didn’t happen in Europe but not so disappointed that it took anything away from the gig.

No support band for this one, but one wasn’t needed. Springsteen and his band played for about 3 hours I think, maybe slightly longer. All of the reports I had heard set my bar pretty high for this gig – that bar was surpassed and then some. The whole gig from start to finish was just great – even when songs were being played that I didn’t know, I didn’t feel bored, waiting for one I wanted to see/knew. One thing which impressed me is just how well prepared the band were for the fan requests. They played three fan requests – and one of them was a song rarely played live. Now, they might have ballsed it up for all I know about the song in question – but based on the crowd reaction to it, it didn’t seem that way. They played a few cover songs throughout the course of the evening, the highlight being Because The Night, a Patti Smith song. The overall gig highlight for me was when they played several in quick succession that I loved – Born In The USA, Born To Run and Dancing In The Dark – outstanding stuff. I went to this gig, as said above, to tick a box but I would 100% go and see them again.

New Words: There hasn’t been a UK tour since this one. Would definitely go again if I could.

7. David Gilmour – Royal Albert Hall, London. September 2016

Original Words: I wrote a full review. Click here for that

New Words: I ended that blog by saying I’m not going to say which gig out of David Gilmour or Roger Waters I preferred. By the virtue of this list existing, and both gigs being on it (spoiler alert), I guess I have gone back on what I said originally. Sorry 2016 Mike!

6. Guns N’ Roses – London Stadium, London. June 2017

Original Words: I wrote a full review. Click here for that

New Words: Turns out GnR did come back the next year to headline Download. They are also back next summer. As things stand, I won’t be at that gig. I was at this one though, and it was bloody ace.

5. Rammstein – Stadium MK, Milton Keynes. July 2019

Original Words: This show had everything. Rammstein are an immense live band without the show, and I am sure that if they just turned up, played their songs and left, then everyone in attendance would have a lovely time. However, the show they bring with them just takes it to another level. This tour was the biggest they’ve ever done, and the show (as a result) was the biggest show they’ve ever done. It was incredible the amount they pulled off. I was worried when I saw how much of their new album they were playing live (it is an excellent album, another one in the conversation of my favourite of the year), but I needn’t have worried as the songs just fit in perfectly. It wasn’t until some days after the gig that I remembered they didn’t play Feuer Frei! – and I love that song! It is possible that next year’s list is already wrapped up as well, because Rammstein are bringing this tour back to Europe again in 2020, and I’ll be at the Coventry date, this time in the golden circle. I’ve no idea how different the show will be this time, but I am looking forward to finding out!

New Words: I mean, I wrote these words just the other week. The only additional information I have to offer you is that, for the 2020 tour, the piano duo are supporting again, which I guess means the show will be quite similar to the one this year.

4. Volbeat – Telia Parken, Copenhagen. August 2017

Original Words: I wrote about this gig as part of a blog I wrote about my Copenhagen break. You can read that here. Additionally: “However, some 4 months after this gig has taken place and the reason it is number one is because it was everything I hoped it would be, and then some. The support package of Amorphis and Flogging Molly were brilliant – Flogging Molly especially. It was great to see a filling stadium be won over by how good they are. Volbeat though were on another level. It was just awesome to see a Volbeat show of this magnitude. The setlist was excellent and personally, would have just wanted more to be added rather than anything to be cut. There aren’t many headline bands that would get me to step on a plane to go and see them, but Volbeat are now one of them. I would 100% go back to mainland Europe to see a Volbeat show of this magnitude again.”

New Words: Since this gig, I’ve seen Volbeat twice, both in London. One gig was in the 600 capacity House of Vans and the other at Brixton Academy (a 5000-cap venue, which they sold out). Thinking back on it all now, it is still very strange that these two shows barely make up 10% of the crowd at the Telia Parken that day. Since that gig, I have the show on Blu Ray and it is a bit good.

