Category: Live Reviews

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Live Reviews

Yelawolf – Live

XOYO, London
08.06.11

Having seen Alabama’s Yelawolf at last year’s Soundset, it was always going to be an exciting evening when the self-confessed Redneck hit the Capital for the very first time. Right from the off the MC was in great spirits with high energy emanating from both the rapper and the crowd as he launched into his set.

The crowd was one of the best I’ve witnessed at a hip hop show in a long, long time and considering this was his debut in the UK, it made it all the more impressive. The sound at XOYO continues to impress and bass-heavy tracks like I Wish and Daddy’s Lambo sounded gargantuan as he ripped his double-time raps with no effort at all.

Running through tracks from the original Trunk Muzik like the brilliant Mixin’ Up The Medicine, Good To Go and aforementioned I Wish, including the “I ‘preciated it Rae’ to the unfortunately absent Wu Tang member and tunes from the updated 0-60 version of the mixtape like Billy Crystal and drink anthem I Just Wanna Party, Yelawolf was a non-stop machine, ramping the energy levels up at every turn and demanding that everyone throw their hands up as he rocked out on stage.

Even the slower songs Box Chevy and Love Is Not Enough didn’t dent the crowd’s hype allowing Yela to showcase his versatility on stage. But it was the final two songs, Pop The Trunk and In This Club, which showed him to be the huge talent he is. The shirtless, tattooed, mulleted guy from Gadsden, Alabama isn’t just a flash in the pan, nor should he be given “the new Eminem” tag that will no doubt lazily be thrown his way. He’s simply the real deal. Don’t sleep.

Abjekt.

Categories
Live Reviews

Soundset Festival 2011

Canterbury Park
Shakopee, Minnesota
29.05.11

Another year, another cracking Soundset Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota. After a heavy barrage of rain the night before, the nightmare scenario of a mud-bath was raising its ugly head but once we arrived and saw that the worst of it was contained to the middle patch of grass by the Main Stage and everything else was just a bit squidgy, we knew it was going to be alright. Walking up to the entrance, we caught the last couple of songs of the Slaughterhouse set – a shame we didn’t catch more of it, but with such a good line-up on the rest of the bill, it wasn’t the end of the world.

Taking our place a little further back from the main stage, we rolled in just in time to see Dilated Peoples make their triumphant return with Babu cutting over Evidence and Rakaa’s lyrics and getting the crowd whipped up from the very start. Rolling through some newer tunes including the crowd favourite This Way, the trio performed with smiles as big as those in the crowd and even brought out a female fan who had traveled all the way from LA [not as far as London!] to perform a track with them. By the time they finished up on the anthem Worst Comes To Worst, they had the crowd eating out of their hands.

They were followed on stage by Mac Miller, which meant an swift exit to avoid hearing his horrible music before heading back for the Main Stage debut of Doomtree, who killed their set despite obvious sound problems. Never a crew to let the energy levels drop, their set span crew tracks as well as solo tunes from various albums and also saw performances of new tracks by Cecil Otter and P.O.S., whose song has an instantly catchy gang chorus about spitting on Nikes, kicking out DJs and rocking a party. They’re favourites, obviously, but bias aside, they slayed it, a definite highlight. De La Soul moved the crowd as you would expect, mixing in their old-skool vibes with newer tracks like Ooh and proved that despite their age, they still know how to rock a set.

Moving over to the Fifth Element stage, we took in another sterling performance by Edan, who had wowed me earlier this year at the Jazz Café in London. Whilst it was almost an exact replica of that set, his ability to entertain is second-to-none and as such the crowd swelled with every song. His wordplay and back-and-forths with hype man Paten Locke had everyone slamming hands in the air and when he busted out the acoustic guitar and kazoo, it was over, he’d cemented his place in everyone’s hearts. Unfortunately it meant we weren’t able to see Brother Ali’s set, but by the look of the crowd in front of the stage, he was killing it as usual.

