Laura Marling Gig Review.

So then, here we are, my first review in 6 months. GASP!

If you don't know already, Laura Marling is one of the U.K's most talented and renowned folk musicians. On her fourth album, the 23 year old is on tour in the U.K again with just her guitar for company. 

This is a gig I was very excited about. I'm a bit of a Marling newbee as I have only admired her for about a year but honestly, she is one of the best musicians I have ever had the pleasure of listening to and needed to see her live.

And so, I booked two tickets for the Birmingham Symphony Hall.

I was incredibly lucky as the day of the concert coincided with the NUT strike and so my school was closed. It was nice to have a chilled build up to the concert with Josh and not feel that stressed feeling you get when you go to a concert after school whilst your homework sits on your desk.

So my mother drove us up and whilst we went to the gig, she watched that film about Princess Diana (which she says was crap, like I wouldn't have guessed!).

The venue was beautiful and I felt that we had amazing seats, right at the top. Although we were just about as far back as you could get, I really loved being able to look down on the person who has become one of my biggest idols.

Nick Mulvay was the support and he was brilliant. I can only describe him as Alt-J if they were just guitar and vocals and one guy. I don't think I've been so relaxed whilst listening to something before, I do think that he is one to watch in the future.                                                                                                                              

And so she began with the songs from "When the Bird was Saved" ("Take the Night Off", "I Was An Eagle", "You Know" and "Breathe"), her short film released just before the album as a preview, which were awesome but nothing compared to "Master Hunter" which followed it. Obviously, the song was so good that the guitar decided it had done it's work for the night as whilst she was tuning for her next song (which I think was "Ghosts") a string snapped. As a guitarist, I felt her pain and it was nice to see her frustration as it made me feel that even though she is one of my most loved and highly respected musicians, things still went wrong for her.

It wasn't the end of the world though because she had her old guitar on hand which she described as being a "grumpy old man" because she didn't really play it any more. A lot of people have described her as being shy because of comments like this but I put it down to not feeling too above her audience. In terms of stage presence, I would say she is one of the best I have seen because of it as although an amazing talent, there is also a lot of modesty there which I think is one of the reasons she doesn't do encores, though there may believe that that proves the opposite. Are people expecting her to prance around the stage like Mick Jagger?

So as I was saying, "Ghosts". She did a lot more of the old stuff than I thought she would (only doing about six songs off the new album) but I liked it because I had forgotten how good some of the old stuff was as I had focussed so much on the new album. From what I can remember, she performed: "Alas I Cannot Swim", "I Speak Because I Can", "Rambling Man" and "What He Wrote" from previous albums which was a nice contrast to the newer, darker stuff.

I do believe that even though it was just her and her guitar, this gig was amongst the best concerts I've ever seen because she still captured the audience just as much as a full band could. It was also wonderful to see such a diverse audience, from about 8-80, as it was nice to see in practice how music brings people together. I honestly didn't realise how popular Laura Marling was amongst all age groups. Truly wonderful.

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Vaccines Gig Review

The Vaccines

This is a gig I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. For the past three years, the Vaccines have been bombarding the world with their music releasing two albums in that time which both got to the top 5 of the U.K album chart. This fact alone is enough to compare them with the likes of the Smiths (who in the space of five years released four albums). In three years, the indie world has been hit by Vaccines mania with a massive following of girls wanting a piece of Justin, Freddie, Arni and Pete and one of those girls is me!

The Vaccines are renowned for their simplistic yet catchy songs and I always questioned whether these songs would work live. I also questioned whether the Vaccines were like so many Indie bands these days, make a good EP that suck you in and makes you think they’re the next big band but when you go and see them, you feel let down because the only thing that is big about is their ego. They aren’t, from what I saw and what I heard, they really do deserve to be one of the biggest bands in the country right now.

Deap Vally

For the Vaccines, Leicester is a special place for them because they did their first gig here and they have a massive fan base in the city as well. The gig as a whole was very good with entertaining support acts building us up to the penultimate performance we were all so excited about. The first act I saw was Deap Vally from California who formed last year. The band is made up of Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards and made me think of a female Black Keys (as it was just the two of them.) and sounded a bit like Band of Skulls. I really liked them and actually bought their Live EP and they definitely got the audience moving. Next to come on was DIIV who are an Indie band for New York City. The bands also formed in 2011 and have already released their debut album “Oshin”, which is now in my iTunes Library. For a new band they were very surprising, they had nice guitar riffs and a nice beat which was good to get the audience going. They were nice to watch because I got the impression they are being a band for the fun of it not as a job yet.

