Edwyn Collins, St George’s Church, Brighton - Thursday 25 April 2013 on Flickr.
A marvellous night in the company of Edwyn Collins. I’ve loved him since the earliest days of Orange Juice. He’s still wonderful. He played a great set that featured tunes from his days on Postcard, right up to this year’s album.
Simply thrilled honey.
King Charles, The Haunt, Brighton - 17 April 2013 on Flickr.
King Charles live at The Haunt was a joyous experience. The gig was sold out, and the crowd were supportive and up for a good time. He played the majority of his splendid debut album ‘LoveBlood’ and a smattering of new tunes. A great show and a great night.
I meticulously prepared for this gig. Partly inspired by the show, and partly inspired by BBC4, I watched my DVD of “The Ballad Of Mott The Hoople” (forty minutes longer than the version shown on BBC4 last week) which was a Xmas gift, and I gave last year’s “When I’m President” album a few listens. I’m not sure why I’d not got the album earlier as I’ve bought the last three solo releases around the time they were released. Anyway, the album is another corker that maintains Ian’s current rich vein of form, and the documentary is excellent (as are all the DVD extras). I was too young to be following Mott round the country (as Mick Jones of The Clash, and Kris Needs, did) but I did buy all their classic 70s singles as an awe struck 12-13 year old and have enjoyed Ian Hunter’s post-Mott solo career. He’s a remarkably consistent songwriter and a true star.
For this visit he was without the Rant Band, and instead was playing as part of an acoustic trio along with bassist Dave Rowe and guitarist Andy York. He was excellent. The acoustic arrangements suited the songs really well and Ian was as committed and passionate as ever. Personal highlights included “Just The Way You Look Tonight”, “All Of The Good Ones”, “Once Bitten Twice Shy”, “When I’m President”, “Sweet Jane”, “Roll Away The Stone”, and - of course - “All The Young Dudes”. How a 73 year old stays so full of vitality is a mystery? Perhaps it’s the sips of white wine and great rock n roll music? A great night. Come back soon.
A supremely enjoyable evening with the legendary Robyn Hitchcock. The usual mix of surreal and witty between song banter, whimsical and wonderful songs, and a rapt audience. I could have watched him for hours - sadly an hour and a quarter flew by and then he was off, leaving a happy crowd enthusing about how bloody brilliant he is…yep, a superb lyricist and world-class tunesmith aligned to sublime psychedelic song-craft. Long may he reign over us.
Melody’s Echo Chamber is the name given to the work of Paris-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Melody Prochet. The Melody’s Echo Chamber album is a wonderful thing that deals in a pleasing hybrid of kraut, space-rock, dream-pop, electronica and a few other random genre labels, think wild-eyed psychedelia held together by motorik rhythms and you’re probably still not there. Anyway the album, great as it is, did not full prepare for their spectacular magnificence live. Very, very good - that’s all there is to it.
Fear Of Men were the capable support. Sounds like they have a few good tunes in their locker. Pleasing if a tad unexceptional - but that could come given time and experience. Ones to watch.
So the NME Awards Tour rolls into town once again. As a man for whom the NME was once a highlight of my week, I retain an affection for the brand, despite not having reading it regularly for well over twenty years. The Awards tour evokes the variety bills of the 1960s. Well sort of. There’s no magicians or comedians to augment the beat combos, but the punter does get four bands on one bill, doing shorter sets, and so gets a snap shot of who is doing for the NME (or is it their readers?).
First up were Peace. This was my first exposure to them, and on first hearing it seemed to be the most generic landfill indie imaginable delivered with something approaching boredom.
Second we had Palma Violets - another generic band with little to offer that we haven’t seen many, many times before, however they did deliver their tunes with a bit of brim and brio, and they have at least one anthemic tune “Best of Friends”, and I suspect there’s probably a few more in there too. I’ll give their album a listen on the strength of this set.
Miles Kane came next. All I know about him is that he was one half of The Last Shadow Poets (a collaboration with yer man from the Arctic Monkeys) that I didn’t pay much attention to though heard good things about it. He certainly knows how to rock a crowd. High energy pop tunes that were laden with hooks. It’s really not my sort of thing. A bit too obvious and (that word again) generic but he is good at what he does and he went down very well.