Then it was time for the main two acts of the festival – Big Boi and Atmosphere. The Outkast MC brought a ton of girls on stage with him [most of whom looked like jailbait, but still] as he ran through classic Outkast material dating all the way back to the first album through classics like Ms Jackson [which included comedy “ooohs” from the crowd at every chorus] and Ghettomusick before ramming everyone’s ears with tracks from his brilliant solo album – Shutterbugg being the highlight of a great set.

When Slug, Ant, Nate and Erick hit the stage though, the noise levels went up that bit further, welcoming their hometown favourites back after a grueling tour. With tracks from their new album The Family Sign sounding brilliant, especially the bouncy She’s Enough, a quick Slick Rick impression from Slug and old favourites like Guns and Cigarettes and Trying To Find A Balance being wheeled out, it’s easy to see why Atmosphere continue to bring in so many plaudits. As the sun set on both them and the festival, the estimated 30,000 people finished their day on the ultimate high. Long may independent labels continue and here’s to Soundset 2012.

Abjekt.

Categories
Live Reviews

The Great Escape Festival
 live review

Brighton, UK
12th-14th May 2011
Words and Photo: Alex Penge

YuckBilled as ‘Europe’s leading festival for new music’ The Great Escape aims to recapture the intimacy factor of the Great British festival. This year’s headline coups include indie heavyweight Sufjan Stevens, instrumental hip hop innovator DJ Shadow and tropical punksters Friendly Fires.

The variety of artists on offer is certainly the USP of the Brighton-based event as legendary punk poet John Cooper Clarke opens proceedings. Failing to disappoint, the Factory Records associate delivers his wit filled recollections, including crowd favourite ‘Evidently Chickentown’.

Maintaining the festival’s tagline for new music, Echo Lake provide an onslaught of guitar combined with lead singer Linda’s impulsive harmonies. ‘One to watch’ billing for spoken word artist Ghostpoet is just deserves. ‘Us Against Whatever Ever’ and ‘Cash Carry Me Home’ preach through a vulnerable and sozzled British urban persona that is refreshing and poignant.

Next up are Warpaint and their tribal homage to The Slits is welcomed by the strong Corn Exchange crowd. The crowd is also treated with new single ‘Jupilee Real’ in what looks like a busy year for the band since the release of their acclaimed debut album The Fool last year.

The Radio Dept. supply the shoegazed chimes of the weekend with sheer Chapterhouse-like concentration of their pedal set up throughout. A misty-eyed set from The Antlers is without doubt the best performance of the weekend. Peter Silberman and co’s dream pop is able to spark spiritual imagery. Surely the three-piece are destined for big things in 2011, just like the year their Brooklyn compatriots The National had in 2010.

Nostalgia comes from the globally represented Yuck. Fresh from a tour around the U.S. the youthful band recapture late 80s indie rock of Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth combined with the distorted blares of My Bloody Valentine. The roaring chorus of ‘Get Away’ and the resounding ‘Hoiling Out’ are the highlights of a set filled with slacker pop melody.

Rough Trade’s Frankie & the Heartstrings close the weekend. The Sunderland group bring their own brand of anthemic C86 pop that Josef K would be proud of. Energetically climbing on the Hector House speaker system, lead singer Frankie Francis introduces the next song of the evening ‘Ungrateful’ to the intimate crowd. Blissful and delicate, the Orange Juice roots can be seen through ‘That Postcard’. A new song ‘Berlin Calls’ concludes the set and is almost 2011’s answer to ‘Kennedy’ by 80s indie pop legends The Wedding Present.

The Great Escape is a great alternative to the British festival circuit and certainly one that can no doubt claim to be the cleanest. With over 300+ bands at your disposal playing across 30 venues, the festival is sure to cater for music enthusiasts interested in seeing up-and-coming indie artists. Just be warned, expect to trek!

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Live Reviews

ATP curated by Animal Collective

Butlins, Minehead
May 13th – 15th

This year’s annual spring trip to Butlins was prefaced by the sad news that this may be the last ever May ATP. The reasons for this aren’t clear cut, but dwindling ticket sales over the past few years and the rapid growth of ATP as a major events planner has forced the festival to explore its options. For now, emphasis is being shifted to two Butlins weekends in December, as well as a new London based event that shall be curated this year by Portishead. I, for one, shall be sad if this is the last of the May events, but this year’s curators Animal Collective ensured that the weekend will be one to remember.

