U2 @ Wembley Stadium, 15th August 2009

I would say that I am an armchair fan of U2, in the same way that I am armchair fan of Reading Football Club. I wouldn't normally go to a match or buy the shirt but I do read about them in the paper. I'd never seen U2 play and I only own a greatest hists compilation but I do like their music. So I was quite interested to see them at Wembley.


Opening for them on this occasion were Glasvegas, who I have stuggled to be interested in before. Their performance this evening did nothing to inspire me and I finally realised that all of their songs sound the same because they have the same drum beat. All in all I wished I had been able to get tickets for the night before and seen Elbow, but there we go.

When U2 finally took to the stage it took a little while for them to warm up too. They opened with material from their new album, which I have to say I wasn't familiar with and didn't make much of an impression. The early part of a stadium gig when it's still light can often be a bit difficult, and the staging came into it's own as the darkness came on.

Much had been made of the 'claw' that is the stage for the 360 tour - it was fairly impressive, especially with all the different lighting.



I was surprised hw political the set was, with specific references to the Iranian elections and quite a long set piece highlighting the democratic situation in Burma. There was also a video of Desmond Tutu which was actually quite creepy.

The oldies are certainly the goodies when it comes to U2 and my stand out track of the night was Sunday Bloody Sunday, closely followed by Where The Streets Have No Name. You can see the whole set list here:

Edit this setlist More U2 setlists

So overall, a pretty good evening :-)

U2's 12th studio album, No Line on the Horizon, is out now

Dan's FUN-draiser @ The Walrus, 8th August 2009

Lazing on a sunny afternoon

There's not many gigs that come with a complimentary "design your own bunting" competition. Or many pub BBQs that have chart topping songstresses in the garden. With their nannies. Or, for that matter, many village fetes where you can play Twister.

And while I'm sure no one would disagree with me that the world would be a better place if occurrences such as these happened more often, I'm very pleased to say that I was present when these stars aligned to produce Dan Gillespie Sells' FUN-draiser in aid of the charity work that his brother is doing in Uganda. The weather was kind and the small but beautifully formed beer garden played host to one of the most random afternoons I have enjoyed since I don't know when. There was a rather nice BBQ, a cake stall and a bring and buy, as well as a small stage for the musical entertainment. So far so normal. The really strange thing was that the place was filled with a mix of fans of The Feeling, who had been invited via Facebook and the band's website, 2/5 of The Feeling and their family and friends (including Richard Jones' wife Sophie Ellis-Bextor, their kids, and Dan's mum) and I'm sure some random punters who had just ventured out for a pint on a sunny afternoon and were probably quite dazed and confused.

The 'gig' part of the afternoon was kicked off by Anna McDonald who was the female vocalist on Columbia by TF (which is fab) and a guy whose name I didn't catch. They sang some nice cover versions and Anna had very memorable tights. They were joined by Mr G-S to perform a version of Superstitious by Stevie Wonder. Wallis Bird also did a turn, which was really well received but I have to say it didn't make much of an impact on me. However, many of my friends, as well as Dan, have a lot of time for her so I will defer to their opinion on this particular performer.

One of the nicest things about the afternoon was that it felt really relaxed and friendly, although at some points it did feel scarily like we had wandered into someone else's garden by mistake and we weren't supposed to be there.

We got to see a fab duet by Dan and Sophie - It's My Party - which was a great choice for Sophie's vocal. I don't think I've ever listen to the lyrics properly before but it was really lovely. Dan and Sophie sound great together so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a proper duet at some point soon.



Then Dan, with breaks for raffle ticket drawing, sand a number of his own songs and a couple of covers. He said (and I believe him) that he hadn't practiced and he took prompts from the gathering for the play list, which included Strange and Rose, as well as Cat Steven's Wild World. It was so relaxed it was almost untrue.

What could be better than relaxing in the sun in the company of lovely friends with a pint of cider, colouring in homemade bunting while listening to amazing music and raising money for charity all at the same time? Same time next year please!!

