Gigs
The Treatment @ The Borderline
Oct 18th
6th September 2011
Before the big relocation of DoesItRock HQ out of the city and beyond the green belt, it was only fitting to head out for one final gig to bid farewell to the ease of TFL transport home.
As such, I found myself in The Borderline grabbing a beer as tonight’s compere (complete in doctor’s outfit) took the mike to introduce the first band of the night No Americana. Despite having a terrible name for a band from Brummyland, this was a triumphant set of soaring rock. Their classic rock sound was well rounded balancing raw power, danceable rhythms, melodic vocals, sing-a-long chorus’s and nifty guitar licks. They were remarkably confident and as such put in a superbly polished performance packed with brilliant radio friendly tunes such as Wax Poetic (already play listed by Kerrang) that far exceeded their billing tonight. One of the most impressive first-up support slots I have witnessed in a long time. I expect these guys to move swiftly through the ranks, so catch them while you can.
No Americana
Another well rounded radio ready and PR marketers dream were up next in the shape of Six Hour Sundown. Now to me, a female fronted to a rock n’ roll band with stadium sized ambitions is either a rare treat (Halestorm, Damone etc…) or one doomed to failure. Sadly these young hopefuls fell into the latter category. Her attempts at being a rock diva came across as a frail whimper of solitude amongst the towering power chords of the solid instrument wielders. One track of note was such Angels (a sombre ballad no less), but even this was littered with clichéd lyrics and overly dramatic melodic guitars. Despite the lack of a coherent sound they showed promise with their riff making, plundering a couple of killer breakdowns and scale runs. Outclassed by their subordinate band on the night, says much about this set.
Six Hour Sundown
Tonight, little to my knowledge was The Treatment’s debut album launch party This Might Hurt. Odd, particularly as I had been listening to this album since 2010 and almost bought it the last time our paths crossed @ Underworld . Particulars aside, tonight was the showcase of a reinvigorated band playing their first headline show in front of a packed out crowd, quite a feat given today is Monday! After a slight technical hitch the boys strutted out to roaring approval and kicked straight into their big riffing album opener The Departed. In fact every song was stacked with enough guitar wattage to blow a tunnel under London to rival CrossRail. Special mention must go to latest single Drink, F**k, Fight, containing enough booze fuelled reckless abandon to match those on show during the London Riot’s.
The Treatment
Playing your first headline set is daunting, but if they were nervous, they didn’t look it as they struck a ferocious pace kicking out the best tracks from their re-packaged release. The Treatment’s staple diet of glam inspired hard rock hit equal vocal highs as their duelling Les Paul wails, with singer Matt Jones’ hagar-esque ball busting howls being both distinctive and powerful. Balladry was masterful here tonight, without the usual soppy lyrical fare it gave the vocals a chance to truly soar and the crowd the chance to sway along.
Matt Jones
With the longer set which comes with being headliners, they turned to some tried and tested cover versions to plug the gaps. Their selections, both hugely influenced by their manager’s exploits in the UK Rock scene, produced stunning results. First out of the canon was Road Rocket( Laurie Mansworth’s former band More), a thundering heavy metal tune with flaming blues licks, demonic drumming and a frantic guitar solo. The song of the night (possibly the year so far) came with the second. Its hard to describe just how excited I became as the opening bass thumps of Hurricane Party‘s Killer resonated through my head. A moment of pure joy, exuberance and Classic Rock Muscle… I loved ever second. It was after this tune you realise the striking similarities between those bands, no bad thing in my mind.
Encore’s are clearly a new thing to The Treatment, as they had run out of material upon their return to the stage. Unfazed, they decided to play The Doctor, comically, for the second time of the night! Ignoring this minor blip, this was an electrifying live show from one of the UK’s most promising Hard Rock talents.
Download Festival 2011: Classic Rock Friday
Jul 23rd
Day one of Download Festival, over recent years has definitely been moving towards the arena of the classic/hard rock, see previous headliners of Ac/Dc(2010), Def Leppard(2009) & Kiss(2008). Again in 2011 we find another cracking Friday lineup which I could not resist. I had to be here!
CKY
After the substantial journey up from London town, I took up the position I’d be in most of the day, down front on the main stage for the arrival of the skate born, alt-hard rock band CKY. A surprisingly large crowd had gathered and we were not disappointed, as they plundered out wah soaked hard rock riffs with graceful efficiency. The seeming endless barrage of melodies were both catchy and had most of the crowd leaping/banging head like there’s no tomorrow. The standout tune had to be the epic guitar riffed 96 Quite Bitter Beings which sparked the days first circle pit, bodies literally flew in all directions. A cracking opening to what was to be a legendary day.
