tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44057006379606163512024-03-19T01:13:29.774-07:00Downs Dad's gig reviewsFrom the author of 'Down's with the kids'Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-52239289072119726622019-10-11T08:52:00.000-07:002019-10-11T08:52:06.409-07:00That Curtis passion: The Murder Capital, The Dome, 10 October 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I didn't get a chance to see Joy Division because of my subdued life as a teenager in Hatfield but it doesn't matter because I saw some of that Curtis passion last night with the Murder Capital. They were so passionate they were crying at the end. They were only on for 45 minutes but it was mesmerizing. That's how you perform. I've always said there are only two bands that are so cool they don't need to talk to the audience - The Rolling Stones and the Stone Roses. Now we have the Murder Capital. Not so much cool. Serious but they didn't take themselves seriously. Wow. Edgy, edgy stuff. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-54929581810346020252019-07-23T12:03:00.002-07:002019-07-26T09:12:18.257-07:00Dancing in the forest: Latitude Festval, 18-21 July 2019.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Warning: This blog mentions alcoholic brand names but, for balance, I slag them off for their steep prices.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Festivals aren't just about the bands. Although I have a list of 22 very good acts (see below) from this year's Latitude, I want to write about the dancing. This isn’t about the magnificent dancing in front of bands. There’s a woman who goes every year and she has a very distinctive style of dancing. This year I plucked up the courage and told her that her dancing is amazing. What the world needs now is more dancing people like her.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Carling Export bar </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">No – this is about places like the Carling Export bar – a pop-up wooden thing that has a disco. And what a disco. At any time until 2am you can find yourself dancing next to an 87-year-old man, or someone my age who is also wearing fairy lights and a torch, or a three year-old girl and her parents. The dance floor is often packed. This year we also danced around the bar itself on several occasions. We danced up to the bar. And danced out again having handed over £6.50 for a pint. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Gin bar boogie</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then there’s the Tanqueray gin bar where we ourselves started the disco. The music was really like going back to the 1970s and passers by were left bemused as we got up and boogied. I’d only had one gin. Well, they were £9 a pop. So the emphasis is on the music rather than the booze. But what a disco. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A few years ago, Mumford and Sons played and refused to let anyone else perform whilst they were on. To escape this festival version of Enver Hoxha's Albania we danced in the Export Bar but also in the Alcove, a tent near the campsite. It was better than a gig. And, hopefully, something that Mumford and Sons would have completely disapproved of. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ketel bar disco </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But this year the best disco was the Ketel Vodka stand. In the Faraway Forest area of Latitude, I pointed it out to my brother-in-law - and that we should go down there - and on the spur of the moment we did. And, with another £9 in sucked into the coffers, we danced to some amazing music. I was totally happy and completely aware that you don’t get to do this in daily life. It’s a festival and this was a special time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, when I got back and people asked me who the best bands were, I was tempted to say it was actually the discos that seem to spring up without warning all over the Latitude site. At those prices, you're not going to get smashed but you will hear a smash hit remixed by a talented impromptu disco DJ. </span><br />
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Latitude 18-21 July 2019. Bands seen in order of merit</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Julia Jacklin </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Martha</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Local Honeys </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parcels</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nadine Shah</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neneh Cherry </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squid </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teleman </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everything Everything</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Futureheads</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teskey Brothers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anna Calvi</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Japanese House</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snapped Ankles </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cat Power</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elder Island </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fur </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jenny Lewis </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Khruangbin. </span></li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-38187649001929088762019-07-13T04:02:00.001-07:002019-07-13T05:07:16.668-07:00No dicking about. Mattiel: Earth, Dalston, 12 July 2019<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">21.59. