Top 5 Gigs of 2015

If 2015 was a wonderful year for new recorded music (and I think it was) it also mirrored this in the standard of gigs I went to. Another year where I intended to cut back, another year where I averaged two a month. I'm not going to bother even suggesting cutting back next year. Almost without exception every gig I went to was fantastic which made it all the harder to pick my top five. In the end these five were the ones I think I'll remember the most (though a special mention for Brakes at The Lexington for missing out by a smidge)

5. Barrence Whitfield & The Savages at The Boileroom, Guildford (Thursday 8th October) - The Boileroom managing a pretty good hit rate, two gigs both in my top five (and not just because I could get home at a reasonable time). The crowd was a little sparse for these Garage Punk R&B titans but they didn't let that stop them putting on a belter of a show that literally set the hairs on my neck on end.

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4. Hookworms at The Oval Space (Saturday 21st March)- The most energetic gig of the year, and the one time I let myself get really carried away leading to aggravating a calf muscle injury and spending most of the next week limping. It was totally worth it though.

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3. C.Joynes & Dead Rat Orchestra at The Laughing Bell (Wednesday 22nd July) - A contender for the smallest venue I've ever been to, and almost certainly the hardest to find. Effectively a studio flat in Bermondesy. I've seen the DRO plenty of times now but this was my first experience of their collaboration with guitar maestro C.Joynes. The cosiness of the venue made the evening feel very special and the music was spellbinding. A magical night.

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2. Ezra Furman at The Boileroom, Guildford (Wednesday 8th July) - My first trip to the Boileroom proved to be very successful. Ezra is a joy to see live and this show left me with a huge smile on my face. A few months later he was playing a sold out Shepherd's Bush Empire but a short UK tour of much smaller venues provided me with one of my best nights out this year.

Read full report at Chopper's Gigs

1. Sleater-Kinney at The Roundhouse (Monday 23rd March) - My first chance to see a band that had become one of my all time favourites during their period of hiatus since 2006. Although the venue and audience provided some challenges the band completely overcame them with a fantastic set of new and old songs.


Read full report at Chopper's Gigs

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