Puddle Of Mudd
In a bit of a throwback to my younger days, Puddle of Mudd emerged to a much more youthful (and tightly packed) crowd. You would not have guessed they had been away from the UK shores for 10 years, support seems as eager as ever. Playing the best of their early album’s which had so much commercial success, lead singer Wes Scantlin let fly his nasally snarls led by some crunching post-grunge guitars. The biggest roars came with an Ac/Dc cover TNT and their love/hate ballad She Hates Me which had the biggest vocal backing of the afternoon thus far. Yet, they did not play Blurry, a song a lot of people had come to hear. Whether a timing issue was to blame, I dunno? But this soured the performance as they trundled off stage to an unsatisfied chorus of “blurry, blurry, blurry...”.
Young Guns
A short hike back up the arena I managed to catch the end of the Young Guns set on the second stage. They seemed very engaged with the crowd, trying to start a teenage riot with multiple calls of “I want you to go crazy to this one”. From the back It was hard to see what the fuss was about. Clean and scream vocals mixed up well in their post-hardcore melodies many of which were pretty cool, but nothing of distinction sets them apart. 10/10 for effort in pleasing the festival youth.
Duff McKagan
I returned to the main stage to catch the latter half of ex- Gun’s & Roses man Duff Mckagan and his band Loaded. It was clear nothing much had changed since the last time I saw them, still plugging away with sleazy punk slanted hard rock. Much of their original material was met with indifference despite a few catchy guitar and vocal hooks. The same cannot be said for their closing cover tune It’s So Easy. It’s always a pleasure to see a ex-Guns n’ Roses man playing classic material as if it was 1987 all over again.
Black Stone Cherry
Black Stone Cherry followed up next with a the set of the day so far! Full of southern Rock swagger and muscular guitar riffing so deep south it chills with the penguins. Set was comprised equally of from all three albums and mixed mid tempo rockers and all out hard hitting clout with effortless ease. Swinging from the latest vocal wah (Sambora Stylie) driven single White Trash Millionaire to the powerful chorus centric chanter Blind Man and the frenzied headbangers paradise on the Lonely Train. Despite these cracking tunes, there was an unexpected highlight…a cover version!
Heavy Metal Devil Horns out in force!
Taking a step aside from the usual hard rock covers they went all live lounge on our asses and pumped out a rocked up ‘Magic FM‘ listener friendly tune,, Adele’s Rolling In The Deep. An uplifting and very popular choice which had many a black clad, leather bound macho man singing his lungs out…this alone, provided a classic Download moment! A superb performance from a band totally fulfilling their potential!
Alter Bridge
Somehow four more bands had to grace this stage. First to try were the ex-Creed associates plus one of my favourite vocalists Myles Kennedy, as Alter Bridge picked up where BSC left off! Soaring heavy rock anthems are what these guys do best, hence it was not long before they kicked into belters such as Find The Real and Ties That Bind which spark sing-a-longs and circle pits in equal measure. There are not many bands who write songs as big as Alter Bridge. Mark Tremonti as ever was a total genius with his guitar this afternoon firing off shredded solos, chugging metal riffs and harmonious sweep picked melodies at will. His arrangements are probably the most badass and technically accomplished of any hard rock band on the planet. The key to their success is his partner in crime Myles, who not only had one of the iconic rock voices of modern times, but boy he can play guitar too. An axe battle ensued towards the end of the set with both corners trading powerful knockout blows. A mesmerizing display of virtuosity from both men…I call it a tie! The crowd absolutely reveled in what was a terribly uplifting set that stuck the middle finger up towards the falling rains plans to scupper the show.
Thin Lizzy
Up next I am proud to have witnessed one of the legendary bands of rock. Innovators of the dueling guitar solo, performers of live shows that have gone down in history and true classic rock icons…Thin Lizzy are back! Albeit with a roughly cobbled together lineup of ex-members and newbies, yet with original members Brian Downey and Scott Gorham providing the core of the sound, this was probably the closest I would ever get to their 70′s magic.
Special Guest…Def Leppards Vivian Campbell
It was a set packed with nostalgia and legendary tunes such as The Cowboy Song, Whiskey In The Jar, Jailbreak…(I could list every song)…and of course The Boys Are Back In Town. New lead singer Ricky Warwick was most definitely not on par with Phil Lynott but he did a good job of belting out the chorus and getting the crowd onside. With such a huge chunk of the former lineup(s) missing it was never going to recreate the magic, but it was as good a set of rock and roll classics you will ever likely to hear!
The Darkness
After Wednesdays encounters with tonight’s Sub Headliners still fresh in the rss feed, I’ll be brief. The Darkness did exactly what they do best, entertain! A huge portion of the crowd you could feel were willing them to be rubbish. Those were soon won over by jaunty pop rock numbers and some good old fashion showmanship from the moustached Hawkins. By far the most spectacular set of the day. Comprising of all the usual glitz of confetti, streamers and fireworks, with the surprising addition of giant flame throwers. You can’t fault them for trying to keep the crowd on their toes! I was having a whale of a time, but then it is The Darkness, they only know how to make the good times roll!