Despite the usual bitchy message board debates following the announcement, Animal Collective make perfect sense to me as festival curators. Not only have the band been a mainstay of leftfield independent music for over a decade, but they’ve just finished promoting their biggest critical and commercial success, Merriweather Post Pavilion. On top of this the band are key players in a wider community of independent music, with plenty of friends in like minded bands and, most importantly, an eclectic and interesting taste in music. Essentially, these are all factors which are crucial to curating a good ATP and Animal Collective tick all of the boxes.

As if to demonstrate the band’s eclectic music taste, Friday’s programme sees performances from Brooklyn noise mongers Black Dice, reggae / dub legend Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, forward thinking electronic artist Actress, and one half of OutKast, Big Boi. While all of these artists inspire in a variety of different ways, it’s the latter which stole the show. This may not have been Big Boi’s usual crowd, but he is nonetheless electric as he treats the crowd to a range of OutKast’s greatest hits as well as the highlights from last year’s solo effort Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Song of Chico Dusty. His energy is ramped from the beginning, as he races across the stage engaging both sides of the crowd. As a huge OutKast fan it’s a welcome surprise to see so much of the group’s classic material performed, with the likes of ‘B.O.B.’, ‘ATLiens’ and ‘Rosa Parks’ all delivered with style and going down a storm.

After some familiarly messy scenes in the Crazy Horse rounding off Friday’s entertainment, Saturday begins with something a little different. Making use of the on site swimming pool at Butlins, there is a two hour session of ‘Wet Sounds’ which unexpectedly turns out to be one of the weekend’s highlights. This basically involves eerie ambient music being pumped around the swimming pool and underwater, with different sounds appearing underwater to those on the surface. Before the session was up there was even a run through of the recent Panda Bear album, Tomboy, which couldn’t find a more perfect setting to suit its woozy, tropical textures.

Getting back to the dry, yet curiously foul smelling (it’s definitely the hot dogs) Butlins Centre stage, Meat Puppets are on and they’re performing their 1985 cult classic Up On The Sun. The band joke that they don’t even remember the year 1985, let alone this album, yet they seem to get through it without a hitch. Performances form Ariel Pink and Beach House are to follow, and while they prove popular, have never really captured my interest and this was really no exception. Having opted to see Animal Collective perform on the Sunday instead of Saturday, this leaves Detroit techno legend Omar S to round off day two with a tasty 2 hour slot over in Reds. While perhaps drawing from a more varied range of styles than I had expected, the producer shows why he is one of the best in his field with the selection of a lively and crowd pleasing set.

Offering something completely different again, Sunday morning begins with a performance from West Sahara’s Group Doueh. Having very limited knowledge of the band‘s work beforehand, they exceed all expectations with their fusion of western rock structures and Turkish Psychadelia. A mixture of almost gospel like female vocals and a guitarist who shreds the electric guitar on top of his head with the most stoic of facial expressions, make this very engaging stuff, in turn sending dozens of audience members queuing for the merch stand.

Moving on from a group that had seemed so humble on stage and grateful of their place on the billing, it becomes time for Zomby to pull one of his now notorious no shows. While clearly a talented producer, Zomby’s behaviour once again reeks of disrespect and once again leaves punters (and fans!) grumbling at his lack of consideration for everyone concerned. Not only is it a shame not to have seen him perform, but a slap in the face to Animal Collective who invested faith in him, and all the other bands that the group weren’t able to choose to accommodate him. There will come a time when promoters become tired of giving Zomby a chance, and to be fair, that time is probably overdue.

Celebrating their sensational new album, Eye Contact, the weekend’s penultimate act are Gang Gang Dance. The experimental Manhattan quintet have hit a real landmark in their career, producing an album that encompasses and extends on all that they have done so well in the past. The strength of the band’s newest material really shines through in this performance, with standout tracks ‘Glass Jar’ and ‘MindKilla’ closing the set on a real high before the weekend’s curators take to the stage.

