Today gives way to a guest blog from son...
it was so good,
The audience were so appreciative, like loved him.. he was amazed i think.. and loved them right back. was really nice to see. set was incredible. good healthy mix of everything, old, new, jam stuff, style council, all of it. The whole band was involved, at one point they were all on guitar doing an amazing acoustic wildwood, then weller would get on to piano and tambourines came out and all sorts.
Played my favourites, inc broken stones.. in the first encore.. i was chanting broken stones broken stones broken stone.. and there it was WHAM.. "like pebbles on a beach BAAAAUUMM BAAAUMM".. and i got all tingly and went a bit crazy. And then at the end of broken stones, it got a bit freestlyey and bluesy and "OH HAPPY DAYS" GOT CHUCKED IN..
SISTER ACT 2 AND BROKEN STONES.. i died a bit then.
got free cider a burger and £20 out of it too, not bad not bad at all.
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Sunday, 15 March 2009
NME BIG GIG 2009
white lies, crystal castles, franz ferdinand and THE CURE.
White lies- only caught their last song 'fears got a hold on meeee'. Really quite good, dark indie pop, good beat, good lighting, crowd seemed to like them, def going to catch them on tour this year. in comparison to seeing them at Rough Trade in 08, the band seemed to be a bit tighter and more confident. theire tunes are quite the anthems. Good work.
Crystal Castles - wasn't expecting anything from them, wasn't even bothered about catching them. But we did and, suprisingly, they almost blew me away. Can see why 'kids' like them...good dance beat in their tunes, something to bounce to. There isn't anything like them in the charts so it was quite refreshing to see, even though they are a little erm strange. The Alice girl is mental, don't know what she was on, but she was clearly having a good time. Still don't agree with NME naming her coolest person of 08...wrong! Back to the music....i always skip their songs on my ipod but somehow they sound much better live. Really together and to have such a strong precence at the 02, for a band like this, is pretty impressive.
Franz Ferdinand - have seen these guys live quite a few times. haven't listened to them in a while and I'd forgotten how good they are. Catchy psychedlic type tunes keeping my foot a tapping. Slipped my mind the number of wicked tracks they have...Michael being my favourite. was intrigued by their new stuff. with the catchy them they go with I wasn't sure how they would take this onto a second album without it sounding 'samey'. Really good though and glad they are back. You can tell they have a great group bond, are focused, and the colourful threads is the icing on the cake...I guess.
The Cure - I'm sorry to say thir perfermance was a little disappointing. Lucky for me i did see them the night before at the NME Awards where they smashed their set playing all the great hits. Tonight however, a fair bit of new stuff that i didn't know. impressively they were on for a solid 90mins and did an encore which is good to hear from such a legendary band. 02 was packed out some hardcore fans, robert wannabies/inspired/lookalikes. great mixture of people though just a shame they waited till the very end to play one or two of their top tunes. Despite not knowing many of the songs they still put out a fantastic show..the lighting, the sincerity. each member has such an individual look its refreshing in someway to see they still do after all these years. Phenominal band, impressive show, blinding sound.
White lies- only caught their last song 'fears got a hold on meeee'. Really quite good, dark indie pop, good beat, good lighting, crowd seemed to like them, def going to catch them on tour this year. in comparison to seeing them at Rough Trade in 08, the band seemed to be a bit tighter and more confident. theire tunes are quite the anthems. Good work.
Crystal Castles - wasn't expecting anything from them, wasn't even bothered about catching them. But we did and, suprisingly, they almost blew me away. Can see why 'kids' like them...good dance beat in their tunes, something to bounce to. There isn't anything like them in the charts so it was quite refreshing to see, even though they are a little erm strange. The Alice girl is mental, don't know what she was on, but she was clearly having a good time. Still don't agree with NME naming her coolest person of 08...wrong! Back to the music....i always skip their songs on my ipod but somehow they sound much better live. Really together and to have such a strong precence at the 02, for a band like this, is pretty impressive.
Franz Ferdinand - have seen these guys live quite a few times. haven't listened to them in a while and I'd forgotten how good they are. Catchy psychedlic type tunes keeping my foot a tapping. Slipped my mind the number of wicked tracks they have...Michael being my favourite. was intrigued by their new stuff. with the catchy them they go with I wasn't sure how they would take this onto a second album without it sounding 'samey'. Really good though and glad they are back. You can tell they have a great group bond, are focused, and the colourful threads is the icing on the cake...I guess.
