Bowling For Soup + Go:Audio + Koopa @ Bristol Carling Academy 10/7/08 (live review)

Go:Audio and Koopa support. Completely unknown support bands is somewhat refreshing as we are not sure what to expect, and it's something different. Go:Audio a bit too poppy for my liking and have that fake Americanised thing that doesn't really work for a British band but still worth a listen. Koopa are, to be honest, a bit boring. None of their songs stuck out to me they just sort of merged into a pool of hundreds of bands like that I've heard before.
Bowling For Soup set the stage ablaze, Texas' reigning Prom Kings have the last laugh over High school Jocks, and their growth from where they first started out 13 years ago is apparent for the whole world to see. Over the past few years they have become one of the biggest Pop-Punk bands with the departure of bands like Blink 182 from the scene and bands like Good Charlotte and Sum 41 proving to be less popular these days.

With front man Jaret's wicked sense of humour, they have well and truly have singled themselves out from the crowd of boring watered down rock, they don't just play a gig they provide a 'Show' a proper performance, banter, jokes and crowd participation. You've gotta respect a band that doesn't even use a set list, that shows balls but they can totally pull it off, providing the crowd with all the faves. 'Girl all the bad guys want', 'High school never ends', 'I'm Gay' and '1985'

They embrace the crowd like they're your best mates, and pretty sure it's from the heart as well. They have this effortless charisma and charm that would be hard to ever deny, I think you'd be at a push to ever take anything as offensive from these chaps. Antics and unpredictability such as Erik sniffing Chris' balls and Chris being announced as newly single looking for love and now playing hard to get, makes the show highly entertaining humorous and keeps us all on our toes.

Everything's just so enthusiastic and bouncy, the atmosphere is rather infectious, chucking guitar picks into the crowd much to the pleasure of leaping fans trying to catch and clasp. Basically Bowling For Soup are happy go lucky chaps just out to give it there all and most importantly have fun doing it, your definitely getting your money's worth I'm telling you! exceptional live performance, One of the best bands I've seen live.

Words & photos by by Jo Bristowe

Click here to read more Bowling For Soup related news, reviews & interviews!

Buy Bowling For Soup CDs & Vinyl
Buy Bowling For Soup MP3s
Buy Bowling For Soup Tickets
Buy Bowling For Soup Merch

[ read this article.. ]

The Sugars @ The Old Blue Last, London (album launch party) 07/07/2008 (live review)

Having walked the same grim Northern streets as the Sugars for over three years I’m no stranger to their soulful blues. It was in fact a particular highlight of my trawlings through the North’s bars to stumble across the foursome.
It was on one particular eve, of particular grimness, and particular discontent that destiny shepherded me into a club of the working man. Here is where I first saw the Sugars.

On the dawn of this - their debut album launch - I was intrigued to see whether or not their light would be shining as bright in the big smoke.

After a turbulent year of mixed fortunes; not least a house burning and a debilitating case of RSI the band have certainly come out fighting. So perhaps it’s this trauma that has helped craft the sound they currently wield; one which is decidedly more edgy, biting and diverse then we’ve previously heard.

Indeed; a stronger more determined and driven band take the stage wherein a richer and more varied sound can be heard from the quartet. Lost are none of the qualities that originally made the Sugars such an enjoyable act; the male/female harmonies; the sparring vocals still thrust back and forth between Anna and Matt; and the contrasting shrieks of heartfelt rage with soothing croons blend brilliantly.

The star in the north still shines.

By James Green
Photo by Dan Howarth

www.myspace.com/thesugars


Click here to read more The Sugars related news, reviews & interviews!

Buy The Sugars CDs & Vinyl
Buy The Sugars MP3s
Buy The Sugars Tickets
Buy The Sugars Merch

[ read this article.. ]

The Mighty Boosh Festival @ Hop Farm, Kent 5/7/08 (live review)

As the British summer becomes increasingly inundated with festivals (so inundated, in fact, that some have had to be cancelled due to the fact that there simply aren't enough people to go round), there was one in particular causing elevated levels of excitement. One which offered something new, something a bit different.
I'm talking, of course, about the Mighty Boosh Festival, which graced the fields of Hop Farm on July 5th..

As the first-ever festival to combine both musical and comedic talent, it was also to be the début performance of the Boosh Band.

The weather was uncharacteristically beautiful, which set the day off to a good start as nobody wants to watch Boosh in the rain. Everywhere you looked there were people dressed to the hilt in full-on Boosh-wear. The air was buzzing with excitement, as Old Greggs, Rudys and Hitchers from around the country made small talk and drank cheap alcohol.

