ok so following on from squinty’s excellent review of the best gigs of 2008 and deportivo’s similarly inspiring review, I bring you my own 10 cents.

It was a strange but excellent year all at once.

The early part of the year was certainly quiet as has been the norm for many years now. We also saw a lot of gigs which would normally be a shoe in for the Olympia take up new residence in Tripod. I’ve never been convinced by Tripod as a venue – especially the bloody smell off some of the seats in the place! Here’s hoping they get their own act together a bit more in 2009 as it certainly looks like it’s been a commercial success.

We also close out the year with the arrival of the Point 2.0 – or “the o2″ as we’ll all now have to get used to calling it.  From what we’ve seen so far, it looks like they’ve got the sound right which is a major plus.

Right, enough of that – down to business. In reverse order no less – oh the suspense is killing you all I’m sure!

10. – Aimee Mann – Tripod

Aimee just snook in at number 10 and beat off some pretty stiff competition to scrap into the top 10.

Having originally being pencilled in to be held in the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, the septic tiger looks to have got the better of that wonderful idea, (Duke Special was brilliant there in ‘07) and the gig moved to where else but the Tipod! Quite possibly one of the later gigs of the year, Sharon Shannon and the mighty mighty Mundy kept us all waiting until nearly 10pm for Aimee to appear. But ’twas worth the wait and Aimmie put on a show with a great mix of old and new. The new material stood up particularly well to it’s live airing If you’ve got your hands on @#%&*! Smilers you really should just go get it as it’s one of the best of the year for me.

9. – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Dublin Castle

We’ve had the pleasure of catching Mr. Cave and his cronies live more times than we care to remember now; stretching back to such exotic locations as Bonn in ‘98, Paris in ‘03 to the ultra exotic Marquee in Cork in more recent times.

As a result we ave very high standards when it comes to a Bad Seeds show. While this gig certainly was not the best one we’ve seen from them, I think my fellow gigsoc members have been a little over harsh on this one.

The new album certainly was a grower this year and has done exceedingly well in many best of 2008 album reviews.  While the show might have lacked a certain spark that has been present in the past, the atmosphere and the unique surroundings of Dublin Castle made it a memorable night and a bad night for Mr. Cave is still a thousand times better than a good night for many many acts out there today.

Here’s Stagger Lee from the night

8. – Eels – Vicar St.

We’d been really looking forward to this one for some time and Mr. Everett and co. did not dissapoint. It was quite a unique gig in that the support act was a documentary about Mark Everett’s father, the Hugh Everett , a mad scientist of some reknown who came up with the theory of paralell universes (I shit you not).

Anyway, it was a really well put together film that set the scene nicely for a stripped down Eels show where the man himself was in excellent form. It’s nights like these that really make Vicar St. work as a venue (take notes Mr. Tripod!)

It would have nice to hear Souljacker with the full band or catch some of the blinking lights stuff with the full string section like on their last tour but it was a treat all the same.

7. – Richard Hawley – Vicar St.

I’ve been a big fan of the ex-pulp Sheffield based crooner for a long time and first discovered him on Donal Dineen’s Here Come’s the night back when it used to be on at a sociable hour (it’s aptly called the Small Hours now).

Richard put on an excellent show not short on that unique Sheffield wit of his and gave us a set that blended the old and new. You don’t see him that often in these parts for some reason but he is one to catch for sure the next time he is touring.

6. – Muse – Marlay Park

What can I say about Muse Live that hasn’t already been said? Best live rock band in the world? Most definitely. Marlay Park has never sounded better. Interestingly the moved the stage to the other end of the park for this years gigs. It’s definitely had a positive impact. The sound and the atmosphere for Radiohead here a few years ago was…ermm…shit.

Muse never do things by half. Their shows are getting increasingly bombastic with over the top light shows, giant satellite dishes and laser seams and other crazy shit.

But they manage to pull it off every time – in no small part to the consistently brilliant vocals and musicianship of the threesome that is Muse.

To this day, I’ve never seen anyone leave a Muse gig dissapointed.

Oh and it rained for about 30 days either side of this gig so it’s worth it’s place in the top 10 just for that.