The Cure - I'm sorry to say thir perfermance was a little disappointing. Lucky for me i did see them the night before at the NME Awards where they smashed their set playing all the great hits. Tonight however, a fair bit of new stuff that i didn't know. impressively they were on for a solid 90mins and did an encore which is good to hear from such a legendary band. 02 was packed out some hardcore fans, robert wannabies/inspired/lookalikes. great mixture of people though just a shame they waited till the very end to play one or two of their top tunes. Despite not knowing many of the songs they still put out a fantastic show..the lighting, the sincerity. each member has such an individual look its refreshing in someway to see they still do after all these years. Phenominal band, impressive show, blinding sound.
Friday, 27 February 2009
NME Awards 2009 @ Brixton
So there was an unbeliveable amount of buzz around this years awards. I'm unsure if I noticed it all due to the fact I was attending this one, or if it's owed to genuine excitement being picked up by media from the likes of twitter and it's accompanying networks.
White Lies kicked off what was to be an epic NME week for me. This band are totally what i'm about..massive anthems, they really hit the nail on the head and get the audience (including slebs) in to the swing of things.
Comedian Mark Watson was the master of ceremonies this year and did a good enough job. From where i was standing, he kept the crowd focused as much as possible. tricky job for a bit of an unknown.
Further performances from Elbow, genius and teddy bear Guy Garvey looked like he had a good time. Franz ferdinand and la roux cover Blondie, Call me. Like sprinkles of sugar on my ears and eyes, very sweet indeed. Friendly Fires put on a floor stopping performance with brazillians, dancers not trims, and stealing a lot of the glory. that is apart from the unforgetable, historical, unbelievable, heart stopping, performance from coxon and damon albarn.
You could feel the whole room gulping and trying to find their missing heart beats when these fine princes were on stage. incredible.
Other fantastic performances from Glasvegas with Florence covering Suspicious minds.
Of course the performance of the night went to God like Geniuses, The Cure. Another world stoping performance, i love this band. they are so bloody wonderfully pretty. looking the part with the make up, voice and attire, Robert and the clang blew the place away.
A truly unforgetable night. An amazing set of an enchanted forest, free beer, one-off ridiculously good performances, lots of awards going to the well deserved winners. Oasis best band, Peter best male, MGMT best newbies...all spot on in my eyes. and it's not often I agree with the outcomes, but this year NME have done themselves proud.
A truly inspiring night, didn't want it to end. here's to next year and our own table.
key spotted slebs: sarah harding, ginger nicola, brandon flowers, the mighty boosh.
met/photo with: noel fielding, matt horne (adam ficek)
EYE SEX: freddie from skins. HOT
and of course all the presenters and winners.
Here is to tomorow night at the Big Gig, this time with son. arrrreeeeeba!
White Lies kicked off what was to be an epic NME week for me. This band are totally what i'm about..massive anthems, they really hit the nail on the head and get the audience (including slebs) in to the swing of things.
Comedian Mark Watson was the master of ceremonies this year and did a good enough job. From where i was standing, he kept the crowd focused as much as possible. tricky job for a bit of an unknown.
Further performances from Elbow, genius and teddy bear Guy Garvey looked like he had a good time. Franz ferdinand and la roux cover Blondie, Call me. Like sprinkles of sugar on my ears and eyes, very sweet indeed. Friendly Fires put on a floor stopping performance with brazillians, dancers not trims, and stealing a lot of the glory. that is apart from the unforgetable, historical, unbelievable, heart stopping, performance from coxon and damon albarn.
You could feel the whole room gulping and trying to find their missing heart beats when these fine princes were on stage. incredible.
Other fantastic performances from Glasvegas with Florence covering Suspicious minds.
Of course the performance of the night went to God like Geniuses, The Cure. Another world stoping performance, i love this band. they are so bloody wonderfully pretty. looking the part with the make up, voice and attire, Robert and the clang blew the place away.
A truly unforgetable night. An amazing set of an enchanted forest, free beer, one-off ridiculously good performances, lots of awards going to the well deserved winners. Oasis best band, Peter best male, MGMT best newbies...all spot on in my eyes. and it's not often I agree with the outcomes, but this year NME have done themselves proud.
