Category: Live Reviews

Brixton Academy
August 26th 2009

You’ve probably heard the rumblings and rumors running riot this week as what is possibly the greatest rock ‘super-group’ of all time plots it’s time to strike in the UK.

The Vultures have already been circling across Europe and America, swooping down to play random festival and club gigs, feeding small snippets of music out online, building the excitement – leaving everyone waiting and wondering just how hard a band comprising of members of Led Zeppelin, Nirvana and Queens Of The Stoneage will rock. The obvious answer is, fucking hard.

Initial rumors suggested the band would play at Islington Academy on Monday night this week and the web exploded with excitement and claims that the gig had already sold out, before it was even booked. When the gig didn’t happen all fingers pointed towards the Arctic Monkeys fan club Brixton show happening the same week. Josh Homme having just produced the Monkeys new album, it seemed like a likely option. And although the Vultures appearance was confirmed online later in the afternoon, when Dave Grohl (drums), John Paul Jones (bass/keyboards), Josh Homme (guitar/vocals) and Alain Johannes (guitar) walked out onstage in front of a largely unsuspecting Monkeys crowd, an enormous roar erupted from the crowd as the venue was filled with the clunking sound of jaws hitting floor.

With a brief wave to the crowd, these Vultures don’t fuck around and kick straight into ‘Elephant‘ (because it’s as heavy as a) and it literally detonates into life as Grohl propels the band into a high-speed thrash out, his hair and arms flaying behind the kit like it’s 1992, before the band settle into one of those strutting Josh Homme riffs that is pure and prime Queens Of The Stoneage at it’s finest. Your first instant thoughts are (one) it’s so good to see Dave Grohl back behind the drumkit where he belongs (two) John Paul Jones is a lucky bastard to not only have played with John Bonham, the greatest rock drummer ever, he now gets to play with the second greatest rock drummer ever and (three) they sound like an anvil being dropped on your head.

Surprisingly, however, as the set progresses, it’s interesting how song-based much of the material is. You would expect musicians of this sheer weight and caliber to have delivered something a little more muso, replying on long drawn out instrumentation or a series of monolithic stoner riffs but songs like ‘New Fang‘ and ‘Scumbag Blues‘ have a pure psychedelic pop sensibility shimmering under the sheer heaviness and it’s as much of a joy to hear as it is to watch. The grooves that Grohl and Jones lock into are phenomenal and you can see the joy in Grohl’s face as he gets to play with his bass playing idol. Grohl is an enormous Led Zeppelin fan. It can’t get better then this for him.

It’s interesting watching the audience’s reaction throughout. It’s obviously the Arctic Monkeys audience and they look more like the crowd from your local pub than rock fans (as is the way when a band hits mainstream) so there are some non-plussed faces in the crowd as they are battered by this alien rock form. Take this as a lesson to rock oh Monkeys fans, because you won’t get any better teachers or schooling than this. The ultimate rock band, through and through. The album is going to be incredible. The Vultures are circling….

James Sherry

Club Velvet
Mexico City
21.08.09

In terms of gigs from international bands, Mexico City isn’t quite up there with the likes of London, New York and Los Angeles in the ‘spoilt for choice’ stakes. However, in terms of crowd enthusiasm, it appears to be a different story; as tonight hundreds of sharply-dressed folks crowd around Club Velvet like a swarm of particularly excited bees around a honey pot.

Many of them are begging for spare tickets for what will be Friendly Fires‘ second visit to the Mexican capital; and the show’s sold-out status is proof enough that the St Albans quartet have made plenty of new friends since the first time around.

The club is roughly the size of London’s Electric Ballroom, but whereas the latter has been showing its age for a long time, Velvet is clearly a new club on the block: with shiny fittings and Smirnoff vodka logos plastered over every pristine surface. The crowd are (for the most part) a worryingly cool bunch, with designer jeans and skyscraper heels in abundance, but thankfully they aren’t too cool to dance.

