1. Sufjan Stevens/My Brightest Diamond
Playing three consecutive nights at the State Theatre in
Associating special occasions with shows always makes me remember them more fondly, possibly even more than warranted in the first place. But seeing Sufjan Stevens for the first time, two days after my 21st birthday and with my girlfriend was spectacular. Such a wonderful performer whose humility was almost too endearing, he really knew how to put on a show. A 9 piece band plus a special hula-hoop performance, it would be unfair not to name every song as a highlight. But hearing the opening notes to Casmir Pulaski Day was…I’ve run out of superlatives. It was pretty special.
2. Minus The Bear/The Nation Blue/These Hands Could Separate The Sky
Similarly to my number one choice for gig of the year, I saw Minus The Bear twice in two days in different cities. Thinking I’d miss my best mates 21st birthday, I was more than willing to see them for the first time on a long awaited tour. Luckily for me, I was able to catch them in my hometown as well.
I usually attend gigs solo or with just one friend. The fact that there were at least 10 of my good mates attending this show made it so much fun. They could have played like shit and I still would have loved it. Luckily they were fantastic and the only fault I could find was not playing for long enough.
Everything was building towards them playing mine (and I think just about everyone else’s) favourite song, Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse. First song of the encore and I think I just about cried. Dave Knudson is the man and I eagerly await the announcement of a sideshow as part of the Soundwave 2009* touring festival.
Video proof of awesomeness. http://moshcam.com/#?page=player&type=gig&id=80
3. Off Minor/Eucalypt/The
Despite coming in at #3 for 2008, this is one of those gigs that I’ll remember as an absolute classic. Hundreds of people packed into a backstreet gallery, long necks, cheap merch and 3 amazing bands.
The first time I’d witnessed The Diamond Sea and I was hooked instantly. Such (seemingly) simple songs normally wouldn’t do much for me but the combination of these 3 girls and 1 guy must have aligned the planets or something because the songs seemed faultless. I would have watched the whole set had it not been for the intolerable heat.
Next up was Eucalypt, their last show ever. Not being terribly familiar with their material at the time, I was still able to comprehend how good the songs were and what they meant to a lot of people in the room. Their last tune was played, tears were shed and
If you’re at all familiar with Off Minor, you know how good they are. No subjectivity, they are an amazing band. With strong rumours that this, their third tour of our fair land, would be their last, it made it all the more memorable. Going through all the gold (Cadaveric and The Heat Death Of The Universe) as well as the unreleased at the time Some Blood (Neologist and Everything Explicit) the gig was to be cut short with noise complaints from neighbours and the po-po in the immediate area. Luckily there was time for one more (isn’t there always?). Thanks to drunken shouts from yours truly, Staring Down The Barrel Of Limited Options was to be the final track of an amazing set. Screaming “never said everything will be okay” along with Steve Roche was dreamy.
4. Broken Social Scene/Belles Will Ring
I got into BSS just after they toured in 2006. Not long after this discovery, I was pretty pissed to hear that their sideshow touring with St Jeromes Laneway Festival* went for close to 3 hours and finished at 1.30 in the morning – epic. So I was chuffed when another tour was announced just two years later. To say my high expectations were surpassed would be an understatement. Being the only club show of the tour in which Ms Leslie Feist would be making an appearance made it just that more special. After all, it’s almost fact that 7/4 Shoreline and Almost Crimes are two of Broken Social Scene’s best songs. With the addition of Stars And Sons, technical difficulties at the start of the set soon faded into insignificance as they played the hell out of their regular catalogue as well as both BSS presents projects. As always, It’s All Gonna Break made for an epic finale.
Upon my first hearing of lead single Gobbledigook off the idiosyncratic Icelanders latest album, I was overwhelmed with joy that they’d finally moved ahead from their standard post-rock-ish tunes (not that I didn’t love the last three releases). Especially with rumours rife that they were going to break up or go on “indefinite hiatus”.
Support came in the form of recent Warp additions, Sydney/Perth/London band Pivot. Being a staple of the local scene for so long, I was embarrassed to say this was my first time catching them live. Battles via Four Tet is quite the combo and it was fairly accurate in describing their fantastic live show.
