Posts tagged Punk
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!
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!
Les Savy Fav & Pulled Apart By Horses @ Heaven
Mar 13th
22nd February 2012
Young Legionnaire kicked off tonight’s NME Awards show in spectacular fashion. Their pummeling guitars and gigantic bass melodies were immediately pile driven through your stupefied ears. Such was the intense volume, that as I write this, a hint of deafness still remains. Despite the lack concern for health and safety noise regulations, these guys were pretty damn good. Their guitars played a buzz saw of aggressive overdriven fuzz, packed with bold innovative clattering riffs played within the soaring soundscapes of noise rock. However after half the set, it felt like they really started to recycle ideas and the vocals which were sailing to close to Placebo for comfort, sadly faded behind the gnarly guitar grunts. A promising young bunch of alt-rockers despite. Watch this space.
Young Legionnaire
Next up were Leeds alt-metal noiseniks Pulled Apart By Horses, who continued the relentless onslaught of rousing rock. Kicking off with the superb “E=MC Hammer” immediately puts a smile across the crowd’s faces and brings with it some gargantuan guitars and super catchy vocals with the comedic lyrics “We ride, We ride, We ride the Mammoth” screamed at top volume. For many the urge to dance/throw yourself around in a carefree manner/headbang/toe tap (delete as appropriate) was far too great. Indeed their songs bring a joyously loud fusion of Sabbath gone metal riffs, great clean gang vocals, urgently screamed passages and enough brooding male aggression to plunder an enemy stronghold.
Pulled Apart By Horses
Highlights from the set list were potent man screams of “Yeah, huuuuh” on Back to the Fuck Yeah, the riot inducing Meat Balloons and the varied tempos with bursting energy packed within The Crapsons. Top tune though however had to go to the blues on speed, massively guitar driven epic “High Five, Swan Dive Nose Dive” with its 23 word lyric sheet and awe inspiring crescendos.
Their youthful energy and enthusiasm was remarkable, as they flung themselves around the stage with careless regard for their own safety. This is one band whose combination of skull crushing power, raw intensity, tight musicianship, comedy touches and spirit rousing anthems can only be truly conveyed by actually being there. So what you waiting for?
PABH had thrown down the gauntlet for our headliners Les Savy Fav, who in turn picked it up and slapped the idea they were going to be outshone by a support band straight out the window. It is clearly not in their nature to be upstaged, as within 30 seconds of the opening guitar chime ringing out, their slightly rotund lead singer Tim Harrington was already off foraying into the crowd taking his 4 layers of clothing with him…boy did that man sweat.
Les Savy Fav
It’s no wonder why these guys have such a cracking live reputation. The whole set was peppered with acts of total randomocity and extravagant showmanship. From jumping on a strategically places box in wheels and skidding round the crowd, to sharing vocal duties with strangers, throwing wrapping paper & climbing up on the balcony before hanging off it batman style, this was truly some ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s’ nest influenced behavior.
A slightly blurry Tim Harrington
Although at times it felt as if Tim didn’t really care too much about the lyrics as he’d much rather lark about in his pretty clothes which included a several changes from comedy bishop to yeti and the cop from the Village People. In contrast the rest of the band were quite happy to run through a very tight set of punchy riff rock, which is absolutely what’s necessary when your front man is a absolute nut job.
Going up
Title for the most entertaining moment of the night came not when Tim hugged a bouncer, but when he and the band emptied out 4 huge boxes full of Glo Sticks and proceeded to start a war with the crowd. This was cracking fun and caused a multicoloured explosion of visually stunning carnage. This was one war the band were not going to win. Tim seems to be adept and dodging them as he was batting them off with precision with his microphone, but other bands members (and the bouncers) were less fortunate.
A storming show which emphasised theatrics over musical performance. But credit to Les Savy Fav, this is one show I not be forgetting for a long long time!
Last.fm Festival @ The Forum
Feb 14th
For the second night in a row, I’m back in Kentish town, but this time it’s for the Last.fm festival. This was one of the oddest “festivals” I’ve ever seen, for starters only 4 bands were playing, it was all on one stage and it lasts as long normal evening gig. With the packed in line-up proceedings were kicked off early, by Bones.
Bones
These spritely indie rockers put in a solid if slightly generic performance. I especially liked the tradeoff between the female vocals and the sharp guitar riffs which clattered along to their pop centric melodies. Enjoyable, but not likely to set the world on fire.
Chapel Club
The next band up Chapel Club had been hyped up in the indie press so much that in my mind, they were this gargantuan indie rock titan, set to steal the show. Somehow I fell foul of wise words I’ve written here many a time before…don’t believe the hype! If you like your music with a streak of angst (the depressed kind, not the angry kind), monotone vocals ala Morrissey and an obsession for Joy Division, this is right up your street. This set left be thinking what other things I could be doing instead…like sleeping.