Local synth-funk merchants Neon Walrus aren’t quite as interesting or unique as their name might suggest, but they do have some pretty arresting basslines up their sleeves, and hence manage to get a few bodies swaying on the increasingly packed dancefloor. Meanwhile, those in the guest area are enjoying the presence of a free ‘create your own Smirnoff cocktail’ bar, and yours truly manages to slip past the security to join in the fun. The ‘Can’t Dance But I’m Gonna Try’ is made of equal parts vodka, watermelon sours, and Sprite – and if you think the name sounds clumsy, wait til you’ve had three of them. Hic.

Friendly Fires are on a roll right now, with a Mercury Music Prize nomination for their self-titled debut album, and plenty of successful festival appearances already under their relatively young belts. They hit the stage just after midnight, and are clearly delighted by the utter pandemonium that ensues in the crowd; a heroes’ welcome, no less.

In front of such a partisan bunch, FF were never going to struggle, but tonight they really pull out all the stops for an energetic, sweat-soaked performance. The stop-start rhythms of ‘Jump In The Pool‘ could get a dead donkey dancing, the Rapture-esque funk of ‘Lovesick‘ incites mass bouncing down at the front, and the epic chorus of ‘Paris’ envelopes a room like a cloud of spaced-out musical euphoria. Throughout, frontman Ed Macfarlane smiles as if he can’t quite believe this is happening, and this does seem a slightly surreal situation for four young (but talented) guys from the home counties.

Whether they’ve got what it takes to keep this impressive momentum going in the long term remains to be seen, but tonight Friendly Fires prove to be a pretty exhilarating live act, and one that is worthy of Mexico City’s love.

Alex Gosman

Young Fathers
Hoxton Bar And Kitchen
18.08.09

Young Fathers are a Scottish rap act with vague interest in being a British Plastic Little. In the Hoxton venue, teeming with Shoreditch hipsters, they found themselves getting a good round of support though ultimately the best thing about their set was the choreographed dance moves. Too much singing and not enough rap didn’t help their cause either.

Moving on to the main event however, was always going to be the fun part. Devlin and Darko set up on stage (two DJs backing you? Shit yeah, Amanda!) and knocked out some funky jams before the lady in waiting crouched on stage wearing a black cloak.

Her ballsy, fuck you, sexual persona isn’t best suited to being covered up and, sure enough, half way through the opening number the cape came off revealing a skimpy swimsuit.The barefooted rapper then thursted, danced and smiled her way through a short yet brilliant set featuring tracks such as DJ, A Love Song, Gimmie What You Got, Leaving You Behind and instant banger Might Like You Better.

She’s fiesty, she’s sexy and she’s very talented and hopefully Amanda Blank will be back very soon.

Abjekt.
Photo by Jo Fuertes-Knight.

The Electric Ballroom
London
19th August 2009

They say good things come to those who wait….but five years is enough to test the patience of the most faithful of fans, and as a result the sold-out Electric Ballroom is full of a very impatient and excited crowd.

Having gone their separate ways shortly after playing London in 2004, this is The Get Up Kids first UK tour for some years, but its clear they haven’t been forgotten. With the ten year anniversary of their seminal album ‘Something to Write Home About‘ the guys have put their differences aside, and the group we see tonight, although a little older – are every bit as exciting as they were half a decade ago.

The Get Up Kids have been cited as a major influence for so many of the ’emo’ bands we see today – Pete Wentz even went on record to say that without TGUK, Fall Out Boy wouldn’t exist (TGUK’s response was to publicly apologise for pioneering emo, if bands like that were the result…). Tonight’s crowd is a mix of intrigued teenagers who probably never got to see them before they split and an older contingent who seem just as hyped up as the kids. And not a Fall Out Boy t shirt in sight…

We are treated to a set list of TGUK’s greatest hits – every song is someone’s favourite, lyrics are sung back word perfect . James Derwees, who’s been touring a keyboardist with My Chemical Romance and New Found Glory, grins and waves from the right of stage, whilst Jim Suptic takes up his residency at far left, leaving a lean Rob Pope (bass) and beaming Matt Pryor to take centre stage, in front of the insanely talented Ryan Pope on drums. Picking and choosing from their albums the band seem to have clicked back into place with ease – although at the beginning Pryor seems to struggle to reach some of those higher notes, but with Suptic trading vocals the arrangements seem to work well. Action & Action, Holiday and Valentine – the crowd pleasers – get everyone singing, and The One You Want (taken from their last album The Guilt Show) is one of the many highlights.

