Tag Archives: live

The Pictish Trail, Junction, Cambridge, 19 May 2014

The Pictish Trail is the performing name of Johnny Lynch, curator of the ‘Lost Map’ records label based in the Isle of Eigg. He tours with bands from his roster and anyone else who fits into the ethos. Tonight in a very empty J2 (about 20 people) it was difficult to generate energy and establish a rapport but he managed it, with his random ramblings and engrossing songs. Starting with a single line organ accompaniment his plaintive voices summoned up the sleepy shores of the Isle of Eigg (home to 87 people). He switched to gently plucked acoustic folk guitar for more low key songs, including one from his album of fifty songs all lasting 30 seconds and another one about a Lighthouse Keeper, who switched off the light…

He then introduced Tuff Love, a power indie trio, playing some noisy and short bursts of social comment and well-honed grunge. They would have been better off in a crowded pub room, but that could not be helped and it was a good performance.

Pictish returned after the interval, amplification problems treating us to a delicate unplugged song down in the audience while heavily booted technicians ran around trying to solve the problem. When volume was restored there were more interesting songs and ideas, I was beginning to think of similarities to the singer Babybird (remember ‘You’re Gorgeous’? Of course you do, it is a great song and the album ‘Ugly Beautiful’ is worth a listen too).

Finally he introduced Monoganon, a four piece band from Glasgow with some unusual sounds, using the properties of two guitars, some keyboard and the bass player from Tuff Love. The music ranged from folk, retro psychedelia, some good melody, all thrown in together but not quite gelling or connecting with the audience on this occasion. Listen to the album ‘Songs To Swim To’, a lo-fi alternative to the live show…

http://www.thepictishtrail.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ReallyTuffLove
http://lostmap.com/
http://lostmap.com/monoganon

Teleman, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 18 May 2014

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Teleman and Gentlemen at the Portland Arms, the perfect way to end the warmest day of the year so far?

Opening the show, Gentlemen had a full, engrossing, retro sound. The six members of the band clearly love their music, from the rocking openers to when they are immersed in the depths of psychedelia and the instrumental explorations of Pink Floyd’s early albums on ‘Late Nacht’ and ‘Gentle Duke’, the songs that ended their short set.

Teleman were formed from the ashes of Pete and the Pirates, a guitar based indie pop outfit. I saw them perform at the Leicester Summer Sundae Festival in 2011 (I do occasionally venture further than Cambridge…) and they played a great festival show to an appreciative audience.

I had realised Teleman were a change in direction, into more keyboard based songs. They did not disappoint, poignant lyrics were delivered clearly by singer and guitarist Thomas Sanders, his plaintive tones cutting through the interesting mix of varied keyboard sounds from Jonny Sanders along with a firm foundation of drums and bass. They played many tracks from the new album, being released at the start of June.

‘…Thanks for appreciating our quiet songs Cambridge…’. We did. And the rockier moments, and especially the haunting atmosphere of harmonium and voice on the first single ‘Christina’ and the catchy familiarity of later tracks ’23 Floors Up’ and ‘Steam Train Girl’. I like the way that the songs speak for themselves, no need to overdose the volume or artificially build up the track to a big finish. There was waltz time, a vocoder robot voice, a swirling fairground organ controlled but threatening to overwhelm the song, the twists and turns kept on coming.

It was an excellent performance, perhaps the release of the album will lead to a deserved bigger audience….

http://telemanmusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gentlementheband

Wolf Alice, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 14 May 2014

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There was a strong sense of anticipation evident at a sold out Portland Arms, Wolf Alice were in town.

First on were Gengahr, a four piece band from London. The opening ‘Dizzy Ghosts’ set the tone for the short set, each song featuring the almost falsetto lead vocal twisting around the swooping guitar effects. There are comparisons with Wild Beasts but that is no bad thing. The strongest song was ‘Fill My Gums With Blood’ (great title!) and an appreciative audience listened intently to a confident performance.

On the way in I had been given a packet of popping candy, a promotion for the next act Superfood, another four piece but this time more of an energetic sound, with sharp guitar lines punctuating the unpredictable changes and developments in each song. Someone near me said ‘they sound like Blur’, which at first I could not get out of my head but I think they have an impressive sound of their own. The set really took off half way through with ‘Bubbles’ all the way to the final song ‘Superfood’. They were an ideal act to prepare us for the headliners..

