Throughout the course of a year, our crack team of ninja photographers and reviewers attend literally hundreds of shows, from the massive arena tours that deign parts of the Über Kingdom of Rock ‘n’ Roll with their fleeting appearances to the unsigned bands knocking their proverbial balls in down our local pubs week in, week out.
Attending so many shows highlights the immense amount of incredible rock ‘n’ roll talent there is in this here Überverse, and gigs have to be truly special to stick in the memory banks of our highly talented and discerning team. But, we set them the challenge and here you have the results, in the form of our Über crüe’s choice of the best performances (we’ve included individual sets at festivals) they have caught over the past 12 months:
Allan Maxwell
Slimboy (supporting Mest) – Glasgow, Broadcast
Black Stone Cherry – Glasgow, SECC
Hollywood Undead – Glasgow, O2 Academy
Bury Tomorrow – Glasgow, The Garage
Roger Waters – Glasgow, SSE Hydro
Bleed From Within– Glasgow, Drygate
The Wildhearts – Glasgow, O2 Academy
AntiFlag/Cancer Bats – Glasgow, The Garage
Less Than Jake/Reel Big Fish – Glasgow, O2 Academy
Bleed From Within – Glasgow, St Lukes
All Time Low – Glasgow, SECC
30 Seconds To Mars – Glasgow, SSE Hydro
The Ataris – Glasgow, Broadcast
While She Sleeps – Glasgow, O2 ABC
Frank Turner – Glasgow, The Old Fruitmarket
36 Crazyfists – Glasgow, Cathouse
Biffy Clyro – Edinburgh, Usher Hall
The Wildhearts – Glasgow, SWG3
Arch Enemy – Glasgow, O2 ABC
Bowling For Soup – Glasgow, O2 Academy
David O’Neill
Shinedown – Download
Greta Van Fleet – Download
Black Stone Cherry – Download
Thunder – Download
Nothing More – Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
Hand Of Dimes – Caerphilly Castle
Massive Wagons – Steelhouse Festival
The Bad Flowers – Pontypridd, Muni
Stone Broken – Steelhouse Festival
Von Hertzen Brothers – Download
Cats In Space – Caerphilly Castle
The Cadillac Three – Download
Theia – Crumlin, Patriots
DJ Astrocreep
King Tuff – Manchester, Night People
Ugly Kid Joe – Manchester, Academy 2
Heathen Crusade Tour – Islington, Assembly Hall
Bat Out Of Hell The Musical – London, Dominion Theatre
Atomic Bitchwax – Camden, Our Black Heart
Amplifier – Sheffield, Academy 2
((OHHMS)) – Birmingham, The Asylum 2
Mongol Horde – Manchester, Academy 2
Hot Snakes – Manchester, Gorilla
Evil Scarecrow – Manchester, Club Academy
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – Manchester, Gullivers
Professor and the Madmen – London, 100 Club
Sons of Apollo – Manchester, Academy 2
Thee Oh Sees – London, 02 Forum
Evil Hoof Punk All-Dayer – Manchester, Gullivers
Peter Murphy – Manchester, O2 Ritz
Mudhoney – Electric Ballroom, Camden, London
Skindred – Manchester, Academy
The Melvins – Manchester, Academy 2
DJ Monk
High On Fire/Enslaved – Belfast, Limelight 2
The Bar Stool Preachers – Belfast, The Marcus Ward
The Last Great Dreamers – HRH Sleaze
Monster Magnet – Belfast, Limelight 1
Sons Of Apollo – Belfast, Limelight 1
Tremonti – Belfast, Limelight 1
Corrosion Of Conformity – Belfast, Limelight 1
Darkest Era/Celtachor – Belfast, Limelight 2
The Alarm – Belfast, Limelight 2
Omnium Gatherum – Belfast, Limelight 2
The Wildhearts – Steelhouse Festival
Chelsea Wolfe (supporting Ministry) – Belfast, Limelight 1