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">That's the time Mattiel came off stage. After the encore. They ripped through their songs like they'd read the curfew notes wrong - and finished an hour early. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I love that. Too many bands, with only two albums to their name, fill, pad and do cover versions. But Mattiel - the band is called after the surname of lead singer Mattiel Brown - gave it up without feeling like they had to go on longer than needs be. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I've often talked about things like stage presence and reacting with the crowd. Mattiel Brown has natural stage presence. Gig buddy Steve reckoned she might have skipped a bit too much but I say that anything that gets someone around a stage and stops them being a 'shoe-gazer' is OK in my book. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The two albums, 'Mattiel' and 'Satis Factory’ - the latter released last month - are certainly worth a listen. I think Mattiel's worked hard to cut out the cliches in the lyrics and the band have developed a distinctive sound. But it also sounds like it's straight out of Atlanta, Georgia. And we got to hear it in Dalston. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After the gig, she came to the back of the hall and signed merchandise. I think she'll soon be too big and famous to do that. And so, last night, we were the lucky ones. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-3319735838742515002018-07-23T04:42:00.000-07:002018-09-04T03:27:59.364-07:00The Killers 0 - Intimacy 2. Trojan Sound System: Latitude Festival, 14 July 2018<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fifty years young </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What is it with me and the Killers? In 2010 I needed the loo at the V Festival and came back to find I'd lost my friend in the crowd waiting to see the band. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Festival-tired, I retired to the big tent for a rest. And </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I found myself watching Peter Doherty put on an intimate, fantastic performance; made all the sweeter by the fact that I'd stumbled over it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fast forward to Latitude 2018 and it was impossible to get to see the stage where the Killers were obviously killing it. So I went with instinct and turned up to see an act called Trojan Sound System. Except there were only four of us in the tent. There were 40,000 watching the Killers. But soon the reggae started and three guys came to the microphones and began. Ten minutes later the tent had gone from four punters to 400. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Trojan effort </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'd stumbled again. My plans to go back to the Killers were scuppered as these guys put on such a great show to celebrate 50 years of the Trojan record label. Wikipedia says: 'Trojan was instrumental in introducing reggae to a global audience and by 1970 had secured a series of major UK chart hits.'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think you had to be of a certain age because when they played Night Nurse by Gregory Isaacs - and the three singers did their own interpretation - we all knew all the words and the little tent was heaving with nostalgia. And then the same happened with Dawn Penn's No, No, No. I had such a fantastic time, all on my own. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Discovery</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2000 I bought a few Trojan box sets and remember, all that summer, only listening to reggae, to the exclusion of everything else. I love some of the songs that the box sets introduced me to, for instance, Bangarang by Lester Sterling and Stranger Cole. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But back to the gig and the Dad dancing was pretty bad. I include myself in this because I'm no dancer at the best of times; but when attempting to bop to the Trojan beat...well I'm glad that people were using their phones to video the Killers and not us. Yet it didn't matter. A man near me, probably in his late 60s, was doing a very-unreggae-ish Highland Fling. And the really cool security guard who came along and made all the right movements (He was younger but I suspect that he was feeling nostalgia for his parents' record collection) - he didn't care we couldn't move right. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Listen up </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The lead singer kept getting the DJ to stop and wind the records back to the start because he wanted to keep telling us that there was love in the tent, on the anniversary of Trojan's birth. And it's made me want to listen to lots more reggae. Who knows: perhaps I'll spend the rest of the summer listening to only reggae. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm excited about the next time the Killers headline a festival. I'd love to see them, but suspect I might get distracted by something more intimate and memorable that I stumble across. </span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-87351754840868155332018-04-22T23:49:00.004-07:002018-04-25T05:13:45.323-07:00The Pied Piper of cover bands. The Scratch Band: Water Rats, 21 April 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Scratch Band belting out another winner</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The thing is: I used to work with the lead singer, Pamela. I'm so glad I didn't have to write a review where I had to - rather embarrassingly - report that her band 'were OK.' So, I declare an interest. But I also declare that I'm interested...