Musical festivities kicked off at Monkey Hell (aka the main stage) with some psychadelic jazz from Polar Bear, whose smooth, dreamy sounds provided the ideal soundtrack to ease festival-goers into the day ahead.

This was followed by Robots in Disguise, whose shouty electro is unfortunately not as good live as it is on record, plus up-and-coming rockers White Denim, The Kills, and The Charlatans, as well as DJ sets by Peaches and Jarvis Cocker all compéred by the irrepressible Elenor.

Boosh hero Gary Numan was also present, completing a brilliant old-skool rock'n'roll set - snarling into the microphone and leading the crowd in what must be the first 'Cars' sing-a-long since the 80's.

Then, as the sun set, Har Mar Superstar took to the stage for his trademark strip down to some very fetching briefs, belting out his hits with the kind of swaggering confidence that only someone who has successfully made himself an ironic sex icon can. He also later went head-to-head with Bob Fossil in a sort-of rap/dance-off – hairy peeping stomachs and nipple-rubbing galore.

Meanwhile, in the Velvet Onion, laughter was rocking the tent pegs as a viciously good line-up played out, including Josie Long (who you may know from Whose Line is it Anyway?), two sets from Matthew Holness (in character as Merriman Weir and Garth Merenghi respectively), Mark Watson, Frankie Boyle and everyone's favourite geordie Ross Noble. If only the queue hadn't been quite so ridiculously long to get in, it would have been perfect.

Then came the moment everyone was waiting for. The screams of the crowd may well have resonated around Manchester, such was the state of hysteria as every single person in the grounds flocked to Monkey Hell. After an introduction from the Moon, on sailed the boys in boats matching their signature mirrorball jumpsuits and flowery shirts.

They performed a lengthy set consisting of such much-loved Boosh classics as 'I Did A Shit On Your Mum', 'Old Gregory's Song', 'We Are The Mutant Freaks', 'Bouncy Bouncy' and 'Nanageddon', among others, punctuated by comedy moments like Noel Fielding falling off a giant eel and dry-humping the robot.

All in all, a fantastic way to spend a Saturday. Twelve hours jam-packed with good music and comedy – what could be better? Fingers crossed they change their minds on the whole 'one-off' business and decide to do it again next year.

Words & photos by Charlotte Cross [ read this article.. ]

The Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Birmingham Academy2 09/07/2008 (live review)

The last time that I saw the Brian Jonestown Massacre live, the balmy summer of 2006 was raging outside, and the rather small Birmingham Academy 2 felt as though it had been transplanted into the Amazonian rainforest, or similar. The great British public was less lucky today, but I comforted myself with the knowledge that I would, at least, have a nice cool venue to slink into.
Small comfort, as this did not take into account the fact that a family of rats had died inside the venue’s antiquated air conditioning system, giving us the choice between sweltering heat or a pleasing coolness tinged with a slight edge of rotting flesh and piss.

The members of the Brian Jonestown Massacre are less than impressed. “It smells like ferrets!” quips Frankie “Teardrop” Emerson, showing remarkable restraint. Of course, Anton Newcombe wouldn’t know restraint if it secured him to a train line, and is soon in full and splendid auto-rant, telling the audience in no uncertain terms to have the decency to stop wetting themselves in his presence. “He doesn’t respect us, does he?” remarks one fan gloomily. In his defence, there are evidently a few in the audience tonight who are hoping to goad Mr. Newcombe into one of his trademark strops. Happily, the rest of the audience are here for more admirable purposes – to hear perhaps the only modern band that take psychedelic rock to its logical conclusion.

On the other hand, it does feel as though the band members are spending more time tonight tuning up and...erm, venting than they are playing. When they are playing, it’s wonderful, and from the moment the drone of the tambura washes over the audience, we are instantly transported into the lush soundscapes that Newcombe has created. Most BJM fans will have seen examples of how meticulously he does this – but live, you can really appreciate it. It is perfectly complimented by his Neil Young-esque vocals, particularly during their more subdued numbers. “The voices of angels sing in my head/they tell me don’t worry I’m already dead,” he sighs during Yeah-Yeah, and it is really quite beautiful. Then, he snaps straight out of it to make a hideous mockery of the Birmingham accent (as perceived by an American man living in Wales), and spends a good five minutes complaining about his amp before the band launches into an equally perfect version of Anemone as though nothing had happened.

