I started the new decade by accidentally (somehow) getting drunker than at any point in the past decade. I woke up covered in bits of twig and small brown leaves, though I had managed to take my shoes off. This is why the old licensing laws were a good thing really. I've been feeling pretty sheepish ever since. The rest of the week (before and after) has been spent catching up on a year's worth of missed sleep and cursing iwantoneofthose.com for having a customer services department that closes between boxing day and Jan 4, despite being a website that must have Christmas presents as 90% of its business. Seriously, take the whole of April off or something. I know nobody's going to buy anything right after Christmas, but if you're going to sell stuff that doesn't work, people might want to get in touch...
It's time for the traditional review of last year post I guess. Didn't really make any resolutions for 2009, other than to try to be happier (hasn't especially worked, though I am slowly coming to terms with not being allowed to have music as a Thing That I Do so much any more, mostly by not thinking about it and trying to retain some small amount of self worth despite being told on an almost daily basis that I'm a computer programmer now) and to try and see a number plate with 22 on (I'd be looking for 32 now if I could be bothered - turns out my attention span for silly games isn't quite as long as I thought). This year I've got loads, but they mostly involve getting round to buying stuff (a bike, for example, and a new suit) and making my house nicer. I'm going to give up booze for January again like I did the other year too. And I'm determined to go to Las Vegas. Seems like everyone else in the world has been. I guess buying stuff doesn't count as a resolution. Maybe it's how you word it - "this year I resolve to become a person who has been to Vegas".
Quite a lot of fun things happened though: I went to Paris twice, got an amazing keyboard, went to Sweden, went to Japan, saw two England international cricket matches and one rugby one, my album 'came out' (with something of a whimper, and it seems like a lifetime ago), did a few really good gigs (in particular getting to support Chris T-T, Heidi Talbot and Jackie Leven, and getting to play in Paris was also pretty ace) and a lot more fairly dispiriting ones (I think I need to either play a sensible amount or just call a halt to it, but I'm always saying that), went jousting, won some pub quizzes, watched a fair amount of football and saw a lot of bands. Speaking of which, here's the list of "proper" bands I saw - I've expanded my list of adjectives slightly since last year, but not that far. Only 65 different bands this year, which I think isn't quite up to last year, but isn't bad going.
Frank Turner (x2 one a bit disappointing, one ace), Chris T-T (x3 I think, each time great), Emily Barker (at least three times, great), James McMurtry (x2, a proper legend), Woomble, Drever and McCusker, Heidi Talbot (x2), The Dawn Chorus (x3 barnstorming), Elvis Perkins, The Wave Pictures (x2, but I'm tired of them now I think), The Levellers, Jeffrey Lewis (wonderful), Snuff, NOFX, My Latest Novel (wonderful), Tyketto (I loved it, most might not...), The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Beth Jeans Houghton (meh), Alela Diane (x2, double meh), Regina Spector (incredible), Bon Iver (x2, one incredible, one not quite so incredible), Emmy The Great (really good, but seemed in a bad mood), Vivian Girls, Band of Horses (soaring and brilliant), Florence and the Machine (meh), Robyn, Wilco (awesome), Arctic Monkeys (surprisingly good), Echo and the Bunnymen (doing Ocean rain with an 8 piece string section - incredible), Vampire Weekend (great), Amadou and Marian (not my cuppa), Basement Jaxx (even further from my cuppa), Lily Allen (rubbish, but I'd forgive her anything), Teddy Bears (genius), Mumford and Sons (great - not so keen on the album), David Thomas Broughton (dire), Shearwater (great), The Low Anthem (I think I like them now), Darren Hayman (about 5 times at the End of the Road, all but one by mistake), Motel Motel (bit of a curate's egg), The Boy Least Likely To (I wrote that I liked them - don't remember them now), Broken Family Band (x3 so, so good), Malcolm Middleton, Okkervil River (x2 you all know how I feel about Okkervil River...), Efterklang (spectacular I thought - not liked the records so much), The Leisure Society, Tallest Man on Earth, Bob Log III (great this time), William Elliot Whitmore, Magnolia Electric Company, Steve Earle (I can't stress enough how good this was), Neko Case, Richmond Fontaine, The Hold Steady (pretty great), Wye Oak (great), Mark Morriss, The Pony Collaboration (x2 at least, really great), Otis Gibbs, Green Day, Boo Hewerdine, Manchester Orchestra (worth the wait), Dar Williams (beautiful), Kevin Devine (brilliant), Vanilla Pod, Leatherface, Coco's Lovers (x3)
I wonder who's left on my list of people to see at the moment. Springsteen, The Gin Blossoms and Ballboy off the top of my head. Maybe that should be a resolution too. I hope the Gin Blossoms organise some more dates - Beavercreek Ohio seems a bit out of the way...