Seen It>> Pixies at Hammersmith Apollo, 24 November 2013

With the band being idle for a few years and original bass player Kim Deal leaving, you could have been forgiven for thinking that Pixies would be no more. However, just a week after Deal’s departure, the quartet announced a new single “Bagboy” and European tour. This tour included a stop at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, where their new line up included The Muffs’ Kim Shattuck replacing the other Kim on bass.

Opening with previous favourites “Bone Machine” and “Gouge Away,“ products of the quiet/loud fusion that made Pixies a huge influence on bands from the early 90s to today, revved the crowd up, before they enforced a spate of newer songs such as “Magdalena 318” and the aforementioned “Bagboy,” before an atmospheric cover of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On”. 

If this was all about showcasing the new Pixies onto the crowd, then it was the old material that resonated most of the audience, with “Velouria”, “Hey” and “Monkey Goes to Heaven” drawing large crowd interaction. A cover of Neil Young’s “Winterlong,“ whilst apt given the weather, was mostly lost on the crowd, before Black Francis kept hold of his acoustic guitar, to unleash “Here Comes Your Man,“ drawing the biggest sing-along of the night, until “Where is My Mind?” closed out the set.

The Boston quartet returned after the encore with “Caribou”, “Wave of Mutilation” and “Planet of Sound”, which was interrupted by the lights being turned on, a signal that the show was almost over. 

While Pixies may have been keen to showcase what is a indeed a new era for the band, their long lasting legacy is still evident enough to see thousands still lusting to hear their songs from over 20 years ago. 

Seen It>> Japandroids at Dingwalls, July 17 2013

With temperatures outside reaching the lower 30s, it was inside however, where there was a much more sweatier and claustrophobic environment.

Japandroids were in the UK to play a few shows before their slot at Latitude Festival, and the final UK shows on the tour of critically-acclaimed Celebration Rock. The sweltering conditions inside, meant for a stuffy show, that wasn’t going to hold back despite the intense heat.

Their extensive global touring hasn’t slowed them down, the two journeymen from British Columbia, who’d planned to call it a day before the success of their debut album, Post Nothing, play ever show like it’s their last. The opener “Fire’s Highway” starts off the crowd with the hollering of ‘woah ohs’ that seem a present fixture in every Japandroids song, whilst the nostalgia-filled “Younger Us” is an anthemic beast ready made for bigger venues than a modest Dingwalls, whilst “Wet Hair” saw the crowd bouncing up and down.

“Continuous Thunder”, with its military drumming, slowed down the relentless pace for a few minutes, before the rare “I Quit Girls” got an outing that was complete with a few improvised chord changes. The duo followed with their so-called “hit single”, “The House That Heaven Built”, where singer/guitarist Brian King called for “anything goes”, resulting in a surge of crowd surfers and stage divers. The set was ended their take on The Gun Club’s “For the Love of Ivy”.

This is Japandroids’ one final knockout blow before heading home to Canada to work on a new record and a well-earned rest, and no doubt they’ll coming back for more in later years. 

Seen It>> Fucked Up & Titus Andronicus at Electric Ballroom, May 30 2013

Three of North American punk’s most exciting young bands teamed up for a UK wide tour, spanning Bristol, Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester and finally London, in between dates at both Primavera Sounds.

First up was Toronto’s METZ, who garnered comparisons to the likes of Melvins and Drive Like Jehu with the release of their debut self-titled album last year. The power trio threatened to destroy the eardrums of everyone present with their relentless loud-fuzz anthems such as “Wasted”, “Headache” and “Wet Blanket”, making a similar racket to their forbearers like Sonic Youth and Big Black.

New Jersey’s beer brawling Shakespearean punks Titus Andronicus followed, who are a combination of The Pogues, The Replacements and with a dash of Springsteen for afters. Opener “Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ” had everyone awaiting to chant “FUCK YOU!”, before “A More Perfect Union” had everyone launching into a moshing frenzy. The sweaty atmosphere inside saw frontman Patrick Stickles remove his top to unveil a Lil Wayne t-shirt he’d purchased from Camden market. “Titus Andronicus vs. The Absurd Universe (3^RD Round KO)”, from last year’s third album, Local Business, took on a hardcore flavour, reminiscent of early Replacements, whilst the self-titled loser anthem “Titus Andronicus”, saw Stickles go into the crowd, with everyone in unison chanting “Your life is over”, like it’s a badge of honour. The 14-minute epic “The Battle of Hampton Roads”, earned a brief rest bite, before the climatic and chaotic ending. The quintet ended on Neil Young’s classic “Rockin’ in the Free World”, which was dedicated to the Canadian friendly line-up, and saw members of Metz and Fucked Up join in.

