The big gig thread 2015 edition

[ingoldale]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Pond at Wheelman's in Dublin on Thursday!

[ale]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Echo & Bunnymen at Newcastle Academy...good mix of the tried & trusted and new ones..McCulloch tried to engage with audience and they were well received although not the biggest of crowds...no Zimbo being the main disappointment..

[Benjm]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

I went to see Jane Weaver at The Social on Saturday. Not having been there for about ten years I had forgotten what an uncomfortable venue it is: long narrow room, two thirds filled with diner type seating booths, toilets directly behind where the bands play. Sound was clunky and the rhythm section overpowered the rest while sounding a bit leaden in itself. The renditions of The Silver Globe material were good enough to make me want to give it another go at The Lexington next month though.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Artist: The Jesus and Mary Chain
Venue: Academy, Newcastle
Tickets: £25
Support: Surprisingly, the Membranes - the original support pulled out and there had been a call out for local bands to fill the slots, so presume the Membranes stepped in at the last minute. Better than the average support band standard.
Drinks: One Carlsberg (driving, as per usual).
Audience annoyance: The usual gripe about tall people at standing gigs. I'm not particularly short but feel it when I'm at a standing gig. Can they not have their own enclosure at the back? And chuck in the people with sticky up hair, and people with hats, while you're at it.
The music: Little in the way of surprises, it was Psychocandy in full, with a 'pre encore' of other material, and I'd seen the same show in Glasgow before Christmas. They were tight, the feedback screeched in all the right places - they were less shambolic (and more sober) than when I saw them on the Rollercoaster tour at Whitley Bay ice rink back in the day - but maybe lacked the bit of edge that would have made it a classic. 7/10.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Walt Flanagans Dog wrote:

Sounds good, got the album which came out this week and while it's not flawless there's a lot to be drawn in by and hope she tours properly next time, think the London show was a one off.

NP mentioned coming back to the UK almost immediately but I checked and (so far) it is to support Ryan Adams next month rather than for new headline dates.

Yeah saw that, none of the dates are accessible for me, she's playing End of the Road later in the year too.

Headline dates announced for June (all four of them), so I'm booked for Glasgow.

[MsD]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

The Pop Group played a few classics and a few songs from their new album at Rough Trade East at 1pm today. It was great.

[Benjm]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Artist: Lonelady
Venue: Electrowerkz. Seemed busy for a Tuesday, with three events on. This was the tube carriage bit with the band in a smallish room next door.
Tickets: £8.00
Drinks/drugs etc.: Several beers over the course of the evening. Enough to feel it today.
Support: Not that we saw.
Main act: Angular, crop haired female singer with three shadowy male assistants. The music was largely clipped, early '80s style pop funk, not dissimilar to pre-samba A Certain Ratio, with an appealing touch of Fine Young Cannibals at times.
Audience annoyance: Minimal, save for the obligatory hulking man-child choosing to stand at the front. People were dancing rather than shoving, which is always good.
Overall mark: 7/10. A very enjoyable evening but doubt I'll rush to buy the record. I have got a tenacious earworm of Do The Du this morning though.

[steveeeeeeeee]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Artist: Baxter Dury
Venue: Village Underground. Great sound quality in the venue, best I can recall. Big open space, easy to see the stage.
Tickets: I think it was 10 pounds, but I bought them a while ago. I had a spare, but it's hard to get rid of etickets.
Drinks/drugs etc.: A few beers beforehand. One round in the venue which was three small cans of Tiger beer for £10.
Support: Helsinki (Babyshambles without Pete Doherty). Very pedestrian, sounded like Snowpony.
Main act: Brilliant. Like I said before, sound quality of the venue was really impressive. He has an incredible band behind him. I find his lack of mainstream success quite mysterious, but if he tours enough this year, I imagine that could change.
Audience annoyance: Zero, no phones filming the gig, nice crowd of people my age or older, many of whom appeared to be there for the Ian Dury connection. I did a really rough fart about halfway through, which I felt a bit guilty about.
Overall mark: 8/10. Great gig, will definitely go an see him again with this current band.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Artist: The War on Drugs
Venue: O2 Academy, Newcastle.
Tickets: £20, or £23, thereabouts.
Drinks/drugs etc.: A pint of Guinness.
Support: It was Amen Dunes, but I missed them as it was an early start and I opted for eating a kofte kebab in a nearby takeaway instead.
Audience annoyance: Chatter was the big issue
Band: Good, and technically proficient, if somewhat one paced - only really got going when there was a guitar solo to admire.
Overall mark: I would have gone 7 but gave that to JAMC so need to reign it back, 6.5/10.

