The concert review thread

[Darth Stujitzu]

So my fellow Mofo's how about a thread that lets you share your reviews of concerts you attend? As an avid concert goer, I thought I'd share my thoughts on recent concerts, so here goes.....

Franz Ferdinand

August 30th Princes' Gardens Edinburgh


Just back from a thoroughly enjoyable evening watching Franz Ferdinand give a preview to their new album, as well as belting out the big anthems from their debut album to a boysterous home crowd.
Firstly, the setting for the concert was amazing, some two hundred feet or so above the stage was the beautifully illuminated Edinburgh Castle, the fact that the stage was bang in the middle of Prince's gardens also added to a special setting for the boys to try out their new album.
The boys were given hero's welcome as they came on stage, and they didn't waste anytime in working the crowd into a frenzy, they opened with " Michael ", " Jacqueline " and " Take me out ", arguably three of the most popular songs from their debut album. The next half hour or so was dedicated solely to their new material, on first listening, I found it very similar to their last album, but without any real standout anthem. Of course, it's difficult to judge how good the new songs are, especially when you're about 6 feet away from a huge bank of speakers, and the enthusiasmn of the crowd is constantly jumping all around you. The new songs did have the same energy of the band's previous work, so I would imagine that there won't be too many dissapointed fans.
After this it was back to more familiar ground, as " Tell her Tonight ", " Auf achse " and " Come on home " were belted out and accompanied by the crowd.
After recieving a huge cheer of appreciation from the crowd, eventually the band came back on stage for a three song encore, finishing with " This fire ", and sending the masses home happy and maurauding along the streets of Edinburgh.
A fantastic night's entertainment, Franz Ferdinand were on top form, and on first inspection, the notorious difficult second album seems good if not outstanding. Again any artist that plays Edinburgh or Glasgow has to be good, not the most forgiving crowds on the planet, but if you hit the heights, there can't be many better crowds to play, uninhibited and up for it, the crowd always adds to the nights enjoyment.



Rating 4/5

[Darth Stujitzu]

U2

June 21st Hampden Stadium Glasgow




OK, so it was a few months ago, but we're talking about U2 here.

Hampden Stadium is not the greatest venue in Glasgow, but it's probably the only venue that can deal with the demand for a U2 concert in Glasgow.
The most dissapointing thing about the concert, was an expectant crowd ready to be geed up, being sadly let down by the support band Interpol, who came across mostly as white noise!
However, as soon as the intro music for the main event kicked in, and lights were suitably dimmed, you couldn't help but get caught up in the sheer excitement and electricity that one of the world's biggest band ultimately brings with it.
First up was " Vertigo ", a great choice to whip the crowd into a state of euphoria, from then on it's a little hazy, I know all the old favourites were there, " Sunday, bloody Sunday ", " Pride ", " New Year's Day ", " Beautiful Day ", " Elevation ", " With or without you ", " I still haven't found what I'm looking for " and so many others, with the one noted exception, my personal favourite " Mysterious Ways ". In between these classics, were the majority of the new album's songs, " Miracle Drug ", " City of blinding lights ", " All because of you ", " Crumbs from your table " and an emotional rendition of " Sometimes you can't make it on your own ".
A fantastic two and a bit hours were followed by a five song encore, finishing as it had all began with an encore performance of " Vertigo ".

In my opinion, life is all about experiences, and as an avid music lover, there can be few greater musical experiences than watching the world's greatest rock band play live. This is my second U2 concert, I last saw them at Murryfield Stadium in Edinburgh during the " Popmart " tour, and I have to admit, for me the " Popmart " tour was better, purely because it was a more energetic time in the band's performances. It's a minor quibble, I still loved every minute of the recent concert, and U2 have grown old musically, gracefully, and with style. I love the fact they always try to be different with every album, and perhaps this is why they are still as popular today, as when they hit the heights in the 80's.
U2 have always had a strong affinity with Glasgow, their " home from home " as quoted by the Edge, so it was no surprise the welcome they recieved before and after the gig. Hopefully they'll stick around a while longer so I can attend my hatrick concert, on current evidence, they still have much to offer.


Rating 5/5

[Darth Stujitzu]

Basement Jaxx

June 17th Barrowlands Glasgow


My main reason for this review, is to give the Barrowlands a mention.
Let me explain why, it's old and run down, but for sheer music history, nowhere else can compete with the famous hall. Everyone who is anyone has played at the " Barras "( local slang for the hall ).
I read a quote from Jimi Hendrix once saying it was one of the wildest places he ever played, high praise indeed.
The Barras is a special place, there is no where else in Scotland that comes close to the unique atmosphere created there, it is the best place to see a concert, you have to witness the stamping feet effect that accompanies every encore, it always sends a shudder down my spine. Yeah this is a little selfish of me, but I'm sure anyone who has had the privillege of attending a sell out concert there will be sympathetic.

Anyway, onto the concert itself. Basement Jaxx might not be everyone's cup of tea, but their grooves and beats combined with killer vocals are very infectious. A rowdy Friday night crowd turned up, waiting to be entertained, the band got straight to it by starting with the new single off their greatest hits album " Good Luck ".
What followed in the next hour was all their most recognisible hits;
" Romeo "
" Red Alert "
" Oh my Gosh "
" Bingo bango "
" Where's your head at "
" Rendez-vu "
" U don't know me "
" Do your thing "

By the end of their set, I was sweaty and knackered, but I had a huge grin on my face, and had been highly entertained.
Then, the slow steady rumble started, the stamping of feet, whistling, shouting, rythmic clapping got louder and louder until the band re-emerged on stage to do a three song encore finishing with the ever popular and energetic " Good Luck ".
Then, it was over, the blinding lights came on, a mist of sweat and perspiration clearly visible rising from the crowd, and 1500 happy punters made their way on to their next drinking den or boogie club.
A great concert by a band clearly using previous knowledge of the venue and crowd to full effect.