A truly inspiring night, didn't want it to end. here's to next year and our own table.
key spotted slebs: sarah harding, ginger nicola, brandon flowers, the mighty boosh.
met/photo with: noel fielding, matt horne (adam ficek)
EYE SEX: freddie from skins. HOT
and of course all the presenters and winners.
Here is to tomorow night at the Big Gig, this time with son. arrrreeeeeba!
Monday, 23 February 2009
Peter Doherty @ Shepherd’s Bush 22nd Feb 09
A dapper looking Pete with a sprinkling of ‘shambles (Adam and Drew) a legend (Coxon) and a master puppeteer (Stephen Street) rocked in to the Bush last night for what I can only describe as an untouchable performance. Tight tight tight is what I can say about it all. Not much banter from Pete, the usual annoying fans who I can only imagine were expecting to see a Babyshambles show (“uh uh ohhhh... please go away”) have a feeling most didn’t read the small print as from where I was standing Libertines tracks got a louder cheer than the rest. But hey ho, guess that’s always going to happen. Was grateful that no one tried to get up on the stage, from what I saw anyway. And not much crowd surfing, I don’t think. Mind you the tracks have a somewhat calming feel to them so keep the adrenalin down and the boisterous behaviour to a minimal. That is until What a Waster and Time for Heroes are played. Crowd went crazy, deservedly.
Beautiful opening, acoustic Music When the Lights Go Out (well done Jim for not crying) Last of the English Roses A heart skipping moment. Wish son had been there to share the experience. Sheepskin Tearaway is probably my least favourite on the album but Dot Allison proved her worth and put in a luxurious performance. I didn’t realise I was stood next to her in the audience. As I’m sure the bouncers didn’t realise it was Dot they kept telling to stand that side of the white line and flashing a torch every 10 minutes. Quite amusing. Sweet By and By and Through the Looking Glass got to be my favs.
Just looking forward to the album release. A lot.
Full set list:
'Music When The Lights Go Out' - 'Arcadie' - 'Last Of The English Roses' - '1939 Returning' - 'A Little Death Around The Eyes' - 'Salome' - 'Through The Looking Glass' -'Palace Of Bone' - 'What A Waster' - 'Never Never' - 'The Lost Art Of Murder' - 'I Am The Rain' - 'Sheepskin Tearaway' - 'Lady Don't Fall Backwards' - 'Sweet By And By' - 'New Love Grows On Trees' - 'Broken Love Song' - 'Albion' – Encore: 'Time For Heroes'
It was an absolute belter of a show. Great venue, great lighting, great sound, great company. I guess it has set the tone for the rest of the tour. I always get blown away by bands/artists I like, they always seem to meet my high standards, not often do they exceed at this level though. Something really very sweet about it, a kind of middle finger stuck up at all the critics, who seem to be coming out the wood work and supporting the album and solo tour which is great, nonetheless I’m sure they are waiting for the first stumble. Really wasn’t expecting the album in its entirety, a pleasant and welcomed surprise. You don’t even get that from the best of the best these days.
The three-piece strings polished the performance off and added a real sense of sophistication. A very much dissimilar Doherty performance. In summary, throw everything you would not expect from a PD show in to a mixing bowl and last night is what results. Perfect.
Beautiful opening, acoustic Music When the Lights Go Out (well done Jim for not crying) Last of the English Roses A heart skipping moment. Wish son had been there to share the experience. Sheepskin Tearaway is probably my least favourite on the album but Dot Allison proved her worth and put in a luxurious performance. I didn’t realise I was stood next to her in the audience. As I’m sure the bouncers didn’t realise it was Dot they kept telling to stand that side of the white line and flashing a torch every 10 minutes. Quite amusing. Sweet By and By and Through the Looking Glass got to be my favs.
Just looking forward to the album release. A lot.
Full set list:
'Music When The Lights Go Out' - 'Arcadie' - 'Last Of The English Roses' - '1939 Returning' - 'A Little Death Around The Eyes' - 'Salome' - 'Through The Looking Glass' -'Palace Of Bone' - 'What A Waster' - 'Never Never' - 'The Lost Art Of Murder' - 'I Am The Rain' - 'Sheepskin Tearaway' - 'Lady Don't Fall Backwards' - 'Sweet By And By' - 'New Love Grows On Trees' - 'Broken Love Song' - 'Albion' – Encore: 'Time For Heroes'
It was an absolute belter of a show. Great venue, great lighting, great sound, great company. I guess it has set the tone for the rest of the tour. I always get blown away by bands/artists I like, they always seem to meet my high standards, not often do they exceed at this level though. Something really very sweet about it, a kind of middle finger stuck up at all the critics, who seem to be coming out the wood work and supporting the album and solo tour which is great, nonetheless I’m sure they are waiting for the first stumble. Really wasn’t expecting the album in its entirety, a pleasant and welcomed surprise. You don’t even get that from the best of the best these days.
