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The Big Gig Thread 2019

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    #26
    First 2 gigs of the year done.

    Friday night was the rather excellent Carson McHone at the Hug n Pint in Glasgow. Austin based singer/songwriter who can do honky tonk country and nuanced songwriter material with equal skill.
    Last night was The Lemonheads. Dando looked like he's back on at least the sauce and you'd have picked him for 61 rather than 51 but once he relaxed it was a good concert.

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      #27
      Saw Steve Forbert (an American singer-songwriter) in The Woodside Hotel in Aberdour, Fife, of all places, on Saturday night. He was superb. I've loved Forbert's music since I first heard Romeo's Tune on the Anne Nightingale show in 1980. Second row seats (it was hardly a massive venue) and met up with some family and mates too. Last night of his UK tour and apparently he knows the owner of the Woodside which explains the relatively bizarre venue. Got some stuff signed, got photos taken and had a chat with him. What a great night.

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        #28
        My Saturday seems to have been a bit lacking compared to the above. Ill didn't come on until about five to eleven (curfew was supposedly eleven) by which time I was more than adequately refreshed and had one eye on the train home. I enjoyed the 20 minutes I saw - noisy and angular but still catchy - but my attention had largely wandered by then. Islington has more anaemic clothes shops with two grey cardigans and a Breton t shirt hanging against the tastefully exposed brick walls than ever these days. Maybe they all have fixed odds betting terminals in the changing rooms. The theatre where I wanted to exchange some tickets was closed for refurbishment and one old haunt that I tried to visit for a pint was closed for a private function. Clearly not my night.

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          #29
          I had no idea that Forbert was still performing. I saw him sometime in the late 70s.

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            #30
            Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
            I had no idea that Forbert was still performing. I saw him sometime in the late 70s.
            Yes, and released a new album too this year. He's now 64. Played a whimsical version of the Beatles' When I'm Sixty Four". He's playing in Amsterdam tonight. If you get your skates on......

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              #31
              Originally posted by BallochSonsFan View Post
              Last night was The Lemonheads. Dando looked like he's back on at least the sauce and you'd have picked him for 61 rather than 51 but once he relaxed it was a good concert.
              I went to the Newcastle date last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it* - they were a lot tighter and he was much more together than I expected. Fairly rattled through the songs, around 30 in 90 minutes. We didn't get 'Luka' but did get 'Different Drum', as well as 'Straight to You' (which they seem to be playing every night). He had the occasional slug from what looked like a bottle of Makers Mark, neat. The venue was Wylam Brewery, which was a new one for me - good venue and 20 beers on tap, but I was driving.

              *apart from a new gig annoyance, a puffa jacket tied round someone's waist, those things can cover a fair bit of space when jigging and/or grooving are afoot.

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                #32
                In what’s becoming a regular habit, I’m now going to see another 70s band with another 70s throwback school pal: Blue Oyster Cult in Newcastle with visitor from StAndrews.

                my brother had the album with ‘Reaper’ on it but that’s about as far as my awareness of them goes. Pal says they’re a bit more ‘Americana’ now, which might be better for my hearing.

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                  #33
                  Missed Neneh Cherry last night as I forgot. I bought the ticket in September.

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                    #34
                    Originally posted by MsD View Post
                    Missed Neneh Cherry last night as I forgot. I bought the ticket in September.
                    My sympathies - I did that once a few years ago with theatre tickets. Ever since I keep the envelopes on the desk top in order of the upcoming gig/event, with the artist's name and event date in big block caps on the outside of the envelope. I suppose I could type them in to my smartphone too, but I'm old school and can't be arsed.

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                      #35
                      In a variant of advance booking angst, I have accidentally bought tickets for two events on the same night in May, Giuda at the 100 Club and A Certain Ratio at Islington Assembly Hall. I'll go to Giuda, the more recent announcement and purchase, and go to see ACR later in the month in Manchester. The Factory samba kings have a loyal but compact following so selling the tickets on (at face value or below, obviously) can't be guaranteed.