In between tracks Pryor and Suptic seem genuinely happy to be back in London, with the front man joking that they’re scared of playing such a huge sold-out venue instead of the little bars they’ve become accustomed to. A sublime version of Mass Pike showcases Ryan Pope’s seemingly limitless abilities on drums – he’s so good that you can even forgive him for disappearing mid-set for a quick smoke break. The crowds are lapping up every track, with one ardent fan actually throwing his wallet, with cash, on stage – lucky for him Pryor’s in a generous mood…and throws it right back.

He goes onto explain that Out of Reach was written about their first trip to the UK, and the line “Here’s me overseas, across a pond by the Dover peaks…” almost takes the roof off. There’s one unknown song played, which seems to stop everyone in their tracks…could this be new TGUK material?! An encore of a cover of The Cure’s Close To Me, and the stunning I’ll Catch You is followed by a promise from Suptic that they’ll be back soon, before the night draws to a close with the upbeat, bouncing Ten Minutes.

Tonight is a glorious come back for The Get Up Kids – a reminder for them that their fans appreciation of them is still as ardent as ever and there are new fans to be made. They have influenced a whole wave of music, and although they say imitation is the highest form of flattery, experiencing the real deal is a sparking reminder of how good this band are.

Look out for an interview with the band on this site soon!

Dee Massey

The Stupids
The Underworld, London
Sunday, August 2nd

There are many people that get a little snooty about the Rebellion Festival – a three day punk festival in Blackpool that features almost entirely old and rapidly bloating and balding punk bands from around the world. Is Blackpool where the once youthful and vibrant spirit of punk goes to crawl away and die, or attempts to resurrect the spark that existed back in the day? Well yes, part of that may be true but one of the benefits of Rebellion is that despite the endless glut of dodgy reformed Oi bands and UK Subs sound-alikes, the promoters have in recent ears taken to attracting some legendary American hardcore bands that have in some instances never been to Europe before and without something like Rebellion, would never get to come to the UK.

And better still, most of these bands have fitted in extra shows around their Rebellion commitments so in recent days we’ve had a glut of great, classic US hardcore shows which can’t be a bad thing. Plus, it’s a known fact that old men play the best punk rock. Give it to kids and they think it’s all about screaming, metal riffs and competing to see how many tattoos they can get Mummy and Daddy to pay for.

Back in the eighties, The Stupids rather unexpectedly found themselves plastered all over the covers of the music press and the UK fell in love with their high-speed and utterly infectious brand of melodic skateboard propelled hardcore. Back with a new album twenty years later, they are now really starting to find their stride since first playing live again last year. With a few appearances under their belts now, they’re tightening up and getting faster and faster by the second. Singing drummer Tommy Stupid is a rapid blur of limbs at the back, constantly pushing the tempo to the max as guitarists Marty and bassist Ross hammer their riffs to each beat in quick succession. ‘So Much Fun‘ as the band themselves would say. So good to have them back.

The Adolescents are genuine American punk legends. Formed in California in 1980, their classic ‘blue’ album was a fundamental part of the L.A. punk sound that influenced and inspired all of the bands, as is often the way, that went on to be huge with someone else’s ideas. Take a bow Pennywise, Offspring and Bad Religion!

Back in the shit-stenched rot of the Underworld for the second time in the last couple of years (someone must be able to do something about that rotten smell in that venue, unreal!), The Adolescents (with most of their original line-up in tact) proceed to tear through a set of punk rock perfection that puts bands half their age to shame.

Frontman Tony Cadena prowls the state, spitting and snarling the lyrics to the likes of ‘Rip It Up‘, ‘No Way‘ and ‘Amoeba’ as the band detonate around him. On lead guitar they have Frank Agnew Jr, the son of original guitarist Frank Agnew, father and son ripping it up onstage together and Frank Jr is a joy to watch, bringing a burst of youthful energy to the band and showing off a naturally fluid punk rock guitar style that must be in the Agnew blood!

