Live Music News & Reviews

San Fransisco’s Girls brought their Father, Son and Holy Ghost album to London last week as they played Camden’s Electirc Ballroom.

Taking to a flower-filled stage, the two permanent members of Girls appeared with a keyboardists, drummer and three female backing singers. This made the more layered songs from Father…work brilliantly.

I am a big fan of Girl’s simple strong structures - they rarely stretch beyond three chords - and the combination of singer Christopher Owens excellent voice and Chet White’s excellent guitarwork make them seem more than the sum of their parts. The lyrics are all woe is me heartbreak stuff, but words like that definitely have their place.

Highlights of the gig were the superb Laura, from their debut album Album, a brilliant Alex - which amply illustrated how White writes simple but very effective licks, and the fantastic Love Like a River, which was faultless despite having plenty of precise stop-starts. Throughout White was getting some superb sounds from his Stratocaster whilst Owens was note perfect. My only complain would be that there is not much variance in pace with Girls, and live this can make their gigs seem longer than they are as ballad follows ballad. The exception was “Die” which I usually skip when listening to the album. Live it made sense, a screaming wail of guitars which sounded more like Led Zepellin than the Beach Boys or Elvis Costello, their usual reference points.

The band wrapped up the gig with Vomit, the best song on their new album. Here it sounded superb, with backing singers, organ, guitars, this song has about five choruses and a superb outro that reminds me a little of Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s the Night. A brief encore followed - Owens appeared to play a solo version of Jamie Marie which was comically interrupted by someone in the crowd shouting “I’m going to fucking kill myself” before they played the mammoth Hellhole Ratrace. A great gig, just felt perhaps a little too long if they are not going to vary their sound massively.

Noel Gallagher has criticised the London Roundhouse, saying “Lord knows why anyone would play there. I’ve been to plenty of gigs there - can’t recall ever seeing a good one yet. Dunno what it is. Maybe ’cause it’s round and not an actual house? Dunno.”

The High Flying Birds man played the Roundhouse days ago. On a small tour of London venues he described his gig at the HMV Forum as “just like the old days of Oasis”, whilst his gig at the Hammersmith Apollo was “easy, maybe a little too easy.”

We have seen a number of excellent gigs at the Roundhouse, so not sure we agree with Noel on this one. What are your thoughts on the Roundhouse?

Last night Pulp played a triumphant gig at the O2 Academy Brixton.

A band I had longed to see ever since rashly electing to watch The Shamen over Pulp’s show-stealing headline set at Glastonbury 1995, I could hardly contain my excitement at Brixton as the superb lasers kicked in with messages asking the crowd if they were alright, and after a few nonsenical questions, if they remembered the first time, which turned out to be the band’s first song as they hit the stage and started things off in style.

Jarvis, who doesn’t seem to have aged a bit and who certainly moves around the stage as well as he ever did, then explained that on this gig they would be playing a few more obscure songs than during their festival sets. This suited me, although I confess to not having heard next number “Countdown” from Pulp’s third album “Separations”, released all the way back in 1992. In fact, they released their first single in 1983! This highlights how Pulp were plugging away for a long time before they finally made the breakthrough they deserved with His N’ Hers.

A real treat came next in the form of Lipgloss, which Jarvis claims they haven’t felt confident enough to play this summer owing to them consistently messing it up in rehearsals. With Richard Hawley on guitar it sounded fine tonight and got a great reception. After obscure 1992 single O.U. (Gone, Gone) came another classic from His N’ Hers which they haven’t played all summer, Have You Seen Her Lately. Jarvis Cocker seemed to be having the time of his life, acting out every word, pointing, and teasingly removing his jacket.

Jarvis donned a 12-string for the wonderful Something Changed, before Pulp then ramped it up with a stomping Disco 2000. The lyrics “Let’s all meet up in the year 2000″ really struck home just how long ago these anthems were written, when most of the crowd were in their youth and looking ahead to the millennium. Next followed possibly one of the best songs ever written about drugs - Sorted for E’s and Whizz - which anyone who has ever been to a festival and found themselves alone in the early hours in some obscure dance tent can relate to.      