Rating 4/5 ( a sweaty 4 at that! )

[Piddzilla]

*ehrm* (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=10561)

[SpoOkY]

*ehrm* (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=10561)

yeah check out the concert tab man, there's been a bunch of posts in it lately too.

[Pyro Tramp]

Reading Festival (sunday)

Iron Maiden 5/5

The atmosphere was incredible, i was right at the VERY front in the mosh pit for all their 90 minute set, so i couldn't see the 1000s of people behind me and spend most the time trying to stay alive. They only played songs from their first 4 albums, so i didn't actually know most the songs. Bruce Dickinson, although old, knows how to hold a crowd, he was pretty damn active, jumping of the sets etc. Liked the props too, and the giant Eddy that came out was a laugh.


Marilyn Manson 5/5

OK, so maybe he's retired from music, whatever, he rocked. He came on a bit late, spent a fair bit of time preparing the set- which was pretty cool. He's certainly a performer, i'm not a great fan of his music, but he's soo much better live. His eccentric dresses and stilts were all fun. He played his best known tracks, which was cool to sing along too and his encore was far much better than Maiden.


more to come...

[Darth Stujitzu]

Sorry guys, ma bad! :eek:
I did a search for concerts, it came up blank. :confused:
Don't know what happened, can only apologise once again.
Maybe a moderator can merge this thread with that one?


Why is it under games tab, and not under tv and music?
All is clear now!

[Piddzilla]

Sorry guys, ma bad! :eek:
I did a search for concerts, it came up blank. :confused:
Don't know what happened, can only apologise once again.
Maybe a moderator can merge this thread with that one?


Why is it under games tab, and not under tv and music?
All is clear now!

No need for apologize. And it's in "Games, tabs and lists"... I thought it was proper for a tab. ;)

[Pyro Tramp]

No harm in having both is there? One for listing and one for reviewing.

[adidasss]

went to bologna ( italy people!) for the independent days festival, saw the editors: great drum section, awsome vocals, but htey lack on the song writing departement, very similar to interpol but interpol being wastly superior, maximo park: great frontman ( he has to be a nazi, i'm sure of it ;)) he and the keyboard player can really get the crowd going , massive energy in both of them, on the down side, the music is really not that hot, Social distorsion: not a fan of punk, at least in this form, way to slow and not agressive enough, kudos for performing for 20 or so years....,skin: she played some of the skunk anansie hits ( the highlights of her show ), her stuff isn't half bad, bud not so hot either, kudos for being the only black female rock artist ( that i know of anyway), queens of the stone age: josh homme is the coolest motherfuker on the planet, as soon as he came on the stage that was very clear, he is the king of cool and the queens are to become the biggest rock band in the world, awsome music, but unfortunately i only stayed for some half an hour, had to rush to see...the bravery: i was a bit worried they would suck seeing as how i saw them perform on conan o'brien and they sucked royaly, much to my surprise that was the highlight of the festival, they're awsome live.....

[Pyro Tramp]

Queens of the Stone Age? Bah, they're no Kyuss.

[adidasss]

is that josh's former band?

[Pyro Tramp]

Yuh, though he played guiter. If you like QOTSA, you should love Kyuss.

[adidasss]

well i dunno about that, one of the major reason for liking QOTSA is josh , his voice and his presence.....no josh as frontman..? well, i'll check them out.....

[Pyro Tramp]

You can get some free downloads from the link in my sig, though they're not songs i'd particularly reccomend. You should definetely check out Desert Sessions if you havn't already.

[Piddzilla]

Kyuss ruled.

[Blister]

Dragonforce - Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh 18th September

This gig was flat out amazing, the crowd had a great atmosphere, and the band was very interactive with the crowd and running about everywhere on the stage.

Support band 'Mendeed' who hail from Glasgow, were very good in my opinion. I heard an mp3 of them before the gig and didn't think much of it, but they sound 100 times better when they play live. They really got the crowd pumped up, and i got beat up in the pits. (lucky me). Their set was about 45-50 mins, which was long enough for me.

30 minutes later, Dragonforce came on. The crowd went mad, there wasn't a single person that wasn't cheering. Their set lasted about 90-100 minutes which i thought was great since i only paid £7 for my ticket. They also came out after the gig, and signed any merchandise for the fans. Since i didn't have any, i just got them to sign my ticket and that was good enough to me, also got a handshake from each member which was more than i was expecting.

All in All, this gig was great. Easily a 5/5.

[undercoverlover]

Yellowcard - Kings College London Wed 19th October

The night started off by the doors impressively NOT opening at 7:30 but at like 5 to 8 and it was absolutely tearing down with rain so we were drenched. Air conditioner on superblast so it was totally freezing in the venue. Opening act were the scots that rock, the Fratellis. Not bad at all actually, but they forgot the audience was there really-paying no attention to the crowd and they looked like they didnt really know what they were doing. They were like a fusion of the Libertines and the Zutons.
When Yellowcard finally arrived it got hectic, amazing atmosphere as they rocked the shizzle outta that place. Days later I was told that Yellowcard actually paid for the bar that night. I was stone cold sober cause I was too broke to get any drinks and nobody thought to mention the fact that they were sodding free! Anyway Yellowcard really rocked and the crowd went crazy for Only One and Ocean Avenue.

