- Live Reviews
On their last visit to Cambridge The Staves played the Portland Arms to around 100 people with scarfs wrapped around the mic stands as they delivered their sweet acoustic harmonies. Fast forward to, February 2015. A seven fold increase in the audience numbers, a six piece band and let's move venues to the Cambridge Junction.
The Staves have now matured into a very cosmopolitan, confident and professional band (a substantial touring schedule across the planet has no doubt helped) and one that you would not be surprised to find appearing on the cover of some up-market magazines any time soon.
The majority of songs from the new album were played last night containing a much more expansive sound than before; there is even a rockier edge to some of the material. Recorded with long-time friend Justin Vernon of Bon Iver at his April Base Studio in Wisconsin the songs are widescreen and mesmerising.
This was a very engaging set where everybody was soon put at ease, with the stage / crowd banter ("50 Staves of Grey") and with so many songs being new and unreleased; it soon becomes an intimate show when we are told that the only audience for these songs before this tour was their Mum & Dad!
Last night of the current tour, all three sisters Jessica, Emily and Camilla remain happy, humble and with their feet very much on the ground which is very admirable, as they will be going far in this musical world of ours!
Pete
New Album 'If I Was' is released on 23rd March
Set List
Blood I Bled
Steady
Open
Mexico
Horizons
Black And White
No Me No You No More
Let Me Down
Pay Us No Mind
Eagle Song
Make It Holy
Don't You Call Me
Teeth White
Winter Trees
Encore:
Facing West
Wisely & Slow
- Live Reviews
It was nearly two years to the day since Walk The Moon last headlined a show in London. Their 2013 show at the Scala was one of my gigs of the year so I was surprised to see them heading to (the much smaller) Dome in Tuffnell Park this time around. Still, a 500 strong crowd welcomed them with open arms as they took the stage.
Whilst the music they produce will never be ground-breaking, think The Killers on speed, they are always Fun with a capital F. With their second album, Talking Is Hard, coming out in May this show showcased their new catchy tunes that had a lot of the women around me doing their well-polished shimmy, which they have been practising for the past couple of years.
A lot of these songs, including new single Shut Up And Dance For Me, were very similar to the sound of their self-titled debut, however they do exactly what you want them to do. Get your foot tapping, and heading nodding. An hour and 20 minutes later, including an unnecessary Killers cover in my eyes, they had the room in the palm of the metaphorical band hand playing a good mix of new and fan favourite, old tracks.
If you're not a fan of synth indie pop, these guys won't be for you, but if want a bit of fun with your funky guitar riffs I can whole heartedly recommend you check them out.
Gig of the year, so far....
Joe
@thejoeeley
- Live Reviews
Sometimes in life you stumble across musical nuggets you don’t expect too like a Simple, genuine, upcoming singer songwriter. Tom Copson who is currently supporting the Rockgrass Gods Hayseed Dixie at the moment which because we turned up early to the gig, we were rewarded.
Almost apologetically slipping onto the quirky Brooklyn Bowl stage Tom Copson launched into a beautifully thoughtful version of the classic Heart of Gold. A clever move as it turns out as Hayseed Dixie crowds, used to alternative covers, are instantly appreciative of the musicianship and soulful effort. Only to be followed up with a killer acoustic version of Word Up that has everyone’s full attention.
Armed with nothing more than a guitar and longtime friend, and excellent percussionist, Peter Robbins playing Cajon Box, cymbal and homemade maracas, they are simply a fascinating act. After the warm-up covers Tom engages the attentive crowd with stories of world travels and girlfriend travails whilst playing some original tracks that clearly evidence a very accomplished singer/songwriter that as the set progresses has the swelling crowd raptured and entertained.
The final coup de grace being the announcement that they would be auditioning a bassist to close the set, only to bring out Hayseeds own Brother Jake to the first gig wide cheer of the night. Anyone that appreciates the quiet storytelling journeyman musician rebooted for 2015 audiences then this is for you, think James Taylor with an Oyster card.
An inspired addition to the Hayseed tour that I cannot recommend highly enough. Tom’s album Woven is available to buy from him at the shows and is certainly worth a few extra quid on the night, as it comes with the opportunity to speak to the self-effacing man himself.
Iain @docswallow
Set List:
Heart of Gold
Word Up
Hand Holding
Moments
Empty Can
Kiss
Cloud Not a Star
Afraid To Fall
Brave Man
- Live Reviews
A close to capacity crowd had made its way to the Brudenell on Wednesday in anticipation of some noisy rock and roll from Ex Hex, and we were not to be disappointed.
