Tag Archives: live

Belle and Sebastian, Corn Exchange, Cambridge, 7 May 2015

Belle and Sebastian formed in Glasgow in 1996 and despite several albums and live performances they have passed me by, so tonight at the long sold-out Corn Exchange was a chance for me to see what I have been missing…

Opening the show were Lower Dens from Baltimore, a four piece band fronted by the emotive voice of enigmatic songwriter Jana Hunter, the vocals sounding like a hybrid of Anna Calvi and Siouxsie Sioux. Musically dark and quite sparse, at times a variant on pop keyboard electronica and then taking a turn into bottleneck guitar loops. There was a gorgeous song featuring the unique tones of a fretless bass. The intriguing and compact set was well received (the Cambridge audience in place early as usual!) and lingered in the mind long after they had left the stage.

While the stage was being set for the headliners, we were treated to a documentary film about the history of Glasgow up to 1980. Fascinating stuff, then finally the string players arrived on stage, followed by the rest of the band, thirteen in total to reproduce the instrumental style and quirks of their recorded output with a combination of guitars, keyboards, cello, recorder, flute and more. Stuart Murdoch is one of the most relaxed and engaging frontmen I have seen for a while, starting seated at the electric piano for ‘Nobody’s Empire’, he was soon off the stage and walking along the tightrope of the front barrier, supported by the arms of the crowd (including me!?). ‘I’m A Cuckoo’, one of their more well known songs was followed by the disco-stomp of ‘The Party Line’ (an appropriate title for general election day). ‘Perfect Couples’ was sung by guitarist Stevie Jackson and like many of the songs this featured artfully designed back projections. Just for this show this included a quick view of ‘University Challenge’ while the string section performed the theme tune…

There was always plenty going on, scan the stage and see that the band had swapped instruments or something new to contribute to the sound had appeared. There was a big crowd reaction for the stripped back acoustic ‘Piazza, New York Catcher’ which I think shows the key to their longevity; I heard that a fan said that whatever your emotional state or life-experience there was a Belle and Sebastian song that would describe it and their devoted fan base have bought into this. They are not always comfortable lyrics, as some of the slightly strange album and song titles indicate. ‘The Cat With The Cream’ was introduced as their political song, ‘Enter Sylvia Plath’ was high energy europop. Members of the audience were on stage dancing to the sixties hipster vibe of ‘The Boy With The Arab Strap’, some stayed up there for another song and somehow it just seemed part of the laid back celebratory feel of the evening.

‘Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance’ is the new album, many reviewers say it shows a new direction but all the essentials are still there and they sound superb live…

http://www.belleandsebastian.com/news
http://lowerdens.com/

Glass Animals, Junction, Cambridge, 27 April 2015

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Four-piece Oxford band Glass Animals arrived in Cambridge for their sold-out show at the ideal venue, Junction J2. First on stage was Alicia Catling, a local songwriter/guitarist with a steadily rising profile. Playing a gently strummed and unadorned electric guitar her pure voice floats above, telling dream-like and dark tales.

Glass Animals know how to put on a good show, the opener ‘Black Mamba’ sets the tone, with distinctive sparse introduction and haunting melody line eventually giving way to louder layers of synthesisers and drums. Singer Dave Bayley is a likeable frontman, he is a confident presence and you can tell that he and the rest of the band have total commitment to the music.

The surreal quality of the lyrics and mostly one-word titled songs continue, there is always something going on sonically with constantly changing combinations of keyboards, guitars and deep bass. Sometimes they become a more conventional indie rock band and rock out, but the dominant sound is multi-layered and spacious. Four songs in, the familiar introduction of catchy 6 Music favourite ‘Gooey’ appears, to huge crowd reaction. It is a standout song, the sound of endless summer on the way.