[Strummer521]

Steel Train & State Radio October 22

Steel Train took the stage and did their soundcheck while the audience was present which is unusual, but they save themselves with charm and humor. They threw me a curveball by launching into a song that could only be described as trance-punk and sounded nothing like the any of the songs availible for download on their website (which were mostly country rock). Every song was full of energy especially from the lead singer/lead guitarist who jumped around, tinkered with wild effects and conjured up feedback with complete fervor. The whole band was solid and good natured throughout and they could really maintain a groove. The highlight of their set was when they set aside all instruments but one acoustic guitar and crooned "Road Song" in glorious full band harmony.

Next up was State Radio. I was mainly here to see them, which is because I was a big fan of Chad Urmston's previous band Dispatch. They are quite a change of pace from the Urmston's earlier trio, while they retain the reggae flavor exibited by Dispatch it has been beefed up and punk overtones have been added. The acoustic songs and more low key songs were played electric and "Waitress", the band's standout track IMO was played without the female singer that accompanied Urmston on the EP whose incredible harmonizing gave the song it's heart. Overall though I can't fault them, as they gave an incredibly stellar, hardworking performance, which can't be denied, wether you like their style or not. They even played a song called "Keepsake" which they rarely play and could barely remember the words to, just to appease two obnoxious fans that were screaming its title for the better part of the show :).

The intimate venue allowed for great involvement of the audience and a great time was had by all. If these bands come through your area I sincerely recommend checking them out. I don't know about the other venues on the tour, but for us it was only $10 a piece!

[AboveTheClouds]

Judas Priest: October 21st, Pengrowth Saddledome

I got my tickets two weeks before the concert and I was absofrickinlutley stoked for it. So that day, me and my buds ditched school a bit early, took the train to the mall, and then took the train to the Saddledome. The time was about 3:34PM and the concert started at 7:30PM. We were four hours early, but we hung out anyway, and as soon as the doors opened we rushed to the merch tables to get our shirts and then went to our seats. Our seats were fifth row from floor, right beside the stage. At 7:30PM, a band alot of you might know named Anthrax took the stage, they played a solid 70 minute set, I unfortunatley had never given them a listen, but after this show I did. And about 8:50PM Judas Priest took the stage, the first 30 minutes of the show wasn't super great, it went kind of slow. And then they broke out into Diamonds and Rust, and that got everyone all frenzied up, after such staples as "Living after Midnight" and "Breakin The Law". They broke into "Painkiller" And that got the whole crowd fired up in a huge way, everyone started singing along and thrashing about. After a few more songs, and some wicked stage stuff, they went off stage. And then a whole bunch of people started leaving, but we stayed. And they they ran back out and broke into "You've Got Another Thing Comin" And everyone was once again whipped up into a frenzied state. All in all I'd say it was a steller show, Anthrax certainly gave Priest a run for their money in stage presence. But both bands kicked some serious ass that night. One of the better concerts i've ever been too.

4.1/5

[Darth Stujitzu]

Paul Weller / Dogs

Glasgow Secc 13th November


So at long last I finally got to see the " Modfather " himself. Due to over indulgence on my part, I can't remember a thing about seeing him several years ago at T in the park, it was just after Stanley Road was released, and the gig has become a tale of folklore amongst Glasgow's Weller fans.


To start with we had the support band the Dogs, the next big thing I'm told, mostly by the band themselves at a party on saturday night! Their influences seem to stem from early Weller/ Jam/ Clash, but they did well in getting the crowd going before the main event.

Now, onto the man himself, the crowd were baying for him, there was a restless energy that threatened to overflow before the great man took to the stage and let loose with the timeless classic Wildwood. As you can probably tell, I'm a huge fan of Weller, from the Jam, through the Style Council and onto his solo career, however, for my money only Wildwood and Stanley Road are real standout albums.
All of my favourites were there, Changing man, broken stones, you do something to me, that's entertainment and town called malice, and it's rare for me to complain about a concert going on for over two hours, but the constant change in tempo, and some of his newer material did tend to make the night drag a little.

It's a shame to see Weller not have as much energy these days, and although I enjoyed the concert, I can't help but feel I've missed out seeing him at his peak. A minor quibble, all in all a great night, especially the rousing version of Town called Malice to finish the encore, and another must see crossed off my list.


Rating 4/5

[SmegFirk]

Muse @ Earls Court 19th Dec 2004 was my first ever gig :(

I saw Starsailor @ Cambridge 7th Nov 2005.

I'm seeing Coldplay @ Earls Court 15 Dec 2005, i'll write about it :)

[undead_bunny]

Dragonforce - Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh 18th September

This gig was flat out amazing, the crowd had a great atmosphere, and the band was very interactive with the crowd and running about everywhere on the stage.

Support band 'Mendeed' who hail from Glasgow, were very good in my opinion. I heard an mp3 of them before the gig and didn't think much of it, but they sound 100 times better when they play live. They really got the crowd pumped up, and i got beat up in the pits. (lucky me). Their set was about 45-50 mins, which was long enough for me.

30 minutes later, Dragonforce came on. The crowd went mad, there wasn't a single person that wasn't cheering. Their set lasted about 90-100 minutes which i thought was great since i only paid £7 for my ticket. They also came out after the gig, and signed any merchandise for the fans. Since i didn't have any, i just got them to sign my ticket and that was good enough to me, also got a handshake from each member which was more than i was expecting.

All in All, this gig was great. Easily a 5/5.



:eek: You saw Dragonforce!?!?! Ah, I'm jelous. Herman Li is a god.