3. Nine Inch Nails – Royal Albert Hall, London. June 2018

Original Words: I so wanted to see them at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Meltdown festival they were playing one night of. I couldn’t get tickets and that was a real shame. When this one at the Royal Albert Hall got announced, I was a bit more hopeful I would get a ticket and was successful. Black Moth Super Rainbow opened this gig, continuing the pattern of me not really liking bands that open for Nine Inch Nails (in fact, there has only been one I’ve genuinely liked). This was my first time seeing NIN since they were over here in 2014 and I had forgotten just how good they are live. Some of the new material from the 3 EPs released in the last 2 years or so are just massive live, and the cool thing for me about the setlist was that because of this new material, almost half the set was made up of songs I’d not seen them play live before. I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen NIN quite a few times at this stage, and this gig could be the best NIN show I’ve been to. It is certainly in the conversation that is for sure. Part of the reason for this must be the fact it was at the Royal Albert Hall. Previously, whenever I’ve been to the Royal Albert Hall, I’ve been in the gallery standing area. I’ve been fine with this because usually, these are the cheapest tickets. I’ve often wondered if being lower down is worth the money. To stand on the floor for this one I think cost £20-25 more, and to answer that question – it was certainly worth it. My word was it worth it. It got me thinking of other gigs I’ve seen there, and I can now see why people would pay more to sit down there for most things (I’ve wondered since how much more I would have enjoyed Pulp and David Gilmour there, had I been downstairs). That band and that venue fit together perfectly.

2. Roger Waters – Wembley Stadium, London. September 2013

Original Words: Something special is certainly one way to put this gig! I booked this ticket I think in November 2012 and as the day was getting closer, I was getting more and more excited. I was going to see a member of Pink Floyd live and not only that, I was going to see him perform one of the classic Pink Floyd albums in full – The Wall. I’d heard from several people about how superb the arena tour of The Wall was and I couldn’t wait to see it. I’d heard from different people a rumour that the stage would run along the touchline of Wembley rather than one of the ends like a standard stadium show. That was not to be but the stage was bigger than your usual stadium show. I remember standing on the pitch in anticipation, excited but hoping I hadn’t got my hopes too high and would be disappointed. During the first song ‘In The Flesh?’ there were fireworks, explosions and a rigged plane flew over the top of the crowd and on to the stage. It was at this point I knew I would not be disappointed. I could now go into intricate details about the gig and what happened but I’m not writing a review here. I also wouldn’t do the show justice. In fact, there is very little I could say to do this show justice. At the time I could say little more than “wow” and on reflection, I think that probably the best word for it. Aside from hearing my favourite songs from that album, I just loved all the visual effects used in the show. The band Roger Waters assembled for the gig (I’m guessing his regular band) were just excellent. The personal highlights for me song wise were ‘Another Brick In The Wall (Part Two)’, ‘Mother’, ‘Young Lust’, ‘Hey You’, ‘Comfortably Numb’, ‘Run Like Hell’ and ‘The Trial’.  The whole gig was immense and made the decision of what was my favourite gig in 2013 an easy one to make.

New Words: Sorry again 2016 Mike for ranking this against the Gilmour RAH gig. Two very different gigs, but this had The Wall in Wembley Stadium – which was just incredible.

1. System of a Down – Wembley Arena, London. April 2015

Original Words: This was my second time seeing System of a Down. I loved their headline set at Download despite almost every review I’ve seen in the years after saying it was lacklustre. This gig however was far from lacklustre. I could spend time writing every superlative I know about this gig and it still wouldn’t seem appropriate. I’ll just write one for now, it was phenomenal. They played for over 2 hours, playing a 35 song set. As far as dream System of a Down setlists go, this one was as close as I’m sure I’ll ever get to see. But to see them again, and see them just be amazing, was the best moment of 2015 for me in terms of live music. If they release new music and tour, I’m sure I will try to go – but I’m not sure they would be capable of topping this gig for me. I never got to see them play at the Astoria in London (I’ve been told these gigs were something special), but this for me was something very special. Also, Holy Mountains is a fantastic set opener. I had goose bumps from the second it started.