Jim Rowland
Rose Tattoo – Islington, Academy
Giuda – London, The Lexington
Punky Meadows & Frank Dimino Of Angel – Camden, Underworld
MC50/Michael Monroe – Shepherds Bush, Empire
Boomtown Rats – Great British Alternative Music Festival
Roger Hodgson – Stone Free Festival
The Selecter – Camden, Dr Marten’s Boot Room
Scorpions – Stone Free Festival
The Rezillos – Great British Alternative Music Festival
Steve Hackett – London, Palladium
Killing Joke – London, Roundhouse
Brant Bjork – Islington, The Garage
The Dickies – Camden, Underworld
Rolling Stones – London Stadium
The Skids – Shepherds Bush, Empire
Hollywood Vampires /The Darkness/The Damned – London, Wembley Arena
Subhumans – London, 100 Club
Fu Manchu – Islington Academy
The Damned – Kentish Town, The Forum
Aaron Buchanan & The Cult Classics – Stone Free Festival
Jonni Davidson
1. Myles Kennedy – Belfast, Limelight 1
2. Parkway Drive – Download
3. Frank Turner – Belfast, Limelight 1
4. Tremonti – Belfast, Limelight 1
5. The Menzingers – Belfast, Limelight 1
6. Rise Against – Download
7. Okilly Dokilly – Belfast, Empire Music Hall
8. Parkway Drive – Download
9. Bad Religion – Download
10. Iron Maiden/Killswitch Engage – Belfast, SSE Arena
Rich Hobson
Trivium/Code Orange/Power Trip/Venom Prison – Birmingham, O2 Academy
Nine Inch Nails – London, Royal Albert Hall
Turnstile/Big Cheese/Wiccan Phase – Birmingham, The Mill
Slayer/Lamb of God/Anthrax – Birmingham, Arena
Smashing Pumpkins/Myrkur – Wembley, SSE Arena
Ghost – London, Royal Albert Hall
A Perfect Circle/Talos – Manchester, Apollo
The Bronx – Download
Sepultura – Hammerfest
Jamie Lenman/Loa Loa/Gender Roles – Birmingham, The Institute
Marmozets/Black Peaks – Coventry, The Kasbah
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – Download Paris
Zeal and Ardor/Blanket – Birmingham, The Institute
While She Sleeps/Counterfeit/Blood Youth – Birmingham, The Institute
God Damn/You Dirty Blue/Ghosts of Dead Airplanes – Birmingham, The Flapper
Iron Maiden/Killswitch Engage – Birmingham, NEC
Coheed and Cambria/Chon – Birmingham, O2 Academy
Skindred/CKY/Danko Jones – The Institute, Birmingham
Andrew WK/Yonaka – The Institute, Birmingham
The Dark Queen
Sons Of Apollo – Belfast, Limelight 1
Dan Reed Network – Steelhouse Festival
Tremonti – Belfast, Limelight 1
The Dead Daisies – Manchester, Academy 2
Black Star Riders – Steelhouse Festival
Myles Kennedy – Belfast, Limelight 1
The Pat McManus Band – HRH Blues
Skid Row – Belfast, Limelight 1
Conjuring Fate – Belfast, Limelight 2
Cursed Sun – Belfast, Limelight 2
Eric Martin – Belfast, Empire Music Hall
Marco Mendoza – Belfast, Voodoo
Warwick-Johnson – Belfast, Limelight 1
Allison McGrath (supporting Danny Bryant) – Belfast, Empire Music Hall
The Crawling – Belfast, Empire Music Hall
So, there you have it. Our team’s choice of their favourite gigs to have been staged over the past 12 months. As mentioned above, our reviewers attend hundreds of gigs each and every year, so deciding which were the best is obviously a very difficult task. Which means congratulations to the acts that delivered performances that have stuck in our collective memories.
Check back tomorrow, when our team deliver their verdicts on their favourite albums of 2018…