Festivals over here mean something plenty different to the ones back home. Chances are you’ll skip the sweltering heat to be replaced by lots of rain and what follows… plenty of mud. After just getting back from Ireland (about half an hour ago), to attend Oxegen I assure you we were in no short supply of all that brown stuff. More to come in a day or two.
The Editors @ The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is yet another magnificent venue walking distance from Camden station and recently reopened after renovations starting in 2004. On Wednesday I went there to see The Editors supported by two man band, I Was a Club Scout, and the bigger quartet, The Envy Corps. Out of all of the venues I’ve been to so far in London, this venue has a size ideal for more intimate gigs being slightly bigger than the Islington Academy. Only formed with two floors, the first is all standing directly underneath the dome, and the second being a circular row of seats. Most seats have a great view of the stage except for those unlucky enough to be directly behind the poles that hold up the roof.
The support acts were not bad although most of the concert goers sat outside on the first level roof indulging in the long lasting sunshine and warm weather we’ve been having lately. I’m not quite sure how to rate The Editors – I found their set a strange choice combining their popular old songs with many of their new songs from their yet to be release album, An End Has A Start. Although I, like much of the audience, enjoyed many of their songs that I knew, I found it hard to react to songs that I’d never heard before. Watching from the second floor, the standing crowd also definitely didn’t know how to react with songs either receiving the all-arms-in-the-air treatment or the stand-and-listen-and-be-relatively-silent for all the new songs. They still played a decent set though I cannot say it was very memorable.
They still played well and I had a lot of fun listening to perform. I’ll now have to watch out for their new album.
TheKua.com Rating: 6 out of 10
Bloc Party, Brxiton Academy
I’d managed to get some tickets to see South London indie rock band, Bloc Party at Brixton Academy. As usual, the academy was packed out and the usual ticket scalpers stood at the Tube station entrance trying to work the market. We missed the first support act (Mahogany), but caught the second support act, Biffy Clyro who were very impressive and played a very decent set. I’d highly recommend trying to find a track or two of theirs to listen to.
Bloc party came on in no time and really got the crowd pumping. We were upstairs which was seated although that didn’t stop some people from standing up. Strangely enough, security constantly went through the crowd in waves shouting at people to sit back down, the first time I’ve seen that at Brixton upstairs. It turned into a little bit of a game with many of the attendants as it became what looked like a whack-o-mole game.
The band played a fantastic set, part of which came from their new album, A Weekend in the City, and the other, made up of many hits from their previous album, Silent Alarm.
Thekua.com Rating: 7 out of 10
The Feeling @ Hammersmith Apollo
On the Friday before heading out on holidays, I had a couple of tickets to see pop band, The Feeling at the Carling sponsored venue, the Hammersmith Apollo. Surprisingly the venue was busy but wasn’t completely sold out given a number of empty seats around us. The Fray performed as the support act and obviously had a large following in the audience given the amount of clapping from the audience. They placed a decent set that lasted for almost an hour before the switch to the main act.
The Feeling opened with an appreciation for their fans by projecting footage of their fans singing their songs on to a huge white sheet. The clips were pulled from You Tube and played for about ten minutes before kicking into the set for the evening. The band’s main singer, Dan Sells, though sometimes overly camp at times, performed perfectly as the hyper-active and obviously passionate lead singer. It was obvious that he enjoyed the attention of the crowd and fed that energy back interacting well with the audience. He had such a great rapport with the audience that he managed to pull off a harmony involving the entire audience – the best I’ve ever seen. They performed a great set, playing most of the songs from their album, a few covers and a double encore (admittedly the first only lasted a single song) and finishing up with the title song of their debut album, Twelve Stops From Home.
A fun performance with a great light show and a very entertaining set of performers.
TheKua.com Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Paolo Nutini @ The Forum
Last night I saw Scottish pop singer Paolo Nutini in Kentish Town at The Forum. At only 19 years old, this young musical star has the scratchy voice of a much older person and though it doesn’t come through when he speaks, his vocal range and talent are well beyond his years. The gig was completely sold out demonstrating his popularity. Rod Stewart even came along, further testifying to the talent that deserves recognition and appreciation.