[Darth Stujitzu]

Maceo Parker

Saturday 18th March 2006 at Oran Mor Glasgow


For those unfamiliar with Maceo, he is James Brown's sax player and founder of Maceo and the Macs.
Arguably the world's best and funkiest sax player, Maceo took to the stage in his usual laid back manner before releasing the funk to an expectant and exciteable crowd.
The next 2 hours were crammed full of funk and jazz by the maestro and his superb band of musicians and back up singers, that was greatly recieved by a rowdy saturday night crowd.
It was my first concert at Oran Mor, although I've been to the highly acclaimed " Pie, pint and a play ", the underground venue definetly added to the ambiance, and but for a few dodgy moments by the punk sound jock, the night was fantastic from start to finish.

Great to see Maceo live, he is a legend, and he certainly didn't disappoint, its just a shame that stupid Glasgow promoters put Roy Ayers on at a different venue on the same night, with a little forsight, perhaps putting one of these great artists on the friday night would have been more beneficial, and it would have meant I could have attended both.
Still, got Candi Stanton and Marlena Shaw to look forward to.


Rating a very funky 4.5/5

[Darth Stujitzu]

Portishead
Saturday 12th April 2008, @ the Corn Exchange Edinburgh

I've dragged this thread back up, because I'm just back from one of the most hauntingly mesmeric concerts I've ever been to.
Portisheads first album, Dummy, is one of my all time faves, along with Massive Attack & Tricky, Portishead were responsabile for creating a new wave of British indie music in the early 90's.
The second self titled album proved to be a huge disapointment to their legions of fans, so how would the new album entitled 3 go down with the hardcore faithful looking for a repeat of that first time cherry high of Dummy?

The gig itself was mostly the new album, but sandwiched in-between were the classics, mysterons, sour times, strangers,wandering star,numb, roads & glory box.
I'm pleased to say the new album is a return to form for Portishead, there is a slightly harder industrial edge to some of the new tracks, but Beth Gibbons' haunting vocals are still a joy to behold, her voice is truely amazing.

All in all a brilliant gig that left the hairs on the back of my neck standing on several occasions, and yet another band on my list has been crossed off, Portishead last toured 9 years ago.
I can recccomend the new album, and for those that like Portishead you should also check out their live DVD Roseland New York Live, and the brilliant remix revenge of the number.


Rating a stunning 5/5

[mark f]

Nada Surf/Watson Twins at the Samueli Theater, Costa Mesa, Thursday, August 28, 2008

I've never been to the new Samueli Theater, a small club at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. For a general admission concert, it holds about 600 people, but I don't think more than about half that number showed. Too bad for the M.I.A. because they missed a terrific show.

The Watson Twins opened, playing songs from their new album. The twins are attractive personalities who switch duties playing acoustic guitar and harmonica. They played nine songs, most of which were originals and leaned toward bluesy countryish ballads, but the highlight was their gorgeously-languid, half-speed cover of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven". Sarah got them to both autograph her T-shirt.

Enjoy. (It was much better when we saw it live!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUeoDJ0cOl8

Nada Surf has definitely put out one of my fave albums of 2008, Lucky. It's not a huge change for them, but it's beautifully produced and recorded. I have strong doubts that it won't make me my top Five as the year winds down. Matthew Caws voice is one of the sweetest in current rock music and he's also one of its finest lights concerning beautiful melodies. This concert was missing co-founder/bassist Daniel Lorca who was somehow injured in Spain, but guest bassist Jose did a damn fine job, including doing the purring on "Meow Meow Lullaby". There were several audience participation moments, including the one-step/handclap dance to "Inside of Love" and the intro swearing of "Blankest Year". Nada Surf puts on a great show and is not really comparable to any so-called comparable bands. They're just that much better. If you don't believe me, listen to "See These Bones", certainly one of the best songs I've heard released in 2008. I posted it earlier in the "What are You Listening to While MoFoing Thread', but this song is worth a listen a day. Take a shot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=214UVnH9waM

I plan on posting some more later, but I felt the need to put this up now before I crash. :cool:

[Swedish Chef]

Sounds good, Marko. I actually just personally discovered Nada Surf a few days ago in a random Bit Torrent spree. I've been doing a lot of writing lately, and they've landed a pretty secure spot on my "Background Music" playlist. My friend and I are going to make a concerted effort to see them live before we die.

[mark f]

Fountains of Wayne (Acoustic) at the Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, Friday, January 23, 2009

I remember reading Holden slamming away at FoW over "Stacy's Mom", but I don't recall if it was here or at MJ (probably the latter), but FoW has been cranking out catchy power pop songs for over a dozen years now, so going to one of their concerts is basically like hearing a greatest hits collection. Of course, the interesting things about this show were that it was all acoustic (albeit, the new-fangled acoustic; you know? plugged in), and they played a half-dozen new songs which fit in just swell with the old faves. The band is extrmely amusing in their in-between-song banter, but that makes sense since co-founders Adam Schlesinger (bass/piano) and Chris Collingwood (rhythm guitar/lead vocals) have been together in bands for over 20 years.