Third and finally, Toronto’s hardcore punks Fucked Up closed the show. If you were expecting the audience to be knackered by that point, then opener “Let Her Rest” paid rest to those fears, as a giant pit opened up, with frontman Pink Eyes joining them, before “Queens of Hearts” had everyone singing along. The growling Pink Eyes (or Damian Abraham to his mother) gave a shout-out to Camden’s finest punk record store All Ages Records, before dedicating “I Hate Summer” to anyone who’s ever suffered from tormentors about weight issues or else. They closed with “Police” and “The Other Shoe”, the latter leading a chorus of “dying on the inside” from the crowd. They returned from the encore with “Two Snakes”, which Pink Eyes dedicated to the audience member who shouted out “I hate weed”.

A carnage and chaotic triple bill that delivered on its promise, it will be hard-pressed to find a better line up for a gig this year. 

Seen It>>...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead at Scala 10 October 2012

In the ten years that has passed since Austin's art rockers Trail of Dead’s magnificent, Source Tags & Codes, the band have slowly lost all the hype and momentum that turned them into potential world beaters. Bloated albums on major labels, band members leaving, a brief period of two drummers and choreographed stage antics threatened to spoil the band’s purpose. Thankfully, 2011’s Tao of the Dead was a welcome return to form, which saw Lost Songs set for release a week after the gig.

The Scala is an intimate venue, which is perfect for the raucous show that is expected. “Strange News from Another Planet” was an apocalyptic burst that was supplemented by Conrad Keeley’s Slint-esque spoken word, but it was ferocious anthems like new song “Up to Infinity” and old classic “Mistakes & Regrets” that saw the crowd moving frantically. “Caterwaul” added some emotion to the set. 

Despite a new album set for release, the band delved into their back catalogue, giving a greatest hits set including “Relative Ways” and “Richter Scale Madness”, while the antics they were most known for, were briefly touched upon when drummer/guitarist Jason Reese stage dived into the rowdy crowd, for the chaotic “Homage.”

The quartet returned for the encore, with “Another Morning Stoner”, where Keeley briefly touched upon the demise of the old Astoria venue where the video was filmed, before closing on world-ending “Will You Smile Again?” 

….And You Will now Us By the Trail of Dead are a band who seemed to be going through the motions just a  couple of years ago, but their performance and acclaimed new album seem to be putting them back onto the road where they were set to go a decade ago. 

Seen It>>Jeff the Brotherhood - The Lexington 14.11.2011

Nashville’s Jeff the Brotherhood, a pair of brothers (though none are called Jeff), descended onto London’s The Lexington as part of the mini-European tour. The duo have been garnering mass critical praise in the last couple of years, thanks to albums Heavy Days and We Are The Champions.

Jake (guitar, vocals) and Jamin (drums), who were both former members of Be Your Own Pet, brought along their Southern-fried psychedelic punk rock anthems, which have seen them be compared to the likes of The Black Keys, Weezer, The Ramones and Sonic Youth.

Jake’s guitar may have only had three strings, but that didn’t stop him from belting out Prog drones such as “Heavy Days”, “Shredder“, “Heavy Krishna” and “Hey Friend.” Meanwhile opener “Bone Jam”, with its danceable grooves and ‘wooos’, helped get the crowd involved from the off. Jake was busy modelling the porno moustache look that Caleb Followill had sported in the Youth & Young Manhood days and his frequent dash into the crowd saw him go missing on occasions. Jamin brought along a torch light and was busy waving it around, while drumming one handed to closer “U Got The Look.” His pounding drum beats add a heavier touch to the bands sound. Their drum kit, which had sported the name “Jeffro Tull” was nowhere to be seen, as their equipment had been stolen in July.

The crowd had been headbanging constantly all night, but it looked as though this gig was an introduction to the band, rather than a crowd of fans. It looked as though they were here to see the excitement and hype behind the band. All in all, it was a great introduction for the band to make and a relentless surge of energy on stage, which transpired back onto the crowd.

