1127th
Nov

Earlier on in the week I went to see Yuck at the Electric Ballroom. Their album has been one of my favourite things to listen to, so it was very nice to see them at their own headlining gig. It was a short but sweet set, and the songs resonated with something that doesn’t quite come across on record. Hopefully they will continue on to good things.

Last night was a bit of a different gig; Friendly Fires at Brixton Academy, the end of a triumphant four night run. It was a late night affair with the doors not opening until 9pm which gave us plenty of time to get ready and head to south London. Unfortunately my friend managed to trip up the stairs on the way in, so we missed all the support acts and DJs as we were in the medical room backstage! We got released just in time to run out and hear the first song, so thankfully nothing important was lost. Ed was on true hip-shaking form, and the whole of the venue bounced in time with him. It has already turned into a blur of singing and dancing in my head but the songs take it up to a whole new level live, pushing you higher and further. There were hula girls handing out garlands during Hawaiian Air at the end, and Kiss of Life seemed to stretch on forever in a maddening frenzy, but of course it must have ended at some point and we were left with ringing ears on the nightbus home.

The setlist for Friendly Fires was:

Lovesick
Jump In The Pool
Running Away
Blue Cassette
True Love
On Board
Chimes
Skeleton Boy
Show Me Lights
In The Hospital
Pala
Live Those Days Tonight
Hurting
Pull Me Back To Earth
Paris
———————————–
Hawaiian Air
Kiss Of Life

My October gig extravaganza came to an end last night with an excellent performance by Miles Kane at the Electric Ballroom.

Before that however, was Bombay Bicycle Club at Brixton Academy last week. I am pleased to announce that the stage is back to normal, so the weird flattened out thing they had going on when I saw DFA1979 must have been temporary. Bombay Bicycle Club were supported by Dry The River, a band whom I have heard much about, but have never heard their music. They were fairly pleasant folky indie, and although I won’t be clamouring to buy their latest album they still helped the warm up the crowd and pass the time before the main act. Bombay Bicycle Club took to the stage shortly after 9pm and managed to play a staggering 20-song setlist. Considering there were only two tracks on offering from their acoustic ‘Flaws’ album, they managed to get through most of the material from their other two albums, which surely left even the most die-hard fan feeling as though they had gotten their moneys worth. Not only do they play well live, but they also really get into the music and engage with the fans, something that a lot of indie-folk bands tend not to do. It adds an extra dimension to the songs and the crowd seemed to be absolutely loving it. I was extremely pleased with the selection of songs and the closer of ‘What If’ had everyone dancing and cheering long after they had left the stage.

The setlist was:

Shuffle
Your Eyes
Dust On The Ground
Bad Timing
Open House
Leave It
Lights Out, Words Gone
Rinse Me Down
Ivy & Gold
Evening/Morning
Beggars
Cancel On Me
Lamplight
How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep
Magnet
What You Want
Always Like This
The Giantess/Emergency Contraception Blues
———————————————
Still
What If

Miles Kane was performing two sold out nights at the Electric Ballroom, in support of his debut album ‘The Colour of the Trap’. The audience was largely made up of older people and so it didn’t really start to fill up until after 9pm, which meant we could get a nice spot close to the front before the support act, Folks, came on. Folks were largely forgettable and after a few tracks we found ourselves waiting impatiently for Miles Kane to take to the stage. It was a good performance, although fairly short as he only had his album and a few covers to rely on. The two covers (Jaques Dutronc and a more obscure Beatles track) mostly went over my head, but the rest of the set was more memorable. The highlights of course were ‘Come Closer’ and ‘Inhaler’ which got the biggest crowd reactions of the night and Miles proved that he is a solid performer and well worthy of all his praise.