One member of the audience was Mr Steve “Lammo” Lamacq himself, who told me he had travelled up from London specifically to see the band.
Irish 5 piece Princess opened the night, and the music they produced belied their age and appearance. With the lead singer a spit for Harry Stiles, and the female guitarist looking about 13, they produced a tight, very assured Krautrock, Shoegaze 6 song set. One to watch this year for me.
Then it was time for the 3 Washington D.C girls that comprise Ex Hex to take the stage ; Mary Timony, Betsy Wright and Laura Harris.
They kicked off with Waterfall from Rips, their only album so far, (although they are already veterans of different bands between band, Mary was very recently part of Wild Flag with Carrie Brownstein, Rebecca Cole and Janet Weiss) then quickly went into 6 Music playlist favourite Don’t Wanna Lose which warmed the crowd up nicely.
Beast was just that - massively elongated from the album version by an electric guitar solo and even some bass/guitar duelling. The noise they were getting out of just guitar, bass and drums was huge, and the shapes they were throwing around the stage were good old retro 70’s style - feet on the monitors, back to back guitar playing and even some head banging.
With only a 11 track album to chose from, the band then played some tracks from a Boston band called The Real Kids. I’m not sure any of us present knew these next few songs, but it didn’t detract from the gig and the atmosphere as it was more of the same - ballsy, shambolic rock and roll.
The rest of the set was more from Rips, until the appropriately titled Outro ended the night ; just over an (exhilarating) hour on stage, and we were all done. Good old, no-nonsense rock and roll. We loved it.
Keith @kjsmith4082
- Live Reviews
Testify People, Testify!
A Hayseed Dixie gig is a quirky mix of Rockgrass party, political rally and a good ole Southern preacher’s call to arms.
Right from the off this was a wonderful celebration of all that is the Hayseed Dixie ethos of drinking, preaching and wonderfully eccentric hillbilly versions of rock classics. For the best part of two hours these 4 acoustic maestros blasted through rock standards playing nothing more than guitar, bass, banjo and mandolin. The venue was inspired too, the reasonably new Brooklyn Bowl at the O2 added to the ambiance with the band competing with waitresses delivering chicken and ribs, and the crescendo of 12 pin strikes.
The set is spiced with fans favorites from AC/DC, Black Sabbath. Queen, Motorhead and Eagles all served in the Rockrass style. Lead singer John Wheeler aka Barley Scotch taking time out time out between songs to praise the NHS, rue the traffic on the Dartford Crossing and confess that the secret to Rockgrass is "ethnomusicality on a metaphysical level". Second half of the set saw some genre crossing mashups amongst even more crowd pleasing standards. Hotel California remixed with Whams Careless Whisper and even some Britney and Abba for good measure.
Don’t take these guys for fools though, they are absolute consummate musicians, the obligatory dueling banjo’s turned into a four way battle of banjo, guitar, bass and mandolin that was fast powerful and spot on the money. There was even time for a few classical numbers and some euro faves sung in the original Deutsch.
I can only recommend that, dear reader, you find the time to see this band of desperado’s as they continue to tour the UK and on into Europe. You won’t regret it, not even the face ache you get from grinning through a two hour set.
Iain @docswallow
Set List
Hells Bells
Kirby Hill
You Shook Me All Night Long
War/War Pigs
Tolerance
Eye of the Tiger
Don’t Stop Believing
In The Backyard
Ace of Spades
Trinkmusik
Bohemian Rhapsody/ Paranoid
Schnapps
We’re Not Gonna Take It
Corn Liquor
She Was Skinny When I Met Her
Fat Bottomed Girls
Pour Some Sugar on Me
I’m Keeping Your Poop
Moonshiners Daughter
Merch Selling Song
Highway to Hell
Careless Hotel Whisper Rider
Full Euro dates are on the band's website
- Live Reviews
A freezing cold, wet winter night at the Brudenell in the middle of Studentville, Leeds was the host to this pair of Nashvillians armed with acoustic guitars and a pedal steel.
Although not officially a double-header gig, I got the feeling there were as many present looking forward to seeing the support of Andrew Combs as there were for Justin Townes Earle.
In support of new, fabulous album All These Dreams released on the equally fabulous Loose label, Andrew Combs strode onstage, top to toe in denim and confidently announced himself with a “Howdy”. ‘Month of Bad Habits’ opened the set, accompanying himself with acoustic guitar alone, as did the rest of the set. The half an hour truly sped by, mainly with songs off the new album, but also containing new song ‘Silk Flowers’.