New Words: System of a Down played at Download 2017, and are playing again at Download 2020. I didn’t go in 2017 and am not going in 2020. Seeing SOAD at this gig for me was as close to perfect as I am going to get – and I am happy with this being the last time I see the live. Unless of course, there is a new album and tour that comes with it.

And that, as they say, is that. It has been a pretty damn fine decade of gigs. As can be seen by the amount that made the honourable mentions list, as well as the top 15, I was lucky enough to be able to go to some pretty damn awesome shows. Looking into the calendar for 2020, I currently have a few fun ones lined up including The Bellrays, InMe, Slipknot, The Interrupters, Sabaton, Frank Turner, Employed To Serve, Evanescence/Within Temptation, Faith No More, Green Day/Fall Out Boy/Weezer and Nightwish. I am sure there will be more added to that list, but the next decade is getting off to a good start in terms of gig attendance. 

2017 - A Year In Live Music

Happy New Year! In previous years around this time, I’ve posted a blog about my top 10 favourite gigs of the year, as well as favourite festival sets as well. As I didn’t go to a festival this year, it will be difficult to do a top list of bands seen at a festival. Instead, I’m going to just rank the gigs I’ve been to, but I will also talk about the ones that didn’t make the top 10 as honourable mentions. I’ll do the gigs that didn’t make it in chronological order, as to not create a top 15.

I wrote a blog earlier this year the evening that the news broke about Chester Bennington passing away. It would feel improper to not mention both him and Chris Cornell’s passing. Whenever I hear a song that either of those men have been a part of, I still feel a pang of sadness. Only following his passing have I realised how much of a genius Chris Cornell was. I said in the blog about Chester that I didn’t care for the later works of Linkin Park but it wasn’t the time to really address that. I still feel it would not be appropriate to really discuss that point as I wouldn’t want it to come across as disrespectful. I cannot stress the point enough about how much of an impact Hybrid Theory had on my life however, and I wanted to mention both men as they are still very much in my thoughts as the year ends.

Let’s kick on with the honourable mentions of 2017 gigs – the ones that didn’t quite make the top 10.

Kreator – O2 Kentish Town Forum, London. March 2017 – This was probably the closest gig to making the top 10 which didn’t. The bill was superb, with Aborted, Soilwork and Sepultura in support. Soilwork are just excellent live. Sepultura really got the crowd moving when they played some of their classics – but you can’t help but wonder if they could headline this venue and bigger ones if Max and Igor were in the band. Probably bigger, as Max and Igor headlined it doing a Return to Roots show. Kreator were their usual great selves live. The new material fits in very well in their set. Their new album is excellent. I guess if I’m looking for negatives for this not being in the top 10 is because by the end of it, I was really tired and ended up leaving during Pleasure to Kill. Think this is the 3^rd time I’ve seen Kreator in this venue but I’d go again, amazing support bill or not (although come on Kreator, bring Vader to the UK one time!)

Morass of Molasses – Edge of The Wedge, Portsmouth. April 2017 – I could almost copy and paste my words from last year, but just change the names of the supporting bands. The opening band didn’t do a great deal for me. Gravel Rash were good fun. Morass of Molasses were the band of the night though. Riffs for days! Sadly, I’m not sure when the next chance I will have to see them again is, but if they come back to Portsmouth after their Icebreaker appearance, I will be there. I was also really pleased to see them on the bill for DesertFest in London. That sounds like an awesome festival that I want to attend one year.

While She Sleeps – The Talking Heads, Southampton. April 2017 – First visit to the new Talking Heads and I want the old one back! I know that won’t happen but a man can dream! It was very weird that I walked into a venue for a sold out gig and wasn’t ticket checked but oh well. This gig is an honourable mention for two reasons. The first being how good the top 10 are in my opinion (if I were to try and give this a place were this to be a top 15, I would say it would be 11^th or 12^th – in a knife fight with Kreator). The second being the slight awkwardness about bumping into an old school friend who I no longer speak to (my fault, not theirs). Sadly, that awkwardness is my lasting memory of the gig rather than how good While She Sleeps were, which is a shame as they were bloody excellent. I really like their latest album and the material from it live crushes. Hopefully I will get a chance to see them live again. I find it hard to believe it will be in such an intimate setting mind (I was surprised when it was first announced).