Amongst the barrage of classics, the band also played some tracks from their reunion album ‘O.C. Confidential‘ and also slammed through some fresh material from a forthcoming new album, proving that there is plenty of life in the old punks yet. Bloody marvellous!!

James Sherry

Relentless Garage
London
5th August 2009

Gig-goers experienced one of the stickiest, sweatiest gigs of the summer last night at the newly re-opened Relentless Garage. The refurb has cleaned up the venue, but it’s a shame they didn’t include decent air-con in the overhaul – you can actually see the steam rising off the crowd as they leave at the end of the night…

Openers Young Guns hammer out a perfunctory set – but seem stuck in the last decade both musically and visibly. There’s nothing hugely memorable except an impressive amount of head banging, and the fact that front man Gustav Woods spends an inordinate amount of time talking and giving the crowd the hard sell on their the EP instead of just getting on with it. It’s unfortunate for them that their set is so instantly forgettable next to the nuclear energy of the headliners.

The Used take to the sauna/stage just after 9.30, and it’s clear from the off set that they’ve lost none of their raw energy over the years. The sound is broad and exciting; with the vocals surprisingly spot on despite McCracken’s 2007 throat surgery. They kick off the night with ‘Take it Away‘, with the irrepressible McCracken grinning, spinning, laughing and tearing up the stage. In between tracks he rambles happily about how this is the best London show he’s ever played and as ever spits and sprays water from his mouth over the baying crowds. If there’s an outbreak of swine flu in the Used fans we know who to blame… He’s bulked up a little from the skinny little punk of previous years, but still has the same insane energy that make The Used an exhilarating band to catch live. There’s still the same juvenile sense of humour – he introduces ‘I Caught Fire‘ as a song written about his bowel movements after a particularly strong curry, grinning like a naughty school boy. His enthusiasm and exuberance seem to fuel the crowd, and soon the whole venue is buzzing, woe betide anyone getting in the way of any of the kids in the front, there are crowd surfers throwing themselves around with legs and arms in every direction….

The set list bounces from album to album – ‘ Liar Liar‘ , ‘Hospital’ and the sublime ‘Buried Myself Alive‘ are crowd pleasers- and we’re treated to an acoustic glimpse of their new album (Artwork – released 31st Aug) with the track ‘Empty With You‘. A lengthy medley of The Taste of Ink and Bulimic is a highlight, with the words hollered back at the stage word perfect. By this point the condensation is sliding down the walls and people are stumbling from the pit looking like they’ve been swimming. ‘Box of Sharp Objects‘ brings the night to a steamy climax – with the band grinning as much as the crowd. Tonight The Used show that they’re still very much a force to be reckoned with, and unlike so many seemingly disposable trend bands, they’re in for the long haul. Catch them if you can when they play The Electric Ballroom on 23rd September, you won’t regret it.

Dee Massey

Forum
01.08.09

There are always going to be some people who don’t understand, 10 years down the line, that it’s not a good look wearing a backwards red cap at a Bizkit show, and we weren’t let down at The Forum as a number were dotted around the pit.

Head fashion aside, the Kerrang! sponsored gig was packed to the rafters with people ready to re-live the days of Nu-Metal and they most certainly got all they wanted and more.

Bizkit managed to silence the critics at Download earlier this year and carried on where they left off with favourites like Hot Dog, Break Stuff, Show Me What You Got and My Generation, with the crowd jumping, the arms flailing and sweat pouring.

Durst was on fine form leaning into the crowd for Eat You Alive before turning to the white tuxedo’d Borland after hearing the chant for Counterfeit, though disappointing those who wanted a track from their debut album.

The sad faces soon lifted however as, when back for the encore, the intro to Pollution played out and the old fans proceeded to lose their shit, including yours truly.

This band may have received their fair share of abuse from the rock and metal world, but they know how to put on a show and please their fans and that’s exactly what they did.

Abjekt.

Jane’s Addiction
O2, London
15.07.09

‘Wave Goodbye‘. It’s printed on the t-shirts, it’s on the tour posters and all over the internet but it’s only when I arrived at the O2 to witness all of this commotion that it starts to actually sink in.

