Live gigs - Who you've seen were they good, bad etc.

[gigpusher]

So I thought it was time that I maybe stopped posting who I've been to see in the First gig back thread given that I am now on my 5th gig back but realised that I didn't know of any other appropriate thread. I thought it would be nice if people could post gigs they have been to and just some general comments about how they were, if the support was good etc. As we are all over the world etc it might help some of us make decisions on who to go and see (whether to rock up early for the support of not) Also when it comes to Glastonbury it might help people with some of their clash decisions. 

Last night I saw The Staves at Albert Hall Manchester. They were supported by Samantha Crain who had a great voice but it was a bit noisy with people chatting and fans going. I'll definitely listen to some of her music though. The Staves were great. Only 2 of the 3 sisters are on tour as one is home with new baby. They had an excellent band though (and one of the guys was doing the harmonies as well) and sounded louder than ever. They looked to be having a great time being back on stage. 

 

[found home in 2009]

I've had I gig and 1 festival since lockdown. Declan McKenna was my first gig back and really enjoyed it. Support act seemed to get a really good reception too, were a bit similar to Wolf Alice. Afraid I can't remember their name, they were a local band from Edinburgh.

I also had a day ticket to Playground festival (not sure I'd go back as drink queues were horrendous, acts they knew had pulled out ages in advance were only officially removed from the line up on the day and afterwards some of the acts that did play said they weren't paid). 

Having said that James were absolutely fantastic and worth the entry money alone. Glasvegas was pretty meh, they had a disinterested crowd who talked through it all, which isn't really their fault, but I don't think the singer is a natural front man. They did perform the songs well though, just lacked a bit of energy.  Libertines were headlining and quite good fun, though for me James stole the show.

[westholtschic]

Elbow 2 weeks ago. Without doubt the best indoor gig I’ve ever been to. The lights and acoustics were fantastic at Portsmouth Guildhall  

[gfa]

Won gerry cinnamon tickets last week and saw him at Alexandra Palace, incredibly charismatic and knows how to control a crowd. Definitely eager to see him again, had seen him before at festivals and liked it but his own show with 10k fans was joyous.

[Woffy]

18 minutes ago, westholtschic said:

Elbow 2 weeks ago. Without doubt the best indoor gig I’ve ever been to. The lights and acoustics were fantastic at Portsmouth Guildhall  

I’m assuming the bouncy floor didn’t get a workout though 😉 

[cdm22]

Since lockdown ended i've been to...

Sigrid - London Lafayette (support who was brought in to replace the original support last minute was really good too but can't for the life of me remember her name!)

Mew - London Royal Festival Hall

Beabadoobee - Cambridge Junction

Tom Jones - Cambridge Junction

Duran Duran - Birmingham O2 Academy

Damon Albarn - London Shakespeare Theatre

Pip Blom - Cambridge Portland Arms

October Drift (with Junodef supporting) - Cambridge Portland Arms

Lanterns on the Lake (last night with Wyldest supporting) - Cambridge Storeys Field

 

and all have been excellent with the crowds in the main being excellent too. Only another 12 gigs before Christmas to go 😄

 

Edited October 8, 2021 by cdm22

[kingcrawler]

I’ve been at three since things opened up, all have been great. My first one was Caribou as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. It was quite strange, it was socially distanced and in a big tent outdoors in the middle of a business park in Edinburgh. The band were great and while the socially distanced bit was quite odd at first I got used to it quite quickly, it was a bit like being in the back half of the JP tent when a headliner is on.

I also saw The Staves who were good, the bass was too loud for some songs which drowned everything else out but the quieter songs were great. 

I posted about it in his thread but Nick Cave was brilliant the other night. I enjoyed Caribou and The Staves but he was on another level compared to them. I think the tour is coming to an end soon but I definitely recommend heading along to any remaining dates if you’re a fan.

[Gnomicide]

HRH Sleaze was the first one back, mate won tickets ages ago, all the big name international acts dropped out and we were left with a lineup of mostly unheard of bands plus a few oldies scraping the barrel. Highlights were The Quireboys (fantastic as always and I even got a little emosh when they did the big singalong ballad) and a new to me band called The Spangles (punky, poppy, loads of tunes).

Next was Elbow at Liverpool Olympia. Beautiful.