Ginger Wildheart – The Railway, Winchester. April 2017 – It is always tough for me to not include everything Ginger and Wildhearts related in any top 10 list at the end of the year. This was a set list that contained some great Wildhearts material but the main focus was solo material, including from the recently released Ghost In The Tanglewood. It was a really fun night and a great first visit to The Railway pub.

Dragonforce – The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth. October 2017 – If I was doing a top 15, this would be 15^th. Power Quest had a decent set supporting them. Dragonforce started off really good as well but about half way through the set, they did a long drum solo and then the singer and bassist picking up the guitars and having a mess around, which was cool in places but it lost me. After this, I just wasn’t interested. They did their cover of Ring of Fire which is just dreadful. They closed with Through The Fire and Flames which was cool but not enough to save this gig for me. Shame really, as I was really looking forward to it beforehand.

Top 10

10 – KT Tunstall – Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry. May 2017

For a full review of this gig, please click here! A quick review though, Nina Nesbitt was good in support. KT Tunstall was excellent. The set list contained 5 out of 6 of my favourite songs of hers which was ace. I hope this is not the only time I see her perform live.

9. The Wildhearts – Rock City, Nottingham. January 2017

The Wildhearts playing Fishing For Luckies in full, Massive Wagons and The Main Grains – what is not to love?! This gig was just brilliant. I enjoyed The Main Grains and suspect I’d go see them play if they did a headline show. Massive Wagons were bloody wonderful. They are doing a headline show nearby and based on how good they were on this night, I definitely want to go to it. Now, the reason why this gig is 9^th is because the story after the gig has become more of a talking point than the gig itself. The gig itself was bloody excellent and seeing The Wildhearts play Fishing For Luckies in full was just superb – it was the only UK outing for this album in full and I would definitely go again if they did a full tour playing it. Seeing Danny on stage for the conclusion was a wonderful thing as well. However, I had 1 or 2 too many beverages of the alcoholic persuasion during the gig and on the walk back to the hotel afterwards, I got really lost. So much so I had to call an uber to get me back to the hotel (something which made the driver laugh a lot at my expense – deservedly so I feel). I have often criticised people who get drunk beyond the point of no return during gigs because why would you spend so much to go to a gig, and then get so drunk you can’t remember some/all of it. Well, on this occasion, I was that person. I remember the gig being amazing, but certain specifics of the gig are lost in an alcoholic haze, which is a shame.

8. Weezer - Wembley Arena, London. October 2017 -

Last year, Weezer’s gig at Brixton Academy was in my top 3 of the year. It seems odd to have them in eighth in this list and it isn’t because the gig wasn’t excellent because it was. Ash were the special guests and they were outstanding. Weezer were better however. The set only contained 2 songs from their latest album which I was pleased about, although not the fact the one I really like off the album wasn’t played. Weezer have so many fantastic songs though and they played a whole heap of them, which made for a lovely evening. Dope Nose being in the set list probably would have made it a top 5 gig, as I love that song. Can’t win them all.

7. Milk Teeth – The Joiners, Southampton. August 2017 -

The opening band on this tour, Wallflower, were decent. However, if I am to be honest I don’t remember a great deal about them. The main support however, Employed To Serve, I mean fucking hell. They are a stunning band on record – their latest album The Warmth of a Dying Sun is just awesome. Live though? They are a force to be reckoned with. I really hope I get to see them again live. Milk Teeth were just as good as Employed To Serve. Both bands absolutely smashed it on this evening and I honestly couldn’t pick a favourite. Just a lovely way to spend an evening was this gig. Milk Teeth and Employed To Serve are two bands I’ve properly discovered this year and my life is better because of it.