The appreciative audience said goodbye and he then manned his own merch stall, where i got to say hello. He suggested he may be back towards the end of the year with a full band, which will truly do the new album justice.
After a quick break, It was then JTE’s turn onstage, accompanied by electric guitarist Paul, who also doubled as the pedal steel player. The tour is in support of his latest releases which comprises 2 albums released in close proximity : Single Mothers and Absent Fathers. Although mid way through the set he claimed his songs were not always autobiographical, it’s not difficult to work out the theme behind these two.
Again, the set seemed to speed along at an alarming rate, helped by the stories between songs which were a mixture of general chat (the worst place he’s ever lived was on the outskirts of Brooklyn), to explaining the background to songs (his apparent obsession with the weather as a theme). With Paul alternating between electric guitar and pedal steel, the absence of a full band was hardly noticed or missed, and the beautiful acoustic guitar picking took centre stage.
Another theme running through his songs, and set, was family. Another anecdote was told about his Mother who regularly cries when she hears one of his songs (Mama’s Eyes) aimed at his absent father Steve Earle. Hardly surprising considering the sentiment. His wife, grandfather and Billie Holliday were also sound checked throughout the evening, the latter before he played the gorgeous White Gardenias.
Worried About The weather from Single Mothers was a set highlight for me, I’m a sucker for pedal steel, and then Dreams and Harlem River Blues closed the night to a fabulous ovation.
Whilst JTE also revealed that he has never listened back to one of his albums after release for fear of producing the same again and again, I would suggest he has nothing to worry about. With these two releases, I would suggest he has finally reached his peak, and live and minimally played, the songs reveal themselves even more beautifully.
Keith @kjsmith4082
- Live Reviews
How many bands can you name from Switzerland? Well I beat you by a count of one, Deer Johnson are an acoustic guitar duo (Philip Deer and Thomas Johnson) from the land of cowbells and Toblerone.
The stage is set like a living room from a 1970's TV drama; there's a small occasional table between two chairs, on the table is a table lamp the base of which is curiously a wooden statue of a horned mammal (quite possibly a deer?)
I think they described their as yet unreleased songs as “ sad songs.... mainly about avalanches”. What they also are are beautiful harmonies between the two vocals, played on two acoustic guitars. Comparisons to Turin Brakes may be a bit obvious considering the set up but still valid. If you like your melodies beautifully played and sung, reminding you of a boozy afternoon with the sun on your back at some festival then Deer Johnson could well be for you.
Simple two part harmonies could not be a greater contrast to what comes next . For those unfamiliar with Moulettes they are a multi-instrumental, multi-member (albums credit about 20 co-collaborators of the Moulchestra ) performers of angular, string-dominant pop; who actually invite the audience during tonight's show to help them come up with a description of their sound so they have something to use in interviews (my own suggestions might be baroque-rock, orchestral pop, both of which were cruelly rejected or ignored by the band).
Tonight's version of the band is a five piece including Kate Young (of Kate in the Kettle and Carthy, Hardy, Farrell and Young) and Eliza Jaye who opened tonight's show with a short set of electric blues tunes. First track is the bright and cheery 'Sing Unto Me' from 'The Bear's Revenge', lead vocalist and demon cello player Hannah Miller's vocals chiming like church bells during the intro. Plenty of the complex, whirling folk of 2014 release 'Constellations' is played: the joyful single 'So It Goes', the multi-part, spooky vocals in the folk-prog (?) of 'The Observatory' as well as the title track with its jerky rhythms and choir-like vocals. A brand new track which features Hannah solo finger-clicking and playing an autoharp was inspired by the life of nematode worms!
Providing a moment of contrast is the relatively sparse and beautiful 'Songbird' consisting of just a vocal and guitar, then 'Glorious Year' which has just been released as a single with its breathy, swooping vocals and pulsing rhythm section . They finish with a rocking, stomping 'Requiem', the whole band attacking their instruments creating a triumphant finish.
A night of clever, complex yet still hummable, thrilling, totally original music.
Alisdair Whyte
- Live Reviews
So this was a night of firsts: first gig of 2015, first time at the new (fabulous) venue of Unity Works in Wakefield, and the first time seeing Kenny Anderson aka King Creosote.
The night of Scottish folk was kicked off with a guy called Sorren Maclean on acoustic guitar, joined by a fiddle and cello player. Five or six gorgeous songs followed, aided by the fabulous acoustics of this beautiful historic building. They took their enthusiastic applause from the all seated audience, before exiting stage right.
