BEST of the BEST. (i.e. The BEST)

Money is drying up, its getting harder to travel places and my throat hurts. These are the 3 reasons I have tried to tell myself why I haven't been to a gig in a while; frankly, this isnt good enough. However, why I've been looking into gigs for the future (which include, Frank Turner, Stone Roses and hopefully, Foals) I've decided to reveal my personal 3 greatest gigs/bands I have seen live. Tense moment... And by the way, choosing 1st and 2nd place could well have been harder than deciding where to go to university.

3. MUSE (Main Stage, Leeds Festival 2011)
Friday headliners at Leeds and sunday headliners at Reading; Muse were the band that stood out over the whole festival, which is a hell of an achievement for them because The Strokes were set to play the festival 2 days later.

The intro was mesmorising, flashes of light which provided a glance of charismatic-god that is Matt Bellamy rifled through the eyes of the tens of thousands of punters. The brief flashes were accompanied by a sinister Tom Wait track, with the words, "What's in there? What's he building in there?" ringing in the ears of everyone. This soon led to the mellow keying of Mr Bellamys piano for 'New Born' and the beginning of the epic setlist. They smashed out the hits, everything from bass-destroying, 'Hysteria' to the deafening cover of 'Feeling Good'.

This set in particular was eagerly anticipated, due to it being the 10th anniversary of critically acclaimed album, 'Origin of Symmetry', in which Muse announced they will play all the way through for the last time. 'Showbiz', 'Bliss' and... Well, you know, just look at the back of the CD case to find out what else they played. They killed it, the crowd loved it and I have only really just got over it. Incredible. (that photo above; I took myself and edited it because i'm so overly pretentious with my photos)

2. ARCTIC MONKEYS (Sheffield Don Valley Bowl, June 2010)
The second greatest gig I have ever been to. VERY closely matched with my first choice. The atmosphere certainly topped my first choice, but overall, this just missed out. Taking nothing away from Alex and the boys; these lads absolutely, 100%, unequivocally nailed it.

Vaccines and Miles Kane supported, much to the delight of everyone there. The boys kicked off their show after Turner echoed "Let's start from the beginning shall we..?", which kicked off 'A View from the Afternoon' and it was magic from there. 'Dont Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair', 'Brianstorm' and 'Still Take You Home' all rang out from the beginning. Every single word which came out of Alex's mouth was tinged with a northern slant, which really comes through when he cracks out the mind-blowing lyrics.

Helders was once again on form leaving me with the impression that he is inhuman... especially after declaring he only began playing drums because it was the only instrument left. Songs from all 4 studio albums to date were pranged out with added confidence due to them being in their home town.

The original set ended, and they came back out for a horrifyingly excellent encore which included 'When the Sun Goes Down', 'Fluorescent Adolescent' and my ultimate favourite, 'A Certain Romance'. It was clear this was a give and take gig; during fans fave 'Mardy Bum', AT forgot the words to which the thousands of adoring fans sung the words back at him, awesome moment to be part of.

The crowd loved every minute, and thousands were left with injuries, sweat soaked shirts and a decreased amount of dignity. It were definitely siiick.

1. DOVES (Manchester Central, December 2009)
Here it is. The best thing I have ever been to... in my opinion. Still sends shivers down my spine when thinking about it. This gig was honestly pure genius. An absolute joy to behold.

A homecoming gig is different to anything ever experienced; it means more to the artist and more to the fans. On first glance, GMEX looks like a knackered old train station; because it is... but the closer you get, the more impressive it actually is and when you actually venture inside, you're on the floor. Dazed. Confused. Enough about that. Widely unheard of, 'Delphic' were the support act, along with widely heard-of, 'Super Furry Animals'. These guys impressed, and got the crowd buzzing for when Jimi and the boys were to take to the stage.

The band formally known as 'Sub Sub' came on stage to a rapturous applause which they soaked up for a minute or 2, and then proceeded into something so amazing, so stunning, so... superlative-busting, astronauts would sit on the floor and die because they couldnt handle what they were to witness. Not only were Doves slamming out the tunes which have made their name over the past decade; they were joined by the London Bulgarian Choir, with whom they had previously worked with at the BBC Electric Proms. The set astounded many, and overwhelmed many more. With songs such as, 'Kingdom of Rust', 'Snowden', 'Firesuite' and 'The Cedar Room' all coming and going, the thousands of supporters were left screaming for more... 'Pounding', 'Black and White Town' and 'There Goes the Fear' all getting the GMEX shuddering and shaking like "the old days". Hours passed and Doves left the stage, only to come on and play a few more before leaving again. And, due to the high demand, they came back for the 2nd time that night to finish with a song - in the words of Mr Goodwin, "wouldn't be homecoming without..." - called 'Spaceface'.

The night ended and I for one was left in a trance. This gig was UNREAL and it takes something special to beat it...

Woop!