I'm turning 50 this year so have set myself the challenge of going to fifty gigs.
Last night I went to see
Gideon Conn... a singer/poet whom I'd never heard of before yesterday afternoon. It was a very intimate gig in a small local cafe with only 30ish folk in the audience. It was quirky. It was quiet. It was a rare gem of an evening.
Last month I went to see
The Uptown Monotones... an Austrian trio; three blokes, three microphones, one guitar and the occasional harmonica, jew's harp, didgeridoo and a boombox thing. Another intimate gig in a (very) small local pub. It was absolutely rammed and absolutely bouncing. Playing a mixture of covers and originals, these guys really know how to play a crowd... they've got a cr*p name but they're absolutely fantastic. Their infectious act doesn't really come across on youtube vids... these guys must be seen live.
here's one of their trailers
And in January it was
BC Camplight... the name was familiar from listening to 6music but other than that, I knew nothing about them. It was in the library one Sunday afternoon so again, quite intimate... and noisy. They were good, really good.
Only another 47 gigs to find this year... got a few lined up including Bodega, Damo Suzuki, The Unthanks, Gong, Steve Hillage and The Rutles.
and we thought the sound from Madness was a bit distorted, but still great.
Saw Sabbath on the final tour a couple of years back, £90....! That said, some of those gigs were really expensive back in the day, given inflation etc- even in the 90s a lot of my tickets were under a tenner, or not much more...eg, I had one of these myself (can't remember for which of the four booked nights), never used, obviously....
made for a lot of laughter from the audience. 
