Firstly, for those of you not familiar with the Great Escape Festival, you really need to go. It’s a weekend in Brighton which consists of eating chips by the sea, ramming your mates and randoms on bumper cars, buying sticks of rock for loved ones and, oh, watching the hottest new talent from across the world of course in beautiful surroundings. Every gig venue hosts bands with a whole bunch of performances happening in shops, cafes and anywhere that can accomodate a band pretty much.
There’s a great “vibe” to Brighton that hits you as soon as you exit the station. It’s a place that has arguably just as many gig venues as London but with a much friendlier atmosphere. It’s an event that even the most pretentious music industry sorts go to let their hair down.
I did not arrive in Brighton until Friday meaning that I missed an entire day of festivities. As a result, I missed the likes of Simon Says No, Jamaica, Gaggle, Let’s Buy Happiness, Blood Red Shoes, Chapel Club, Surfer Blood, Crystal Fighters, Wilder and The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster to name but a few! No use crying over spilt milk (well, missed bands) though right?
I frantically made it to Brighton on Friday afternoon in time to catch Islet at the Freebutt. A band that snub the now-traditional social marketing methods and simply rely on good old-fashioned word of mouth. Having heard a live session track a few months ago and reading a lot of positive reviews on the band, I was really keen to see them because there’s no other way to them check out. I wasn’t alone in this because I arrived to find the Freebutt full of curious gig-goers. So, how were the band? Ace. Full of energy, passion and not afraid to alternate instrument duties and make jokes between songs. Although, I do think that had I heard them before seeing them, I’d have perhaps enjoyed them more. They’re a band that sound truly original and at times, it felt a little bit awkward to be there because I had no idea of what I was listening to.
I then went to catch disco-poppers Think About Life at a venue called Life on the seafront. You’ve gotta give it to the bookers – quite witty of them to put them on there wasn’t it? Great set too. Everyone in attendance was shaking either their head, legs and ass (or all three) in enjoyment.
Following an Italian music industry schmoozing dinner, I frantically ran around Brighton catching as many acts I could. I was fortunate enough to have a priority wristband which allowed me to access most venues without queueing. I didn’t get to see much of Fortune at Audio as 1,2,3 were a “must-see” act on my list. Unfortunately, that meant missing the amazing North Atlantic Oscillation and Gold Panda but 1,2,3 did not disappoint.
After catching ten minutes or so of Warpaint on the pier, I headed to Digital to see Darwin Deezwho was one of the biggest draws for a lot of people as hundreds of people were left outside queueing – even those with priority passes. By the time we made it inside a very dark Digital, we caught the end of Darwin Deez’s set – which was as fun and entertaining as you’d expect – ruin slightly by one “jerk” in the crowd who seemed to cause a bit of a stir for Mr Deez and attracted boos from the (over) capacity crowd.
Ending the set with a cover of Beyonce was a stroke of genius and it’s one that every band should do if you ask me!
Annoyingly, we arrived at Hectors House for The Morning Benders only to find that they had already played / pulled out. Nobody really knew. As a result of the decision to go to see them, I missed Ellen and the Escapades who I have been following as a fan for almost a year. That’s the one downside to events like these – there’s too many clashes. I felt a huge sense of guilt the whole time I was watching one band because I knew that another band I really wanted to see were playing elsewhere at the same time. But, I can’t blame the organisers for putting on a wealth of amazing acts across the seaside town. It’s better to be spoilt for choice than not isn’t it? If anything, blame science for making teleportation nothing more than just a pipe dream!
Feeling in a rock mood, I decided to skip Hurts, Japandroids and Frankie & The Heartstrings in favour of the feisty noise machine that is Rolo Tomassi who blew the upstairs of Revenge to pieces. Weirdly though, the stage on the second floor is LOWER than the crowd. So, I couldn’t see a thing. It’s rather strange going to see a band that plays with such vigour and passion only to spend the set on your tippy toes. I have the utmost of respect for people who aren’t as tall as me because you must spend every gig you go to feeling the way I did.
Absolutely awesome set though. Intense as anything I’ve ever seen before. Sadly, I missed the ‘wall of death’ due to being in the toilet (not literally).
As much as I was interested in seeing Ellie Goulding, the trek up to Concorde was one that didn’t fill me with much interest and I then opted for Everything Everything followed by one of the biggest draws on the bill, Delphic. Unfortunately, the queue at the Corn Exchange was huge and despite having a priority pass, we realised that we probably wouldn’t get in to see either. I decided to head round the corner to the Pavillion to catch Wild Beasts but again, we were greeted by a massive crowd and we realised that we’d not get in to that show either.
With the delights of Alessi’s Ark and Peggy Sue miles away from our location, we decided to head to Coalition for the rest of the night and get to see Kid Adrift and the hotly tipped Silver Columns in the process. Neither act disappointed me.
Kid Adrift seemed to wash over a lot of people though as the venue was filled with chitter-chatter throughout his set. Sadly though, that’s what happens at gigs sometimes.
By the time Silver Columns made it to the stage at 1.30am, as you can imagine, the day had caught up with me. Things were somewhat blurry to say the least. I thought they were ace though – but sadly, I can’t tell you much more than that!
We left Coalition and headed to the beach where we spotted a bunch of people having a bonfire. Rather drunkenly, I convinced a kid with an acoustic guitar to let me have a go and I “treated” all of those around with acoustic renditions of hits by Take That, Oasis and Robbie Williams, reggae cover versions of Coldplay, Rolling Stones and Nirvana as well as serenading a couple with this classic love song in exchange for champagne (including the reprise not shown in this video):
One thing though, you should never play an acoustic guitar without a plectrum for very long. I cut my knuckles open and handed back the guitar to the kid rather apologetically. He didn’t seem to mind though and asked me if I was playing anywhere that weekend. Sadly, Paul Weller wasn’t playing at the Great Escape so the joke didn’t really wash with him. Ah well.