Then finally they were on, described as ‘fuzzy indie rock’, Wolf Alice are impressive on recordings, but live they are something very special. Excellent sound quality, a subtle echo effect on the microphone for the stunning lead vocals from Ellie Rowsell, powerful guitars and drums, driving bass lines and a collection of strong songs. From the start the fans were singing along and any newcomers in the audience were soon won over. An outbreak of crowd surfing kept the security staff busy from ‘You’re a Germ’ onward, adding to the heady atmosphere. The set included a brilliant ‘Blush’ blending into ‘Wicked Game’, a cover of the Chris Isaak song from 1989. ‘Bros’ finished the show, then back on for an encore of ‘Fluffy’. A triumphant show, come back soon, probably to a bigger venue next time…

http://www.facebook.com/wolfalicemusic
http://www.superfoodjunk.com/
http://www.facebook.com/gengahrband

Martin Stephenson, Junction, Cambridge, 10 May 2014

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Laurie Levine opened the show and immediately her haunting tales of love lost and found hit the right mood. She is a singer and songwriter from South Africa, with strong but vulnerable, emotive vocals and her own effective acoustic guitar, backed up with subtle keyboards and on the up tempo ‘Not Gonna Cry’ accompanied by excellent harmonica from Jessica Lauren. The short set of five songs were varied country and folk blues, featuring an American traditional roots sound but with something extra special added. Many of her recorded songs feature a full band and that would be very good to see live, but for this show she made a big impact with just the sparse instrumentation, her warm personality and that great expressive voice.

The intimate and thoughtfully designed J2 venue was well suited to the evening, it is a good sized space, excellent acoustics and atmosphere. Next on was Helen McCookerybook, she first found fame in the early eighties as bass player and singer of The Chefs, a fun punk rock band from Brighton. Martin Stephenson and his band arrived on stage as her backing band and together they played an infectious blend of skiffle and indie pop, her pure and attractive voice blending well with the music. It was all a pleasure to listen to and the onstage enjoyment communicated well to the audience.

As is the current trend, the main part of the set for Martin Stephenson was the performance of a whole album, in this case ‘Gladsome, Humour and Blue’ from 1988, the excellent follow up to the highly acclaimed debut album ‘Boat to Bolivia’. Martin is a talented guitarist and singer and he and the band adapted to the wide range of folk, roots, blues and rock of the varied set of songs. He engages constantly with the audience, between and during songs, and also bringing himself and the band out amongst us, still playing.

I have been a fan for many years (the last time I saw MS I stood behind John Peel in the crowd, but didn’t talk to him unfortunately…) and I enjoy the live performances, although it is a different atmosphere from the albums, where some of the recorded versions of the quieter songs are immaculate examples of heartbreaking words and musical crafting. He is a likeable, friendly personality and I think that his deconstruction of some of the lyrics and eccentric random musings make an entertaining evening, but did not leave much time for much more than the album, so I missed hearing some of his other brilliant songs…

http://www.laurielevine.co.za/
http://www.mccookerybook.com/
https://www.facebook.com/martin.stephenson.984

The Fall, Junction, Cambridge, 6 May 2014

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The music lovers of Cambridge were spoilt for choice this evening, a double bill of The Wytches and Pulled Apart By Horses at The Portland Arms, but across town at The Junction we find The Fall….

For the uninitiated, The Fall consist of singer Mark E Smith and a line-up that has changed many times since the formation of the band in 1976. Their distinctive sound is repetitive, loud, hypnotic, with vocals spoken, shouted and occasionally sung. The sound quality was very good tonight, not always the situation at The Junction.

From a few seconds into the opening (new) song Mark E Smith is a compelling and riveting presence, even when he is sorting through lyric sheets, wandering the stage, dropping microphones or adjusting the settings on the carefully prepared amplifiers.
I was not expecting a Greatest Hits set, that is not what happens at a Fall gig, but we were treated early on to minor hit ‘Mr Pharmacist’, a celebration of your local chemist…

The energy of the band was superb, two drummers beating the kits with the power you would like to see most other drummers use. In fact the playing of all members of the band was exemplary, providing a great platform for Mark’s voice. He retreated from the stage after half an hour, one of the roadies then collecting a microphone to take back into the offstage corridor for Mark to continue singing for several more songs. The faithful in the audience go along with it because you are in the presence of a music legend. I have been reading his book of musings and semi-autobiography ‘Renegade’, highly recommended and a good way of understanding a bit more of what The Fall are all about.