The Feeling are currently recording their third album, much too slowly for my liking

Scouting For Girls @ Newmarket Races, 7th August 2009

They’re so love-er-ly

The day before the Scouting For Girls concert at Newmarket races it poured with rain…luckily the day itself was sunny and bright despite the going being rather soft. I’ve seen SFG once before at the Ricoh in Coventry. No wait, if you include Glasto 08 and the Visa Olympic Handover party I’ve actually seen them 3 times before. It’s difficult to keep track…

Anyway, Coventry was rather an odd experience as myself and my 2 friends were probably the only people in the room (aside from the band) aged between 18 and 45. The main bulk of the crowd were teenage – making for a very good view of the stage as they hadn’t yet finished their growth spurts – with their parents all standing at the back. At Newmarket the crowd was much more mixed and I’m pleased to say that all 18,000 of us had a ball. I was with my lovely music fan friends, which meant that we were standing in prime position near the front.

The most enjoyable thing about SFG, other than their insanely catchy pop tune-age, is that they seem so, well, normal. They look so happy to be there on stage and seem to be in a perpetual state of disbelief that all these people actually want to see them perform. This earns them top marks in the likeability stakes and almost 100% audience participation in singing along. The SFG boys always thank the audience for being the most important member of the band during their set, and at some points the gig almost becomes karaoke on a huge scale, with the crowd not needing the words to sing along word perfectly. Lead singer Roy rushed around the stage and ran through the crowd, while engaging in friendly banter with bass player Greg and enlisting the audience's help in recording a message on his camera to a regular member of the band who had just got married.

Everything about SFG is FUN and the music lives up to that. Which other band would be able to quote from Masters of the Universe and James Bond, and sing songs about Michaela Strachen (I'm disappointed to learn that an early version of that song included references to Terry Nutkin - surely that should have made the final cut??!?). I can't wait to see what songs the band add to their repertoire from their second album, which I understand from the oracle that is Twitter is currently being remixed (whatever that means). It will be ice to hear some new material as it feels like their only challenge is making sure they don't become too predictable. And it will need to be good because the fickle finger of pop (aka the Radio 1 playlist) is not kind to pop bands on their second album, especially if they don't have electro pop or hip hop tendencies. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the fun will shine through.

After an encore of Glastonbury and the crowd favourite She's So Lovely, I was lucky enough to have a well connected and benevolent friend who got us all back stage to meet the band. I'm pleased to report that they are as normal and nice as they seem on stage. They made time to chat, sign and have photos taken, even though they were with friends and families. All I can say is thanks and good luck for the next album. Oh, and FYI - high heels and muddy ground do not make for successful jumping up and down...

Scouting For Girls eponymous debut album is still available in all good record shops and mp3 download online emporiums

Frankmusik @ Westfield, 6th August 2009

The best things in life are free

(Photo from http://www.eventmagazine.co.uk )

MIKA @ The Roundhouse, 31st July 2009

Kerching-ah!

I must admit that I went to the final night of the iTunes festival with relatively low expectations. I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to come and see the man himself with me, so I went on my own and, as is so often the case, met some really nice people on the way.

Being an iTunes Festival veteran by now I turned up at exactly the right time to see the full set of support act Erik Hassle. Unfortunately, my smugness was ruined by the face that they had arsed around with the timings as the beginning of Mika’s set was being broadcast live on ITV2 and I arrived half way through. From what I saw, Erik Hassle was pretty good AND has preposterous hair (think ginger Mr Whippy or male La Roux), which seems to be de rigueur at the moment.



Up front I will tell you that Mika’s set was awesome. The main reasons for this are as follows:

1. They covered the whole stage in silver glitter, the only act I saw at The Roundhouse who personalised the stage. There was also a glitter cannon (awesome) which means I was picking silver confetti out of my bag / clothes / shoes for days afterwards
   
   
   
2. There was a whole choir with slightly mental silver sparkly cardboard hats
   
3. MIKA looked like something out a Clockwork Orange if they had been dressed in white dungarees and had top hats. Well, the eye make up was similar anyway
   
4. He played all the old brilliant songs and also some new ones, which is always a good mix
   
5. MIKA can really sing. And play the piano. And jump about like a lunatic. And throw buckets full of glitter over the crowd in true clown style
   
6. They did an encore
   
7. The encore included the introduction of dozens of huge balloons into the crowd for us to play with
   

See I told you. UNDENIABLY AWESOME.


