Normally I put a list of my honourable mentions on the end of the review of my favourite album of the year but as I've already said - this has been one of the biggest years for music in the longest time. SO, this year I've put the list in a separate post to give everyone their due respects, in no particular order as always...

James Blake - The Colour In Anything
NAO - For All We Know
Noname - Telefone
Little Simz - Stillness In Wonderland
J Cole - 4 Your Eyez Only
Kendrick Lamar - untitled, unmastered
Ab-Soul - Do What Thou Wilt.
Anderson .Paak - Malibu
Savages - Adore Life
Christine and the Queens - Chaleur Humaine
Francis and the Lights - Farewell, Starlite!
Balance & Composure - Light We Made
De La Soul - and the Anonymous Nobody...
Isaiah Rashad - The Sun's Tirade
Blink-182 - California
Touche Amore - Stage Four
Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Getaway
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
Skepta - Konnichiwa
David Bowie - Blackstar
NxWorries - Yes Lawd!
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
Kid Cudi - Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'
Travi$ Scott - Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight
Alicia Keys - HERE
Emeli Sande - Long Live The Angels
Frank Ocean - Endless | Frank Ocean - Blond
Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo
Rihanna - ANTI
Jack Garratt - Phase
Flume - Skin
Seaway - Colour Blind
Mick Jenkins - The Healing Component
Logic - Bobby Tarantino

There were so many other great albums that I listened to over the course of the year, these were just the ones that either managed to grab the most plays from me or came out too late for me to consider them for the top 10 (s/o Little Simz). Here's to an even more music filled 2017. Click HERE to listen to my Spotify playlist with some of the tracks that made my 2016 all that it was.

WHAT. A. NIGHT. WOW! Still can hardly believe that I got to see Only Rivals, Candy Hearts, State Champs, The Story So Far and New Found Glory all in one night, with my own eyeballs! Either way, before I get carried away, here's my verdict on the performances of the night...

If you like pop punk/rock music and you haven't yet checked out Only Rivals get on it. I hadn't heard any of their music before coming to the show but they were really good. It was nice to see a band that are each evidently such different characters, come together and play some collectively awesome music. The lead singer was a little hard on himself, shaking his head a couple of times after he'd slightly miss a note but, he kept it all together. Solid opener.

Next up Candy Hearts. I've been waiting to see this band for about a year now and the time finally came. I have to say I was a little surprised to be honest. I was surprised at how "cute" they were. The lead singer was just adorable, and I guess I was just expecting something a little more gritty. Once I'd focused though, I thought that at times they sounded a bit like a female fronted Blink-182. I liked their song "All The Ways You Let Me Down" and speaking to Mariel after the show - she is super sweet, definitely check them out - talented bunch of cool people.

Before the show started, I'd seen a bunch of State Champs shirts bopping around in the crowd so I figured that theirs would be a pretty energetic set to say the least. They were on 100% from beginning to end. The first crowd surfers of the night and honestly, first real movement of the night - the crowd just went mad for them. I definitely need to check out all of their music properly because to put it briefly they were on point. I swear, some of the best things seem to come from Pure Noise Records. Derek was super courteous on stage, praising every band individually and he was equally as courteous in person. Genuinely cool band.

Now, the band that I personally was probably most excited for - The Story So Far. I was so sure that by the end of their set I wouldn't have a voice left. Every time I see them perform live the crowd just seems like if they don't scream every one of Parker's lyrics at the top of their lungs whilst pointing their fingers at the stage then they might die. So I did exactly that and it was brilliant. Circle pits and crowd surfers galore. They slayed. There really wasn't time to come up for air. This is a band that I really want to see around for a long, long time to come.