Nothing like a naked flame to warm the cockles
It was an agonising wait in the ever plummeting temperatures and drizzling rain for tonight’s headliners Def Leppard (ring, ring…2009 called, says they want their headliner back)! Only 2 years since they last graced the Donington stage, they were back for more stadium sized rock. Their sound can only be described as gigantic. You really can feel with every beat of the drum skin, every hi-hat smash and every massive power chord. Yet it is so melodically balanced, making their pop rock classics sound great! To be honest I hadn’t been expecting much, but with each passing intro I kept thinking…damn I know this!
Def Leppard
With an arsenal packed with livewire rockers and a bursting heart full of soppy ballads this was the finest show of pop metal outside 1984. Tunes such as Animal, Rocket, Two Steps Behind and Pour Some Sugar On Me ignited my Def Leppard flame which had long been extinguished. They turned in a superb performance, one absolutely worthy of their Headliner status.
Acoustic Time
With jubilation at what was one of the best days of rock I’ve seen and sadness that it was all over, I trekked back out the front gates and back down the M1…singing Def Leppard tunes all the way home at the top of my very weary lungs!
The Darkness @ Shepherds Bush Empire
Jul 16th
8th June 2011
It is with great excitement and bursting anticipation the DoesItRock posse took up position in the Shepherds Bush Empire to witnes what is was sure to be the reunion which will brighten up the rock scene with incredibly camp singing, outrageoesly tight outfits and hard rock genius. That’s right, after a 5 year break the original lineup of The Darkness are back, and ready to glam up the charts once more!
Before though we had to wait a little bit longer as Max Raptor warmed up the crowd. This was a very hit an miss set, their song melodies were good as were their energy. But the sound balance was terrible and vocals were hard to make heads or tail of. On reflection, this was not a set likely to win them any new fans. A slight disappointment as I quite enjoyed their latest studio offering.
Max Raptor
Suddenly an Irish jig broke through the PA systems cycle of hard rock classics, as on strutted Frankie, Ed, Dan and Justin to roars and appropriately camp woops of approval from the crowd. This was their Download festival performance warm up tour labeled “…As Promised“, it surely delivered on its label as they flew straight into the quo-esque galloping instrumental Bareback. Immediately you can feel hey are having fun once more as they dart about stage using every inch of stage space available.
The Darkness
Justin had lost nothing (and gained a rather twirly moustache), as his male defying falsetto scaled into the hearing ranges of dogs soaring epic chorus’s while his flying fingers blazed the frets and his overenthusiastic body instinctively launched into split jumps at sporadic intervals. Justin was un-characteristically quiet throughout, but his antics and unhinged energy were plenty to contend with.
Hawkins & Co. back in business,,,
The set was drawn heavily from their debut and breakthrough album Permission to Land, with only one tune coming from their ill fated second LP. After years away they still sounded as joyously kick ass as they did in 2003 as they ran through hit after hit. Highlights include the racously rampaging Get Your Hand Off Of My Woman (probably the most camp fight song ever), sing-a-long classic Friday Night and the truly gigantic power ballad Love Is Only A Feeling. The new tracks given their first outings this evening were very falsetto heavy and so were tricky to decipher.
This was a show chocked full of good old fashion entertainment value, playing all the ace tricks including confetti, jokes, fireworks, and streamers. They laugh in the face of seriousness as the cat suit was unleashed, it was a cheeky little black number with a tail this time!
At the height of their success they ended their UK tour with sold out 3 nights at Wembley aren where Justin rounded out a show soloing Love On The Rocks WIth No Ice atop of a white tiger suspended 30ft above the crowd…tonight he had to settle with a 3ft box on wheels, but the premise was the much the same!
Justin Hawkins sporting a cheeky tash
With more performances like tonight, surely it will not be long before these heights are scaled once more. A sub headline slot at Download festival is up next for the boys…I’ll be there to see of they can top this triumphant comeback show!
Art Brut @ The Lexington
Jul 14th
2nd June 2011
So many gigs, so little time to write…It must be the summer!
After enjoying a fine but hideously expensive Brooklyn Lager (Cheers Docktor) at the cool pub/venue hangout The Lexington we ascended to welcome tonight’s warm up act, Baddies.
Baddies
From their sound, it is quite clear to see they missed the bus out of the mid 00′s choppy indie rock, being left to wallow through the mud that’s been caked on for 5 years or so. The sound wasn’t fantastic with overpowering chiming power chords and muffled vocals. Their matching uniforms (with top buttons done up) screamed geek, a look in not sure they were after. Plus they broke gig rule #1: Do not insult the crowd. “…you might not be the clapping sort of crowd…“, quickly followed by #2. If its not going well, do not add kerosene to the fire!!
Art Brut
Art Brut kept their fans waiting eager for a glimpse of the Londoners playing the 4th of their 5 night stand here at the Lexington. When they did arrive it was met with jubilation and roars from the ‘older than your average’ gig crowd packed in this evening. From the first spoken vocal of Lead Singer Vocalist Storyteller Eddie Argos and his first call of “Are You Ready Art But…Let’s Go” to the very last, he was a magnetic presence on stage. His tongue in cheek wordplay and honest observations of life love and lunacy were waited on with baited breath all night long.
