Oasis @ Wembley Stadium, 11th July 2009

Trying not to look back in anger


So my third trip to Wembley in a week meant that I was prepared for the layout if not the crowd...


Annoyingly The Enemy, who were billed as part of the support, weren't playing so we we hung about with nothing to do except eat popcorn until the first support act finally came on. Reverend and the Makers are a good band - a bit political for my liking but at least they have something to say. The frontman worked the crowd really well and I'm tempted to download a couple of their songs if not the whole album. I felt a bit sorry for them as they were obviously only allowed to use half the stage, but they made the most of it.


In the absence of The Enemy (boo), Kasabian were up next. Now, I'd been impressed with them at Live Earth and they certainly got the crowd going mad, but it was just a bit too heavy for me. Call me a musical lightweight but I like to be able to sing along to the songs and I couldn't do that with Kasabian.

Anyway, on to the main event - the Gallagher brothers and whoever else is making up the band at the moment (apparently they're on their 5th drummer). Liam, with his charismatic stance and his vaguely tent-like mac was instantly recognisable even from way up at the back.

Back in the 90s I was most definitely in the Oasis camp in the battle of the Britpop bands - while I like Country House as much as the next person, What's The Story was the album (on cassette!!) that never left my walkman. And I'd always wanted to see them live, so I'd been looking forward to this for about 14 years (ouch, that hurt to admit to). Their stage show is like the complete antithesis of Take That - no showmanship at all, and certainly no elephants. Just the band standing there, playing their instruments and singing. Back to basics if you like. Which I do like, but when you're up in level 5, 80,000 people away from the stage you kind of wouldn't mind the odd elephant as the band are about the size of ants at the other end of the stadium.


Anyhow, it really is about the music and we were lucky not to suffer from the sound problems that they'd had previously on the tour. The back catalogue of the band is super amazing - my favourite songs on the night had to be Morning Glory, The Masterplan and the magical version of Don't Look Back In Anger, featuring the audience doing all the singing accompanied by Noel on the guitar, was very special indeed. There's something about 80k people doing something in unison that is somehow much more fulfilling than it should be.


But before I finish, a couple of words about the crowd, the majority of whom were horrific. I'd specifically gone for the seats in the stand to avoid the moshing and bottle throwing on the pitch (it's official - I am old and boring!). Where we were sitting, however, we still got covered in beer from flying plastic glasses. Walking round the place wasn't nice either, it was like a bad night out in Magaluf with big gangs of completely wasted guys (the ones sat next to me had practically passed out), unable to walk straight and happy to fight anyone they might stumble into. And that really ruined the night for me - the final straw was when the guy in front of me clambered up to stand on his seat and proceeded to take off his shirt, blocking my view of the stage with his particularly unattractive pasty, sweating naked back. Yuck.

Because of the crowd I really struggled to enjoy the gig, although I'm pleased I went and I enjoyed the music. We even left before the end (and I NEVER do that) because I couldn't bear the thought of being stuck in the crowd waiting for the tube.

Final scores on the doors in the battle of the Britpop Bands rematch in the Noughties has to be Blur 3 Oasis 1. Maybe Blur just sound better after a break, but I think my teenage allegiances have finally switched.

Paulo Nutini @ The Roundhouse, 10th July 2009

Give me some Candy


Now, I don't like surprises as a rule, but I always break that rule when the surprises are nice. And winning tickets to things is particularly nice. Thanks to the lovely people at Diet Coke I got to go and see Paulo Nutini as part of the iTunes festival at The Roundhouse in Camden. For free. Awesome.

The Roundhouse is host to 31 nights of free musical entertainment (well, free if you can get hold of a ticket), and there is a really mixed bag of artists performing from the retro (a-ha and Simple Minds) through the big names (Oasis and Kanye West) to the new kids on the block (metephorically speaking, unfortunately NKOTB aren't making an appearance...).

