James Blake @ The Borderline, 04/02/2011

Hype giveth and hype taketh away, so fart it has been all giving for James Blake, from the top end of the BBC Sound of 2011 even before the release of his self titled debut his few singles and EPs have created a buzz and tonight is the night many have come to see if it is worth it.

As part of HMV’s Next Big Thing bunch of gigs, James Blake headlines a bill introduced by Xfm’s John Kennedy also featuring  Cloud Boats and Catherine Okada. Cloud Boats play synths and samplers, sitting on chairs, closing their eyes to hit high notes to sing, its quite nice and fits in with Blake’s own minimalist sound. Catherine Okada is nice, folky with a back up band including a violinist. I don’t know why I’ve singled him out, except I remember thinking it must be hard to really lose it and rock out playing a violin, not that it cant be rock n roll…. You know what I mean.

Oooh the main event, James Blake, who spent a large part of the night standing at the back of the room, most people too dumb or too cool to approach him eventually takes his place on stage. He has back up in the form of a drummer and fellow keyboardist and plays a short set of just 6 songs. They are long, in some cases, dreamy numbers, closer "Wilhelm Scream" in particular is a real escapist number but its the crowd who grab my attention. Watching a shy retiring type at a keyboard isn’t all that enthralling, even if they are singing beautifully, but the audience border on obsessive. One girl wants his children and offers herself in marriage, he politely declines, other just scream their approval and love. There are people all down the stairs trying to catch a view. Then a dispute kicks off in front, a few men talking during and between songs spark the ire of those around them who ask them to be quiet. They fail to keep schtum gathering further beef, one lady tells them off vociferously, another man behind them waves security over to tell them off. James continues as if nothing was happening I just smile and thank whoever that im not closer to them. James discusses his drummer, and keeps the songs going.

"Limit to Your Love" and "I Never Learnt To Share" both make the short set, which ends with the Wilhelm Scream. He rises and leaves, no encore that’s it. The night ends on a bum note when it is discovered my friend’s scarf has been stolen from her grasp. With that we leave.
It was nice, he’s good but I am not sure how he will translate to a longer set and a larger audience, the xx may have dealt with similar issues and I am sure he will too.

Grouplove @ Hoxton Hall, 03/02/2011

I first heard Grouplove late last year, their song Colours was doing the rounds on a few blogs. I was hooked, what is THIS? I played it on my show and went in search for more and discovered Gold Coast and other tracks and managed to buy the debut EP on amazon. Gold Coast blows my mind every time I listen, I just want more and more of it. I was beyond excited to see on their twitter they would be playing in the UKL. I bought tickets the minute they came out, managing to het tickets 1 and 2.

I ended up riding solo to their gig at Hoxton Hall and sell my ticket to a older Scottish guy who gives me more than I asked for. It is only after selling the ticket that I realised I had tickets 1 and 2 and I sold #1, oh well. The gig geek in me is saddened but I’ll live. The night had sold out as they have been getting a lot of air play, I love being ahead of the curve…

The Hoxton Hall is a lovely little venue in east London, a true gem which I hope will start being used more often, Anna Calvi played a few nights before and I will keep an eye out for more gigs there, check it out if you can.

Grouplove are supported by a young British rock band whose name I don’t catch who play well, the bassist I particular throws some good moves, but they play a set not destined to live in the memory.

The room slowly fills and a large portion of the audience are of an older vintage, I presume a number are the bands’ Brit bassist Sean Gadd’s family and friends. The Scottish guy I’d sold my ticket to takes up a place at the front of the stage, he turns and tells me all about his fave spot at a gig, always on the right of the stage to the left of the leftist speaker. FYI. You may have seen him, short chubby dude with glasses and silver hair. Look out for him, he has a tale or two to tell. He also smuggled in red wine in a juice bottle and proceeded to constantly top up his pint glass. Red lips and booze breath he danced and sang to every song. All hats off to him, old and rockin, I hope I can live up to it!

