Top 5 Gigs Of The Year
Callum Thornhill
2015 has been a fantastic year for gigs. From my local pub to Shepherds Bush Empire, I have been all over this year to see some of the best live bands about. I have narrowed down thirty-odd gigs to five and gave a brief description on why they were so good.
I already have bands such as The Stone Roses and The Front Bottoms booked in for 2016 - a year that can only get better for gigs.
1.
Catfish and the Bottlemen | Shepherds Bush Empire, London | 1/4
The second of two nights that I saw Catfish and the Bottlemen on the March/April tour at Shepherds Bush's beautiful empire tops the list as gig of the year.
The set list included everything from The Balcony and when tickets for this gig sold out, they became gold dust for fans that wanted to see what the hype was about.
When their autumn tour almost instantly sold out, it prompted discussion that this band could soon be selling out arenas - just last week they sold out Castlefield Bowl in SIX minutes!
This was the seventh time I had seen Catfish and the Bottlemen and by far the best. From social clubs to packed festival appearances, this topped the lot.
Read the full review here:
2.
The 1975 | O2 Academy, Newcastle | 15/11
Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I used to hate the 1975. However, when their EPs came out on record for Record Store Day this year I gave them another go and fell back in love with them.
Tickets went on sale for the tour and I wasn't bothered about getting tickets, but the more I listened to the band, the more I knew I had to go. The gig was the day after my birthday and I spent my birthday on a (very cold) Stagecoach bus doing a two hour round trip to pick up tickets for what was my second favourite gig of the year.
Matty Healy and co. can be proud of the performance - both the audio and visual aspects.
Support came from Rat Boy who was as fabulous as always.
Read the full review here:
3.
Tame Impala | Olympia, Liverpool | 9/9
After waiting to see Tame Impala for as long as I can remember, I finally got to see the Aussie psych rockers in Liverpool - a 300 mile round trip.
Playing warm up shows at Liverpool and Glasgow before a festival performance, I simply could NOT miss out on seeing the band that contributed the massively catchy Elephant to endless adverts over the past few years.
When their latest album Currents came out I became even more excited to see Tame Impala in the flesh and the setlist (included my personal favourite Nothing That Has Happened...) did not disappoint.
Was the six(ish) hour journey worth it? Definitely! I look forward to seeing them again in Manchester next year and hopefully they will play 2016's Reading and Leeds Festival.
Read the full review here:
4.
Courteeners | Heaton Park, Manchester | 5/6
My favourite band selling 25,000 tickets to sell out Manchester's Heaton Park was a special moment for every Courteeners fan around the country. When I got tickets I was absolutely buzzing, when support was announced as Peace, Blossoms and Bipolar Sunshine the buzz got bigger.
I had already seen them at a warm-up show at Leeds O2 Academy three days before so I knew that Liam Fray and co. would blow the park away.
Flares and smoke bombs lit up the Manchester sky for the full night and the 25,000 strong crowd belted the lyrics back at the stage that Courteeners have learned to fill so well.
Hopefully this gig will be released on DVD just like Castlefield Bowl was - if not I can just watch and rewatch the Small Bones video for three minutes of reminiscing.
I did not review Heaton Park, but read the review from Leeds Academy here:
5.
Foals | O2 Academy, Newcastle | 11/11
Like Tame Impala, Foals were a band that I had never seen until this year. But the Newcastle gig wasn't the first time I saw them - they played a secret set at Leeds Festival.
Oxford-based Foals have a massive sound, one that will surely rip arenas apart next year when they tour some of the biggest and best venues in the UK with Everything Everything.
The setlist couldn't have been complained at - merging tracks from Antidotes, Total Life Forever, Holy Fire and latest album What Went Down. Yannis Philippakis surfed the crowd, necked shots on the back bar and gave his soul to the Newcastle crowd.
Foals are undeniably one of the greatest bands that the UK have ever produced. If you ever get a chance to see them live I beg that you do.
Read the full review here:
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Best of the rest: Circa Waves, Jaws, Palma Violets, Blaenavon and many more here.
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