Eddie Argos
Seeing as most of his lyrics are conversational it’s no surprise to report that he likes a bit of banter, laughing and joking with the crowd and updating lyrics to the present, such as “Even though I’m 28 31″ rolled out on DC Comics & Chocolate Milkshake. This humour and openness were great qualities which connected himself with his captive audience. Emily Kane also got a nice live rework treatment with an extended interlude that documented the next chapter when Emily got in contact. To find out what actually happened is a live gem I’ll leave for you to find out individually.
Musically the set highlights consisted of the sharp jagged chords of My Little Brother, the playful DC Comics and the uncontrollable Modern Art with it’s chaos call “Modern Art, Makes Me Want To Rock Out” sparking crazed scenes. New tunes were not massively well received, but their newer deeper sound was full bodied and disguised many cunningly understated melodies in its midst.
“Sit down class…”
After 4 nights in the same venue (1 more to go) they knew how to work the London crowd without becoming stale and repetitive keeping the set list mixed up also (sadly no airing for Direct Hit tonight). They are a brilliant live band for one reason and that is their talismanic front man who despite his random tales of booze and chance encounters, feels very, well…normal. That connection drives everything the band do and once backed with sharp and catchy little ditty rock tunes, it’s difficult not to love! The chants of “Art Brut Top of The Pops” faded into the night bringing a thoroughly entertaining performance to an end, from one of London towns very best live bands.
Wolfmother @ Kentish Town Forum
Jul 2nd
2nd June 2011
After their failed attempts to make the 18 hour, globe circumnavigating flight from their Melbourne homeland this time last year, Wolfmother finally make it unscathed to the UK for a long overdue tour appearance. It is not only their flight here which can turn back the clocks, their 60′s psychedelia infused hard rock sound firmly flings open the door of nostalgia almost as wide as the bands ever lengthening Woodstock tribute haircut’s.
Turbogeist
Despite the trip down memory lane this was sure to be, tonight’s support came from the new furious punk poppers Turbogeist, last seen in a chaotic Camden Barfly not so long ago. It was a tough gig as the nights headline act’s musical tastes and their own have little crossover appeal. It’s not a shock to report that the docile crowd did not really seem all that interested. In this cavernous theatre their sound was less in your face and their choruses were not big enough to grab the required attention. A limp set from an exciting underground band unlikely to break out from the clubs on tonight’s showing.
Wolfmother had no such trouble in diverting eyes stage wards as the sound system bulged with huge power chords pumping out thumping drums, thundering guitars and heart pounding bass lines. Stockdale and co certainly look the part as they ply their trade as hard rock throwbacks with no sign of irony, just simple honesty and a dedicated retro love drip from their instruments all night long. Their guitars are colossal as they rumble through the deeper crunching spectrum with bulldozer like efficiency.
Wolfmother
With so many expertly riffs each song inherently spark heads a bopping and caused a fair few circle pogo pits for the over enthused. The real key to their success tonight lies in their breakdowns. Many bands can play big and write big chorus’s, but Wolfmother marry this with wandering interludes of trip out psychedelia lulling the crowd into their world of dreamy soundscapes. Of course only to be send crashing back into the main riff for the next bout of ecstatic melodies at the pinnacle of these epic crescendo’s. I’m pretty sure every song had an extension of some sort.
They played the best of their two released LP’s including the guitar hero classic Woman, the manic boogie shuffle of Apple Tree and the hammer-on melody maker The Joker & The Thief. They also managed to throw in a brilliant cover of The Doors Riders On The Storm, complete with whacked out organ solo. During a jam they also somehow managed to culminate different underlying melodies into the solo and verse of Stairway to Heaven, thus completing tonights led zep homage and everybody’s incredibly enjoyable evening!
The Wolfmother ball will stay a rolling as long as there is desire for what has come and past…no time soon then!
Heaven’s Basement & Jettblack @ The Underworld
Jun 11th
Tonight’s show completes a trio of Heaven’s Basement shows witnessed by the doesitrock.net crew here in this great north London venue. After numerous lineup changes they seem to have finally settled into a new groove, one we hope will spin for a long time to come. Will this be third time lucky?
Once thing which can be said of all of their gigs here, the line-up’s have all brimmed with underground rock promise. The first band to hit up tonight’s stage was Earth Prayer. They played radio friendly rollin’ stone style rock with bluesy guitar melodies and a female vocalist providing a soulful touch. Their songs were tidy and enjoyable, but they lacked any passion beyond that for retro rock n’ roll. With the rising success of similar bands such as St. Jude, Earth Prayer will have to improve quickly to keep up with the pack.