Grouplove are a band cobbled together through chance meetings and though they may look it to look at, bassist Sean Gadd looks perpetually confused and marches on the spot thudding away at his bass lines, guitarist Andrew Wessen looks like the pro-surfer he is, long blonder hair and the laid back like a deck chair demeanour but he plays his licks like he was born to it, drummer Ryan Rabin is a tall gangly looking fellow who has a look of a US high school jock who learned to beat drums as hard as he could instead of beating up the nerdy kid at school and he can beat a drum with the best. Up front Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi exchange looks like cheeky lovers and the chemistry pays off in the songs. Its frontman Zucconi who attracts the most attention though, he sings with all his body and screams with everything in him and stomps and jumps and screams and strums his guitar and feels his song like you want every musician to.

They play every number from their EP as well as a number of other songs I was unaware of, and am glad to hear including Get Giddy which is on the re-released EP and the set lasts a good hour with an encore which isn’t Colours, having ended the main set with it. I am looking forward to seeing them again and getting to know the other songs better too.

Check them out, they’ll soon be at your doorstep.

Metronomy @ Heaven, 01/02/11

Im no NME reader but I do like the award show gigs they organise, a good variety of bands at some good venues and usually with a great line up of support acts. Tonight’s show features CocknBullKid and Giggs.

CocknBullKid has been a round for a few years now, but this is the first I had seen her. She is a pleasant surprise, nice songs with good music but doesn’t really do it for me. If she really breaks as she has yet to do, perhaps with the right songs, she could be pretty successful, its nice, but that’s not always enough. Speech Debelle seemed nice, she even won a Mercury but she has disappeared.

Talking of hyped acts yet to break it, UK rapper Giggs is next, just him and a DJ he doesn’t really fill the stage, he mainly stands on the spot. Giggs made the Sound of 2010 long list but his criminal past has made it hard at times for him to tour. He uses a slow and menacing style, not big brash moves in the style of Dizzee. Again he fails to really get the crowd going, his relative anonymity doesn’t help but the youngsters down the front wave their arms like the crowd in 8 Mile and bop along.

It seems to be a predominantly young crowd, Metronomy are I suppose a Skins style band, good electro infused dancey pop stuff, Nights Out was, is great album, from start to finish with its mix of instrumental and vocal songs, it puts a smile on my face and a skip in my step whenever I put it on. I’ve been to see the band before but they keep me coming back.

Live Metronomy add a great visual aspect to the music with the band members wearing a white light on their chests. The lights flash in time with the music and keep you watching. It was a good opportunity to catch some new tracks from their forthcoming album The English Riviera due out in April.

The band segued new album songs, some of which sound slower and less dancey with a lot of the big hits of Nights Out with a nod to Pip Payne, their often overlooked debut. It was a good night, a chance to move around, but I had to contend with a few idiots, one next to me decided to film most of the songs, in their entirety on his camera. You know the sound is going to come out badly and how many times will he really watch it?

The youngsters at the front threw themselves at the beats like it was their first gig and the likes of “My Heart Rate Rapid”, “Heartbreaker” and “A Thing For Me” got big receptions, even some of the older contingent got dragged into it. That’s the point though surely, I rant about those who stand stock still at gigs, I know some bands are more about the feeling than letting loose but when everyone else is I find it odd when you see others rooted to the spot.

Ending on “Radio Ladio” Metronomy left a heaving Heaven in a sweaty heap, early reports on “The English Riviera” are good, hopefully there are a few dancey numbers for more nights to be like this one.

New To Q Tour - Relentless Garage, 18/05/2010

I had organised to meet an old friend for a catch up when I won these. We both like our music and it's hard  to turn down a free gig. Having recently subscribed to Q magazine I won tickets to the gig, I had heard of the bands in tonight's line up, made up of Detroit Social Club, Tiffany Page and Goldhawks.

We had a meal down the road before rocking up to the venue just before Goldhawks came on. They were allright, energetic, quite nice rocky songs, they gave as good as they got and did well. I wasn't particularly interested though, I am not sure what they will achieve, it may depend on the public's current flavour. Indie-light of sorts, expect them to follow a few bands as support on a few tours or see them on some of the summer's smaller stages but I can't see them going beyond that.

After a trip to the bar for a beer, the sultry Tiffany Page wonders on, she's all gravelly voiced and short black dress. She strums her guitar and sings and makes many a young man's dreams. She's supported the new look Hole which doesnt surprise me, she's going for a grungy sound but has a look of the pretty little girl about her. Her songs arre good enough, I can see her making a few radio playlists, and producing a hit of two. She seems like a nice girl with a good voice.