DIIV

Onto the main story, the Vaccines. Even though I was at the back, I still loved every minute of the gig. The nice thing was that they didn’t just sing their singles; they also sang the songs that you really have to love them for and buy the albums to know for example I was very impressed and surprised when they sang “Aftershave Ocean” which for me was the first track that stood out as one I’d take in and love but isn’t their most well-known piece and considering they didn’t play all of the songs on the new record “Come of Age” it was nice to mix it in there, I think it really showed the men from the boys, metaphorically, showing the real fans from the crowd followers because I did notice a few people sitting down to their phones whilst this song was on. They weren’t chatty, which I like in concert because even though the concert tends to be shorter if the band just get on with it, you have more consistency and the concert flows nicely instead of being broken up into little staccato chunks that get the audience up and going and then making them stop suddenly. I like my concerts legato thank you very much! 

Was the concert short? No, I don’t think so they got through quite a few songs, not every song but quite a few. I got the impression they wanted to keep the concert upbeat and alive because they didn’t play any slow songs like “Weirdo” or “Lonely World” which was disappointing. For a gig in a smallish concert hall which hosts orchestras more than rock bands, I was very happy with what I got for my money.

Considering that next year people will be paying double to see them in arenas, I thought this gig was amazing and brilliant value for money. I prefer the small gigs, they always seem a lot more real to me. For example, I went to see Kasabian in the summer at the secret gig at Brixton and it was amazing because they were feet away from me, some of my biggest idols standing there that close and performing some of my favourite songs of all time. But in September, I went to see Noel Gallagher at Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, Noel Gallagher is one of my biggest idols who I love as much as Kasabian, if not more but there was something missing. The closeness you get with the band goes when you see them at an arena, for me it feels like that man on stage could really be anyone, you’re so far back, you wouldn’t really know the difference if it wasn’t for the cameras.

I think the Vaccines really are a band to add to your must see list, you have the chance to see them next year if you haven’t got tickets already. Don’t doubt whether they’re any good or not live, they are!

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Dry the River Gig Review

Set list:
1. Shield Your Eyes
2. New Ceremony
3. History Book
4. Demons
5. Weights & Measures
6. No Rest
7. Bible Belt
8. Lion's Den
9. Shaker Hymns (Encore)

If you have read anything on this blog before, you will know that I'm quite a big Dry the River fan. Dry the River, if you don't know already, are a folk-rock band from London who formed in 2009 and released their debut album, "Shallow Bed" earlier this year. The venue was the biggest venue they'd ever done and was at O2 Empire Shepherds Bush, London and is a venue close to my heart as it was were I witnessed my first concert (Paloma Faith if anyone is interested). 

Onto the gig then. As the band aren't that well known, they are still quite down to earth and I got the sense that they were actually excited about the gig (it being their biggest). Unlike some bands who between every song tell you how it reminds them of their childhood cat who fell off the roof and died and how the song goes out to them, Dry the River give you about a sentence every few songs to say something that will genuinely interest the audience. Dry the River get on with the gig, they don't waste time chatting. For me, you can tell if a small band are going to be any good or not by the amount of time they take between their songs. If the band lecture you about their songs, they don't have time to play as much bad music but if they get on with it, I get the impression they want to get as much in as possible for the listeners sake.

My favourite part of the gig was definitely "Weights & Measures" which was done so well. I may be being very biased here because the song means a lot to me personally and is my favourite song on the album but the performance had such power in it, it moved people even at the very back of the concert hall. What amazed me most about Dry the River's performance, was that Peter the lead singer can actually sing falsetto so well for such a long period of time. Although you can hear that Peter does sing like that on the album, I had a feeling that his voice was too good to be true, but I tell you now, it is NOT! Live, as a band, they are even more beautiful and simple than they are on the the album and seeing them making that the sound they make on the record with just an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, a bass, a drum kit and a violin (plus the occasional french horn and trumpet pairing) with your own eyes is just amazing! They're funny as well, Peter was telling the story about how he got the french horn player to teach him the little bit in the intro of "No Rest" just so he could put on the album sleeve that he played french horn and they were talking about how they were making their beer own beer and that they would be sampling it in the bar next door.

If there was a negative, it would be that the gig was a bit short. Just as you were getting into the gig, it ended.  The quality of music was brilliant but 1. They didn't play all the songs on the album - which you can expect but 2. They didn't play anything new. I gave them the benefit of the doubt because it's their first album so they probably don't have that many songs to play and it was they're biggest gig so they probably didn't want to push the boat out.

I would definitely see Dry the River again, I think the gig was a good taster as the overall message at the end was "I want more!". They are amazing live and if you haven't listened to them yet, they are a gem amongst the crap we're faced with in the music world today and are one of the bands of the year for me. LISTEN!