In many ways Animal Collective are a frustrating live band, and I think it’s safe to say their performances over the weekend seemed to divide opinion. The band appear to have no interest in ever playing a greatest hits set, in fact, the weekend’s set lists were built almost entirely of completely new material with a sprinkling of crowd favourites including ‘Brothersport’, ‘Summertime Clothes’ and ‘Did You See the Words?’ What’s more, despite having two slots over the weekend, the band apparently performed almost exactly the same set both nights which perhaps seems a little wasteful. Even so, Animal Collective’s live show has never really been about individual songs, and with a little perseverance their immersive performance seems to win over the majority of the crowd. With elusive fourth band member Deakin now welcomed back into the line-up, the band are now playing almost like a traditional rock band. Gone are the synth podiums and tall flashing lights, replaced by an actual drum kit with Panda Bear at the helm. It’s nice to see that the band look ready to move in yet another direction, and their performance hints at something potentially very exciting on the horizon.

While this feels like an odd, perhaps transitional stage for Animal Collective as a band, it’s precisely this kind of will for change and experimentation that is completely characteristic of the weekend’s events and indeed ATP. What the future holds for this wonderful festival remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure, I’ll be following it on whatever path it takes.

Sleekly Lion

Categories
Live Reviews

Wiz Khalifa – Live

The Forum, London
18.05.11

With the smell of weed grappling nostrils are soon as the doors to the Forum opened, it was clear that Wiz Khalifa isn’t just all mouth about his love of green. The Pittsburgh rapper, who has shot to prominence since Crossfire last saw him live, at Soundset in 2010, has developed a large following thanks in no small part to his break-out hit Black & Yellow, as a very full Forum readied itself for a night to enjoy.

Despite his wiry frame, Wiz fills the stage thanks to his huge grin and boundless energy as he and hype man Chevy Woods took the room by the throat from the very start. Slamming out tracks from his new album Rolling Papers and recent mixtapes Cabin Fever and Kush & Orange Juice,  Khalifa interspersed his tracks with shout outs to his weed smokers, something which garnered no end of response from the crowd.

His medley of Kush & OJ tracks were a highlight, with In The Cut, Still Blazin and Waken Baken given the live treatment on a sound system that, for once, made hip hop sounds great at the Forum, a rare occurance indeed. Lex Luger produced bangers got the crowd going with Taylor Gang ramping the noise levels up another notch, the call-and-response reminding everyone why live hip hop is such a joy to be involved with.

Wrapping things up with On My Level, Roll Up and Black & Yellow, Wiz topped off a show that had far exceeded expectations. Even the tracks on the album that are essentially filler sounded great amongst the impressive light show [instructing the crowd to ROLL UP with his own-brand Wizlas] and scratch-happy DJ. I wasn’t smoking last night, but I certainly came out of the venue on a high, unlike the nerd filming half the show on his iPad!

Abjekt.

Categories
Live Reviews

Fishbone – live

London Camden Underworld,
27/4/11

Playing 15 minutes after doors open is rarely the most gratifying of tasks, but Broken Nose’s confidence has clearly not been shattered. They bounce around the stage in a mass of flailing dreadlocks and blaring horns, and whilst they’re not throwing anything new into the ska/punk cauldron, you can’t fault them for enthusiasm or energy.

From the moment that they rip into ‘Tales Of Intervention’, Random Hand are onto a winner. Quite simply, the Yorkshire quartet rock like bastards; vocalist Robin Leitch brandishing his trombone like a musket as his band bolster their sound with some welcome eztra guitar crunch. Recent effort ‘Bones’ is already a clear crowd favourite, and although they’re largely out of step with current trends, RH infuse their music with a sense of grit and determination that suggests they’re in this for the long haul.

