Gigs I've been to

For most my life, I was a pretty irregular gig-goer. But in 2025, I really got a taste for it. Turns out I love being in the middle of a sweaty crowd, screaming along to the lyrics and dancing my arse off, then finishing it off having a natter with a stranger in the cloakroom queue.

This is my page for recording all the shows I've been to and what I thought of them. Newest gig reports go at the top!

2026

Viagra Boys (+ Getdown Services)

I booked tickets for this almost a year ago so it was a long wait, but worth it. Also my first time seeing a gig at Ally Pally! I didn't realise how massive it was – might actually be the biggest show I've been to. Turns out there are a lot of Shrimptech Investors out there.

Congratulations to Getdown Services for becoming the first band I have seen live twice. After seeing them in a much smaller venue just a few months ago, I felt strangely proud of them opening for such a massive show, and also excited that other people in the crowd knew their lyrics instead of just thinking of them as the anonymous opener, and then I had to question whether I'm becoming a parasocial weirdo about this band. Either way, they put on another great set and I can't wait to see them again.

I spent half an hour queuing for the loos between sets and then it was time for the Boys themselves. I was expecting them to be amazing and they were. Super tight and groovy, obscenely good rhythm section. Highlights for me were probably "Troglodyte", "Medicine for Horses" and the crazy extended version of "Research Chemicals". Seb came on stage and announced that he had back pain so bad that he'd been at the hospital earlier, but he still powered through the whole set (although at one point he was just lying on the ground doing a minutes-long frenzied rant about the pain while Oskar's saxophone squealed in the background, which was pretty on brand tbh). It was also his birthday, so we all sang to him, and he told us a story about almost drowning in a swimming pool, and then the band finished with a chorus of "Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong".

The crowd was definitely rowdy – mostly good vibes, but not entirely. For a while my friend and I got stuck behind this obnoxious drunk twat who barged so close in front of me that we were straight-up spooning and then kept removing his sweaty shirt and draping it on strangers' heads. I braved the pit for the encore and had a fine time but heard some people got pretty roughed up. Please be considerate of your fellow shrimps!

Still, it was a great experience to be surrounded by thousands of people all screaming, "I am a man that's made of meat!" in unison. Thousands of men made of meat. If you too would like to be one of them, I wholeheartedly recommend seeing Viagra Boys live.

Magdalena Bay (+ Allie X)

Okay this one was a bit of a mixed bag. I have a lot of quibbles about my experience with this gig – iffy seats up in the rafters, some really obnoxious people in the audience around me – but none of them are with Mag Bay themselves, who put on an amazing show. They sounded fantastic, had a suitably weird array of costumes and stage props, and they even did "Top Dog", which I love and was not expecting to hear, so that was great! I would absolutely love to see them again... but next time not in the nosebleeds surrounded by people who cannot stop talking or stay off their fucking phones for more than three seconds. Seriously, why are you assholes paying this much money to fuck around looking at memes on Instagram mid-set???? Incredibly sick tour shirt though.

Getdown Services

2026 off to an absolutely fucking roaring start. This is up there with the most fun I've ever had at a show. Instead of a conventional opening band, several people in seagull costumes challenged people in the crowd to a hotdog-eating contest, got the whole room to do the cha cha slide and also distributed huge numbers of crisp packets (which were also hung from the ceiling like bunting). This was hugely effective at working everyone up for Getdown Services themselves, who greeted us by calling everyone fuck-ugly and then launched into 90 minutes of excellent music and shit-talking. We all quieted down for a heartfelt rendition of "I Wish It Didn't Bother Me" from Josh, which was a nice emotional moment before everything really kicked off for the last few songs. The band encouraged everyone to link arms and spin around, so things rapidly devolved into a wild ceilidh/moshpit. Because the vibes in the crowd were good, I finally worked up the nerve to mosh for the first time and actually really enjoyed myself. They finished up with "Dog Dribble" (my favourite!!) and the pit swung me right round to the edge of the stage so I was just feet away from the band, which was amazing. Briefly supported Ben's ankle during a stage dive. Guess I would have liked to hear "Biscuit Tin" but I'd be a proper shit to complain about anything given how great this was. Went in moderately excited, left stinking of sweat and monster munch and a serious convert to Britain's Best Band. A++++ night out.

