30gigs

Brilliant. Nuff said.

Ok I'll expand a little, 2.5 hours of intoxicating American pop punk rock, audience interaction and po-going. Their first two songs had more energy than most encores and they maintained the vibe throughout their performance, bringing fans on stage to join in the fun all finished off with two encores and an accoustic mini-set from Billy Joe.

To quote the band's lyrics "I hope you had the time of your life", well I certainly did.

Little Boots travelled down the road from Fleetwood to play 53 degrees in Preston. With fabulous costumes that could give Lady Gaga a few ideas (I personally loved the glitter ball hoddie), a stonkingly good voice and an electronic stylophone-esqe music box she put on a great show for friends, family and a few of us paying punters. Oh and I scared one of my friends with my dancing to Remedy (hey gigs are all about letting go of your inhibitions and being part of the masses).

After a dry spell, the gigging is back on with a return to my rock roots and a trip to my second home (Manchester Apollo) to see Maximo Park. The tunes are as good as ever, even if the headwear has changed (the bowler's now a trilby). Paul Smith the epitomy of a good frontman, interacting with the crowd, a decent voice and high energy (oh and not forgetting a cute bum!)

OK, so the rules state that as I've already seen Take That this gig can't count towards my 30 total, however, it was so incredible that I have to mention it. After seeing the boys at LCCC we knew the layout so arrived early with targeted positions in mind. Boing. Level with the middle stage and almost centre for the main stage - the best of both worls. The atmosphere might not have been as electric as Manchester (northerners rock) but the view made up for it, especially the boys boxers!

Ahhh gig number two, my teenage crush. The gorgeous reunited TT boys are back and playing their hometown (well at least according to their first album - "five Mancunican guys having the time of their lives" nothing like a little bit of PR spin!). So it's off to Lancashire County Cricket ground to scream my heart out. Phew that was close ... made it, but only just, ran in to the stadium just as they were coming on stage.

A good bit of forward planning (i.e. naming their album the Circus), allowed the boys to up the anti, with their usual high energy shows increasing to an entriely new level incorporating clowns (that's just them), acrobats, stilt walkers and a giant mechanical elephant which was greeted by 30,000 "wows".

Only 10 days 'til I get to relieve it all over again!

Go West (well south actually), to Manchester Apollo. As a child of the Eighties, what better way to start the challenge than by going to see 1980's glamour pusses the Pet Shop Boys. Cue ridiculous head gear (brightly coloured boxes have replaced the cones), novel sets (tumbling skyscrapers turning into dance stages) and unbelievably catchy pop tunes. I fanstically fun way to kick off the gigs!

eek!! Two little digits struck fear into me ... 3 - 0. The Big 30, an end to a decade of carefree fun and frivolity and a move into the relms of responsibility or as Lily Allen kindly put it "she's nearly 30 and society says her life is already over" (charming!!).

Well instead of hiding away or insisting that I am actually 29+1, I thought I'd celebrate the end of my twenties in style by doing the thing I love and gigging my way to D-Day.

Unfortunately being fairly unmusical, this doesn't involve me being the person gigging, but instead showing my appreciation for those gifted souls out there who can produce a nice ditty and keep an audience engaged for an evening.

At first the plan seemed simple, attend 30 gigs in the year before I turn 30. Then the calculator came out. Oh not so cheap then - holiday on a tropical island instead anyone? How about listening to 30 bands at a festival. No too simple. This gigging malarkey needed some ground rules.

1. All gigs must be attended between 16th June 2009 (my 29th birthday) - 15th June 2010 (day before D-Day)
2. Festivals only count as one gig
3. Each artist only counts once
4. Support acts don't count

Right that's the ground rules out of the way, now time to start booking the gigs. In order to achieve this I need roughly 2.5 gigs per month, but the gigging season is just that, seasonal. Big outdoor gigs (June - August), when the British weather is, well just less wet than the rest of the year. October/November - indoor gigs for bands hoping to have their new album added to a Christmas wish list. January/February/March - indoor gigs by bands whose new album was found in the Christmas stocking.

Let the fun begin ...