That’s right; Trent Reznor is calling it a day after an amazing twenty year career under the Nine Inch Nails guise. Hard to believe really after such a successful run of amazing albums backed up by years of amazing tours and memorable live shows. But first, the co-headliners.

Opening with ‘Three Days’ Jane’s Addiction seemed to be on a fast track to glory but quickly divert off into a world of just going through the motions. The visible tension between Perry Farrel and Dave Navaro on stage was off putting and took the magic away from their performance despite playing the classics ‘Stop!‘ and ‘Ocean Size‘. As for the encore performance, the band begrudgingly eek out ‘Jane Says’.

Whether it was intentional, letting Reznor and co. reap the glory of their last UK headline show or not, the Jane’s Addiction performance was mediocre at best. It’s a shame because they are capable of so much more and I believe they owed the fans a lot more considering the ticket price alone was pushing the £40 mark. If I wanted to see middle of the road toss I’d pick up a copy of NME magazine. (Oooooh snap!) Either way Jane’s Addiction have seemed to have lost their love for their music and each other.

Nine Inch Nails, performance wise, couldn’t be further removed from their co-headliners. Trent Reznor backed by Robin Finck, Justin Meldal-Johnson and Iian Rubin start to play with the house lights still on, opening with ‘Now I’m Nothing‘ before being plunged into ‘Terrible Lie‘ backed by strobe lighting and a gnarly digital backdrop. Epileptics need not apply.

NIN don’t look like a band of the brink of disbanding. Reznor, the ring leader, conducts the band into a swirling mass, writhing around on a stage which looks more like the bowels of some mechanical hellhound than a band playing the most popular stage in Europe.

Nine Inch Nails plow through an amazing set, blistering through Downward Spiral favorites ‘Heresy’, ‘Reptile’ and ‘March Of The Pigs‘ and even throw in a version of David Bowie’s ‘I’m Afraid Of Americans‘. A full on, industrial, assault on the senses. As if this gig wasn’t special enough Reznor thanked us all for the support over the past twenty years before bringing on none other than Gary Newman for sterling renditions of ‘Metal’ and ‘Cars‘.

NIN come full circle, going back to where it all began with ‘Down In It’ and ‘Head Like A Hole‘ taken from the first full length ‘Pretty Hate Machine‘. Guitars, amps, synthesizers and keyboards are trashed and are thrown around the stage as Nine Inch Nails go out with a bang.

“Everyone I know goes away in the end”. Poignant lyrics from Reznor as he and the band play encore ‘Hurt‘ to close the show. An emotional farewell to a beloved band but there was still resistance from fans who couldn’t understand why Reznor was calling it a day. Wouldn’t you rather see Nine Inch Nails go out on top like they did tonight rather than Reznor dragging is liver spotted corpse across the stage 20 years down the line? I rest my case. Nine Inch Nails gave a performance for the ages tonight. A fitting farewell to an absolutely astonishing band. Thanks for the memories, Trent.

Tom Lindsey

O2 Islington Academy
09.07.09

So its that time of year again, DMCs – djs all over the land have been battling through heats to make it to the finals here at the Islington Academy. This is the 25th anniversary of the championships and things were set up for a heavy showing in the finals.

First section up is the head to head Battle for Supremacy – 17 DJs battling styles and tricks to pass to the next heat. There were some easy pickings for the heavy weight DJs with Rasp beating Asian Hawk in the semis with a hard, confident style. Over in the other semi, X-Rated took out Jeppa, which was a bit of a shock, although Xrated came through with a straight up battle set, it was in no way as clean and tight as Jeppas beat juggles – but anyways on to the final.

XRated kicked in with a hard beat juggle, maybe it went on a little too long for the judges as St Helens finest, Rasp, came through with a more organised layered set, felt more of a turntablist. After the judges cast their votes, Rasp just eyeballed Xrated in anticipation and took the first place, along with it entry in to the World finals in September. Judging by the global talent from last year, Rasp will be in for a hard night, best of luck to him.

The DMCs always has a couple of live PA’s on the night to keep the crowd moving. This year was a relaxed affair with some mics getting passed around and emcees taking over proceedings with true UK style. Micall Parknsun is a new name to me on the MC circuit and flowed solidly and is right up there with Klashnekoff and Kyza in my opinion – stood tall sharing the stage with UK legend Jehst. Skinnyman and the nights host, Inja ripped up the other PA, dropping the grimey “Hat Low” tune, which is probably being played on Channel U as you read this!