"Valley Winter Song"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRORgH8vL_Q

I wasn't even aware they were going to be in Orange County, but Sarah and I are both on the Coach House's e-mailing list, so we just answered a couple of simple questions and got two free tickets. They really played almost all their most-popular songs, even turning "Stacy's Mom" into a slowed-down, piano-driven, lounge-lizard song which added to its satire. That's the thing about Fountains of Wayne. They write hummable songs with clever lyrics, but sometimes it feels as if they're much smarter and more musically-accomplished than they let on. It definitely leaves you with a feeling of being very entertained, but sometimes you wonder if they could ever get serious enough to write and perform a bonafide stone-cold classic. Youtube doesn't even have a video of "Fire Island"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4blhM9IU3A

[mark f]

The Soundtrack of Our Lives at the Troubadour, West Hollywood, Monday, March 16, 2009

http://clockworkman.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/l_4a2c4369fa9f25be0255fffad19e9aa8.jpg

The Troubadour has been open only one year less than I've been alive, but somehow, I've never been to this Hollywood landmark. It's a very small club with a bar only about 40 feet from the stage, plus it has a loft upstairs if you want to sit and still have a great view. We walked right up to the front center, so we were standing right at the stage where singer Ebbot Lundberg would be, and being three feet from him all night was quite an experience. He came out after the band had already kicked into the instrumental opening of their new album Communion's first song "Babel On" and he immediately began singing, strutting, dancing, and almost tripping all over the stage. At one point the mike stand flew out into the crowd, and I became almost sure that he was going to make it off the stage too, but somehow it never quite happened. Sweden's TSOOL play psychedelic rock and roll, heavily influenced by the Beatles and Pink Floyd, but also with touches of the Kinks, the Who and American garage rock of the '60s. They're able to do this and make their new songs still vital and alive because they're consummate musicians and have a strong feeling for melody and harmony. Their new double album and this concert make it clear that drummer Fredrik Sandsten is one of the strongest backbones of any band working today. The new music relies on heavy tribal beats, but Sandsten accentuates them with some of the hardest, fastest drumrolls since Buddy Rich.

The stage is pretty small at the Troubadour, and TSOOL crammed all six members on it, and besides Ebbot, guitarists Ian Person and Mattias Bärjed also jumped, spun and danced across the rectangle. It's a miracle the band members never crashed into each other. TSOOL played about 15 songs in the 90 minute main set, and about half of them were from the new album. However, they retooled such classics as "Firmament Vacation" and "Bigtime" and turned them into atmospheric jam sessions in the middle while maintaining the basic structure and melody of the songs. A highlight was the backlit drumming which made the drumsticks almost seem to disappear they moved so quickly through the bright light. Keyboardist Martin Hederos could barely stay in his seat the entire concert and Sandsten was almost like a Jack in the Box the way he stood up and bowed the audience after most songs. A personal highlight for Brenda and Sarah was when Ebbot walked over between songs and shook both of their hands; I was standing just slightly behind and to the side of them, so I didn't get a handshake, but as he walked by, I made sure to pull out the booklet for their new album from my pocket and flash it, and he nodded and gave me a small thumbs up. I also had some communication and eye contact with bass player Åke Karl Kalle Gustafsson who looked particularly tired and beat up but he assured me that he was OK. I gave Fredrik a thumbs up when he drank a beer between songs and was rewarded with a big smile and nod in return. This was the third time my family had seen TSOOL live. The first two times were in 2005. Once at the loudest concert I've been to at the Avalon (formerly the Palace) which is about 10 times bigger than the Troubadour and where I got to temporarily be Ebbot's roadie, straightening out his mike chord when he went out to sing in the crowd. Then a week later, they played a free acoustic show at the Hollywood Tower Records and we videotaped the entire show and got their autographs and talked with them at length. This show was a different experience, and although I used to see all my shows at clubs standing at the front of the stage, it was a first for Brenda and Sarah.

Back to last night's show. For the encore, they played all older songs, and each one was a total trip. They only played three songs, but all of them were extended and revamped versions, playing up the darker side of their music. At one point, Bärjed handed off his guitar to Ebbot and went to play drums along with Sandsten. Ebbot proceeded to play distorted guitar for the first time I've ever seen or heard, and he did a pretty good job at it. The only other instruments I've seen Ebbot play before are voice, harmonica, tambourine and a strange-looking double reed which looked like a snake charmer's oboe. It was a fitting ending to a strong performance which reminded me why TSOOL is often called one of the best live rock bands in the world.

The band will be playing on Jay Leno's show tonight, so they'll probably perform one of their poppier numbers. When they played Letterman in 2005, they did one of their bigger songs of the time, "Sister Surround".

[n3wt]

When I was younger I went to see Slipknot in Cardiff and it was an amazing experience and I'd love to go again to see other bands that I love :yup:

The other bands that were there were, American Head Charge, One Minute Silence and there was another which I cant remember. It was a awesome night and I got some great pics somewhere.

[adidasss]

Antony and the Johnsons - Circus Krone, Munich, Germany

Ok, so this past weekend me and my sister traveled to Munich to see Antony and the Johnsons. It took us some 7 and a half hours to get there and 8 and half to get back so we spent some 16 hours on the road. The gig was at Circus Krone which is a circular sort of building made primarily for circus shows and it's decorated accordingly. The show opened with a dancer which did a routine I didn't particularly understand or get into. They played mostly stuff from The crying light and Another World Ep, but spiced it up with 5 songs from I am a bird now which is by far my favorite album of him/her/theirs...We sat near the front so I was worried that the sound wasn't going to be that good, but shockingly it was probably the best sound setup I've ever heard. It was crisp clean, you could hear every single instrument and the volume was just right (I suppose it's not really the type of music that could or should be played too loudly).

The performance was of course immaculate, I don't exactly remember the set list but it lasted about 2 hours. The highlight for me was Fistful of love which almost had me in tears, as well as You are my sister and Hope there's someone. I haven't really listened to the new album enough, but I loved Aeon the best.

In short, it was amazing and worth all the trouble. Antony is an amazing performer even though he is a little shy so his communication with the audience made them giggle, perhaps inappropriately at times. But he's very good natured and sweet and even chuckled himself when he accidentally missed a note on the piano. His voice of course is out of this world.

