Unmissable Gigs: Of 2010.

It's that time of year when journalists make wild and outrageous predictions about who’s going to make it in the next 12 months.

If the unprecedented Christmas number one success of Rage Against The Machine tells us anything, it should be that nothing in music is predictable anymore. All that being said, let’s take a look at the gigs to keep an eye on in 2010.

Editors, Lincoln Engine Shed.

What do you do when you model your career on Joy Division, but you’ve exhausted all their material on your first two albums? This is the question which plagued Editors prior to the release of their third album, In This Light And On This Evening. Luckily, they realised that the logical step, asides from an untimely suicide, was to follow down into New Order territory.

Their synthesiser-infused third album has so far spawned singles including Papillon and You Don’t Know Love and brings the best of the Mancunian pop giants, without the unbearable arrogance of Hooky.

Editors will bring their Hacienda-influenced, Tony Wilson-approved tour to Lincoln’s Engine Shed on Saturday, March 6. Contact the venue for ticket details.

NME Awards Tour, Nottingham Rock City.

Unfortunately, following three successful sell-out years, Lincoln has been overlooked for the NME Awards Tour in 2010.

All eyes will be on opening act The Drums this year, to see if they can “pull a Florence” and make their unique brand of sun-kissed harmonic pop the unavoidable sound of the year.

Another band to watch on this tour will be unabashed indie tykes Bombay Bicycle Club, injecting their own structured, melodically layered, guitar-driven pop into the evening.

Finally, perhaps the most underrated band in British pop music, The Maccabees, headline the night’s proceedings, hopefully making their well-deserved big break. Tracks such as Love You Better, Toothpaste Kisses and Precious Time have already become intelligible indie anthems for those who have loved and lost, over and over again.

The NME Awards Tour takes place in Nottingham on Tuesday, February 9. For ticket details, contact the venue.

Dizzee Rascal, Lincoln Engine Shed.

Everyone’s favourite household-name rapper Dizzee Rascal returns to Lincoln for a rescheduled date, following the cancellation of a gig earlier this year, due to illness.

With the mainstream acceptance of number one singles Bonkers, Holiday and Dance Wiv Me, Dizzee is walking a dangerously thin line between credible hip-hop artist and middle-of-the-road pop star. Hopefully, in his set this February, Dizzee will prove to the doubters, including myself, why he’s still relevant.

Dizzee plays in Lincoln on Thursday, February 25. Tickets have been sold out for this one for a long time, so it will be nothing short of a miracle if you expect to get.