This being the second time seeing the Icelandic quartet, that same “OMG” feeling wasn’t there that you usually get when seeing a favourite band for the first time. Soon after, that mattered little when the band put on a show that worked as a great introduction to new fans. A great mix of their last four albums meant old fans would also get their fix. Though not convinced it was better than their last tour which included the strings of Amiina, it was nice to hear Sigur Ros with a horn section that complimented a number of their songs stupendously, particularly some of the new songs.
The encore of Gobbledigook will go down as one of my favourite live music moments ever. 5000 people clapping in unison, streams and showers of confetti and one of the most joyous songs from the unlikeliest of places added up to a perfect finale of mind-blowing show.
6. Future Of The Left/Talons/Dead Farmers
Rising from the ashes of Welsh cult band McLusky, Future Of The Left follows a similar path of smart-arse song titles and good old fashioned rock and roll. Catching the last show of their visit to
Ending with McLusky favourite Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues, it was a little too much for some at the front to bare, going just a tad overboard with their interaction with the band. But it was understandable. We had just heard an old favourite by a new one.
7. Against Me!/ Crime In Stereo/Coue Method
Every Against Me! gig is a good gig. It’s pretty hard to fault them, even with the not-as-great-as-their-old-stuff-but-still-alright album New Wave. As with Minus The Bear, I was lucky enough to catch them in both Sydney and Melbourne. Though
There’s not much point writing anymore. If you’ve seen them live, you know why they’re here.
8. Explosions In The Sky/Eluvium/Ohana
I, like many others, got their first to exposure to post-rock through Explosions In The Sky, more specifically The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. It’s hard to argue against it being one of the most influential records of the genre.
Their maiden voyage to
Opening up proceedings, Ohana didn’t get quite the response I was hoping but I guess it comes with the territory of being a support band.
Eluvium provided some nice ambient noise but I couldn’t really get into them on record so it was nice live rather than anything pant-wettingly good.
Walking on stage to a rapturous applause, EITS were in fine form from start to finish. Playing a nice selection of songs from most records (nothing off The Rescue and maybe only 1 song off How Strange? Not 100% sure), they had the crowd swooning with every beat, pluck and strum. Though omitting fan favourite Your Hand In Mine from the setlist was a slight disappointment, still an amazing show from the Texan quartet.
Special mention and thanks goes to Munaf Rayani for his amazing moves and grooves on stage.
9. The National/Clogs
I’d pretty much bought a ticket to this show at the beautiful City Recital Hall on a whim. I’d heard Fake Empire twice and since I was already spending about $150 on tickets in the one transaction, what was another $45? I was almost about to sell the ticket but I decided I might as well actually give them a proper listen. The next day I took the ticket off eBay and counted down the days.
Walking into the well hidden venue in
Still being fairly vague with the majority of the bands material, it’s a testament to their well-crafted songs and delivery that these unknown gems stuck with me long after the show had finished. Such an energetic show fell slightly flat with the entire audience seated but such a minor flaw is just nit-picking with such a fantastic performance put on display. Frontman Matt Berninger commented that the crowd were the most prefect, synced up clappers he had ever come across. I hope it didn’t comes across that we weren’t into the performance, more that we were in awe of such mesmerizing show. The standard finale of Mr November had a highly intoxicated Berninger stumbling all over the front rows while “I won’t fuck us over” rang out through the cavernous surrounds. Beautiful.
10. Rage Against The Machine/Anti-Flag
When I heard Rage had reformed for Coachella 2007, I pretty much died. Then I died again when I realized there was no way in hell that I could get over there. So the announcement of their headline status at Big Day Out 2008, it seemed that I would get to witness one of my all time favourite acts. This wasn’t the case. I saw them four times in 8 days instead. Scoring some floor tickets on the sly, all was set to see my first ever “favourite band”.
To be fair, they could have played like shit and I still would have loved it. Yes, it was disappointing that Zack can’t/doesn’t rap anymore but he still puts on a strong passionate performance that makes it seem like they never even broke up. Freedom, Wake Up, Killing In The Name, Testify, Bulls On Parade; they all got a work out and I could die happy.
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