Wednesday 20 March 2013

BAIBS Wednesday 20/03/13

Well I got all my gym stuff ready yesterday pre Kasabian with the thought I'd do an hour after today's show. Not a chance. I still ache from the gig. Decided against the mosh pit. I am 44 after all. Ha!! The whole Dome was a mosh pit. It was an epic gig. The band were on fire. The crowd were up for it. The more the crowd went for it the more the band went for it. The more the band went for it the more the crowd went for it and so on and so on.

I love to see a band enjoying themselves. Can never understand why a band would be on stage and just not want to be there. I'm thinking specifically Babybird here.

So from the opening bars of Days Are Forgotten to the climatic echoes of Fire Kasabian were, well, on fire. Best gig I've ever been to? In all honesty I've no idea. It had all the ingredients of 'best gig ever' and in my tweet to Sergio Pizzorno immediately after the gig I added the hashtag bestgigever. Obviously post gig euphoria has to be taken into account and I eventually tagged it as one of my top five gigs ever. Purely cos in reality it's hard, actually impossible, to say just what my best ever gig is. If you had to pin me down I probably couldn't give you a top five either.

For example The Rolling Stones at Don Valley Stadium in 2006 is a 'top five' gig. It absolutely lashed it down and given the choice of sulking in the rain or getting soaked dancing like a loon I went for the dancing option and found myself in a group of about 30 who'd had the same thought. We had a brilliant night.So did The Stones, the weather or the people I was with make it a great gig? Or was it the combination of the three?

Another 'top fiver' would be Ian McNabb (The Icicle Works) at The Leopard last year. Just Ian, a guitar and about 40 people there. Now The Icicle Works are one of my favourite bands. During his interval I had a really good chat with Mr. McNabb and he played my favourite Icicle Works' song (When It All Comes Down) as the 2nd set opener, dedicated to me for my birthday. Did I mention it was my birthday? So was it Ian McNabb's talent or the chat and dedication that made it such a great gig? Again, it's a combination.

My point here is two awesome but very contrasting gigs and virtually impossible to compare, but both epic for different reasons. What does become apparent is that a band can put on a great gig but it takes other factors on top of that to make it a stand out gig that straight after you will call the 'greatest gig ever.'

I refer you to the 'more the crowd went for it' part of the first paragraph. That's what made last night special. A band on the top of their game who got a crowd they deserved and lifted the gig from great to epic. I've seen bands put on stunning shows but not had an upbeat crowd. As Fish from Marillion used to say at the end of a gig, 'It takes you out there and us up here.'

I once asked a mate if he could label one gig as his best ever. Glastonbury '95 was his answer. That's ridiculous. It's like someone asking me my favourite Rovers game and me replying the '83/84 season. Festivals fall into a different category. Leeds Fest was brilliant last year but my best ever gig could never include Enter Shikari no matter how good the rest of the line up was.

I was gonna get even more self indulgent and list my top 5 gigs. Top of my head I've whittled it down to a top 12. Give me time and it'll be a top 20.

Either way Kasabian at The Dome last night were immense and will always be at least a top 12 gig!

Laters

SS

Playlist Wednesday 20/03/13

Club Foot - Kasabian
Shoot The Runner - Kasabian
Bats - The Darlingtons
Moving To New York - The Wombats
Hold Me - Tom Odell
I Fought The Law - The Clash
The Messenger - Johnny Marr
Spread Your Love - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Fictional State - To Kill A King
Quiet Night In - All The Young
Church Not Made With Hands - The Waterboys
When The Sun Goes Down - Arctic Monkeys
Goodbye Kiss - Kasabian
The Distance - Funeral For A Friend
One Drop - Public Image Ltd
Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
Recovery - Frank Turner
Ripple - The Coopers
One Way Trigger - The Strokes
Enjoy The Silence - Depeche Mode
Goodbye Life - Famous Villains
Diane Young - Vampire Weekend
Sometime - DIIV
Silent Sigh - Badly Drawn Boy
Laid - James
Panic - The Smiths
Underdog - Kasabian
Sitting On My Own - The 48ks
45 - The Gaslight Anthem
Don't Go - Kiziah And The Kings
Singing In My Sleep - Semisonic
Velouria - Pixies
Wild Wood - Paul Weller
Yes - McAlmont And Butler
2013 - Primal Scream
Just Like The Rain - Richard Hawley
So Here We Are - Bloc Party
Midnight Wave - Two Wounded Birds
Fire - Kasabian 

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