A short break followed, enough to buy Sorren’s new ep off the fiddle player and get a pint, and almost unnoticed, on shuffled Kenny with acoustic guitar on stage and started strumming. Polite applause for this solo start then subsided and the rest of the band entered the stage, swelling the numbers to 8.
Following introductions of the band members, the set started with a couple of tracks from 2014 album 'From Scotland With Love' : Something To Believe In, and Cargill, both sounding fantastic with the full scale band. After this, the first anecdote of the night was told, describing the meaning of the next track and describing how this followed his breaking of an ankle last year. The track is called A Great Believer in 3’s, which then goes straight into 6 Music playlist regular For One Night Only which finally gets this Monday night, seated audience warmed up (though sadly still not on their feet).
Mid set, the acoustic guitar gets swapped for the accordion and the band plays a couple of new songs. Apparently, the second track, called Kirby Grips, is messed up in the middle section, so they play it again, much to the bands amusement - they are clearly all having a great time.
Bats in the Attic from Diamond Mine with Jon Hopkins is up next (“one of our hits”) before the rest of the set is more songs from 'From Scotland With Love', including my favourite Largs.
Then comes the surprise of the night in the form of the first encore. Kenny announces that one of his heroes had sadly passed away today (Demis Roussos) and they were attempting to honour his memory by playing one of his most famous hits, Forever & Ever. And boy, do they do it justice. A beautiful folk style version of the song is followed by the first standing ovation of the night.
A fabulous song called Homeboy closes the night, and after the audience has swayed with arms around each other, another standing ovation is given.
In summary, this gig was many things; engaging (it seems all folk acts are always happy to talk away to the audience), high quality musicianship, great fun and very memorable. The rest of 2015 has a lot to live up to.
Keith @kjsmith4082
- Live Reviews
Diagrams are back with a brand new album, and hit London this week to debut songs from their latest record 'Chromatics'' at The Lexington. With support from the acoustic delights of Spectral Chorus (a band who have surely watched Inside Llewyn Davis, more than once) Diagrams hit the stage with an intense level of excitement and exuberance demonstrating all the qualities from the new album that is a strong contender for album of the month and one that should be there or thereabouts when those legendary 'Top Tens' are created in December.
The songs as vibrant live as they are always interesting to listen to on record had the added impetus of a DIY pyro live! As main man, Sam Genders explained his lust for a Flaming Lips style show in the future, he handed out balloons to everyone in the crowd with the strict instruction NOT to blow them up for another three songs, but there is always one who would. That one happened to be in our party, but thankfully resisted the urge to perform anything too drastic with his balloon before the appointed time. When we did eventually launch them all in to the air, it bought a fun turn to the show backing up the foot tapping, head nodding performance that was unfolding before us.
Don't be surprised to see them hitting the festival scene later in the year, and if you do come across them, make sure you check them out. Front runner for gig of the year already, despite this being my only show of the year so far, it was a night that nobody will forget in a hurry.
Joe @thejoeeley
Other dates:
11th Feb - France, Paris, Le Point Ephemere
12th Feb - France, Lille, La Paniche
13th Feb - Germany, Berlin, Comet Club
14th Feb - Germany, Hamburg, Molotow Club
25th Feb - Manchester, The Ruby Lounge
26th Feb - Bristol, The Lantern
4th Mar - Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
5th Mar - Hoxton Bar & Kitchen London
- Live Reviews
Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) and Grant Lee-Phillips (Grant Lee Buffalo) have been on the road together over the past few months and following on from their show at the Union Chapel in London last autumn; they turned up at the Portland Arms in Cambridge this week.
Leeds the night before, Paris the next day, Celtic Connections in Glasgow coming up, they are certainly putting the miles in, which is particularly impressive for Howe who lives in Tucson Arizona. "You only live in the desert if you want to do nothing" he tells us "but I seem to be working very hard to get home to do nothing at present"
I'm not really convinced Howe's heart was in the show last night (based on the last Giant Sand gig I saw at the Queen Elizabeth Hall a couple of years ago.) He seemed quite happy to have a chat, take questions in a very laconic style that did have everyone in fits of laughter most of the time.
He was most happy with the house lights up, as three or four songs made their way into the audience before Howe called Grant up on to the stage for a couple of duets before he had to leave to catch a train.