Setlist:

Better Left Invisible
Counting Down The Days
Rearrange
Before It’s Midnight
Kingcrawler
Happenstance
Take The Night From Me
Quicksand
The Responsible (Jaques Dutronc cover)
My Fantasy
Colour Of The Trap
Telepathy
Woman’s Touch
Hey Bulldog (The Beatles cover)
Come Closer
———————————
Inhaler

114th
Apr

Last Thursday I went to see The Kills at Heaven. It was a gig I had been looking forward to immensely, so in my excitement I decided to go and queue straight from work. The doors opened at 6:30 and I managed to get a fantastic spot on the right of the stage, second row behind two short girls. Unfortunately I then had to stand around for an hour and a half waiting for something to happen. Promoters, venues, here’s a tip; don’t let people in at 6:30 and then have your first band start at 8! They could have just as easily opened the doors at 7 or 7:30. I wasted a lot of time playing Broken Sword on my iPhone before the support act, S.C.U.M, took to the stage.

I had heard of S.C.U.M before but had no idea what their music was like, so I was pleasantly surprised when the group of mismatched youngsters produced some wonderful psychedelic post-punk, quite reminiscent of The Horrors’s last album. The lead singer looked like Nick Cave’s long lost song in a bad linen suit, but his voice was really lovely and I found myself enjoying them a lot. They seemed to have little effect on the audience though, as they left in as much silence as they had arrived.

Finally it was (just after) 9 and it was time for The Kills. They arrived on stage without much fanfare, but to a loud chorus of screams from the waiting crowd, and launched into ‘No Wow’ from their second album. They played a set which was heavy on the new album, Blood Pressures, and which saw Alison Mosshart play a range of instruments instead of just her usual guitar and vocal duties. When not encumbered by an instrument she prowled the stage like a caged animal, alternating between crooning sweetly and shrieking like a banshee all whilst avoiding the audience’s gaze. Jamie took over most of the crowd interaction, muttering his thanks in between songs and taking it upon himself to verbally break up a fight between a man and a woman. His frenzied guitar riffs were expertly delivered and sounded just perfect in the gritty, intimate atmosphere of Heaven. The rest of the set was peppered with fan favourites such as ‘U.R.A. Fever’, ‘Kissy Kissy’ and ‘Tape Song’, with the latter getting the biggest crowd reaction of the night.

After a short break they were back for the encore with a beautiful rendition of new song ‘The Last Goodbye’ and ending on the classic ‘Fried My Little Brains’. The audience screamed their appreciation as they took a bow and left the stage smiling, and we all tumbled satisfied into the cool London evening. I really enjoyed myself and the gig felt quite intimate compared to the previous times I had seen The Kills (mostly large festivals), plus the new tracks all sounded brilliant. I’m still unsure if I will get tickets for their Roundhouse gig in June, but I’m sure I will see them at at least one of my festivals over the summer.

No Wow
Future Starts Slow
Heart Is a Beating Drum
U.R.A. Fever
Kissy Kissy
DNA
Satellite
Tape Song
Baby Says
Sour Cherry
—————
The Last Goodbye
Pots and Pans
Fried My Little Brains

Yesterday myself and my mum went to Brixton Academy for a special Japan Tsunami Benefit gig, arranged by Liam Gallagher and Beady Eye. I’m not much of a fan of Liam Gallagher, but the rest of the line up was too good to miss with the likes of Primal Scream, Paul Weller and Graham Coxon all playing.

We arrived about 15 minutes after the doors were supposed to open only to find a massive queue of people still waiting outside the Academy. This was useful for us, as we could slip into the O2 Priority queue and get in before the masses! We managed to bag ourselves spots on the barrier which meant we had a lovely view, and drink in hand we watched The Coral start the proceedings. I don’t mind The Coral as long as they don’t play too long, so their 6 song set (including crowd-pleaser ‘Dreaming Of You’) was fine by me. They ended with a cover of The Beatles ‘Ticket To Ride’ which seemed to set a Beatles-themed precedent for the whole evening.

Graham Coxon was up next, shambling onto the stage minus his glasses and wearing jeans that were far too small for him. He played a set that was a mix of old and new and it was a wonderful, if slightly mad experience. He ended the final song by doing a backwards roll on the floor and then shuffled off again, leaving half the audience confused and the other half grinning widely.

