I have been a bit slack with live reviews this year, and this is something that I will endeavour to change in 2012. However I did want to share with you the best gigs that I have been to this year and considering none of my top 5 are from Reading festival, it is safe to say I have seen some great live acts this year.

5. The Blackout – Roundhouse Camden, November

- This was a great night, the support was in the form of We Are The Ocean who were a great opening act to have as they have a large following themselves. The Roundhouse is a great venue, one of the best in Camden (and there are a few to choose from). The Blackout were on top form as usual, and I was glad to get to see most of 'Hope' live. They even played 'Higher and Higher' twice, why you say? No-one knows...

4. All Time Low – o2 Academy Brixton, March

- This was a really good gig because of all the bands on show, the first act were Young Guns, followed by the rejuvenated Yellowcard who really do have some great songs. The main event were All Time Low, one of my favourite bands. Sometimes you can have acts that speak to much and aren't funny, or ones that don't speak enough to the crowd. All Time Low get it spot on, and the music is fun to dance around/sing along too!

3. The Streets – o2 Academy Brixton, March.

- March was clearly a good month for music. This was a great night, I was so happy to get to see The Streets on their last ever headline tour. I won't say too much as you can check out the full review here; http://www.iknowasong.com/9/post/2011/03/there-will-be-no-sequel-to-this-evening.html
What I will say is that it was one of the most emotional gigs I have ever been to.

 2. Young Guns – HMV Forum, September

- You would think that a complete power failure, so therefore no expensive light show, would effectively ruin a gig. However, even though they had to play the whole show in the relative dark with only a few spotlights illuminating the stage, it was epic. There was no lack of enthusiasm on stage, and the band vocally and musically were on the money.

1. Foo Fighters – Milton Keynes Bowl, July

- Well, I don't even know how to start describing this. Imagine Biffy Clyro opening, with their insanely awesome live show. Followed by two and a half hours of Dave Grohl, essentially the entire Foo Fighters greatest hits, most of the new album and a cameo from Alice Cooper. I don't actually think live music gets a lot better. Not just the best gig of the year, but one of the best I have ever been to.


We would love to hear about some of the acts you hacve seen this year. Or who you are seeing in 2012.

Vizzle.

Greetings ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to a live review for the first time in quite a while. This is not because I haven’t been going to gigs, but I have been without the correct equipment (a laptop) to retell such tales of excitement and fun. 

Let me start by saying, £9.20 for two pints of Tuborg is daylight
(well actually it was night time… and in doors…) robbery, Cameron’s Britain! 
 
I can assure you that I did not let this dampen my spirits, even though the drink prices are obscene, there is no getting away from the fact that the Brixton academy is one of the best venues in the country, and I hope it continues to host great music for as long as I can drag my corpse along to shows.

You may be thinking, Example… this is not the kind of act that would usually be covered by yours truly. And if you are thinking this, which I’m sure you’re not, you would be correct. This kind of mainstream radio 1 shite is usually what I detest, however I do have a soft spot for Example. It may be down to his very witty banter on Twitter, but it may also be down to the fact that I really like his music. If you want to be cheered up, he’s your man in my
opinion. 

So back to the big night, the support acts, well… let’s just say I wasn’t over awed by them. To be honest I couldn’t even tell you their names. There was the first act which was questionable dubstep with a female singer (I
use the term singer lightly) and a load of guys with Mac’s. Is that really
music? We do live in a digital age…

They were followed by a band with actual instruments; again I could give or take them. It was listenable, but I wasn’t jumping from the rooftops, in fact I was at the bar.

You could tell from the giant ‘e’ above the stage that the light show was going to be pretty insane, and when Elliot ‘Example’ Glieve, finally made his way to the stage I can assure you that it well and truly kicked off.

The first half of the set was dominated by album songs, so if you were only there for the singles, you would have been like what? Or more than likely you were on some kind of drug raving like a loon down the front with no recollection of any songs when you woke up the next morning. 
 
At the halfway point, Example actually said, ‘from here out no more shit songs, only the good ones now’ which duly got a few laughs. Then it was as promised hit after hit. ‘watch the sun come up’, ‘kickstart’ ‘midnight run’ ‘stay awake’ and the set ended with ‘changed the way you kissed me’. 

All in all the night was thoroughly enjoyable, Example has really good chemistry with the audience, and manages to keep you going for the whole
hour and twenty minutes ish that he is on.

If you are a fan of his music I would say that he is a must live. I think that the endless touring of festivals has really perfected his live show, and I’m intrigued to see how his arena tour goes next year. 

Cheers
Vizzle.