What this boils down to is this: is their live music worth the abuse and procrastination? Almost certainly – and hey, if you catch them on a really bad day, at least you’ll have one hell of an anecdote.

By Claire Spencer

www.myspace.com/brianjonestownmassacre

Brian Jonestown Massacre @ The Viper Room, from the movie 'Dig!':


Click here to read more Brian Jonestown Massacre related news, reviews & interviews!

Buy Brian Jonestown Massacre CDs & Vinyl
Buy Brian Jonestown Massacre MP3s
Buy Brian Jonestown Massacre Tickets
Buy Brian Jonestown Massacre Merch

[ read this article.. ]

The Hop Farm Festival, The Hop Farm Country Park, Tonbridge 6/7/08 (live review)

The festival dubbed as non-advertising, non-VIP and non-promotional started in a downpour of rain. It rained. It rained a lot. In truth it was so miserable we missed the first band ‘Everest’, through our wallowing and inability to get into the festival. A result of our own inadequacies rather than the festival organisers I might add. So I can’t report on Everest, I could go on their Myspace page but then you could do that and probably get a better impression of them. I did catch the other acts though, yep all of them.
Laura Marling, looking exceptionally young and exceptionally whimsical, forced me towards the beer tent. The inevitable reaction of a crowd to a mediocre act in the pissing rain is we don’t always let them persuade us they might be good, because after ten minutes we suspect they aren’t, and we would rather be dry with our suspicions than soaked and satisfied that we were right. Not much of a review, I know, but it’s the truth and might explain why I have nothing else to say about her.

Guillemots took to the stage in an enthusiastic, jolly fashion. Encouraging us to pretend it wasn’t raining but just water. What with both having similar effects when landing in large quantities upon the body it didn’t have the immediate intention of lifting the spirits. But their set, rather than this meteorological insight, gradually seemed to do this anyway. My friend noted they sounded like a fairground, I have to honest, had stopped listening by this point, when it all began to sound a bit too much like one long song. They were probably one of the more interesting acts of the day though, an energetic bunch, they really did try to inject some sort of reaction into the crowd.

After watching the first few numbers from Rufus Wainwright, my companion and I thought we might wander the site. It was a truly lovely area to hold the festival, pleasantly small and just beautiful surroundings and when Wainwright, and of course the crowd, started to serenade us with Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, rather aptly the sun won the fight and began to shine, drying our sorry states. Interestingly this had a rather adverse effect on my friend, with Rufus’ warbling actually nearly putting them in a bad mood. Rather amusing response, but I could definitely see the logic. The set did start to become rather wearisome after a while, well fairly early on to be totally honest. But despite this is felt like a nice place to be there and then. With the sun finally making an appearance people began to actually seem happy to be in this field in Kent. ‘My Morning Jacket’ took the helm and were nothing at all what I was expecting, really nothing. The problem here is that I still suspect they weren’t very good but they were a lot more mellow than I was expecting and much less offensive than I was preparing myself for. I like the fact their album ‘Evil Urges’ seems to have produced some exceptionally soppy numbers, ‘Thank you too’ anyone? Very O.C. Jim Jones voice sounds like a voice fitting of a few generations ago and there was backing vocals reminiscent of the Bee Gees at times. What else can I say?! They didn’t disrupt our conversations but I think I would have preferred it if something had. I started to crave for something to make us actually listen rather than just becoming background noise.

I don’t wish to be too disparaging about all of the music of the day, and although Supergrass and Primal Scream are currently releasing new albums there still felt predictability in the whole affair. When Supergrass thought it necessary to launch into ‘Caught by the Fuzz’ and ‘Feel Alright’ I felt my heart sink slightly, though fully aware that this is what the audience would probably want to hear. All very good in 94-95 but for a few hours throughout the day I felt I was in 94-95, not the best feeling I have to say. It just all felt the same. But talking to folk throughout the day they all seemed rather excited at the prospect of seeing Supergrass. Who would have thought it? The crowd seemed to think them rather wonderful as opposed to the humdrum that seemed to flow towards my ears in a never-ending stream. Primal Scream again was exceptionally uninspiring. There is absolutely nothing else to say about them and this seemed to be the general consensus of the day, not just me I promise.

Having managed to sneak a spot at the front of the stage for Neil Young, an artist I have wanted to see play for years, I waited for the man to come on stage. Starting the set with ‘Love and Only Love’ it was one of best moments of the year so far. Truly fantastic, it was nice to see everyone just smiling with expectations and expectations met. I realise the contradictions of moaning about Supergrass and Primal Scream being stale and nothing new, when Young has been playing for forty odd years, but the difference here is that Young never sounded tired.

