the gigs that made 2009.

so, here we go. the best gigs i attended all year. there's been a plethora of them, but that two that came out on top were streets ahead of anything i've ever seen. seriously.

10. AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR/LAFARO: cassette, glasgow, 11/2

9. THE ANTLERS: 13^th note, glasgow, 17/11

8. WILD BEASTS: the arches, glasgow, 29/9

7. THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART: nice 'n sleazys, glasgow, 20/5

6. EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY: spring and airbrake, belfast, 6/9

5. A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS/JAPANDROIDS: captain's rest, glasgow, 12/11

there's very little to be said about a place to bury strangers' live setup that hasn't already been pasted over numerous websites. they're loud, they're very, very, VERY loud. they use massive amounts of strobe lights. there's so much reverb and distortion that you think your stomach might end up coming out of your ears. but crucially, they pull all of this off effortlessly. lesser bands have been ruined by hiding behind walls of noise, smoke and flashes, but not oliver ackermann and his not-so-merry crew. this was the third time i had managed to catch aptbs in a two year stretch, but this gig stood out immensely. the oldies were OBVIOUSLY still goodies, the 'exploding head' era material (which i admit to having been initially sceptical of) sounded filled-out and truly fucking monsterous live, and the confines of the captain's rest ensured the sound, although really REALLY loud, stayed listenable. plus, japandroids were friggin' unbelievable too.

4. AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR'S ALBUM LAUNCH, mandela hall, belfast, 4/4

and so i watch you from afar: where do you start... ripping the roof off venues around wee norn iron for a good while, suddenly the press and the punters seemed to sit up and take notice. fast forward past numerous uk tours, 2 e.ps, the unbelievable 'tonight the city burns' and 'solidarity' gig projects, and 2009 finally saw their stunning self-titled debut album primed and ready for release on the unsuspecting public. needless to say, i had NEVER witnessed so much anticipation before a so-called ''local'' gig, and it certainly did NOT disappoint in the slightest. ripping straight into set guitars to kill, the north-coast legends-in-the-making stomped, flailed and careered through the entire lp, climaxing with a gut-blastingly epic rendition of eat the city, eat it whole.. the crowd was nuts, the band were nuts, the sound was excellent, and everyone left with a smile on their face and sweat pouring from their foreheads.. it was a just a wee bit special..

3. GIRLS, SWANTON BOMBS: captain's rest, glasgow, 13/10

girls: hyped beyond any reasonable proportion coming into 09, did anyone actually think they could fill out their early promise? aye, well, they did. 'album' is one of the year's bona fide classic-in-the-waiting pop records, and they slay live. i had no idea what to expect going into this show, but i hadn't counted on it being one of the finest gigs of the year. firing out breakout single and album standout 'lust for life' early in their set struck me at the time as being a bit of a gamble, but charging into an huge, distortion-heavy rendition of 'big bad mean mother fucker,' and reigning it back in immediately for the melancholy 'hellhole ratrace,' showed just how versatile and genuinely special this band are. plus, my blissfully ignorant glaswegian flatmate asking singer christopher owens ''so pal...where ya fae?'' and continuing the conversation with ''...ohh san francisco..you just over here for university then, aye?'' was probably the single funniest occurance of my entire semester.

JOINT FIRST PLACE, BECAUSE IM INDECISIVE AND HONESTLY COULDN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF IF I JUDGED EITHER TO BE BETTER THAN THE OTHER:

1= MOGWAI: the academy, dublin, 20/3

one of my most beloved bands.
one of the best live acts of this, or any other, generation.
playing a venue they could sell out ten-times over.
in dublin.
on my twentieth birthday.
i don't think i can honestly do this evening justice in a paragraph, so i'm not even going to try. it was perfect.








1= THE FLAMING LIPS: o2 academy, glasgow, 15/11

its the flaming friggin' lips! also playing a venue they could pack out numerous times over! there was confetti, a space-bubble, the band emerging from a neon, pulsating vagina (SERIOUSLY) and more balloons than normally sit in the house of commons. BUT. most importantly there was simple, human warmth. lots and lots of it. it sounds cliched and corny, but seeing wayne coyne pour his entire being into some of the best songs ever recorded was an absolute privilege. again, it would be a disservice to the entire occasion to try and go on describing the feelings and emotions this managed to stir, but at the time of writing, there is absolutely no doubt that this was probably one of the very happiest evenings of my life. stunning.