Next came two songs from the much underrated “We Love Life” album, the epic Wickerman, complete with three backing singers, and Bad Cover Version. The superb Babies followed, prompting a massive singalong (you really cannot go wrong with a song that has plenty of “yeahs” in it). Jarvis was being the charming and witty host throughout the evening, really making the crowd feel like part of the gig. At one point he picked up a glass of red and asked if we minded if he had a drink. He then decanted the wine into a plastic tumbler and handed it out to someone in the front row with the instructions to “share it with everybody”.

It was at this point that Jarvis started picking up objects thrown on stage, including a letter containing a bag of skittles and a message expressing the hope to see Pulp in their underwear. This was good news as apparently Pulp were not going to play it but after protestations from the crowd they launched into one of Different Class’s best songs, Underwear. Things then took a turn for the darker (and seedier) as Jarvis launched into This is Hardcore - the best song from the dark and underrated album of the same name. This was when Jarvis the entertainer came to the fore, prowling around the stage, climbing up speaker stacks and at one point humping the speaker in a fairly obscene manner.

The epic Sunrise followed, and then after Bar Italia, that ode to Soho’s famous cafe which is the last refuge of lost clubbers, came set-closer Common People, which resulted in an inevitable singalong. This is the perfect pop song, and the lyrics never get tired.

It was already close to eleven, so an encore looked unlikely, but Pulp reappeared playing old favourite Razzmatazz, and then, to my delight, Misshapes. Hard to think now when Topshop sells Ramones t-shirts and every other 17-year old is wearing a trilby, but when I was at university people were beaten up if they ventured into town wearing flared cords and looking a little different, and at that time Misshapes was a real anthem for the unusual and weird. The sleevenotes of Different Class say it best “Please understand, we don’t want no trouble, we just want the right to be different, that’s all”.

Last night the band vinidicated all those who knew it was more about Pulp back in the days of Britpop, when the media were obsessed with Blur v Oasis. Jarvis summed up the era better than Damon or Liam ever could. What’s more, with his wit, his dancing, his superb lyrics and his overall performance, he showed how much the music scene has missed him and these songs. Grumbles? I Spy would have been nice, being it possibly their greatest song. But really, a two-hour show which never stopped being entertaning, even between songs, this couldn’t be anything other than 10/10

The list of Mercury Prize nominees has been released today. Our money will be going on P{J Harvey’s excellent “Let England Shake” although Metronomy must be in with a shout as well.

Anna Calvi - ‘Anna Calvi’
Elbow - ‘Build A Rocket Boys!’
James Blake - ‘James Blake’
Katy B - ‘On A Mission’
Metronomy - ‘The English Riviera’
Tinie Tempah - ‘Disc-Overy’
PJ Harvey - ‘Let England Shake’
Gwilym Simcock - ‘Good Days At Schloss Elmau’
Everything Everything - ‘Man Alive’
Ghostpoet - ‘Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam’
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - ‘Diamond Mine’
Adele - ‘21′

WU LYF are without a doubt the band of the moment, and much has already been written elsewhere about their mysterious origins. With their debut album out on Monday and a low-key tour to support it however, now is the time when their music needs to do the talking.

There was definitely a buzz around the Village Underground on the night of this gig. Smelling slightly damp, this venue is all arches and Victorian brick walls. In this area famed for its Banksy graffiti, the LYF had left their mark with an enormous white cross (the WU LYF symbol) painted on the exterior of this warehouse-like venue. This felt like an exciting night, the great unveiling for many who had only seen the one ubiquitous press photo of the LYF boys with faces covered in bandanas until tonight.

Arriving on stage shortly after 9, WU LYF didn’t disappoint. I had heard the album a couple of times before tonight (not officially out until Monday) and whilst I love it, live WU LYF really make sense. With their church-style organ and heavy drums, with simple guitar melodies (almost XX-like) live it is almost a religious experience. Then comes lead singer Ellery Roberts famous Tom Waits-style growl, adding to the epic-ness of the sound.

Highlights included the superb Heavy Pop, Dirt, the ratchet being turned up as the band stripped off to their bare torsos. Why do they do that? Maybe because they are a gang of brothers, and that’s what kids do, who knows or cares, it is effective. Thrillingly, after leaving the stage briefly, the band return to play an epic version of WE BROS, at the end of which they invite the audience to join them onstage. Joining the mass melee on stage, with band still playing and the newly enhanced vocal section all singing the chorus together felt absolutely fantastic, something I will never forget. Tonight WU LYF well and truly justified the hype, they came, they saw, they conquered.  Who knows where they will go from here, but right now, if they come to a town near you, don’t hesitate to catch  them while they’re hot.