‘Walla Walla’ has a funky and percussive feel that could be an experimental David Byrne track, ‘Toes’ has a laid-back but relentless edge. The atmosphere created is enhanced by a coloured backdrop, four large tree-like structures and a subtle but effective lightshow; all indicating the effort being put into making this gig a bit special. Finishing the set with ‘Wyrd’ they returned for an encore of ‘Love Lockdown'(a Kanye West cover(!?)) then finally ‘Pools’, a strong closing song.

I think they will need a bigger venue the next time they come to Cambridge…

http://glassanimals.eu/

Public Service Broadcasting, Corn Exchange, Cambridge, 25 April 2015

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Public Service Broadcasting arrived at a sold-out Corn Exchange as part of their biggest tour so far. Support was from the excellent Smoke Fairies, playing dreamy, atmospheric folk-guitar based songs, the dual female voices blended carefully in the mix to become like another instrumental texture for most of the time, occasionally with a single lead vocal. Sustained bass and deep keyboard notes hovered over some mighty drumming and the atmospheric retro/future look of black and silver for simple stage set and costumes worked well.

Then there was an intriguing half hour while the stage was set, roadies and band members all up there fixing the bits and pieces. No doubt there was probably more technological power than that used to control the moon landings. The three bespectacled and necktied musicians of PSB, complete with visuals and effects co-ordinator opened with ‘Sputnik’ (including a satellite rising from the stage) and set the tone for a great show. They were playing live drums, percussion, various guitars, keyboards, loops, flugel horn and banjo (!)….on CD the music and sampled voices work well (see my earlier review), but beef up the concert sound and add the visuals too and it makes the band a formidable live attraction.

Two large screens at the back and flanking towers of retro TVs show images of the space race, film of the band as they played and in the most arresting and poignant section of the show, civilian preparations for World War Two and the development of the Spitfire. All communication with the audience was through pre-recorded then manipulated soundbites in a robot voice, which is either a subtle comment on the artifice of modern rock shows or actually just a very entertaining joke (why are robot voices intrinsically funny?).

I was stunned by the hypnotic roll of ‘Night Mail’, the rocking out of ‘The Now Generation’ and ‘Signal 30’, the pulsing electronica of ‘Theme From PSB’ and the newer space songs were woven in to maximum effect. Smoke Fairies were back on stage to add heavenly voices to ‘Valentina’ and the final Moon landing song and new single ‘Go!’ closed the main show. Back for the encore with the musically different and extra-funky ‘Gagarin’, complete with brass section and astronaut dancer. Finally it was ‘Everest’ (have the band peaked?!) and that was it, the crowd were very happy and it was one of the best shows I have seen at the Corn Exchange for a long time.

I think there is much more to come…

http://publicservicebroadcasting.net/
http://www.smokefairies.com/

Marika Hackman, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 14 April 2015

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With just a range of guitars and her haunting voice, Marika Hackman held the packed Portland audience in rapt attention. It was a master class in the power of well-crafted songs, intricate yet subtle playing and an engaging personality. She was clearly pleased to be on stage and appreciative of the audience reaction, there was a genuine short smile at the end of each song.

She has roots in folk, but the dream-like textures and sinister overtones of some of her lyrics have a style all their own. She manages to faithfully recreate the echoes and delays of the vocals of her current album, ‘We Slept At Last’ and second song in we were treated to one of the standout tracks ‘Drown’. ‘Monday Afternoon’ is a mellow tale of pastoral delights with unexpected death thrown in. There are also similar ominous feelings in new single ‘Ophelia’.

I have an obsessive fondness for songs of all genres in waltz time and ‘Claudes’s Girl’, a lullaby tribute to Claude Debussy did not disappoint. There was a cover version of ’81’ by avant-garde folk harpist Joanna Newsom then the thoughtful soundscape of final song ‘Cinnamon’ left us a bit breathless. I’m not sure if an encore was usual or expected but she came back and played folky and jokey ‘Bath Is Black’ to send us off into the night…

http://marikahackman.com/

Johnny Dowd, The Bank, Eye, Suffolk, 13 April 2015

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In the picturesque village of Eye, the former bank has been converted to a coffee house/performance venue, the ideal intimate space for the alternative country blues and spoken meanderings from the long life experiences of Johnny Dowd.

