Last Gig You Went To...

[simon e]

Sigur ros at the Dublin O2 tonight. Absolutely amazing gig!

[Sand Dancin Donkey Walker]

Hi Guys

Went to see Gary Numan at the Round House Camden last Saturday.
Not a massive fan but the gig was great, surprisingly heavy gig.
Massive wall of sound heavy synths and guitars. well impressed.
Would go and see him again.
The Loosers as the support were pretty good too, will have to research them better later in the week.



Andy - SDDW

[The Grand Wazoo]

Zappa Plays Zappa were at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester last night and so was I!

It's hard for someone who saw Frank himself play several times, to judge a show like this - it was different, yet so much the same.

The three hours of music comprised a complete rendition of the 'Roxy and Elsewhere' album, which was made up from several live performances itself. The second half of the show comprised material taken from the rest of the Zappa canon.

The 'Roxy' material was excellent and much appreciated because a lot of the songs on that album have never appeared anywhere else, either on disc or on subsequent Zappa tours, so it was a unique opportunity to witness it again.
How do six musicians cope reproducing a performance originally performed by fifteen? And that fifteen comprised some musical geniuses such as George Duke, Ruth Underwood and Chester Thompson. Well the answer is, that they coped very well actually! The sound wasn't quite as rich and full of texture as the original, but excellent all the same.

As for the second half of the show......well, any Zappa fan given the chance to hear 'Watermelon in Easter Hay' rendered with perfect precision has got to come away very happy indeed.

[Yomanze]

Depeche Mode last Friday at the MEN Arena in Manchester. Very tight, huge sound & they even got the horrendous acoustics in that arena out of the way...

[The Grand Wazoo]

Tonight was the last night of a long run of closely spaced gigs - I've been to more shows in the last few months than I've been to for years.
Glen Tilbrook - we nearly didn't go to this one for all sorts of reasons.
We made it though, and I'm really glad.....for all sorts of reasons.

Firstly, I learnt about songwriting through his music - some of the Squeeze singles were such perfectly crafted examples of the pop song and they were the equal of anything recorded by anyone.....ever, in my opinion. The likes of 'Up the Junction' (especially 'Up the Junction'), 'Pulling Mussels from a Shell' and 'Labelled With Love' with are so completely tied up with my youth that they feel like they're part of me.

Secondly he played a fantastic cover of 'Voodoo Chile'. Now who'd have thought that?!

Thirdly, the support act was utterly superb. Leslie Mendelson - she was fantastic. Googling her name gets you a few YouTube videos and the odd review, all of which mention Carole King - what I hear is strong shades of Rickie Lee Jones' first album - there's something in her intonation that screams RLJ to me.

[synsei]

Gotta agree Chris, Squeeze were a huge influence on my teenage years, such a fantabulous band. I heard Cool For Cats on Radio 1 at work and was hooked. I went out to buy the single from Andy's Records during my lunch break, on pink vinyl I might add. Up The Junction is one of those rare songs which grabs you by the scruff of the neck and makes you listen to the lyrics

[The Grand Wazoo]

I honestly think Glen Tilbrook and Chris Difford, along with Justin Currie and Iain Harvie (of Del Amitri) represent the Lennon and McCartney of their respective decades.

[synsei]

I honestly think Glen Tilbrook and Chris Difford, along with Justin Currie and Iain Harvie (of Del Amitri) represent the Lennon and McCartney of their respective decades.

I wouldn't argue with you there either Chris, I feel likewise. It always amazed me that Del Amitri didn't get more recognition. All their stuff is superbly produced and recorded too

EDIT: My fave Del Amitri track is It Might As Well Be You btw

[MartinT]

Thirdly, the support act was utterly superb. Leslie Mendelson - she was fantastic. Googling her name gets you a few YouTube videos and the odd review, all of which mention Carole King - what I hear is strong shades of Rickie Lee Jones' first album - there's something in her intonation that screams RLJ to me.

She sounds good, Chris. I'm not sure about RLJ, though. She has better diction than RLJ and not that 'throw-away' Californian drawl.

[Clothears]

Tonight was the last night of a long run of closely spaced gigs - I've been to more shows in the last few months than I've been to for years.
Glen Tilbrook - we nearly didn't go to this one for all sorts of reasons.
We made it though, and I'm really glad.....for all sorts of reasons.

Firstly, I learnt about songwriting through his music - some of the Squeeze singles were such perfectly crafted examples of the pop song and they were the equal of anything recorded by anyone.....ever, in my opinion. The likes of 'Up the Junction' (especially 'Up the Junction'), 'Pulling Mussels from a Shell' and 'Labelled With Love' with are so completely tied up with my youth that they feel like they're part of me.

Secondly he played a fantastic cover of 'Voodoo Chile'. Now who'd have thought that?!

I would, went to see him a few years ago at the old Witchwood in Ashton-under-Lyne (anyone remember that venue?) and he ended his show with his show-stopping acoustic version. Brilliant stuff, and he had the crowd eating out of his hand.

When the show had to come to an end, 11.00pm curfew and all that, the mics and PA were switched off, but Glenn asked if anyone wanted to hear more. Yes of course we did! He then stood up on top of a bar table, we gathered around so that we could all hear, and he gave us another 20 minutes of random requests, banter, laughs, the full works. As chance would have it he was being interviewed on the Nicky Campbell 5Live show a couple of days later, and for the one and only time in my life I rang a radio station and spoke to the great man himself, (GT that is, not NC!), thanking him for the show and his impromptu extra encore Top bloke.

Give me that sort of show any day of the week, rather than some over bloated £100 a seat arena gig.

.