He eventually re-emerged, there was some rapid on and off encores then they were gone. Some may have complained about the shortness of the set(about an hour) but we will all be back next time.

http://www.visi.com/fall/

The Centimes, The Corner House, Cambridge, 25 April 2014

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Tom Colborn was the engaging opening act at The Corner House, with his slide (‘bottleneck’) guitar playing, probably unique on the Cambridge scene. It was the blues, characterised by the mesmerising crystal clear sound of the resonator guitar echoing underneath self-composed songs expressing social concerns that could have been from any era. He ended strongly with the blues standard ‘Dust My Broom’, as originally performed by Elmore James (and Robert Johnson before that…).

I like The Corner House, it is a friendly place and you can walk straight off the street and into a free concert. It is a bit like someone’s large lounge when the two smaller living rooms have been knocked through, there is a reassuring archway and homely wallpaper around the top of the room. It reminded me of the classic TV show ‘The Young Ones’ when the anarchic comedy was suddenly hijacked by a top band of the day appearing in the house (OK, I know it was just a stage set…).

Biscuits for Bears were on next, classic power pop line up, guitar, bass and drums. It was a high energy performance, but there was also plenty of variation, such as waltz time on ‘Saturn in Retrograde’ and understated bass on ‘Hand Model’. ‘Won’t See Me Around’ is a stand-out pop song, much appreciated by the steadily building audience. I enjoyed their set, I hope to see them again when they resume live performance in September.

Trouser Crisis had the same trio line-up, the opening song ‘Something Missing’ was a short burst of punk energy sustained through the set, temporarily slowed for ‘Ship in a Bottle’ then pushed through to the closing song ‘Taken’ via a speeded up cover of The Penguins classic ‘Earth Angel’, (as featured in the film ‘Back To The Future!). Well played and structured songs, delivered with a knowing awareness of their musical genre.

I was looking forward to seeing The Centimes again (see earlier review) and they did not disappoint, structuring the set differently from before, starting with the opening song featuring just simple percussion as the drummer stepped up to sing. Slow opening songs built up to the full band sound, the separate vocal strengths of each member of the band giving contrast and variety to the show. It was a confident performance, the sometimes sparse instrumentation leaving room to show the strength of the songs. A classy end to a good evening of music.

http://www.thecentimes.com
http://www.facebook.com/TrouserCrisisBand‎
http://www.facebook.com/biscuitsforbears‎
http://www.tomcolborn.com

Raglans, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 20 April 2014

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Shooting Suns were the opening act of another varied line-up at The Portland Arms, with their confidently played ‘alternative soft rock’. The first two songs showed the influence of Coldplay with featured piano and voice tone, then for the pair of songs ‘Just Friends/Parallel’ piano was changed to guitar, with a haunting ringing high-note sound, very effective. They are a stylish and interesting band, with good variety, the lyrics and musical changes drawing the audience in. I will look forward to the new E.P, ‘Overload’.

The Scissors are a talented local band who have recorded and played in a range of venues around Cambridge, their driving sound (‘rock’n’roll guitar powered psychpunkpop’ as they describe it) filled out by a bold Hammond organ rush, superbly pushed forward in the mix tonight. Mostly up-tempo songs, such as ‘Phone Calls from the Dead’ with a much repeated and effective guitar line, then the slower ‘Why Don’t You Cry’ featuring the eerie tones of the theremin, a rarely seen and heard musical instrument (think ‘Good Vibrations’ by the Beach Boys or the ‘Midsomer Murders’ theme tune). ‘Your House has Ghosts’ finished the set on a high.

Then the headliners, Raglans (from Dublin). I had listened to their debut album and they seem to already have it all in place, powerful catchy songs, full of hooks and swagger. This was brilliantly reproduced live, with pounding drums and bass added to the winning combination of guitars, electric and acoustic…..then the mandolin thrown in too, used to drive the beat and also to pierce through the full sound. Vocal harmonies were spot on and the band radiated likeability, confidently interacting with the audience as if they knew us all. Nearly every song sounded like a hit, ‘Before Tonight’ and ‘The Man From Glasgow’ were particular highlights. There was also a cover of ‘Paper Planes’ by M.I.A. for extra variety. No encore, we had been won over from the start.

https://www.facebook.com/Raglans
http://www.thescissors.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/shootingsuns

The Nightingales, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 16 April 2014

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The first of four acts at the Portland Arms, Motor Tapes (Cambridges’s answer to Radiohead?) followed up their recent second place winning set at the Junction Fiverfest band competition with another good performance. The first two songs established a contemplative wash of sound, before the rockier edge later. A surprise inclusion was a version of ‘Blue Monday’, treating the New Order original to more of a guitar and drum workout, going down well with the steadily growing audience. Congratulations to all who were responsible for the sound quality, excellent throughout the whole evening.

