Friday, January 20, 2012

SWSL Top 30 Live Performances Of 2010

(So it's January 2012 and, with the final gig of 2010 written up, I'm finally in a position to do the run-down...)

"I really can't see 2010 turning out to be quite such a glut of gigs and festivals", I declared with some certainty at the end of the 2009 list. How wrong I was - thanks to the small matter of seven festivals (Glastonbury, Green Man, two ATPs, the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch, a day of Truck and Audioscope). Needless to say, such a bumper year of live action demands that the countdown again begins at 30 rather than the original 20.

30. tUnE-yArDs, Glastonbury, 25th June

29. THE DRUMS, Oxford Zodiac, 23rd February

28. ISLET, Green Man, 21st August
(Also seen at Truck)

27. ROLO TOMASSI, the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch, 24th July

26. MARISSA NADLER, ATP curated by Godspeed!, 5th December

25. BEACH HOUSE, Glastonbury, 26th June

24. PULLED APART BY HORSES, Truck, 25th July
(Also seen at Glastonbury)

23. THE NATIONAL, Glastonbury, 26th June

22. THE PRE NEW, the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch, 24th July

21. THE EX, ATP curated by Godspeed!, 4th December

20. JAPANDROIDS, Oxford Jericho Tavern, 18th May

19. BILLY MAHONIE, Audioscope, 6th November

18. SPARROW AND THE WORKSHOP, Oxford Zodiac, 14th October
(Also seen at Green Man)

17. FUTURE OF THE LEFT, Truck, 25th July

16. FIELD MUSIC, Glastonbury, 26th June
(Also seen at Green Man)

15. GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, ATP curated by Godspeed!, 3rd December
(Also seen the next day)

14. THE DRONES, ATP curated by Pavement, 15th May

13. ATLAS SOUND, ATP curated by Pavement, 15th May

12. EFTERKLANG, Green Man, 22nd August
(Also seen at Oxford Zodiac)

11. THE BESNARD LAKES, Green Man, 21st August
(Also seen at Bristol Arnolfini)

10. BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, ATP curated by Pavement, 14th May
(Also seen at Glastonbury)

9. FUCKED UP, Truck, 25th July
(Also seen at the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)

8. FUCK BUTTONS, Green Man, 20th August

7. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, Glastonbury, 27th June

6. THOM YORKE & JONNY GREENWOOD, Glastonbury, 25th June

5. PAVEMENT, ATP curated by Pavement, 15th May

4. THE FLAMING LIPS, Glastonbury, 25th June
(Also seen at Green Man)

3. THE ANTLERS, Oxford Zodiac, 4th March

2. SONIC YOUTH, Manchester Academy, 30th December

1. LOW, Coventry St John the Baptist Church, 17th November

There were a lot of stunning performances, but even then nothing really came close to that Low gig. A more perfect marriage of band and setting you could hardly imagine.

An A-Z of every other band / artist I enjoyed (or, in some cases, endured) in 2010 - every single one reviewed somewhere in the sidebar:

