- Live Reviews
In the 1970s Leo Sayer sung about a One-Man Band, conjuring up images of a ramshackle performer simultaneously playing multiple instruments. Will Doyle, aka East India Youth, is the one-man band of the current age, but gone is the adjective ramshackle, replaced with sublime.
Will's performance creates an unsurpassable soundscape through his mastery of keyboard, computer, guitar and endless looping, all complemented with his striking vocal, but the electronic wizadry is not a substitute for lazy application; on the contrary Will Doyle actively produces a high-energy show tonight, showcasing all that is good on his recently released Total Strife Forever album.
The set nicely dovetails the tunes from the album with poignant lyrics like Dripping Down, Looking For Someone and Heaven How Long with mind-boggling near-orchestral extensions. The more I listen to the album it is these very instrumental tracks that reveal greater depths and show why this album has received such high acclaim.
As a one-man performer Will Doyle carries the show superbly. The fact is he does not need to pile all this pressure on himself. He could take the easier route by delivering these songs through fronting a band (he has a track record of this in his previous Doyle & The Fourfathers persona). Instead East India Youth creates a focal point for these brilliantly crafted tunes, delivered with tempo and energy of the highest grade.
Si & Sally
- Live Reviews
We were treated to an awesome gig from Mogwai on Friday night; it was just wonderful to be immersed in their world and wall of sound. Loud for the Royal Festival Hall but, not loud for a Mogwai gig, my earplugs were unused on this occasion. Harmonies of guitars, keyboards, some evolving and drifting meant that there was never a dull moment.
The new record Rave Tapes actually features songs with vocals (through vocoders) as did the gig from Stuart Braithwaite and violinist Luke Sutherland. The vocals seemed like an additional instrument, added to a slow heavy rock beat on bass and drums, that gave the band yet another edge,
Mogwai played five songs from their new album which was released a few days before on CD, Vinyl and cassette and I am sure will be a contender for my top ten list at the end of the year.
You can catch the video of The Lord is Out of Control HERE
More pics of the gig HERE
Set List
- Live Reviews
Girl Band – Old Blue Last 22 Jan 2014
It's a busy Thursday night in London for our 2014 1st trip. One buzz word and we cannot help ourselves, GIRL BAND are hailed to be the exciting next big thing!!
The Post-Punk outfit are receiving a fair amount of airplay and rave reviews for their single 'Lawman' - and the limited vinyl in a printed bag is a treasure to own! (Note plays at 33rpm)
It's one in, one out on the door for this FREE gig and the air is buzzing. The band take to the tiny Old Blue Last stage at 10.15 it's not going to be a long set as the band all have the list written on the back of their hands!
A mix of Pixies with Mark E Smith style insistent vocals but the heartbeat bass, clean drums and tight guitar throughout make this band a very exciting one to watch. It's loud and hectic and the set including closer Cha Cha Cha (all 20 Secs of it!) was a blast of fresh air. There will be carnage in a tent in Reading come this August!!!
- Live Reviews
First class gig in Swansea last night. Peter Bruntnell, Neil Halstead and Danny George Wilson (who works in a tattoo shop, when not being a musician he told us).
A master class of songwriters indeed.. Sitting left to right, Neil, Peter, Danny, each taking turn to perform songs individually from their various Lps. Never truly solo, as the harmonies where in CSN (Crosby Stills & Nash) territory and when one was singing, guitar, harmonica and percussion was provided by the other two.
The Chattery is also unique, a coffee shop / restaurant, open for breakfast and lunch, it stays open in the evening of a gig. So a 7.30 arrival seen us ordering a home cooked meal and fine bottles of ale (£3.50 - London take note!).
The first set was an hour after which, cheese & french bread was handed out at half time to all who wanted it. A further 75 minute set was superb. Only four dates on this week long tour, friendships certainly seemed to have been struck and much merriment obtained from spending a week being ferried across the country in Peter Bruntnell's Jag (Rover, that felt like a Jag).
The show was full collection of of songs, as the guy's dug deep into their musical careers. The final song, sung as a collective, was a sublimely sweet John Prine cover as the gig drew to a close at 11.45pm.
This is what at great gig is all about; songcraft, collaboration, friendship, a cosy venue and fine musicians. we hope to be back at the Chattery before too long.
Pete
Chris Mills & the Distant Stars play at The Chattery on Saturday 22nd February. Tickets are available on: 01792 473276
- Live Reviews
The small Derbyshire town of Belper does not usually appear in a list of great music venues of Britain. However looking at the signed posters from a variety of acoustic/ folk musicians on display in the lovely little room above The Queen’s Head it’s clear it punches well above its weight.