Finally Detroit Social Club, a band I've read about but don't know take the stage. A georgie six-piece, they fill the Garage's small stage. Their sound seems to comprise of the more trippy and psychdelic of Kasabian's output, long numbers with lengthy instrumentals. The singer doesnt always seem to know what to do with himself during these moments air-drumming and walking around the stage aimlessly.
My friend and I got bored, both lagging and tired and feeling the midweek beers, we took our leave a couple of songs in. It feels easier to leave a free gig  then one you've paid for. I wasn't hugely taken by the night's band, but I will keep an ear out to see if they are worth further investigation.

Born Ruffians @ Old Blue Last, 11/05/2010

I was supposed to see Born Ruffians a few years ago at the Hoxton Bar Kitchen but had another engagement come up that evening so missed out. When I read they were coming over again I thought, that's for me!

I had a couple of tickets but left it late in finding someone to come along so couldn't sell the extra one. I got there early and as they weren't taking returns I hung out outside waiting for touts and other loiterers. None came, it was conspicuously quiet, particularly, I thought for a small sold out gig.

I was joined out front by Steve, another solo traveller, however it was his birthday and his friend had let him down late on. unlike me he wasn't brassic and looking to recoup the ticket price and a few coins to get through the week. He'd bought his two on ebay for less than half the price of one ticket. I was giving up hope of scalping it when as I bought a pint to take in, someone asked if I had a spare and I got a tenner for it.

Due to my salesman-like activities I missed the support, I don't recall their names but people said they were good. I scooched upstairs and took a spot in front of the stage, the band appear on-stage and tune up themselves. Its nice and small in the OBL, it was my first trip there. Some friends of mine had a club night there a few years ago but I never made it down.

Looking around the club it didn't look sold out, it was pretty spacious, I can imagine that place jam packed and heaving, sweat dripping off the ceiling, full on kick ass night, tonight wasn't as adventurous. It was another one of those gigs when the crowd bop their heads merrily along, you want someone to kick it but they don't. Born Ruffians are an affable band, a nice mix of jaunt rock with a slight twang and in Luke LaLonde have one of the best yodels in the business.

The set is a nice mix of their first album "Red, Yellow and Blue" and tracks from the upcoming "Say It". They open with newbie "Oh Man" and follow it swiftly with old favourite "Barnacle Goose". The band play their  songs well, and there's a real sense of the music being enjoyed by both the band and the audience. Steve who had disappeared out for a cigarette reappears with a pint for me but instead of enjoying the music spends his time trying to chat up some of the girls in the audience, he had been convinced he'd find his future wife. He leaves me to find a girl I presume and I am thankful for his having left me.


The music continues with the set focusing on new songs "What To Say" and "Sole Brother" but here are big cheers for the oldies "Hedonistic Me" and "Hummingbird" in particular. The set ends with the excellent "Foxes Mate For Life". An encore never materialises as the minute they finish the DJ strikes up and the crowd dash out of the door and the band no longer have an audience for an encore. I can't decide which is most idiotic, the DJ for trying to sell us his wares and not checking what the last song would be or the crowd for not thinking there might be an encore.

I clamber onto the stage and steal a set list, "I Need A Life" would have been the encore. I chat to drummer Steven Hamelin who says they had thought of putting it in the main set but they thought they'd get an encore.
I listen to "I Need A Life" several times on the way home in some sort of effort to make up for not having heard it live, people have more patience, good things come to those who wait. DJs easy on the trigger finger, do not "just push play".

Darwin Deez @ The Black Heart 13/04/10

I got tickets for this gig when I started hearing "Radar Detector" on a regular basis on the radio. A catchy tune of pure pop brilliance I wanted more. Darwin Deez played a gig at a library while I was away but was able to get to this album launch.

The Allotment Club is a small club night offering live bands and free cake, its hard to refuse the draw of either. A few support bands filled the early evening as the crowd began to swell.

One by one the band squeezed through the crowd top stand at the front of the room waiting for Darwin. He eventually appeared, re-pleat in his tour sweater.