Last years battle finalists, Shiftee (USA) and the UK’s Switch made a showcase appearance for a couple more rounds of bravado. The skill level and rivalry between these two is pretty epic with Switch’s in your face hard dis style succumbing to Shiftee’s witty smoother battle set which kept the crowd more than warmed up for the final.

On to the main event, the DMC UK Final – Longer sets this time and a more varied sound than the shorter battles. “Special Guest” gets things started with a grimey bigbeat guggle, and while Disect dropped a bold Pendulum track and some hard bass kicks. Rasp came through with another organised set, but not enough to stand out, same with Asian Hawk, another RATM mashup and even dropping some Mr Scruff wasn’t enough to get the judges on side.

3rd place on the night went to Johnny 1 Move, guy had no luck with his needles skipping and took a rebate and pulled it together pretty well. 2nd place went to Furious P, seemed like he had his own dub plates made for the night and mixed hard, but his set didn’t feel as hectic as some of the others so didn’t capture a vibe. The winner on the night, apparently by a point, but in my opinion by a mile was DJ Jeppa. Mixing up the eerie War of the Worlds sound track with some dubstep set things off uniquely.

Jeppa seemed very relaxed, maybe too much as he cruised through a well drilled set, to victory, it was obviously the best set of the night, but I know Jeppa has a lot more in him. He might not be as enigmatic on the decks as some of the DJs, but his intelligent, well thought out sets will keep him in the race come the World Finals, ill be there rooting for him.

So Jeppa and Rasp progress to the finals which are at the Indigo at the 02 (Millenium Dome) To be honest they both need to get practicing if they want to get their mits on the gold Technics, watching some of the videos from around the world, who ever makes it out of the US final in New York in 2 weeks time will be a strong contender – and then there is the French , who always come through with the innovative sets year in year out, plus Japan always has something to say in the finals too – so get the ticket booked for the final, its 25 years old this time round and Mr DMC (Tony Prince) has promised an extra special night.

Phil Proctor

Kevin Devine
ICA, London
21st July 2009

Kevin Devine is brilliant. He’s one of those acts that when you finally see live you wonder how you never realized this brilliance earlier. Devine’s acoustic offerings are translated impeccably in tonight’s setting and you could literally hear a pin drop as a rapt audience become involved in his heartfelt, sometimes political, always emotional and melodious songsmithery.

Manchester Orchestra‘s Andy Hull appears in dim but angelic lighting to one side of Devine in the middle of selected songs as he effortlessly adds his vocals to blend with Devine’s in a way that sounds so natural it’s almost as if he’s not there. Vocal excellence becomes par for the course tonight as Devine pulls away from the microphone as his voice becomes more intense to really create an intimate effect. The crowd may as well be round a campfire as stories are told and songs rolled out with a friendly and familiar manner.

Opening with some sort of ode to 50 Cent conveyed with ever-marvellous musicianship and following on with the quietness that has so far been the theme of the evening, Manchester Orchestra have the crowd chuckling from the outset yet there is a feeling of anticipation which is rewarded as the full force of this act to be reckoned with kicks in. Songs from the new record ‘Mean Everything To Nothing’ such as ‘Shake It Out’ and ‘The River’ shake through the venue with waves of intensity, the crowd relishing those softly softly moments every bit as much as the all-consuming loudness generated by supplementary drumming and full-on guitar assaults.

The ultimate catchiness of ‘I’ve Got Friends’ is likely to whirl around inside everybody’s brains for days to come after the band pick out the delicate opening riff with purpose and feeling every nuance as one unit. There really isn’t anything to fault with the sound at the venue this evening being super clear and emphasizing exactly how accomplished these guys are as songwriters and as musicians. Emo? Yes – after all, that term really only stands for emotional and that they are. But Manchester Orchestra are so much more than that and it’s always a joy to see a band take such care and pride in what they do yet be so humble and understated at the same time with riveting effect.

Winey G.