Fishbone have long held a reputation as an amazing live band, and although a good couple of decades have passed since their heyday, they’re still more than capable of whipping up one hell of a party. The extended funk workout of ‘Party At Ground Zero’ warms up the crowd nicely, but it’s a frenzied ‘Ma And Pa’ that really ignites the touch paper, with the formerly sedate Underworld crowd morphing into a gloriously sweaty, bouncing, slam-dancing mass.

The pace is almost relentless, and the band’s energy hasn’t diminished with the age – vocalist Angelo Moore working up a right old sweat over his huge saxophone, before diving into the pit for a frenetic ‘Let Dem Ho’s Fight’. Wisely, they stick to the classic material, with the likes of ‘Sunless Saturday’ and ‘Give It Up’ all present and correct, and they even throw in a supercharged cover of ‘Date Rape’ as a cheeky nod to their spiritual protégés Sublime.

It’s worth remembering that Fishbone regularly crossed paths with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in their early days, and although Moore’s crew have never really broken far beyond a cult following, they haven’t run out of steam (or abandoned the funk) like their old friends. For a dose of LA sunshine in a grotty London club, Fishbone still deliver in fine style.

Alex Gosman

Categories
Live Reviews

All Tomorrow’s Parties curated by Animal Collective

Butlins, Minehead
May 13th – 15th

This year’s annual spring trip to Butlins was prefaced by the sad news that this may be the last ever May ATP. The reasons for this aren’t clear cut, but dwindling ticket sales over the past few years and the rapid growth of ATP as a major events planner has forced the festival to explore its options. For now, emphasis is being shifted to two Butlins weekends in December, as well as a new London based event that shall be curated this year by Portishead. I, for one, shall be sad if this is the last of the May events, but this year’s curators Animal Collective ensured that the weekend will be one to remember.

Despite the usual bitchy message board debates following the announcement, Animal Collective make perfect sense to me as festival curators. Not only have the band been a mainstay of leftfield independent music for over a decade, but they’ve just finished promoting their biggest critical and commercial success, Merriweather Post Pavilion. On top of this the band are key players in a wider community of independent music, with plenty of friends in like minded bands and, most importantly, an eclectic and interesting taste in music. Essentially, these are all factors which are crucial to curating a good ATP and Animal Collective tick all of the boxes.

As if to demonstrate the band’s eclectic music taste, Friday’s programme sees performances from Brooklyn noise mongers Black Dice, reggae / dub legend Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, forward thinking electronic artist Actress, and one half of OutKast, Big Boi. While all of these artists inspire in a variety of different ways, it’s the latter which stole the show. This may not have been Big Boi’s usual crowd, but he is nonetheless electric as he treats the crowd to a range of OutKast’s greatest hits as well as the highlights from last year’s solo effort Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Song of Chico Dusty. His energy is ramped from the beginning, as he races across the stage engaging both sides of the crowd. As a huge OutKast fan it’s a welcome surprise to see so much of the group’s classic material performed, with the likes of ‘B.O.B.’, ‘ATLiens’ and ‘Rosa Parks’ all delivered with style and going down a storm.

After some familiarly messy scenes in the Crazy Horse rounding off Friday’s entertainment, Saturday begins with something a little different. Making use of the on site swimming pool at Butlins, there is a two hour session of ‘Wet Sounds’ which unexpectedly turns out to be one of the weekend’s highlights. This basically involves eerie ambient music being pumped around the swimming pool and underwater, with different sounds appearing underwater to those on the surface. Before the session was up there was even a run through of the recent Panda Bear album, Tomboy, which couldn’t find a more perfect setting to suit its woozy, tropical textures.

Getting back to the dry, yet curiously foul smelling (it’s definitely the hot dogs) Butlins Centre stage, Meat Puppets are on and they’re performing their 1985 cult classic Up On The Sun. The band joke that they don’t even remember the year 1985, let alone this album, yet they seem to get through it without a hitch. Performances form Ariel Pink and Beach House are to follow, and while they prove popular, have never really captured my interest and this was really no exception. Having opted to see Animal Collective perform on the Sunday instead of Saturday, this leaves Detroit techno legend Omar S to round off Day two with a tasty 2 hour slot over in Reds. While perhaps drawing from a more varied range of styles than I had expected, the producer shows why he is one of the best in his field with the selection of a lively and crowd pleasing set.