2025

Wet Leg (+ Faux Real)

Got there late and missed most of Faux Real, which was a shame as they seemed fun. Crowd distinctly middle-aged, in high contrast to the previous show. I queued for a beer behind a man who kept saying, "If we could order two bottles of wine, that would be goated." I was sitting in the balcony for this one and wished I was standing because the vibes up there were pretty dry. However there was a group of 13-year-old superfans who were screaming and headbanging the whole time, and Rhian noticed them and gave them a huge wave during "You and Me at Home" and they all went absolutely nuts, so that was really sweet and I hope it becomes a treasured memory for them and maybe they should start a band, as some kind of joke (that is a reference to the song but I do seriously hope they start a band)

Joey Valence & Brae (+ AG Club)

Rowdiest gig I've ever been to. AG Club got the already hyped crowd even more excited, and once JVB appeared everyone in the room went absolutely feral. I was expecting more dancing and less moshing, so spent a lot of the show squished against the stairs – as I was leaving, I heard a girl sadly saying, "There's no room to throw ass in the pit!" and I felt that. Still, cannot deny that JVB put on a hell of a show, and if I were 10 years younger and wearing heavier boots, I probably would have had a better time. The answer to the question "Who's the baddest bitch in this club?" was heavily debated but personally I'm pretty sure it was me.

Panic Shack (+ Punchbag)

Wasn't familiar with Punchbag but they were fine – did kinda feel like I was watching some sixth-formers jumping around on stage but their enthusiasm was infectious. I ordered a grapefruit beer and it was absolutely disgusting so I won't be doing that again. Panic Shack were ace and did a cracking cover of "War Pigs". Developed a bit of a crush on the bassist and her extremely cool scorpion thigh tattoo. Also blew my eardrums out so much that I couldn't hear properly for days, so that did make me finally buy some decent earplugs.

Kid Kapichi

The first show with the new lineup after two of the original members left. I hadn't listened to a ton of Kid Kapichi before but went with a friend and had a great time anyway. Can't go too wrong with big riffs in a small venue.

Bob Vylan

Had a dream I went to see Bob Vylan. The next day I found out they were playing a last-minute show and I booked tickets and went to see Bob Vylan. Am I psychic??? Anyway this was really fun, small venue with a very hyped crowd who knew all the lyrics and were fully prepared to scream along.

LCD Soundsystem (+ Working Men's Club)

Was trying out some cheap earplugs for this one so I did not get a very good listen to Working Men's Club. Ended up taking them out entirely for the main event and it was worth it. I've been a fan of LCD Soundsystem for almost 20 years and it was awesome to finally see them live. This show was part of the Brixton Academy residency and it was right at the height of a heatwave, so the temperature inside was pushing 40°C and all of us got extremely fucking sweaty, the band included – James Murphy said it was "like being inside a dog's mouth". However this led to a really good community spirit in the crowd and everyone was really good about passing out water so we could all just dance and have a great time. Particular highlights were "Dance Yrself Clean", "Someone Great" and "North American Scum". A++, would sweat my ass off again.

Rebecca Black

This was the first gig I had been to in over 5 years (and my sister's first gig ever!) and I had a fantastic time and it made me resolve to go to more gigs. Crowd was a mixture of queer pop obsessives and dudebros who were only there because of "Friday" but were rapidly converted to the joy of a Rebecca Black show. She didn't do "Salvation" until the encore so I got to have the glorious quasi-religious experience of standing in a dark room with a bunch of gays screaming "SALVATION!" over and over again at the top of our lungs. Thank you Rebesus 🙏🙏🙏

1990s-2020

From oldest to newest.

• Weird Al Yankovic
• Oasis (+ Jet)
• Janelle Monae (+ CocknBullKid)
• Steve Earle & the Dukes
• Mark Kozelek*
• The Internet
• Jenny Lewis
• Smash Mouth

*Was unaware at the time that he was gross