Opening the show was talented singer/songwriter Mark Lotterman from Rotterdam, playing gently on acoustic guitar and performing ballads mostly on the sad side. There was the more up-tempo black humour of ‘Indie’ then the final song the powerful and heartfelt ‘I Miss You’ hit a poignant note emotionally and sounded like it could have been from an early Tom Waits album.

I was not sure quite what to expect from Johnny Dowd, quotes like ‘coming on like a flu-ridden Texan undertaker singing broken folk laments for a dead dog he never cared much for anyway’ and similar are easy to find and perhaps over-emphasise the dark side of his lyrics. So when he took to the stage and the first two songs featured doom-laden deep guitar loops and images of death and the devil (‘The Devil Don’t Bother Me’) I thought we were in for an intense, challenging and possibly downbeat evening. But a few songs in and a few exchanges with the audience and I realised what a likeable, charming and musically interesting performer he is. Tales of small-town Americana, peculiar relatives, law breaking, horses, graves, all delivered with absurd lyrical twists (..’all of the ladies loved him, he was the town mortician…’).

A temperamental drum machine accompanied or fought against the guitar loops on some tracks, then he was joined on stage by a second guitarist for some noisy interplay. This included the title song from the new album ‘That’s Your Wife On The Back Of My Horse’ and my favourite track from it ‘Why?’, a tender showcase of voice and ascending chord sequence, a potential classic. We were also treated to some poems about Jerry Lee Lewis and forgotten actor Peter Lawford, a cover of R&B standard ‘Louie Louie’ and an encore of ‘Separate Beds’, another impressive song and probably the nearest to traditional ‘country’ music that was played.

Johnny Dowd did not start recording until 1997 (aged 50), with his many albums and live shows he has carved a unique niche for himself, the epitome of the ‘cult’ performer…

http://www.johnnydowd.com/

http://www.marklotterman.nl/

Courtney Barnett, Junction, Cambridge, 7 April 2015

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Courtney Barnett returned to Cambridge after a sellout show at The Portland last year, this show was originally scheduled for the cosy J2 venue but was moved due to demand resulting in a full house for the much larger J1. There was a huge atmosphere of anticipation and both support acts did her proud, starting with singer/songwriter Fraser A Gorman, all the way from Melbourne. A powerfully strummed acoustic guitar and occasional harmonica were the accompaniment to well-delivered tales of love and life, with a bit of self-deprecating humour between songs, including reference to any perceived similarities to Mr Dylan…

The venue was virtually full (Cambridge audiences get there early…) when Spring King took to the stage. A four piece from Manchester with a singing drummer, two guitars, bass and all four contributing anthemic vocals. Wow. From the first note it was fast, raw, with a loud post-punk simplicity belying some sharp musicianship, a bit like some speeded up mid-period Clash. The short set was a high-energy onslaught, ‘Can I?’ and ‘Better Man’ being standout tracks. Dancing started in the crowd, it was an irresistible sound.

Having seen Courtney Barnett at the much smaller venue I wondered if the intimacy of the lyrical observations and compactness of the band would translate to the echoing chamber of J1, but I need not have worried. There was even a billowing tent-type ceiling angled over the stage, making it smaller and lower and acting as a screen for projections of strange growing plant patterns and psychedelic colours.
Much deserved praise has been written about her way with words, her rambling narratives and wry observations. This was all in place, such as in the opening song ‘Elevator Operator’. Hearing live versions of nearly all of the new album ‘Sometimes I Sit…’, the music shines through too. Bones Sloane on bass plays preposterous low rolling notes on ‘An Illustration Of Loneliness’ creating an atmospheric song that you don’t want to end. A simple two chord structure on ‘Small Poppies’ is developed musically and as you lose yourself into the intoxication of it, fortunately this one never seems to end.

