Robbie Williams @ The BBC Electric Proms, 20th October 2009

I’ve been expecting you

Well well well. Robbie Williams’ first gig in 3 years can best be described as a triumph. Scores of famous faces, along with the luck few who had managed to get tickets online, had turned out eager to see whether the fifth member of Take That still had it.



The ninety minute set was a mixture of old and new, and with comeback single Bodies recording Robbie’s biggest first week sales since Rock DJ (thanks to the man himself for providing that fan fact), there were high hopes that Robbie’s new material would be a step away from his Rudebox phase (i.e. it wouldn’t be shit). His recent performance on the X-Factor had been inconclusive and heavily criticised in some quarters, so the evening had the potential to be either amazing or awful.

The new music is produced by the legendary Trevor Horn, who was also on stage playing bass, and it was certainly an improvement and in some ways a step back to more familiar (and successful) ground. Starstruck was a favourite, sounding so George Michael-esque that Robbie had the crowd practicing George’s dance moves before the song had even started. Another new track was dedicated to Robbie’s girlfriend and should have been too painful for words as he sang the whole song looking up adoringly to her in the balcony. But it was impossible to be anything but endeared to the guy, who’s not been short of love life issues in the past, and the track went down well.

Of course, the crowd made the most noise for the golden oldies. No Regrets, Millennium, Supreme, Feel, Come Undone and Angels all made welcome appearances, although there was no sign of Let Me Entertain You or Rock DJ. Having opened a little nervously with two new songs, Robbie was back on terra firma with Come Undone and clearly gained confidence from the audience singing along. From then on in he was back into his cheeky chappy persona, cracking jokes and telling funny stories.

But this was a more mature artist on stage that perhaps he was previously, referring to his age and his grey hairs more than once. Robbie was quite emotional at times, and seemed keen to lay old demons to rest. Take That were reconciled, Gary Barlow was his new best friend, and even Guy Chambers was name checked, much to the delight of the crowd. To be fair, the audience would probably have applauded almost anything from their hero but he rewarded them with a great show. Full of energy and charm, backed by an excellent band and orchestra, and supported with an autocue in case of emergencies, Robbie Williams is definitely back.

Robbie William's new album, Video Killed the Radio Star, is out on November 9th

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

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.

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