top 10 gigs of 2011.

2011 is definitely coming to an end tonight, but before we welcome the year of the end of the world, i’m gonna ignore all other apocalypse theories and present my last ranking for this year. the last couple of months have been packed with gigs, after the first six months didn’t have too much to offer. but thankfully the second half of the year made it a pretty decent year for good gigs. and because of that, i had to cheat a little when i put this list together. i changed the top 3 over last few days like a million times, which is why i now decided to just have three number one gigs. they were all equally amazing and it’s simply too hard to choose. there are now twelve gigs in this ranking instead of ten. so here’s the extended version of my top 10 gigs of 2011.

1.a. stornoway @somerset house in london, uk on 9 july 2011 

       (review here)

again, what would this year have been without stornoway? when i bought a ticket to see them in berlin in april, i seriously didn’t know a thing about them. i randomly checked some ticket websites and came across stornoway. i liked the description of their sound but didn’t bother to check them out, just booked a ticket instead (of course i got the album then too)… and i’m glad i did, which is why i went to cologne a few days later to see them again, and invited a friend of mine, who was over from the usa for the semester, to come along. stornoway managed to impress us so much that we decided to head to london in july to catch them live once more. and we certainly do not regret all the trouble we had to go through to get to london (and back). the energy on stage was indescribable. they were joined by the north sea radio orchestra which made their songs, especially the new ones like 'farewell appalachia!', even more amazing. they totally blew us away.

'watching birds' live at somerset house, london

1.b. ahab @band on the wall in manchester, uk on 21 october 2011
       (review here)

ahab are another band that i basically didn’t know before i saw them live. i came across their songs from the shed session and i absolutely loved what i heard. so i looked for them on youtube, and the videos i found more or less sealed the deal. i only knew the lyrics to two songs ('lightnin bug' and 'run me down') when i went to band on the wall in october to see ahab live. never have i been to a gig before were i knew so little about the band and enjoyed the gig so much. i got all eps (and the first album, even though “it’s just callum and dave anyway […you can get it on itunes]” (<- quote, which should be understood with a wink and a smile, by the gentleman from cropredy i met in leeds in november)) afterwards and decided to go and see them again on the bellowhead tour. ahab were the support for them but they played their set as if it was their own show. the support sets in manchester and leeds were absolutely brilliant, but i will never forget the feeling when i saw them for the first time in october. their sound is great on record but honestly nothing compared to their live show.

ahab live in manchester

1.c. the travelling band @the met in bury, uk on 7 december 2011

      (review here)

i saw the travelling band live three times this year and i could easily pick any of those gigs for the list here. just seeing them live was an incredible experience. the only reason why i picked the bury gig, is simply because it was the last one. after discovering them in april, getting my hands on both records asap afterwards, i couldn’t wait to see them live. i remember how sick i felt in november at the academy because of all the excitement. manchester as my first the travelling band gig was great, telford’s warehouse in chester was the small and intimate venue and bury was special because they treated us to an acoustic performance of big star’s 'thirteen' and the stone roses 'waterfall'. i can only advise you to check the travelling band out. they’re unbelievably amazing live. they just make it so incredibly easy to fall in love with their music.

adam gorman, steve mullen and jo dudderidge 

from the travelling band live in bury

2. wild beasts @cathedral in manchester, uk on 17 november 2011

a dream come true, part one: getting to see wild beasts live was definitely one of my personal highlights of 2011. no doubt that their set at the haldern pop festival was great (but of course way too short), especially since they (and fleet foxes) were basically the reason why i wanted to go to haldern in the first place. but the wild beasts gig at the cathedral in manchester was beyond amazing. ever since i’ve discovered them a couple of years ago, i was wondering if they could really sound live as good as on record. now i actually feel embarrassed that i even raised that question. the cathedral gig was pure magic. a ticket for liverpool in march is already booked and i couldn’t be more excited to see them again. 

 ben little and tom fleming from wild beasts live in manchester

3. fleet foxes @main stage, haldern pop festival in rees-haldern, 

    germany on 13 august 2011

a dream come true, part two: seeing fleet foxes live has been on my wish list for two years, ever since i first heard them in a record store in manchester in 2009. bought their self-titled debut album right away and was therefore eagerly waiting for the follow-up 'helplessness blues' this year. they were the second to last band to play on the main stage on saturday night at the haldern pop festival. i was seriously spending the entire day at the main stage, just so i could get a good spot for fleet foxes. and it was totally worth it. couldn’t have imagined a better ending to the festival. and i know for sure that i’m definitely not gonna wait another two years to see them again. you can watch their brilliant set on the wdr website here (some of the main stage sets were filmed for a german tv programme called rockpalast).

 fleet foxes live at the haldern pop festival

(i should probably mention that wild beasts and fleet foxes could easily be in that pool of number ones as well. the only reason they’re not is simply that i’ve known both bands for at least two years, and the other bands at number one were all new to me this year.)