[MsD]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Gang of Four were ace at Oslo last night. Really good playing from all members and excellent sound. I loved the guitar work and the bass has always been fine and funky. Mostly new material AFAIK but they finished with To Hell With Poverty and encores with Tourist.

I'm not personally that keen on the venue; I had to stay down the back as I'm claustrophobic in that sort of boxy space, so was 30 ft or so from the stage. And I can't do strobes. Without those aversions, it's probably fine. Oh, and no cloakroom, it seems, so I had to hold my coat, which is annoying.

[MsD]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing are at the 12 Bar in Holloway Road on Friday. FREE.

The new 12 Bar is great, have I mentioned that? We've eaten there five times now, and seen some bands I have no idea about (and no real interest in, tbh). Oh, except for the Fallen Leaves. Great place to hang out, and there are bits and pieces salvaged from the old bar.

Will probably go on Friday, unless something else pops up.

[imp]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Artist: Gemma Ray
Venue: Sankt Peter Jugendkulturkirche, Frankfurt. Ante-room to a bigger venue in a converted church, about 100 people there, which made it just about full.
Tickets: 15 Euros
Drinks/drugs etc.: Two glasses of red wine - wasn't in the mood for Bier, especially as it wasn't on tap.
Support: Ned Collette - Australian singer, without his band Wirewalker, who explained of his relationship with GR, "Wir sind Labelmates" (both on Bronze Rat Records). Nice bloke, decent guitarist, some cute electronic loops as accompaniment, and a handful of very strong songs, with one or two a bit MOR in between. As much as you could want from a support act - you didn't mind how long he played, and 35 minutes was just about right.
Main act: I liked Gemma Ray before, I love her now. She plays a sort of dark, reverb-washed rock n roll guitar with a Twin Peaks sensibility, topped with 60s pop vocals and an occasional twang of C&W. It helps that these stylistic quirks frame magnificent songs. She is also funny and kind. Ned came on for a few numbers, and her drummer/keyboardist filled the sound out beautifully. Four-song encore included an acoustic version of Ghost on the Highway.
Audience annoyance: Minor phone shenanigans, but nothing excessive. Weird moment in queue for the bar. A woman in front of me was scrolling on her cell phone and turned around to tell me, without a word of introduction, "Bielefeld are 3-1 up against Bremen!" I joined in with her merriment and amazement (although she was a Freiburg fan). Told of this incident, frau imp asked, "So, did you ask her to marry you on the spot?" Well, it's her fault for always sending me to the bar when we go out. Overall, another 10/10.

[Tony C]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Artist: Mark Lanegan Band
Venue: Joy Eslava, near Opera Metro, Madrid
Tickets: 20 Euros
Drinks/drugs etc.: 330ml bottles of Mahou at 5 euros
Support: Duke Garwood - a guitar/drum duo who couldn't be less like White Stripes for all the right reasons. Garwood is a label stablemate and good friend of Lanegan and musically is not altogether dissimilar - although Garwood's Tom Waits growl remains in the lower gears and the songs uncompromisingly downbeat. There were some pretty good ones, though.
Main act: Excellent, really enjoyed it. Lanegan did about twenty minutes singing with his guitarist before the full band came on and he sounded great. Things then kicked on with the band: a fuller sound (obviously) and a range of songs including more uptempo stuff. I don't know so much of his back catalogue - although I really liked 'Blues Funeral' from a few years ago - but I'll look for more now.
Audience annoyance: None at all. 9/10

[RobW]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Saw Zun Zun Egui at Cafe Oto on Thursday. Was expecting it to be amazing, and wasn't disappointed. Great energy, charismatic front man, and wonderful mix of music (punky, funky, classic rock riffs).
Crowd loved it, and the gig was topped and tailed by a Mauritian invocation (the singer hails from Mauritius), which was nice. Really can't wait to see them again.

[Jobi1]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Artist: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Venue: Fabrique, Milan.
Tickets: €40 (£28.50)
Drinks/drugs etc.: A couple of bottles of Bulmers in my old local watching the 6 Nations beforehand. Didn't bother battling the bar queues in the venue.
Support: Missed due to rugby.
Audience annoyance: More Brits than I've previously encountered at overseas shows, most hammered, sample chant: "We're Bolton Wanderers, we'll do what we want". Also incessant mobile phone filming from the locals, including a couple of raised tablets.
Band: Very good, well balanced and selected set, but not massively impressed with the sound. It's a relatively new venue and the digital desk doesn't have a lot of kick to it. As a bass player I never thought I'd say this, but the guitars were way too quiet.
Overall mark: 7/10.

