Last Gig You Went To...

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Originally Posted by DanJennings

Anyway, At the weekend I went to see Pop Will Eat Itself at Birmingham academy 2....

The band were great, played a good mix of old and new, and were great fun. I bought the new album there, it's pretty damn good.

However, the venue was NOT. They started the gig early, so we missed a fair chunk of the start of the show. It was also ridiculously oversold, which made it almost unbearable. Me and a friend were wearing hooded sweatshirts, and found it difficult to take them off because people were packed in that tight, and that was at the back. It was also unbearable hot, and probably contravened any number of safety regulations. We couldn't get to the bar, the toilet, the merch stand or the exit until the very end.

Why they didn't put it in academy 1 I have no idea..... there was nothing else on there. Oh well, I'm probably coming across as a grumpy git, but it did pretty much spoil the night, and it isn't the first time this has happened at this venue.

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I very nearly went to that Dan, sounds like a bit of a nightmare, re. the crowding...I'm sure they oversell the main room too.

I didn't as 'The Rapture' were playing Cov. that night at the Kasbah.

An excellent gig, good crowd, and a mixture of their new album and old favourites, great fun and rather sweaty.

What was surreal was that they'd been booked in the over 14s slot, i.e. out by 10 so the over 18s club night could start, but the audience's average age was about 35...whereas the kids coming in for the subsequent club night looked about 12!!! :lol:

The highlight for me being...



And on the previous Thursday;

Went to see my mates band Souvaris on Thursday night, their third album launch, which has taken them 21 bloody months to finish...they must have taken ages to come up with the title...

Excellent stuff, think of a more jazzy/funky explosions in the sky or mogwai etc.

Souvaris - Souvaris Souvaris

http://gringorecords.bandcamp.com/al...varis-souvaris

Also on the bill were Zun Zun Egui, who I believe are from Bristol, with some strong Mali influences...very unique, a cross between the Bundu boys, Talking Heads and very early Yes...I know it sounds implausible but take a listen.

The frontman is a terrific, and an excellent guitarist

Zun Zun Egui - Katang

http://open.spotify.com/album/40ZlWxTdxWq1t0Xwx4BTfS

...a very good gig week for me :)

Fucked Up @ Soundcontrol in Manchester

One of the best live bands at the moment. Take your earplugs though, very loud!!

Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlins acoustic in Oslo at Sunday 31th October. Migthy great music and show.

Crosby and Nash beginning of October, I'd seen CSN last year and the year before, this was different a couple of Byrds and Hollies numbers included.

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Originally Posted by jostber

Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlins acoustic in Oslo at Sunday 31th October. Migthy great music and show.

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Excellent, I am seeing Gillian in a couple of weeks - looking forward to it :)

Yesterday evening, Innsbruck.

Heard Mark Knopfler play his guitar like he always did in the last 35 years, and heard the 70 years old Bob Dylan smashing some of the most excellent lyrics ever written on this planet with a croaking voice.

Werner.

Well in the last week I have been lucky enough to see Tori Amos, Jon Allen, Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo and last night Eilen Jewell.

Without doubt the stand out was Tori Amos, who gave an extremely polished performance at the Hammersmith Apollo. Of particular note was the very simple but elegant and stylish lighting. It's amazing what was achieved with just black drapes and lights. She performed songs from her entire repertoire, backed by a string quartet. Bloomin' marvellous :) I also liked the way she interacted with the audience and she looked pretty darned good for a woman approaching 50.


Not my recording

(I think Eilen Jewell ran Tori a close second, also a great show with a very tight band of 3 musicians behind her)

What i always found facinating about her is how she sits on the piano stool.

Tori was looking pretty good on the Jo Whiley show in a short interview. Reminded me to play some of her early CDs.

Went to see Yes at the Birmingham symphony hall on Saturday night...

mmmm...I'm still not quite sure what to make of it, I think in short some things are better left to memory...

Ok Firstly there was always going to be the dreaded 'new material', which was suitably ponderous and tedious, but I was mentally prepared for that.

What I wasn't prepared for was the visual experience, and I don't mean the roger dean projections.

Haven't these lads ever seen 'Spinal Tap', Chris Squire looked like some form of transvestite darts player, whilst both Steve Howe and Alan White appeared to be competing in an iron maiden lookalike contest...chaps you're in your middle sixties, you're bald...get a bloody haircut!!! Have a look at Brian Eno, now that's how to grow old gracefully :)

Then there was the Andersonesque stand in vocalist, with ones eyes closed (the best way to experience the gig) he did a passable impression, but his stage 'presence' and general mincing about, proved to be very irritating.

The keyboard player, even with his OTT silver jacket was the definition of sartorial elegance compared to the rest...and he looked like he'd just escaped from Skid Row.

Musically they played most of my old favourites, all pre Relayer, they did trot out 'Owner of a lonely heart' later on, but mostly stuff from the first 4 albums. All pretty well played, particularly Howe & Squire...who whilst looking ridiculous are still excellent musicians, Alan White on the other hand does seem to be struggling a little physically, but I suppose that's understandable given the demands of drumming.

Whilst the sound quality was very good, it was a little quiet, so with my eyes closed it was almost as good as my stereo...I should have stayed at home with a nice bifter ;)

Myself and my mate came to the conclusion that we'd rather we'd not gone...some things are indeed best left to memory :)