All in All

What do these names have in common?

386DX, Adem, AFI, Animal Collective, Bad Plus, Bat For Lashes, Battles, Bell Orchestre, Belle & Sebastian, Brad Meldhau, Brakes, Broadcast, Camille, Cat Power, Cheap Trick, Datarock, Decemberists, Deerhoof, Def Leppard, Editors, Final Fantasy, Flaming Lips, Franz Ferdinand, Go Kart Mozart, Go team, Goldfrapp, Grizzly Bear, Happy Attack, Haswell/Hecker, Hidden Cameras, Howling Bells, In the Country, Isobel Campbell, Jimi Tenor, Kula Shaker, Ladytron, Lambchop, Lene Lovich, Lorraine, Luke Haines, Magic Numbers, Mogwai, My Latest Novel, Nick Cave, Orson, Parka, Paul Buchanan, Pet Shop Boys, Placebo, Radiohead, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Richard Hawley, Richard Swift, Roddy Frame, Secret Machines, Semi Finalists, Shakes, Sigur Ros, Sparks, Strokes, Sufjan Stevens, Sunn O))), Supersilent, Susannah and the Magical Orchestra, Tapes N Tapes, The Aliens, The Glitterati, The View, The Whip, Tindersticks, Tortoise, TV on the Radio, Underskolen, Vashti Bunyan, Vic Goddard, Vines, Willy Mason

Yes, this is the entire list of bands I have seen this year (some of them more than once). No a bad listing in my opinion. Now, I know November hasn’t finished yet but after Paul Buchanan on Sunday and Grizzly Bear (for the second time) next weekend, I have nothing left booked for this year, so I feel safe in publishing this now.

A small note, the list includes support acts and bands I have seen fleetingly at festivals (Homefires and T in the Park being the only festivals this year). For a band to be counted I have had to see at least one whole song by them, so admittedly Go Team, Kula Shaker and Orson barely scrape through but I’m counting them and it’s my rules that count!

I won’t be commenting on these or highlighting the best shows yet, I think I’ll save that for the round up of the year next month. However, Lorraine get picked from this list of 77 names to be the pictured band due to their being the most seen at 3 times, and I’d happily see them again tomorrow.