I was thinking of doing a “best of the year” post and found this draft list of my favourite gigs of 2009. Can’t remember why I never posted it, possibly I meant to write about all of the gigs, so I’ll add in some comments now and then try to get onto this year’s list a bit quicker.
- All Tomorrow’s Parties – Mt Buller Jan 9-11
I’ve already written a couple of posts about this (here and here). Looking back on it now the standouts are Laughing Clowns, Harmonia and Michael Gira but as I said in my original post everything about it was great and the fact that it hasn’t happened again is very disappointing. - Laneway – Fowler’s Courtyard Feb 7
The down side to ATP was that it would spoil all other festivals since they couldn’t possibly be as good. As far as non-ATP festivals go, Laneway was rather good in 2009. We got to farewell Stereolab, I finally got to see Four Tet (with a great set largely based on the excellent Ribbons EP), and there was plenty of other good stuff (Jay Reatard, No Age, Pivot, Born Ruffians) but for me the highlight was Daedelus. - Kid Koala at Producers Feb 12
Always fantastic to see live, it’s a shame he didn’t come back this year. - Damo Suzuki at the Ed Castle Feb 13
Suzuki’s second visit to Adelaide, I thought this one was much better than the first which didn’t really grab me. - Dan Deacon & High Pleaces at Urtext March 1
Ah, good old Urtext. Hadn’t thought about it for a while. This was a crazy gig, might not have been a huge crowd for a Sunday night but Deacon still managed to organise the audience into two teams for a dance off. - Mike Cooper at De La Catessan, March 3rd
Mike Cooper’s gigs are always great, but when he does a live film score it’s something really special. He’d previously performed one in Adelaide for Onibaba which was incredible, and this one was another amazing experience as he played a live score for The Colour of Pomegranates.It’s a shame that the number of attendees at either could be counted on your fingers. - Fingerfest at Urtext, March 21
Speaking of fingers … I guess Fingerfest was pretty much the farewell for Urtext. I remember rushing there from a Blackeyed Susans gig so as not to miss Ninetynine’s Laura MacFarlane playing a solo set. It was a good lineup all round, but the other highlights were Japanese band Kill My Bleeding Smile, and God God Dammit Dammit. - Kris Wanders/Andy Sugg Unit – Exeter April 17/ Metro April 18 / Exeter September 11
Three gigs, all superb. It’s rare to see top quality free jazz around these parts so getting three gigs in a year was pretty special. - Winnerfest at the Metro, May 9
Yet another festival (I also went to the BDO & Womad so there were a lot for me). This was to launch No Through Roads album Winner, but there was also lots of other great stuff including Guy Blackman and Steering By Stars. - Flipper at Live on Light Square, June 5
I didn’t know what to expect from this, being a bit wary of comebacks by old bands, but it was incredibly good. - Like Leaves at the Metro – August 8
One of the best local bands, played more good shows this year, hopefully an album will be out next year. - Dan V Exeter residency August
Dan plays in Like Leaves, and also did a solo residency on every Monday in August (which fit in nicely with my regular attendance at the Cinematheque). I think I may have been to all of them … when it was over I didn’t know what to do with my Monday night. - Panoptique Electrical cd launch, EMU August 7
Sadly not many people were there to see this great gig where Jason Sweeney’s Panoptique Electrical (in full band mode) launched their cd Yes to Fear, Yes to Desire. Amazingly beautiful music. - The Lucksmiths at Jive, August 14
I’d never seen them before so I got in just in time for their farewell tour. - Zulya & the Children of the Underground, Dunstan Playhouse Sep 11
The last time I’d seen Zulya play was in a church, so this was a bit different. She came back this year but I was in Melbourne when she played here. - Satan’s Cheerleaders & God God Dammit Dammit at Enigma, Nov 21
Great local lineup. Of course I’ve gone on to organise a gig by SC when I got sick of them not playing (and have another one on the way in February), haven’t seen GGDD for a while now, missed them in Sydney a couple of months back. - Lightning Bolt at Fowler’s Live Nov 27
Lots of good LB footage on youtube, check it out. Seeing them live is certainly an experience. - Batrider & No Through Road at the Metro Nov 28
Aka the consolation prize for Ed Kuepper cancelling at the Gov … that disappointment was soon forgotten when I got to see two of the best bands in town at the Metro. - Crayon Fields with Hit the Jackpot & Bing Goes to Monaco at the Metro Dec 5
I’d heard of the Crayon Fields for ages but this is the first time I got to hear them and I loved it, fortunately I got to see them a couple more times this year before they relocated overseas. HTJ are of course another local favourite who are always worth seeing, and BGtM were a promising local band who disappeared from the scene this year. - Jarvis Cocker at the Gov, Dec 10
I’d never particularly listened to Cocker’s music (solo or Pulp), but was very impressed when I saw him supporting the Pixies a few years ago, so was keen to see him again, and once again he put on a great performance. - Underground Lovers at the East Brunswick Club 19/12
Amazing show, wrote a post about it here. A shame they haven’t done any more, but at least there’s been some good stuff from GB3.