So I won't spend too much time on the support acts. Milow was up first and is apparently from Belgium, which always earns brownie points from me. There were obviously some fans in the house - according to the intro he's very big in France - and he seems very nice. I'd classify his music as Jack Johnson-esque and you can check out his myspace here. Next up was Marina and The Diamonds, who again seemed lovely until she started signing. Least said soonest mended...not my kind of thing.


Finally, after we had seen him give quite possibly the least helpful interview in the world ever to Fearne Cotton, Paulo Nutini took to the stage. I have it from a reliable source that he only sings when he's tanked up and I can quite believe it He sings as if he were a 70 year old drunken pub singer and the only thing he has to hold him up is the mic stand. It doesn't make for the best visual attraction as he spent much of the set hunched over, eyes closed, forcing the music out of himself, but he did sound pretty good.


I prefer his first album to his new material - his current single, Candy, does nothing for me - but I think I'm alone in that one as it's been hugely successful. He opened with New Shoes,which is my favourite and the reason I bought his first album, and opened the encore with a great sing along of Last Request. A really enjoyable evening, so thank you Paulo!

You can download the live EP of Paulo Nutini's performance at the iTunes Festival now

The Killers @ The Royal Albert Hall, 6th July 2009

Killing me softly

I was so excited that I managed to get tickets to see The Killers perform live as I’d been trying to see them for the best part of a year and had never been able to get tickets. Everyone always raves about them, which can be a bit of a double edged sword as it sets expectations quite high and I have a bit of a tendency to take against things that everyone else likes as a point of principle. I’m pleased to report, however, that the Killers are indeed something to write home about.

It was the third time I’d been to the Royal Albert Hall (well, the 4th if you count the time I went there for a Methodist church youth group sports day, but I don’t so let’s just call it 3) and the first time I haven’t sat up in the Gods – sitting in the stalls you’re much closer to the action. The RAH is a nice refined place for a gig. There’s no rushing for your seats, just a nice drink in the bar beforehand and no big bouncers, just ladies of a certain age who are very happy to trust you when you tell them where you're sitting.

In fact, it's so refined there that we decided not to listen to the first warm up act (the Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank apparently) and by mistake missed the start of the second support act, which was rather randomly the comedian Jimmy Carr. I think it was quite a tough crowd, probably not helped by the fact that he seemed to be reading off a clip board, but he did say some very funny thing, which I suppose is to be expected!


Anyway, when The Killers came on the whole place went absolutely mad. They were recording the evening for a DVD (The Killers - Live at the Royal Albert Hall I suspect) and I really hope they got a shot of the mexican wave of people standing up as they started the first song.

I was quite surprised by the range of fans that were there - everything from 10 year old kids to to people in their 60s, dancing along with their hands in the air. teh Killers really should be unfashionable - apart from front man Brandon Flowers who has coolness and charisma by the bucket load, the rest of the band look like they would happily fit into a 70s rock band like Slade, and their sound does have an element of dad rock and a significant serving of cheese. However, the music that they produce is just so damn good that it seems only the most bitter and twisted can reist their charms. Apparently Pete Waterman and Kanye West were both spotted in the audience, which just proves the breadth of their appeal.

The set was peppered with the hits from their first 2 albums, but most of the music came from their third, Day and Age. I have to say that I don't think D&A is as strong as the others, alhough it does have a couple of stand out tracks. But hearing them play live - the energy the band gave out and got back in return was incredible - just lifted all the music up. Highlights were (predictably) Read My Mind, which is my favourite Killers track EVER, and Mr Brightside, which is just amazing. The band really perform, with Mr Flowers strutting all over the stage, even turning up in the organ loft much to the delight of those sitting behind the stage. There was also quite a lot of chat, with the band thanking London for being the place that it all started (always a smart move) and talking a bit about how the band formed.

I guess I can safely say that seeing The Killers live was worth waiting for. They are just one of those bands that just make you feel happy when they're playing, and there aren't many of those to the dozen. The DVD will definitely be on my Christmas list.

My guess is that The Killers DVD will be out at some point this year

Take That @ Wembley Stadium, 4th & 5th July 2009

Back For Good? Most definitely!