Offering something completely different again, Sunday morning begins with a performance from West Sahara’s Group Doueh. Having very limited knowledge of the band‘s work beforehand, they exceed all expectations with their fusion of western rock structures and Turkish Psychadelia. A mixture of almost gospel like female vocals and a guitarist who shreds the electric guitar on top of his head with the most stoic of facial expressions, make this very engaging stuff, in turn sending dozens of audience members queuing for the merch stand.

Moving on from a group that had seemed so humble on stage and grateful of their place on the billing, it becomes time for Zomby to pull one of his now notorious no shows. While clearly a talented producer, Zomby’s behaviour once again reeks of disrespect and once again leaves punters (and fans!) grumbling at his lack of consideration for everyone concerned. Not only is it a shame not to have seen him perform, but a slap in the face to Animal Collective who invested faith in him, and all the other bands that the group weren’t able to choose to accommodate him. There will come a time when promoters become tired of giving Zomby a chance, and to be fair, that time is probably overdue.

Celebrating their sensational new album, Eye Contact, the weekend’s penultimate act are Gang Gang Dance. The experimental Manhattan quintet have hit a real landmark in their career, producing an album that encompasses and extends on all that they have done so well in the past. The strength of the band’s newest material really shines through in this performance, with standout tracks ‘Glass Jar’ and ‘MindKilla’ closing the set on a real high before the weekend’s curators take to the stage.

In many ways Animal Collective are a frustrating live band, and I think it’s safe to say their performances over the weekend seemed to divide opinion. The band appear to have no interest in ever playing a greatest hits set, in fact, the weekend’s set lists were built almost entirely of completely new material with a sprinkling of crowd favourites including ‘Brothersport’, ‘Summertime Clothes’ and ‘Did You See the Words?’ What’s more, despite having two slots over the weekend, the band apparently performed almost exactly the same set both nights which perhaps seems a little wasteful. Even so, Animal Collective’s live show has never really been about individual songs, and with a little perseverance their immersive performance seems to win over the majority of the crowd. With elusive fourth band member Deakin now welcomed back into the line-up, the band are now playing almost like a traditional rock band. Gone are the synth podiums and tall flashing lights, replaced by an actual drum kit with Panda Bear at the helm. It’s nice to see that the band look ready to move in yet another direction, and their performance hints at something potentially very exciting on the horizon.

While this feels like an odd, perhaps transitional stage for Animal Collective as a band, it’s precisely this kind of will for change and experimentation that is completely characteristic of the weekend’s events and indeed ATP. What the future holds for this wonderful festival remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure, I’ll be following it on whatever path it takes.

Sleekly Lion

Categories
Live Reviews

Those Dancing Days – live

London XOYO,
11/5/11

When they first visited these shores three-odd years ago, a couple of Those Dancing Days’ members were technically still schoolgirls, fresh out of the classroom onto the tourbus. Even at this tender age, though, the Swedes’ ear for a great tune was evident, and it continues to serve them well today. The focus of the increasingly fickle music blogs may have moved on to pastures new, but the almost sold-out XOYO is testament to the band’s loyal UK following.

A trio of smartly-suited guys kick things off with a bizarre, Pulp Fiction-esque surf guitar work out, before Twiggy enters and joins them on vocals. Okay, it’s not actually Twiggy, it’s Lizzie (and her band The Yes Men), but the resemblance is striking. Their angular indie/punk sound is hardly breaking new ground, but the harmonies and surf riffs are strangely addictive, and the applause from those present is well-deserved.

Those Dancing Days vocalist Linnea Jonsson and keyboard player Lisa Pyk are perhaps the yin and yang of the band; the former a picture of glacial cool, the latter a picture of wide-eyed enthusiasm who can barely stop smiling or dancing long enough to play her instrument. The band’s recent second album ‘Daydreams And Nightmares’ has a certain rougher edge to it than its predecessor, but in the live setting, the new songs fit in just fine. ‘I’ll Be Yours’ and new single ‘Can’t Find Entrance’ already seem to be crowd favourites, whilst ‘Hitten’ is still a beautifully understated ode to the confusions of growing up.