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because they were fantastic. They aren't just a run-of-the-mill covers band. OK; content-wise, they play out diverse numbers from yesteryear (Martha and the Muffins) and nowadays (Noel Gallagher). But lead singer Pamela's great in a party / wedding scenario because it's like she gets under your skin and you have to start dancing. Like the Pied Piper of covers bands. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In these reviews I know I keep banging on about stage presence and the importance of 'talking between the tracks' but Pamela is so good at that - and at getting the crowd going. The band had birthday guests</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> dancing from the start. T</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">here was no time to take a breath. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So if you want to book in a band for your event then think about <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.the-scratch-band.co.uk/"><span style="color: red;">the Scratch Band</span></a>.</span> And declare an interest...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-24444821120487907452017-07-18T12:49:00.001-07:002017-07-19T01:36:10.899-07:00At the height of their talent. Fleet Foxes: Latitude Festival, 16 July 2017<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some friends and I were lucky enough to see Fleet Foxes in Berlin in 2009. In a small venue. T</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">hey had nice long </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">beards and even longer pauses between tracks, with drummer Josh Tillman (now Father John Misty) cracking jokes. I loved it because it was perfect for a small, intimate stage with one album under their belts.<br /></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Robin Pecknold, Fleet Foxes</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2017, they're on their third album, they have smaller beards, Tillman has gone and singer Robin Pecknold has been to college. And all of those experiences seem to have only served to send them to the stratospheric level of festival headliners. This was their territory 100%. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They have purpose and are at the height of their talent right now. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">T</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">hey kept a punishing schedule going, mos</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">tly segueing between songs for an hour and a half. Fleet Foxes have</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> turned into a slick machine that sees the band completely in control and in total sync with each other, with spell-binding stage presence. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Standing there watching and listening to the harmonies on </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mykonos is one of the gig moments of my life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wonderful. And we were lucky enough to be there. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-28917944719915624342017-04-05T00:58:00.002-07:002017-04-05T12:58:00.499-07:00£10 for all this simplicity? Samantha Crain: Lexington, Angel - 4 April 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXXfAgdI7tGrgnbMvOs1Y6fR2ei1pWyJ3pTKVfeLT-JnvbO9a-HnkDqTVb2GrFXnCKdt6P3Hgogtj83pVd6Fa4IN0bo5tupUW49PuxWzWSfxnuTySjNtuFnH-kfftENcEaSX10nmNCP6c/s1600/7369070.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXXfAgdI7tGrgnbMvOs1Y6fR2ei1pWyJ3pTKVfeLT-JnvbO9a-HnkDqTVb2GrFXnCKdt6P3Hgogtj83pVd6Fa4IN0bo5tupUW49PuxWzWSfxnuTySjNtuFnH-kfftENcEaSX10nmNCP6c/s200/7369070.jpeg" width="199" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Is it me or am I starting to crave the simple things in life? Like doing something spontaneous and booking a gig ticket with two days to go? Like it costing £10. Like the fact that the stage times were already on the venue's website two days before showtime. Or like the burger and fries purchased downstairs before the gig. Like the small audience in an intimate setting. All of that's great but to top it off <a href="http://thelexington.co.uk/events/samantha-crain/"><span style="color: red;">Samantha Crain</span> </a>was talented, side-splittingly witty, interesting, endearing and entertaining. You had to be there. Luckily I was - with gig-buddy-Steve. Samantha Crain has a bunch of songs that come to life when performed live; one (Red Sky, Blue Mountain) is sung in her native American Choctaw tongue, a language taught to her by her grandmother. And on top of that we had a bit of room around us because we weren't crushed in like you usually are. And we got home quickly. A perfect evening. And oh so simple. It was so easy to enjoy so much talent. </span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-34977318718773370512017-02-03T09:04:00.000-08:002017-04-05T01:01:41.015-07:00Hang on - Is it 1969? Hidden Charms: Dingwalls, Camden - 2 February 2017<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Yes in 1969 and Hidden Charms in 2017</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was five or six when the post-summer-of-love and pre-progressive-rock thing happened: it was called psychedelia. So I missed out, but here we were in 2017 with a bunch of twenty-somethings moshing away to a band of what I can only describe as beautiful hippies. Long hair, friendly, talented. Hidden Charms have a natural stage presence and I'm sure when they have a longer repertoire they will be a big band. That's if enough youngsters are willing to embrace the psychedelic. The first thing I did on the bus home was to watch Yes on YouTube perform 'Beyond and Before' from 1969. It was as if I'd just watched them live in Camden as well. </span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-32674515750646294072016-07-03T01:25:00.003-07:002016-07-03T01:53:04.775-07:00The unexpected saves the day. Cuban Brothers at the Hyde Park event - 1 July 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>'The Cuban Brothers will make you laugh, sing along, cry with joy, wet your pants and shake your booty.'