A small, but enthusiastic crowd are gathered to see twice nominated BBC Folk Awards duo Gilmore & Roberts consisting of Katriona Gilmore on vocals, fiddle and mandolin, and Jamie Roberts on vocals and amazing lap-tapping acoustic guitar which cleverly combines strumming guitar melodies and accompanying rhythm section by striking the guitar’s sound box mid-strum.
Todate they’ve recorded three albums of story-telling songs with strong melodies and beautiful playing. Opening tonight with ‘The Stealing Arm’ described by Jamie about “an arm transplant, which goes horribly wrong”. Katriona sings about her sat nav! “. You find your way by satellite. So take me home …Silver Screen”. Jamie’s song about an irregular customer in the Subway he worked at during his student days ‘Louis was a Boxer’. “…He took a blow too many and now he’s lost his mind, ‘cos Louis was a boxer … in his prime”.
To provide some variety there’s a jazzy-influenced instrumental and a cover of their favourite Christmas song from the Albert Finney film “Scrooge”
The majority of tonight’s set is from ‘The Innocent Left’ (2012)and the main set closes with the first track from that album about the doomed ‘Scarecrow’, “ … he fails at the only thing he knows. Scaring crows”. The eerie main fiddle melody of which could be the dance tune of choice for the pagan parade from ‘The Wicker Man’ as they propel Edward Woodward through the streets of Summerisle to his flaming conclusion; it’s that creepy.
The encore is a beautiful slowed down of Alice Cooper’s ‘Poison’ their version is accompanied by guitar and mandolin rather than a boa constrictor and guillotine.
A 4th album is promised for 2014 and they tour regularly; both should be on anyone’s wanted list for 2014.
Alisdair Whyte
- Live Reviews
It's the 3rd of December, but as far as I am concerned, Christmas has come early. This is the second tour of 2013 for Bristol's Blue Aeroplanes, which in itself hasn't happened for many years, and Nottingham is the first date of it. Entitled the Singles Tour, the Aeroplanes are playing songs they have released as singles or EPs over the years, along with a few promised new tracks. This was much anticipated by this reviewer.
Over the years, the band have been a constantly changing line up of musicians based around chief Aeroplane, vocalist and poet Gerard Langley, and this current band has the renewed vibrancy and energy of Swagger era in the 90's, primarily due to talented guitarists Bec, Mike and Gerard Starkie (they have always been fantastically guitar heavy). Sadly, dancer Wojtek (yes, dancer) was absent tonight, due to family commitments, however how he would have got on with the tiny stage space is anyone's guess.
So with a 10pm curfew (Brudenell, take note), on they came at 8.30 and launched into first released single Action Painting, followed by Broken and Mended, itself often used to open the set.."hi. How are you? How's it going? You look happy, you look glowing.." Great start.
The hundred or so crowd were warming up, and Jacket Hangs, from album Swagger, an ever present in Aeroplanes gigs, brought the loudest reaction so far, until at least And Stones was played. This is the nearest to a dance track the Aeroplanes have ever released, and got some of us middle aged men swaying at least.
New track, I think fantastically called "Walking Under Ladders for A Living" sounded fantastic and bodes well for promised 2014 new album which Gerard himself admits is half written.
- Live Reviews
Let me start by saying that I love Laura Veirs.....I have looked forward to her new albums ever since 'Troubled By the Fire' was released, and have loved every release since. That said, for various reasons, this was to be my first time seeing her live, so I headed down to Sheffield with great anticipation. I'd also never been to The Plug before.......and won't be returning. Let me explain...
The only description for the Plug is a warehouse... and a freezing cold one at that. I assume it's packed to the rafters on Friday and Saturday nights with students raving or whatever they do nowadays, and everyone's having a great time. So the venue could not be further removed for an American off - kilter folk band midweek in November. The stage is crammed into one quarter of the space, with a couple of hundred mainly bearded types, including me, with our coats on, squeezed between stage and mixing desk, the vastness of its size suggesting it was bought second hand from Muse's last arena tour.
Despite its size, this couldn't prevent Laura's mic being barely audible for the first 30 seconds of opener Sun Song from the fabulous and latest album Warp & Weft. So then, as if to overcompensate, her mic went into shouting mode....great start.
The set was divided approximately 50:50 between acoustic and electric driven songs, the latter mainly when the new songs were played, and Laura's banter and chatter with the crowd was engaging (asking what Sheffield was famous for, the answer came back as steel and Henderson's Relish). Shapeshifter, from the new album was inspired by murmurations of starlings she had witnessed on previous visits to the UK, and July Flame is named after a variety of peach. Both were highlights for me as the sound balance was sorting itself out.
The fabulous 'America and White Cherry' closed the set, with Laura thanking the crowd for coming out and sympathising that we had probably all got work in the morning.....if we thawed out by then anyway.
So in summary, my first live experience of Laura was a disappointment, not of the bands doing, but by venue choice....I still love Laura Veirs, but how about the Brudenell next tour, or even better, the Tipi tent at the End of the Road Festival.