The 3Ds (ATP curated by Pavement)
A Grave With No Name (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
A Silent Film (Truck)
Action Beat (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
The Archie Bronson Outfit (Glastonbury)
Avi Buffalo (Green Man)
Awesome Tapes From Africa (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Bardo Pond (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
The Berg Sans Nipple (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
The Big Pink (Glastonbury)
Black Dice (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Black Mountain (Oxford Zodiac)
Blood Red Shoes (Glastonbury)
Bo Ningen (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Borderville (Truck)
Boris (ATP curated by Pavement Saturday and Sunday)
Broken Bells (Glastonbury)
Brontide (Truck)
Calexico (ATP curated by Pavement)
Chad Valley (Oxford Zodiac)
Chali 2na with Breakestra and Afrodyete (Glastonbury)
Chapel Club (Truck)
The Clean (ATP curated by Pavement)
Comanechi (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Country Teasers (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Cymbals Eat Guitars (Glastonbury)
Ray Davies (Glastonbury)
The Dead C (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Dead Jerichos (Truck)
Deerhoof (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Detroit Social Club (Glastonbury)
DJ Cheeba (Green Man)
DJ Rupture (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
DJ Yoda (Green Man)
The Dodos (ATP curated by Pavement)
Dog Is Dead (Truck)
Doves (Green Man)
Enablers (ATP curated by Pavement)
Endless Boogie (ATP curated by Pavement)
Erland & The Carnival (Bristol Arnolfini and Green Man)
Errors (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
The Fall (ATP curated by Pavement)
Fanfarlo (Glastonbury and Green Man)
Fiery Furnaces (ATP curated by Pavement)
Flower/Corsano Duo (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Foals (Oxford Zodiac)
Frightened Rabbit (Glastonbury)
From Here We Run (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
Funeral Party (Oxford Zodiac)
Gang Of Four (Glastonbury)
Girls (Green Man)
Vic Godard & Subway Sect (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Half Naked (Oxford Zodiac)
Hangedup (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Rolf Harris (Glastonbury)
Here We Go Magic (Glastonbury)
Hexstatic (Green Man)
The Hold Steady (Glastonbury)
Holy Fuck (Glastonbury)
Peter Hook (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Hot Club De Paris (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
The Hundred In The Hands (Green Man)
Invasion (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Je Suis Animal (Green Man)
The Jim Jones Revue (Oxford Zodiac)
Joker's Daughter (Green Man)
Jonny Dare (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
Jonquil (Oxford Zodiac)
Keyboard Choir (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
Femi Kuti (Glastonbury)
Little Fish (Truck)
Lone Wolf (Green Man)
Maria & The Mirrors (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Mariachi El Bronx (Glastonbury)
Steve Mason (Green Man)
Mephisto Grande (Audioscope)
Message To Bears (Green Man)
Metronomy (Green Man)
Mission Of Burma (ATP curated by Pavement)
Dieter Moebius (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
Morning Parade (Oxford Zodiac)
Muse (Glastonbury)
Necro Deathmort (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Neurosis (ATP curated by Godspeed! Saturday and Sunday)
Scout Niblett (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Nomeansno (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Nought (Audioscope)
O Children (Green Man)
Thee Oh Sees (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Oneida (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
The Oscillation (Audioscope)
Phantom Theory (Oxford Jericho Tavern and Truck)
Pet Shop Boys (Glastonbury)
Plank (Green Man)
The Pop Group (Manchester Academy)
Prizes (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Race Horses (Green Man)
The Raincoats (ATP curated by Pavement)
Rangda (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
The Rock Of Travolta (Audioscope)
Rodrigo Y Gabriela (Glastonbury)
Rome Pays Off (Audioscope)
Saccharine Trust (ATP curated by Pavement)
Paul Thomas Saunders (Coventry St John the Baptist Church)
S.C.U.M. (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Sennen (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
Sharks (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Silver Columns (Glastonbury)
The Silver Machine (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Sketches (Oxford Zodiac)
Sleepy Sun (Green Man)
So So Modern (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
Sound Of Guns (Truck)
Spencer McGarry Season (Green Man)
Spiral Stairs (ATP curated by Pavement)
Stornoway (Glastonbury)
Sunnyvale Noise Sub-Element (Audioscope)
Surfer Blood (ATP curated by Pavement)
Teenage Fanclub (Truck)
These New Puritans (Green Man)
This Town Needs Guns (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
Tindersticks (Green Man and ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Tubelord (Glastonbury)
Vampire Weekend (Glastonbury)
Vivian Girls (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Voice Of The Seven Thunders (Green Man)
Von Haze (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
The Walkmen (ATP curated by Pavement)
Mike Watt (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
The Wave Pictures (Green Man)
Wavves (the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch)
Weird Al Yankovic (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Wild Beasts (Glastonbury and Green Man)
Wild Nothing (Truck)
Matt Winkworth (Oxford Jericho Tavern)
Wolf People (Oxford Zodiac)
Wolves In The Throne Room (ATP curated by Godspeed!)
Stevie Wonder (Glastonbury)
Wooden Shjips (ATP curated by Pavement)
Heather Woods Broughton (Oxford Zodiac)
The XX (Glastonbury Friday and Saturday)

(With apologies to the latter, whose Saturday performance would have seen them nestled comfortably well within the Top 30 if that horrid harpy Florence Welch hadn't appeared at the end to royally wreck everything...)

So now that's done it's onwards and upwards, with more live reviews from 2011 to come. I might actually be back to the present day at some point...

6 comments:

skif said...

Had they not been in my list for their Primavera performance, the Coventry Low show would have been high up my list n'all.

Good to see The Pre New in the final chart and that Rolo Tomassi set was certainly unforgettable even if mostly viewed in the tiny gap between audience heads and tent flap.

Ben said...

So Primavera was even better, then? You lucky so-and-so! Suspect I saw your list back when it was posted (in a far more timely fashion than mine) - but would you be able to supply a link?

skif said...

http://vanityprojectuk.wordpress.com/ - linked in side bars or at the bottom of the 2011 list.

Ben said...

Point taken, Dave - as good as hearing all the new material for the first time was, I'd have LOVED to have heard The Great Destroyer (my favourite Low album) in its entirety. Just another reason to regret not being at that Primavera...

skif said...

Point taken? Did that come across as 'find it yerself you bastid' then. If so, sorry. I just tapped in the main thing from memory to save going into site and finding the actual pag myself - I had a 'too many windows open' kind of a day here at work yesterday. I am merely lazy.

I think the fact I was suffering a little sun-stroke and had only 2 hours sleep from the night before, and thus a little woozy helped create the right kind of atmosphere for Low. That's the thing with bests gigs - it's not necessarilly a 'technical' thing - it's about all the factors falling into place.

Ben said...

No, no - point taken that Low's Primavera set would have been better! Apologies for my own laziness in not seeking out the link for myself. The length of that list (and the one for 2011) puts my own to shame.

Completely agree about what makes a gig special - a combination of a whole host of factors. Band, performance (quality and eventfulness), expectation level, setting, mood. Holy Fuck, for instance, should have been a shoe-in for inclusion in the 30 but I only saw their first Glastonbury set, which was disappointing and didn't match up to their usual high standards. For the Flaming Lips, by contrast, I'd forgotten how good they could be and was on a post-Radiohead high (and pretty well-oiled). The rating of sets by the likes of Islet, Future Of The Left and Rolo Tomassi were as much for the spectacle as for the music, if not more so.