Michael Jackson was indeed great, he was a born entertainer, second to none as a song-writer, we all know this, but let’s face it, he was hardly going to pull any more albums out of thin air at this stage. He said it himself when announcing the O2 gigs, “This is it!”.

It’s a real shame that he never lived to do the O2 gigs (especially as I had a ticket – gutted!), but realistically his career was already coming to an end so at least he went out at a time when we all still appreciated his music.

Let’s not forget also the other great losses this year. First off Liam Clancy, a staple of Irish Folk since TV was invented (in Ireland at least), passed away on December 4th. Bob Dylan once described him as “the best ballad singer I’d ever heard in my life“, so I’m not sure if anything I say to praise him can top that.

We also lost Les Paul this year, that’s right, THE Les Paul, not only did he invent his namesake solid body electric guitar, but he invented multitrack recording as well, which is one of the most important things to happen in music since… well, ever.

Oh, and the fantastic Scottish guitarist John Martyn also died. One of the first great musicians to cross genres and blend them beautifully.

And of course, though he may not have had as much of a long-term impact on music as the others mentioned, we will all miss Stephen Gately. Boyzone just aren’t the same without him.

But hey, let’s not be down about the whole thing, music hasn’t died, it’s still going strong. 2010 has loads to look forward to.

Here’s someone who is due to make a big splash in 2010, Ellie Goulding.

And yet more good news for 2010, Blink 182 are doing a European tour which will hopefully include Dublin, yay!! So it’s not all bad.

• A cup of Pocahontas
• Six leaves of Fern Gully
• One packet of Lord of the Rings
• A diced Last Samurai
• One pint (600ml) of Jurassic Park
• 1/2lb (225g) The Matrix and 1/2lb (225g) Surrogates
• Four tbps powdered Wall-E
• A Dash of Aliens

Instructions:

Add the Lord of the Rings to the Jurassic Park and bring to the boil and simmer over a low heat.

Crush the Fern Gully leaves and add to the Jurassic Park stirring continuously.

Make sure that the Tom Cruise in your Last Samurai is in a wheelchair as per Born on the Fourth of July. Knead him into The Matrix and Surrogates until it reaches a doughy consistency.

Flatten the dough into pancakes and fry them in some of the Pocahontas.

At this stage the Jurassic Park should have reduced somewhat. Add the powdered Wall-E and leave it on the heat until it thickens (add the dash of Aliens and any remaining Pocahontas at this stage).

When it has reached a sauce-like consistency, dribble it over the fried pancakes and roll into three hour long portions.

Sprinkle with some Smurf hundreds and thousands and serve in three dimensions.

Guaranteed to taste epic.

Performing for a non-stop 3 hours and 10 minutes is a feat no ordinary man can accomplish, needless to say one who is nearing on 60 years of age, yet perform he did, and what a performance.

From the moment Nils walked out on stage playing The Fields of Athenry, I knew we were in for a magical evening.
He and the band played some of my favourite tracks, Badlands, Outlaw Pete, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Badlands. I could go on and on (and they did).

He managed to fit in plenty of crowd pleasers too: Hungry Heart, Spirit in the Night, Proud Mary, and Glory Days (as part of the encore). Needless to say the crowd were indeed pleased, and understandably so. Although he spoke little over the course of the gig, his interaction with the crowd was admirable. He ran and danced and pulled signs from the crowd. No other act I’ve ever seen live can match the Boss’ love for his fans. The ticket had Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band printed on it, but it wasn’t their show, it was all about us the fans.

After playing as many requests as he could pull from the crowd, he then launched into the encore (this is over two and a half hours of playing already), and what an encore! Kicking off with an amazing rendition of Jungleland, and even mustering up enough remaining energy for a lively Rosalita. He then finshed off with a wonderful cover of Twist and Shout.

I went home fairly tired after all of that, I can only imagine how he felt.

The Full Setlist
No Surrender
Badlands
Night
My Lucky Day
Outlaw Pete
Hungry Heart
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Youngstown
Darkness On The Edge of Town
Spirit In The Night
Sherry Darling
Proud Mary
Prove It All Night
Trapped
Waiting On A Sunny Day
Promised Land
Radio Nowhere
American Skin (41 Shots)
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run

Jungleland
American Land
Rosalita
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
Twist & Shout