5. – TV on the Radio – Tripod

The meeeja have gone into complete overdrive on the hype surrounding Dear Science this year. TV on the Radio have become something of a poster boy for the music literati who love to wax lyrical about Brooklyn’s finest – and I’m not going to argue with them one bit.

These guys are good. Very good.

Guess what? They’re even better live! They transformed the stage in Tripod into what can only be described as a make shift mobile studio to re-create the carefully crafted sonic experience from their back catalogue.

Highlight of the night had to be Wolf Like Me which left the crowd breathless.

4. – Sigur Rós – Electric Picnic, Stradbally, Co. Laois

It’s Friday evening at the end of the summer. Finally the sun makes an appearance. We’re back in a field in Laois – a field that’s been transformed into a visually stunning Alice in Wonderland-esque experience.  It can only be the Electric Picnic which looks better than ever this year. Can the music match the aesthetics? With Sigur Rós headlining the Friday night – expectations are very high – could they ramp up their legendary live shows to the big open air stage environment?

The answer was a resounding yes. They pulled it off – and then some.

Iceland’s best export blew us away with an expansive setlist which stretched back over the 10 years they’ve been twisting our ears with their unique sound. No one cares that they haven’t a fucking clue what yer man is saying – it’s sounds good. He could be telling us all to fuck off but it would still be the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard.

If you’ve never caught them live – shame on you.

3. – Bon Iver – Tripod

Maybe somewhat predicatbly – Justin delivered the finest album of the year for me. No question. And Bon Iver live in Tripod was one of the finest gigs of the year. It’s not often that you can hear a pin drop for the full duration of any gig. The fact that only fuckers making noise at this gig were the bar staff says quite a lot about how fixated the crowd were to the stage.

We got the full contents of the album – with the additional instruments adding depth and layers to lift the songs to another level making their live delivery that bit of more special.

We got banter with the crowd aplenty and We got a primal scream

3. – Kings of Leon – The O2

No your eyes are not playing tricks on you. I’ve got no.3 down twice. (Therefore making top 10 actually a top 11 but I couldn’t choose between them).

Kings of Leon in the newly opened O2 was a cracker and crash landed into my Top 10 at the last minute. The new venue is a winner on the evidence of this gig.

A storming 24 song set gave the new sound system a very good stress test – and it passed with flying colours. I’ve seen these guys a couple of times before but Friday night was their best yet.

Maybe it’s the time of year, the hype of the new venue etc. But the stars definitely aligned in such a way to give us a great night out. It’s good to have a decent size indoor venue back in Dublin for these types of gigs.

2. – Tom Waits – Phoenix Park

Why Tom chose Dublin we’re still not sure. It wouldn’t really have mattered though. Gigsoc were going to see Tom Waits in 2008 – it was just a question of where. The fact that he would dropping in on our door step just made it that bit easier.

With a specially constructed Rat Cellar put in place to house Mr. Waits & Co. for 3 shows of a very limited European tour, we knew we were always in for a treat.  Oh and the results are in, Dublin night 3, was voted the best of the tour.

1. – Leonard Cohen – Kilmainham

This gig should never have happened. Leonard shouldn’t have to tour anymore if he doesn’t want to – he’s getting on now. He didn’t want to do this tour. But he was left with no choice. His accountant cleaned him out.

Still, the fact that it did happen made a lot of people very very happy – and I suspect Leonard himself might look back at the whole affair with a smile in years to come. There is plenty of life left in the old pro yet.

A man in his 70’s shouldn’t be able to come out on stage and put in 3 hours every night. He shouldn’t be capable of electrifying his audience to the point where it becomes less of a gig and more of a homage to some of the best songs and music ever written.

He shouldn’t – but he did. And he did it for 3 nights in Kilmainham in June. The man just stood there grinning for 3 hours while we sat and stood spellbound and pinching ourselves every now and again to remind ourselves that this was really happening.

I’ve never experienced a gig quite like it.

For the emotion. For the setting. For the sound. For the music. For the chance to see one of the finest song smiths showing everyone else how it’s done. There were people crying. Some people went all 3 nights. By the end of it all, Leonard himself wanted us all to come with him everywhere he went. Some people agreed and followed him to Rome.

Leonard you take the top spot.  Come back soon so you can take it again.

Enjoy some clips from the gigs.

Hallelujah

A Thousand Kisses Deep

If it be your will