"If love is just a game, then how come it's no fun? If love is just a game, how come I've never won?"

Don't be misled – this isn't going to be a rant on the state of my love life. (That's best summed up by my post from the 9th October.)

It's actually a lyric from the wonderful Noah and the Whale, who I went to see last night at the Carling Academy in Oxford. It was the first night of their headline tour, and I like to think it was a good start, the crowd were wildly enthusiastic. For me, it was one of those rare gigs where everything was just perfect. Firstly, and most importantly, their fans seem to be mostly very short – I felt like I was one of the annoying tall people which was a new experience – and I had one of the best views I've ever had of a gig. They looked so pleased, and a little surprised, with the response they were getting that it was incredibly endearing. They played my three favourite songs – Jocasta, Rocks and Daggers and Five Years Time – all in a row. And I discovered that there is something even better than a man with a guitar – a man with a fiddle. Tom Hobden, quite adorable. Although I was shocked to realise when I got home and did some googling on the band that he is younger than me, which feels inappropriate and wrong. It always seems unfair that there should be people younger than me who are so hugely talented when I am yet to develop any noticeable talents of my own, and I can remember days when my heroes were all twice my age.

Anyway, before I get onto the good old days (when, incidentally, you could get a bag of crisps and a Capri Sun and still have change from 50p) I'll conclude. Noah and the Whale = brill, and I cannot stop humming along. If I had one criticism, it was the absence of Laura Marling's beautiful backing vocals, but it was testament to their brilliance that I didn't let my fierce Marling-loyalty stand in the way of enjoying every minute enormously.