Courtney and the band can rock out, she can extract some adventurous noise from her guitar and drummer Dave Mudie adds the pyrotechnics when necessary. There are quieter times, ‘Depreston’ is mellow and resigned, ‘Debbie Downer’ is a straight down the line pop song. There was easy relaxed interplay from the band with each other and the audience, then gradually the set picked up pace, building towards a finale of ‘History Eraser’ and ‘Pedestrian At Best’ and a bit of crowd surfing from the guitarist from Spring King and others was good to see.
An encore of short burst of energy ‘Aqua Profunda’ and a cover of ‘I’ll Make You Happy’ by the Easybeats and they were gone.

As Courtney’s lyric says ‘Put me on a pedestal and I’ll only disappoint you…’
On this form, I don’t think there will be any disappointment.

http://courtneybarnett.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/springkingmusic
http://www.marathonartists.com/artist/fraser-a-gorman/

Dexys: then and now

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On Friday 20 March 2015, BBC4 are showing the film ‘Dexys: Nowhere is Home’, featuring what led up to their comeback album ‘One Day I’m Going To Soar’ and the triumphant accompanying live shows.

Formed in 1980 as ‘Dexys Midnight Runners’ by singer Kevin Rowland, the fortunes of the band have varied dramatically, starting with the critical acclaim for debut album ‘Searching For The Young Soul Rebels’ and number one single ‘Geno’. This was followed by a change of direction into the ‘celtic soul’ of 1983 album ‘Too-Rye-Aye’ with blockbusting hits ‘Jackie Wilson Said’ and of course UK and US number one ‘Come On Eileen’, destined to be included on 80s compilations for evermore. Line-up changes are well documented elsewhere, as is the status of the ‘neglected classic’ 1985 third album ‘Don’t Stand Me Down’ and the long barren years.

Then mostly it all went quiet until the rumours of a new album due for release in 2012…

… And what an album it was, the distillation of the best of all that had gone before, honed to perfection with an as-live sound (listen to those drums!) and a variety of musical styles to accompany Kevin Rowland’s impressionistic life story, his lyrics linking the songs into an inseparable whole. Themes of friendship, relationships and love, creativity, national identity, ageing, masculinity, insecurity, it was all there… delivered in Kevin’s unique vocal stylising, pulling in and engrossing the listener. Some band members from the past were back, with the addition of keyboards(hear the tide of Hammond organ on ‘Thinking Of You’) and writing from Mick Talbot, long-time collaborator with Paul Weller and most recently Wilko Johnson.

The live shows bravely started with the entire album: when I saw them at Cambridge Corn Exchange the audience were not yet familiar with the required demands of the new material on the listener, but were held rapt until the last note. The second half of the concert was more familiar, including a blistering version of ‘This Is What She’s Like’, the centrepiece of the (currently unavailable?!) third album.
Later in the tour I saw them again at Bury St Edmunds Apex, a more intimate venue and by this time the new song-cycle had really reached hearts and minds. Three of the pivotal songs are about the idealising/idolising of a woman, played brilliantly by Madeleine Hyland who suddenly appeared singing in the high seats at the back of the venue. She then joined the rest of the band on stage for the theatrical vocal duelling of getting together (‘I’m Always Going To Love You’) and an abrupt break-up (‘Incapable Of Love’), with Kevin at his tortured best.
It was the highlight of a great show and tour culminating in the nine night residency at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London, as featured in ‘Nowhere Is Home’.