So, continuing my 90’s nostalgia trip, I went to see the last 2 dates of the Take That Circus tour. Both nights were very different experiences but both amazing – on Saturday I went as a grown up and sat in the seats at the back, and on Sunday I became the teenager I never was and joined the queue outside Wembley in the morning to get to the front barrier and see the show up close, but more of that later.

Supporting Take That was my favourite singer/songwriter Gary Go, and as Wembley is essentially his home turf, I was expecting a great show. On Saturday I had a great view of the whole stadium and I have to say I was incredibly excited to see him playing to such a big audience (especially as the last time I saw him play there were probably about 30 people there (Cambridge, 30/05/09), so the step up to about 20,000 was a big one). It was obvious that a lot of the people up in the stands didn’t know his music but hopefully I didn’t put them off by singing along to all the songs. I was really impressed with how he and the band filled the stage – Gary sounded really confident and the music was great. The set list was the same on both nights:

Open Arms
So So
Engines
Black And White Days
Life Gets In The Way
Heart and Soul
Wonderful

I have to admit that my attendance on Sunday and the associated queuing was all in support of MrG…myself and the other self-styled Go Go Girls with banners in tow wanted to see him on the stadium stage and let him know that he had some of his own fans in the house. Queuing from 6am (I have to admit that I joined in a little later but I did bring biscuits) secured us a place at the front barrier but it was every man (or should I say woman) for themselves when the doors opened – TT fans can be vicious!! So saying we met some really nice people in the queue, some of whom were converted GG fans after seeing him play at other dates on the tour. And seeing him play from the front was even better, although we didn’t have a great view of the rest of the band because of the set up of the stage. All I can say is that Gary deserves to be very successful and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one day he will be playing Wembley again on his own tour (Gary – if you’re reading this please have a thought for the Go Go Girls when this happens and make sure that we can get tickets before it sells out LOL!). On both nights after the show I overheard other people comparing him to Bono and U2, which is a pretty high accolade. Looking around in cyberspace I know that Gary has gained a lot of new fans through this tour so fingers crossed for his new single, which is out later this month.

The second support act on both nights was Lady GaGa and I have to say that the slot has just confirmed to me that she is really not my cup of tea. I understand from my new friends I made in the queue that she was booed from the front on Saturday (although to be fair I couldn’t hear it at the back) for her no show in Manchester, and I think it may have put her off her stride as she certainly spent a lot of time saying how happy she was to be on tour with Take That. While I like Poker Face and Just Dance I just think that she is too much of a show off for me and there is something about her that I find to be intensely annoying. There’s no doubt that she can sing, but 3 costume changes for a support act is just over the top and she milks the crowd something rotten. I took the opportunity on Saturday to go and get a drink while she was on but unfortunately that’s not an option when you are packed in at the front so I just stood looking a bit bored – I didn’t even take any pictures of her! For any ardent GaGa fans reading this – I can see why she’s so popular but she’s just not for me.

Now, on to the main event. Although I liked Take That back in the 90’s I was never a huge fan – certainly not one of the many who needed the emergency phone like when the band broke up – and I didn’t get to see them live until their come back tour in 2006, and I have to say that it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. It was in Wembley Arena, the atmosphere was fantastic and the show itself was completely breathtaking – and I thought it would be a challenge to beat that. But I’m pleased to say that the band managed to surpass themselves and what was lost in having a larger, more open space to fill was more than made up by the huge spectacle that we were treated to. The people who staged the show need some kind of medal as it was incredible – just absolutely massive and very very beautiful. Sitting up at the back for the first night gave me a real sense of the scale of the thing and the overall impression that they created, while being at the front on Sunday meant that I was just a lot closer to the action and I embraced my inner screaming fan when the band were right in front of us. For a complete picture I really needed to have done a third night near the B stage but 2 nights is probably good enough ;-)

But anyway, the highlights of the show are almost too many to list (but I’ll try…):

1. The Elephant, which was worked by people hanging off it and just looked brilliant. I wouldn’t like to be the person being the tail though, they had to stay upside down for about 20 minutes!


