Entertainment For Lively Minds
Last gigs.
This is my first blog, so let's keep it simple. What were the last few gigs you attended?
Here's my last baker's dozen, in reverse order:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Manchester Academy 1 - 22/4/09
Penetration - The Witchwood - 18/4/09
Bat For Lashes - The Ritz, Mancheste - 7/4/09
Howling Bells - Club Academy, Manchester - 15/3/09
The Phantom Band - The Deaf Institute, Manchester - 13/3/09
Magazine - Manchester Academy 1 - 17/2/09
The Black Angels - Ruby Lounge, Manchester - 15/12/08
dEUS - Manchester Academy 3 - 14/10/08
Spiritualized - Manchester Academy 1 - 11/10/08
The Duke Spirit - Club Academy, Manchester - 29/9/08
Brian Jonestown Massacre - Manchester Academy 2 - 1/7/08
Radiohead - Manchester LCCC - 29/6/08
My Bloody Valentine - Manchester Apollo - 28/6/08
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Interesting topic
Haven't been to anything since a hectic last autumn:
Last 5 gigs:
The Jimmy Cake - Vicar Street, Dublin - 21/11/08
TV On The Radio - Tripod, Dublin - 15/11/08
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Ambassador, Dublin - 8/11/08
Lambchop - Tripod, Dublin - 1/11/08
Bon Iver - Tripod, Dublin - 7/10/08
Wot?
No prog, Dylan, Richard Thompson? Are you sure you're in the right place?
Just kidding - welcome aboard.
Apart from loads of local bands
Standouts
The Phantom band, Stirling Tolbooth ~ 28/02/09
The Lost Soul Band [reunion], Glasgow King Tut's ~ 30/12/08
Biffy Clyro , Glasgow SECC ~ 20/12/08
Duffers
Radiohead, Glasgow Green ~ 27/06/08 { dreadfully soulless ]
although Bat for Lashes were good support.
penetration?
i didn't know they'd reformed. how were they?
They were...
...okay, I guess. I went with a friend who grew up through the punk era, so he was a fan. I didn't know any of the songs apart from 'Don't Dictate' so didn't have any expectations, but I quite liked what I heard.
Apparently they only play a handful of gigs now and again, and The Witchwood is a place they go back to whenever they do play.
erm....I hardly ever do these days, hence.
Dodgy....a pub in camden
In Flames...the Astoria
My chemical romance....north london arena
The Argonauts...96 east brick lane
Gotang project......Somerset House
S Club 7 ( and S Club juniors)...north london arena.
Julian Cope...Hackney.
thats pretty rubish isnt it. Is this why my sister fought in the punk wars, whilst i listened to The Beatles and ELO!!
Last 5
1. Morrissey - Houston, TX - April 11, 2009
2. Ben Folds - Houston, TX - October 24, 2008
3. Radiohead, Houston, TX - May 17, 2008
4. Spoon - Houston, TX - Nov 01, 2007
5. Austin City Limits Music Festival - -Austin, TX - Sept 14, 15, 16, 2007 (Bjork, Muse, LCD Soundsystem, Arctic Monkeys and many others)
Been a bit sporadic of late....
not as many as I'd like
Standouts from last year or so :
Primal Scream/MC5 - Meltdown, London. June 08. Disappointing, poor sound, bitty. Highlight was John Sinclair imrpovising some poetry over a jam at the end.
New York Dolls, Glasgow Garage 29/06/08. Magnificent.
The Animals with Steve Cropper, The Robin, Bilston, 13/08/08. Great fun.
Eli Paperboy Reed & The Trueloves, Academy, Birmingham, 21/4/09 excellent
Dylan, NIA, Birmingham, 29/04/09, rotten
I enjoyed
the PS/MC5 gig, but the RFH was not the ideal venue.
That MC5 singer was a bit odd though. Constantly fiddling with his shoes!
I think I'm showing my age ...
Last five...
Morrissey - Waterfront, Belfast
The Australian Pink Floyd - Odyssey Arena, Belfast
AC/DC - O2 Dublin
David Byrne - Waterfront, Belfast
Jackson Browne - Ulster Hall, Belfast
Tomorrow night ... Dylan, O2 Dublin
Last four
Richard Thompson, Cambridge Corn Exchange Jan 09
John Martyn, Cambridge Corn Exchange Nov 08
Duke Special, Roundhouse London Aug 08
Neil Young, Hop Farm Festival, Kent, July 08
What I´ve been up to
Ron Sexsmith, Birmingham, November (last year, obviously)
Danko Jones, Halmstad, March
Bob Dylan, Malmö, March
Mustasch, Linköping, April
bob hund, Skövde, April
All in Sweden, except Ron. No, there´s no Birmingham over here.