By the time I made it back to my hotel, the sun was rising and it was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. When arriving back at my hotel, I then looked in the mirror in my en-suite and saw one of the most hideous sights I’ve ever seen. My drunken face. Not a pretty sight at all. Oh, what am I saying? I’m well fit.
Following on from a Saturday that saw me see a lot more than I had expected, karma got its own back on Sunday.
We arrived at Camden slightly later due to watching football in a Highgate battle cruiser. By the time we got to Camden, the first bands had started. I was really keen to see Gaggle at the Electric Ballroom but realised that by the time we made it there from the Roundhouse, we’d only see one tune at the most. So, to make up for not going the day before, we went to Nandos instead. This made me very happy indeed!
We thoroughly enjoyed our peri-peri experience but we also questioned whether the sauce bottle labels had been switched because after a few minutes, both of us were unable to speak. I like it hot but this was too hot. Nevertheless, the food eased our hangovers from the night before massively and we were ready for another night of music and fun.
The first stop was to see Gold Panda at the Barfly but whilst there was no queue to get into the Barfly, the queue to get upstairs was stretching out into the downstairs bar and knowing the size of upstairs, Gold Panda would’ve had to have bombed so badly that he emptied the place before we could even get in. Gutted. It was the first act of the weekend that I really wanted but didn’t get to see.
I checked the schedule for somewhere else and decided to head to the Enterprise an hour or so early in order to catch Tubelord. As we left the bar, we were treated to this indie classic:
With our mouths still on fire from the chicken, we decided to get some chewing gum to ease the burn. Which resulted in me and my girlfriend throwing chewing gum puns back at each other. The best one? “Very inCHEWative”. But I’ll give you an EXTRA one as well… “Let’s get a wrigley’s on”. You had to be there really.
We arrived at a PACKED Enterprise (the pub that is, not the starship) and both myself and the missus were still thinking of chewing gum puns and didn’t speak for a good few minutes. As we made our way from the bar to the queue to go upstairs, I shuffled through holding my girlfriend’s hand so not to lose her. I don’t really know how it happened but I turned around to notice that I wasn’t holding my girlfriend’s hand at all, instead, I was holding the hand of a rather scared looking lady. She loved it really though I’m sure.
We waited for what seemed like an age for upstairs to empty so we could go up to watch Tubelord. Annoyingly, by the time we got up there, we realised that we had 45 minutes to wait and no bar available to us upstairs. So, we decided to make a move somewhere else. Waiting around in a room doing nothing for 45 minutes when there’s so much more going on elsewhere seemed a bit foolish. I’ll see Tubelord again before too long I am sure.
So, by this point, we’d been in Camden for almost three hours and not seen anyone play! Fortunately though, because we’d crammed in so much the night before, we weren’t too fussed.
We headed up to the other end of Camden to the Purple Turtle to catch the Birmingham trio Calories, a band that I’ve been keen on for quite a while. They have some great tunes but they seemed somewhat annoyed at the lack of crowd reaction they were receiving which impacted their performance somewhat. It was highly shambolic and the band seemed a little worse for wear – they do have a heap of energy though, I’ll give them that. It just didn’t really feel like the right venue, crowd or time for them.
It was at this point that we decided to nip across the road to catch a bit of Roots Manuva at Koko before heading back to the Purple Turtle to catch The Jim Jones Revue for a bit of 50s rock n’ roll action.
I bumped into a mate on the way into Koko who told me in a rather hyperactive fashion that he just met Pete Doherty somewhat non-sober (shock horror!) outside Burger King on Camden High Street having unsuccessfully managed to break into a closed McDonalds a minute or so previously. Being the pun obsessives that I am, I instantly came out with “Was he trying to buy a Big Smack?”. Oh come on, at least laugh at one of my jokes for crying out loud!
Roots (or Mr Manuva) was one of the best performances I saw over the weekend (second to Wild Palms the night before). Koko was rammed. I’ve never seen it so busy in the countless numbers of times that I’ve been there in the past. Absolutely sterling performance as you’d expect for Mr Manuva who seemed genuinely touched by the amazing reception he was given.
We then discussed that Mr Manuva sounds a little bit like “missed a maneuver”. Did you pass your driving test? “No, I missed a maneuver”. Again, I laughed. Nobody else did.
As we were leaving Koko, I overheard a girl with a media pass complaining about not being able to go into Koko front entrance. All she had to do was walk ten feet to the side of the building (where there was no queue) and she scoffed “Oh, this is ridiculous, I’m supposed to be VIP”. I had no idea who she was, which I may or may not have said to her out loud as I walked by.
Racist cocktail!
Back over to the Purple Turtle for an aggressive (and somewhat arousing) frisk and The Jim Jones Revue who were brilliantly explosive. They’re such a fun band to watch. Sure, they’re not doing anything original as such but if you want fun rock n’ roll then they are the band for you. Obviously, I was too young to go and see the likes of Chuck Berry, Little Richard and The Sonics back in the day – these guys are the closest and next best thing.
As I was enjoying their set, I noticed a lady to my left who looked exactly like Pauline Calf. Was Steve Coogan out enjoying the Camden Crawl on the sly? I wonder…
When they played this tune, my girlfriend asked: “Why are they singing about cheese?” Hahahaha. She’s funnier than me sometimes, she really is.
Yuck: not as blurry in real life.
After telling the man in the gents that I had no change (a lie) we departed the Purple Turtle and headed to Camden Rock to catch the amazing and hotly tipped shoegaze indie-poppers Yuck perform a midnight set. I was somewhat surprised at how quiet the venue was considering they’ve been receiving hype from pretty much everyone recently. They didn’t disappoint. For a band that probably doesn’t have a single pubic hair between them, they sure do know how to write beautiful tunes. Yuck are doing a nationwide support with the mindblowing Times New Viking soon. If you have tickets to any of their shows, you’d be a bit of a fool not to get there early. Yuck? More like “Mmmm”.
