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!

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.

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...

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