As it is the beginning of a new year, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the music I listened to and watched live in 2008. These were my 10 favourite international gigs I saw this year, most were at festivals.
Top 10 Overseas Live Acts 20081. Rage Against the Machine - Gold Coast Big Day Out - Jan 20 2008I scored a ticket from a friend for the sold out Big Day Out 3 days before the gig, having tried and failed to get tickets the morning they went on sale. Rage Against the Machine are one of my fave bands and my love for them only grew after seeing them live again. I also saw them at the Melbourne Big Day Out in 1996, my first BDO. It was the best live performance at a festival I have ever seen, and i have been to a lot of festivals in the last 12 years. Opening with "Testify", the played perfect versions of their back catalogue for an hour and fifteen minutes before closing with 90s Anthem "Killing in the Name" which was the highlight of the day. Other highlights were "Guerilla Radio", "Bullet in the Head" and "Bulls on Parade".
2. The Dandy Warhols - The Palace, Melbourne - November 7 2008
The 2nd Melbourne show was a friday night and the main reason i got a ticket, as I don't often go to gigs on weekdays. The Dandys played a set of classics and they sounded a lot better than expected considering the venue. 8 tracks were played from "13 Tales from Urban Bohemia" which is one of favourite albums of all time. "Bohemian Like You", "All the Money", "Get Off" and "We Used to be Fiends" were all played early in the set and by then they could do no wrong. I was there with my wife and 4 friends and we all agreed that it a brilliant show, it felt like a party. The band obviously partied too hard the night before as only Zia McCabe came out for one acepella track for the encore. By that stage, we didn't care because they had played all their hits in a 2 hour plus set anyway. "Godless", "The Legend of The Last of the Outlaw Truckers " and "Horse Pills" were also highlights.
3. Queens of the Stoneage - V Festival, Melbourne - April 5 2008Queens of the Stoneage played a perfect festival setlist at the V festival this year. They played all their hits without wasting any time with talking or playing new tracks that nobody knew. I had consumed a few beers by the time they hit the stage, but that only added to my enjoyment. Setlist contained "Go with the Flow", "Lost Art of Keeping a Secret", "Make it Wit Chu" and "Medication" but there was no filler. The show climaxed with "No One Knows". The best set at V festival this year.
4. The Arcade Fire - Big Day Out, Gold Coast - Jan 20 2008The Arcade Fire were on stage at about 6pm which was too early, they should have played before RATM instead of Bjork who was terrible. The opened the set with "Wake Up" and the whole ten piece band sounded fantastic. They had a huge church organ on stage and the sound that came out of it was amazing. "Intervention", "Keep the Car Running" and "Rebillion (Lies)" were highlights but the whole set (see below) was great.
Wake Up, Keep The Car Running, (Antichrist Television Blues), Neighbourhood #2 (Laika), No Cars Go, Haiti, Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, Intervention, Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out), Rebellion (Lies)5. Jack Johnson, Matt Costa and G Love - Myer Music Bowl - 25 Mar 2008Although I was unimpressed with Jack Johnson latest album "Sleep Through the Static", his live show is still a great night out. My Wife and I went with a group of frinds and we had an excellent night of singalongs and suprise guests. The first half of the set included "Flake", "Taylor", "Bubble Toes", " Good People" and a couple of new songs. He then invited Matt Costa on stage to play "Let it be Sung", "Fall Line" and Matt Costa's "Sunshine" which I thought would be the highlight of the show. He included The Cars "Just What I Needed" in an excellent version of "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing"and a few others before it was time for next special guest G Love and the true highjlight of the evening. They played "Rodeo Clowns", a cover of Taj Mahal's "Further on Down the Road" and "Mudfootball" with G Love's harmoica stealing the show. The first encore had Jack on stage by himself for a couple of acoustic songs and then G Love came back out for the second encore with "Rainbow" and finishing with an amazing version of "Better Together" with G Love softly playing his harmonica over Jacks acoustic guitar and voice. Matt Costa's set before Jack was also very good.
6. Smashing Pumpkins - V Festival, Melbourne - April 5 2008Smashing Pumpkins were a favourite of mine in my teenage years and I was very keen to catch them live having missed their last Australian tour in 1995. Even though only 2 members remain from the original lineup, they still sounded awesome. As the opening riff of "Today" rung through the showgrounds, I knew I was in for a treat. They played all my favouites, (see setlist below) with the highlights being an acoustic version of "1979" and the highlight of the day "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". They even managed to play some of AC/DC's classic "Let There be Rock". Being the final band of the day, the encore of "Zero" and "Cherub Rock" was the perfect end to the best festival I've been to in a long time.