Obvious comparisons can be made to the likes of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine (which is no bad thing) but they’re also a band that sound fresh and exciting. Expect big things to come from them – although, I’ve gotta admit, the name doesn’t really give the right impression. That said, neither did Arctic Monkeys…
As we left, and being slightly drunk, I decided to make a rather cheeky comment to a girl walking towards me in the street. I had to dodge her as she stomped towards me rather aggressively. As I did a jaunty hop out of her way I said in a Russell Brand-esqe tone “Oooo, you got in my way young lady! Naughty naughty”. Her reaction was pretty hilarious. Not getting that I was clearly joking, she chased me down the road yelling abusive language and telling me that she would “fill me in”. I’m not sure what she meant by that. She looked nothing like Craig David and I look nothing like an empty baguette. Anyway, I tried to explain to her that I was joking and told her to get a sense of humour. This only angered her further and she stormed towards me. Her boyfriend came over, rolled his eyes and dragged her away given me a look as if to say “Sorry mate, she does this a lot” as they walked off.
It made me chortle and rounded off the weekend perfectly. We had rain, queues, great music and a bloody good time. Same time next year? Yes, but only if I don’t have to pay. I would feel a bit cheated had I paid. The organisation is erratic at best and I would feel rather ripped off. I often think that the venues should overlap their times a little bit to prevent surges of people all leaving venues at the same time. I wouldn’t mind seeing ten minutes of one band and nipping somewhere else. I think a lot of people would be happy to do this as well. It would perhaps ease the queues a little bit too.
Am I moaning about queues again? Yes indeed I am. Typical British lad me…
Once a year, thousands of indie kids, goths, skater kids and scenesters ascend upon the streets of Camden each trying to stylishly ‘out cool’ one another. “Once a year?” I hear you ask… actually, that is a good point. There’s nothing I love more than swaggering around Camden pretending to be Paul Weller thinking I’m the greatest and telling all the goths to “cheer up”. No wonder they’re so bloody unhappy in the summer – wear some light coloured clothes! Anyway, I digress.
The difference about this weekend, of course, is that the place is hosting gigs and events from Mornington Crescent to Chalk Farm and everywhere else in between with ticket holders (not to mention media folk, label bitches and liggers) gaining access to all gigs by a magical piece of plastic on their wrist – or not in some cases (I will come to this later).
One thing that I absolutely love about the Camden Crawl is not just the fact that it brings the best new talent (and the Sugababes production line) to one place but that it sums up the perfect British elements – rain, queues and, as a result of those two things, moaning and an awful lot of tutting.
I do recall last year being somewhat different however. The sun was shining and I spent all day wishing I’d taken Phil Collins’ advice (no jacket required). Camden is amazing in the sunshine. A bit of sun and it’s suddenly OK to become a hobo and drink cider by the canal. But, that was last year. This year however was not last year. Obviously. It would somewhat spooky if it was.
Given the rather dreary sky and the fact that I’m unemployed meant that we put off going to Camden until the first wave of bands started – missing out on the daytime events. A shame because there’s nothing I love more on a Saturday afternoon than a game of bingo and listening to a trendy London poet moan about his or her issues in prose form.
The bag isn't mine by the way.
We started the day at the Boogaloo in Highgate – not only did it recently host the Libertines reunion press conference and gig (no comment) but it is also my girlfriend’s local. The latter being more important obviously.
As we were finishing up our first drink of the day, I started to feel some drizzle (no, I was not touching up Dr Dre) and quickly suggested we move on to Camden a) before we got too comfortable and b) we didn’t fancy a two-minute rain filled journey to Highgate station.
Ten minutes or so later, we arrived at Mornington Crescent where I had to get my wristband from and this is where the British in me came out in full force. It started to rain. And by rain, I mean RAIN. So much so that puddles were forming around my desert boots as I stood in a non-moving queue outside Koko. Fortunately, me Julie had an umbrella (ella ella) thus keeping my recently straightened and waxed mod cut dry. Sadly though, the rain trickled off the umbrella soaking the rest of me – but, the hair was alright. That’s the main thing.
Queue must be joking!
Eventually, we made it inside Koko for what I can only describe as being the worst run guest list queue I’ve ever been in. Usually, they work like a production line – get in, get out – but not this time. It took absolutely ages and that’s where the moaning and tutting I mentioned at the top began. Most of the people around me (and, OK, me as well) were muttering things along of the lines of “Well, this is RIDICULOUS. We’re supposed to be important people and this is how they treat us.”
Nevertheless, EVENTUALLY, I got to the front and after a bit of hoo haa, got given an envelope which would contain “everything”. Well, not everything surely? What magical envelope had I been given?! An envelope that contains EVERYTHING?! How amazed I was to receive Narnia in stationery form – could it be that after years and years of asking, I would finally get that BMX I’ve always wanted? Answer – no.
"Alwight! I'm a geezer me."
In actual fact, all that was in the (disappointly non magical) envelope was a standard weekend wristband, a MEDIA pass for Saturday only (which I was told I “might” get – meaning I couldn’t arrange interviews with anybody in advance) and a VIP wristband which I was told would get me into the aftershow party on Sunday night – giving me the chance to see Dave Berry in the flesh! You can imagine how excited this made me. He’s so dreamy in a “I want to punch you in the face for being so handsome” kinda way.
OK, so I knew that I could go anywhere I wanted without queueing (hooray) on Saturday at least. But, where was I going to go with such a power? Answer – I had no idea. I was not given anything to tell me who was playing where/when. Not only that but my girlfriend (or as I like to call her “my plus one”) was told that she had to go to the Roundhouse to collect her wristband. Nice work organisers.