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                        #36
                        Originally posted by Sits View Post
                        That's a great pic which he will treasure.

                        Teenage Fanclub on the 15th at the Metro. Could well be the last time now Gerard Love has left.

                        And it is the last time. Didn't do any of his songs which rips the heart out of their set. And the sound was bad.

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                          #37
                          The thought of TFC performing without Love might be tolerable, but without his tunes then I'm with you Sits.

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                            #38
                            I cottoned on when there were three McGinley songs in the first six. They're great musicians and there are still some excellent songs, but it was hollowed out. That's before the awful sound.

                            I'm just glad I saw them two years ago, outdoors at Taronga Zoo. Perfect gig in a perfect setting. That's what put tonight into stark contrast. They need to jack it in.
                            Last edited by Sits; 17-02-2019, 05:38. Reason: Called McGinley McAulay

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                              #39
                              I just booked tickets for Bikini Kill at Brixton Academy (unfortunately) in June. The first show sold out in a flash but a second night went up almost immediately afterwards. That might not go so quickly; sometimes the contrast between the scramble for a first date and reduced demand for a second is quite noticeable, The Replacements' last visit for example. I'm a big Kathleen Hanna fan but prefer Le Tigre and her current outfit The Julie Ruin to BK on a purely musical level.

                              Tonight I'm fulfilling my BGT contractual obligation with Massive Attack at the O2. Looking forward to it based on Walt's review upthread and some other feedback that I've seen. This'll be my first visit to the O2 on a Friday or Saturday since the night tube started and not having to rush onto the Jubilee Line afterwards will be very welcome.

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                                #40
                                Enjoy.

                                This week's adventure was myself and daughter at Chvrches in Newcastle. We made a bit of a trip of it, going early and getting food first, and inside in time for the support Let's Eat Grandma. I saw them last year at a festival and was impressed enough to buy both their albums on good old fashioned CD, and even nominated their newer one as album of the year on a Facebook group I'm part of (partly being contrary to the earnest, Uncut/Mojo friendly nominations that made up the rest of the list). I enjoyed them again - though I realise it's not everyone's cup of tea and I've seen 'worst support band EVER!!' howling from others on Facebook. They are 19 and having the time of their lives, they do their own thing with conviction and it's take it or leave it.

                                We've seen Chvrches on numerous occasions and due to being in early, coupled with people in the crowd helpfully directing us into gaps near the front, we ended up about 3 rows back from the barrier. Approx half an hour in, a couple (tall fella, short woman) pushed through the crowd and right in front of us, and I exchanged eye-rolls with a few people nearby. They then tried to push another couple out of the way and were met with some verbal resistance, which quickly escalated into a full pint being launched by the female pusher into the female pushee's face, and then into an exchange of what I can only describe as "bats". This and the crowd circling away from the stramash caught the attention of the band and there was a pause between songs as things were sorted out by security. I bravely stood in front of my daughter to shield her from the melee, not least as I'd bought her a pint of cider and she still had about three quid's worth left and I didn't want it getting spilled.

                                So there you go, anyone pining for the edgy atmosphere of 70s and 80s gigs, just get yourself to a synth pop gig on a Monday night in Newcastle.

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                                  #41
                                  I'm off to see perennial OTF faves Half Man Half Biscuit. In Oxford. In November.

                                  Anticipation's half the fun, innit?

                                  EDIT: Just saw MsD's post about forgetting a gig. Gulp.
                                  Last edited by Toby Gymshorts; 22-02-2019, 19:02.

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                                    #42
                                    It is all the fun if you end up doing what MsD did. Set alarms in your phone.

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                                      #43
                                      TLMG has organised the tickets. There's no chance of me missing this gig.

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                                        #44
                                        Day off booked, (stupidly expensive, thanks Oxford) room booked.

                                        Just 9 short months to wait.

