When he was a teenager, Simon Armitage wanted to be in a band. Failing that, he settled on being a poet - and ended up leading a downsized version of the rock star life, touring the world, performing before live audiences, appearing on radio and television, taking tea with David Gedge and doing his best to dodge an encounter with his hero, Mark E. Smith... even, latterly, recording his own record with his self-confessed mid-life-crisis band, the Scaremongers. Gig is the story of how that happened, but it's also the story of Armitage's relationship with pop music, and how important it's been to his life.

Read the full review at my blog. ( )