Embrace and enjoy…

http://www.dexysonline.com/

Wilko Johnson, Junction, Cambridge, 6 March 2015

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This was the welcome return of Wilko Johnson to live performance with a sold-out charity benefit concert for Addenbrooke’s Hospital, after their pioneering surgery led to a cure for his cancer.
The musical atmosphere had been well set up by support band Eight Rounds Rapid, with their sharp, smart punk-fuelled R&B, reminding me what a potent instrumental combination guitar (played by Wilko’s son Simon), bass and drums can be, topped with sneering vocals from David Alexander.
Then an emotional ovation as Wilko and his band arrived on stage. Any doubts that his musical edge had been blunted were quickly dispelled. He has an electric stage presence, strutting and staring, at one with his guitar. His style of playing incorporates percussive chops with short lead lines and patterns built in, shown to good effect in ‘Sneaking Suspicion’ and of course the classic ‘Roxette’. The recent collaboration album (with Roger Daltry) was heavily featured including triumphant title track ‘Going Back Home’, with the timely opening line ‘I wanna live the way I like…’. Norman Watt-Roy was coaxing and wrenching jazzy lines from his bass and solid drumming was provided by Dylan Howe.
There was a discernible ripple of concern in the crowd when Wilko left the stage after 40 mins during ‘ Everybody’s Carrying A Gun’ but we need not have worried, he was soon back having allowed time for more bass acrobatics from Norman. A long encore of ‘Bye Bye Johnny’, heartfelt thanks to the hospital staff and he was gone (but he will be back for the Cambridge Folk Festival…)

http://www.wilkojohnson.com/
https://www.facebook.com/EightRoundsRapid

John Otway, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 5 March 2015

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John Otway is a true original, frequently touring and sometimes recording since his first ‘hit’ in 1977. Like John Cooper Clarke from the same era he is difficult to fully describe to the uninitiated, but he has kept the punk ethos alive, musically eccentric and with added humour and a cult performance that has an incredibly loyal following (as he joked ‘sometimes there are people in the audience who have seen me more than once…’).

Bizarre cover versions of pop classics(?) ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’, ‘Crazy Horses’, ‘Blockbuster’ mix in with his original songs ‘Really Free’, ‘Beware of The Flowers’ (7th in a national poll to find the greatest pop lyrics of all time!), ‘ Bunsen Burner’ along with a Bob Dylan parody, headbutting the microphone, failed acrobatics and one-sided banter with Deadly, his onstage roadie.’ ‘Body Talk’, as performed many years ago on ‘The Young Ones’ TV show, features percussive body sensors and the wailing sound of the theremin is pushed to its limits.

It is all hilarious, he is such a likeable, self deprecating performer that even though you have seen it all before you will be there the next time too. The humour dominates but sometimes the emotional sentiment of his songs cuts through, such as the relationship aftermaths described in ‘Middle Of Winter’ and ‘We Know What She’s Doing (She’s In Love)’. ‘Poetry And Jazz’ is a longer detailed narrative of a difficult growing up process and shows his songwriting talent.

Sometimes described as ‘Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure’, I think his longevity proves otherwise…

http://www.johnotway.com/

Blossoms, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 18 February 2015

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The Vryll Society are an accomplished five-piece band from Liverpool, their spacious sound occupying territory from The Cure to The Stone Roses with many points inbetween. Long songs allow the mood of each to develop, no instrument pushing forward too much, as if the sound is approaching from a long distance away to gradually immerse the listener. The lead singer has an enigmatic anti-presence on stage, but he is still a hypnotic focal point. They appear to be named after a mystical energy force, which perhaps they have secretly harnessed??

Blossoms, another quintet, named after a pub in their home town of Stockport, have an unstoppable energy force all of their own, a poppy/indie/retro combination starting from the first song, the confident ‘You Pulled A Gun On Me’. Swirling organ and strong three-part harmonies add to the attractive mix and amiable frontman Tom Ogden bonds well with the audience. The stage was bathed in eerie blue light for the more acoustic and mellow ‘My Favourite Room’, then ‘Scattered Rain’ was particularly impressive, a bit different and changing direction all the time. ‘Cut Me And I’ll Bleed’ and the closing single ‘Blow’ are catchy and straight into the memory receptors. After this extensive UK tour they are off to Japan soon, on tonight’s showing I’m sure there are great things in store…

http://www.blossomsband.co.uk