Next, so far? Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Stockholm, June
2008-09
So far this year:
-Gomez, Liverpool Academy 1 and Manchester Academy 1
-The Whitest Boy Alive, Manchester Ruby Lounge
-Jarvis Cocker/I Am Kloot/Badly Drawn Boy/Stephen Fretwell, RNCM
-Franz Ferdinand, Manchester Academy 1
-Kaiser Chiefs/Black Kids, M.E.N.
-Yellow Moon Band, Manchester Deaf Institute
2008 Highights (mostly Manchester venues): Jarvis Cocker Rough Trade Tour, Ben Ottewell (acoustic tour, Liverpool), Cold War Kids, Forever Heavenly (Edwyn Collins/Cherry Ghost/Romeo Stodart), Gomez Bring It On Tour, REM, Elbow and Neil Young, plus the Green Man Festival and Glastonbury.
from the other end of the globe 2009
rodney crowell -superb
elbow - not seen lost ticket , still cursing
fleet foxes -very good but lacking enoughsongs for a full show
bon iver - excellent
hold steady - too loud
nick cave good but not great
lucinda williams - disappointing
eric clapton - detached and uninspired
jeff beck - inspiring
tinariwen - disappointing - leader failed to make the tour - again
womad festival adelaide- rokia traore, sean kuti, tony allen, unthank sisters et al
steve earle - disappointing
all tomorrows parties festival mt buller - nick cave , saints,laughing clowns ,dead meadow, spiritualised et al
hot club of cowtown - excellent
Sparse: 2009 so far
Madeleine Peyroux (disappointing), Battlefield Band (reassuringly good as ever), Phil Beer Band (reliable stalwart), Jools Holland at the Jamhouse( don't scoff, it was fabulous, almost more onstage in the band than in the capacity audience and he is a completely different creature live) and several CBSO* (Mrs Path endeavouring to educate me, so far quite successfully.)
*City of B'ham Symphony Orchestra!
Don't get out to gigs much so
These were probably the most recent (and one of them goes back a good while). All at the Brook, Southampton:
Fairport Convention (very good)
Show of Hands (superb)
Easy Star All Stars (good).
Welcome on board Doomah
I haven't even heard of more than half the bands on your list :-)
Been a bit sparse of late...
Elbow (Wonderful)
5/3/09 @ Newcastle Academy
Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain (Great entertainment)
15/12/08 @ SageGateshead
Joan As Policewoman (Good to see her in a slightly 'rock-ier' mode)
12/12/08 @ SageGatehead
Primal Scream (Loud - Ticked off my 'want to see at some - point' list)
9/12/08 @ Newcastle Academy
James Yorkston (Really enjoyed - first gig attended with my current, and hopefully long-time, girlfriend. Sense a new thread...)
26/11/08 @ SageGateshead
Didn't realise I'd been to that few recently.
On the plus side I do have Morrissey, Evolution Festival (both days) plus Antony & The Johnsons this month - along with Orbital & Fleet Foxes looking at September time.
Nearly one a month
An average of about one a month which "at my age" is quite good considering most of them involve around a 2 hour round trip in the car.
Ingrid Michaelson - Bush Hall April 09
Sparks - Doing No in Heaven Forum March 09
Sparks - Doing Kimono My House March 09
Neko Case - Bush Hall Feb 09
Black Box Recorder - Luminaire Feb 09
Chatham Co Line - Luminaire Nov 08
Mercury Rev - Shepherds Bush Empire Nov 08
Amy Rigby & Wreckless Eric Walthamstow Plough Oct 08
Ingrid Michaelson - Water Rats Oct 08
Little Man Tate - Islington Academy Sep 08
Last Gigs
Four last week:
Elvis Costello & Brodsky Quartet 27/04 Bridgewater Hall Manchester
Basement Jaxx 30/04 Manchester Apollo
Bob Dylan 01/05 Liverpool Echo Arena
The Specials 03/05 Manchester Apollo
All excellent in their own way.
Highlight - Dylan's cover of "Something" by The Beatles.
Sporadic gig going
early March 09 - Elbow - O2 Academy, Sheffield
November 08 - Dreadzone, Corporation, Sheffield
November 08 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Carling Academy, Sheffield
Oct 08 - Elbow, Manchester Apollo
Oct 08 - Fleet Foxes, Sheffield Uni
Oct 08 - Seasick Steve, Rock City, Nottingham
June 08 - Glastonbury Festival
March 08 - Neil Young, Manchester Apollo
Feb 08 - Eels, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Forgot to mention...