[Calvert]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

It's a relatively new venue and the digital desk doesn't have a lot of kick to it.

The desk won't be providing the 'kick', digital or analogue. It is merely an integrated set of components designed to control, process, route and mix signals fed into it.
Look further down the signal path for your lack of kick or at the operator.

[Toby Gymshorts]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Tony C wrote: Artist: Mark Lanegan Band
Venue: Joy Eslava, near Opera Metro, Madrid
Tickets: 20 Euros
Drinks/drugs etc.: 330ml bottles of Mahou at 5 euros
Support: Duke Garwood - a guitar/drum duo who couldn't be less like White Stripes for all the right reasons. Garwood is a label stablemate and good friend of Lanegan and musically is not altogether dissimilar - although Garwood's Tom Waits growl remains in the lower gears and the songs uncompromisingly downbeat. There were some pretty good ones, though.
Main act: Excellent, really enjoyed it. Lanegan did about twenty minutes singing with his guitarist before the full band came on and he sounded great. Things then kicked on with the band: a fuller sound (obviously) and a range of songs including more uptempo stuff. I don't know so much of his back catalogue - although I really liked 'Blues Funeral' from a few years ago - but I'll look for more now.
Audience annoyance: None at all. 9/10

Bubblegum would be a great place to start.

[slackster]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Dragged alng to see Spandau Ballet at the London O2 Arena last night. They are slick, but lack any sort of soul, which makes their "Soul Boys Of The Western World" tour (and recent film) handle all the more laughable.

I could imagine them as a resident Las Vegas show band these days.

The usual ridiculous O2 prices and dull corporate arena atmosphere. Nice, if expensive, steak at the Gaucho Grill beforehand. Not a terrible evening, but little to get the pulse raised.

[KGR]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Artist: Hookworms
Venue: Rescue Rooms, Nottingham.
Drinks/drugs etc.: One pint of Harvest Pale. Tasty.
Support: Virginia Wing. I'd not heard of them before (terrible name), but enjoyed their easy-on-the-ear dreamy twist on the Horrors type of sound. Will keep an ear out for them in future, and will search for their material online.
Main act: Enjoyed the lack of interaction with crowd, though they did leave rather early (9:45) with no encore. I like bands having no encore. Just wish they'd played until the ridiculously early 10pm curfew instead of stomping off ten minutes early. As to their sound? I like the singer's high-pitched screamy vocals. They made an enjoyable noise, featuring prominent keyboards which is always a plus to me. If you want me to describe their sound in an articulate way, then I am afraid I am too crap to do so. Find a review online if you want to know, hear and see more. I just review on the 'did I like it?' type reasoning. So, I liked it, but the gig won't go down in any all-time lists. As often noted at this venue, it wasn't loud enough.
Audience: Full of old twats like self. Where do the young 'uns go? They can't all be exclusively into hip-hop can they?
Rating: 6/10.

[imp]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Kryvbas Gripper Rih wrote:
Audience: Full of old twats like self. Where do the young 'uns go? They can't all be exclusively into hip-hop can they?

I ask myself this almost every time I go to a gig. Mind you, when I came across a few young people at a Her Space Holiday gig in DC a few years back, it unnerved me so much that I went home early.

[Calvert]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Just finished, er, doing the Handsome Family a few minutes ago.
Dead funny, dead good. Lovely New Mexico mellowness and lots of murder songs and one about the sadness of magnets.
Apparently they did the theme music to True Detective.
Damn, I love Americans.

Nice to get my hearing back after Saturday's all-day metal extravaganza.

[Duncan Gardner]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Heh. Get a hearing aid, granda

Just received a personal invite (ok, bakebook) from our mutual Aussie mate Andy White. He's playing a Birmingham cafe that holds about 30 people.

[Calvert]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Nice one.
Tell him I said he's a cahnnt!

He's a good lad.

Wish these punters would fuck off so I can go home.

[Duncan Gardner]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

Will do.

Our Green Party fundraiser featured Duran Duran's singer (Andy, the one between Tintin Duffy and Le Bon). While compering the interval quiz I duetted on Them's Gloria. Only three people threw bottles

[Calvert]

The big gig thread 2015 edition

That's not bad - I've heard you sing.
There was a rockumentary, if you will, last night on BBC about the history of Irish rock.

Van's accent always has me doubled up with laughter.
Graeme McDowell must be a huge fan of his.