In a manner that would have made the Ramones proud, they barely pause for breath between songs – drummer Cissi’s arms an almost constant blur as they rattle joyously through ‘Home Sweet Home’ – and frankly it’s just what we need on a fairly nondescript Wednesday evening. They encore with the spiky ‘Fuckarias’ and the swirling melody of their eponymous debut single, ensuring everyone leaves happy with their shot of indie-pop vitality. Where TDD will go for album number three remains to be seen, but so far it’s been thrilling to watch (and, more importantly, hear) them grow.

Alex Gosman
(photo: Gavin Watson)

Categories
Live Reviews

Bring Me The Horizon – live

Bring Me The Horizon
Brixton Academy
30th April, 2011

Yep, Bring Me The Horizon at Brixton Academy. How did such a band from Sheffield get to this point? Well, an exponentially expanding fanbase and the stunning of many a cynic and critic by producing two really-quite-outstanding albums (the last two) have really put the band on the map of Great Modern British Rock Bands. An accolade that is recognized pretty much the world over as the band’s success continues to increase in countries like the US and Australia. Add to all of this the fact that the band’s latest single ‘Blessed With a Curse’ has been added to the BBC Radio 1 daytime Playlist and you have all the ingredients for a kick-ass sell-out Brixton Academy performance. Well actually the band have brought even more to the table tonight with an unbelievable stage show which includes pyro, the signature massive flashing BMTH lettering, banners that fall to the ground at strategic points and some massive black balloons which descend and are bounded around by the crowd during ‘Blessed With A Curse’ creating a surprisingly ethereal and peaceful effect.

But aside from the massive production, BMTH put on a flawless performance, running around the stage as energetic as ever, clambering speaker stacks and generally making the audience not quite know where to look. At least everyone can hear the thunderous sounds which are entrancing all present tonight. The band have only just enlisted Architects’ drummer Dan to fill in for BMTH member Matt who has broken his arm yet you really wouldn’t know that they’ve only been playing together for two days. Everything is tightly wound and precise. Guitarist Jonah also proves his worth yet again providing vocals on ‘Fuck’ in place of Josh from You Me At Six who sings on the track on the album. It’s the new tracks from ‘There Is A Hell…’ that stand out in the live setting, sounding absolutely huge.

An encore which includes a spine-tingling rendition of ‘Crucify Me’ and eternal crowd-pleaser ‘Chelsea Smile’ goes down as well as the rest of the band’s set and this evening ends on a high which you get the feeling was needed by a band who have been plagued with misfortune on this run of dates. But the powercut in Bristol the night before that meant the band were forced to play acoustic and the breaking of drummer Matt’s arm a few nights previous don’t matter one bit tonight. It all comes together in spectacular fashion.

Winegums

Categories
Live Reviews

Gallows – live

Notting Hill Arts Club
26th April 2011

Gallows are an excellent live band in any scenario. However, if you’re going to pick any setting to see them in, the small ones are where they thrive. Notting Hill Arts Club didn’t know what had hit it as Gallows unleashed their unique punk carnage for their management company Raw Power’s second monthly club night. Reeling off masterful versions of tracks from Orchestra of Wolves and Grey Britain, Gallows became one with the crowd with Frank and Steph even popping round the corner of the venue to instigate a sort of circle pit which inevitably involved a flurry of bodies colliding.

It was hot and sweaty. The band were in jovial spirits. And the amassed crowd lapped it up. The venue was so full that there was a stack of people peering round from the other part of the room with barely a few of Frank’s ginger noggin. A rendition of London Is The Reason, re-named Raw Power Is The Reason and traditional closer Orchestra of Wolves had everyone shouting along. A typically rowdy Gallows set in just the sort of place this band are made to command. It’s just as well this band aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. More please.

Winegums