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Top 10: Gigs 2010

By scott

Todd Rundgren ? Hammersmith Apollo 6/2/2010. Todd, costumes, glitter, and a classic album played in full. Wonderful.
Jesse Malin and St Marks Social - 02 Academy London 8/12/2010. One of the best live performers I have seen in recent years. Never lets you down. This was the first time with a full band and it rocked.
Dan le Sac and Scoobious Pip - Shepherds Bush Empire 01/11/2010. Thanks must go to Pete for making me aware of this pairing. Great on record and live.
Public Enemy - 02 Indigo 14/11/2010 . It may have been almost 20 years since I last caught PE live, but they can still deliver big time. A two and a half hour set full of all the classics and some of their better more recent material made for a night to saviour. Fight the power.
Stone Temple Pilots - Brixton Academy 16/06/2010. The return of Scott Weiland to the STP fold and I have said it before and will say it again, he is one of the finest frontmen in rock music. The mix of attitude and craft (along with a rather fine voice) makes him one of those performers you can’t keep your eyes off. It was marvellous.
Grinderman ? Hammersmith Apollo. 01/10/2010. Strutting his stuff with great aplomb, it was great to see Mr Cave and Co wringing the best out of the two Grinderman albums.
Laura Marling ? Conway Hall. It may be her boyfriend Mr Mumford who has been shifting all the records and getting all the hit records, but the true class lies with this young lady. Ryan Adams called her latest album ‘Insanely good’, and he was right.
The Hold Steady - HMV Forum 22/06/2010. I have seen THS live now quite a few times (doing so again in Feb 2011) and they have never let me down. This gig was them at their best.
Thea Gilmore - Digwalls 05/10/2010. I smile when I see Thea. She is a warm and funny performer. This gig was made even better by a Mad dancing woman in the audience.
The Bittersweets - The Borderline 02/02/2010. A Band I only ‘discovered’ a few days before I went to see them. A funny, engaging, and powerful songwriting duo. Great stuff.

[Very honourable mentions: Pull in Emergency@Camden Barfly 23/08/2010. Nell Bryden@The Luminiare 19/01/2010, and Polly Mackey and the Pleasure Principle - Borderline 24/01/10]

Which one was the actual gig of the year is actually quite hard, although for its mix of pure spectacle and fine music I would just hand it to my old favourite Todd Rundgren. His recreation of his A Wizard a True Star album was certainly an unforgettable experience ( and one even a Todd newbie friend had to confess to enjoying )

Full post as published by Information Overload on December 20, 2010 (boomark / email).