The three-piece strings polished the performance off and added a real sense of sophistication. A very much dissimilar Doherty performance. In summary, throw everything you would not expect from a PD show in to a mixing bowl and last night is what results. Perfect.
Roses Kings Castles @ The Monarch 6th Feb 09
A sweet, soulful, mellow start to a Friday night. There to support bossman Adam and also introduce a few friends to the music, with them having not heard it before feedback was good. Was always going to be a challenge writing a review on RKC as I can only say positive things, can’t I? Well I’ll be honest - it was actually really very good. Apart from the usual conversational crowd causing some annoyance, more so to me than Adam, but we were in Camden after all. And it was a Friday night, so to be expected, no?
The few tracks were well received and there was quite a crowd there. Usual followers which is always nice to see. Good to get new faces in the crowd though and open them up to the world of Roses. No opportunity to sell any merch but the night wasn’t really appropriate for any of that jazz. Can only be about continuing to go onwards and upwards....
Nice little interval with Luke Kooks too...
The few tracks were well received and there was quite a crowd there. Usual followers which is always nice to see. Good to get new faces in the crowd though and open them up to the world of Roses. No opportunity to sell any merch but the night wasn’t really appropriate for any of that jazz. Can only be about continuing to go onwards and upwards....
Nice little interval with Luke Kooks too...
VV Brown and The Maccabees @ Matter 20th Feb 09
Ok. I was drunk, I don’t remember the detail but I remember the feelings...
V V Brown made me feel happy and girly and a bit doopy doo betty boop thing. It’s all a bit 1960’s and a bit Monster Mash but I liked it. Great style and hair but can’t help but think it’s all a bit thought out and planned by the big people upstairs. Still, nice little performance for here and now. Can’t imagine she will be around for years to come and might struggle with the whole second album thing.
Talking about second albums...The Maccabees..they’re promoting it right now. And well done to them.
I can only say good stuff about the 5 piece suite of perfection, it’s my duty, but it’s also very true. They pulled in some cRaZy fan-kids, the band stopping every so often to encourage everyone to take a step back (never gunna happen) but the cause was there. We watched from afar, on a balcony. It was nice to have a bird’s eye view for a change. About the music though. The new stuff sounds great...will need to listen a bit more to get a real feel for it but I know we are on to a winner here. NO Kind Words seems to be going down a storm, there’s been quite a bit of buzz around it. To be expected really since it’s been two (?) years since Colour It In was released. Can’t wait to hear more and see them on the road. Shit, did I actually just say that. What a knob. Oh well, “You better Watch Out” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H_OhCUTyKY&feature=PlayList&p=19261D1AC69978C0&playnext=1&index=33
V V Brown made me feel happy and girly and a bit doopy doo betty boop thing. It’s all a bit 1960’s and a bit Monster Mash but I liked it. Great style and hair but can’t help but think it’s all a bit thought out and planned by the big people upstairs. Still, nice little performance for here and now. Can’t imagine she will be around for years to come and might struggle with the whole second album thing.
Talking about second albums...The Maccabees..they’re promoting it right now. And well done to them.
I can only say good stuff about the 5 piece suite of perfection, it’s my duty, but it’s also very true. They pulled in some cRaZy fan-kids, the band stopping every so often to encourage everyone to take a step back (never gunna happen) but the cause was there. We watched from afar, on a balcony. It was nice to have a bird’s eye view for a change. About the music though. The new stuff sounds great...will need to listen a bit more to get a real feel for it but I know we are on to a winner here. NO Kind Words seems to be going down a storm, there’s been quite a bit of buzz around it. To be expected really since it’s been two (?) years since Colour It In was released. Can’t wait to hear more and see them on the road. Shit, did I actually just say that. What a knob. Oh well, “You better Watch Out” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H_OhCUTyKY&feature=PlayList&p=19261D1AC69978C0&playnext=1&index=33
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