Keith
- Live Reviews
This was like an all American blue collar Smokey venue (if you could still smoke indoors) type gig and impressive it was too!
A cold damp Tuesday school night is, just the night to be whisked away to a seemingly virtual
Caveman are a very solid band led by an exuberant and crowd engaging lead singer, Matthew Iwanusa. They got a decent length set to entertain us with a rocky
The venue was around a third full I suppose and centred on the stage for the arrival of Matthew Houck and six piece band otherwise known as Phosphorescent. Whether solo or with Band, Matthew Houck has honed the ‘Phosphorescent’ name into something meaning thoughtful modern day
Nod’s back to the past, Reasons to Quit from ‘To Willie’, and a solo ‘Wolves from Pride, the set generally borrowed from the past two records, 2010’s Here’s to taking it Easy’ and this year’s ‘Muchacho.
The band is now so well gelled together musically that, they will need to be surgically separated once Matthew is back in solo Phosphorescent mode. Songs that where pure country, to
The surprise once we were outside the venue was that, we were in
Pete
- Live Reviews
In 1992 The Wedding Present staked their minor claim in musical history by releasing 12 singles in the
As the O2 in Leicester is part of the university, expectations for tonight’s crowd was a mix of students and 40-50 year olds in faded band T-shirts; but it’s clear upon entering the room the academics of Leicester largely can’t be bothered with music written before they were born so it’s left to the more experienced gig goers to enjoy the performance.
Opening the show is Taffy from
As the lights dim the creeping synth and throbbing bass line of ‘Interstate 5‘ starts up, the main man in black David Gedge and the current line-up of Patrick Alexander (guitar), Katharine Wallinger (bass) and Charles Layton (drums) in The Wedding Present‘s revolving door of supporting musicians (
- Live Reviews
Folk Supergroup; two words which when wedded together would rightly cause most people to turn the page or its more modern electronic equivalent; wait! Read on and I’ll attempt to explain what The Full English is all about.
The golden age of collecting traditional songs from the British Isles was at the start of the 20th Century; Cecil Sharp, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Percy Grainger and others travelled widely to record the history and stories of ordinary
Their collections of notebooks, musical scores and other documents have been available to study in Cecil Sharp House in
The Full English are seven of folks finest brought together by Fay to turn a small selection of the archive into an album and a touring band.
- Live Reviews
An excellent ‘4AD’ concert at the Cambridge Junction last Saturday.
First up was ‘Indians’ aka, Søren Løkke Juul. Now solo after working with other Danish bands most notably Other Lives, he has now found a niche as an electronic solo artist. A quite lengthy set really kept the audience engaged with a variation of songs and ‘Jonsi’ like pitched vocals. A new album (Somewhere Else) is well worth checking out.
Daughter was the band we had all come to see and a sold out show it was as well. Having caught a glimpse of the band at The End of the Road festival in the summer, it was eye opening to witness the full power, charm and subtlety of the band for a full hour plus set.
- Live Reviews
As the evenings draw in, dim the lights, and turn on the Lanterns on the Lake….
The solo voice of Hazel Wilde starts the night, followed by her keyboards, then Sarah Kemp’s violin, followed by Paul Gregory’s guitar, also played with a violin bow. Beautiful…and then like a folkrock Mogwai, they crash into a much darker end, building to a crescendo with Adam sawing away with his bow, then attacking the drum kit…at times up to 4 people hit the drums…it’s a schizophrenic performance, plaintive and wild, polished and raw. It conjures up coastal images from their native Newcastle, sounds echoing in the mist, seas gentle then storm-lashed, tides turning…Ships in the Rain is a song title that sums up much of their mood.
Many of the songs are from new album Until the Colours Run. It’s similar to their first, Gracious Tide, Take Me Home, but there have been some line-up changes, and the sound is perhaps darker, more orchestral. Last year at a festival they seemed a bit ‘light’ to me, tonight it’s much stronger. They now get played on Radio 4 as well as 6 Music, so they must be moving in the right direction.
The well-deserved encore also starts solo, then everyone joins in on the new album’s title track, and they all go wild for I Love You Sleepy Head from the first one.
Local support the Holden Girls showed promise if they develop beyond the obvious Joy Division influences. They really need a dark subterranean club at midnight to play in. Their EP is good though.
On a related topic, this is the second seated gig I have been to in a week. OK, as I approach middle age it can be nice to rest the body after a hard day punching keys and writing stuff – but most of our entertainment these days is experienced in a seated position. Gigs should be different, with a live interaction between the bands and audience. It is really hard for bands to drum up an atmosphere in places like theatres. Bring back the Bill Haley Teds, and rip up those seats! Discuss…
@KevinHand3