Having rightly been removed from the front we took our position to the side, enough to see Young and the awe of the crowd. The stage lit up in yellow had illustrations of the track playing placed to the side of Young. Young himself looked the part superbly, the wind blowing his hair about somewhat and his clothing looking like he had been paint-balled as he arched over his guitar. The whole experience was awesome and worth the ticket price alone. Playing favourites ‘Old Man’, ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)’ and ‘Heart of Gold’ even the new numbers clarified why Young is still so regarded, they were still interesting, it wasn’t just about reminiscing when watching him play. Unlike many of the acts of the day, Young’s music ages well, this showed in the varied ages of the crowd. True there were the older generation there but a lot of young people were there and seemed more enthusiastic about him than the bands more of their generation. And it was this combination of people that contributed to the nice, relaxed atmosphere of the place.

His encore choice of The Beatles ‘A Day in the Life’ is a number he has played before but I think I would have preferred to hear one of his own but the crowd were enormously happy with it, some regarding it fairly apt I felt, suited to the whole performance. After finishing the set, like clockwork, the rain began again.

I really do appreciated the whole premise behind the festival and getting Neil Young is near justification to the preceding bill but, if the festival premise was for non-advertising, non-promotional it would have been more interesting if there had been some more new music in the line up, bands that perhaps didn’t have huge labels behind them. I think that it was an awesome day, but purely down to Neil Young. I think if he had been absent it would have been an exceptionally dull day for music. Thing with festivals is you tend to have a good time whatever line-up and weather, because they are nice places to be, but I don’t think you can come to rely purely on this, you need to produce something worthy of the ticket price. Is was a fantastic day though, Neil Young was everything expected from Neil Young and The Hop Farm was a pretty good way to spend a Sunday. By any measure.

Words by Flossie Ravenscroft
Photos by Torie Speyer [ read this article.. ]

O2 Wireless Fesitval @ Hyde Park, London 4th - 6th July 2008 (live review)

Friday morning comes round and the trek into London begins, the sun is shining for once so I’m really looking forward to the day ahead. Once we get into Hyde Park, you can see it’s going to be a mad busy day, full of lots of freebies and promotions trying to publicise the 3 company’s involved, but I don’t really blame them, they’ve provided me with some sweet music so I can’t complain!
Walking in to the end of Lightspeed Champion’s set on the main stage was a bit of a bummer, but the sound didn’t sound quite right, and he was still pulling out the same tricks as normal with his Star Wars spoof!

We sat down, got comfortable and watched the Dirty Pretty Things storm the crowd from afar, and although the whole park was still fairly empty they had a good crowd, even if the atmosphere was rather damp. Not wanting to stay at the Main Stage the whole day we trundled off to the wrong tent to find Black Kids, and when we eventually did, it was well worth it. They seem to be unphased by hecklers, though why they were heckled is still unknown!

Guillemots put on a very plain and simple show, but it was classy, it went down well and sounded great, so it showed that keeping it simple was probably the best way to keep it chilled and classy.

The Wombats however disagreed. An absolutely mental set, keeping the crowd well involved and really setting the scene and making it suddenly feel like a summer festival. The mediocre turn out for Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly makes you wonder if he’s had his time, but he does have a talent, he captures you with his lyrics and his band really capture the essence of ska, even though it’s taken down a big notch.

What was supposed to be the highlight of my day, headliner Morrissey, was actually just a distinctly average performance, with Mozza ranting on about not eating meat and how silly his curfew was. He played some o the greats, and lots of his new stuff, and he played them well and they were received well, its just it wasn’t that exciting!

Saturday 5th July

After a heavy night, it was back on the tube to Hyde Park for what seemed a perfectly fantastic day, weather and music wise. We started the day off catching Manchester band The Whip, and as per normal they put up a good fight and had a great set.

We accidentally stumbled across Sam Sparro’s secret set, and it was great, we saw him twice on Saturday, and both times he was just as great. He is and incredible singer, and had a gospel choir on stage with him which just made everything far more intense. The best part of his two sets though had to be his cover of Daft Punk’s “Around the world”! In between the two Sam Sparro sets we saw Inner Party System, who have this ambient indie sound about them, almost like Minus the Bear on speed, and they were fantastic!

