After a couple of years recovering from the pandemic, 2023 saw the gig scene coming back into its own, although it’s now a very different beast to the one that existed before 2020.

The costs of touring have risen by ridiculous amounts and with the demise of physical album sales, most artists are reliant on the income from live performances to scrape a living out of their passion. As a result, gigs at the lower end rarely break even and promotors are more wary of making more adventurous decisions. At the other end, the advent of demand based ticket pricing means that many people can only afford one or two arena gigs per year at most (strengthening the argument that you should see lots of smaller gigs instead). Brexit continues to be the gift that keeps giving as US bands that used to base their European gear in the UK have moved into Europe and sometimes avoid the UK altogether. Home grown bands travelling into Europe frequently find issues at the border leading to cancelled tours. Whilst the smaller venues struggled with indifferent audiences and the vulturous planning officials hoovered nearby, the bigger venues took 25% of bands merchandise sales and charged close to £10 for an insipid pint of beer.

Despite the challenges the above presented, lots of bands went back out on tour and there were several highlights. I clocked up 77 gigs across the year and saw 174 different bands in venues ranging from the boutique Aces n Eights in Tufnell Park, through to the legendary Hull New Adelphi Club and all the way up to the soulless Wembley Arena. Special mention should go to Siouxsie’s gig at Tynemouth Priory – a perfect sunny evening looking out into the North Sea in the shadow of the Priory. Siouxsie - Jul 23 2023 saw the return of a number of artists we thought we would never see again. The aforementioned Siouxsie Sioux thrilled audiences with a series of sold out shows in the US, Europe and the UK. The Cult resurrected Death Cult and played sets based on their material from 1982 to 1984, and it was glorious to hear those goth tinged songs played in the wild again. A short set from a Michael Monroe fronted Lords of the New Church concluded the chaotic but thoroughly enjoyable Vive Le Rock awards show at Shepherds Bush Empire. Lastly The Almighty reformed and delivered some of the best gigs of the year. There are some artists who continue to release exceptional albums in their twilight years and one of these was ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’ by Sparks. The accompanying tour was a thing of beauty covering all aspects of their career – a trip to Oxford New Theatre to see them is one of my favourite gigs of the year. I’ve lived in Reading for 23 years now and the town has always had a relatively vibrant music scene despite not having many venues. Whilst Sub89 used to bring in the mid tier touring bands, it has become a sad reflection of its former self with more tribute bands playing than original bands these days. In its wake, the long established Facebar is making a name for itself as a venue of choice. Together with promotors such as Club Velocity, Heavy Pop and Runnin Blue, the venue has seen a highly impressive lineup in 2023 with the likes of Ricky Warwick, Supersuckers, Ghostdance and The Rezillos all playing there. Veteran goth band, The March Violets produced one for the best gigs of the year there whilst Los Fastidios had all the rude girls dancing on the stage. Special mention to the Heathen Apostles who brought their southern gothic country sounds to an enchanted audience. Heathen Apostles - Jul 23 The annual ‘Are You Listening Festival’ saw a multitude of bands playing at various venues across the town. Highlights included the Lambrini Girls, Deijuvhs, Pet Needs and a cracking set from Black Honey in the magnificent setting of St Lawrence Church. After ten years, the festival has become an essential highlight in the gig calendar. Over in that there London, Terrorvision had a rammed Electric Ballroom bouncing around from the start and The Middlenight Men tantalized us with tracks from their forthcoming second album. Amigo the Devil brought a full band over this time to further enhance his stupendous tales of love and murder at Islington Assembly Hall.  Over at the Roundhouse, The Sisters of Mercy appeared to implode on stage despite having a back catalogue of songs that should have kept the band in fine fettle. Instead, we were treated to a disappointing set of mumbled lyrics and overall dodgy sound. In contrast, a trip to Finsbury Park to watch Pulp was an excellent celebration of Jarvis and the gang’s musical heritage. Wembley Arena was the location for a pair of cracking gigs by punk legends Dropkick Murphys and Rancid despite the venue’s attempts to make the experience as soulless as possible.   London’s smaller venues continued to provide highly enjoyable sets which frequently were more fun than the gigs at the city’s bigger venues. Islington’s legendary Hope & Anchor was host to excellent sets by Black Bombers, Desperate Measures, The Carol Hodges Band and Sarah Borges. Over in Kings Cross, The Water Rats continued to entertain with shows by the likes of The Rose of Avalanche, Salvation, The Hip Priests and Wolfsbane. It was also the venue for the always enjoyable annual Vive LE Rock Xmess party with The Electric Shakes, The Priscillas, Ultrabomb, The Speedways and Desperate Measures providing the music for the night. Local homecoming gigs can be something special as friends and family join the audience, occasionally making the bands raise their game. I’d not seen The Amazons before but was pleasantly surprised by their set at Reading University. As an aside, it’s a shame that the University circuit is not what it used to be like – back in the early Nineties I saw numerous well-known bands playing the likes of Nottingham Trent University and Hull University. Returning to my own personal roots, the band I have seen the most, Lithium Joe, reformed for a couple of gigs including a home town gig at Hull New Adelphi Club. They are the band I saw develop from playing to four people and a dog to becoming major players on the Hull music scene during the Nineties. Now in their fifties it was a joy to see the band rejuvenated and playing to a loyal crowd of supporters – these are the special moments that will stay in your memories for a long time. Lithium Joe - Nov 23 2023 continued to demonstrate that there are numerous quality bands playing around the country, but that audiences need to be more willing to take a punt on their local music scenes. There are plenty of grass roots venues out there putting on bands every week and they don’t charge the earth for a drink (and travel costs will be much less). Yes, occasionally go to see one of the big shows by the big headliners but also go and see the future stars of tomorrow at the same time else you’ll be stuck watching holograms of Abba and Kiss for the rest of time, and paying through the nose for the privilege.

Here's looking forward to 2024 and more gig fun. Wolfsbane - Dec 23