After the relative calm of 1997, '98 was a hectic year for gig going for me. In particular the Limelight was my home from home, with a plethora of cracking shows. This would be the first time I’d get to see one of my favourite bands, Glasgow’s finest, Mogwai. With 'Young Team' garnering critical acclaim, this was my first foray into the magical realms of instrumental guitar music. I’ve recently read Stuart Braithwaite’s book and I’d no idea they were such fiends when it came to the old drink and drugs. You wouldn’t really of known from their performances as they always concentrated so hard. Actually maybe that’s an indicator as to why they needed to be so studious! My lasting memories of this show are of Stuart’s big head of hair and a blistering set end of ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ with Stuart hammering the shite out of the cymbals from the front of the kit.

Another Scottish band were creating a name for themselves with their ramshackle approach to making music, The Beta Band. They were nice n' loose and this made for a great vibe. Much was made of Embrace vocalist Danny and his inability to sing live. Supporting their brilliant debut album I found him able to hold his notes just fine. I bought a tiny t-shirt at that show that was waaaay too small for me, I just head for XXL these days when picking clothes. Indie bands were certainly my thing at this time and Gomez had just released their debut album. No doubting the ability of their vocalist Ben Ottewell to sing. He might have looked like a student doctor I shared a house with at University but he had some holler on him.

Hands up who remembers Headswim? No? Thought so. They were an angsty sort of Radiohead type band with metallic leanings, who have a brilliant song ‘Tourniquet’, that had caught my attention. Their album was pretty good too, enough for me to go see them anyway. Support on the night was Transister, who were fronted by Chesney Hawkes’ wee sister. Yup. Okay then, what about Lo-Fidelity Allstars? They specialised in kooky spacey indie dance music and had a singer who “sang” with a strange twang and made very little sense. But they were groovy and put on a great show mixing various elements and I was always a sucker for dance bands with live drummers.

The Ulster Hall got a few visits too this year, with The Divine Comedy being able to command a bigger venue, so I went to see them again. New Zealand’s Neil Finn was touring his solo album. As a big fan of Crowded House it was great seeing him as he has the best in between song banter. A very dry wit and humble approach and he still does this today, as witnessed on recent Glastonbury footage. His brother Tim was in his band and those boys have some lovely harmonies I can tell you. Support for that night was English band Arnold. Shit name but their song ‘Windsor Park’ is one of my all-time favourite songs. I’d see Manic Street Preachers for the third time, touring their ‘This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours’ album. James Dean Bradfield is a marvel in concert, his voice is so pure and his ability to spin and hop on one foot while yanking out stunning solos is always a delight to witness.

There’s one other gig I went to at the arse end of ‘98. I won’t labour on it too much AGAIN, if you really want to read more check out an earlier blog. But there’s a plaque outside the Duke of York pub declaring this the first venue in Belfast Snow Patrol played. Just in case you didn’t know, I was in one of the support bands. Needless to say we weren’t mentioned on the plaque, ah what might have been!

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