The National @ Alexandra Palace

The first time I saw The National 2008 in what was then the Carling Academy, Birmingham, holding just a few hundred people, Boxer had just been released and they were on the cusp of their big break. Since then, High Violet was voted one of the top albums of 2010, winning the Q award for Best Album. They were nominated for 'Best International Breakthrough Act' at the 2011 Brit Awards - ironic for a band who had released their first album ten years earlier. Now they sell out the Alexandra Palace for two nights (13 and 14 November 2013). 

When I first started this blog two years ago, I posted a rant about how disappointed I was with the way The National were heading. As it turns out, I'm one of the few old-school fans I know who actually really loves Trouble Will Find Me. My worries about the band going bland were unfounded, as songs like Don't Swallow The Cap (above), Sea of Love and Graceless have all the lyrical dexterity and raw, self-deprecating, confused emotion that makes me return again and again to the band. Nonetheless, in the lead-up to the gig I'd been listening obsessively to early albums The National and Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, as I so often do, thinking what a shame it was that they would never play those songs again, so I was OVERJOYED when they played my favourite song, Available with the outro from Cardinal Song - in Matt Berninger's words "a strange mix of anger and eroticism". Matt's hair may be receding and his eyesight failing, but it's great to see he still has the rage which bubbled through their early albums. 

(Sadly I can only find a really bad quality video).

Over the years, I've followed The National to the Royal Festival Hall, the Zénith in Paris (supporting Pavement) and the 02 Academy Bristol. This is the first time I haven't been in touching distance from them in a throng of die-hard fans, so I felt weirdly dislocated from them. They did a good job of filling the enormous stage with an impressive light show though, and I really appreciated the set-list packed full of hits from across their albums (including other old favourites like About Today and Mr November). The next time I see The National will be supporting Neil Young in Hyde Park in July - I can't wait to see what they're like in front of a crowd of over 60,000.

Paris: Joseph Arthur @ Galerie Chappe and Peter Gabriel @ Bercy

For three years since I left Paris, I've been waiting for an excuse to go back, so when Joseph Arthur suggested I should come to his gallery opening, in one of my more impulsive moments, I booked an overnight bus for the next evening and spent one incredible day in one of my favourite cities.

I arrived at 8am and began with something of a nostalgia tour, heading straight for St Eustache, a church that I always preferred to its more glamorous cousin Notre Dame. I then strolled through Ile de la Cité to my "fancy apartment on the Boulevard Saint Michel" (more like a nunnery in reality) and greatly confused the receptionist with my strange desire to wander around and reminisce. I got similarly nostalgic in les Jardins du Luxembourg, which I visited every day while I lived there, whether rushing through on my way to class, catching up on some work among the flowers or just people-watching.

Then in the evening I headed up into Montmartre to Galerie Chappe, "Paris' highest gallery", specialising in art related to music and film. While I'd seen many of Joe's paintings spread around Heath Street Baptist Church, it was amazing to be in a gallery packed full of them, ranging from intricate, detailed pieces to huge murals, all with Joe's signature figures. One of my favourites was a painting on the back of a door that Joe had found on the street and taken back to his hotel room. As well as enjoying the art, I got to chat to lots of interesting music people, including Joe himself, his band - Bill Dobrow and Rene Lopez - and Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter Jesse Harris.

Joe performing Saint of Impossible Causes surrounded by his paintings:

I was incredibly lucky to be in the right place at the right time, because that night Joe's good friend and mentor Peter Gabriel was in town, playing the 17,000 seater stadium in Bercy, and I got to go along with Joe, Bill and other friends for free. While not a huge Gabriel fan by any means (I know Solsbury Hill obviously, and In Your Eyes from seminal 80s smush-fest Say Anything) but wow, the man knows how to put on a show! Gabriel bounded with incredible energy throughout, aided by Manu Katché on drums and a spectacular light show. I was completely swept up in the joy of it all and the enthusiasm of the enormous crowd of fans.

All in all it was an unforgettable evening, made even more special by the fact that it was totally unexpected. I should take spontaneous trips more often!