It's been a while since I blogged regularly. Over a year, in fact. As part of my sweeping list of personal changes that I've decided to put in force at the rather arbitrary point of personal change that is the new year, I've decided to start blogging again. It's part of the whole "write more so your academic work is better" thing too, so it benefits everyone. You get to read my (completely factual) opions again on a regular basis, I get better results at University. Hurrah.
As this marks the beginning of a new year, what better to do than look back at the last one? Personally, 2011 was a rather similar year to ones that have passed previously, though it did mark a full year of me not being in school, which is something I'm still not used to. I also started tweeting, though I get the feeling there's times where people would rather I hadn't done that. Either way, it means I'm prepared in some way for coming back to blogging, as it has provided a handy outlet for my rage. 140 character limit be damned. So with that in mind, let's look at my awards for 2011. As this will primarily be a music-based blog (getting the reviews back on a Sunday), this will be a primarily music-based list.
I saw more bands this year than ever before. Admittedly this was my first full year of going to gigs, but it was still an unusually large amount for me. Frequent gigs meant I saw well over 20 bands, and that doesn't include those I saw at T in the Park. So, how did they go?
Best Value for Money Gig:
Manchester Orchestra & The Xcerts at the ABC - £13.34
Since it's unfair to include a free gig in this list, the honour here goes to a gig which was also in my top 3 on the year. The Xcerts were flawless and one of the most "real" bands I've seen live. By that I mean you believed in Murray as he was singing, you knew that the music was coming from a real place and that they meant every note they played, which is very rare. Couple that with a similar performance from Manchester Orchestra and Andy Hull being a top chap, and it was a night to remember. Any other year would have seen it as my favourite gig of the year.
Worst Value for Money Gig:
Is it Rise Against, where I made a £35 loss on tickets because my friends are useless? Glasvegas at £20 for the same reason? Bryan Adams at £45 for being in an uncomfortable seat miles away from stage? No, there was a gig this year that managed to out-do all of those.
White Lies at the Barrowlands - £18.75
But that's cheap I hear you cry! I cry right back that this was unequivocally the worst gig I've ever been to, and will hold this place for a long time. Long waiting times between bands for a relatively short and bad set from White Lies themselves would have been bearable, but when you've got one support who cover Ceremony without a drummer and another with some pretentious American in sunglasses and leather yelping to a backdrop of utter crap, it's not going to be a good night. Couple all this with a crowd who seemed to be seeing something different from me, and it was not an enjoyable evening.
Most Improved Band:
Clare Maguire & Hurts
Upon seeing Hurts supported by Clare Maguire in October 2010, I was surprised. Both at how well Hurts commanded a stage, and how the heavily hyped Clare Maguire was a banshee who was wearing something your granny knitted 40 years ago to cover herself in the evenings when she gets cold. February's gig at the ABC changed that however, as Maguire was now a force to be reckoned with, combining a powerful voice and catchy songs with a look that took your breath away. I actually felt guilty that I didn't know the words to any of her songs, and subsequently bought her album the day it came out. Hurts are added in here too, since the difference between their subdued T in the Park slot compared to their November gig at the Academy was even more remarkable than Clare Maguire's transformation. While the festival slot is a tough one for Hurts who by this point had created a brilliant on-stage spectacle to go with the music, the atmosphere at the Academy gig was too brilliant to go un-praised. With the crowd actually bouncing at points (but in a civilised way for once), it had a certain magic which is hard to find in live music. And when you saw Theo Hutchcraft's surprise and joy at this, you knew it was a good night.
Most Painful Gig:
Rise Against
Given the lasting effects of this gig (about a month's worth of the cold), it outstrips everything else. There was an atmosphere at this gig, something that just made you feel like it was going to be a wild night. It was. I went with two friends, one of whom I never saw after the opening of Re-Education. The rest of the time I was being battered senseless, attempting to survive the whole setlist. I did. I was rewarded with Savior as the closer, which was performed with such power I was moved to tears.
Best Live Song(s):
Let it Happen - Jimmy Eat World at T in the Park, 9/7/11
Lights - Interpol at the Academy, 24/8/11
Hurt With Me - The Xcerts at the ABC, 3/10/11
Savior - Rise Against at the Academy, 4/11/11
Poke - Scott Hutchison at Bar Bloc, 20/12/11
Best Moments of the Year:
5. Finding out that The Xcerts were playing at T in the Park, which I didn't know about previously. The weekend was going to be excellent up until that point anyway, but finding that out was the icing on the cake. Seeing them again in October was even better, and I daresay seeing them in King Tuts will be an improvement still.
4. Pearl Jam Twenty. Love is a word thrown around a lot, but it's certainly applicable here.
3. A tie at 3, between seeing Jimmy Eat World at T in the Park and Rise Against performing Savior. It's not every festival that lets you see 3 of your all-time favourites at once, but JEW had a certain class about them. Let it Happen and Big Casino live are just magical. In saying that, it's not often you see a band work their way into your all-time favourites after seeing them once. It's certainly rarer that a gig moves you to tears. I may even get a Rise Against t-shirt.