Here are some photos I took with my iphone (we forgot to bring a proper camera):
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/diezelpower/IMG_0040.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/diezelpower/IMG_0039.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/diezelpower/IMG_0044.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/diezelpower/IMG_0045.jpg

And even though there isn't any actual youtube footage of the gig, for anyone interested in what it sounded like, here's a two year old live rendition of Fistful of love with excellent sound, which basically brought down the house:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-524bnuYdM

[Thursday Next]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_i8p-eUmbmLI/SbaKI7xtOmI/AAAAAAAAAB0/P6lhleKL1EM/s400/camden-crawl-2009_300x300_crop_le.jpg
Belated write-up of the Camden Crawl...for non UK people, basically this is an urban festival, most of the pubs in Camden, North London, are open to people who have bought Crawl wristbands with a variety of mostly new and up-and-coming bands playing in each venue. Over the two days I got to see about 12 bands, which was a pretty good run, I think. Avoided most of the bigger bands because that means more queueing and less actual live music.

Fortunately there was no queue for wristbands at all. Less fortunately, you needed to queue up at 2.30 to get a separate wristband to get in to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs so we couldn't see them which was a shame. First band we saw was Bleech at Underworld. I found that I recognised Underworld but couldn't actually remember when I'd been there before which was slightly disturbing. Bleech (http://www.myspace.com/bleech) were a bit like the Distillers, which is good for me, I'll definitely check out more of their stuff. Then we went on to the Earl of Camden to see Chew Lips (http://www.myspace.com/chewlips), who were really good. After that we went up to Enterprise to see The XX (http://www.myspace.com/thexx). They played the upstairs room which was tiny with a disturbingly shaky floor. They seemed a bit disorganised, but were actually quite good in a mellow sort of way, although all their songs sounded slightly like Wicked Game by Chris Isaak. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, because I love that song. So far three bands and three girl singers. I love how girls are taking over indie.

We then tried to get back into the Earl of Camden for Filthy Dukes and Dan Black but the queue was massive so after waiting ages and seeing we weren't going to get in, we decided to go to Camden Rock instead. Never been there before, so that was another new one. The band were called Hellacholla and they were absolutely dreadful so we left after two songs and went to see the last half of Kasms (http://www.myspace.com/kasms) at Underworld. It was surprisingly empty. Kasms were mental, anyway. The singer decided to stage dive into a crowd of about nine people. She was a good front-woman and they played well but it wasn't really my kind of music. After that we went back to Camden Rock for Sleepercurve (http://www.myspace.com/sleepercurve) who weren't as good as I thought they would be. There were flashes of greatness mired in rock cliche, unfortunately.

Saturday - We got the tube to Little Venice and the boat to Camden Lock, which was nice. Makes a change from the tube, anyway. Got Saturday's timetable then went to the Lock Tavern to plan the day's gigs. We decided to go to the Constitution because the loveley Bombay Bicycle Club (http://www.myspace.com/bombaybicycleclub) were playing an acoustic set. It is a bit out of Camden along the canal and there was a boat running to the pub. We decided just to walk, but on the way we saw Bombay Bicycle Club waiting for the boat!! The Constitution is quite nice pub, but it wasn't terribly well organised as a gig venu. We saw Rumble Strips upstairs and they were ok, then went into the cellar bar for BBC. But it was a bit rubbish, because the mikes weren't turned up loud enough and you could hear the music from upstairs. The band were actually getting quite annoyed with it. They really looked like they did not want to be playing there. Not surprising since there was no drumkit, the bassist had a ukelele and got involved in only one song. After a while, they decided to go outside instead and Jack sat on the wall playing the guitar and singing (the rest of the band just milled around). I think it was really cool, but to be honest you couldn't hear him outside either. Shame.

Stopped for a drink in The Buck's Head (yes, I am going to mention all 13 pubs whether I saw bands there or not...) then went to the Electric Ballroom. I haven't been there for years, not since I used to get the coach up with my university RockSoc. I do kind of love it, with its goth wallpaper and everything. We saw General Fiasco (http://www.myspace.com/generalfiasco) who were quite good but slightly forgettable. After that we went to Dingwalls for Everything Everything, who I quite liked. Even if Sufragette Suffragette is still their best song by miles and the rest of the set wasn't as good. Dingwalls is kind of nice. God, I'd never get a job as a reviewer...

After that (need to think of more imaginative connectives...) Mr. Next went back to the Electric Ballroom and I went up to Bullet by myself to see Heartbreak (http://www.myspace.com/heartbreak1). Which is where it all went kind of wrong. I watched Kasms again who were on first, then realised that the people setting up after them were NOT HEARTBREAK!! Then I saw a poster and it had the name of a completely different band. A printed poster, so it can't have been a last minute change. But the timetable we were given that afternoon had said Heartbreak and I still don't know why they didn't play. I was really gutted since that was the one band I most wanted to see, and I'd gone all the way up to Bullet by myself just to see them :'( The only silver lining was that that meant I could go and see Lion Club (http://www.myspace.com/lionclub) at the Barfly, although I nearly missed them as well because I didn't at first realise they were playing upstairs and was stood at the bar downstairs. But I did get up there in time, and they were really good, probably tied with Chew Lips for the best band I saw all weekend.

We went to The Purple Turtle to see Three Trapped Tigers (http://www.myspace.com/threetrappedtigers), who were mediocre (65 days of static without the quality control, according to Mr. Next). Then made the mistake of leaving and trying to get into the Barfly, forgetting that hundreds of people had just come out from watching Kasabian and were all trying to get into the late open clubs up that end of the road. So we gave up. And felt like a bit of a failure for leaving before midnight two nights in a row. It must be getting old or something...