The second of two homecoming gigs in Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium saw the Arctic Monkeys touring their new Suck it and See album in front of a lively crowd of 10,000.

After an underwhelming Miles Kane performance (although the guy has some chutzpah, I’ll give him that - like a young Richard Ashcroft), the Arctic Monkeys took to the stage to the sound of Hot Chocolate’s I Believe in Miracles, prompting a massive dance-along. Beginning with View From the Afternoon, Brianstorm and the superb This House is a Circus, it was a frenetic opening to say the least, the band barely even stopping to draw breath. They followed this up with Still Take You Home, the crowd able to sing virtually every word despite the passing of over five years since the release of Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not. All great stuff but it wasn’t until five songs in that we heard the first notes from the Monkeys’ current album, in the form of the disappointing Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair - the lyrics are poor by Alex Turner’s standards. Faring much better was Library Pictures - again slightly nonsenical lyrics (”Library pictures of the quickening canoe…”) but a superb heavy and jerky riff with squealing guitars - the type of sound they mastered on Favourite Worst Nightmare coupled with a touch of the heaviness from Humbug - is vintage Arctic Monkeys, and with no-one else sounding like this, this song would serve as an excellent template for the direction to pursue.

What could be Library Pictures’ soulmate followed in the form of Teddy Picker, and the first song from Humbug, Crying Lightning. The disappointing Brick by Brick was followed by the superior Hellcat Spangled Shalalala before the pace finally dropped with Cornerstone and an acoustic singalong to Mardy Bum. An unnecessary I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor followed (their heart just doesn’t feel in it - and with so many other great songs why bother?) before the beautiful She’s Thunderstorms.

The much-maligned Humbug showed a band ready to try new things, which is what makes the Monkeys more than just another band. The heaviness of one of its key tracks Pretty Visitors seemed to turn the atmosphere distinctly dark, intense and oppressive, but this noise was brilliant too, particularly when bass, drums and guitars combined with perfect timing to grind out the chorus, as the the waving hands cast the shadow of a snakepit on the wall. Two of Favourite Worst Nightmare’s best songs follow in If You Were There Beware and Do Me a Favour, their driving rhythyms keeping the excellent drummer Matt Helders working hard. Suck it and See closer That’s Where You’re Wrong followed, with its great bassline (is this the first time the Monkeys have written a decent bassline hook on  bass rather than a guitar?) followed by perennial set-closer 505, with Miles Kane on guitar.

A crowd-pleasing encore of When the Sun Goes Down (well that song is about Sheffield characters, it would have been rude not to play it), Fluorescent Adolescent and A Certain Romance brought the tent down on a superb gig. Complaints - they really should have played Reckless Serenade, one of SIAS’s best songs - possibly instead of Dancefloor, but apart from that, a superb gig.

Last night some classic names from hip hop gathered at the Hammersmith HMV Apollo for the first of a series of two one-off shows in the UK.

Rakim was first up. the first time he had been in the UK in 15 years (Rakim is notoriously frightened of flying) I was very keen to see the hip hop legend in the flesh. Follow the Leader and Paid in Full are two of my favourite albums and as a rhymer he takes some beating. Rakim’s set was a little underwhelming to being with - he didn’t help matters by starting with 5 songs from his new album. But as his DJ spun a few tunes from 1986 and told us we were about to go right back, things definitely picked up. Rakim played I Ain’t no Joke, Move the Crowd, I Know you Got Soul and the superb Microphone Fiend. Great to see a true hip hop legend still sounding superb, as he finished with Paid in Full. Ironically Eric B wasn’t there as the two no longer speak after falling out over royalties. Someone wasn’t paid in full.

After Rakim came De La Soul, who from the off, as always, were excellent. They do crowd interaction superbly, splitting the crowd into left and right to create battles over who is loudest, and it certainly works. The energy De La put into their shows is unbelievable. All this would matter little without tunes however, and these De La Soul have in abundance. Highlights for me were Buddy, Me, Myself and I and Potholes in My Lawn.