2. Another tie at number 2, but these moments are both from Scott Hutchison's solo gig at Bloc in December. If it wasn't surreal enough that he got on stage by walking past me (all gigs should start by them walking through the crowd), then Poke certainly was. Performed at the back of the stage with no microphone, hearing the crowd whipsering the first lines solemnly only to burst out in the chorus of ooh's was jaw-dropping. What kept your jaw on the floor was the slow build-up to the end of the song, with the crowd & Scott getting progressively louder before the last "And now we're un-related/And rid of all the shit we hated/But I hate when I feel like this/And I never hated you." There was a sense after that of amazement in the crowd. We knew we'd experienced something special. And in any other year, it would have been my top moment.
1. Pulp. I remember Pulp announcing two festival dates at the beginning of 2011. Wireless in London, and the Primavera thing in Spain. Since they were so far afield, I never thought anything else of it. Besides, I wasn't 15. While Pulp were a big part of my growing up, I wasn't that bothered now, even if they were reforming. And I'd said last year that I wasn't going to a festival again. Then the T in the Park line-up was announced, and I changed my mind. I remember constantly bringing up Pulp over the weekend ("Conner guess whit," "whit?" "PULP"), I didn't feel that excited. Even on the Sunday, it started like every other day had that weekend. A bit nervous as we entered the front after Weezer, but nothing out of the ordinary, though I do remember feeling a bit bad that Conner wasn't there, since I'd badgered him to go to T in the Park in the first place. Anyway, My Chemical Romance were pish and as Harry and Josh left, I worked my way to the front. This is where it got interesting. I don't remember moving forward, but I do remember being where I ended up, seeing the letters go up on stage. I remember arguing with this fat Aberdonian Foo Fighters fan who was giving it what I'd been hearing for years "aww Pulp are shite," albeit in a different, more annoying accent. Then, with about 5 minutes to go, I began to feel nervous. Partly because I couldn't move my spine and I felt dizzy from not eating, but mostly because it hit me - I was going to see Pulp. The first band I'd ever obsessed about. The first band that really meant something to me. Then they walked out. Then this happened:
Then it hit me. I was seeing this. It was actually happening, and it was fucking amazing. I was 15 again, I was delirously happy, and I didn't care that I was surrounded by people there to see Foo Fighters. I sang my heart out. I shouted "I FUCKING LOVE YOU JARVISSSSSSS" several times. I even managed to do the "stomach in/chest out/on your marks, get set, go!" bit in Monday Morning despite not being able to move properly. My feelings can be summed up in one of Jarvis' quotes from on-stage, after someone had thrown one of the rain ponchos on:
"Oh what's this, a rain-mac? We're not worried about that are we? Don't worry. *points up* I've hard a word." *throws poncho behind him, kicking it away with a nonchalant flick*
It'll sound cheesy, but that's the closest I have come and closest I'm likely to come to having a religous experience. I certainly felt that way at the end, after I'd been lifted over and had been gabbering shite to the security guy for keeping me alive with water, I broke down. I have honestly never been as happy in my life as I was in the time I spent seeing Pulp, and the 5-10 minutes afterwards. Everyone should experience this at some point in their life. I'm just glad I got to do it at least once.
Well, that's all the gig awards I can think of covered. Now to the big ones, Album and Song of 2011.
Album: 2011 was a bad year for albums. There weren't many out that were real quality, certainly not when compared to years past. I blame Radiohead for that slightly, putting out utter drivel when they should be doing better. I know In Rainbows was hard to follow-up, but come on. Some effort would have been nice. Anyway, the best album in 2011 was...
Simple Math by Manchester Orchestra. I covered them earlier in this post and will have a full review of the album up soon (next Sunday, probably), but this was the best full release of the year. Buy it and get into them, if you haven't already.
Song: It's probably a mark of music currently that it's much harder to pick out the best song of the year than the best album. While there were some outstanding songs, very few were from albums which were consistently as good. It's still a hard decision, and one which I haven't made to be honest. My shortlist:
All the Eastern Girls - Chapel Club
Last Dance - Clare Maguire
Hours - Evaline
Walk - Foo Fighters
Blue Cassette - Friendly Fires
Fuck This Place - Frightened Rabbit
Dancing in the Devil's Shoes - Guillemots
Architects - Rise Against
Come Down - White Lies
I realise the irony of there not being a Manchester Orchestra song on there, but I like all of those individually over any individual songs from Simple Math. Of the songs listed, I can't decide. I'm tempted to say it's Hours by Evaline, but then Come Down is an outstanding piece of work. Fuck This Place and Dancing in the Devil's Shoes are beautiful and would ease this contest in any other year, while Walk is the best Foo Fighters song since Everlong. The rest are all good and worth noting, but maybe not quite enough to edge it. Either way, it was certainly a better year for songs than albums.
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And that's that. That was my 2011. Quite a year. I'll certainly struggle to top it in 2012 (unless I win the lottery and get to see Pearl Jam), but I can try. And I'll chronicle that quest here for your enjoyment.
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