We decided that due to the torrential rain, we’d get a bus to the Roundhouse. Which we did. We arrived to (surprise, surprise) more queues. So we’d been in Camden for over an hour and all that we had experienced was moist queueing and 360 degrees of tutting about the weather. But, we were now all wristbanded up and ready to go.
We contemplated heading to Nandos but after noticing a peri-peri long queue outside, we decided against it. No hot chickaaaan for me. Gutted. Talking of Nandos, here’s a rather brilliant advert that you may not have seen.
Despite my lack of hot chickaaan, I did cheer myself by the fact that Chickenhawk were playing on both days meaning that I could get some form of chicken related fun into my weekend.
I consulted the guide and noticed that the first two bands on at the Electric Ballroom were two that I really wanted to see. Plus given the size of the venue, it never involves queueing and considering the rain, it seemed like the perfect place to start.
The first band of the day were the marvellous ‘tut Leeds’ based quartet Pulled Apart By Horses. Quite an explosive start to proceedings but that’s the way I like it. Their set was so loud, brash and ferociously riff heavy that them rude people at gigs who converse things such as “he’s shaggin’ whatsherface from accounts innit” had no choice but to shut up and listen.
I did fear for Tom’s voice though – having had nodules myself, I did think “take it easy man” on several occasions. All that screaming can do some serious damage. Long term vocal damage fears aside, I was blown away. They are such an incredible live band and I can’t recommend them enough if you’ve never seen them.
Next up were Wild Palms, who I have seen and blogged about before but they took me by surprise because in the past few months, they’ve completely changed their sound from the angular Shoreditch friendly post-punk that I was expecting to something hugely expansive and ambitious. The core sound of before is still there of course but I was amazed by their new epic and atmospheric wall of sound.
Several years ago, I caught White Lies at the Camden Crawl in the exact same venue and was overwhelmed by the sheer size of their tunes. I had the exact same feeling with Wild Palms – which, again, I didn’t expect whatsoever. The new tunes that they’ve kept somewhat secret (well, from me at least) are going to be massive. Mark my words. I don’t think I saw a better band for the rest of the weekend truth be told.
OK, be honest, you’re still thinking about the Nandos advert aren’t you? Yes, I thought so. Please note, I am not being endorsed by them and I am not gaining anything by advertising their amazingly tender and delicious peri-peri chicken – which is available in a wide range of locations all over the world served by extremely friendly and helpful staff in an amazing carnival atmosphere. But as I say, I am not getting anything for advertising them here (not even a free meal) so please, let’s get back to the music yeah?
After Wild Palms, I looked at the schedule and planned the rest of the evening. I had to take into account not just the time to get to each venue but also the chances of getting in and indeed the proximity to the next gig that I wanted to go to. I felt like a snooker player at times – not in that I was taking bribes (according to some…) – I mean that snooker players apparently plan up to six shots at a time. And that queueing would be involved… Queue/cue, come on, that wasn’t bad was it?
Seeing as the Camden Crawl is about new music, I wanted to catch something that I had not seen before and/or wouldn’t get to see at any other festival this summer. I decided against Best Coast and Surfer Blood despite loving both their albums and went to see The Lost Levels at the Barfly instead. The Norwich based band have hints of Blur, Super Furry Animals and the Flaming Lips in their sound and I was quite excited about seeing them perform their brand of psychedelic indie pop for the first time.
Whilst I had a media pass which allowed me to jump the queue, I was not going to leave my girlfriend outside on her own. I learnt a valuable lesson from Top Gun – never leave your wingman. My girlfriend wasn’t too keen on the nickname mind you but considering I invited her along in the first place, the name calling (much like her ability to vote) was a right that I was entitled to exercise.
Given the rather small queue outside the Barfly, I wanted to test out my queue jumping pass (just to feel important) and I was told by the token burly man (who looked like a cross between Brian Blessed and Zippy) on the door that I had to queue up with everyone else. So, I have no idea what the point of the laminate was if it didn’t count for anything. My girlfriend rather cleverly said that the organisers of the Camden Crawl must think that VIP stands for Very Ironic Pass.
It didn’t concern me though because, as I said, I wasn’t going to leave my girlfriend on her own. Don’t get me wrong, she can look after herself. She’s a tough Geordie lass and we all know what feisty women they are – especially towards toilet attendants.
When we got up the stairs in the Barfly, a drunken lady went round whispering to a bunch of people that, on the count of three, they had to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ – completely forgetting to tell us who to. So on the count of three, almost the entire upstairs venue sang in unison; which was touching to some extent but ruined by the sound of a gigantic mumbling choir filling the air as the song reached the “Happy birthday dear….” section. In all honesty, it was a nice gesture but if my friends did that to me I would be quite unhappy. I mean, at least get the logistics right.
As for The Lost Levels, for some reason, I was not engaged in the way that I hoped I would be. I don’t deny they’ve got good tunes and an interesting sound but given the other distractions of other bands to see elsewhere, I really didn’t have time to be patient. The way in which the Camden Crawl is organised, you really feel on edge all the time – worrying about where you’re going next and whether you made the right choice to pick the gig you’re at. Maybe that’s just me though.
As a result of this, we managed the short hop (or should I say “crawl”) to the Cuban Bar to catch the end of the highly underrated London indie/pop Stricken City ahead of the electro brillance that is Shy Child.
I only managed to catch a couple of tunes in Stricken City‘s set but they’ve come on leaps and bounds since last May – with tunes that sit perfectly between indie and pop which have a heart-felt Smiths like quality about them – not to mention Rebekah’s voice sounding remarkably similar to Karen O in places. Speaking of Rebekah, she has the look of a girl that will break a few hearts. Which isn’t a bad thing – just be warned boys.