Preview>>Latitude Festival 2011

The British festival season continues this weekend, with Latitude Festival taking place in Henham Park from Friday until Sunday. Headlining the Suffolk festival, are The National, Paolo Nutini and Suede respectively, with further performances from the likes of Foals, Kele, Bright Eyes, Eels, Paloma Faith, My Morning Jacket, The Cribs and Seasick Steve.

Brooklyn Indie quintet The National, have garnered critical acclaim throughout their career, but have only recently broke the mainstream through last year’s album, “High Violet”, which saw them nominated for two BRIT awards, ‘Best International Breakthrough’ and ‘Best International Album,’ losing in both categories to Justin Bieber and Arcade Fire respectively. Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini is headlining his second festival of the summer, after also topping the bill at Rockness festival in June, in his native country’s Highlands. Re-formed Britpop band Suede close the festival on Sunday night, in their first headline performance in the UK, since 1997’s Reading Festival, and they are keen to play a host of classics.

Tickets for the event have sold out, with weather predictions saying it will be muddy, with “strong winds and showers”. The event will be broadcast live on Sky Arts 1 from 9pm on all three days.

Seen It>>The Great Escape Festival//12-14 May (Various - Brighton)

No, not a homage to the classic Steve MacQueen movie, The Great Escape is, to quote themselves, "Europe's leading festival for new music". Quintessentially, the British answer to Austin's SXSW festival, it is the perfect way to start the ever-earlier festival season.

In case you've been living on the moon or in a cave for the past five years, then you would've heard about the festival, as it is the best place to catch the up-and-coming stars of the future. Chances are, your favourite artists of the past five years have played here, with Hall of Famers including Vampire Weekend, Kasabian, Ellie Goulding, Klaxons and current lady-of-the-moment Adele. Whilst it is a festival for discovering new bands, you can also catch artists who have broken through, with Friendly Fires, Sufjan Stevens, Katy B, Example and Warpaint, just a few names who played over the weekend.

Thursday's discoveries were:
Dry the River (Above Audio) - The five piece from London, brought their folk-infused indie rock, which also embraces Americana and gospel sounds. Their energetic and euphoric set was watched by a full crowd in the venue, and they left as one of the bands of the weekend.
The Smokin' Barrels (Komedia Downstairs) - The Geordie trio, heavily influenced by the Mod and Britpop eras. Their sound borrows heavily from their influences. They even had time to cover The Who's "My Generation" too. Ooh, get them.
In-Flight Safety (Jam) - Part of the Canadian invasion to hit Brighton, the Halifax, Nova Scotia quintet played melodic indie anthems to dramatic sounds. Like a cross between the synths and vocals of The Killers and the alternative sounds of Death Cab for Cutie, it won't be long till they're big.
Fight Like Apes (Coalition) - The Irish quartet from Dublin, brought their synth-electro punk anthems to the festival, giving a thrashing performance to supplement their attitude-fuelled songs.
Brasstronaut (Komedia Studio) - The Canadian quintet from Vancouver compress jazz, indie rock and electro, to harness their own impressive sound. Similar to compatriots Arcade Fire, their multi-instrumentals combining together really shouldn't work, but it does and to fantastic achievement, creating an original and highly enjoyable sound.

Friday's discoveries were:
Trails (Komedia Downstairs) - The quartet from Guildford tore apart the venue, with their impressive and raucous live shows. Their heavyweight riffs where supplemented by a collison of relentless energy and melodic vocals. With a summer EP due to be produced by James Kenosha, responsible for Pulled Apart By Horses and Dinosaur Pile-Up, they will soon by joining them as live favourites.
Brother & Bones (Komedia Downstairs)- The five piece managed to upstage Trails, with the bluesy-western folk and loud racket threatening to tear apart the venue. Quite how combining blues guitar solos and bongo drums works is suprising, but it does to great effect.
Gallops (Prince Albert)- Jagged guitars and electronics combine to produce dancefloor anthems, that more than make up for the lack of vocals from this North Wales quartet.
Funeral Suits (Hector's House)- Multi-instrumental Irish alternative band, combining guitars, with synths and keyboards. Their sound incorporates distorted guitars, art rock, electronica and harminous pop. Not bad for a band looking of a combined age of about 16.
Tripwires (Hector's House)- With influences including Sonic Youth and The Smashing Pumpkins, the Reading quartet are intent on bringing back the 90s grunge/alternative sound of the latter. With floppy hair and flannel shirts, it's as if Kurt Cobain has never been away! Their energetic live show includes distorted guitars and compulsory accompanying headbanging from the crowd.
Dinosaur Pile-Up (Jam)- The Leeds trio further enhanced their growing live reputation, with another incredible set that threaten to erupt the venue. A surging mosh that nearly broke the barrier, resulted in the band asking crowd members to join on stage, resulting in some poorly attempts at singing along with anthem "Traynor" and some terrible stagediving. The best band of the weekend, showing the newcomers how to do it.

