5 Gigs I Wish I Hadn't Missed

I was fortunate enough to go to many incredible gigs in 2010 but here are 5 I wish I could've been at:

The Strokes

The Splendour 2010 headliners arrived down under just a couple of months after frontman Julian Casablancas completed his solo Australian tour. The band arrived with great anticipation and from all reports they did not disappoint. The shows were high energy, sweat saturated with plenty of leather and dark shades on stage. So why do I wish I was there? Well near the top of my ever-growing bucket list (you can never be too young to have one of those can you?) is to witness at least part of Is This It? live on stage and this would've the perfect opportunity before their setlist becomes filled with tracks from their forthcoming 4th album. But it wasn't to be

Gorillaz

Unlike The Strokes, Gorillaz 3rd effort had been very very well received. The band had just, albeit somewhat unsuccessfully headlined Glastonbury in place of U2 and travelled the world on their, far more successful first world tour. Missing their Entertainment Centre performance didn't bother me initially but it was the superlative laden responses to the show that made me really regret missing it. Add to that the buy one ticket get one free offer the promoters had running in the days leading up to the show, this was a show I could've, would've, should've gone to.

Metallica

The last 2 months of the year saw basically every huge band on the planet pay Australia a visit including Muse, U2, Linkin Park and Bon Jovi but the first to arrive was Metallica on the final leg of their massive World Magnetic Tour. In tow they had the latest incarnation of their in-the-round spectacular, a technique poorly executed in the following weeks by Muse and U2. The so-called "hardest working band in the world" stood true to their reputation over the 3 months they spent playing 4 brilliant shows in Sydney, attended by far too many close friends. The fact that they played Orion on their 3rd night in Sydney made matters all the more worse.

Them Crooked Vultures

Ah the band I doubted! Jones is too old.....Grohl is past it.......Homme is a red head! Nevertheless I decided to listen to the Triple J recording of the show and how wrong I was. They sounded incredible! After saying that their debut release was just a cash in, I'm now desperately hoping they release a second record and tour Australia with it.

Grizzly Bear

The band behind my album of 2009 was a must see for me but it didn't quite work out in 2010, twice, for geographical and financial reasons respectively. In January they created a mouth-watering bill by playing the stunning Hyde Park Barracks and City Recital Hall with the ethereal The Middle East in support but I was left to drool over it on the other side of the world. The Americans returned in July for Splendour in the Grass, announcing sideshows just after I had exhausted my last few cents on other sidehows. Oh well there will hopefully be a next time.