*Sorry this is late, I've been very busy...

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Palma Violets Gig Review

Palma Violets

Having released a brilliant debut single "Best of Friends" and making the cove of NME last month, Palma Violets have become one of the most talked about new bands of 2012. When my friend told me she had tickets to see Palma Violets, I did think "who?" but ever since they have been in my face 24/7. One of the first things that hit me about PV was how catchy their debut single was. I have to say the first time I heard it I did think that they were just another indie band but the more I listened to it the more I fell in love with it - it really does get stuck in your head if your not careful and you find yourself screaming "I WANNA BE YOUR BESTFRIEND I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE MY GIRL!!" in fairly inappropriate place (for example: over Sunday dinner or during "Downton Abbey"). The more I listened to PV the more excited I got about their gig.

The venue wasn't what I was expecting because it was in the Scholar @ Leicester O2 Academy instead of the actual stage but it was a nice venue, it felt very laid back because it was basically the University's student bar and in the next room people were playing poker and playing piano in practice rooms. They're were three bands in total making the gig very good value for money.

Unfortunately, I can't remember much about the first band apart from they were a Leicester band who were very loud, didn't put breaks in their songs and their drummer looked just like my English teacher. They were a decent band and did about a half an hour set all in all. It may have just been were I was standing or a bad technician but I couldn't hear the lead singer that well but it was clear to me that they liked their heavy guitar and drum beats.

Childhood

Childhood were the next band to come on and they were very good! The lead singer seemed completely wasted saying things like "If this barrier wasn't here, I would come and kiss all your faces...". They had a slightly dreamier feel about them, they were very calm and relaxed compared to the first band but still kept the audience entertained with smooth guitars. I didn't know Childhood were playing and it was the first time I'd heard them at all never mind live. As first impressions go, they made a very good one - I even considered buying a t-shirt but the promo guy was a little bit overenthusiastic for me. I think the lead singer was chuffed when the audience started chanting at him "ARE YOU HENDRIX IN DISGUISE?" when he was setting up one of PV's microphones before their encore. One of the things I like about smaller bands is that they make the most of their gigs. Whilst childhood were on, Palma Violets were in the audience enjoying the gig as much as everyone else was and helped Childhood when the microphone fell over. Whilst Childhood were on their was a real sense of togetherness between the audience and the bands.

Onto Palma Violets. When PV came on, as you would imagine with any other band, the crowd went a bit mental. Unfortunately because I'm quite short, I couldn't see much of the band because of drunk students jumping up and down and trying to get on stage but this was actually quite a good thing because it gave me the opportunity to focus on their sound not their image. Overall, their sound was very good, you could argue that they were a bit like any other indie band these days but there was something I can't put my finger on which gave them a bit of an edge, they sounded a bit like the Vaccines vocals wise and for me the guitar wasn't anything special in terms of originality but had a little something that made them fresher than some of the indie bands out there at the minute - thinking about it, I think it may have been the use of synths and FX through out the gig.

One of the best things about the gig was the atmosphere. I felt very comfortable at the gig, there was a range of people, whether you were a teenager or a middle aged balding man, all there for different reasons but there to enjoy a night of good music and a bit of a laugh. You had the mental diehard gig lovers trying to get on stage and picking a fight with everybody who bumped into them and then you had the people who were there just to listen standing nearer the back like there is at any other gig but all in all it was just a good laugh.

Overall, the gig was a very good gig. For £7 you're not going to argue with seeing three bands, one of which is one of the biggest new bands of the year and two very good other ones. The atmosphere was good and nobody took themselves too seriously and so would mix with the fans without a body guard or whatever. If you ask me, I'd say your an idiot if you don't go and see Palma Violets now when they are asking so little for a ticket because I do honestly believe that once they have released an album or two they will be huge and will be asking way more for you to see them and if they're not a success and they're just another band that the magazines are chewing up and spitting back out then a night out for under a tenner is good value if you ask me so what have you got to lose?

To get information on Palma Violets future gigs, click here.

I apologise that this post is nearly a week late, I never had the chance to sit down and write it down properly but it's here now!!

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Jesus Christ Superstar Review

Without listening, watching or performing Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice's "Jesus Christ Superstar", people make the assumption the the musical is a hippy-dippy church fest play that is trying to make the Bible cool. This really isn't true in fact, both Lloyd Webber and Rice are atheists and the play has very few Biblical references.

The musical is more about rebellion and wanting freedom than anything else. When it was written in 1970, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wanted the musical to reflect on the relations between Jesus and Judas, not the religious message, and the issues facing Jerusalem at the of the events. When it was released it caused great controversy because for the first time, the death of Jesus was being told in an unbiased way.