Sadly, I was told I had to smoke my cigar outside.
Whether there’s enough in them to break out on their own remains to be seen but they are more than capable, I know that. They’re certainly a band that read the ‘How To Write Infectious Music” book (not a real book) every night in their jim jams before departing to the land of nod. Their powerful performance won over a packed Cuban Bar and they’re pretty flawless live. Go and see them if you get the chance.
Next up were Shy Child – one of my favourite bands in recent years. They released their second album ‘Liquid Love’ earlier this year and obviously, are in the country to promote it. If the first record was “disco-punk”, then the second record is “disco-pop”. The sound is pretty much the same but there’s more emphasis on groove and radio-friendly unit shifting choruses this time around. Which is not a bad thing at all but I do think that a lot of the crowd in attendance were expecting to hear a lot more tracks from the first album because the gig did have an awkward vibe to it. Like taking a girl to Nandos on a first date only to find out when you get there that she’s a vegetarian.
That said, the epic nine minute psychedelic disco ‘Criss Cross’ and Daft Punk sounding ‘The Beatles’ are bold steps forward. When you listen to the new record, it’s hard to imagine that they’re only a duo. Yet, when they play live, they sound equally as big and by the end of their slow burning set, they had everyone’s jaws open. Of course, they didn’t leave without playing this classic from their 2007 debut as an encore:
As we departed the Cuban Bar, we were rewarded with more rain. Initially, I wanted to head up to catch the mighty surf-grunge Sub Poppers Male Bonding at the Purple Turtle but due to the rain, I decided that I would get my rock craving filled by Dead Meadow instead at the much nearer Underworld.
In the end, by the time we’d made it to the Underworld, down stairs, gotten used to THAT SMELL that slaps you in the face as you enter and bought ourselves a drink, Dead Meadow were playing their final two tunes. Which was a real shame as I’ve been wanting to see the LA psyschedelic stoner blues chaps for bloody ages now. They won’t be for everyone – but if you’re a fan of the likes of Black Sabbath, Kyuss, HP Lovecraft and Pink Floyd then I am sure that you will love these Matador tenants. It’s music that you can really lose yourself in and I felt weightless after seeing them noodle out for ten minutes at the end of their set. Beautifully haunting and hazy.
By this point, I felt like dancing – and that means that obviously I had been drinking. Who dances sober? I certainly don’t. I have to be drunk as it takes my mind of just how ridiculous I look.
As a result, we decided to head to Koko to catch Autokratz instead of fresh on the scene Summer Camp or the equally brilliant Silver Columns. I kind of figured that I would be able to see these two bands another time soon enough.
After arriving at Koko, I instantly regretted it. Not because of the music as such but because I got £1 change back from £10. £9 for two drinks?! Absolutely disgraceful. Especially as the staff pour them rather aggressively. If I’m paying £4.50 for a beer, I expect them to take their time with it – or better still get given another beer to go with it. Robbing bastards. Anyway, let’s not dwell too much on the bar prices shall we?
Autokratz were performing “live” apparently. Something that confused me greatly. Correct me if I’m wrong but a band playing along to what is clearly a backing track is not a live band is it? They had a big wide-eyed crowd bouncing and raving on all levels of Koko but in all honesty, I found them a little bit boring. There’s only so many filter sweeps, breakdowns and “put your hands in the air!” chanting that I can take. MCs are such demanding gentlemen. First they tell me to put my hands in the air, then they tell me to make some noise, I mean, why can’t they just perform?! I wasn’t really in the mood – it had been a long day and all I really wanted to do at that stage was get some chicken having missed out on *Nandos earlier on in the evening.
As we were leaving, Autokratz ended their set with a rather brave (and pretty decent) cover of Primal Scream‘s ‘Swastika Eyes’ which was easily the highlight of their set. Which says it all really.
All in all, it was a cracking night and we ended up seeing a lot more than I was expecting to. I realise that my description of the end of the night is a bit more vague and mysterious than the very beginning of the blog but what do you expect when I’d been drinking without eating for nine straight hours?!
Check back here soon for my summary of day two. It’s pretty exciting. Not only can you find out who I saw, I’ve also got stories to tell involving saloon doors, mistaken identity, a drunken lady straight from the set of Jeremy Kyle wanting to beat me up, exclusivePete Doherty gossip and a whole load more “jokes” (as you’d expect).
*Remember, I have not been endorsed by the brilliant people at Nandos in any way whatsoever.
On my recent travels across the land of MySpace, I found this:
Girlfriends is the work of Jerry Joiner. A one-man band of sorts with a love for loop pedals, psychedelia and cosmic jams. His music incorporates the same angular and intelligent guitar elements as the likes of Foals and Three Trapped Tigers. Everything’s instrumental and layered up like a lovely math-rock trifle.
It’s some of the most interesting and original music I’ve heard in a quite a while. One can only hope that he makes it across the water to the UK in the near future. Did I just say “one can only hope”? How posh.
You can hear a whole load more music on his MySpace page.
Firstly, where the hell has 2010 gone? It seems like only yesterday that I was eating turkey. Well, actually, I was eating turkey yesterday because my mum took me out for Sunday lunch but that’s not the point. What I mean is, it seems like only yesterday that I was eating turkey on Christmas Day. This year has flown by.
With the sun shining, summer seems so so close. All the more exciting is the fact that the Camden Crawl is less than two weeks away. The first ‘festival’ of the summer in the UK. You know the drill, pretty much every venue in Camden puts on live music and ticket holders get access to all the venues. More importantly, the Camden Crawl takes pride in bringing new and exciting bands to their audience year on year – most of which go on to bigger and better things. Of course, it’s not just about new music, who could forget the open top Madness gig last year?