Realise now that although I saw quite a few bands, there were no really really good ones. And that there hadn't even been much of a hardcore crowd for any of them, although I suppose there must have been for the big bands like the YYYs and Kasabian. I wish there'd been some bands I really really liked. At least one. Last year BBC and Robots in Disguise played. Oh well, it is nice to see new bands as well, that's what it's all about after all.

Roll on next year...It's so much nicer having a festival in a town, rather than in a field...

[adidasss]

Sounds like a nice time. You're lucky to live in London...(or thereabouts) :yup:

[Thursday Next]

Yeah, I'm glad I don't have to drive six hours to see a band! I did use to actually live in London and now I don't I kind of miss it, but it's good to be able to go for a weekend still.

[Thursday Next]

Ok, so looks like nobody's been to a gig since the last time I went to one...Sorry I only seem to come on here to review gigs and not movies, but watching movies has slipped to 5th place on my list of favourite things to do with my free time at the moment...

Anyway, went to see Maximo Park at the Birmingham Academy last night. I couldn't find out anthing abvout who was supporting them beforehand. I was half hoping for someone good but that almost never happens (although they did have the Long Blondes once). The first support band I can't remember the name of but they were pretty good, indie band, girl singer. And then, unbelievably, it was only bloody BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB!!!! Amazing. I had the biggest grin on my face for the rest of the night. Imagine going to see a band you like and getting another of your favourite bands unexpectedly as well! Tried to get to the front but there were a few hardcore Maximo Parkers lodged there. That's the main trouble with seeing a band you like when they're supporting someone else, you want to jump and sing and generally be all excited but three rows of people in front of you are just standing there texting their friends and waiting for another band and looking at you like you're kind of a freak for knowing all the words so it's just not the same atmosphere.

The atmosphere for MP was great, though. I've seen quite a few bands this year but it's been a while since I've been to a proper gig with people who are actual fans and there's jumping and crowd surfing and shouting the words and people throwing beer. Good times. And I didn't lose my phone or shoes this time. Although I did get beer in my hair. Paul was on good form, although slightly fewer scissor kicks than usual (maybe he's just getting on a bit...) although their new stuff just isn't all that amazing and it was mostly the old songs like Graffiti, Our Velocity and Apply Some Pressure that people went mad for. And I've seen them three times now and they've never played my favourite song, Kiss You Better...

Bombay were on really good form, too. I've seen them four times this year, which is more than I've seen any other band ever. Well, they are pretty cheap to follow, I suppose. They played my favourite, Cancel On Me. I think they might put it on the album, since they always seem to play it. Or maybe it's their 'classic'. Can you have a classic old tune when you haven't even released your debut album yet? I don't know. I'm looking forward to the album, though.

[Thursday Next]

Idlewild at the Godiva festival, free festival in Coventry. Bit of nostalgia. They played 'Held the World In Your Arms', my favourite of their songs, so I was happy. A nice evening, no rain, cider, a good time. Found this vid of them performing American English on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaX3YPsbWto

[undercoverlover]

Hard Rock Calling: The Killers and The Kooks in Hyde Park 26th June

The Kooks were kind of boring to watch, good music well played but unimaginitive and not much of a stage presence.

The Killers blew up, they rocked it out and are pretty commanding, every member of the band rocked it out to the full. It was immense to have everyone screaming along to Jenny was a Friend of Mine.

Plus, I didnt see them but I heard Echo and the Bunnymen playing Killing Moon

[Thursday Next]

The Killers are incredible live, aren't they? They really perform. I was 'meh I'm so over the Killers' before I saw them back in Feb but they just blew me away.

[mark f]

Andrew Bird, Ra Ra Riot, Heartless Bastards, The Greek Theatre (L.A.), Friday, July 10, 2009

It's been a long time since I've been to the beautiful and venerable Greek Theatre in Griffith Park. I drive by it every time I go to the Griffith Park Observatory (that cool place in Rebel Without a Cause), but I haven't been to a nice outdoor concert there under the stars since about 30 years ago when I saw X and the Blasters put on a rock jam. :cool: My family and I have seen Andrew Bird three times before, and the great thing about a Bird live show is that he never plays the same song the same way. Never. But more about that later because Bird had two rock-solid opening acts on this beautiful evening.

The Heartless Bastards opened about three minutes before we got inside the Theatre seating and stage area, but we could hear them as we approached and they already sounded good. Erika Wennerstrom is the leader and singer of the group and they produce a classic rock sound while sounding up-to-date at the same time. She can sound like PJ Harvey one song and Devendra Banhart on the next. They only got to play about six songs though, and the highlight was the title song from the new album, The Mountain. Check it out, especially if you like drumming and lap steel guitar. The main difference at our concert was the intro had a nice drum roll and the ending did too. honeykid, Erika's a red head! :cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWJXwSUYWeA&feature=PlayList&p=B6BC162BE027A2B9&index=9&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL

Ra Ra Riot came out next, after Sarah bought a pretty blue Andrew Bird T-Shirt, and the mood was noticeably different. These guys, from Syracuse, New York, reminded me a lot of Belle and Sebastian, but they have two women in the band who play cello and violin. Almost all the songs were very upbeat yet still light. Singer Wesley Miles basically controlled the stage, while the guitarist and bassist jumped up and down so much that they could be the definition of "hiphop". Their eight songs all sounded like pop masterpieces, so how about I slip another one in here now.