Earth Prayer
As the second band took to the stage, I couldn’t help but feel like I had seen this all before and I wasn’t about to enjoy what I was about to hear. After recovering from my déjà vous moment of mental regression, it quickly became apparent that sleaze rockers Dear Superstar had well and truly upped their game! Beefier rhythm’s and a greater focus on melody over attitude, this was a unexpected surprise of a set. They were at their best on newer material which made use of gang vocals and backed chorus’s to create bigger and more anthemic tunes. Their guitars scuzzed out plenty of dirty riffs, dueling licks and even the lead singer had become less in your face, and more likeable for it. With new material dropping soon, it may be time to give them a well earned second chance.
Dear Superstar
If the last band had doused some sleaze, the next band up and co-headliners Jettblack cranked it right back up again. Only difference is they play it in the tried and tested 80′s metal formula as perfected by Motley Crue. It could not fail to be great! Silly machismo lyrics (track names say it all, “Two Hot Girls“,”Get Your Hands Dirty” & “Mother Fucker“), laddish half naked posing, poodle perms all added to icing to their hard rock cake. If it wasn’t for their knack for writing cracking melodies, chunky riffs and nailing some awe inspiring 80′s guitar shreds they would sink like every other tribute band gone original.
Jettblack
As it was, this was a great little set of jubilant hi-five rocking anthems not to sing to your girlfriend! Special mentions need to be aired for the superb (if a tad scripted) guitar shred battle between lead guitarist and vocalist, and their set closing cover of the classic top gun anthem, Danger Zone…Maverick would have been down the front pumping his fist too.
After a turbulent period of departures and arrivals, you feel the new look Heaven’s Basement are settled and are here to stay., So it was with great apprehension that we stood and waited as the music making trio appeared, leaving us all a little while longer, before finally catching a first glimpse of new full time singer, Aaron Buchannan. The suspense worked to their advantage and riding the initial screams Aaron launched into the title tune of their latest EP Unbreakable. The thundering guitars and rampaging riffs were kick ass, even if they did somewhat overwhelm the vocals at first.
Heaven’s Basement
With a new found vigor and sense of urgency they ran through some old classic tunes such as Can”t Let Go and Tear Your Heart Out. It’s after this I felt a comparison could finally be made on the vocals. Personally, I liked them! Despite often being dwarfed by HB’s monstrous melodies he always remained in tune and remained a lively presence at stage centre throughout. Although I’m not a fan of his dance moves, his signature move looks rather like a snake being charmed. His hunger and exuberance cannot be faulted, one feels he will only improve as his confidence grows. Tonight’s fine performance is a perfect platform to build on.
Aaron
With the impending new release we were treated to their first ‘actual’ new material, for quite a while. Leeches was a big rocking number with a scuzzy chorus, Paranoia now sung by guitarist Sid Glover and Let Me Out Of Here. The latter signals their first real foray into the rocky minefields of balladry, one they have traversed masterfully, retaining the epic chorus’s without going soppy. Sid’s guitar work here is especially great with a darker outlook through the deep brooding blues licks and wailing high bends.
Returning to live favourites Reign On My Parade and Executioners Day, the night rounded out with these stunning rockers. I command anybody not to bounce around like a crazed loony when the guitar’s kick back in again after Executioners hazy bridge interlude reaches its almighty crescendo.
Tonight was about the new look Heaven’s Basement and whether they can live up to the promise of those who have fallen by the wayside. I’m happy to report the future is bright, but there is a little way to go yet but there’s no doubt that these guys will go from strength to strength!
Death From Above 1979 @ The Forum
Jun 4th
6th May 2011
Noisey/Dance Punk duo Death From Above 1979 are back!
After a 5 year hiatus, tonight was the night of the long awaited (and unexpected) return to the live circuit for the first of their two night stand in the Kentish town Forum. From the doors opening, a stampede of eager fans bulked out the venue giving a great chance for a support band to make a name for themselves.
After missing out on Young Legionnaire, we squeezed ourselves in to catch the second act Jamaica. This electro guitar band’s melodies few and far between, they lacked any bass slapping gusto or dance fever to ignite their tunes. It was really very ordinary and failed to make even the slightest impression on our resident dance muso The Docktor. An opportunity well and truly spurned.
Jamaica
As the moment of arrival drew ever closer, so did the crowd…intimate is not a word I would usually associate with The Forum, but tonight you could barely move. Cue the smoke machines and madness ensued as those first distinctive Death From Above 1979 fuzzy bass lines were pummeled through our collective consciousness. Not that i could see anything mind you. In fact the crowd were torn in two, those wanting to get closer and those wanting to get away! With this in mind the enjoyment factor plummeted rapidly as small riots ensued and flailing arms met with chins while shoulders met with spines. Altogether an unpleasant experience (or I’m getting old)!
Death From Above 1979
It is no wonder then that I retreated to the relative safety of the first elevated tier to watch the rest of the set, yet I could still barely see them through the plumes of smoke. Somehow the monstrous bass and furious drumming was much louder in my expectations! They felt rather underpowered for a band who thrive on being louder than a jet engine at 20 paces. Certainly this was not the experience I had hoped for. Maybe it was wrong of me to heap so much promise on the show, what else would you expect if you hadn’t played for 5 years and only ever released one full LP clocking in at less than 40 minutes? They were most definitely road rusty.