The line up this year showcases big name bands of which need no real introduction. However, being the new music obsessive that I am, I thought I would share five bands with you that I recommend you catch over the weekend. And here they are:
The Lost Levels
The Lost Levels are a wonderful Norwich based bunch who create fizzy pop-tunes. They’re not afraid of wigging out to transport you on an mini prog-journey only to set you down with a pop-twist. Their heady mix of 60’s pop marries fractious melodies and bouncy synths to create a happy escape from the current music trends.
Is Tropical are a London trio that sound exactly how The Strokes would sound if they gave up on their hard-rock-Thin Lizzy routes and listened to Ratatat and Justice instead! Listening to them on MySpace is great but it is in not a match for seeing the band live. They are an absolute treat and a must see. But you should know that by now seeing as I’ve been raving about them for almost a year!
Calories are a mix of crashing guitars and killer hooks that will pound through your brain for days. They are signed to the fantastic Smalltown America label who have built up an amazing reputation in recent years – one look at their roster and you can’t deny that they have a gift at spotting talent and Calories are no exception.
Gaggle are one of the most unique acts on the bill at the Camden Crawl and if you haven’t heard or seen them yet then you really need to see them. The 20+ all girl alternative choir are both sinister and sexy. I’m pretty sure that you’ll be freaked out by them – their music is haunting, creepy and evil to the point of being genius. It may not be for everyone but if you’re a goth, you’ll probably love them and even if you’re not a goth, you can’t help but deny their originality and sheer brilliance. And if you don’t like their music, I still suggest you go and see them. If only to see their hypnotic technicolour stage attire.
Chickenhawk are a freaked out riff driven prog force who I am sure will blow away everyone from the casual beard scratchers at the back to the die hard rock heads at the front. I feel sorry for the bands that have to follow these lot. They don’t stand a chance. Oh and the band like zombies.
So there you have it. Five bands that I recommend you see at the Camden Crawl. Of course, there are so many other great bands playing this year that I’ve not written about but to list them all would take me all day and I have got things to do!
For more info, head on over to the Camden Crawl site.
The line up for Glastonbury was officially announced last night (with a few more acts still to be announced) and I am very, very excited about it this year!
First things first, I have made a ridiculously long Spotify playlist which features tracks by pretty much every artist that has been announced so far. It’s eight hours long and rather brilliant. You can hear it by clicking here.
It’s been known for a while that the Pyramid Stage headliners will be U2, Muse and Stevie Wonder but anybody that’s been to Glastonbury before will know that unlike other UK festivals, the headliners aren’t always the reason why people go. In fact, in all the times that I’ve been to Glastonbury, I’ve rarely watched the Pyramid Stage headliners. With the exception of Stevie Wonder, I don’t think I’ll be spending much time at the Pyramid Stage this year. I think Stevie Wonder will be absolutely amazing and much like Radiohead‘s legendary slot in 1997, it’ll be a performance that people will be talking about for years to come.
I’ve seen Muse about ten times now and whilst they are an amazing live band, I feel that I would be missing out on something new and exciting elsewhere on the site if I went to see them. I’ve seen Muse play in toilet circuits right the way up to stadiums and I’ve had my fill. That said, I’m sure after the tragedy that followed their last Glastonbury performance, the band will be extra up for this one.
The same can be said of U2. I’ve seen them on their own tours several times before and I have always said that they are a band that puts on a great show – however, I can’t see how they are going to go from their ridiculous 360 production to one stage. No platforms, no mirror balls, no floating cars, no gigantic cinema screen… I don’t deny they have great anthems but considering that they’ll still be promoting their rather disappointing ‘No Line On The Horizon’ album, I think their performance will be somewhat flat until the last half an hour or so when they do the hits that everyone knows.
For me, as a new music fan, I am always more interested in seeing bands that I’ve not yet seen before and/or bands that are yet to break through. I find these performances to be more… special. If that’s the right word.
That said, I’m also really keen on seeing George “Dr Funkenstein” Clinton, Slash and The Flaming Lips (especially if they perform anything from their ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ cover album).
Also, I might be starting a rumour but with Julian Casablancas playing a solo show and a few slots on the Park Stage to be announced on the Sunday, I’m starting to think that maybe, just maybe, we could see a secret Strokes show?! The Park Stage is known for it after all with the likes of Franz Ferdinand, The Dead Weather and The Last Shadow Puppets doing shows in recent years. So who knows?
I’ve looked at the line up a lot since last night and every time I look at it, I find something new to excite me and this is before the line up for the BBC Introducing stage has been announced too, which is probably my favourite stage at Glastonbury. I remember seeing The Ting Tings play to 25 uninterested people in there in 2007 and they played last year to god knows how many thousand. Tomorrow’s bands. Today. As the saying goes. Or did I just make that saying up myself?
So here are a selection of the “lesser known” bands that you simply MUST SEE over the weekend:
Tubelord are truly special. Nobody sounds like them and they just have everything you could possibly want from a band. Energy, great songs and they are phenomenal live.
Ellen and the Escapades are playing several shows at Glastonbury this year having beaten thousands of other bands to win the Emerging Talent competition. They play a wonderful blend of folk/americana and Ellen’s voice is one that will grab you instantly. Perfect for a sunny afternoon (I hope I’m not tempting fate by saying that!) and they sound like they were made for Glastonbury.
I can’t stop listening to the latest Beach House album (‘Zebra’) and I am very interested in seeing them live. It’s beautiful floaty indie music that I think will be perfect in the Glastonbury setting.
I’m also keen to check out the progress of two of the most exciting rock bands in the country right now (Band of Skulls and Blood Red Shoes). Band of Skulls are doing what so many other UK bands have failed to do and are making serious noise in the US at the moment and Blood Red Shoes’ second record (‘Fire Like This’) is already a contender for my album of 2010. I’m looking forward to seeing two bands who are really on form right now.