The Charlatans at Carling Academy in May 08 - didn't mean to go, but a firend had a spare ticket! Enjoyed more than I expected to, despite muddy sound quality!
I have never heard
the Charlatans deliver anything other than muddy sound either at their own gigs or when supporting The Stones (outdoors at Slane) or the Who (indoors at Wembley Arena). Great shows despite.
Surprising...
...that there are so few small gigs by smaller acts on this thread. Maybe something for another thread - why don't more people (particularly posters on this site) go to small gigs? Meanwhile, my last few were:
Mick Thomas (once of Weddings, Parties, Anything) - Castle, Wellingborough
The Rockingbirds
Robb Johnson
Kate Rusby, Lau, John Tams & Barry Coope - Assembly Rooms, Derby
Diana Jones - Maze, Nottingham
Emily Barker
Groanbox Boys
All at The Musician in Leicester except where noted, all in the last six weeks, all excellent.
Smaller gigs?
I saw Jeffrey Lewis playing at Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds at the weekend. A 250-capacity, all-seater arthouse cinema playing host to anti-folk's finest. Jack and Jeff manned their own merch stall and were happy to chat to fans, sign stuff etc.
The cinema venue had the added benefit of allowing Jeff to show his 'films' on the big screen, although I missed the ramshackle lo-fi of a man stood on a box flicking through an A3 drawing pad. Both support bands were pretty poor though, as is regularly becoming the case at most gigs I've been to recently...
My last few
I might have missed the odd one out here, but my last few gigs were:
Doves - Manchester Academy - April 2009
Royksopp - Royal Festival Hall - April 2009
David Byrne - Bridgewater Hall, Manchester - March 2009
The Phantom Band - Deaf Institute, Manchester - March 2009
Woodpigeon - Deaf Institute, Manchester - February 2009
Amadou and Mariam - Edinburgh Playhouse - February 2009
I need to get in more
Ian Anderson at Barbican a couple of days ago
Rick Wakeman at Hampton Court last Saturday
Basement Jaxx at the Roundhouse a week ago
Bob Dylan at the O2 just over a week ago
AC/DC at the O2 earlier this month
London Philharmonic orchestra at o2 last March
Elbow at Wembley Arena in March
Judas Priest at Wembley Arena in March
Jodeci and Joe at Wembley Arena in March
Metallica at the o2 in March
Sure I've forgotten some more
A good run in 2009
Polly Harvey & John Parish @ Shepherds Bush Empire (spellbinding)
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy @ RFH (tremendous - much better than last year)
AC/DC @ O2 (great fun)
David Byrne @ RFH (fantastic)
Eagles of Death Metal @ Kentish Town Forum (dissapointing)
Peter, Bjorn & John, First Aid Kit @ The Scala (brilliant - especially the support)
Televised Crimewave & Filthy Dukes - both instores at Puregroove, both awful
Grace Jones @ The Roundhouse (great as always - loved Slave to the Rhythm delivered while hula hooping)
Don't get around much anymore...
... but I did get to see Van der Graaf Generator at Manchester RNCM April 2008 - small audience of bald, bearded chaps - I fitted right in! Fine, fine gig though.
I need to stay in more
Here's my last month or so...
27th March - David Ford, St Phil's, Manchester
7th April - Bat For Lashes, Manchester Ritz
11th April - Bat For Lashes, Leeds Met
16th April - Jarvis Cocker, Badly Drawn Boy, RNCM, Manchester
22nd April - Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mancheser Academy
24th April - PJ Harvey, Manchester Ritz
25th April - Pink, MEN Arena
1st May - Bob Dylan, Liverpool Academy
4th May - A Camp, Manchester Academy
Damon Gough
Wasn't someone asking where he just a week or so ago? And there he was, tucked under Jarvis all along.
Badly Drawn Bloke
It was a one off though as part of a charity do rather than a wider tour. So he may have gone back into hiding under his tea cosy hat.
Not lately
Have realised I need to get out a lot lot more.
Since the birth of our daughter over 3 years ago I haven't ventured into that London for a rockin' good time at all.
Instead I tend to accompany my neighbour to our local arts centre for their regular jazz and blues gigs. Hence:
Louisiana Red - April, Norden Farms Arts Centre, Maidenhead.
(Nice old geezer. Very old now and whose facility on guitar is waning but his voice was a joy.)
Matt Schofield Trio - February, Norden Farm Arts Centre, Maidenhead.
(Polished electric blues. Lots of Stratocasting)
And I really can't remember who I saw before those two. Oh dear. Possibly The Hamsters, at the same venue last Autumn. Very loud ZZ Top type sounds in a very small room. I was happy enough with that.
But I really do need to go and see someone who doesn't necessarily play a guitar.