Best Gigs of 2014
Another great year for live music as I went to 153 gigs as well as loads of other good events.
My gig total is now 6256 since 1973.
Remember it is just my personal view of the gig which could be for many reasons including mega stage production, I was near the front, one of my fave artists etc.
1.Prince live at The Roundhouse on 04 June. Two shows of two hours each with slightly different setlists by Prince on the same night has to be the gig of the year plus his shows I saw at Shepherds Bush Empire and Birmingham Arena were also mega.
2.Kylie Minogue live at The 02 Arena 29 Sept. A mega production and party atmosphere for this stunning show.Also the up close gig at The Grosvenor House Hotel on 15 May was also top notch. Lots of costume changes and a totally visually mega show.
3.Lady Gaga live at The 02 Arena on 25 Oct. A massive stage production with walkways over the floor standing areas that were used throughout the show. Like Kylie a full on party atmosphere with loads of costume changes and the wow factor.
4.Black Sabbath + Soundgarden live at Hyde Park 04 July. Mega anthems from the rock legends.
5.Aerosmith + Joe Bonamassa + Richie Sambora + Thunder live at Clapham Common 28 June. Steven Tyler and co played the perfect show.
6.Peter Gabriel live at Wembley Arena on 03 Dec. An incredible show of top quality.
7.Foo Fighters + Kaiser Chiefs live at Invictus Games Closing Ceremony at The Queen Elizabeth Park on 14 Sept.Foo Fighters are always mega live plus support from Kaiser Chiefs was a great double bill. Amazing atmosphere here with disabled athletes everywhere who had competed in the games itself.
8.Kate Bush live at Hammersmith Apollo on 20 Sept. Without doubt it was the hottest gig ticket of the year. It was incredible to see her play live again as I saw here at the same venue in 1979 on her last tour. It was a quality show but she left out a few of her main songs that I would have preferred her to play.
9.Rod Stewart live at The Hilton Hotel,Park Lane,London on 09 July.One of those shows were I got very close to the stage ending up just a few feet from Rod playing a great hour of classic hits.
10.Kaiser Chiefs live at The Hard Rock Cafe,London on 14 May.Another in yer face gig as just 150 folks here with a very lively set by the band and free booze and food all night for this invite only gig for a radio station.
11.Those just outside the Top 10 included Depeche Mode, Wilko Johnson with Roger Daltrey,Blondie,Sex Pistols Experience,Steel Panther,Suede,Status Quo(Frantic Four original line up),Deep Purple,Manic Street Preachers, Foreigner,Europe,Elbow,Chas and Dave,Courtney Love, Arcade Fire,The Eagles,Stevie Wonder,Coldplay, Libertines,Neil Young And Crazy Horse,Franz Ferdinand, Blink 182,Matlock-Phantom-Slick,Janes Addiction, Ray Davies,Placebo,Lenny Kravitz,Buzzcocks, Yusuf-Cat Stevens,Boomtown Rats,Damned,Billy Idol, Damon Albarn & The Heavy Seas,Jack White,Bryan Adams,Slash,Public Image Limited,The Cure.
Special mention to The Cure for playing the longest shows of the year.Their Royal Albert Hall Show was a mental 3 hour 33 mins and the two shows at Hammersmith Apollo were both over three hours. Also AC/DC video shoot on 04 Oct was a good one. It was for the track 'Rock or Bust' at Black Island Studios in West London.
Loads of other great shows were not in my main list.