Our Favourites from 2008

Here are some of our favourites from 2008, and a look forward to gigs for this year.. keep coming back as we are (fingers crossed) going to have our first ever interview on Rockgig in 2009.. just as soon as we work out how the Dictaphone works.

Most of these will have links on them (some from the actual gig - the wonder of You Tube).. just click to go watch. Some will also appear in the video presentation over on the left. Happy New Year from Rockgig!

ME's selection :
Top 5 CDs

1. Death Magnetic Metallica. Balls,solos,attitude and tunes(oh and a snare drum sound!!)
2. Journey.Revelations.All that we could ever hope for from Arnel and co.
3. Testament.The Formation Of Damnation.Old school thrash for 2008.Roll on the Academy Oxford 19-2-09)
4. Tesla.Forever More.Just a great cd.A bit of old on it and a bit of new.
5. Europe.Almost Unplugged.Stunning acoustic set with some electric geetar.

Top 5 gigs.

1. Now I did mention earlier in the year.Are we allowed an outdoor and indoor gig.?If so Iron Maiden at Twickenham and...
   
2. Metallica at the O2.Gigs should be a celebration from the band and all the fans.Both of these were and more so much more.Beyond stunning.
3. Journey.Hammy O.Arnel can hold a stage too.Neal Schon ripped all night.New songs fitted in so well with the usual standards.
4. Thunder.Astoria.Again a celebration.Danny Bowes we salute you.
5. Queensryche.Indigo O2.At last we see Operation Mindcrime 1 and 2 as the US has.Worth the wait!!

Top 5 DVDs

1. Live After Death Iron Maiden.At last.
2. Black Symphony.Within Temptation.Stunning.
3. Dream Theater.World in Chaos.
4. Rush.Snakes and Ladders Live.
5. Tesla.Comin'atcha live.

2009 is a slight worry as so many big bands put out CDs last year. The Answer in March is definitely one to look out for...

Gigs booked for 2009:

• Tyketto in January
  
• Testament and The Priest Feast in February
• Metallica in March
• Lynyrd Skynyrd in May
  
• AC/DC at Wembley in June!!

NH's Selection :

Top 5 CDs

1. BSC - Folklore and Superstition - (by along way)
2. Big Linda - I love You
3. Tygers of Pan Tang - Animal Instinct
4. Joe Bonamassa - Live from Nowhere in Particular
5. AC/DC - Black Ice

Top 5 Gigs
This has taken some thought, cause I've not really been to a bad gig, the worst was Tygers of Pan Tang when the sound was poor, but the support from Voodoo Six was great and the sound was fine for them and it was only 3 quid

One thing that is obvious when I look back on our site is that Mr. Evans goes to some Premiership gigs and most of mine are 4th division. Including Blaze in a garden shed in Huddersfield, that just misses the cut, because Voodoo Six weren't quite up to the mark that night.

So to pick my five I've looked at the whole package, band venue beer etc. So for example BSC in Dec were great, but the drunk T**TS (I thought we were quite restrained. Ed) in front of me puts it outside the top 5.

So here we go.............

1. Saxon - Holmfirth I think it scored 30/10 so it was going to take some beating.
2. Joe Bonamassa - The Plug Sheffield - you knew you were in the room with greatness....
3. Wishbone Ash & the Hamsters at Holmfirth - a great double act. If the either play near you go and see them.
4. Def Lep/ Whitesnake/ BSC great rock line up . enough said
5. LA Guns/LoveHate Leeds Rios LoveHate were amazing and LA Guns stepped up to the plate and put on a better performance. A great show,though it will always be tinged a bit because the personal tragedy that happened early the next morning.

I've left off 2 great shows from tribute bands Live wire and Limehouse Lizzy, they also were up there as well

NR's Selection

As the editor of this debacle I don't actually get to go to as many gigs as the others, so I won't do a top five gigs, I'll simply say that Black Stone Cherry at Oxford was my favourite. and my favourite DVD was The Foo Fighters at Wembley.

Top 5 CD's

1. Black Stone Cherry - Folklore & Superstition
2. Shinedown - The Sound of Madness
3. Black Ice - AC/DC
   
4. Metallica - Death Magnetic
5. Guns n' Roses - Chinese Democracy

I should also give honorary mentions of Europe - Almost Unplugged(I was very surprised at this!), Joe Bonamassa Live from Nowhere and Journey Revelations (but mostly for the extra cd of old stuff)