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Porridge Radio's Dana Margolin tells us about her favorite live shows of 2022

Porridge Radio at Bowery Ballroom
Porridge Radio at Bowery Ballroom (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)

Porridge Radio didn’t get to properly tour their fantastic 2020 album Every Bad, which came out a couple weeks before the pandemic hit, but they made up for it this year with the release of Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky, staying on the road, and finally making their way North America. Along the way, they got to see a lot music as well, and bandleader Dana Margolin has given us a list of her favorite shows, which includes everything from seeing Sharon Van Etten and a tiny club in Brooklyn to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds playing to thousands at Primavera Sound. You can read her list below.

The band are still on the road, wrapping up 2022 with shows in Zürich, Berlin, Vienna and more. All dates are listed, along with a stream of their new album, below.

Porridge Radio’s Dana Margolin – My favourite shows this year, 2022, in chronological order

Sniffany & The Nits, Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach, 4th February
I’ve seen S&TN multiple times this year, and we were lucky enough to have them join us for a show in Cardiff in February – and it was amazing. Josie, who fronts the band, is an incredible artist and performer, and the world she has built around the band is so detailed and endlessly expanding. I love the way that through her performance, artwork and lyrics she shows so clearly how ugly and chaotic femininity can be, how it can change form through mental illness, obsession, relationships. Their music feels like a perfect expression of the idea that womanhood can encompass so many things, and their shows are completely transfixing.

caroline, London, Rough Trade East 25th February
caroline are another band I’ve been lucky enough to see multiple times this year, caroline are an 8 piece band who sit in a circle and build long sweeping tracks from very simple parts that sway you into a trance and make you lose yourself as they draw you further into their music. Seeing their record release show at Rough Trade East in London this year was particularly beautiful, as they arranged themselves on the floor of the record shop instead of on the stage – something they often do but that I hadn’t seen before, with the crowd in a close circle around them, and completely focused inwards as they played an incredibly hypnotic set.

Sharon Van Etten, New York City, Union Pool, 6th May
SVE is a huge inspiration to me and has been since I started writing songs and playing guitar when I was 19. Over the years I’ve seen her a few times on much bigger stages, and have spent a lot of time with her records, so I was extremely excited to be at her very intimate record release show in New York. I was completely overcome with emotion at her performance, even having not heard most of the songs from her new album before. The way that she commanded the stage, engaging so purposefully with the audience, was so powerful. She is such a magnetic performer and that show has really stayed with me.

Memory of Speke, London, Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes, May 12th
Memory of Speke supported us on part of our UK tour this year. I’m rarely as excited to watch a band play every single day. It’s like there’s a magic switch in my brain to make me READY that seeing them play activates. They make me excited to play music. Before our tour, I managed to see them a few times in London over the summer and there was a particular show at Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes, a tiny basement in East London where they all dressed in very sweaty matching outfits tried to outlast each other before taking off a layer. Tegan dances like no other. They are exciting, they are loud, they are incredibly fun, and I love them.

Naima Bock, Edinburgh, Summerhall, May 21st at The Great Eastern Festival
Naima and her band came on tour with us at the end of last year, and this year we’ve crossed paths multiple times at festivals and I’ll always try to see her play if I can. Seeing her in Edinburgh was the first time I’d seen her play solo in years, and it was a really beautiful reminder that you don’t always need complicated arrangements – some songs are so good they can carry themselves in any form. Her voice is so evocative, and every song she writes sounds like a classic.

Black Country, New Road, Leeds, The Brudenell, 22nd May
Despite being in a similar scene, I hadn’t seen BCNR play for about 5 years and didn’t really know what to make of them. In May we both played the Brudenell in Leeds on the same day in different rooms. After we played, I went in to see their show and was completely blown away by their new songs and how intimate, vulnerable and sad they are, whilst also being so gentle and full of fun and playfulness. I find it hard not to cry every time I see them play. They are truly doing something special.

Lorde, London, Roundhouse, June 1st
I fucking love Lorde. Seeing her at the Roundhouse in London this year was mind-blowing and felt like a dream. I loved that she ate a banana on stage. I loved her set design with the big staircase and weird shapes. I loved her band walking around playing wireless instruments. I loved that she played all my favourite songs. Because all her songs are my favourite songs. It was amazing. Sometimes it feels perfect to just be a screaming fan and I loved this show for letting me be that.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Barcelona, Primavera Sound, June 4th
Nick Cave is a magic performer and artist. We played at a few of the same festivals this year so I was lucky enough to see him more than once, and he is always spectacular. He’s a total master of his art, and it was incredibly inspiring to watch him perform and to see how profoundly he touches his audience, and to feel part of that. The first time I saw him this year was at Primavera Festival in Barcelona and it felt absolutely huge. It was absolutely huge. The energy that he brought to that show was overwhelming and I was completely bowled over by the power he brought to the stage and the way he transfixed the crowd. It was amazing.

Big Thief, Glastonbury Festival, Crow’s Nest June 25th
Everybody knows Big Thief are incredible. Seeing them at Glastonbury at the Crow’s Nest, a tiny tent at the top of a hill was one of the most intimate and moving shows I’ve seen this year. The way they almost exhale the songs to communicate with each other onstage is so deeply inspiring. Seeing them play feels like being let into a deeply personal conversation, like being allowed to be part of something bigger than you.

Morgan Noise, London, Brixton Windmill, 20th July
Morgan Noise played a few shows with us in November. They’re a band of genius weirdos doing really exceptional things. Morgan and her band are all extremely proficient at playing their instruments, but that’s nowhere near the point. They continuously astound me with how instantly accessible yet freakish and jarring their music can be. They’re an incredible live band making unbelievably emotionally intense music in an incredibly playful way and when I saw them for the first time at The Windmill I was so excited. They immediately completely drew me in.

Modest Mouse, Latitude Festival, 22nd July
Modest Mouse were one of my most formative bands, I’ve been obsessed with their music since I was about 12 years old, and before Latitude festival this year I’d never seen them play. My favourite part of it was feeling like a super fan dream come true legend screaming every word taking 100 videos and sending them to a friend.

Alex G, Portugal, Paredes De Coura festival, 17th August
My bandmates and I love Alex G, and we were gassed to be playing the same festival as them in Portugal this year. Unfortunately our sets overlapped, but one of the most euphoric moments of the summer for me was catching the end of their set from the top of a big hill and screaming along, after our own very intense show, and turning around and finding my bandmates doing the same.

PORRIDGE RADIO – 2022 TOUR DATES
DEC 5, 2022 – Rotondes – Luxembourg, Luxembourg
DEC 7, 2022 – Bogen F – Zürich, Switzerland
DEC 8, 2022 – Hansa39 – Munich, Germany
DEC 10, 2022 – Flex – Vienna, Austria
DEC 11, 2022 – Café V lese – Prague, Czechia
DEC 12, 2022 – Festsaal Kreuzberg – Berlin, Germany
DEC 14, 2022 – Klub Hydrozagadka – Warsaw, Poland
DEC 16, 2022 – Hafenklang – Hamburg, Germany
DEC 17, 2022 – Lille Vega – Copenhagen, Denmark