Whether their decision to return was for artistic or personal or cough…cough…cash! It was clear that half the crowd loved every minute, while the others simply nodded along with a smug grim spelling out I.W.A.S.T.H.E.R.E.
Camden Crawl 2011: Day Two
May 31st
1st May 2011
Well rested, showered and fuelled by ‘full English’ we set out for more exploits in Camden for day two of the crawl.
Kicking off today’s live music extravaganza was the ever reliable grunge revivalists Dinosaur Pile-Up. We have long been admirers of these boys performances and today was no exception. Their big dropped D riffs boomed out livening the early crowd and treating them to a dose of cheery nirvana-esque rock with plenty of catchy melodies and a tonne of chugging rhythm guitars. We were lucky to be treated to some older gems in the shape of Opposites Attract, new material which sounded great, as well their bigger numbers such as Traynor. A cracking start to yet another sunny day.
Dinosaur Pile-Up
From here we mooched over towards the Summer Sundae Special Edition event out on the sun soaked Roundhouse Terrace, only to find Dry The River limbering up. After fighting through a sea of promotional material being thrown our ways we settled and enjoyed what was a mellow laid back folk set. In the sunshine it sounded excellent, the violin especially making an impression. Yet with mellowness comes bliss, and with bliss comes sleep…which is not the greatest asset for a band. One for throwing on the stereo for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Dry The River
The mood swing between these and our next band was colossal. Somewhat strangely ,the crowd were packed in tight for the emergence of NYC’s latest hardcore punk exports Cerebral Ballzy. Their “I don’t give a flying F**k” brat attitude and a love of black flag et al seemed to cause more headaches than circle pits, with the non-receptive crowd. They missed about as much as they hit as their front man ran amok through the crowds inciting foul language and generally causing havoc. Musically this wasn’t a great performance even though there were a few decent hooks hidden in there. Their lifeblood is to make loud and supremely fast punk to get knotted to…on this count they succeeded greatly.
Cerebral Ballzy
Indeed the reason for the indifference was plain to see once Cerebral had left the stage. Currently riding a huge over inflated wave of hype are the hip hoppers Odd Future or OFWGKTA (I did wonder what young heavily made up teenage girls were doing at a hardcore punk gig). I departed, but Mr. Flowers stuck around…
Meanwhile…I continued my search for cool new music and found a jazz musician playing what looked like a carpenters saw. I promptly turned around and stumbled by chance into the Vox busking sessions to catch James Page. This young acoustic strummer had plenty of melody in his heart and honesty in his lyrics. Tales of london life and what else…girls, were lively and highly enjoyable. This was a tough/drunk crowd to perform for plus all the while having a multitude of technical difficulties, he showed his spirit and professionalism to battle through admirably.
James Page
After a huge trek out to Kentish Town, we were glad to find a band about to begin in the Bull & Gate, this was Five Working Days. A triumphantly jubilant set of rockabilly/ska pop later, we were smitten. It was lively and highly entertaining in this tiny pub corner. It’s a surprise they all managed to fit in really! Stuffed full of a good “cockney knee’s up”, we headed into the Forum for what turned out to be a rather costly mistake.
Five Working Days
Frankie & The Heartstrings failed to appear at their appropriate stage time, we consulted the schedule…yup this is right, we agreed! A quick foray into the twitterati revealed more disappointing news. Frankie & his Heartstrings were at home and were never scheduled to play the Sunday! Bad form Camden Crawl!
Still we had Benjamin Leftwich Francis to enjoy instead. After 10 minutes of boredom inducing folk crooning I departed, more than a bit saddened!
The Phantom Band
Heading back into Camden central (by bus this time), I found myself in an almighty queue to get into the Proud Galleries, for one of the big highlights of the festival. After the floodgates opened I somehow found myself down the front! Sporting a look of bewilderment and smugness, I settled down to watch The Phantom Band after a slightly awkward Q&A session from Radio Ones new music maestro Huw Stevens. A very eclectic set followed with plenty of blips and bops overlaying their already well stacked guitars and melancholic yet purposeful vocals. They made big powerful atmospheric indie rock with effortless ease, without really having to strain. Playing a wide variety of quirky instruments they managed to squeeze out melodies from all angles. Never losing track of the main melody was key to their success, as it was these that formed the heartbeat of their songs amongst their proggy sidesteps. A great little set of diverse rock!
Graham Coxon
The venue had long been full to capacity, turning away latecomers because next on stage was the true British guitar legend, ex-Blur guitarist and accomplished solo artist, Graham Coxon. Meekly shuffling onstage it was apparent he wasn’t here to mess around as he and his ample sized band quickly hooked up their huge effects pedal boards to their Marshall’s and begun to ring out crunching power chords galore to the delight of the fans.