Last weekend was 3 days at Liverpool Sound City. Squoze in around 25 acts in 7 different venues. Highlights were Red Rum Club, Moses, The Mysterines, Bull, The Lathums, The Snuts and The Luka State. Moses were the surprise here, never heard of them before last week, brilliant gig in EBGBs with the crowd loving them, ordered the album when I got home and will be looking out for them in future.

The day after that was a change of scene with Jamie Cullum at Liverpool Philharmonic. Not something I'd normally bother with, though I don't mind him, went along with the Mrs. To be fair, he was excellent. His band are superb and he had a pretty old audience going nuts by the end.

Next up is Billy Bragg.

[Slugy]

Biffy - Margate - Don't remember all that much, I moshed the whole gig and everyone was in high spirits, my friend said they were amazing.

APE - Don't remember a whole lot of Foals, I know I moshed a bit. Bombay were great.

Wide Awake Fest - Blackout, can't remember much. Which is impressive considering I didn't get out of work till around 6 and missed a whole lot.

Blossoms x2 - Kentish Town - In great form as always, lost my phone, found my phone, completely didn't even realise Rick had came out.

Declan McKenna - Brixton Academy - I am a massive fan of his two albums but the energy from the albums multiplies when seeing him live, almost every song could of been the big single from the crowd reaction and performance.

Do Nothing - Bristol Academy - Short and sweet as it was a day festival, crowd was a bit docile but sound was great, personal mosh.

Yard Act - The Lexington - Fuck amazing, got to hear some new stuff, crowd chewed it up. Only thing I would say is they seem to be bored by the material that helped them come up so quick. Mainly because the crowed seemed to every 30 secs shout one of his one liners back at them.

 

Needless to say I went a bit to hard on the first few back. Been a fucking blast though and got some many more lined up!!!!

[foolee]

Download Pilot 10/10 - Complete euphoria. Death Blooms my pick of the new acts. Frank Carter, Neck Deep & Creeper were all solid. 

Bath Festival 6/10 - Wasn’t too bad. My partner loves McFly so she enjoyed them but would’ve been better at their own show. Scouting for girls put on a good show. And I discovered Lauran Hibberd which I’m really getting into, well worth a watch at a festival next year! 

Larry Pink, The Human 6/10 - Cool to see Laurie from Slaves new project and meet him after the show in such a small and iconic venue in Bath Moles. Good to see an Joe from Idles make an appearance for their song together too. No support. 

Yungblud 9/10 - Kentish Town and absolutely killed it. Crowd were immense, has a good message and he puts on a great live show. A must see and one to keep an eye on for the future. Dylan supported who is a female fronted band that sounded like catchy pop music with guitars, decent. 

Nothing But Thieves 7/10 - Small acoustic show that I got dragged too but I loved it. No support. 

Sports Team 6/10 - Great to see them in such a small venue, Bristol Fleece. No support. 

Reading 8/10 - Amazing weekend with friends with a few negatives from the camping side of it. Watched so many good bands that I enjoyed so I’ll list a few - Sam Fender, Inhaler, Demob Happy, Waterparks, Tom Grennan. Best of the weekend went to Biffy Clyro, Ashnikko, Bob Vylan, Gerry Cinnamon, Sea Girls, KennyHoopla, Beabadoobee, Sigrid & Yungblud. Pleasantly surprised by The Kid Laroi. 

Burn It Down Festival 7/10 - Lovely little indoor festival in Torquay headlined by Dinosaur Pile-Up who smashed it, if you’re into rock music and Foo Fighters you need to check out the album Celebrity Mansions, underrated band. Kid Kapichi and Phoxjaw both small newish bands to keep an eye out for in the rock scene and were both really good live. 

The Vaccines 9/10 - New album is incredible and they’ve stepped it up with the live show. Wasn’t expecting much but was blown away. Watched them in Bristol Trinity so only smallish for there size. No support. 

Sea Girls 8/10 - Again, great to see in such a small venue. Fleece in Bristol again and loving the new track Sick. Looking forward to the new album and seeing them at festivals next year. No support. 

Bring Me The Horizon 10/10 - Best gig yet. Stage show, setlist and crowd were all 10/10. Headliner material. You Me At Six and Nova Twins supported, I didn’t think much of Nova Twins and YMAS were terrible. 