2. The Clown sequence when they made themselves up as clowns and then unicycled down the middle – the colours were amazing and it was just so much fun


3. All the circus performers and dancers were fantastic – there was a guy who went round in a wheel who was astonishing, along with a tight rope walker, trampoliners (is that a word??), trapeze artists, stilt walkers, hula hoopers – you name it, they had it


4. The show included both rain (all the people near the B stage get wet I think) and fire – you could feel the heat from the flames right at the back on Saturday and I thought I was going to burn my eyebrows off at the front on Sunday – it was HOT!


5. The songs they sang (and those they didn’t) showed what an extensive back catalogue they have. Gary gave a taster of some of their old stuff that they didn’t play including Babe sitting at the piano, which was a really nice touch


6. The boy band has truly become a man band – less dancing and no break dancing (which they were still doing in 2006) but instead a whole section where they played their own instruments as a ‘proper’ band


7. Never Forget. 80,000+ people (including the crew) doing the arms in the air thing feels incredible

All in all a brilliant weekend – they were filming for the tour DVD while I was there so I can’t wait to get a copy of that. Having seen Britney Spear’s version of the Circus (you can read my review of that here) all I can say is that you can give me Take That version any day – there really isn’t any comparison.


Engines, Gary Go’s third single from his debut album, is out on July 20th

Circus – The DVD is hopefully out soon...

Blur @ Hyde Park, 3rd July 2009

They've still got it

I was so excited when I managed to get tickets to see Blur at the first reunion gig that they announced (excitement was tempered slightly when they added more performances before this one, but it was pretty darn exciting none the less) - Parklife was one of the tapes I used to play in my walkman and The Great Escape was the first actual CD I ever bought. But reunions are tricky things with examples of great successes (Take That - but more of that later) and great failures (naming no names lest I offend anyone ;-), so there's always a risk that they might not be as good as you remember.

Anyway, before the main event there were 4 (yes, count them - 4!) support acts, of which I only caught 3 because it was a Friday and some of us actually have to go to work in the afternoon.

Florence and The Machine were first on and I was quite interested to have a listen as there's been a lot of buzz about her this year. She's got a great and surprisingly powerful voice for such a little slip of a thing but although I really like A Kiss From A Fist but Flo is more of a Kate Bush type i.e. a bit too sophisticated for my cheesy pop sensibilities. But she does have very red hair. Next on was an African band which I'm sorry to say I can't remember the name of but who were very very good.

Just before Blur came on we were treated to Vampire Weekend who I love - their music is so summery so a sunny afternoon in the park was a perfect venue (it was pretty hot so I'm not sure why the lead singer decided to keep his body warmer on - I can only presume it's some kind of New York fashion statement). We were treated to a couple of new tracks as well as all the big hits from their debt album, which were really good to hear. My enjoyment was only impared slightly by the group of people I was stood next to who were accusing VW of being a Gracelands rip off in every single song. I shan't argue that there isn't a similar sound going on but I would argue that they are both just using the same African influences and it's hardly a sound that is getting overly exposed at the minute. Anyway, rant over, I'd love to see them play in a small venue and I'm sure their new album will be fab.

Finally, Blur made it on stage and the crowd went wild. By this time I was actually really close to the front - not quite sure how that happened - which meant for a great view but also meant that I was caught just on the edge of the mosh pit - not fun trying to keep on your feet. Actually, that was the only bad thing about this gig...maybe I was closer to the front than I normally am but it was all a bit rough and bad tempered and I got completely covered in beer.

However, the concert made that all worthwhile. Blur have such a great back catalogue of hits that they didn't even get round to playing some of their biggest hits like Country House. But they did play an amazing mix of tracks absolutely fantastically. They look just the same as ever - Damon leaping up and down on the stage like a mad man, Dave looking like the labour party candidate that he is (VOTE DAVE!), Graham being quietly brillant, and Alex sauntering about smoking (boo) and looking just as hot as ever (yay). Stand out tracks were probably Girl and Boys, Parklife (at high speed) and The Universal as the final encore - blissful!