Sporting his trademark stripy Tee and Glasses, Coxon & Co got quickly into their stride playing brilliant upbeat rock numbers from Love Travels at Illegal Speeds including Don’t Let Your Man Know, Standing On My Own Again & I Can’t Look At Your Skin each teeming with energy and pulse racing urgency. The business of getting the crowd onside was complete, thus the set spiraled into a swarm of new material, many of them debut’s including City Hall, The Truth & a cracking little punchy number Running For Your Life. These new tunes were catchy and enjoyable pop-centric rockers, showing promise for his upcoming album.
He was joined on stage by Shingai of The Noisettes in a striking (and short) red dress, providing vocals for another new tune Billy Says. As Graham himself put it in the Q&A, “I get a lot of stick for my singing…It’s nice to hear my songs sung by a girl, gives it a different feel”. We agree. This bluesy number was ace and vocals were soulful and bright, adding a totally new slant to Coxon’s usual monotone fare. A few more newbie’s later the set was wound up with the euphoric rocker Freakin’ Out to end with a bang. This was a great intimate gig packed with classics and new tracks alike. A very rare opportunity to catch a legend doing what he does best!
Coxon and Shingai
We hightailed it to The Black Cap for our final band of this years Crawl, Johnny Foreigner. Opening with an A Cappella verse from the front pairing of this lively trio, they soon clattered their guitars and spliced riffs with rhythms forming a jubilant racket of insistent indie rock. Again new material took the forefront, but these tunes were like all JF tunes…exciting and exhilarating. The pairing of boy girl vocals is always at the heart of their shows and this was no exception. Highlights came in the shape What Drummer Get (from their latest EP sold as a Frisbee!!), Eyes Wide Terrified & the irrepressible Salt Pepper & Spinderella. Their onstage presence and artistic backdrop (courtesy of a mac, a projector and a white bed sheet) were great, as their bantered with the crowd and produced a livewire performance of the highest quality.
Johnny Foreigner
This year’s Crawl far outstripped last years in terms of quality acts, performances and thankfully…weather. Let’s hope they can maintain the trend for next year!
Camden Crawl 2011: Day One
May 15th
30th April 2011
A thankful DiR.net team headed out from HQ without the hassle of tube engineering works halting progress. Shortly after departing, we arrived, acquired our wristbands and were already enjoying our first band. Its great when things just work isn’t it!
The schedule was typically full of prime time clashes, but the addition of The Forum (hang on isn’t that Kentish Town), had added another headliner sized venue to the already bursting seams of the Camden Crawl + Kentish Town. We studied this at length in the blazing sunshine to the backdrop of Heights on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage. These agro-metallers were adept in fashioning walls of chainsaw guitar buzz, which when cranked up made for some cool amped up soundscapes. The screamed vocals were below average however and failed to leave an impression.
Heights
Staying put we were ready for the dance-punk of Turbowolf! Thankfully their vocalist had improved since the last time we saw them (here), but it was still more deciphering rather than listening. His energy and enthusiasm cannot be faulted, his gypsy punk attire could. Backed with electro soaked guitar riffs with metally tendencies and spiky synths this band were on top form, kicking out huge melodies and thumping bass which had even the grandpa’s an head banging. An early contender for highlight of the Weekend for sure!
Turbowolf
Due to P Moneys no show we were ready for Pendul…sorry, The Qemists! After nestling in near the back of the crowd, I was astounded at just how loud their engineer was pushing the sound system. Even people south of the river were wondering “what’s that racket?”. As it transpired, their huge Drum n’ Bass madness was pushed a tad too much. A huge Crack” signaled a muted 15 minutes as they blew a fuse, much to my relief. They restarted somewhat quieter and were much better. Its amazingly hard to enjoy something blowing a hole in your ear drums! Entertaining? yes, original? not quite. The guitars were understated and the bass/bass/snare drum beats wore thin all too quickly.
The Qemists
After a short break we returned to find the punk pop delights of Attack! Attack! rounding out the day schedule on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage. This was by far the most accomplished set of the day. Polished pop songs with clouting guitars and plenty of vocal hooks were worthy of a much greater crowd. Still we really enjoyed this well crafted, catchy little set from these welsh boys!
Attack! Attack!
With a total of 16 venues hosting shows at 19:15, it’s beyond belief how we ended up watching such utter drivel next! The offenders were Glaswegian noise rockers Divorce. From their stage presence you felt like they were being forced to play against their will (I’ll excuse the drummer, he was quite likable, thus in the wrong band!). Their antagonistic apathy wreaked of attitude problems as they generated mere nonsensical noise from their guitars. Nothing of value came from the vocalists lips except silence! Here incessant thrashing and vocals which can only be described as squawks were utterly dreadful! They clearly thought that they were playing groundbreaking art rock….in reality, it was plain awful!