Does It Offend You ,Yeah win the weekends award for biggest mosh pit and most involved crowd though, it was massive, and the crowd were loving every moment of it! I really thought MSTRKRFT’s set was good, although a little…damp?! It was lacking something that didn’t make it fantastic, and they had no banter or anything to do with the crowd it seemed. DeadMaus were just a great fun band to go and see, it was incredibly busy and everyone seemed to be loving it as much as the next, but it got boring towards the end of the set, and we left to go for a drink listening to them in the background!

The man I was most looking forward to seeing, Fatboy Slim was not a let down, thankfully! They had an awesome light show going on, played all their hits and more, and were all round great!

Sunday 6th July

Sunday the weather was not with us. The sky blackened and the heavens opened, and it got very wet. Thankfully someone somewhere was looking out for us, and after gaining a free lunch from o2 we managed to catch the end of Sons of Albion’s set which was fantastic. So full of charisma and energy that the massive crowd that turned out to see them were not disappointed at all. The sun finally poked its head out for Eddie Grant on the main stage, who considering he’s never toured before, is now embarking on a UK tour, after doing Nelson Mandela’s birthday party, and it was just good fun. His music in general just brings up a smile, yet loud on a massive stage surrounded by people enjoying it was even better!

It started spitting for the Goo Goo Dolls’ performance, and fittingly so, every song was performed well, but it just didn’t shine and wasn’t anything particularly special, Iris seemed particularly clichéd with the amount of couples around, but it went down well. Next we hopped along to one of the tents just as the rain started again to see The Delays. It was actually a brilliant set, full of energy and enthusiasm, and the tent was very busy. The next act we saw we didn’t stay long for. On our hunt for Joe Purdy, recommended by a friend, we ended up at the wrong stage and watched one song of Dawn Kinnard’s and had to leave; not my cup of tea. Very Katie Melua, and a bad one at that.

Joe Purdy, who we eventually found lurking at the small o2 stage, and it was a good find, his thick southern American accent and the way he spoke to himself more than at the actual audience really reminded me of festival favourite Seasick Steve, however the music was different, and this guy actually had something special. After him, and a couple more drinks I had to drag the other people I was with to come and see my guilty pleasure for the day – Bowling For Soup. I have to admit they were a few songs into their set when we got there, but, aside from the tent being packed out, the crowed were loving it! In other words I wasn’t the only one singing along! They had a technical hitch halfway through, which meant one or so songs less, but decided it would be the prefect time to pose as a band for a “sweet group shot”. Genius.

Ben Harper had a lot of hype surrounding him, and unfortunately I had high expectations that were immediately blown out the water once I’d had a listen, showering me with depression and disappointment after the party times we’d just been having. However, I pushed through and stuck it out, more though just so I could push my way nearer to the front of the crowd for The Counting Crows. Adam Duritz took to the stage, and I knew it was going to be a good one, he started off playing lots of his songs from their new album, and unfortunately it was more of the slower “Sunday morning” songs, but they were performed well, he then picked it up a bit and bust out a few of his more popular, older hits, and even their cover of Big Yellow Taxi. It did seem like he was off his face the whole way through, but it was definitely the highlight of my weekend, even him leaving to the Mama’s and Papa’s song, “California Dreamin’” getting everyone to join in as they left. What a great end to a fantastic weekend!

By Jessica Kempner [ read this article.. ]

The National @ Mandela Hall, Belfast 9/7/08 (live review)

Who would’ve thought two sets of brothers and a somewhat outlawed lead singer could’ve worked so well together in a band?

Sibling rivalry has far from damaged the career of the Ohio 5-piece until now. Although they have remained relatively under the radar since their formation in 1999 they are by no means limited in terms of quality.
Musical talent and natural affinity emanate from each corner of the group as none shy away to simply focus on one instrument or task but make playing several at a time look natural and simple. Their sound is richly weaved together bringing each small sound together bound with the deep tones of lead singer Matt Berninger’s voice. They chose a varied set which picks carefully from previous two releases, Alligator and the more recent Boxer.

Each song is note perfect and sounds as good as it’s recorded counterpart without the coldness of a CD. The warmth and depth their sound projects so easily could be seen very clearly on the faces of the surprisingly large audience. Well-known favourites like Fake Empire and Squalor Victoria twinkled delicately while more hefty tracks like Mr November showed their powerful poweress.

The National so desperately deserve to be heard at a time when synths are talking instead of musical talent. If only everyone would be quiet enough to hear them.

By Sara Irvine

www.myspace.com/thenational


Click here to read more The National related news, reviews & interviews!

