2008 in Live Music

One of my goals for 2008 was to see more live music. It started well - very well indeed - but then dribbled to a standstill due to circumstances largely beyond my control. The following is my completely subjective ranking of the bands I can remember seeing this year. I'm pretty sure this is actually the lot.

1-4. The National (January, times two) / The Mountain Goats (December, times two)

There is no way I can put any one of these shows above any of the others. What an amazing way to bookend my year. If these two bands ever play where I am on the same night, I think I might die. And not in the good way.

5. Low (January)

I hadn't heard a whole lot of Low before I went to this show, just a few songs from Drums and Guns (which I love). Gut feeling really paid off, because this was one of the best live performances I have ever seen. Alan Sparhawk is mesmerising, his chemistry onstage with Mimi Parker is a joy to behold, and between them they wring beauty and agony out of every moment.

6. Dosh ((January, supporting Andrew Bird)

What kind of heresy is this? Putting the support above the headlining artist? Well, Dosh was really really good. Simple as that. Oh, the precision.

7. Baseball (December, supporting the Mountain Goats)

I wrote about this here. Awesome show, and one that stretched my recently-myopic view of music in general, a more than welcome change.

8. Andrew Bird (January)

This might have been higher on the list - Andrew Bird is an extraordinarily accomplished musician, and even took his shoes off to wander about the stage in his socks¹ - but he was so uncomfortable on stage that sometimes I could hardly stand to be there watching him. Hello, overactive empathy gland.

9. Mick Turner (January, supporting Low)

When I saw Mick Turner's name on the bill I didn't make the Dirty Three connection, so I showed up with no idea of what to expect. Talk about exceeding expectations. If you had told me beforehand that a guy on a chair with a guitar (and occasionally some help from a drummer) who didn't even sing could so completely mesmerise a crowd I would not have believed you.

10. Okkervil River (February)

Okkervil River's albums have always been somewhat patchy for me, and I was apprehensive about how well (or badly) Will Sheff's often-tuneless yelp would come across live. The band put on a great show, and Sheff acquitted himself fairly well if I forget about some of the

11. Armen Firman (mid-year)

The only really "local" band I saw this year (I'm not counting support slots for bigger-name bands), I went along to see Armen Firman at a pub, at the behest of Stefan who used to live with one of the guitarists, and they were pretty good! One or two songs particularly caught my ear, and the rest were competent, surprisingly radio-friendly stuff.

12. Teeth and Tongue (December, supporting the Mountain Goats)

I wrote about this here. Not bad.

13-17(?). Various supporting bands (January/February, supporting The National, Andrew Bird and Okkervil River)

I think that I saw the Ned Collette Band twice (both supporting The National), but can't remember much beyond that. I do remember that Gaslight Radio came across as smug, arrogant and not even very good (although that was partly due to horrible, horrible sound). There were a couple of other bands whose names I don't even remember (and I don't care enough to try and look them up), although I have a sneaking suspicion that the dude from one of them showed up being a roadie for Baseball in Brisbane at the end of the year. Am I crazy and imagining things? Probably, but I got more entertainment out of that than I did out of seeing any of these bands.

??? A handful of the several million bands at Woodford (December)

By the time you read this I will have made my merry way to the Woodford Folk Festival and begun to drown in the deluge of hippies and bands with fiddles in them. Actually, there is quite a variety of local and international acts on the bill; I am particularly excited about Frightened Rabbit, some insane balkan/gypsy offerings, various Celtic things, the possibility of discovering something new and local and excellent, and watching circus people cavorting about the place. Oh, and maybe learning to play the tin whistle in a workshop. Awesome.

1. That originally came out as "Andrew Bird is an extraordinarily accomplished museum, and even took his feet off to wander about the stage in his socks. [↩]