6. The Wildhearts (Acoustic) – Engine Rooms, Southampton. December 2017

Engine Rooms was an interesting choice for this show as I would have thought the Joiners or Talking Heads would have suited it better but no matter. Before I start waffling about how good The Wildhearts were, I want to give a nod to Dave McPherson, who opened this gig. I’ve seen Ginger play a handful of acoustic shows, and they have all been excellent. I went into this evening with high hopes and they were more than met by Ginger and CJ. The set list was packed with the best of The Wildhearts back catalogue and it all just worked so well in this environment. The singalongs were as good as any Wildhearts show which made it even better. I walked in wondering whether this gig would make the top 10, and walked out wondering just how high it should be (caused me to do some reordering, that is for sure) – with a massive grin on my face. More of this sort of thing, please!

5. Marmozets – The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth. November 2017

This gig was originally scheduled to be on the same day as I was seeing Metallica in Birmingham and so, I didn’t buy a ticket. Then Becca, the singer, was unwell so a few of the gigs got pushed back. Portsmouth was pushed back by two days, meaning I was able to make it. It would be a bit weird to say I’m happy that Becca got ill, but I’m kinda glad she did as this was my first time seeing Marmozets and they blew me away with how good they are live. Their debut album (The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets) has been in regular rotation for me since this gig but in particular, Why Do You Hate Me is a song I’ve played over and over. It was about a 75-minute headline set and it was just superb. It was tough not to put this gig higher truth be told. The band announced extra dates just before this gig and I remember before the gig turning to a mate and saying “Southampton on a Saturday night is nice, but this will likely do me”. About 2 songs in, I was changing my position on this. Now? Marmozets at the Engine Rooms is currently scheduled to be my first gig of 2018 (tempted by Hatebreed or Mongol Horde, both of which are the weekend before it). I am really excited to see them again. I expect to be writing words about them again this time next year based on how good the Portsmouth date was.

4. Metallica – The O2, London. October 2017

Picking between two Metallica gigs in one year is like picking your favourite child (I guess, being childless I’m not quite sure if that is true). I felt it would be cheating to have them tied for the same place (which in prep for this, I noted I did in a previous year for Frank Turner gigs – but there were a lot more to pick from in 2015 – probably). Anyhow, Kvelertak are a band that need crystal clear sound live for people to hear just how good they are. Alas, this was not to be on this night (or at the Birmingham gig, so I’m guessing they made the best of what they could have). Metallica though, I mean, damn. I really like most of their latest album, and the stuff they played from it was just great – especially Moth Into Flame. The older material was, as ever, stunning. One of the best bits of this gig for me was going with a mate who had never seen Metallica before. When the band had just finished One, he looked at me and said, “that was awesome!” to which I replied “well, it is about to get better” with a shit-eating grin on my face. Just as he asked how, the band kicked into Master of Puppets. That, that’s how!

3. Metallica – Genting Arena, Birmingham. October 2017 –

A lot of what I have just written above is the case for this gig. However, Metallica played Spit Out The Bone at this gig, whereas they didn’t in London. Fine margins indeed!

2. Guns N’ Roses – London Stadium, London. June 2017 –

Before the tour was announced, I never thought I would see Axl, Slash and Duff on the same stage. When the reunion tour was announced, I said the only thing which would stop me going would be if it was silly money. Sure, £100 a ticket was steep, but it was entirely worth it. A full review can be read here.

1. Volbeat – Telia Parken, Copenhagen. August 2017

I wrote about this gig as a part of my Copenhagen blog. However, some 4 months after this gig has taken place and the reason it is number one is because it was everything I hoped it would be, and then some. The support package of Amorphis and Flogging Molly were brilliant – Flogging Molly especially. It was great to see a filling stadium be won over by how good they are. Volbeat though were on another level. It was just awesome to see a Volbeat show of this magnitude. The setlist was excellent and personally, would have just wanted more to be added rather than anything to be cut. There aren’t many headline bands that would get me to step on a plane to go and see them, but Volbeat are now one of them. I would 100% go back to mainland Europe to see a Volbeat show of this magnitude again.