And it wouldn’t be right of me to post a blog about Glastonbury and not mention some of the surprise announcements that have been made either.
Let’s not forget, Snoop Dogg! I just hope the BBC don’t make the mistake of showing him live on TV again. Remember this? Brilliant!
Glastonbury is not known for crowds bottling people off (more of a Reading thing) but if Jedward turn up to perform with Vanilla Ice could this be a first? (I can’t believe I’m posting this here, I’m really sorry!)
I could post so much more but that’ll do you for now! You can view the line up in full at www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk And the line up is great. It covers every corner of my music taste and I can’t wait.
Sadly, tickets are all but gone but there might be a few more appearing unannounced. The best thing to do is to keep your eyes and ears on the Glastonbury website. That is of course if you’ve not got one! If you have! I hope you’re excited. It is going to be spectacular. Glastonbury always is.
One thing I do ask though is that you venture to some smaller stages and make an effort to see new music. That is the best thing about festivals. Well, that and seeing naked ladies every now and then. But that goes without saying doesn’t it?
Last Thursday, I was invited along to the filming of Evo Music Rooms. It’s a new music show on Channel Four in a similar vein to Transmission and a better dressed brother/sister of Jools ‘boogie woogie’ Holland. The show has a weekly headliner who then chooses the other bands on the bill.
As well as that, the show recently launched an online competition for unsigned bands. The top six bands will get to appear on the show (and on TV obviously) which is something that no music show has ever done before. It’s refreshing to see a music show try and give bands support at such an early stage.
Music TV has become somewhat dull in the past few years because it rarely offers anything new. Take festival coverage for example. Most festivals tend to have the same headliners/main acts year on year. Understandably so because the majority of the people that go to festivals/watch them on TV are going to be drawn to the more well known bands but how many more times do we have to watch Kasabian perform ‘Fire’ or Snow Patrol perform ‘Run’ in a summer?!
As a die hard music fan (no, I’m not talking about the soundtracks to Die Hard), if I can’t make a particular festival, the lack of TV coverage of the bands I really want to see makes my lack of attendance even harder to swallow. Sure, I can watch Lady Gaga’s set on the red button for a week after the festival from the comfort of my armchair but what chance do I have of seeing King Charles perform one song on the Introducing stage? None whatsoever.
I understand that I am a ‘minority’ in that I seek out new music and that broadcasters would lose a lot of viewers if they put all my favourite bands on a TV show but nevertheless, it is refreshing to see Evo Music Rooms take the approach that new bands are the future and getting people aware of a music scene that exists beyond what’s reported in the mainstream media.
I was invited along by one of the winners of the competition, I Am Austin who are a scuzzy duo from North Wales who made energetic math/dance rock and are huge fans of bands like Queens of the Stone Age, the much missed Death From Above 1979 and The Music. They’re going to be on the show this Thursday on Channel 4 alongside the legend that is Graham Coxon, dance routine new kid on the block destined for great things by everyone Darwin Deez and the band so very close to ‘doing a White Lies’ Bombay Bicycle Club.
The set looked great. I’ll be honest though, TV show filmings are a bit cringeworthy it has to be said. Everyone is told when to applaud and when to stop applauding. The bands have to play the same song over and over again until they get it right and it’s all very awkward as they move cameras around and Edith Bowman has to redo her links again and again. Not to mention the free beer only applies to two bottles. Pfft. That’s the worst part of the evening right there!
But, Graham Coxon, Darwin Deez, Bombay Bicycle Club and I Am Austin on your screens this Thursday. If those bands don’t excite you, watch anyway, I’m in the crowd somewhere sporting a leather jacket which simply must be seen. “Check your local listings” as Americans would say.
I have just heard the news that Supergrass have called it a day. As a huge fan, it is a huge loss. When they first arrived on the scene back in 1994-95 they were a huge slap in the face and played with more energy and passion than any of their ‘Britpop’ counterparts. Truth be told, I always found the Britpop sound a bit corny and most of the bands from that era sound absolutely lacklustre and bland now (Suede, Gene, Menswear, etc). Supergrass on the other hand arrived with monster anthemic tunes, great melodies and are still regarded to this day as one of the best live bands of all time. Anybody that went to gigs in 1995 will tell you that they wiped the floor with anyone they shared the stage with.
Looking at the first album, it’s a fantastic debut. ‘Mansize Rooster’, ‘Alright’, ‘Time’, ‘Strange Ones’, ‘Lenny’ ‘Caught By The Fuzz’… I could go on. Every single track on ‘I Should Coco’ sounds fresh and exciting even 15 years on and again, I can’t say the same for Suede (whose recent reunion shows bored me to tears!). Early comparisons to the Kinks are obvious but when Blur and Oasis were making the headlines, Supergrass toured relentlessly and were arguably one of the most enjoyable live bands in the UK at the time.
Their second record, ‘In It For The Money’ was even better. Great songwriting and even better musicianship. ‘Richard III’, ‘Sun Hits The Sky’ ‘Late in the Day’ and ’Going Out’ are great timeless classics.
The sad thing was that after making two stonking albums back to back, the band perhaps got trapped in a corner musically. Despite classics such as ‘Mary’ and ‘Moving’, their self-titled third album lacked the excitement of the first two and whilst it was a success, the band never really recovered or progressed from the post-Britpop backlash and the rise of new younger exciting bands at the start of the new millenium (The Strokes, Muse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) perhaps took people’s interest and attention away from them. Sadly, there’s only so much music you can make before you have to reinvent yourself.
The band disappeared at the start of the millenium and despite their fourth record ‘Life on Other Planets’ being a hit amongst critics, it didn’t make the same impact that the band had previously had done. However, they still toured relentlessly and had a setlist of hits in their arsenal. In 2004, they released a ‘Best of” which, when looking at the tracklisting, is one that I strongly suggest you get your hands on if you haven’t really heard much by this band before.
