Montag, 18. Dez 2006, 15:42

My Gig Awards 2006!
Yes I am a geek, I've kept a list of all the bands I've seen this year ( I'm not the only one to do this am I?). Seeing as everyone else is doing one I thought I'd put together some pointless awards thing and here it is. Feel free to leave some comments after, call me a nerd - whatever.

• Best Venue:
Runner Up – Joy Eslava, Madrid

Winner – The Polish Club, Bristol.
Primarily for the reason that it plays home to a large picture of the Polish 1974 World Cup team above the bar, amongst other ageing Polish, eh, stuff on the walls. The Polish Club also sells my beer of choice, Budvar, in proper bottles and for a reasonable prize. The first and only time I went there this year being for the British Sea Power gig and it’s an easy place to miss amongst the student flats of Clifton. More gigs there please promoters of Bristol.

• Worst Venue:
Winner: Bristol Academy 2.
Not so much of a gig venue, more of a heavily branded corridor. A tiny venue, with beer at £3.30 for a pint of god awful Carling and poor views from anywhere apart from on the stage with the band. More often than not gigs here end early, by 9:30, so hordes of underage emo-kids can flood the corridor. Let the emo’s in, board up the doors and never stage a gig there again.

• Best Gig:
Runners Up: Kubichek! at the Academy 2, Bristol/ Metric and Blood Red Shoes at the Fleece, Bristol

Winner: The National – Koko.
“The English are waiting and I don’t know what to do” sings The National’s Matt Berringer, well that’s a lie. Throughout this gig, their only headline one in the UK of 2006, the band proved they knew exactly how to please the English crowd by passionately playing most of Alligator and other favourites such as Available and About Today. The encore was delayed before Berringer took the stage with a bottle of champagne to toast the bands biggest headline gig to date and it was a real pleasure to be amongst that crowd who were as in love with the band as I became in 2006.

• Worst Gig:
Runners Up: Boy Kill Boy - Louisiana, Bristol. It was free and to charge for this dross would have been robbery.

Winner : The Aliens – Thekla, Bristol.
Dear The Aliens,
I saw you twice this year. The first time was your 2nd gig in England as part of The Venn Festival and that was pretty shambolic but I was willing to overlook that. The 2nd time was even worse than that, you looked disinterested, the crowd were disinterested, the instruments were out of tune, you looked like you hated each other. I have very rarely wanted to leave a gig early, but you almost made me do it. Please, for the sake of the memory of The Beta Band give it up.
Yours Sincerely, Kenny.

• Biggest disappointment:
Runners Up: The Strokes at Colston Hall. £25 for seats a mile from the stage for a band that had just released a stinker of an album.

Winners: The Walkmen, The Point in Cardiff.

I made the effort to travel and stop over in Cardiff; just a pity the band didn’t put as much effort into it. I’ve loved “Bows and Arrows” and also really liked “Louisiana”, but I think that the millstone of the amazing “The Rat” is too much for The Walkmen. It was all the majority of the crowd wanted to hear, which led to a sense that most would have left after the song was dispensed with early on which created a really flat atmosphere from there in.

• Comedy Act of the Year:
Runner Up: The Young Knives – Some good inter band banter between Henry and the House of Lords (aka Fat Timmy Mallet)

Winner: Yes Boss!
Easily, no contest this one. 2 lads (Noah and Gavron), 1 laptop and a load of piss funny lyrics. So funny infact that it caused never before seen outpourings of laughter from Crump, its not often you see a man in tweed with a pipe doubled up in laughter and with a tear in his eye.

For example:

“In order to win it, I’ve got to be in it, innit”

“I’m hungry like tramps,
Ideas burn hot like lamps”

“I’m sick of all the jabbering,
I’m going to go and give a cab a ring,
I don't care if you're rich or poor,
You're gonna get wet like the kitchen floor”

“Give ‘em an inch i'll take a mile,
Keep ‘em sweet like tate & lyle”

“Cheer up don't get depressed son
‘Cos you look like Simon Weston”

“Your just a little prick like a thistle,
Kissed your grandma under the mistletoe”

• The it does look good for your career, but your really really shit award:
Winner: The Twang
They supported Jamie T at the Louisiana. They proceeded to play some sub Mondays/Roses shite and had two lead singers both of which seem like the sort of twunts you get in indie clubs who go nuts for Kasabian and that type of bilge. Lead "singer" one kicked a drink over the guitarists pedals and they then left the stage, thankfully. Sadly though they seem to be getting a fair bit of press and even have some sort of record deal. 2007 is going to be a dark year if these schmos make it anywhere near big, I’ve warned you.

• The it doesn’t look good for your career award:
Winner: Radio 4.
Playing to less than 50 people in a corridor in Bristol shouldn’t really be happening to these guys. Still, all credit to them they managed to put on a good performance and dedicate a song to “the single Mum’s of America”.

• Worst band name award
Sponsored by Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo:

Winner: Karma Mechanics.
Seriously, it’s not funny. Change it. Actually, just give up, you were shit.

• Worst timed trip to the Bar:
Winner: Pete Aighton at The Strokes – Colston Hall.
After sitting through the early part of the set, which included pap from the latest album Pete decided to go to the bar just as a series of songs from the first album were rattled off. For the purpose of the story they played “ Last Nite, Hard to Explain, New York City Cops and The Modern Age” all in a row, Pete came back asked “Did I miss much?” and then spilt the beers.*

* I may have over-emphasised some of this to hide the irony of me calling someone for going to the toilet.

• Worst Facial Hair**:
Runner Up: My Nemesis. He only didn’t win as I don’t want to give him the honour of this prestigious title.