Buy The National CDs & Vinyl
Buy The National MP3s
Buy The National Tickets
Buy The National Merch

[ read this article.. ]

Mystery Jets + Jeremy Warmsley + Regards @ The Charlotte, Leicester 25/6/08 (live review)

The first band of the evening were Regards. Haling from Stratford, Regards are a new 4 piece Indie guitar band that play great little three minute numbers covering all the classic song subjects like running away from home and relationships lost. Their set was full of energy and at times it seemed their guitarist would trip over the equipment laiden stage. Luckily he didn’t. Having received praise on Steve Lamacq’s 6 new music show it’s fair to say things are looking good for this band.
The second support came from Jeremy Warmsley. He opened his set with a great cover of the New Order song Temptation and carried on with 6 more songs including Loose my cool and Dirty Blue Jeans. Its easy to see where the early Costello and electronic references so frequent in his reviews come from. It’s a shame he only had time for a 7 track set but as this was the first of two Leicester gigs in just over a week ( The next being the Transgressive Records Tour ) I couldn’t complain… (just wait eagerly for more ). Polite as ever he thanked the Mystery Jets for the support slot at least 4 times during his performance and by the time he left the stage it was clear Leicester was ready for more next week .

During the wait for the headliners chants of ‘Zoo time’ gradually built up and disappeared again and again. As the band made there way to the stage the crowd were well ad truly ready for them, screams for first album single requests already starting.

Opening with a track from their new album ‘Twenty One’ the infectious ‘Half in love with Elizabeth’ instantly had the crowd singing every single word. As this song ended it was clear this was going to be just as hot and sweaty a gig as the last time MJ were at the charlotte back in July 2006. As Half In Love fades recent single Two Doors Down begins to more applause and instigates possibly the loudest sing-along of the set ( well… until the encore).

Almost the entire set is made up of material from ‘Twenty One’, not that the crowd seem at all deterred. Its clear tonight that although the sound may have moved from the ‘Making Dens’ Sid Barrette inspired prog-esque charms, their newer more upfront and more pop sound hasn’t lost them any fans, and by looking at the young crowd tonight ( the Mystery Jets have always been more than happy to do all ages gigs) its clear there second offering has seen their fan base grow.

Whenever a band do a duet with another established artist fans are always left wondering ‘how will they do this live?’. This is probably more relevant with the Mystery Jets ‘young love’ duet with Laura Marling as she has a constantly heavy tour schedule that surely doesn’t lend itself to quest appearances. Tonight this wasn’t a problem as three girls who (more or less) knew all her lines were introduced onstage to sing . Originally one was asked for but it seemed every other girl in the crowd was desperate so a few were picked ( in such an intimate venue I don’t think any more would have fitted onstage).

As the band finished their set and left, their guitar technician began re-tuning… the tell tale sign of an encore. Returning after only two minutes the crowds chants of ‘Zoo time’ were answered and followed by first album favourites ‘The boy who ran away’ and “You can’t fool me Dennis”.

As they left the stage for the last time tonight its clear that 2 years on they may be slightly different but Leicester Loves the Mystery jets more that ever.

Words & photos by Ollie Millington

www.myspace.com/mysteryjets
www.myspace.com/jeremywarmsley
www.myspace.com/regards


Click here to read more Mystery Jets related news, reviews & interviews!

Buy Mystery Jets CDs & Vinyl
Buy Mystery Jets MP3s
Buy Mystery Jets Tickets
Buy Mystery Jets Merch

[ read this article.. ]

You Me At Six + Attack Attack! + Tonight Is Goodbye @ Bristol Carling Academy2 29/6/08 (live review)

Kicking it all off were Attack Attack! and Tonight Is Goodbye getting the crowd pumped for You Me At Six's sold out UK headline tour. You may have seen these chaps previously supporting bands such as Angels and Airwaves and Paramore. It's a pretty safe bet to say they won't be the small support act anymore, with a vast and rapid growing fan base. Carling Academy 2 is a far smaller venue than the downstairs stage, its a bit sweaty and a tad confined but non the less that only adds to the gig atmosphere and makes it more intimate.
You Me At Six hit the stage in a manner that you would expect from bands that have been touring for years, at total ease, working the crowd and frontman Josh has the girls in the crowd like putty in his hands, as they tug his shirt as he climbs into the crowd.

Booming drums that echo and vibrate through the floor, strumming electric riffs, 'If I Were In Your Shoes', ' You've Made Your Bed, 'Gossip' and 'Save It For The Bedroom' were a joy to listen to live. Also introducing eager fans to new material that was well received. Snappy, quick witted lyrics, keeping us all on our toes.