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                                          #45
                                          I bought tickets for the HMHB gig in Exeter last May. The fear of an MsD style lapse was so strong that within minutes of printing them out I'd put a notification on my own phone, my work phone, calendar (home and work) and on my office notice board in bright green pen. I still worry I've not got it all covered and it'll probably be another decade unitl they roll this far west again.

                                          Only a month to go now.

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                                            #46
                                            Massive Attack at the O2 arena was a mixed bag. On the logistics front, it took over an hour to get into the place after joining the queue, although people who had got in early were complaining about the lack of entertainment between the doors opening and the band eventually coming on stage almost three hours later. We were way up on the top deck on the far side of the arena which was a new one for me and, putting it kindly, in some ways added to the spectacle of alienation that the band delivered.

                                            As is their wont, MA didn't acknowledge or interact with the audience which I think is a mistake in a venue as cavernous as that. Even with big visuals, it's an easy space for the performance to dissipate into once you're past the first few blocks of seats. The Adam Curtis films were striking but could also have been delivered by a Random Adam Curtis Generator on the internet. The overwhelming plus point, that outweighed all the shortcomings, was Elizabeth Fraser's vocals, which were just wonderful. Teardrop briefly made the enormo-dome feel intimate and all her contributions lifted those songs above the rest of the set. As Walt's mentioned, the selection of covers was entertaining, if a bit random in a show that was so fiercely conceptualised.

                                            I don't want to sound too grumpy and, Liz apart, it was an interesting show but ultimately the band didn't really engage with the particular challenges presented by the venue, which is just so much bigger than any of the other indoor arenas around the country.

                                            EDIT: My more clued up friend has just told me that the covers are songs that were sampled on Mezzanine, so entirely concept friendly after all.
                                            Last edited by Benjm; 23-02-2019, 13:49.

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                                              #47
                                              Not so much as a gig but some people on a stage answering questions.

                                              Rema Rema were a short lived band, 1980, had their only EP, Wheel in the Roses, released on 4AD (the first release for the label).

                                              Of the steadfastly post-punk variety, they split around the time the EP came out.

                                              Gary Asquith went on to form Renegade Soundwave.
                                              Mick Allen and Mark Cox went on to form Wolfgang Press.
                                              Marco Pirroni went on to create a now well known Italian beer, I think.

                                              On Friday 1st March - Rough Trade West, London will see members of Rema Rema talk about a record being released that captures what would have been an LP had they stayed together long enough.

                                              I am going.

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                                                #48
                                                The Tropical Fuck Storm concert I have booked tickets for has 'upgraded' from Hackney Oslo to Camden Dingwalls "due to demand". Nothing to worry about - more convenient, in fact - but I can't recall this happening before.

                                                I saw Prince at the O2 years ago and was very unimpressed with it as a venue. Wouldn't go again.

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                                                  #49
                                                  Just booked a ticket and hotel for Liz Phair in Manchester.

                                                  Liz Phair! I love Liz Phair but had resigned myself to the assumption that I'd never get to see her play live. Today started on an absolute downer when I found out that one of my tyres was dead flat with a nail in it when I was ready to go to work. Don't care though. It's ended on a massive high.

                                                  Liz Phair!

                                                  Oh, and I also got a ticket for Stereolab at SWG3. And have a few gigs before then, including Laura Gibson on Thursday night.

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                                                    #50
                                                    Originally posted by BallochSonsFan View Post
                                                    JAnd have a few gigs before then, including Laura Gibson on Thursday night.
                                                    Going to see her in early April. Let us know if she's in good form.

                                                    On Monday I saw Nils Frahm for the second time in a year at the Alte Oper. He played 40 minutes longer than last time (2 hours 20 minutes in total - not that it's a competition), and was just mesmerisingly brilliant, even more than last time. Very funny bloke too, whose philosophy on encores chimes with mine - something along the lines of: "I'm not going to bother going off and coming back on, I'm just going to play a couple more compositions and then you can send me off and the lights will come on."

                                                    Pantha du Prince called off tomorrow night, which is a shame as I kept missing him in DC, where he seemed to be almost a regular. Olafur Arnalds next Tuesday.

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