I had heard that about Darwin's live performance, and he himself is a funny guy, his appearance on Lauren Laverne's show the day before was something special; when told this year's theme for Bestival is fantasy he replied "like Cindy Crawford?".

They played a number of songs of their debut album which is out now, kicking off with "Hot Nights" and "Up In The Clouds". I say they, as Darwin Deez is the frontman, singer, guitarist but he is joined by Michelle on the bass, Cole on the guitar and Greg on drums. The songs sound great live and get you bopping, they play "Constellations" and the nicely vindictive "Bad Day". In between certain songs, like every two or so, he plays a sound clip or a bit of a song anything from Genesis (I think) to Beyonce's Single Ladies and the band huddle at the front and bust out choreographed dance moves, there are loads of examples on youtube, and a few from the night itself.

Having listened to the album itself since the sound is augmented by my knowledge of their live act including the dancing,but this is really someone you should catch live and before they end up in too big a venue so that they cant engage the crowd too. Oh yes the crowd are split for one of the dance routines and tasked with following one of the band members through one particular song. Towards the end they jumped into the crowd and dance around before ending the set with "Radar Detector".

That wasn't it, though it was for me, a very early morning wake up call meant i headed for the door immediately only to later find out they had done an encore. Dammit Janet indeed, though I got the bulk of the goodness in a small venue, check 'em out as soon as you can before the intimacy is all gone.

AFI @ Brixton Academy 06/04/2010

It took a while to decide whether to go,  AFI are a bit of a guilty pleasure, you think you should be listening to The Misfits or something a bit more ghoulish, AFI are all silly lyrics and manscara but music never had to be serious to be good. AFI are a band with big choruses, singalongs galore into your imaginary mic in front of an also imaginary big crowd, raise a hand, lean back and lets the euphoria wash through you.

Tonight is also Arsenal's return game at Barcelona and the second day of a radio internship requiring 04.30 wake ups, I'm wondering how I will last and what state I might be in tomorrow.

I meet my wing man Pete outside, toniight's not sold out so there is free movement between up and down stairs. It's got to be a bit embarrassing for a band not to sell out Brixton Academy, AFI are pretty big and have been around for years; you can tell from the fans, it's not full of young'uns its mid 20s, old skool fans, a fair number walk in early like us to check out Sick Of It All.

Sick Of It All are pretty self explanatory hard core punk, the good old skool kind. The band epitomise the punk that came through the late 80s and early 90s. It's no nonsense, its raise a fist in the air, salute with a bird and hit the pit. Guitarist Pete Koller uses one guitar all night, likewise bass player Craig Setari. Drummer Armand Majidi sits low behind his kit and beats a primal rythm. I must talk further about Pete Koller who has the look of a bodybuilder, all huge arms and shoulders topped by a bandana and bleached mohawk he runs endlessly from one side of the stage to another dancing, riffing, skanking and jumping.

The crowd take a while to warm to SOIA some of us know them and appreciate it others are being thrashed for the first time. I only know a few choice tracks off Punk-o-Rama and Warped Tour compilations. They play like they mean it and slowly get the crowd going, they are seasoned pros, they know how to raise a crowd and keep on at their task, this is what punk's about, you play cos you mean it and you don't care if people like it or not.

A little while later it's time for AFI, they have extra little stages at the front of the stage, Pete wonders why they are bothering with the extras when its not sold out, if you play for a living, you need to go all out every day. Frontman Davey Havok runs out and grabs the mic and rips straight into Crash Love's "Medicate". Those of us here for the older numbers are sated soon after as they roccki into "Girls Not Grey".

This is my first time seeing AFI and I had no idea about Havok's flamboyance he acts out the words, throws shapes, flicks hiw wrist, poses and pull shapes. Likewise guitarist Jade Puget pulls little tricks when playing, little poses,  the three of them, run around and pose one foot up using the little platforms at the front of the stage.

It's a good set mixed accross the last four albums curtousy of a "Days Of The Phoenix" thrown in the encore. The stage show and energy make it a grey performance, "Beautiful Thieves" in particular includes a throw your hands up chorus. They have an impressive set of stage lights which dazzle and impress in equal measure.

For a guilty pleasure they are a satisfying one.