That concludes the first two days of The Great Escape festival. Sadly, being unable to attend on Saturday, meant missing out on some quality bands, the beach and arcade games. Damn!

Seen It>>Surfer Blood at Scala - 09.03.2011

With recent rays of sunshine gripping the nation, that means summer is once again on its way, and who better to bring summer closer than Surfer Blood. The Floridians from West Palm Beach brought their grungy-lo-fi tales of summer and youth to warm up the evening.

The Scala is a very intimate venue, that rewards enthusiastic crowds, however at the front of the stage, the crowd is anything but up for the gig. Whether that is the fault of the band or the fault of the crowd is had to see. Having seen Surfer Blood twice before, the crowd were less than enthusiastic, however back then they were playing at a festival and as a support band.

While the album is drenched in reverb, live their songs are not, and in an atmospheric venue, unfortunately their songs fail to match the atmosphere. Opener 'Floating Vibes' however oozes with bass and has members of the crowd starting to liven up, while flamboyant frontman John Paul Pitts begins twirling around the stage, he seems to be the only stage presence and comfortbale live member the band have unfortunately. The rest, including birthday boy (as we're told non-stop by Pitts) guitarist Kevin Williams, who seems to be scared by the crowd, whilst the replacement bassist doesn't seem happy to be there.

However the crowd fail to lift up, especially after 'Take It Easy,' 'Twin Peaks' and 'Catholic Pagans,' though once 'Swim' appears the crowd begin to liven up, suggesting that the majority of the hipster crowd only turned up for this song. Without the reverb, however the song seems to lacking something, but Pitts' shouty voice doesn't fill in.

Overall, it was quite a dissapointing show, especially as I like the Scala as an intimate venue and I liked 'Astro Coast.' Maybe with a new album in tow, things will pick up.

Setlist:
Floating Vibes
Twin Peaks
Harmonix
Take It Easy
Fast Song
Catholic Pagans
Neighbour Riffs
I'm Not Ready
Swim
Encore:
New Song
Fast Jabroni
Anchorage

Seen It>>Rock Sound Exposure Tour at Relentless Garage - 24.02.2011

The London leg of Rock Sound's Exposure Tour rolled into town, with The Xcerts, Japanese Voyeurs and Dinosaur Pile-Up on the bill. They were here to show that all good things come in threes, and that turned to be the case.

Opening up with The Xcerts. Hailing from Aberdeen, the trio had a large army of fans in the venue cheering them on and signing along to every word. Their set was dedicated to their second album 'Scatterbrains', which was released to positive reviews in 2010. Their grungy-pop punk had everyone head banging along, with frontman Murray MacLeod's floppy hair regularly joining in too. For the opening band, they seemed to be the most popular, something you don't see everyday, and they would be hard to top.

Next up was Japanese Voyeurs. I didn't know much about them and wasn't sure what to expect from their set. At times it was a frustrating listen, vocalist Romily Alice's voice was hard to understand, sounding like a squealy American, and hard to hear, which was off-putting. It wasn't all bad though. They had some foot-stomping grungy anthems and the sight of Metal-dressed keyboardist Rich Waldron head banging throughout was an enjoyable sight.

Finally, headlining were Leeds trio Dinosaur Pile-Up. Bringing back 90s grunge, fusing elements of early Weezer and Foo Fighters, this show promised to be epic. And it was just that. A large mosh pit centred in the middle began along with opener 'Barce-Loner', before the cheers grew louder with 'Opposites Attract' and single 'Mona Lisa.' They new song 'Should' slowed the pace down dramatically, but all that was forgotten when Matt Bigland broke into anthem 'My Rock 'N Roll', where the pit grew larger, with bassist Harry Johns entering the crowd during 'Traynor'. The Dinosaurs put on an epic show, and showed that dinosaurs are certainly not extinct, but as alive as ever.