After a ten minute break we were left with the final act- Blackstar. Mos Def and Talib Kweli appeared smartly dressed in suits. These two rappers are still on top of their game and the flow was superb. As well as most of the songs from Blackstar, they managed a couple of solo numbers too, including the excellent Auditorium. However, despite the energy and superb backing from their two DJ’s, there was a bit of filler, and the set did flag a little towards the end…hip-hoppped out or just an inevitable consequence seeing  an act with only one album? Whatever, it was a superb night, with a great crowd, laid back and polite but well up for a party, qualities you rarely get at indie gigs…

SO I WAIT IN LINE I’M A MODERN MAN
So how was it for you? I was up bright and early on Saturday morning, and caught the first tube in to Oxford Street. So far, so good, apart from witnessing an attempted bottling outside MacDonald’s in Brixton, but nothing too out of the ordinary there.

Arriving at Sister Ray in Berwick Street at 6:30 there looked to be about 15 other vinyl junkies already in line. Those at the front looked like they had been camping out all night. Not sure I would ever go that far. Camping chairs though - excellent idea.

So now the long wait. After whiling away some time talking to the people around me and reading Bill Drummond’s 45, at about 8:30 some very kind members of Sister Ray staff came round and gave everyone in the ever-growing queue a list of all releases they had in stock, together with a number so there could be no doubting where you were in the queue. They also brought round some croissants and pan au chocolats, and a voucher for a free cup of coffee from Cotton Cafe.

Finally at 10am the doors opened, and we were welcomed in 10 at a time. There was no unseemly scrummage for releases, as all were held behind the counter. Instead there was an orderly queue of excited vinyl-heads as we listened to Prince’s greatest hits.

I managed to pick up the Radiohead 12″ (which is excellent) as well as the Arctic Monkeys single, the Beastie Boys 7″, and releases by Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, the Clash, Joy Division and an EP of Franz Ferdinand covers. The only thing I couldn’t get hold of were the two White Stripes singles. Too tired to head up to Rough trade East for the in-store gigs, I headed back for some much needed rest having thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing but still slightly surprised (worried) that a few exclusive vinyl releases can get me out of bed at 5am on a Saturday morning. Thanks to all the excellent staff at Sister Ray for an extremely well-organised and fun event. Roll on next year.

Glastonbury Festival has announced the line-up for the West Holts stage, which in previous years was called the Jazz World stage.

FRIDAY 24TH JUNE
Cee Lo Green
Chase & Status
Jimmy Cliff
Heliocentrics with Mulatu
Little Dragon
Gonjasufi
Dengue Fever
Ziriguidum
Plus, Shlomo will be doing rolling skits between acts.

SATURDAY 25TH JUNE 26TH
Big Boi
Janelle Monae
Aloe Blacc
Fool’s Gold
Omar Souleyman
Brandt Brauer Frick
Nicolas Jaar
Narasirato
London Afrobeat Collective

SUNDAY 26TH JUNE
Kool & the Gang
Hercules And Love Affair
The Go! Team
Duane Eddy
Bellowhead
Jah Wobble & The Nippon Dub Ensemble
Jamie Woon
Hidden Orchestra

We are particularly excited about Little Dragon, Big Boi, Jimmy Cliff and Shlomo.

Some good news from London’s live music scene as the legendary 100 Club is to be saved, thanks to a sponsorship deal with Converse footwear. Whilst not huge fans of venue sponsorship, we recognise that this is the way of the world these days, and a sponsored venue is better than a closed venue. Below is the email sent out by the 100 Club owners this week:

You might remember receiving an email from us recently, regarding the proposed closure of London’s legendary 100 Club. Over the past few months, over 19,000 live music lovers have joined the ‘Save the 100 Club’ Facebook group, and have taken part in various fund-raising events and activities. We’re happy to announce that all the hard work has been worth it as the 100 Club have recently partnered with Converse, meaning that the venue will be staying open! The venue owner, Jeff Horton, couldn’t be happier and has said that Converse have a great understanding of the club’s ethos and heritage. This means that the venue can continue to run independently; you can still expect to see established top artists, as well as new up and coming acts, in an intimate and celebrated location.