Winner: The l(e)ad singer from The Spinto Band.
OK, I know he’s only about 14 years old but there’s no excuse for bumfluff. Not really a moustache, more of a cappuccino stain. I learnt the hard way, I shaved off half of my top lip trying to rid myself of bumfluff, it’s time you did the same. Pah, kids eh.

** Again, I am fully aware of the irony of this award given my inability to grow anything more than some patchy “stubble”.

• Bands I’m looking forward to seeing next year.

• Interpol – of course, new album due out middle of next year.
• The National – as above.
• I was a cub scout – Really love the Pink Squares single and should be good live.
• Tokyo Police Club – I predict these will make it pretty big next year if the “A Lesson in Crime” EP is anything to go on.
• Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – I missed this gig at the Cube earlier in the year and hope he comes round again.

My gig list in full, yes this is geeky.

Fields Louisiana 19/01/2006
The Spinto Band Louisiana 19/01/2006
The Rakes Anson Rooms 24/01/2006
Shout out Louds Colston Hall 25/01/2006
The Strokes Colston Hall 25/01/2006
White Rose Movement Anson Rooms 31/01/2006
Mike Bennett Louisiana 03/02/2006
The Sunshine Underground Louisiana 03/02/2006
Arctic Monkeys Bristol Academy 13/02/2006
Maximo Park Bristol Academy 13/02/2006
The Mystery Jets Bristol Academy 13/02/2006
We are scientists Bristol Academy 13/02/2006
Jim Noir Fopp 17/02/2006
Babyshambles Bristol Academy 21/02/2006
Jubb and The Dirty Sleeves Bristol Academy 21/02/2006
The View Bristol Academy 21/02/2006
Brakes Bristol Academy 24/02/2006
Editors Bristol Academy 24/02/2006
Kubichek Bristol Academy 24/02/2006
Apartment Louisiana 04/03/2006
Boy Kill Boy Louisiana 04/03/2006
Bedmonster Bristol Academy 20/03/2006
Mike Bennett Bristol Academy 20/03/2006
The Fall Bristol Academy 20/03/2006
Bloody Tourists The Croft, Bristol 22/03/2006
Shit Disco The Croft, Bristol 22/03/2006
The Advocate Generals The Croft, Bristol 22/03/2006
The Sunshine Underground aR2 24/04/2006
Yes Boss! AR2 24/04/2006
Grovesnor Fleece and Firkin 16/05/2006
Hot Chip Fleece and Firkin 16/05/2006
Clinic Louisiana 20/05/2006
Jahoodi Kraz Louisiana 20/05/2006
The Generation Louisiana 20/05/2006
The Devastations Koko, Camden 31/05/2006
The National Koko, Camden 31/05/2006
65 Days of Static Malcolm X Centre, Bristol 02/06/2006
The Aliens Malcolm X Centre, Bristol 02/06/2006
Field Music Bristol Academy 07/06/2006
The Futureheads Bristol Academy 07/06/2006
Humanzi Fleece and Firkin 08/06/2006
White Rose Movement Fleece and Firkin 08/06/2006
Jamie T Louisiana 29/06/2006
The Twang Louisiana 29/06/2006
Kubichek Bristol Academy 2 07/07/2006
The Motorettes Bristol Academy 2 07/07/2006
The Crimea Bristol Academy 2 02/08/2006
The Young Knives Bristol Academy 2 02/08/2006
Joan as Policewoman Fopp 10/08/2006
The Spinto Band AR2 20/08/2006
Karma Mechanics AR2 20/08/2006
British Sea Power Polish Club, Bristol 14/09/2006
Morton Valence Polish Club, Bristol 14/09/2006
Josh Pyke The Point, Cardiff 25/09/2006
Sound Team The Point, Cardiff 25/09/2006
The Walkmen The Point, Cardiff 26/09/2006
Loney, Dear Louisiana 27/09/2006
Peter Bjorn and John Louisiana 27/09/2006
The Delays Colston Hall 28/09/2006
Embrace Colston Hall 28/09/2006
Blood Meridian Anson Rooms 01/10/2006
The Black Keys Anson Rooms 01/10/2006
Indigo Moss Fleece and Firkin 11/10/2006
The Howling Bells Fleece and Firkin 11/10/2006
The Young Knives Thekla Social 13/10/2006
Polytechnic Thekla Social 13/10/2006
The 1990's Thekla Social 23/10/2006
The Long Blondes Thekla Social 23/10/2006
Favourite Sons Bierkeller 25/10/2006
The Dears Bierkeller 25/10/2006
The Whip Manhattan Bar, Bristol 27/10/2006
Bare Knuckles Manhattan Bar, Bristol 27/10/2006
The Sunshine Underground Manhattan Bar, Bristol 27/10/2006
Third Part Thekla Social 04/11/2006
The Aliens Thekla Social 04/11/2006
Blood Red Shoes Fleece and Firkin 09/11/2006
Metric Fleece and Firkin 09/11/2006
My Luminaries Bristol Academy 2 10/11/2006
Radio 4 Bristol Academy 2 10/11/2006
Peter Bjorn and John Joy Eslava, Madrid 22/11/2006
Good Books Joy Eslava, Madrid 22/11/2006
The Magic Numbers Joy Eslava, Madrid 22/11/2006
The English Prices Thekla Social 26/11/2006
The Heights Thekla Social 26/11/2006
Kubichek Thekla Social 26/11/2006
The Mules Bristol Academy 2 30/11/2006
Xerox Teens Bristol Academy 2 30/11/2006
Good Shoes Bristol Academy 2 30/11/2006
Rat Att Agg Moles, Bath 15/12/2006
Klaxons Moles, Bath 15/12/2006

KubichekKubichek!InterpolThe NationalMetricBlood Red ShoesThe WalkmenYes Boss!The Young KnivesTokyo Police ClubI was a cub scoutThe Sunshine Underground