I really hope they are going to make some new music together now. What this concert has proved to me is that their songs are still relevant and haven't dated at all. I can't wait to get hold of the live CD of the concert so I can relive it without the plastic bottles raining down on me...

The live recording from both of Blur's dates at Hyde Park is available now.

The Script @ Shepherds Bush Empire, 19th June 2009

Non-music-related eardrum damage


The Script were doing a 5 night residency at the SBE in London – I have to admit that I was surprised that they were able to sell out 5 gigs just coming off the back of a UK tour, but apparently I underestimated their fan base. I have a couple of friends who are huge fans of the Script and had been to a number of the nights and I joined them (at the front of the queue :-)) for the last gig of the run. The fans seemed to be mostly (but not exclusively) young and female and quite screamy being at the barrier was a bit of a mixed blessing – my ears were shot this time not from the volume of the music but the volume of the screaming…

Anyway, first things first. There were 2 support acts and this time I managed to catch both of them. The first was a band called Officer Kicks who I liked but they were probably a little bit too rocky for my tastes. The lead singer was pretty funny though and the bass player was certainly easy on the eye ;) and I enjoyed their set.


Next up quite randomly was my old friend VV Brown. I’d found out she was supporting earlier that week and her and her band turned in the best performance I’ve seen them do. If I’m honest, I was probably more excited to see them than The Script – I love their set and the songs demand that you dance around like a bit of a loony (and possible hand jive). VV did less in the way of percussion bashing and decided against shoes but her vocals sounded great. The band were as excellent as usual, although I had the embarrassment of the John the keyboard player recognising me (I have seen them 5 times now, but that’s not entirely my fault). Shark in the Water deserves to be a summer hit (it’s due out 6th July and you can see the video here), but my current favourite is Everybody – I’m really looking forward to the album coming out later in the year.


So now to the main event. I was particularly pleased to hear a song by The Feeling (it was Sewn in case you’re interested) on the filler music while we waited for The Script to come on, and even more pleased to hear the large group of girls behind me singing along – hurry up with the third album boys!! Sorry, got a bit distracted there. When The Script finally came on the reaction was huge – screaming, cheering, clapping… a huge wall of noise. Much of it was for the lead singer Danny (although I have to say that I thought he was more attractive on film than in person) – pants were thrown on stage and everything – and when he leapt into the crowd on the shoulders of one of his roadies (that man deserves a medal) I thought he was going to get torn apart.

I had only downloaded The Script’s album the week of the gig so I probably need to give it a few more listens but I definitely enjoyed the big singles – of which there are several – to their album tracks. My friend had said that they have a 59 minutes set and she’s pretty much right. As they have only released one album they don’t have a huge amount of material yet and I suspect their set will improve when they have a few more songs to choose from and they can drop some of the weaker numbers. However, they really rocked the house throughout and numbers like Breakeven and The Man Who Can’t Be Moved were fairly epic.

Throughout the gig all the members of the band kept saying how grateful they were to the fans and how much they appreciated their support, and they really looked like they meant it. It was unfortunate, then, that they sped out of the venue from another different door about 2 hours after the gig finished without stopping to say hi to the fans who had been waiting by the stage door. I understand that the band are usually excellent with their fans but I daresay that‘s not much consolation to the people who had been waiting. If they hadn’t been planning to come out then they could have easily sent someone out earlier to tell the fans and there would have been no harm done. As it was they apparently received some boos and upset some kids, which doesn’t sound very clever to me. I had already dashed off by this point to catch my last train but I wouldn’t have been best pleased.

Despite that I have to say that I enjoyed the gig and the band are great musicians. I would definitely see them again and I wish they were supporting Take That when I see them instead of Lady GaGa, but I guess you can’t have everything.

The Script’s debut album is out now