Ultimately it was actually one of the most fun gigs I’ve been to in a long time. MIKA has boundless energy and all the songs really came alive in the live environment. I definitely will be going to see him on his next tour.

MIKA’s new single “We are Golden” is out on September 7th

15 miliseconds of fame...

The Script have posted a video on You Tube of their final night at the Shepherd's Bush Empire - you can just spot me on the front row :-O

The Hoosiers @ The Roundhouse, 30th July 2009

Slightly more robber than cop

My third visit to the iTunes festival and my briefest. Due to a scheduling error (my friend's hair appointment overran) I unfortunately missed most of the support act, Steve Appleton. I must admit I hadn't heard of him before so I wasn't too worried, but I did see him do a nice MJ cover and from the back of the room he looked a bit like comedian Russel Howard - so why wouldn't you want to check out his my space on these grounds alone?? Actually my other friends who had made it in on time said he was pretty good, which is probably a better recommendation...

Anyway, I had had a small crisis of confidence on the way to the gig was worried that I could only remember one song by The Hoosiers. Luckily I had my iPod with me so I was able to listen to all of their album while I was waiting for my friend and her hair to turn up, and was reminded that I actually really like the band. I'd seen them at Glastonbury last year but not been to one of their solo shows, and I had quite high expectations as I know they encourage their fans to dress up and the boys certainly ooze with personality in interviews. I was left a little bit disappointed on that front - it was pretty much a stand-up-and-play gig, although their brass section were wearing cool little winged helmets (and to be fair they score brownie points for having a brass section in the first place).



They played all their hits from their first album and also intro'd a couple of new tracks which were nice to hear. I think perhaps they hadn't played a full set for a little while as they seemed a bit tentative and the set was VERY SHORT INDEED, so much so that if I had paid money for the tickets I would have been a bit pissed off - they didn't even have an encore! Lead singer Irwin said that they probably wouldn't be playing again this year - from a quick check on Twitter they seem to be at the back end of finishing their second album, so I guess that makes sense.



So while their show was good and they can definitely play live, it wasn't a great show. I look forward to them coming back bigger and better next year.

You can download The Hoosier's live performance at the iTunes Festival now

a-ha @ The Roundhouse, 24th July 2009

Gig going can be a strange thing. This is what I was thinking as I was waiting for a delayed plane to take me back from Edinburgh to London to go to and see the band who were responsible for the first albums I ever owned on cassette.

Anyway, I got there just in time as German/Irish rock band Reamonn were taking to the stage. A bit heavy for my taste but they seemed to get the crowd going pretty well.

When the main event took to the stge I was surprised how good Morton still looked. And sounded to be fair. The set interspersed new material with old classics that sounded surprisingly fresh - the recent 80s revival has only served to make a-ha relevant again.



Cry Wolf and The Sun Always Shines on TV were hug highlights for me and although they made us wait until the encore for Take On Me it was really worth it.

Carina Round @ The Water Rats, 21st July 2009

The things you find in the backseat of your mind

Carina Round is a singer songwriter originally from Wolverhampton who now lives and works in LA (that must be a bit of a change...) and I came across her because Gary Go wrote a song with her for her recent EP. I've seen Gary perform Backseat a couple of times and it's such a beautiful song I thought it would be be good to see Carina's version live.

After a couple of good support acts - I particularly liked Reverso who are apparently predominantly from Ecuador (check them out here) - Carina came on stage with her band. Apparently they had only got together a few days before as her normal band were still over in the states but they came across as being pretty polished despite the problems with the set up and particularly Carina's mic. They also started stupidly behind schedule which made for a very late night for me but worth it.


I have to say that the music was a lot more rocky than I expected with quite a lot of shrieking but I did enjoy it, even though it wasn't my usual type of music. Carina herself looks like a porcelain doll - in fact a little bit like Sophie Ellis Bextor but with smaller eyes - but the noise that comes out of her lungs is pretty impressive. And Backseat was just lovely with some good audience participation:




Carina's EP, Things You Should Know, is available to download now.