Finally, it’s Django time. Yes, Django Django are back in Brighton. Last time out I had to sell my ticket having also bought a ticket to see Public Enemy on the same night. They really were a breath of fresh air. Their particular fusion of dance, post-punk, angular pop, and funk is wonderful. The eclectic set slowly built. The lights and images worked brilliantly. It was just over far too quick. For the first time I felt excited and inspired to dance. For me they bring a bit of the same originality as Talking Heads did all those years ago. A great end to a mixed bag of a night.
The Human League @ Brighton Dome, Brighton - 23 November 2012 on Flickr.
This is Phil talking….
The Human League @ Brighton Dome, Brighton - 23 November 2012
A marvellous night with The Human League at The Dome. The last time I saw them play live was supporting Siouxsie and The Banshees at The Rainbow in Finsbury Park, that was in 1979. There’s been a fair bit of water under the bridge since then. These days the set is chocked full of poptastic hits and consummate showmanship. It was a brilliant night and the crowd were dancing from start to finish.
PE remain a force of nature, a full metal racket, as a live act. They had the crowd rocking from the off and gave hope to fifty somethings everywhere with the intensity and energy of their set.
The set list went something like this…
Rebel Without a Pause
911 Is a Joke
Welcome to the Terrordome
Don’t Believe the Hype
Bring tha Noize
Show ‘Em Whatcha Got
Can’t Truss It
He Got Game
Black Is Back
I Shall Not Be Moved
DJ Lord Solo
Can’t Do Nuttin’ for Ya Man
Harder Than You Think
Prophets of Rage
By the Time I Get to Arizona
Shut Em Down
Fight the Power
Chuck the teetotal businessman, and Flavor Flav the controversial loose cannon, reality TV star, still make a great double act. They were augmented by DJ Lord, the S1Ws, a drummer, bassist and guitarist, and the obligatory entourage. It was great stuff. It’s pretty much all old classics and so nostalgia for the audience but it still sounds pretty damn vital.
I’m a longtime Dexys admirer. All four albums are firm favourites. The debut is one of the most vital and powerful albums ever; the Celtic-soul of the second is wonderful; ‘Don’t Stand Me Down’ is full of beauty and strength; and - after a wait of almost thirty years - ‘One Day I’m Going To Soar’ is probably my favourite album of 2012, and fits right in with the consistent quality of the Dexys’ back catalogue.
Kevin Rowland is one of the most honest and brave performers out there. He puts it all out in the open - emotions, mistakes, and his deepest thoughts and insecurities. I sometimes marvel that someone like Kevin managed to achieve such mass appeal. A packed Brighton Dome demonstrates how much he still means to the audience that have stuck with him.
Despite a strong affection for Kevin Rowland and Dexys, this was the first time I’d seen him live. I knew Dexys were going to play the new album in its entirety, followed by a few tunes from the back catalogue. I also expected some theatrics too. The show is very theatrical. Each song has one or two props, with Kevin Rowland and Peter Williams acting out some of the song narratives. The theatrics adds a level of artifice that I found distracting. I’d rather just hear the tunes.
I really enjoyed the evening but did not feel as involved as I’d hoped. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I thought it was going to be amazing and, whilst it was good, it didn’t hit the heights I’d hoped. The concert was all seated. Something I loathe. Generally I just don’t go to gigs that are seated but I made an exception for Dexys. This show reaffirmed my firm belief that seats should be banned when any vaguely danceable music is being played live. Much of the set was supremely danceable but I felt unable to get up as all around me people stayed resolutely seated.
A word on the band. Trombonist, and long-term band member, Big Jim Paterson was wonderful and is a total legend. The fiddle player, whose name I don’t know, was brilliant too. It was also great to see Mick Talbot back on stage. On occasion that band felt too slick though - a bit like a cruise ship band. Not something I’d have ever imagined beforehand. It was really apparent on Tell Me When My Light Turns Green - the drumming, in particular, was really pedestrian.
Personally I’d rather have heard a bit more from the back catalogue rather than a 10 minute Eileen and protracted dialogues between Kev and Pete. Ah well, you can’t have it all. So, a rock solid 7/10, a good night, but I can’t help feeling it could, and should, have been a 10.