Seen It>>Cold War Kids at Koko - 23.02.2011

Returning to the UK for the first time in over two years, Long Beach-based Cold War Kids played to a sellout crowd at Camden's Koko venue.

In light of the newly-released album, 'Mine Is Yours', opting for a more 'arena' sound, it's evident that the large, upward venue should play host to the band. Nathan Willett's vocals certainly soar all the way to the top of the venue, and newer songs such as 'Royal Blue', 'Louder Than Ever', 'Skip The Charades' and 'Cold Toes On The Cold Floor', plus 'Audience' (from 'Behave Yourself' EP) were certainly recorded to get this effect from a venue.

It's obvious to say that older classics were treated with the most cheers, particluarly 'Hang Me Up To Dry', 'Hospital Beds' and 'We Used To Vacation.' They certainly didn't look out of place within the venue and the arena sounding, with the crowd in full voice throughout, marking the echoing vocals of Willett. Whilst finishing track 'Saint John' saw Willett into the crowd and enjoying himself and probably the band's return to the Capital, as he mentioned several times about how they had wanted to.

Whilst the older songs were greeted with the most cheers, still the crowd sang along to every word from the new album and seeing it live seem to make me enjoy it even more. A great return for the Kids, who will no doubt (and hopefully!) be back again soon.

Setlist:
Royal Blue
Finally Begin
Mexican Dogs
Red Wine, Success!
Skip The Charades
Hang Me Up To Dry
Dreams Old Men Dream
Louder Than Ever
Cold Toes On The Cold Floor
Audience
Bulldozer
Hospital Beds
Santa Ana Winds
Encore:
I've Seen Enough
Goodnight Tennesse
We Used To Vacation
Saint John

Seen It>> The Black Keys at Rock City - 04.11.2010

Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys

It may have taken eight years and six albums, but the Akron, Ohio duo The Black Keys look to have finally found their place amongst the mainstream rock contingent. Fresh off supporting Kings of Leon at their Hyde Park mega-show in June, and victory at the MTV VMAs ‘Breakthrough Video’ for the excellent ‘Tighten Up‘, they embarked on a series of sold out shows across the country in support of their ‘Brothers’ album.

You could have forgiven them, therefore to stick to their guns and play tracks from the new album, but they surprising played a lot of tracks from the back catalogue.

Opener ‘Thickfreakness’ was a rip-roaring start to affairs, before turning to the slower tempo-d ’Girl Is On My Mind.’ The blistering speed of the opening tracks, which also included ‘10am Automatic,’ left drummer Patrick Carney covered in sweat, whilst the mesmerizing guitar work of Dan Auerbach sent the crowd into a frenzy of head banging and bouncing around the venue. It was hard not to feel spaced out whilst watching and you felt as though you’d been transported to a American Deep South cowboy bar, due to the heavy rawness of their earlier tracks, including ‘Stack Shot Billy’, ‘Act Nice and Gentle’ and ‘Busted.’

However it took the majority of the crowd to rev up once they were joined on stage by a bassist and keyboardist to play tracks from the new album. In the howling chorus of ‘Next Girl’, Auerbach managed to get the whole crowd echoing back the lyrics, whilst in the aforementioned ‘Tighten Up’, his whistling was imitated by several in the crowd, but they did not ooze the same coolness which Auerbach brings to the table.

They also played a few songs from 2008’s ‘Attack & Release’ album, which was produced by Danger Mouse, one half of Gnarls Barkley, ‘Strange Times’ and ‘I Got Mine.’ They returned with an encore of ‘Sinister Kid’ and ‘Your Touch’, the latter got the whole crowd moving jumping around and even a few mosh pits, strangely.

Overall, The Black Keys’ brilliance of their early blues rock efforts combined to blow the crowd and venue away, whilst in light of newer efforts, they showed they had added coolness to their rawness as they seemed to play without too much effort. However, the one disappointment I had, was the lack of interest in the crowd for their older songs, many of whom only seemed to turn up for the newer stuff, as they are now seen as a “cool” band to like.

Setlist:Thickfreakness, Girl is on My Mind, 10am Automatic, The Brakes, Stack Shot Billy, Busted, Act Nice and Gentle, Everlasting Light, Next Girl, Chop and Change, Howlin’ For You, Tighten Up, She’s Long Gone, Ten Cent Pistol, I’ll Be Your Man, Strange Times, I’ve Got Mine.
Encore: Sinister Kid, Your Touch