Dalliance Gig of 2008 – And I think that I know the bitter dismay of a lover who brought fresh bouquets every day…

  1. Okkervil River at Manchester Academy 3
    There is silence as Sheff's softly intones the end of A Stone pausing, hanging, leaving the breathless watching a man who's heart has broken on stage.
  2. Jens Lekman at Newcastle cluny
    Lekman leads and the Newcastle audience follow in impromptu singalong version of Pocketful of Money backing him, supporting him, celebrating him, celebrating us all. "Not for YouTube" he tells us, "This was between us here tonight".
  3. Magnetic Fields at New York Town Hall
    Note imperfect Merritt follows up Simms at the conclusion of Popa Was A Rodeo with depths of heartfelt sorrow stripping away layers of irony and smarts to a truth that underpins The Magnetic Fields.
  4. The Voluntary Butler Scheme - at Halifax Doghouse
    The end has come for the debut three-piece but the audience blockade the stage demanding that the excitement, the entertainment, the fun carries on.
  5. Morrissey at Sunderland Empire
    A few songs in and Steven departs the stage in a flounce returned coxed out by the slow cat calls of the intro to Death of a Disco Dancer. The show man buts on a show.
  6. Laura Groves - Upstairs at The Cockpit in Leeds
    Bradford's finest songstress and Ms Blue Roses emotes to a heaving, packed Cockpit Upstairs through a powerful Can't Sleep that silences the room.
  7. My First Tooth - The Love Apple, Bradford
    A scruffy man on guitar and a young lass with braces on fiddle sail above expectations with an instantly memorable Sleet and Snow burning the retina of the mind's eye.
  8. Dinosaur Pile Up - The Love Apple, Bradford
    One of those nights at the Love Apple is blow open by the fuzzed up, Albini stylings of the Pile-Up stomping through I Get My Direction.
  9. Eamon Hamilton - The Faversham, Leeds
    "This song is about Dick Cheney" says Eamon before seven seconds or angry acoustic spike of Cheney.
  10. Art Brut - St George's Hall, Bradford
    Eddie asks "Are you ready Art Brut?" before Rusted Guns of Milan shows too much of his soul.
    • Illinoise by Sufjan Stevens
    • Born To Die by Lana Del Rey
    • It's a Shame About Ray by The Lemonheads
    • With Strings: Live at Town Hall by Eels
    • (I Can't Get No) by Stevie Jackson
    • Down the River of Golden Dreams by Okkervil River
    • The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
    • Talking With The Taxman About Poetry by Billy Bragg
    • Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River
    • Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant by Belle and Sebastian
    • If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian
    • I Was the King, I Really Was the King by Animals That Swim
    • Welcome To Condale by Summer Camp
    • Wolves and Thieves by Goldheart Assembly
    • Flight of the Conchords by Flight of the Conchords
    • A Certain Trigger by Maxïmo Park
    • The Futureheads by The Futureheads
    • Little Death by Pete and the Pirates
    • Forty Licks Disc 1 by The Rolling Stones
    • Nests by She Keeps Bees
    • A Creature I Don't Know by Laura Marling
    • La Roux by La Roux
    • Torches by Foster The People
    • Lanzafame by Tap Tap
    • News And Tributes by The Futureheads
    • It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
    • On My Way by Tap Tap
    • Write About Love by Belle and Sebastian
    • The Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers
    • America Give Up by Howler
    • Paranoid by Black Sabbath
    • Old Ideas by Leonard Cohen
    • Journal For Plague Lovers by Manic Street Preachers
    • The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
    • GENERATION TERRORISTS by Manic Street Preachers
    • This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours by Manic Street Preachers
    • The Clash by The Clash
    • Bluffer's guide to the flight deck by Flotation Toy Warning
    • Neon Bible by Arcade Fire
    • Funeral by Arcade Fire
    • National Treasures - The Complete Singles by Manic Street Preachers
    • Chairs Missing by Wire
    • Broken Social Scene by Broken Social Scene
    • All Things Must Pass (30th Anniversary Edition) by George Harrison
    • Tapestry by Carole King
    • Drive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Cliff Martinez
    • Valerie and friends by Various Artists
    • Bringing It All Back Home by Bob Dylan
    • American V by Johnny Cash
    • Low by David Bowie
    • American III: Solitary Man by Johnny Cash
    • Let's Dance by David Bowie
    • Hunky Dory by David Bowie
    • Exile On Main Street by The Rolling Stones
    • King Of The Delta Blues by Robert Johnson
    • Slow Dazzle by John Cale
    • 936 by Peaking Lights
    • Plume by Loscil