Bawley (hearts) 2009: Top 5 Concerts of the year: Nick

2009 wasn't a vintage live music year for me, but it was a bunch of older, established acts who have honed their live show over hundreds of hours of performance who impressed me most. And The Metro continued to impress me as Sydney's best live music venue, with three of my favourite shows of the year taking place there.

5. The Hold Steady, Metro Theatre (04/02/09)
The Hold Steady seem to play every show like it's the most important one they've ever played, and despite poor sound (backing vocals and keys too low in the mix), and a less than full venue, they stormed through a great set of bar room rock and roll with bucketloads of energy and personality.

4. Elbow, V Festival Sydney(29/03/09)
I Wouldn't normally put a festival set in a list like this, but Elbow seemed to be having the time of their lives in Centennial Park on a perfect March afternoon, belting out songs like 'One Day Like This' and telling stupid jokes. The crowd were having the time of their lives too.

3. Gomez, The Metro Theatre (23/10/2009)
10 years and 6 albums into their career, Gomez know exactly how to work a crowd. Their back catalogue is big enough and strong enough to play almost entirely different sets over two consecutive nights at The Metro without diminishing the quality of the material. I was there on the second night and had a blast. But my foot is still sore from dancing too much.

2. Basement Jaxx, The Enmore Theatre, 03/03/09
Still the best live dance act in the world. (FasterLouder review)

1. My Morning Jacket, The Metro Theatre, 22/01/09
Last January I doubted I'd be going to a better gig than this one for the rest of the year. And I didn't.

Live Review: ‘An Evening With My Morning Jacket’ @ The Metro Theatre, Sydney (22/01/08)

On one of Sydney's hottest nights on record, The Metro had descended into a seething, sweaty mess of tired but happy people by the end of a monumental double set lasting a full 2 hours 45 minutes, from Kentucky's finest rock band, My Morning Jacket.

The setlist says it all, really – the gig was a long, but consistently brilliant blast through the best bits of the band's brilliant back catalogue, which, despite the length, never felt like an endurance event, even during the extended guitar solos (of which there were many).

Highlights? The 15-odd minute version of 'Dondante', The magnificent 'Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Part 2'...Plenty others. If I go to another gig as good as this one in 2009, it'll have been a very good year for live music.

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Setlist:
At Dawn
It Beats 4 U
Evil Urges
Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 1
Off the Record
I'm Amazed
Way He Sings
Lowdown
Sec Walkin'
Golden
Thank You Too
Heartbreakin' Man
Mahgeetah
Laylow
Gideon
Librarian
Dondante
Smokin' from Shootin'
Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2
Cobra
Run Thru
------
Wordless Chorus
Highly Suspicious
Phone Went West
I Think I'm Going to Hell
Anytime
One Big Holiday

Bye Bye Astoria..

From a stupid new building that might get built to a nice old one that's going to get knocked down...

London's legendary Astoria has closed its doors for the last time, soon to be demolished to make way for a shiny new station as part of the massive Crossrail project.

While I'm not overly sentimental, and I'm all for major public transport improvements (take note, Sydney..) and while the Astoria was basically falling apart anyway, it does seem a shame that another of London's historical small-to-medium sized venues has gone to the wall, following the recent closures of The Highbury Garage, The Hammersmith Palais (as in the Clash song), and The Spitz, among others.

Bloggers all over the place are sharing stories about why The Astoria was so great and the amazing gigs they saw there. I only went twice, but both times (for My Morning Jacket and The Polyphonic Spree) rank up there with my all time favourite shows. It was a good size, with good sound, lots of charm and it was easy to get home afterwards. We can only hope that the planned replacement can retain some of the old Astoria's magic.

"You'll never guess who I had in the back of my cab last week"

From an innovation in gig review journalism (and a rubbish venue)to an innovation in live music recordings (and a weird venue)....

The Black Cab Sessions is a great idea: take one interesting musician (or two) and film them performing a song accoustically in the back of a cab as it travels around London.

As they say: "The sessions are all about great music and the venue strips this to its essence."

There are 68 sessions so far and the number is growing quickly. Among them are Bawley faves My Morning Jacket, The National, Fleet Foxes, The Futureheads (actually visible), Johnny Flynn, Death Cab For Cutie (of course) and (drumroll...) Lambchop. Their song choices often veer from the obvious 'hits', too - The National tackle a B-Side, Lambchop take on Bob Dylan, and also well worth checking out is Amanda Palmer's take on Radiohead's 'Creep'.