4. the antlers + dry the river @palace in st. gallen, switzerland 

    on 3 december 2011

we missed the antlers in haldern because they were playing at the same time as wild beasts, but as it turns out, that was probably a good thing. this way we could enjoy a proper headline show. we actually bought tickets to see dry the river again, but the antlers left us speechless, just as much as the lads from dry the river did. those two bands were by far the best 'headliner – support' combination this year. a top gig and very friendly lads who seemed genuinely happy about the support.

'i don't want love' live at palace, st. gallen

5. elbow @echo arena in liverpool, uk on 20 march 2011 

i was heading to liverpool for a week in march and asked my uk peeps if they could recommend a good gig for me to go to. two of my friends asked me if i wanted to come along to see elbow at the echo arena. never heard of them before but i said yes anyway and that was probably one of the best decisions i’ve made this year. they were utterly brilliant. bought all five records the next day and had them on repeat for weeks after that. elbow were definitely worth the more or less pricey ticket.

 'weather to fly' live at the echo arena, liverpool

6. other lives @deaf institute in manchester, uk on 30 october 2011

    (review here)

after seeing, or more just hearing, other lives in haldern, i knew i wanted to see a proper gig too. since we were quite late, we didn’t make it into the haldern pop bar to see them, so we were forced to stay outside and just listen to them through the open windows. no one cared though because what we heard was just awesome. it was great to finally "see" them at the deaf institute in october then. the stage was obviously too small but somehow they managed to fit all their instruments on stage, which was quite impressive already. other lives create this mystic atmosphere live just as good as on record. amazing songs, amazing live band.

 other lives live in manchester

7. jamie cullum @kew gardens in london, uk on 8 july 2011 

    (review here)

i saw jamie for the first time at the bridgewater hall in manchester in 2010 and then four times after that, but his show in london this year was by far the best. we were quite tired by the time the gig started (because we flew to london the same day) and we were absolutely freezing but none of this mattered when jamie came on stage. it’s easy to tell that jamie never has a setlist, as not one of his gigs is the same as another. they just enjoy themselves on stage, playing some amazing jazz-pop tunes and he even makes songs sound good that i didn’t really like before (rihanna’s 'don’t stop the music' for example). the dynamic between jamie’s band and the man himself is great and that’s probably what makes every jamie cullum gig so special. 

'these are the days' (feat. ben cullum) live at kew gardens, london

8. labrassbanda @main stage, haldern pop festival in rees-haldern, 

    germany on 13 august 2011

i honestly never thought that brass instruments could sound so amazing. don’t get me wrong, i think the occasional trumpet many musicians use to "spice up" some songs, is simply great, but the guys from labrassbanda play drums and bass (as you’d expect), trumpet, tuba and trombone. their set was probably the most fun one during the entire festival but you can see yourself here, as it was also filmed for rockpalast. i haven’t taken the time yet to check them out on record but i’d definitely go and see them live again anytime. 

labrassbanda live at the haldern pop festival

9. the avett brothers @mirrortent, haldern pop festival in rees-haldern, 

    germany on 11 august 2011

the avett brothers probably delivered the sweatiest set at the festival, which was no surprise considering they played in the mirrortent. they would’ve easily entertained the crowd in front of the mainstage too. the mirrortent set was small and intimate but didn’t lack energy in any way. we were listening to the avett brothers in the car on our way from duisburg to haldern and it was the perfect thing to do to get in the mood for this incredible folk-rock show.

'laundry room' live at the haldern pop festival 2011

10. rae morris (supporting the staves) @sacred trinity church 

       in salford, uk on 24 november 2011

we went to the sacred trinity church obviously because of the staves. paul thomas saunders was billed as the support act but rae morris, who opened the gig, was a great surprise and in my opinion the best act of the night. i only saw one of her songs on watchlistentell before, but she absolutely blew me away in salford. i find it really hard to enjoy female musicians (of course there are some exceptions) but rae definitely knew how to impress. 

rae morris live in salford

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i went to a lot more gigs this year which were probably all amazing in one way or the other, but i was determined to only pick ten, although that didn’t quite work out obviously. this was the last ranking for 2011 and i already have a feeling that it will be even harder next year to pick favourite gigs, songs, eps and albums.

i’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all my friends who kindly put up with me and my notebook at many many gigs this year, and everyone else who has ever left a comment here, tweeted about the blog, mentioned it on facebook or told their friends about it. and most of all, thank you for reading.

special thanks for many different reasons (you all know what you did) to goldtrip, natalie mccool, steve levine from hubris records, the travelling band, mirko bogedaly from haldern pop, ahab, the gramotones, songsfromtheshed, stephen de sarasola, paul baird from i see angels, oli parker from butterfly collectors and every musician/band who has linked the blog on their website/facebook page over the past couple of months.

for now i’d like to wish you all a happy new year and a great 2012. i have something exciting planned for the blog for next year and i can tell you right now, that the first band already confirmed their interest in being a part of it. more news on that are hopefully coming soon. 

until then, have a fun new year's eve everyone and stay safe wherever you are! i shall see you all next year...