I think the reason that the musical and film have been given this label of being overly religious is because the musical was always set in Jerusalem and everyone looked very Biblical in all of the productions. The way that the new production is to me a breath of fresh air for the musical and has reinvented how people see it.

Although it sounds very cheesy, the setting for the new production was a modern day British city and it was all based on the Occupy movement which cause controversy earlier this year. Yes, you may sneer but it really was cleverly done because at the end of the day, Jesus was the Che Guevara of his day (minus the "I'm the Son of God thing...). The high priest were portrayed as a kind of MI5 kind of thing and Pilot was a barrister. Judas (played by Tim Minchin) and Mary (played by Mel C) were your stereotypical socialist protesters (i.e: dreadlocks and political t-shirts) but Jesus (played but Ben Forster) looked a little bit like a posh boy who was rebelling against his Tory parents by joining a socialist organisation and strangely enough like Syed Massood from Eastenders. 

Tim Minchin as Judas was fantastic. The last musical I thought he would get involved in was "Jesus Christ Superstar", if you have ever seen one of his shows, you will know his views on God and religious people. Personally, I think Tim Minchin is one of the best Judases there has been over the past 40 years, he put in so much emotion and his death scene truly was heart breaking. Minchin really surprised me, I knew to some extent he could act because he is a comedian, that is what you have to do but he really did take it to another level in his performance.

One of the most beautiful songs in the musical is "I Don't Know How To Love Him" and for me in order for the production to be a success, Mary Magdalene has to nail this piece. I have to say, if I had to choose a bit of the musical I loved the most, it had to be this song. Mel C did a brilliant job portraying this song and Mary. To do Mary Magdalene well, you need to have the voice for it, you have to be able to be so gentle but also be able to turn on that power in a heartbeat and Mel really did nail it. You must also be able to act like Judas, the message behind the song is being to scared to fall in love and so you really need to show that when you perform it. The way the director portrayed this piece was simple yet very affective, it really was just her, audience and the music which really did create a lovely atmosphere which reflected the song.

Herod, is one of my favourite characters in the musical. Unlike the Bible's portrayal, Andrew and Tim created an eccentric light hearted character who adds a bit of humour to the show. Chris Moyles, surprisingly played Herod very well. They made the setting for "Herod's Song" a kind of game show thing and of course Herod was the host. Herod was portrayed in this production as sharp and classy, he had everyone falling at his feet and everyone on stage loved him. I thought they did really well to make that part of the show fit because in the original film, it seems a bit out of place - it seems like they drag Jesus miles away for one little song and dance and then make him treck back and it seems a little bit pointless but in the show it flows nicely and doesn't seem out of place. Although only having one song, Moyles made the most of it and was very entertaining and I think he surprised a lot of people because of how much of a good job he did.

Nobody will ever be able to convince me Ben Forster was the right choice for Jesus. Personally, I feel doing a T.V show to find the new Jesus was a clumsy move because it wasn't the die hard fans who chose Jesus, it was the general public. I do not believe for a minute that the show's fans would really choose Ben as their main man, throughout the show, Ben over acted EVERYTHING and watching him was a little bit draining and disappointingly, he did the same in the production. Although he nailed "Gethsemane", I couldn't help but feel he was trying a bit to hard. It seemed to me he was trying a bit to hard to be Ted Neeley but was struggling to do it. When ever he tried to sound angry, he would squeal so he sounded like a stroppy toddler. At one point, he made my Aunt laugh he was squealing so much. Yes he could sing the slow songs brilliantly and was a very good Jesus, I couldn't help but think someone else from the could have done a better job.

All in all, the show was one of the best things I've ever seen. It was really nice to see my favourite musical brought into the 21st Century and given a new lease of life. I really would go and see this version of the musical again and would urge anyone else to go and see it as well.

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Ted vs Ben: Jesus Christ Superstar Review Coming Soon

As said in my first post, I'm a massive fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber and  in particular, Jesus Christ Superstar. After watching ITV 1s "Superstar", I questioned whether anyone could beat the one and only Ted Neeley. I will be seeing the new production of the musical and will compare it with original film.

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Dry the River Gig Review Coming Soon!

As you my have seen, my first review was on Dry the River's debut album "Shallow Bed". Within the next few months I will be seeing Dry the River live and will be reviewing the gig for the blog.

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Palma Violets Gig Review Coming Soon!

Palma Violets Fan? Within the next few weeks, I will be seeing them and I will be reviewing the gig for the blog. If you have no clue who they are, there is a link below to their debut single "Best of Friends". I would strongly recommend a listen.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poFXWUTEs1k

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