And that, as they say, is that. It was a decent year certainly for gigs. I’ve got high hopes for some of the gigs I have lined up in 2018. So far, I’ve booked a ticket for Marmozets, Milk Teeth, Cancer Bats (performing Hail Destroyer in full), the Britrock Must Be Destroyed tour, Frank Turner for a night at the Lost Evenings festival playing Love, Ire and Song in full and, last but not least, an evening with Machine Head. These should all be pretty good. Roll on the first one!

Live Review: Guns N' Roses - Not In This Lifetime - Live at London Stadium 17/06/2017

Yesterday, I went to the Guns N’ Roses “Not In This Lifetime” tour when it was in its second night at the Olympic Stadium in London - now rechristened since West Ham United made it their home as London Stadium – catchy. I had seen Guns N’ Roses twice before this day – Download 2006 (the least said the better) and Manchester in 2012 – which was excellent. Occasionally, when I would mention the fact I’d seen Guns N’ Roses and list these dates, people would scoff and say something to the effect “no, you’ve seen Axl”. I’m sure there are other bands in a similar situation where the line-up had all changed aside from the singer – perhaps not as big as Guns N’ Roses were/are. Regardless of where you stand on this one, I saw a band who toured under the name Guns N’ Roses with Axl Rose on vocals and previously that had been good enough for me. I have also seen Slash (and Duff McKagan for that matter) play GnR songs live, so that was cool.

It probably doesn’t need stating but I imagine I was in the minority of people by having this view as the band Guns N’ Roses were playing arenas in this country and they weren’t full (on their last arena tour – London tickets were being given away for free on the day – limit quantities of them but still). On this tour, with Slash and Duff back in the band, they have been playing big open air gigs and stadiums around the world (selling out several them as well – don’t know how many off hand). When the rumbling of a reunion between Axl and Slash started, I didn’t believe it would happen – there just seemed to be too much bad blood between them. I was quietly hopeful though as I never got the chance to see these two perform on the same stage together. Then it was announced that it was taking place and I knew that if/when it was coming to this country, I had to go. There was a bit of chat about them headlining both the Download and IOW festivals – but when Download announced their headliners and Guns N’ Roses weren’t one of them, it was clear that wasn’t happening – not in 2017 at least. They instead announced a date at London Stadium, which quickly became two dates due to demand for tickets. I couldn’t get one for the Friday but managed to grab one for the Saturday. This was back in December (apparently) so since then, it has been the waiting game.

That waiting game came to its conclusion yesterday. I’ve been to London Stadium before for athletics, rugby and to run around as part of the Great Newham 10k, but never for live music so this was going to be a new experience. I can now say that I’m a fan of London Stadium as a live music venue. Whilst being slightly smaller than Wembley in terms of overall capacity – I can see it becoming London’s home for stadium rock gigs as the standing area is noticeably bigger than Wembley’s (and other comparable stadiums like Twickenham and Arsenal’s ground I would say). Because the area as well was built with the London 2012 Olympics in mind, it can easily cope with the numbers of people that would come to a big gig as well. When I arrived in the area yesterday, it was dead easy to find where I needed to be, and I ended up entering the stadium concourse right by a merch stand (funny how that happened) – so I grabbed myself a tour shirt. £30 is steep for a t-shirt without doubt – especially when the tickets weren’t exactly cheap – but I don’t do it very often.