Finally for the stars of the show, the glorious rockers that put together this fantastic spectacle - New Found Glory. It's rare that I'm watching a band and I stop mid-show and think how lucky I am to be seeing them. They were awesome! You know in cheesy movies when they play those montages of important events happening and things happen in slow motion and the camera zooms in on people's joy filled, elated faces - this happened in my mind several times during the set. It was surreal. I'm definitely more of an old school NFG fan but after this show it would seem that I need to purchase their new record - Resurrection. When they played songs like "Kiss Me" and "My Friends Over You" I just lost it. The crowd was considerably older than I'd imagined but I think in those moments everyone felt like a teenager again. Grown men pushing to the front, crowd surfing and generally fanning out. It was just an amazing vibe. Whoever was able to make it out to one of these shows, count yourselves lucky. Pop punk is most certainly not dead.

Overall Rating - 9/10


Here are some pictures from the night...

The last day of the weekend and the saddest day too. Still in recovery from my 1am-9am shift that morning this meant that I missed The Story So Far's main stage set and I ran in late only to catch the last song of Tonight Alive's set..


TONIGHT ALIVE
I had been looking forward to this set for the entire weekend, especially after bumping into Jenna whilst watching Don Broco on the Saturday. So you can imagine how upset I was to run into the arena to hear them playing their last song "Lonely Girl". I could have cried. They sounded so good, they had a good crowd and Jenna looked amazing. I have to see them live soon!

YOUNG GUNS
After that little morning disappointment, I stayed at the main stage to watch Young Guns. They opened up with their latest single "I Want Out" which sounded really good live. To be honest, this was my second time seeing them live and they did sound better. Their new stuff sounded quite 30STM but I'm very excited for their new record.

JUNGLE
I still haven't listened to their new album in full but after listening to the singles, I knew that they'd be great live - I was right. They smashed the set and "Time" sounded huge. Great vibes throughout.

PAPA ROACH
Managed to catch some of their set before heading off to Clean Bandit and this may just be my 12 year old self speaking but they actually sounded awesome. Crowd was heavy, and a lot larger than I'd anticipated.

CLEAN BANDIT
After seeing Clean Bandit at Glastonbury I wasn't too excited to see them again in such a short space of time and I actually regret seeing them a little bit because they weren't even close to as good as they were at Glastonbury and it was basically the exact same setlist. However, they drew a crowd, had people cheering and they looked like they had a good time too so that's what counts really.

HAWK HOUSE
YES! I was super excited to see their name on the setlist after writing about them not too long ago here as a new discovery. Thankfully they didn't clash with anyone else that I was particularly buzzing to see so I went and checked them out. They were brilliant. Also, their pre-show DJ was magnificent.

A DAY TO REMEMBER
So I forgot to mention, Sunday was pop punk paradise. Had I been able to catch TSSF and Tonight Alive, the day would've been completely perfect. On the other hand, ADTR were fantastic - as well as their older tracks, the songs from Common Courtesy sounded huge! And to add to my surprise and happiness they played "Heartless".
 
YOU ME AT SIX
Before coming I wouldn't have minded missing this set if I'm honest - I'm not massively keen on their new stuff and I've already seen them live BUT I'm glad I went in the end. They have improved heaps! Josh's voice sounded great and it was really nice to hear them play some old favourites that I'd actually forgotten about.

MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
After watching some live videos of them a few weeks ago I was super excited to see them. They 100% knew how to entertain a crowd. I was a little surprised that they ran through all their singles so early on but they played "Can't Hold Us" again at the end and it banged out just as hard the second time and both Macklemore and & Ryan Lewis were really charming which made the set that much more enjoyable.

BLINK 182 
LITERALLY THE SET TO END ALL SETS. Last set of the weekend and the set that actually cemented my choice to come to Reading this year in the first place. I have waited a long time to see Blink live and it was everything I'd dreamed and more. The crowd where I was standing was a little less enthusiastic than I'd have liked but this didn't dampen my experience much, I was fully immersed. The show had everything, lights, jokes, classics, and Travis Barker. When my mouth wasn't open singing, it was wide open in awe. Perfect set and perfect end to the weekend.

LET IT BE KNOWN...