Crowd-favourite Paul Weller was the next act and he played a (deservedly) slightly longer set, that focussed less on his newer efforts and more on the older crowd pleasers like ‘Eton Rifles’ and ‘Start’. He too ended on a cover of The Beatles, ‘Come Together’, along with the help of Kelly Jones on guitar and vocals. Kelly Jones played a short acoustic set after, and although I usually detest The Stereophonics, the crowd singing along to ‘Dakota’ was enough to make me smile.

Primal Scream were up next and they were really my highlight of the evening. Having nothing new to promote at all (apart from the Screamadelica tour they are currently on) they too stuck to the hits, and it had an electric effect on the booze-soaked crowd. Bobby Gillespie danced around the stage like a man possessed and encouraged the fans to sing back to him, and they responded enthusiastically. ‘Movin On Up’ and ‘Loaded’ were incredible and had the whole audience moving and singing and I was pretty certain that no-one else could top that performance.

Richard Ashcroft made a brief appearance while the stage was being set for Beady Eye and churned out a few Verve songs on his acoustic guitar. He also made the strange mistake of playing a new song last, which brought the audience’s spirits right down after a mass singalong to ‘Sonnet’ and ‘Lucky Man’.

Beady Eye were on last, and as usual Liam was a man of few words and many scowls. We stuck around for about half of their set and then pretty much got bored and decided to leave in order to catch our train. Apparently we missed a final Beatles cover, but I wasn’t too bothered really. Their music is ok, but it just sounds like the worst parts of Oasis to me. I’ve always been a Noel fan myself.

We were informed before the evening ended that £150,000 had been raised already, so even if some of the performances had been a bit lukewarm, it was all for a good cause. Plus it has confirmed my decision to see Primal Scream at Glastonbury instead of the incredibly dull U2.

The new blue acrylic pieces are now for sale in the shop! Featuring the Star Trek medical and science insignias, and an awesome TARDIS (which I really want to keep for myself, but alas there are only two at the moment). I have also restocked the Triforce necklaces.

I’ve created a Twitter and updated the Facebook page if anyone would like to follow them.

This week I started my new job so most evenings I’ve been too tired to do anything productive. I’ve started watching Supernatural after many many people recommended it to me, and my god is it ever addictive. I’ve gotten through half of Season 1 already with Season 2 ready to watch afterwards. It’s a nice combination of “monster of the week” episodes with an overall arc for each season, and it’s very funny and interesting. Pretty much like Buffy but with two brothers hunting demons instead of slaying vampires. There are currently 6 seasons so it will keep me occupied for a couple of months at least.

This week my gig outing was quite special as we went to the NME Awards Ceremony at Brixton Academy on Wednesday. We went last year and had a great time in the pit so we decided to go and queue early in the hopes of getting pit passes again. It was worth spending a few hours in the cold as we managed to get our hands on the precious yellow passes. We watched the celebrities arriving while we were waiting upstairs, and after an amusing incident with Nikki from Big Brother we got led downstairs and into the standing pit at the front. There was free beer available so we snagged some and found a place in the middle. The standing pit at the awards show is always tiny; we were stood at the back of it and there were only about 4-5 rows of people in front of us. They also take away the barrier so you are literally right up against the stage. It’s a great place to see some really big acts perform.

Angelos Epithemieu was the host and mumbled his way through the awards, most of his dry in-character observations going over everyone’s heads. There weren’t a lot of surprise wins and the most amusing thing was watching the bands get more and more drunk as they stumbled up to collect their awards. The bands performing included My Chemical Romance, Hurts, PJ Harvey and Crystal Castles who were a nice surprise, and the atmosphere in the pit varied depending on whose fans you were stood nearest to. The big moment was Dave Grohl receiving the Godlike Genius award, and after a rambling acceptance speech The Foo Fighters took to the stage for their set. Usually the winners play a set of about 4-5 songs, but Dave announced that they would be playing a 2 hour set. Most of us just laughed it off, but as the songs kept going and going, we realised he was true to his word! They played their new album in its entirety and then followed it up with a selection of their hits. We actually had to leave before the end in order to make our last tube home.