</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you've ever been to a festival, how often did the headline miserably fail to live up to expectations, only for you to discover a real gem in a tiny tent? For me, that's happened often. But nothing like on Friday night. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have to say that Patti Smith was underwhelming. Sounding good, but there was no moment of magic between her and me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And so my brother-in-law and I nipped over to the Bacardi stage to watch the <a href="http://thecubanbrothers.com/"><span style="color: red;">Cuban Brothers</span></a>. It sounded interesting, but for quite a while, no one came on stage. There was just sound from a DJ. We nearly left. But we didn't and we lucked out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Onto the stage came a storm of LGBT / Los Angeles Latino insanity which I could hardly believe I was seeing. People doing spinning jumps in sparkly costumes, a man in a big white suit with a boxer's belt and acerbic gags; and another in the gayest hat you've seen this side of the Castro. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before long forty people were dancing, laughing, high-fiving and having a post-Brexit vote commiseration party. It went on for about forty minutes and it made us late for Massive Attack. We didn't care. Even after the Cuban Brothers left the podium, everyone danced out of the little gate that keeps the stage enclosed and we high-fived the security guard. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Massive Attack were underwhelming. Sounded good but after what we'd seen, we knew it was time to go home early. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Are the best things in life free? I wonder...I think the best things in life are unexpected. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-49706525473466418902015-10-08T19:45:00.000-07:002015-10-09T00:19:26.934-07:00The disappearing moshpit: Steve Hackett: Shepherd's Bush Empire - 07 October 2015<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikhGHf_YzUF_guMmDgz97D9Nh0Vh7YmMkc0bhWYCzJW-R875VZN_nR5HA3K1pYwJqdUMf38Z7t9pAuQZbUAh6y89IStq61ZNG5rj3qFPD2kilwIN91IX6cNRUw-kMeQR3w_fCbHnOaTuw/s1600/steve-hackett-1421159263-article-0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikhGHf_YzUF_guMmDgz97D9Nh0Vh7YmMkc0bhWYCzJW-R875VZN_nR5HA3K1pYwJqdUMf38Z7t9pAuQZbUAh6y89IStq61ZNG5rj3qFPD2kilwIN91IX6cNRUw-kMeQR3w_fCbHnOaTuw/s320/steve-hackett-1421159263-article-0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I fainted in front of Phil Collins in 1980. Did I swoon to his version of ‘A groovy kind of love’? Well, luckily no. PC was still the Genesis frontman at the time and 35 years ago, at the Brighton Centre, I lost consciousness because I got encased in a very sweaty moshpit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s hard to believe now, that as a teen prog fan, I girated around to the full twenty minute version of ‘Supper’s Ready’; and last night, as Genesis’s guitarist (until 1977) Steve Hackett, played his set, it was seating room only. The seats in the stalls were pyloned in. There was even a half-time break so that the predominantly male audience could relieve that 50+ year-old bladders.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve seen Steve before doing just Genesis numbers so last night I was there for his solo stuff. Look: it’s deeply proggy but it took me back to a time listening to these songs with my sister’s boyfriend’s brother in his house in Brighton. For some, ‘Shadow of the Hierophant’ is all prog nonsense. But last night, Steve Hackett’s guitar-playing was so good that this behemoth track was mesmerising.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I actually found the Genesis material disappointing because, if I’m honest, the set was for people who are even more Genesis-purists than me – there was nothing that wasn’t originally recorded before 1974. But Steve did it again with Firth of Fifth, to finish the evening. Another mesmerising performance. It was worth going just for that.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Collins and Hackett back in the day</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then the old men cheerily emptied their bladders again after the encore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, on levels one and two, you can actually stand if you want to, up against a wall. I did this and obviously used the wall for leverage, being over 50, for the whole three hours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because I just wish, in some small way, that I was down the front again, moshing and fainting to Steve Hackett…and Phil Collins. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-64677080611182030262015-07-21T05:53:00.002-07:002015-07-22T03:34:06.594-07:00A bit more piss-whipping? Latitude festival, 16-19 July 2015. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I fell into conversation with brother-in-law Andrew, just as this festival was coming to an end. We'd had a 'moment'. You know, when all of the factors come together to make a perfect festival performance. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSBMplyXqP-QFPGvXAzjG5UZC5WZF_HgYPKnCQJCVK7sm7xIUsmdGX9kRzItziqmbdxIqMB-NzCbFNMyLZZjhyphenhyphendpYjK4ehaVUXdtqkMmvr7JphgjNVjfWvp-drJSfyTtkDD-n1DP1szoOk/s1600/sstor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSBMplyXqP-QFPGvXAzjG5UZC5WZF_HgYPKnCQJCVK7sm7xIUsmdGX9kRzItziqmbdxIqMB-NzCbFNMyLZZjhyphenhyphendpYjK4ehaVUXdtqkMmvr7JphgjNVjfWvp-drJSfyTtkDD-n1DP1szoOk/s320/sstor.