Today, Tarantula, Stand Inside Your Love, Hummer, Tonight, Tonight, Superchrist, Cash Car Star, 1979 (acoustic), That's The Way My Love Is, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Set The Controls For The Heart of the Sun (Pink Floyd cover), United States Encore: Zero, Cherub Rock
7. Brett Dennen - Northcote Social Club - Sept 17th 2008Brett Dennen is virtually unknown in Australia, so I was pleasantly suprised to hear he was making a trip down to Australia. Me and a friend deceided to check out this Wednesday night gig based on our love for the song "The Holidays are Here (and we're Still at War). Unfortunately he didn't play this song but that didn't spoil the show for us at all. For an hour and a half he sung sweet tunes aided by brilliantly finger picked acoustic guitar with no backing band. New album "Hope for the Hopleless" was heavily played throughout the set, which was at the time unreleased, and it is a step forward from previous albums "Brett Dennen" and "So Much More". The highlights of the show were new tracks "Ain't Gonna Lose You", current single "Make you Crazy" and "Ain't No Reason". It was definitely worth the trip out on a Wednesday night.
8. Spoon - Big Day Out, Gold Coast - Jan 20 2008Spoon's album of 2007, "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" was one of my favourites of the year so I was excited to hear their 2nd round announcement for the big day out. They played in the big top mid afternoon, and set my mood for the day. The final 3 tracks of the set (see below) were the highlights of an excellent show
The Beast and Dragon - Adored, Don't You Evah, You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb, Stay Don't Go, The Underdog, The Delicate Place, The Fitted Shirt, The Ghost of You Lingers, Finer Feelings, Don't Make Me A Target, I Turn My Camera On, I Summon You
9. Modest Mouse - V Festival, Melbourne - April 5 2008Another excellent set from the V Festival last year, the whole setup of the festival was the best I'd ever been to. I would go again this year just for the way it is run, even though the lineup has not excited me apart from Elbow. Modest Mouse took to the stage with roars of excitement and anticipation. Singer Isaac Brock and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr controlled the show playing a set full of jams, singalongs and anthems. "Float On" and "Dashboard" were crowd favourites but it was the epic "Spitting Venom" that turned the show from good to great. Excellent set, look forward to seeing them play a headline show on their next tour.
10. The Nightwatchman - Big Day Out, Gold Coast - Jan 20 2008Being a massive RATM fan and wannabe guitar player, Tom Morello is like a god to me. For that reason, I had to check out Morello's side project and I am glad I did. Playing tracks from debut album, his Dylanesque vocal style and folk classical guitar had the crowd mesmerised. He even got the crowd singing on "Flesh Shapes the Day" and closing track "The Road I Must Travel". It was an excellent warm up for RATM's closing set and proof that Tom Morello rocks, even with a classical guitar.
So thats my 10 favourite overseas gigs for the 2008, 2009 is shaping up to be another excellent year with the Big Day Out not far away. Sunday night I will be seeing The Black Keys, Gomez and Dr. Dog at the Palais. On Tuesday at the Espy, Gomez are playing a 10 year anniversary show for debut album "Bring it On", playing every track in order followed by classics. Should be a good week, stay tuned for the reviews.
Pearl Jam have just announced that they are returning to Australia to tour their upcoming album Backspacer, due out on September 14th. To make the gig even more enticingthey have brought along Ben Harper and Relentless7 and Liam Finn to support them. All shows will be held at larger stadium venues with only one show for each city. This will be my second time seeing Pearl Jam after catching their epic two and a half hour show at the Myer Music Bowl in 1995. I was one of the few who had actually purchased a ticket after about 10,000 charged into the gig through a knocked down fence. It was one of my first concerts and I managed to get right up the front which was quickly abondoned when Pearl Jam got on stage as I was getting crushed. I managed to crowd surf (my first and only experience) my way further back for a better position and was treated to an excellent set of hits lasting 2 and a half hours including a great cover of "Throw Your Arms Around Me".
Ben Harper is one of my favourite artists and I am looking forward to seeing him for the sixth time, this time with a new backing band and new songs. Unfortunately his excellent back catalogue will most likely be left behind for his new material but I did enjoy the new direction of White Lies for Dark Times. My first time seeing Ben Harper live was at the Offshore Festival at Torquay in 1999 and I became an instant fan when he opened with Pearl Jam's "Indifference". Hopefully Harper will join Pearl Jam on this tour to colloborate on one of my favourite songs on this tour. The version they did together (see below) on Triple J in 2001 is my favourite live performance ever.
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