On to the gig itself. The opening band were called Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown. I’ve seen their name about but never actually listened to them (a brief bit of research tells me they just played Download). They also supported AC/DC last year at London Stadium – someone in a high place is a fan of this band clearly! That aside, I enjoyed their set. It made me want to go back and listen to them again (I haven’t yet because in all honesty, my soundtrack to writing this is Guns N’ Roses with the shuffle button on). I will aim to check them out some more though. I suspect they will be back in this country before long. The main support was The Kills. Now, I’m not complaining, but I did note that the main support in Dublin was Royal Blood, and around Europe, it is Biffy Clyro – are The Kills a slight drop off? In my view, yes. I’ve just googled to find out some more tour supports and seen that one of the founding members of the band used to be married to Kate Moss. Odd that information was offered up without needing to search for it. Anyway – I first heard of this band when they were due to support Metallica in Paris in 2012 - almost every other European show had Gojira and Machine Head. Paris got Gojira and The Kills – bullshit if you ask me! Anyhow, I didn’t mind some of The Kills stuff, but overall I would say it is not for me. It probably would have made more sense to swap the bands around – maybe The Kills are bigger than Tyler Bryant, but genre wise I would have said Tyler Bryant is more fitting for a rock show like this. Oh well. The Kills weren’t terrible, but I doubt I will go out of my way to listen to them again.

On to the main event, and my word – what a main event it was. For about 15 minutes before the band came on, the stage graphics started moving around which was good. A Motorhead song on the PA went quiet, and gun shots rang out from the speakers and then the Looney Tunes theme tune. Not long after this, the band were on stage. It was quite surreal actually seeing Axl, Slash and Duff on the same stage together – even though they had been touring together for a little while at this point – to actually see it was quite something.

What then followed was 2 and a half hours plus of Guns N’ Roses playing a set list which was immense. Early doors, the question of whether the set would feature Chinese Democracy material was answered, with the title track being the 3^rd song played. Two others from that album were played – Better and This I Love. I was really pleased to hear them and that the album hasn’t been ignored as there are some great songs on it. I would have loved to have heard Shackler’s Revenge as well, but you can’t have everything! Looking over the set list again now, it is hard to pick out highlights as the whole thing was excellent. The opening of It’s So Easy into Mr Brownstone into Chinese Democracy into Welcome To The Jungle was outrageous. The run of Estranged, Live and Let Die, Rocket Queen and You Could Be Mine before a cover of The Damned’s New Rose was brilliant. Civil War into Yesterdays and Coma? Fantastic. The build up to Sweet Child O’ Mine before Slash launched into the very familiar intro was great. An instrumental cover of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here into November Rain (with the Layla piano outro as an intro) was just massive. Gun to my head, November Rain is probably my favourite Guns N’ Roses song and this was a great performance of an epic song. The mood changed considerably as the band paid tribute to the recently departed Chris Cornell by playing Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun. It was a special moment. Axl then dedicated the moment to the people who had died recently in the UK in the terror attacks and the Grenfall tower fire before the band played Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. The main set ended with Nightrain – but the band were back before long to end the gig with Don’t Cry, a cover of AC/DC’s Whole Lotta Rosie and ending proceedings with Paradise City. To me, that is a near perfect set list. I would have loved to hear My Michelle (which was played the night before at the expense of Out Ta Get Me). There are other songs from the Use Your Illusion albums I would have liked to have heard but as said earlier – you can’t have everything.

Not only was the set list a great one, but the band matched it with how good they were. The band have introduced a backing vocalist who also plays some other instruments when needed to support Axl’s vocals which I think worked really well – for the most part you couldn’t tell she was singing (which I guess is the point). This gig was one of the best I’ve been to – that is a sentiment that is easy to express as the gig is still fresh in my mind but I feel as though this one will live with me for a long time and for all the right reasons – it will take something special for this not to be my gig of the year.  The one thing I wish I had done differently? I wish I had stumped up for a golden circle ticket just to be a bit closer to the action – without doubt it would have been worth it.

Will they come back to the UK with this line up on this tour? Will it be the same set or slightly altered? Will it be their own shows again or will they headline festivals? At this stage, it is impossible for us to answer these questions (the only people I suspect who know are the band and their management). All I can say is I hope so. Absolute belter of a gig, that was!