The ‘greatest hits’ album is one that often puts the final nail in a band’s coffin and following the release of a more acoustic sounding record ‘Road to Rouen’ the band had lost all energy and excitement, which confused fans and critics alike.
Their final album ‘Diamond Hoo Ha’ was a return to the Supergrass of old. Big hyperactive songs with choruses built for stadiums. Sadly though, at this stage, the band had perhaps worn out their welcome. The older fans perhaps grew up and lost interest and the younger fans were perhaps too distracted by bigger bands making waves.
Nevertheless, for me, Supergrass have contributed a great deal to the UK music scene. Bloc Party drummer Matt has often gone on record to say that his frantic drumming technique comes from the first Supergrass record and the energy of Supergrass was one that has always been an inspiration to me as a songwriter. They were always a bad I wanted to sound like and wanted to be in. True underdogs.
“Thanks to everyone who has supported us over the years,” explained the group in a statement. “We still love each other but, cliché not withstanding, musical differences have led to us moving on and of course we all wish each other well in the future.”
They are due to play some ‘farewell shows’ this summer and I’m sure they will be great affairs for new and old fans alike. If you can get to them, please do. You won’t be disappointed.
Glasgow Barrowland (June 8th)
Manchester Academy (9th)
London O2 Academy Brixton (10th)
Paris La Cigalle (11th)
Thanks for a great 17 years. Danny and Gaz will no doubt crack on with The Hot Rats now. Who knows what Mick will do…
Firstly, I was rather flattered and touched last night because the equally passionate Marsha from XFM said very kind words about this blog. It’s nice to get positive feedback from people who you respect and it’s a great confidence booster. Having graduated from university last year and trying to get a job in the music industry, as I’m sure you can imagine, you can sometimes get a bit down in the dumps and question whether or not you are good enough. But kind words from people who were once in your position really does make the world of difference. So thanks ever so much Marsha if you are reading thsi!
As a result of that, I have gained a lot more followers on Twitter which has hopefully brought some of you here. I feel that I should introduce myself to you if this is your first time here.
Truth be told, I don’t consider myself to be a music journalist. Honestly, I often worry that I’m selling bands short. I don’t feel that I have the articulation or creative flair to sell a band to you in word form. It feels a little bit constrictive. The term “let the music do the talking” couldn’t be more appropriate.
Of course, spend ten minutes in a room with me and it’ll be a completely different story. I’ll play you loads of new music in ten second snippets and demand you go and see the band, buy their music, buy a t-shirt, get a tattoo (OK, not true unless it’s Led Zeppelin).
So why do I have a blog? Well, the first is because I love new music. It’s an addiction. I’m constantly online hunting for music and I feel like I’m being unfaithful if I don’t seek out new bands. I’d liken it to going out drinking after work with my mates and not telling my wife that I’ll be home late (I’m not married by the way, tis an analogy).
I’ve become a bit of a tastemaker amongst my friends and I do think that it’s something that I should be doing for a living and giving my all too because of how strongly I feel about music. Whenever I am out, I am always distracted by the sounds I hear. The Shazam app on my iPhone is without doubt the best and most used application. It borders on having OCD. Which brings me on to my second reason.
My ambition is to work in A&R. I get on well with bands, I have experience of being in bands, I write songs, I connect with musicians because we share the same passion and as well as that, I just KNOW when I’ve found, seen or heard something good.
As I’m sure you can imagine, A&R jobs are scarce and competitive at the best of times but I’m hoping that this blog will also work as a portfolio for myself as well as sharing great new bands and artists with you obviously.
If you’ve been here or spoken to me before, this post will have a deja vu feel about it. I apologise.
If this is your first time here, feel free to browse the archives. I take pride in the bands I post up here. I am not trying to be controversial by slagging off bands (what’s the point?) and I don’t ever blog about bands unless I am a fan of them myself. So you can be assured that everything on this blog comes with my seal of approval.
As I’ve always said, feel free to get in touch with me if you’re in a band or if there’s a new band in your area that you think I must hear. I’m all ears. Well, not literally, it would quite hard to type if that was the case…
More to come on this, but for now, here’s the line up. Ten minutes earlier than I’m allowed to post it too. Naughty naughty!
There will, of course, be more bands announced over the coming weeks. Let’s not forget that (in my opinion) the bands that you really should be investing your time in are the new and upcoming bands that play the Festival Republic and BBC Introducing stages. Not to mention the Lock Up / Dance Stage.
What do people think?
Personally, I am so happy that Arcade Fire are headlining. They are absolutely mindblowing and fully deserve being given the leg up to headline one of the biggest UK festivals. I have no doubt that their performance will blow everyone away. Having seen them several times before, I can say that you will feel blessed when you watch them.
Firstly, for those of you not familiar with the Great Escape Festival, you really need to go. It’s a weekend in Brighton which consists of eating chips by the sea, ramming your mates and randoms on bumper cars, buying sticks of rock for loved ones and, oh, watching the hottest new talent from across the world of course in beautiful surroundings. Every gig venue hosts bands with a whole bunch of performances happening in shops, cafes and anywhere that can accomodate a band pretty much. 
We headed up to the other end of Camden to the Purple Turtle to catch the Birmingham trio 
Next up were 
After arriving at Koko, I instantly regretted it. Not because of the music as such but because I got £1 change back from £10. £9 for two drinks?! Absolutely disgraceful. Especially as the staff pour them rather aggressively. If I’m paying £4.50 for a beer, I expect them to take their time with it – or better still get given another beer to go with it. Robbing bastards. Anyway, let’s not dwell too much on the bar prices shall we?
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