They don't take themselves too seriously which people seem to warm too, gaining respect and adoration from fans, themselves being in their teens, its amazing to see how down to earth they are. Making time for fans, chatting and mingling post gig makes them one of the most likeable bands around.

Just wait till their debut album's out!, Give 'em the main stage downstairs at the Academy, they deserve it!

Words & photos by Jo Bristowe

www.myspace.com/youmeatsix



Click here to read more You Me At Six related news, reviews & interviews!

Buy You Me At Six CDs & Vinyl
Buy You Me At Six MP3s
Buy You Me At Six Tickets
Buy You Me At Six Merch

[ read this article.. ]

Glasvegas @ The Charlotte, Leicester 10/6/08 (live review)

To say Glasvegas are currently a hype band would be the understatement of the year. With only a few limited edition singles under their belt they have received praise most bands spend their lifetime searching for. Since forming in 2006 they have received ferocious support from Alan Magee and received the accolade of the second best single of 2007 by NME, impressive considering it was a limited edition 7inch.
After the support for the night, Madskull , played for about half an hour the atmosphere in the small Leicester venue ( Capacity of a few hundred) was clearly filled with anticipation for the headliners. This being the first time the band has played in Leicester and so soon after their Jools Holland performance the gig sold out weeks ago.

As the band walk to the stage the crowd cheering is a sign of the adoration to come. Most bands touring small venues have little in the way of lighting and have to rely on the venues provisions. Glasvegas instead bring their own extremely basic but incredibly atmospheric set up with them. Its hard to believe that only two red lights laid on the floor angled up at singer and a smoke machine can create such an impressive scene in a small venue.

The band opened with ‘Flowers and Football Tops’. Out of all their released material to date this has the best set opening introduction, building up a powerful wall of sound the song describes the pain left when young people die violently, very poignantly at the moment. With lyrics like “no Hollywood endings/ flowers and football tops/don’t mean a thing” its not a stretch to imagine this will have particular resonance with people who know someone who’s been a victim of mindless violence (The song was inspired by the murder of Kriss Donald). As the set progresses the crowd were treated to debut single Daddy’s gone, Its my cheating heart that makes me cry , Go square go, Geraldine alongside a couple of B-sides.

Half the crowd seemed to know every word and the rest seem embarrassed not to and mouth the nearest they could guess. The biggest response by far came from Geraldine with the crowd singing every word. With words as powerful as “When your standing on the windows ledge, I’ll talk you back from the edge” its no surprise this will be a huge song and should send the band on their way to huge success.

If the queue of people waiting to meet the band after and get a T-shirt signed is any clue, it wont be long before Glasvegas gigs in small intimate venues like tonight’s will be a thing of the past. Catch them as soon as you can, it wont be long before their filling much bigger spaces.

Words & photos by Ollie Millington

www.myspace.com/glasvegas


Click here to read more Glasvegas related news, reviews & interviews!

Buy Glasvegas CDs & Vinyl
Buy Glasvegas MP3s
Buy Glasvegas Tickets
Buy Glasvegas Merch

[ read this article.. ]

Goldfrapp @ The Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow 30/6/08 (live review)

Usually when bands like Goldfrapp come to Glasgow, they usually play places like the ABC, Barrolands or The Carling Academy. Goldfrapp though, are not your usual band and I was surprised to hear that they were playing the Royal Concert Hall. Usually known for the BBC holding annual orchestra events. There was no support band playing at the show, which is a rather unique thing as not many bands these days tour alone. The hall had an eerie effect, with the main stage in total darkness except one spot light that shone on Alison Goldfrapp’s microphone.
The band were first on stage, all of them seemed to be wearing clothes that resembled a hippyish theme, all in white. Alison ran on to the stage barefooted, her new thing.

To start this ambient, folk glam rock show off Goldfrapp started with tracks from their most recent album “Seventh Tree.” Most being rather slow and having a folk theme to them. “Happiness” got the crowd going and we could see a bit of Alison’s experimental streak coming through. Stomping her feet as if she was marching she do not do things by half.

Turning back the clock to tracks such as “Train”, “Strict Machine” and “Black Cherry” got the crowd out of their seats and dancing along as if they were in a darkened nightclub.

“Ooh La la” the bands most successful track to date, had one member of the audience in particular dancing away. A middle-aged man, second row from the front was first up on his feet showing his best dance moves off. Encouraging everyone to get up.

