Top 10 Live Shows of the Year

I thought that this year I would round up the best of the live shows I've attended. I'm going to mix music, comedy and theatre together for this purpose. So here's the list below.

1. The Space You're Not In - Oran Mor - Glasgow - May

Is it cheeky picking a show I was in as number one? Not really when you consider how small my contribution was. TSYNI was referred to by one national newspaper as 'The literary version of Live Aid'. What it was, was an amazing one off event in memory of my friend Gail who died last year. It combined authors, poets, auctioneers and musicians to raise a lot of money for charity.

The night featured John Byrne, Tom Leonard, Liz Lochhead, Alasdair Gray, Eddi Reader, Arab Strap and Belle and Sebastian along with many more artists. A bunch of us performed Gail's poems as we had done twice before.

You don't often get to see some of the most revered performers in Scotland take to the stage on after the other. Tom Leonard seemed to be the highlight for a lot of people, though for me it was the auction. Belle and Sebastian premiered four songs from their soon to be released new album, which for the record were, title track The Life Pursuit, Mr. Richard, The Blues are Still Blue and You are a White-Collar Boy.

2. Arcade Fire - Glasgow University Debating Chambers - May

Now everyone's favourite band Arcade Fire were still little known when they made their first visit to Scotland in May. They put in an absolutely astounding show storming through their debut album Funeral. Percusionist Richard Reed-Parry's antics made it practically impossible to take your eyes off him such was the frenetic and unpredictable nature of his performance.

Although an immensely theatrical band the songs can stand on their own, but when you know that every band member is putting everything they've got into each tune you can't fail to be overwhelmed. Hopefully they'll be back here next year, though I fear a bigger venue may be needed.

3. Demetri Martin - These Are Jokes - George Square Theatre - Edinburgh - August

Demetri's Edinburgh Festival show this year was all about the jokes. There can be fewer better with a one liner or non sequitur than the New Yorker. Mixing music with a string of laugh out loud funnies he had the audience lapping him up from his entrance.

Aided by guitar, tambourine, a jangly bracelet, glockenspiel and a flip chart Demetri flew threw an hour of laughs where I was constantly having to force myself to stop laughing so that I wouldn't miss the next laugh that was shortly on the way.

These Are Jokes is a show.
Demetri Martin is the person in this show.
From the stage, he will tell some of his jokes.
He will show some of his drawings.
And he will play some of his musical instruments.
It is all designed to be very good.

4. The Wolf Parade - ABC2 - Glasgow - November

Third on the bill The Wolf Parade turned up late having been held up 'on the M something' carried their gear in, set up and got to rocking. They ran through almost all of their debut album Apologies to the Queen Mary.

A slightly unconventional rock band with two singers and two keyboards they have, for me, one of the most distinctive sounds around. It was good to see them in such an intimate venue as ABC2. Hopefully they'll return to Scotland next year with a full show of their own.

5. Daniel Kitson - The Stand - Glasgow - March

For the Glasgow Comedy Festival Kitson provided three solid hours of funny. A guy who can chat with the crowd and effortlessly make it funny. He only did about ten minutes of material that I had heard at his Edinburgh show the previous August and only ten minutes of this show turned up in the following August's.

For my money he's Britain's best stand-up comedian and more people would realise that if he played the game a bit more. He's not interested in doing a DVD though he has pocketed an advance for one. He shuns big venues in favour of smaller places like The Stand. If you get the chance you should go and see him. I'm looking forward to seeing him again at The Stand in Glasgow in January.

6. Britannia Rules - Theatre 96 - Ramshorn Theatre - Glasgow - February
This is a Liz Lochhead play set in Clydebank at the time of the Second World War. The first act covers the evacuation of a group of children to Argyle in the first months of the war. When we return in the second act we meet the same children now grown up on the day of the Coronation in 1953.

Liz Lochhead's script provides a strong footing and this was a hugely entertaining production by Theatre 96 that had a lot of comedy in it as well as pathos.

7. One Big Laugh - The Three Tuns - Edinburgh - March
Another show that I was a part of. Again though it was the multitude of other acts that made it for me. This was another charity show, this time in aid of Depression Alliance. At first I thought I'd just do my ten minutes and head off, but with the constant rotation of acts there was too much entertainment on offer. My set went over pretty well and whenever you do better than you expect at a gig you tend to want to hang around a bit.

The time I was there was the peak period for this 36 hour event as a large amount of comedians were in the room at the time. In comedy some of the best nights are when you meet people who are clearly living outside the normal limits of mental stability and this was one of those nights. Southside Johnny was hilarious without really saying anything funny. His serious attempts at singing and his stories about how whenevr he did stand-up his Mum always thought it was part of a competition had me and the rest of the room in knots.

It was a jolly occassion and a very ambitious project by Michael McEwan that really seemed to pay off.

8. Desdemona: A play about a Handkerchief - STG - Ramshorn Theatre - Glasgow - May
This was directed by my friend Sara. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel this is a comic deconstruction of Othello. The casting was spot on but the highlight for me was Alison May's hilarious turn as the former scullery maid Amelia.

9. Brendan Benson - Virgin Megastore - Glasgow - July
A free show on Virgin's second floor. I expected a ten minute acoustic thing but instead was treated to a full electric band playing for more than half an hour. He played everything that you could have expected from his back catalogue in the time.

10. The New Pornographers - ABC2 - Glasgow - December
Although there was no Neko Case, TNP rattled through most of latest album Twin Cinema and their back catalogue in fine style. The sound wasn't the best though, but you couldn't fault the band's performance.