Young Knives returned to the place where me and Mr. Flowers saw the nearly 5 years ago without their preceeding “The” (They must have mislaid it down the back of the sofa or something). Far from becoming industry standard, Young Knives have always remained true to their full on pop experience. The dual front men are perfectly in sync, bopping out vocal harmonies to rival any glee club while picking out some of the finest, nifty little guitar licks this side of franz ferdinand. The only disappointment was the fact they only had 30 minutes to play, causing a very new album heavy setlist. But when the classics arrived in the shape of jerky strutter The Decision and the epic indie anthem Turn Tail it had the whole crowd up on their feet singing along. A massively impressive set from this unlikly combo whom encompass everything that’s great about true britishness (that’s being a little bit eccentric but just about getting away with it).
Young Knives
Here is where I have a right old moan at the organisers! As much as its great to see 4 bands in one night, everyone knows that any festival, no matter how small, must have a headliner. With only a 10 minute difference between set lengths of band 1 (25mins) and band 4 (35mins) this was beyond acceptable. It was tough to see Young Knives leave so soon after they arrived and with the next bands calibre this set length was unacceptably short. Their best bet would have been to drop Chapel Club altogether!
The Futureheads
Despite the restrictions The Futureheads set about whipping up a frenzied edged punk outpouring of thumped guitars and equally harmonious vocal hooks. In the Live setting these guys really live to crank up the volume, upping the punk ante, putting the amps through their paces with 3 guitars bursting out massive riffs left right and centre. I was surprised by this as their studio material is always very measures and slickly produced, live they are an altogether harder beast to tame.
It was good see that they still loved to perform their old material, pulling plenty of old classics such as Alms, the riffing terrific Decent Days And Nights and set closer, the Kate Bush cover Hounds of Love. Thankfully for us all, The Futureheads didn’t was to leave either as they ploughed on 10 minutes beyond curfew because, as lead singer David “Jaff” Craig put it “35 minutes is not enough” Their final flurry was met with rapturous appreciation, estatic moshing and crowd led harmonies. This was a cracking high energy set from a band I seem to have missed live thus far. Something I am sure to rectify, again and again and again etc….
Frank Turner @ Brixton Academy
Feb 7th
12th December 2010
Our final live event of 2010 was another trip down to south london to the Brixton academy to see a man who we have championed from the very beginning. Between tiny tents at Reading Festival, Bristol’s Dot2Dot festival, Shepherds Bush Empire and Glastonbury this will be the fifth time of seeing the punk turned acoustic troubadour Frank Turner. Tonight his coming of age is complete, filling the largest non arena venue in London town. I have to say, it is totally deserved!
He had an impressive set of support bands as well tonight, kicking off with his old pals Dive Dive who for a long time formed his backing band during his earlier years. It is a same to report that we only managed to catch the last 5 minutes of a set which was clearly energising the early arrivals. From what I caught, they were a lively bunch of indie rockers with a dash of punk on a bed of pop. Set closer Liar was a rampant rocking tune which was both infectious and pumped up. Ones to keep an eye on.
Now Mr. Flowers was looking forward to the next act as much as our headliner, the irrepressable indie man and acoustic/folk stalward Ed Harcourt. The performance was enjoyable, but contained few highlights and was a rather drab, somewhat sombre affair. In this gigantic venue, Ed’s indie folk style, outstanding musicianship and unique vocals did not quite have the power to match the poignant lyrics or the grand venue. Focusing almost exclusively on new material, this was a slightly disappointing set which failed to really grab the crowds attention. I can’t help but feel that in a smaller venue, Ed will reap much greater success.
Conversely Frank Turner is made for the larger venues, his anthemic acoustic rock tunes gave an immediate adrenaline hit to those left a bit vacant after Ed’s set. His honest punk-folkster appeal and his enigmatic stage presence combined to instantly win over this huge crowd. Tonights setlist was a true greatest hits set with all his highlights bundled in, including the triumphant rousing ode to a lost friend Long Live The Queen, the fixating storytelling of I Knew Prufrock Before He Was Famous, the family tensions of Father’s Day, the gig circuit tales of The Road and the tribute to travel, experiences and companionship with The Ballad Of Me And My Friends. As seems to be customary he threw in another folk acappela english folk song, this one was called The English Curse and showed his full blooded english character to the fullest.
Frank intersperced his hits with songs from his latest Rock N’ Roll EP which was only released a few days previous. This is a bit of a disappointment as there probably wasnt as many people familiar with these songs before they got a live airing, Despite this this new material was instantly lovable. Honest and heartfelt lyrics sung with conviction and passion which not only have mega catchy vocal hooks, but damn good pop melodies too. The standout from these new songs was definitely I Still Believe, another one of Frank’s songs which resonates with the rock and roll heart beating thoughout each and every one of us. It’s this passion and former anarchic tendencies which found more than usual comon ground tonight what with a more politically motivated set choices getting full rousing support from the packed in ensemble.
This was by far the most accomplished performance Ive seen from Mr. Turner, I put this down to that fact that he actually has a full time band now. So instead of a lievly band playing another guys songs, you had musicians who are dedicated to makeing each night better than the last. This energy and excelling in musical showmanship set these renditions apart from their predecessor airings. Ed Harcourt appeared to signal the end of proceedings as he played Mandolin on an epically uplifting version of Photosynthesis, which rounded off the night in jubilant style.
So another year another triumph and with a new album due out in 2011, expect this year to be even bigger than the last! Where next? Arena Tours? Stadium Gigs? Who knows? But we’ll be there to chart it.