Kepler on next ( the name of a 17th Century Astronomer, this is Cambridge…), building up the atmosphere with their hard edged, tightly played songs, mostly their own compositions blending well with versions of ‘I’m Bored’ by Iggy Pop (we weren’t…) and ‘Lenny Valentino’ by The Auteurs. It was good to see a band that clearly enjoyed the music they were playing.

The arrival of Ted Chippington (the ‘anti-comedian’?) was much anticipated, like John Cooper Clarke (recently at The Junction) he has a loyal following, built up over many years and closely associated with alternative music. Over a quiet background of mournful late-night jazz he begins anecdotes and observations that go nowhere. Some comedic clichés are dissected and discarded with impeccable timing. Difficult to describe, you have to see him to realise how well the humour works, the audience were mesmerised.

Then straight into The Nightingales, favourites of John Peel (in the Top 3 of most number of Peel sessions, along with The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit). They were a revelation. I had expected the detailed lyrical references and intense sound, a combination of Fall and Half Man, but as well as this the musical intricacy and power held the crowd rapt. Compelling frontman Robert Lloyd scowled, shouted, and even serenaded a cappella. He traded lines with drummer Fliss Kitson as she pounded a pulverising rhythm with little use for the cymbals as underneath the bass and guitar drove the sound faultlessly. The second half of the set was even more impressive, the songs linked together with no breaks – time, tempo and dynamics changing at a breathless pace. They left with no encore, the audience were bowled over, we had witnessed something very special.

http://www.thenightingales.org.uk
http://www.twitter.com/TEDCHIPPINGTON1
http://www.facebook.com/theoneandonlyKepler
https://www.facebook.com/MotorTapes?fref=ts

The Centimes, Blue Moon, Cambridge, 5 April 2014

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The first band night at the recently refurbished Blue Moon, Norfolk Street, Cambridge. I have seen many performers at this venue in its previous incarnation and it is great news that the music has returned (and the beer has improved). It may be an idea to bring back a stage too…

Elephants and Castles from London (of course), two guitarists with varying styles and drums triggering other effects. They were confident, helped by good sound quality and affable engagement with the audience. Difficult to categorise, they played their own songs such as ‘Love on The Rocks’ about a forlorn affair and a jaunty cover of Electronic’s ‘Getting Away With It’ from 1989. The final song about the suicide of footballer Justin Fashanu was a challenging choice to end the set and brought the mood down just a bit….?

The Centimes, a three piece Cambridge-based band with drums, bass and a memorable turquoise 12-string electric guitar. This may automatically mean a sound reminiscent of The Byrds, but I heard Saint Etienne and Velvet Underground in there too, that’s a good combination. They rocked out on later songs but unfortunately the sound quality and mix was not great (no time for a soundcheck…) and the vocal subtleties were lost, which was a shame as the two female and one male voice combined well. The CD single (stylishly looking the same as vinyl?) ‘Local Pool/I’m Fine’ showcases the voices to good effect. A band to see again I think…

http://www.thecentimes.com
http://www.facebook.com/ElephantsAndCastles

Fiverfest Grand Final, Junction , Cambridge, 22 March 2014

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Energetic bands were much in evidence at the Fiverfest grand final. Although a ‘band competition’ it is decided on a public vote, so bring plenty of fans and you win – fair enough I suppose but turning up at the voting booth before your band have actually played seemed to pre-empt the results, like the type of political election that requires observers (proportional representation and postal votes for the bands? now there is an idea…).

Still, it is probably better than a panel of judges, leave that to television shows…

Winners on the night were Improvised Beach Party with a full mosh pit (new collective noun?) of supporters. They were treated to noisy three-chord riffing, a charismatic lead singer and unrelenting pace for their whole slot. It was a great show-stealing performance even though the sound quality was questionable, everything turned up to maximum resulting in a wall of mushy sound, but who minded?

In second place, also with a good audience response, Motor Tapes were a band of light and shade, edgy guitar effects, bold blocks of sound with and without keyboard, rocking out and slowing down. There was attention to detail evident in a carefully structured set, their frontman exuded confidence and enjoyed a good rapport with the audience.

Under the looming backdrop of the Millers Music Centre logo (retro sixties ‘Battle of the Bands’?) all the bands I saw were a great advert for live guitar based Indie music in Cambridge, played with passion and Loud!

http://www.motortapes.co.uk/
http://www.facebook.com/Improvised.Beach.Party