That left us in the company of Grant Lee-Phillips and did he shine! Looking exhausted, he took this gig my the scruff of its neck and delivered a blinding performance of songs from Grant Lee Buffalo days, his own solo back catalogue as well as a new song recorded at the end of last year. He took audience requests and got a truly well-deserved ovation at the end. He rewarded us with an encore of 'Bethlehem Steel'
Pete
Grant's Set:
Pale Blue Eyes (with Howe Gelb)
Always Get Lucky With You (with Howe Gelb)
It Ain't the Same Old Cold War Harry
Nightbirds
Mona Lisa
Stars n' Stripes
Calamity Jane
The Hook
Cry Cry
Strangest Thing
Jupiter and Teardrop
Buried Treasure
Denver Station
Walking in the Green Corn
Encore:
Bethlehem Steel
- Live Reviews
Sub Pop residence in Cambridge last night at the cosy Junction 2 venue. Kicking off the evening was Luluc (pronounced Loo-Luke). Two Australians who apparently, split their time between Melbourne and their adopted hometown of Brooklyn found themselves in Cambridge on a cold blustery Thursday evening.. Twin acoustic and electric guitars, sweet harmonies and songs. A gentle introduction to the evening ahead.
Dinosaur Jr and all round legend J. Mascis is our reason for being here tonight. A couple of electro-acoustic guitars, pick-ups, pedals, loops and one hour, twenty minutes of solid music with just the occasional "hi" and "thanks". No stories of decades on the road tonight.
J. is seated in front on a music stand with an amp to the side. The man himself is on at 9pm. sits himself down, plugs in, turns the amp up to ten and away we go!
The new album 'Tied to a Star' takes the lion's share of the set and there are no complaints from me for that but there is plenty of selection and he does dip his toes into the Dino Jr world as well. Only pausing to tune a guitar, this really is a brilliant in your face non-stop grunge-a-thon.
I did find myself thinking though, both gigs so far this year (Nils Lofgren was the other one) and I have been seeing this for a long time, it's where artists basically, play or sing something, record it and then play over the top of it live.
A great moment last night when J strummed the guitar, then stopped playing to have a drink but the guitar was still playing through the speakers. J then played and sung over top of the base musical layer. Many artists do that now, a sign of the economics of the road? It's all fine but and certainly at this gig the sound that J. was able to get out of all the effects around him was amazing. Just not sure I am 100 percent comfortable with it in all cases.
So no gentle acoustics here, this was beautifully raw set from an old warrior … long may he continue!
Pete
- Live Reviews
Tucked away under the railway arches opposite Manchester's Oxford Road railway station is Gorilla; despite the name there's no sign of the large primates inside or even a jungle theme. What we get instead is a wide stage (always the best for views) with a wall of electrical switch boxes, all gauges and on/off lights behind the band.
If those gauges and lights were still connected they would have flicked on the second The New Pornographers take to the stage , they start as does the most recent album, with 'Brill Bruisers',“.. Bo, baa, ba, ba ,boo, “ six of the seven members of the Canadian (mostly) supergroup contributing to a huge wall of vocals, including for the first time in the UK with the Pornographers secondary songwriter Dan Bejar “this guy usually stays at home concentrating on his poetry” according to Carl Newman who writes the majority of The New Pornographers' tunes.
Dan appears and disappears from the stage as and when his vocals are required so we get a lot of his tracks tonight, 'Myriad Harbour' from 'Challengers', 'War on the East Coast' and 'Testament to Youth in Verse' with its huge sing along “ The bells ring no,no,no,no,no,...”.
'Dancehall Domine' from 'Brill Bruisers' the track you may have heard on 6 Music (a rare event) in the past couple of months appears to have enticed several punters out tonight. There's also a great version of 'Born with a Sound' from the same album with Kathryn Calder and Dan swapping vocal lines. The keyboard and electronic fills present on the new album are somewhat swamped by the guitar-heavy live band but that doesn't stop the newer tracks getting a positive reaction from the crowd.
As this is the first show of a short European tour the effects of jet lag are still evident, Carl recounts how he spent yesterday wandering around Manchester's city centre waiting for his hotel's check-in time .. “found Selfridges... nice store, got kicked out real quick..” They finish the main set with a rocking version of 'Mass Romantic' from their first album with Kathryn taking lead vocal, “Thanks for coming to a rock and roll show”.
Encores are 'Jackie' with Dan back on vocals and two tracks from 'Twin Cinema' (my personal favourite TNP album) , 'Sing Me Spanish Techno' and 'The Bleeding Heart Show'. If you could harness the energy of twenty two tracks of joyful, big chorus, sing along power pop delivered in seventy five minutes you would have really seen those gauges twitching with some serious wattage tonight.
Alisdair Whyte
