Best gigs this year.

My list of the best gigs Ive been to this year.
I'm going to take the format of only one gig per band as though I've been to a lot this year I've tended to see a select number of artists a few times (S-K 7, Gossip 3, Rogers 5, Joan 2 YSPWSD 2, TEVGC 2) This makes it tough for the S-K gig, the obvious would be PDX, but here we go.
As foot note as most people who do this giggin' lark know it's not just the band and their performance that makes a good gig it's everything that surrounds it. The people the place the travel. The whole experience basically.

1. S-K - Starlight Ballroom - Philadelphia. 31/7.
Yes I'm ranking this show as the best, even ahead of PDX2. Where do I start, everything here was such an experience. I swear after the opening bars to "Start Together" and when they ripped into the body of the song I had tears in my eyes. Then "Fox" - "Drama" an S-K show couldn't start better than that. Everything else that surrounded it too. I ended up doing a 30 hour day, there were times in line for this show I thought I wasn't going to make it and was close to passing out, as the heat was unbearable. Is this fun? well it was an experience and I did it. All this then after the show when the ladies came out Corin points at me and says "Hey I know you from England don't I". It was here too that I first met some lovely wonderful people, who made the whole thing more than worth the money. Thanks again.

2. Gossip - Manchester - Roadhouse. 4/11.
This was the third time I'd them this year, but again what surrounded this gig was so good. The show itself so was so good, they seemed to have a new self confidence here. The venue suited them, the crowd was really full and up for it without being too violent. Beth clasped my hand again, yay!. Again I met some lovely people, Vilevile creatures, and their friends. Nick from the S-K board. Shook hands and had a quick word with Brace too. Great night.

3. YSPWSD/TVEGC - Manchester Roadhouse. 14/11.
This gets third spot cuz both band were on great form on this night. It was also the second time I'd seen both of them. I had a really good chat with two of the guys from YSPWSD before the show too about the state of Canadian music. I also had a chat with Lou after and got a signed limited edition 7" single. These are two bands that I really like live too.

4. Quasi - Manchester - Roadhouse. 22/8.
I was apprehensive about this because I had persuaded my mate Tim and his girlfriend Bev to come along. It was also the first post S-K outing seeing Janet. They were great though, even if they did have a few sound probs at first. Half way thru the show Tim was proclaiming Sam to be a genius. I had a good chat with Janet before too, I said I'd forgot to thank her for the water in Philly. We chatted and she asked me where I lived, I said about 40 mile away and we joked that it was a local gig for me then. Lovely lady. She made a point of coming over and saying goodbye after the gig too. Special lady.

5. Erase Errata - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds. 16/10.
The only reason this is not higher up the list is that the other bands on the bill were not up to much. EE were great, I would love to have seen them more than once, but they only played 3 or 4 UK shows. Leeds being the closest. I did grab Ellie's set list though.

A mention will also go to Broken Social Scene- Manchester Academy
Joan as policewoman - Manchester - Night & Day.
Metric/Scissors for Lefty - Manchester - Life Cafe.

So there we are, next up my fave albums of the year.