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The band? <a href="http://www.stornoway.eu/"><span style="color: red;">Stornoway</span></a>. The venue? The tiny 'other voices' stage, with a few hundred inside a pulsatingly hot room, with loads outside trying to get in. All the boxes were ticked: the music, the venue, the banter, the intimacy - and - the crowd. That crowd were lovely. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But...we discussed whether the whole festival was a bit, well...too lovely. How can that be? Well, on the Saturday night, a young man brushed past me on a bridge crossing the lake, and then came back to fully apologise in the most grovelling way. The teens camping near us confirmed that they preferred the Latitude vibe (man) to say Reading or the V Festival. It was fantastic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But, we're veterans of those other festivals. From 2005-2012, our group went to<span style="color: red;"> <a href="http://www.vfestival.com/"><span style="color: red;">the V.</span></a></span> We went because the bands were good and some of us hadn't yet entered our sixth decade alive. We've since retired from the V...But, in 2013 and 2014, various members of our group had to chaperone teens at <a href="http://www.readingfestival.com/"><span style="color: red;">Reading. </span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Those festivals have an edge. A few years ago, during MGMT, a cardboard pint of urine struck me on the neck and drenched two nearby-standers. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, to put it bluntly, we've been pissed-whipped and exposed to a feral end-of-the-world young people's hades.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> After that, seeing a</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> good performance was all-the-more deserved and earned. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At Latitude, perhaps the way to look at it is to say that the reason our group loved Ezra Furman, the Vaccines, the Charlatans, and many other bands, is because we've done our time in hell. We bloody deserved this. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, if it's any consolation, we got told off for building a fire far too high. Naturally, the security guards were apologetic in asking us to put it out. So, we were the worst behaved at the whole Latitude festival. Practically feral.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Below is my list of bands I saw in order of how much I enjoyed them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But forget what I said when I started this blog. Latitude was amazing. I'll take nice, polite people any day. Just like Stornoway. A fantastic memory. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Stornaway </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ezra furman </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charlatans </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Vaccines</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two Bears </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Femi Kuti</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rob Delaney (comedy)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Margaret Thatcher quiz show (cabaret)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">King Creosote </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Django Django</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Speak Galactic </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Boomtown Rats</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Manic Street Preachers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alt j </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ivo Graham (comedy)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Liane La Havas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Laura Marling</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Black rivers</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Give us an anecdote", this guy next to me shouted as Courtney Barnett addressed the audience after her second song. Painfully shy, it seemed that her clever lyrics were in direct disproportion to what she had to say to the crowd. But then a strange thing happened. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">She visibly relaxed and started talking bollocks. Just anything that came into her head, and somehow it worked. And, somehow, it also improved the music. Courtney Barnett and her band became progressively intimate with the audience, at one point saying they loved us and at other times telling us to bugger off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And when she gets going and gets the confidence up, she's fantastic. So, to the lyrics. They remind me of early Elvis Costello, who sang: "The chairman of this boredom is a compliment collector. I'd like to be his funeral director." (Opportunity, 1979). Courtney: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"I'm having an existential time crisis. Want bliss, daylight savings won't fix this mess. Under-worked and over-sexed, I must express my disinterest." (Pedestrian at Best, 2015) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Very clever. And all supplemented with a great show....after about four songs. It was all uphill from there; and not an uphill struggle. At times, she was practically shouting and as the evening went on, this mingled with the bollocks chat to make it really special. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Which is a shame, because the next time she comes over from Australia, she'll play a much bigger venue than this. The only advice I'd give Courtney, when she does start filling stadia, is to remember what made her so good tonight; that is, to bash out the songs, ignore the anecdotes and to keep talking bollocks. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-24646861573618190682015-01-09T03:45:00.002-08:002015-01-09T04:01:50.885-08:00J Mascis and my curly fingertips: Scala - 8 Jan 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWnKSRqqsT5I9dOOCSmjl5CraZi1enjgjdgoqZhYoU50XRlZvVErERPxSVTxM9F4z7YZylYhY_Ld4Y63F6_csoZjYGpOudxuYVXIvZM_W2hrKo3q20m61q5Yn6qB9eNk8G8LxhGaWz7qQ/s1600/105742_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWnKSRqqsT5I9dOOCSmjl5CraZi1enjgjdgoqZhYoU50XRlZvVErERPxSVTxM9F4z7YZylYhY_Ld4Y63F6_csoZjYGpOudxuYVXIvZM_W2hrKo3q20m61q5Yn6qB9eNk8G8LxhGaWz7qQ/s1600/105742_large.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My fingertips are trying to creak themselves back towards my knuckles, as instinctively I don’t want to write what I’m about to type. Last night I saw someone with zero personality, no stage presence and nothing to say to the audience between songs; no one apart from the front row could see him properly as he sat down to do his acousticy set.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I loved every minute.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve always lived by the mantra that there are only two bands that don’t need to talk to the audience and interact. One is the Rolling Stones. The other is the Stone Roses. Both are as cool as a stone. Everyone else must, you know, get involved. Whip em up into a storm. You see too many bands who look like rabbits in the headlights between songs as if it’s a massive shock that they now have to talk to the audience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But J Mascis doesn’t embrace any of that. Like a curmudgeonly friend who deigns to grace you with his presence on curry night, he mumbled his way through the talky bits and practically stormed off – and on again for the encore. He’s not a people-person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’d been warned. Earlier in the day he was on Lauren Laverne’s Six Music show and Lauren had done sterling work trying to get something out of the mono-syllabic Mascis. She did well, keeping Six Music from becoming ‘Dead Air Live’. It was embarrassing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But all my prejudices were thrown asunder and now my fingertips are starting to relax because boy can he play guitar. My gig-buddy Steve wondered whether he overdid the fuzzbox on tracks such as Heal the Star, but I loved the distorted sound he put into it. It was loud and raw and not actually that acousticy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">J played for about 75 minutes, which would have taken much concentration given it was totally solo. Nice for the sound tech guys who didn't even have to say: "One/two"; more like "One" - it was easy to set up but complicated to perform. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A guitar virtuoso session. After the gig, three women excitedly exclaimed that there wasn't a queue for the loo. That's because this gig was an unashamably male, stroke chin (probably with ironic beard affixed) event. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bloody brilliant. I'll never look down my nose at a non-chatty artist again. Promise (Fingertips; behave yourselves now)</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-67711215337478398032014-10-23T01:46:00.001-07:002014-10-23T08:45:41.973-07:00Memories of Franki Valli on the birthday bash <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Teleman: Heaven, 22 October 2014</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My Sis and I aren't getting each other birthday presents any more. Instead, twice a year, we're going to a gig together. And last night, watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZHCTo2eCsU"><span style="color: red;">Teleman</span></a>, my mind went back to the first gig we went to together. I've realised it was 38 or 39 years ago. OK, we were kids, but all the same; long time...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So we were understandably concerned about the 'in-crowd' last night at a with-it, hip venue. (Alright; stop that. You never talked like that, even in the 70s). No need to worry though. Music's changed and the people in the band are now just as likely to witness their parent's generation in the audience, possibly moshing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The band we went to see in the mid-seventies? Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. And strangely, a few weeks ago, Six Music played a track of theirs; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsSoDsxB7Yo"><span style="color: red;">The Night</span></a>. And what a song that is. I often think of "Oh what a night; December 1963", mainly because I was one at the time and it was a very cold winter apparently. But if you listen to the Night, you'll see that Franki has legacy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He could have easily come on stage and performed with Teleman last night, who were better than when I saw them at the Green Man festival in August. (OK; it sounds like I'm a Teleman groupie, but remember I'm old enough to be their Dad). They played a longer set and that can sometimes spell disaster. But, in this case, more was definitely more. I just hope they can build on the momentum and one day I can say that I saw this big band at a small venue. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy birthday Sis. Let's book another. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-14319476142476427112014-09-16T09:27:00.001-07:002014-09-16T10:30:39.455-07:00ELO and that Adidas bag <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jeff's Lynne's ELO: Hyde Park, 14 September 2014</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I just got back from a downtown party.....The lure of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/15/jeff-lynnes-elo-review-radio-2-hyde-park-london-electric-light-orchestra"><span style="color: red;">ELO playing their first gig in 28 years</span></a> was enough to see me leaving a tout almost in tears as I got a bargain last-minute ticket. (If only he knew I'd have paid much more...) I'm so glad I made the effort, not least because mixed with the nostalgia was a fantastic sound. Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy, the two ELOers present, were on top form. This, despite their three-decade-absence. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And during 'Livin' Thing' I turned from being 51 to 15. The memories flooded back:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Matthew gives me Chris's copy of 'A New World Record' (there was a taping rotation system). He has it in his Adidas bag. I tell him that is a poor transit vehicle for an LP. The cover's edges are buckled</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chris writes the track names of the above record on a tape box (so perhaps he taped it for me. What about the rotation system? Bear with me; these are old memories)</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chris and Richard laugh when I wear my 'Wish I was a Wild West Hero' badge at school</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My Sis and I go to Wembley Arena to see ELO in the big spaceship hamburger</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It would have been amazing and nostalgic on Sunday even if they’d been rubbish. But it was a great stage show, every bit as good as Wembley in 1978. My brother-in-law and I kept looking at our watches as we both started to worry that 80 minutes wasn’t nearly long enough for the back-catalogue we wanted to hear. So, there was no ‘Rockaria’ and no ‘I Wish I was a Wild West Hero’, among others. No matter; I’ve been listening to 'I Wish I was...' on repeat every since and I’m still really in a classroom 36 years ago with my home-made badge on. Thank you ELO. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Ride the range all the day till the first fading light.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Be with my western girl round the fire, oh, so bright.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'd be the Indian's friend, let them live to be free,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ridin' into the sunset, I wish I could be."</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-74022012776143425222014-04-30T05:05:00.002-07:002015-07-09T09:15:46.876-07:00Yes: New Oxford Theatre; 29 April 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 1980 I shelled out 99p on a second-hand album at J and J Records, Hatfield. Last night I slogged my way through tube-strike-hit London, and on to Oxford, to see the band who made that album. And last night, they played that self-same album in its entirety.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The band? Yes. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The album? Close to the Edge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Getting into Yes in the 1980s was deeply unfashionable. Why didn't I listen to Depeche Mode or Siouxsie and the Banshees? Well, I did listen to those bands as well, but Yes are my guilty pleasure. And I was hooked from the moment I heard the title track of Close to the Edge. Last night was a challenge as it was the first item that they played on the first night of the tour. It was a bit rusty. But half way through I had a "hairs on the back of the neck moment". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The big thing was Steve Howe's guitar. I went all the way to Oxford because their London gig is at the Albert Hall, where the sound is awful, because amplified electric guitars bounce badly off those mushrooms in the ceiling. Last night I had a great view and the sound was perfect. Steve is 67 years old and he played his guitars like the man in his prime that he surely is. The hairs on the back of the neck were practically turning into a 70s long hairdo all by themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, the moral of the story is: Don't turn down the opportunity to spend 99p. OK, that might be difficult in the 99p shop, but, perhaps you know what I mean. Because 34 years later, I bless the day I made an impulse buy in J and J Records, Hatfield. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405700637960616351.post-80197175011729588372014-03-10T15:00:00.000-07:002014-05-02T07:18:26.433-07:00John Grant; Roundhouse 9 Mar 14<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0c0XkCuwjkByltQJGtsZqqPO_O_M8PCshY4q6Y1hpAg-0LNaox2nXn0pGihDk3ieNGCcE__M-d9UEQX4djmXHW4tmb4KA6NLzd4f4RxwUcuzUwCbAjMgrD1niTx6h8falEJJMd6ElHiJ/s1600/jg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0c0XkCuwjkByltQJGtsZqqPO_O_M8PCshY4q6Y1hpAg-0LNaox2nXn0pGihDk3ieNGCcE__M-d9UEQX4djmXHW4tmb4KA6NLzd4f4RxwUcuzUwCbAjMgrD1niTx6h8falEJJMd6ElHiJ/s1600/jg.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Grant; Roundhouse 9 Mar 14</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Armistead Maupin described big, bearded gay men as "bears" in his Tales from the City books. There were plenty there last night but the bear-in-chief is John Grant. I have wanted to see him for a while because I'm a sucker for his ballads, but it was his vocal range, and the band's banging out of the numbers, during smoky silouettes, that was the surprise. The two best songs, in my humble, non-bearlike opinion, were "It doesn't matter to him" and the title track from album two, "Pale Green Ghosts". The voice and the tempo made them the winners. The one-we'd-been-waiting-for, GMF, disappointed. In fact, the only downer was perhaps the longish encore. The ABBA number was potentially superfluous, but, as everyone knows, if a bear arrives at the (round) house, you feed it..................</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0