Thu 3 May – New Order

New Order were good (though there were clearly microphone setup issues towards the start), the other bank didn't say who they were, but mentioned New Order about 7 times, DJ Phil Mitchell rocked the arena!

Fri 2 Jul – Sarah Harmer, Nathaniel Rateliff

Sarah Harmer and her band were on form!
In all seriousness, this is the gig which I've enjoyed most up to this point in my life.
We stood next to the stage, and I swear I had a huge grin on my face for the entire show. I got a bit drunk, but the atmosphere and everything else about those 2 hours were absolutely perfect.

I'd never heard of Nathaniel Rateliff before, but his set was short and sweet, if a bit overly-mellow as a warm-up.

I especially liked how Sarah chatted…

Sun 16 May – Flight of the Conchords, Arj Barker

I was a bit concerned that I'd basically gone to see what boiled down to jokes I'd seen before (albeit, jokes I'd seen and loved before) delivered through a different medium. While every joke I'd been expecting to hear (in the form of song) was indeed delivered, it didn't stop there.
Before the Conchords came on, Arj Barker (who plays Dave in the FOTC TV show) did a stand-up set. While it wasn't fantastic, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected from a little-known Californian comedian, and at least…

Sun 6 Dec – Alice Cooper
Until quite late into the afternoon, I was totally unaware that my evening would take me into the audience of an Alice Cooper concert.
A few of my friends were going, and the ticket fell into my hands when one of them sadly couldn't make it.
Not being prepared at all (I was wearing a suit), and my knowledge of Alice's music not extending beyond School's Out and Poison, I came along with the remaining friends to see them live.

After a pretty unimpressive support act performance, Alice Cooper came on stage to…

Sat 19 Sep – Aqua

The host geezer said it was their first ever UK show (a claim that was also printed on the fliers). Maybe they'd gotten their wires crossed, or maybe when Aqua said one of those stock lines like "it's great to be back in the UK!" they were referring to a holiday or business trip.
Anyway, Aqua totally rocked the fucking house!
We were expecting them to do a small selection of songs (six were mentioned on literature and advertising), but they were actually on for over an hour, during which they performed fourteen…

Wed 24 Jun – The Saturdays, Pixie Lott

I've seen the Saturdays a few times now, but a full-blown real concert with an audience full of people there purely to see The Sats is obviously going to be a different experience.
For a group with just one album under their belt, they managed to put on a great show (testament to just how good/catchy their songs are)!
They were great live (good to see Vanessa back on her feet). How they have the energy to move like that and carry on sining well, I don't know!

I was actually very…

Sun 7 Jun – 95.8 Capital FM Summertime Ball

It was a long day, and the build-up and constant bombarding of sponsor adverts was tedious, but our seats in the stadium (though very far from the stage) were far more comfortable, and had a far better view than I'd expected (even if the people infront of me were standing, I could see the stage just as well without having to stand myself).
Katy Perry opened, and though she was good, the crowd really wasn't warmed up yet. I think they could have done better by replacing some of the spot…

Sat 23 May – G-A-Y BATTLE OF THE NEW RELEASES

In short, Agnes was on good form, but the least said about the rest of the acts, the better.
The blatant miming, and futile attempts at audience interaction from the other acts was cringe-worthy at best.
If I was Agnes I wouldn't know whether to feel happy that I upstaged the rest of them so severely, or offended that I was ever grouped with them in the first place.

Stolen from a stranger (thankyou stranger), and using my overall top 50 as of 6/4/09

1. What's your favourite song by 15?
Captain Jack
Hard to say, Captain Jack is more of a joke than it is good music. Maybe Miss Ibiza It has a good summery sound and hasn't been killed by DDR :P

2. How did you get into 20?
Pulp
Would have been at the time Common People and Disco 2000 were released, when I used to listen to the radio ALL the time <3

3. Who is your favourite member in 1?
McFly
The one that…

Sat 3 Jan – The Saturdays performing at GAY @ Heaven
Well, it was technically Sunday but what the hell! :p

Overall it was a good night.
Was worried about if we'd actually be able to see them etc, but all was well, and we had a pretty good close view of the stage, with enough space to dance if we so wished.
The Saturdays themselves were on top form (especially considering the late hour) and the crowd seemed to go wild for them.
I was happily impressed, and look forward to them returning to Heaven.