1115th
Apr

On Wednesday I got to skip free from work at 3pm (after being given an Easter Egg) and make my way to Leicester Square for the XFM session featuring Miles Kane. We arrived with plenty of time to spare, so after some food and cheeky cocktails in the pub we ventured into the Global Radio headquarters. We waited in the reception area until most of the other competition winners had arrived (there were about 25 of us in total) and then we were ushered into the ‘Green Room’ bar where we were served free beer. Beer only tastes good when it’s free! The walls had been signed by previous XFM guests so we wasted time trying to spot the best ones. The Wombats had scrawled their name in massive letters, possibly to compensate for how sh*t their music is.. Eventually everyone had arrived and the band was ready, so we were led into a room just off the recording studio, which had massive glass windows so we could see inside. It felt a bit like we were in a zoo and Miles Kane was a rare tiger exhibit.

Steve Harris was in with us, and introduced Miles and asked him a few questions before they played their set. They played the three singles plus an album track and I was really impressed with how polished it all sounded. I knew it would be good, but they really exceeded my expectations. It was over too soon and we were taken back to the bar and told that Miles would be with us in a moment. After signing the wall himself (and right over Alex James by mistake!) he made his way round the room and chatted to each pair of competition winners, thanking them for coming and signing things and having photos taken. It was a really nice touch, although when he reached us my friend started off the conversation by saying she didn’t actually know who he was! Luckily she recovered and went on to say that she was really impressed, and asked if he was playing Reading and Leeds. He confirmed that he was and after two hilariously bad photos with us, it was time to leave.

All in all it was a really fun afternoon. We got to see bits of the XFM studios, have lots of free beer, watch a great set and meet Miles Kane afterwards. I’ll definitely be trying to win my way into more sessions in the future.

Last night the entire Glastonbury lineup was revealed, which took me by surprise because I wasn’t expecting it for another couple of weeks! The biggest announcement for me is Queens of the Stone Age headlining the Other Stage on the Sunday. I was wondering who I was going to see instead of Beyonce, and now I’m incredibly happy. A lot of the smaller bands are also playing Reading so if there are clashes it won’t be the end of the world.

Bands I am most excited for include:
Morrissey
Biffy Clyro
Two Door Cinema Club
Metronomy
Primal Scream
Bright Eyes
The Chemical Brothers
Friendly Fires
The Kills
Queens Of The Stone Age
TV on the Radio
Bombay Bicycle Club
Miles Kane
Battles
The Horrors
Warpaint
Yuck
Ok Go
The Joy Formidable
Crystal Castles
Graham Coxon
Patrick Wolf

, , , , , ,

1112th
Apr

Royal Ruckus

Posted in gigs | life - (0 Comments)

I had assumed this week would be fairly leisurely after the insane amount of gigs last week, but I have somehow won two tickets to see Miles Kane at XFM in Leicester Square. It means I get to leave work at the luxurious hour of 3pm and explore XFM’s studio for the first time, I’m pretty excited!

Last weekend was a thing of beauty as we descended on the Circle Line for a pub crawl in honour of my cousin Ben’s birthday. The theme was royals and politicians (because of the upcoming royal wedding) and although we only managed about 9 different pubs, we got incredibly drunk and confused a lot of tourists in the process. Here are some select photos from the day. I’m the one dressed as the Queen.

, , , ,

1017th
Dec

More gigs this week! December has been a pretty busy month for me.

Tuesday was Tim Minchin at the O2 Arena. Having seen him on his last tour a stupid number of times, I had gotten a bit weary of seeing the same show over and over, so this was a welcome change. It was mostly new material, beefed out with a 40 piece orchestra and theatrics that can only come with touring arena-sized venues. Tim seemed to make it work, although I do miss the days when I used to see him in tiny 200 capacity rooms. The new stuff was very funny, and I especially enjoyed his religion-based rants and songs about taking things out of context. No doubt some of the dates on the tour have been filmed for a new DVD, so everyone will be able to enjoy it.

On Wednesday I went to Brixton Academy with my mum for the XFM Winter Wonderland. Due to tube fuckups we arrived late and missed all of Mona (not a great loss) and all but one song by The Drums. We slotted into our favourite position (front right, just by the middle barriers) in time to see Two Door Cinema Club. I hadn’t realised before just how many singles they had released, so it came as a surprise to me when all but one of their 6 song setlist was a single. The crowd seemed to enjoy it though and bounced around gleefully. The music may not be a work of genius, but it is very catchy and fun.

Next up was White Lies, who surprised everyone else by not playing many singles at all. It was mostly tracks from their new album, which as it is released in January they are obviously very keen to promote. I’m not sure how well it went down with the XFM crowd though, as the audience seemed to thin out towards the end as people headed for the bar. I liked it and I’m definitely going to be getting a copy of their new album.

The penultimate act was Suede, who unfortunately had to do a quick acoustic set as their drummer was off sick. It was a bit of a disappointment for me as I had been looking forward to seeing them, but it was still pretty good. They played ‘Trash’, ‘Animal Nitrate’ and ‘Beautiful Ones’.

Lastly it was time for the Manic Street Preachers who chose the right route and played a set consisting of their greatest hits, rather than tracks from their new album. There were clearly a lot of die-hard Manics fans in the audience and everyone had a great time. It really got me excited for their rescheduled Brixton gigs next month.


Two Door Cinema Club


Suede


Manic Street Preachers

, , , , , , ,

Designed and maintained by Amy Walker 2017 | Contact