It was a pretty epic night anyway, and being a few metres away from Dave Grohl was definitely an experience.

1122nd
Feb

So much for a months leave; I had an interview last week for a position in London and started yesterday. I’ll have to get used to waking up at a normal time again.

The new acrylic has been received and it looks fantastic! There are a few pieces that can’t go up yet as I’m still waiting on other colours, but the blue ones and restocked yellow should be in the shop by the weekend.

This weekend I was kept busy with two gigs, the NME Awards tour at Brixton Academy on Saturday and Carl Barat at the 100 Club on Sunday.

The NME Awards tour is usually an opportunity for the NME to show off their latest indie favourites, so it was quite a surprise to see Magentic Man and Crystal Castles heading the lineup. Not your usual generic NME fare. I am not a fan at all of the other two bands, The Vaccines and Everything Everything, so I showed up late in the hope of missing them. No such luck with Everything Everything as I had to put up with most of their squawking, vacuous set. I moved forward before Magnetic Man to get a decent spot and instantly found myself surrounded by chav-esque youngsters. This did not bode well. My predictions were correct as Magnetic Man turned out to be an awful dubstep DJ ensemble. I just don’t get everyone’s fascination with dubstep; maybe I’m just getting old. They seemed to be quite well known as they got a massive response from the crowd and then about half the venue buggered off once they had ended. Their loss for missing out on an epic Crystal Castles set.

A roadie came out just before the band hit the stage to let us know that Alice Glass had a broken ankle, and although the doctor told her to cancel the tour, she said fuck that. This was met with a loud cheer as the band followed, their singer limping on with her foot in plaster and a crutch in one hand. It was a frenetic, riotous set that was not in any way hampered by Alice’s injury, as she threw herself around the stage as usual and even clambered into the crowd towards the end. I was worried that Crystal Castle’s sound would seem out of place in the large venue (as had happened when they supported The Cure at the O2 Arena) but the bass was apparently turned up to 11 and each beat vibrated through the crowd as if we were in an intimate club. It was a fun, if fairly short, setlist and they ended the main section on their massive hit ‘Not In Love’, with a two-song encore following to appease the ravenous audience.

Fainting Spells
Baptism
Courtship Dating
Doe Deer
Crimewave
Suffocation
Alice Practice
Black Panther
Celestica
Empathy
Reckless
Not In Love
——————
Intimate
Yes No

The Carl Barat gig was another NME awards show (as seems to be the case with most of my February gigs) and it was originally scheduled to be at the Shepherds Bush Empire. For various reasons the whole of Carl’s UK tour was either cancelled or rescheduled, with this gig being moved to the 100 Club on the same day. Our best guess was that the gig didn’t sell enough tickets, so they moved to a smaller venue, although we were pleased with this turn of events as the 100 Club is a lot more intimate. The support acts were rehashed from the previous tour so we were familiar with quite a few of their songs already. By the time Carl and his band came onstage, the tiny room was packed to the back and we were crushed against the stage barely inches from the famous frontman.

The setlist was pretty much the same as the last time I saw him but it was bolstered by the fact that we were a lot more familiar with his solo album by now. There were Dirty Pretty Things and Libertines tracks scattered throughout, which of course got the biggest reactions, and we also got treated to an impromptu rendition of ‘What A Waster’ as requested by an audience member. As he ended on ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ the room went insane and bounced around so much that even my mum was encouraged to join in.

Je Regrette, Je Regrette
Run With The Boys
The Man Who Would Be King
Carve My Name
She’s Something
Deadwood
The Magus
So Long, My Lover
What Have I Done
Up The Bracket
Death Fires Burn At Night
What A Waster
Death On The Stairs
Bang Bang You’re Dead
——————————-
9 Lives
The Ballad Of Grimaldi
France
The Fall
Don’t Look Back Into The Sun