While watching them, you cannot help but be amazed by them. Switching guitars to get different sounds, using electric violins and the visual effects were spectacular. This band don’t just think about “music” they take what we think of as music, tear it up, throw it away and come up with something that can only be described as technical brilliance. This band formed in 1999 and still to this day keep producing mind-blowing material. I hope this band continue to do well as they are one of the best bands of the last ten years.

By Emma Jackson

www.myspace.com/goldfrapp



Click here to read more Goldfrapp related news, reviews & interviews!

Buy Goldfrapp CDs & Vinyl
Buy Goldfrapp MP3s
Buy Goldfrapp Tickets
Buy Goldfrapp Merch

[ read this article.. ]

Glastonbury Festival 26th - 29th June 2008 (live review)

For me music at festivals makes the perfect backdrop. It isn’t the sole reason for spending four days without a shower and waking up on hard ground, in a tent resembling the temperature of a greenhouse, and this fact is more prominent than ever at Glastonbury.
Arriving on site as a Glastonbury virgin, the scale of this iconic festival is almost incomprehensible. I read somewhere that to walk (unhindered and directly) from one side to the other would take an hour, in reality it’s longer… Not that I actually did it, this was a holiday! Anyway, I’ll stop boring you and will get on with some kind of a review. Here’s my diary of my four days spent as a Glastonbury resident.

Thursday
Arriving at midday and weighed down by my excessive amount of ‘girl’ baggage, it takes me about half an hour to reach my camp site. First on my ‘to do’ list… explore! Off we trekked to the far south corner of the site where Shangri-La, the Stone Circle and the new Tipi Field, can all be found. Sunbathing at the top of the Tipi Field is an experience in itself, apparently it is the only place at the festival which enables you to see the incredible view over the entire site, and with the sun shining and a classy cider in hand I knew this was going to be a weekend to remember (or not remember may be more appropriate).

For the evenings entertainment we made our way to the Stonebridge Bar in the Park area, where we were treated to 3 hours of pure cheese in the form of Guilty Pleasures. The fact that it had begun to pour with rain outside the tent didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits and the tent was bursting with everyone drinking, dancing and singing along to tracks from Dirty Dancing and literally having the ‘Time of Their Lives’ (sorry about that). I’m not sure what time we left the Park, all I know is we made our way to the backstage bar, where we continued until we were politely ejected and then collapsed fully clothed on to our tents.

Friday
Due to my sore head, dry mouth and general hangover, waking up to cooling rain was actually very welcome. After a coffee and breakfast I finally felt ready to face the music!

Vampire Weekend on the Other Stage
For such an early afternoon gig VW certainly drew a big crowd. The buzz surrounding this band has obviously done its job, but unfortunately for me the band fails to live up to their hype and they don’t really ignite the rain sodden crowd. The energy seems to be present on stage but it remains there and the audience remain static, watching in semi-boredom... Maybe the rain was dampening any potential enthusiasm?

Ben Folds on the Other Stage
After VW we stuck around to catch US singer-songwriter Ben Folds (this time without his five). I had my fingers firmly crossed that he’d treat the gathered masses to a ‘best of’ set featuring classics such as Brick and Army. Sadly Ben felt that Glastonbury would be the perfect opportunity to showcase new material and to have a jam?! I didn’t, so I left before the set ended.

Foals on the Other Stage
Foals take to the stage and instantly put a smile on my face. I had been waiting for a band that had the ability to whip the crowd up into a festival frenzy and Foals do it instantly. The enthusiasm of this band is highly contagious and as the intro to Cassius rings out the entirety of the Other Stage crowd throw their arms up and dance like their lives depend on it. This band is definitely made for festivals!

MGMT on the John Peel Stage
We make the long trek across sodden, muddy ground to the John Peel tent to try and bear witness to MGMT. A hugely hyped band who have attracted such a crowd to this now overflowing tent that the majority of those present have to watch the gig on giant screens outside, myself included! Sadly there aren’t any speakers outside, so although visually the performance looks amazing, aurally I have no idea. The music is quiet and muffled and even though the atmosphere flows out of the tent the music doesn’t. From all reports MGMT were incredible and were a huge hit, annoyingly I’ll never know.

Kings of Leon on the Pyramid Stage
My first experience of a Pyramid stage performance is given to me by one of my favourite rock bands of all time. Kings of Leon are incredible and are everything you could want from a rock band. Caleb’s vocals are stunningly perfect and the band is as tight as an Indie boys’ skinny jeans. KOL play hit after hit, giving the crowd exactly what they want. The atmosphere is genuinely electric and my first goosebump moment arrives during ‘Four Kicks’. This band is incredible live, and I leave with enough adrenaline in my