Divorce
What followed at the Barfly was much brighter, if a little more agro-centric. Turbogeist‘s speed punk was really quite good! Fast and furious riffs with poppy sprinkles gave it a really edge as you could both rock out and toe tap at the same time. In amongst their set were some belting tunes, such as Alien Girl, that sparked chaos in the mosh pit. I say mosh pit, this was all out macho man pinball! It even managed to fill 90% of the venue. The remaining 10% wincing at every clout while secretly hoping the next one to fly out, does so not near me! A frenzied set which was both dangerous and fun!
Turbogeist
Hawk Eyes (or the band formerly known as Chickenhawk), played an absolute blinder in the Underworld tonight. Aggressive alt metal was met with equally approving head banging as their hard hitting riffs and super technical fretwork took centre stage. This was not for the faint hearted as they blasted through most of their debut album including tunes such as NASA Vs ESA, Scorpieau and Son of Cern. We were even joined in the crowd by the lead singer who despite being the occasional scream merchant, has an impressive set of pipes! One to rock out to (without fear of flying bodies).
Hawk Eyes
Rounding off the night we ended up in the Jazz Cafe for the return of Dananananaykroyd. With a tiny stage for their bouncy frenetic live shows it didn’t take long for the singers to leap into the crowd, instantly sending camera bulbs flashing (guilty your honour) as their antics continued. Mr. Flowers even got a high five! Without their new album being out yet, much of the show was new to us, yet the songs on offer were as cheery as ever mixed with dazzling guitar work and their trademark dueling vocals. One new single i picked out Muscle Memory was an all out pop song with a catchy melody and bags off off-kilter kookiness which makes they so great to listen to.
Dananananaykroyd
More than any other band I’ve seen, Dananananaykroyd really look like they are having an absolute blast all the time, cracking jokes, bearing grins as wide as the Cheshire cat and bantering with anyone who dares. Their energy is totally infectious! Even when during one song both guitars and one mic malfunctioned. To their credit, they carried on regardless and had a little chuckle about it afterwards!
Free Hug, enroute to Hi-Five Mr Flowers!
So it was with some older tunes Black Wax and Pink Sabbath did Danananananaanana… bid us farewell this evening. They rounded off what was a great day one, for a festival whose crowning glory (of a shower and a cooked breakfast) was yet to come…oh and tomorrows lineup is pretty awesome too! Stay Tuned!
Trail Of Dead @ Electric Ballroom
May 15th
16th April 2011
The double gig header for this week was concluded with another trip to Camden, only this time it’s straight to the Electric Ballroom early doors in order to catch the bands (damn Friday night scheduling). Upon arrival we were bombarded with epic noise rock coming from Asobi Seksu, who seemed to be doing quite well in drawing in the already ample crowd.
Asobi Sesku
Catching the end of the set, they played with plenty of shoegazy fuzz factory loaded guitars and scratchtastic fretting. But it all fell apart when the female vocalist opened her mouth to deliver weak and whiney vocals. Good thing there weren’t that many vocals then hey!
Rival Schools
After a long time away Rival Schools had returned to the UK with their first new material in 7 years since their lauded debut United By Fate. They have clearly spent time honing their songwriting as these new tunes were mature, melodic and catchy. The performance was one of professionalism. All in all a fairly standard run through of their material. Good, but left a little hole where the excitement should be. Front man Walter Schreifels warm vocals and his intimacy with the crowd, initiating plenty of banter showed a confidence which even went so far as breaking out a cover by request. To the cries of “FREEEEEBIRD!” came a rendition of the first verse/chorus of Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead Or Alive…they definitely have a sense of humour. Set highlights included the delayed drenched riffs of 69 Guns, the heaving opener Wring It Out and sing-a-long indie classic Used For Glue. On the whole, a rather enjoyable set.
…And Now You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, to quote their full moniker do not do half measures. Neither do they like the phrase ordinary. Whether is the band name’s, their energy or the ethereal sonic experimentations they manufacture they are far from your average Joe’s. Kicking off their set they launched into a seemingly endless stream of melody and progressive rock greatness backed with more rise and falls than the south downs. After later checking up (setlist.fm) it seems this was the 16min album closer Strange News From Another Planet from latest LP Tao of the Dead, just how any middle of the road band would start their set, right?
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Follow this with a seamless melody of cracking indie rock tunes from the same album including The Fairlight Pendant, Ebb Away and Summer Of All Dead Souls, you have the first half over within the blink of an eye! ToD have a great tendency to produce beautiful slow drifting instrumentations which lull your senses, taking you into a dreamlike state of mind. Yet they manage to never over do it (70′s prog a no-no), bringing back the main riff at just the right point to kick you up the ass with full blown amped up clout.
ToD were hitting the right notes with the crowd by playing moving on to some older material which sparked both moshs and sways in equal proportions. In rather ToD like fashion, their lead singer and drummer swapped for some of tracks which tended to be heavier and punkier.
Switching it up
These Texans take no prisoners no matter who is on vocal duty and it’s their genre bending, outright refusal to conform, while creating unique and exciting prog which sets them apart and above all who try to rival them. A great performance from true rock heavyweights.
