2009: Has it gone yet?

And a happy new year to you all (smiles).

2009 was, for the most part, memorable for all the time I spent sitting in doctors' waiting rooms, hospitals, and having blood taken from my left arm. It seems as though I've been permanently poorly, and I'm heartily fed up of this. The best bit on the medical front? Being signed off from the throat clinic when my vocal cords seemingly healed themselves and my voice was officially confirmed as being "better". Worst bit? The endoscopy examination of my stomach, and the sample being taken from its lining, all without anaesthetic - something I would be happy to never have done again, thank you very much. Hopefully in 2010 I'll be healthier, but as I currently have two hospital appointments in January alone and a third coming soon I'm a little worried that it will continue as per last year, which would be a bad thing indeed.

Other memories of 2009? Lou and I had two lovely holidays again: our annual trip to Lindos, which was as wonderful as ever (Lindos '10 is already booked and partially paid for) and a mildly weird trip to Thassos, which was weird in that while we were there we really didn't like it too much (apart from the food, which was pretty excellent) but as soon as we returned home we started talking about the place wistfully, often saying things like "Thassos was really nice, wasn't it?" We also went to Edinburgh in December, which wasn't as cold as we'd expected, and went to London when a Depeche Mode gig we were booked to attend was cancelled. All good.

Ah, talking of concerts we went to a total of (has a look at the list) 25! Well, I say we went to 25, but this isn't strictly true... There were a couple we couldn't attend for one reason or another, those reasons being sickness (me - gutted, as we were supposed to be seeing the wonderful A Camp), sickness (Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode - as mentioned before), and a general can't-be-bothered (Lou and I - sorry, Jason Manford, but we just weren't in the mood). Oh, and you could include Morrissey in the list too, as he was hit in the head by a bottle or beer and ended the so far excellent concert he was doing one and a half songs in. Still, we'd spent a day shopping in Liverpool. Bought nowt. And "Liverpool One" is weird, and a bit rubbish.

So, the gigs we went to, from worst to best? First of all, the comedy ones...
6th - A comedy night at the Frog & Bucket. It was pretty awful. No "known" comedians, and they weren't very good. Not keen on the venue either.
5th - Alun Cochrane & Glenn Wool at the Comedy Store. Alun Cochrane was ok, if unspectacular, but Glenn Wool was just dreadful - desperately unfunny and almost offensively bad. Everyone left the room in silence at the end of his act.
4th - Bill Bailey at the Lowry. Weird. I like Bill Bailey when he's on the TV, loved him in "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" and "QI", thought he was great in "Black Books"... but this was the second time we've seen him live and I thought he was terrible. I didn't laugh once. Still better than Glenn Wool though, hence this position.
3rd - Michael McIntyre at the Comedy Store. He was doing a warm-up show prior to his "Comedy Roadshow" TV show being recorded at the Apollo. He was actually very good indeed.
2nd - Jim Jeffries at the Comedy Store. Awesome, as always, and the story about taking his disabled friend to a prostitute was just priceless.
1st - Rhod Gilbert at the Comedy Store. It's always a good sign when you leave a comedy gig and are physically sore all over from laughing. He was sensational.

And what about the music?

15th - Nine Inch Nails. I'm a NIN fan, and this was their farewell tour, but I actually found it very, very boring indeed. Too one-dimensional, and dull to watch.
14th - "Back to the 80s - Party in the Park" at Tatton Park. There was nothing wrong with it, and we had a great night... We've just seen a lot of good concerts this year. Having said that, Go West weren't great, Belinda Carlisle sounded drunk, and The Human League were boring (Heaven 17 and ABC were great though).
13th - Elbow at the MEN Arena. We saw Elbow four times (!) in 2009, and of all their shows this was the weakest. Again, there was nothing really wrong with it, but it was at the Arena, which is a terrible place, and most of the audience seemed intent on talking through the show. I hope this gig isn't the shape of things to come for this band now that they're "big".
12th - Placebo. A good gig, but as much as I love their new album and its predecessor they could (should?) have played some older stuff too.
11th - Keane. Keane! We'd heard they were good live and frankly we didn't believe it. But they're good live! REALLY good live! And they were on for about two hours!
10th - Lionel Richie. He's just ace. But there were better gigs...
9th - Morrissey at the Apollo. We went the day after his 50th birthday and he was great, but then again he always is.
8th - Depeche Mode at the MEN Arena. After a disappointing show the last time around, they were BACK! Great all round.
7th - Muse at the Liverpool Echo Arena. It's like the MEN Arena but smaller. Muse were great. The audience were a bit "meh" though.
6th - Muse at the Sheffield Arena. It's like the MEN Arena but as though it was built in Poland in the 1970s. Muse were great (but there were a few mistakes). The audience went MENTAL.
5th - Elbow at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool. Fantastic! And they did "Switching Off" and I cried my eyes out.
4th - Take That at Lancashire County Cricket Club, on a very rainy day. I'm not ashamed to say it but Take That are sensationally good live. Shame about the weather though.
3rd - Take That at Lancashire... as above, but on a lovely day. Just brilliant.
2nd - Elbow and the Halle Orchestra - the second night they did.
1st - Elbow and the Halle Orchestra - the first night they did. Controversial... Lou preferred the second night as the band & orchestra seemed more at ease, plus there was the live broadcast to the Castlefield Arena. I marginally preferred the first night though as the second was marred by an idiot whistling loudly during quiet bits, plus on the first night the band seemed genuinely taken aback by how well it was going, and the response they were getting. No hesitation in naming this as my gig of the year, and the second best gig I've ever seen.

Other good things? Favourite albums were "Only Revolutions" by Biffy Clyro and "Lungs" by Florence & The Machine. Favourite books were "That Old Cape Magic" by Richard Russo (a genius), "The Unfortunates" by B S Johnson, "The Northern Clemency" by Philip Hensher, and "Generation A" by Douglas Coupland.

Scary thing of the year? The bosses at work selling the company to our biggest competitor... I'm still waiting to discover if I still have a job. I hope so. I do enjoy doing what I do. I just hope I don't get sent all over the place doing it, as I don't like that.

It was good to kind of return to writing, if sporadically. I feel I've written some good stuff this year (especially "Clone", "Believe", "Airport" and "Bondage" - definitely not "Chest" though) and more is forthcoming in 2010.

Hopes for 2010? Better health. Hopefully fewer tablets (I'm currently taking 7 a day and am sick of them, despite the fact that they make me feel better). Continued happiness. And a lovely holiday or two. They'd all be good things.