Paolo did an amazing job of a richly entertaining show, both musical and visual with a great range of songs and a light show. You do have to look past him sometimes when he performs as he looks like the convulsive John Mayer whilst performing, but in a way you have to appreciate the passion that he has, and the amazing voice that comes from his small frame. He performed many of his songs from his current album, These Streets, a few new songs, and even a few covers that only he could render in his own unique way.
The best thing about this concert was that, unlike any I’ve been to, this one organised a recording of some of the songs and offered it as the “Bootleg EP” – only five songs from the concert for only a fiver! For the small amount of time it took us to line up, and thankfully a much shorter time actually picking up the CD in the huge queue, I definitely think it was worth it. It’s so good in fact, I’m listening to it right now as I write this entry.
I highly recommend you listen to his album if you get a chance, if nothing for his unique voice and easy going songs. I think he deserves the popularity he has got around the world, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me if you ever get to see him perform live.
TheKua.com Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Muse @ Wembley Arena
My most memorable concert in Brisbane was most definitely Muse who played at the Riverstage. When I heard they were coming to perform in London again, I definitely had to see them and booked tickets for this Thursday just gone, way back in August. The venue for the night was Wembley Arena, a large, well lit modern looking building that looks dwarfish compared to the towering Wembley Stadium it stands next to.
I found Wembley Arena on par with the way that Earl’s Court is set up for concerts, with a wide rectangular standing area surrounded by seating on all sides. We had tickets for seats to the right of the stage, but as expected, no many people were sitting down once Muse started playing.
Thursday’s performance was impressive, though I cannot say it outshone their performance in Brisbane. Their set drew upon a lot from their new album, Black Holes and Revelations, and included many popular ones from their previous albums. Their dark, electro rock easily filled the venue and band front man, Matthew Bellamy, really stood out on stage wearing a bright red suit. I found the visuals and lights spectacular, the videos perfectly timed and the balance between their heavier and lighter, but still as spine tingling songs was well maintained.
It was a great evening, made even by the fact that getting home from Wembley ended up a lot faster than I thought it was going to be.
TheKua.com Rating: 7.5 out of 10
The Vines @ The Forum
In November 2004 the lead singer of The Vines (Craig Nicholls) announced he had Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of autism). Many music sources believed that it would be a while until they did any touring, if at all. I feel especially fortunate then that they have started once again, and that I bought some tickets for their London gig on Tuesday night.
They performed at The Forum in Kentish Town, a very appropriate setting to see any rock band perform. The Forum is a decently sized venue with two floors (the second with seating), but the best part is downstairs where it is easy to get a good view of the stage.
The Vines played a great number of songs from both of their albums, Highly Evolved and Winning Days, and a handful of songs from their soon-to-be-released album, all of which the audience completely lapped up. We stood downstairs, close to the front and right on the edge of the frenzied crowd that moshed almost all night long. A huge number of people even got into the crowd surfing, and though I didn’t count exactly how many people security lifted and escorted out, it would have been easily over 30! I thought The Vines performed extremely well and I was thoroughly impressed in the encore when they got the entire crowd singing with them to their cover of Outkast’s Ms Jackson song.
TheKua.com Rating: 7 out of 10
John Butler Trio @ Shepherds Bush Empire
The number of bands that come and perform in London still really impresses me, and even though it is sometimes difficult to get ticket, the shows are always worth it. Last night I managed to catch yet another impressive performance by the John Butler Trio. Their support act was very impressive and really got the crowd involved in their rootsy-rock songs, but I unfortunately did not catch their name.
It wasn’t long before the John Butler Trio graced the stage and performed a set that easily went on for at least two hours. A large contingent of fans obviously came along that night, singing along with their well known songs, and the excellent number of solos and improvised versions of their songs resulted in several standing ovations through the night. One fan was so overwhelmed that he even lept on stage at the end of the night to shake hands with the band before security promptly separated him from a recoiling John Butler.
They played a large number of songs from their now classic album, Sunrise Over Sea and performed several from a newer album soon to be released. The quality of each performer really shone, with John Butler himself an excellent example, managing to perform a percussion and guitar duet all alone by wielding several parts of his guitar at the same time.
The Kua.com Rating: 8 out of 10