"Can You Tell" by Ra Ra Riot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asY08yquddo

Andrew Bird came out by himself to start the concert, and he opened with a trippy instrumental which I couldn't recognize, so I hope it turns up on his next album. He segued into one of my all-time fave Bird songs "Why?" from my fave Bird album The Swimming Hour, which is basically about a relationship which seems to be deteriorating because the woman doesn't throw dishes at Bird and gets pissed off at him. She just seems to not be all that invested in the relationship to ever get angry, so, of course, that makes him even more upset because it's like Woody Allen says in Annie Hall, "what we have here is a dead shark". I've heard him do this song four times and it's different every time. It's amazing and hilarious from both the musical and lyrical end. Bird has developed a loop system which allows him to record riffs upon riffs, step on the loop pedal, and then play solo violin or electric guitar at will. He can play seven or eight different sounds with his violin, play his guitar, his glockenspiel, whistle and sing all at the same time, and it sounds like he's at least a string quartet and a rock band playing together. If you haven't seen an Andrew Bird show, you owe it to yourself. Of course, during "Why?", his guitarist, bassist/clarinetist/saxophonist and the equally-incredible multi-instrumentalist Dosh (mostly playing drums, keyboards and more loops) showed up.

It's now halfway through the new year, but I'm still leaning toward Bird's Noble Beast as being the best album of the year. "Why?" :cool: Well, maybe because he still seems to write and perform the prettiest melodies around and can make them sound twice as good with his perfectionist, yet homespun production. Then again, he keeps advancing himself forward into new realms of musical cleverness and creativity. It turned out that somebody knew that Bird's birthday was July 11, so although we were a few hours early (think nebbit in the Birthday thread), we all sang him "Happy Birthday" and he was honestly moved. That's another great thing about an Andrew Bird concert. He doesn't keep what he's thinking or feeling to himself. He lets it all out, and since the wiring system at the Greek failed a few times, we knew exactly what he thought about it, even though he kept saying, "We're cool!" Andrew Bird is a master entertainer, and from what I know of him, up close and personal, he's also a master human being. Check out these songs from Noble Beast (probably ranks as my fourth fave Bird album, but still my #1 this year).

For anybody who cares, here are two different versions of "Effigy". How do you pick? Do you prefer the extra-emotional violin playing or the extra-emotional humming?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdoqLCAW7CQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmf8_RGrz9E

OK, well, I'm in tears now, but I'll try to post this before it shortcircuits my computer: the visionary Bird.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXGK2sYXdBU

[adidasss]

I'm very jealous that you got to see him live. The only chance I would have had was a festival in northern Europe which was too costly and too far away, but also features the likes of Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, The Maccabees and Paolo Nutini. Alas, I'm poor and life's a bitch.

Anyhoo, I still haven't managed to digest Noble beast properly. I've given it a few listens and it sounds much worse than his last two albums, which is I'm sure impossible because they were both pretty brilliant (especially Apocrypha which is one of my favorite albums ever). I'm sure it's just a question of the right time/setting for it to click with me...:yup:

[Thursday Next]

Went to see Robots in Disguise at a fanclub acoustic gig in the Hawley Arms in Camden. (I've never been in a fanclub for anything before and think I'm too old to start now but I wanted to go see them live with my friends so never mind...) I went with some people I know from elsewhere online and it was great to see them again too. The Robots were really lovely, they did a dj set and signed autographs, posed for photos with fans etc. (I didn't get either because I just don't like the idea of asking for anything from people just because they're famous, but the others got some and were happy).

I wasn't sure how their stuff was going to work acoustically, and it was a bit different but still quite good. It was a small venue and it was really quite an intimate kind of atmosphere. We staked out a spot right at the front so we had a good view. Sue and Dee seemed really relaxed and there was a bit of banter with each other and the crowd. They played about nine songs, some old, some off the recent album and a couple of new ones from their future album which was interesting. My highlight was I Don't Have a God which I tried to record but the sound was all distorted from being too close and my friends who are better at taking videos than me haven't uploaded that yet, so here's Boys instead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEgZpQ3frKI

[Thursday Next]

Leeds festival!

(And next time I am definitely going to Reading instead because of the total nightmare we had getting out of there - two hours from the end of Radiohead to the car, no signs, wrong directions, no lights in the car parks, getting grabbed by some crazy guy as I walked along, and then another two hours drive home. Never again.)

Anyway, Leeds is like a version of Reading festival for Northerners and people who couldn't get tickets for Reading. Same bands, different days, worse car parking (ok, enough about that now). We went on the Saturday for the day. Bands in brief: Kids in Glass Houses (low rent Lost Prophets? The Welsh Fall Out Boy? Meh.), Bear Claw (never heard of them before, pretty good, forgotten them completely), Surprise Fires (frighteningly young, pathetically grateful to be there and have anyone watch them, but actually quite good), The XX (My highlight of the day which has to be peaking too soon. They gave out free t-shirts. I've been listening to the album a lot and I really like them), The Joy Formidable (Good but I get confused between their songs, they sound the same to me), Tim Minchin (musical comedy, think Bill Bailey or Flight of the Conchords-ish, quite amusing), Passion Pit (alright, but I got too hot in the tent and had to go out for air), Vampire Weekend (watched them while sitting down and eating chips, very relaxed and festivalish), Yeah Yeah Yeahs (alright. Maps was good), Bloc Party (too quiet, rubbish sound quality on the main stage and we were right in the front area. The louder songs were good, plenty of jumping about and singing along), and Radiohead (as I predicted nothing from Pablo Honey; Nice Dream, Just and Paranoid Android were the high points. I know if I wanted to hear the old stuff I should have gone to see them 10 years ago but the old stuff is still best to me. Good show, but not amazing set list. Worst of all I found out they played Creep at Reading! That's so unfair!! :bawling:)