Courting 6/10 - Good little indie band. They probably won’t get big but if you like Sports Team check these guys out. Good at what they do, have catchy songs and don’t take themselves too seriously. Covered 2 Weezer songs and Starships by Nicki Minaj. Home Counties supported and they were alright. 

Yungblud 8/10 - Not as good as Kentish Town but still very good. Feel like academy’s are too small for him now. He’s a really nice bloke as the first 50 people who buy tickets for his gigs get meet and greet of which we were part of and he took time to speak, sign and get photos with everyone. Renforshort and Daisy Brain were supporting, both of which are worth a listen and watch at festivals next year. Renforshort has an amazing voice, it’s again like pop singing over rock music. Similar to someone like Olivia Rodrigo. 

Tom Grennan 8/10 - Reminds me of a male version of Amy Winehouse with his soul like singing. Amazing at getting the crowd going which I don’t think you’d expect from his songs. Fantastic gig. Didn’t catch the support. 

Gender Roles 8/10 - Played exchange last night, remind me of FIDLAR who I love and the crowd was awesome. Snake Eyes supported who were good too. 

Sorry for the essay but I’ve been trying to make up for lost time. 

Edited October 8, 2021 by foolee

[CaledonianGonzo]

I've seen Chrissie Hynde, The Specials, Teenage Fanclub and - last night - Erasure.

Vince and Andy have classics like you can't deny it.  Farm is missing a trick.

[gigpusher]

Blimey some of you have been busy!! 

@CaledonianGonzoI would love to see Erasure at Glastonbury. They have some tunes all right. 

How were The Specials? I'd like to see them but last time they toured tickets were a bit pricy for my liking. 

[Hugh Jass]

Not been to anything yet, but not through lack of trying.

Was meant to go to Genesis on Wednesday but my dad isn't well so we sold the tickets, then Reg has cancelled again.

Got the Libertines in December, which I have to get to otherwise it'll be the first time since 1994 I've gone a full calendar year without going to a gig!

[lessthanwill1]

Best band I’ve seen post pandemic is Crack Cloud. Amazing. 9/10

Best moment during a gig since the pandemic was Self Esteem doing I Do This All The Time @ Wide Awake. Very emotional! 

Squid @ Printworks were also very good - 8/10

 

[Quark]

3 hours ago, gigpusher said:

So I thought it was time that I maybe stopped posting who I've been to see in the First gig back thread given that I am now on my 5th gig back but realised that I didn't know of any other appropriate thread. I thought it would be nice if people could post gigs they have been to and just some general comments about how they were, if the support was good etc. As we are all over the world etc it might help some of us make decisions on who to go and see (whether to rock up early for the support of not) Also when it comes to Glastonbury it might help people with some of their clash decisions. 

Last night I saw The Staves at Albert Hall Manchester. They were supported by Samantha Crain who had a great voice but it was a bit noisy with people chatting and fans going. I'll definitely listen to some of her music though. The Staves were great. Only 2 of the 3 sisters are on tour as one is home with new baby. They had an excellent band though (and one of the guys was doing the harmonies as well) and sounded louder than ever. They looked to be having a great time being back on stage. 

 

I'd been thinking about setting up a similar thread GP, good call 🙂

[westholtschic]

5 hours ago, Woffy said:

I’m assuming the bouncy floor didn’t get a workout though 😉 

Lol thankfully I was sat down after my 6 hour nightmare drive from Torbay 😂

[Woffy]

2 minutes ago, westholtschic said:

Lol thankfully I was sat down after my 6 hour nightmare drive from Torbay 😂

JFC. Why did it take almost, what, double the time it should take?

Well, for those efforts I’m glad you had a cracking gig!

[Mardy]

Caribou/Kelly Lee Owens in Margate 7/10. good gig, very subdued crowd, half full and lethargic. But as it was my first gig back, probably just as well, to calm my anxiety about crowds etc 

EOTR 10/10 One of the best weekends of my life. A pure fucking blast start to finish. Doesn't get any better

Lump at the Scala 5/10. they were OK, but ridiculously overcrowded, way too hot, just fucking hellish. Lump only played for just under an hour, which given the conditions, was a relief.

Arab Strap at Electric Ballroom 7/10. Good evening, great to see some friends and get out. Sound wasn't great though, seemed pretty muddy and we moved around a few times. But you know, Arab Strap, what a band.

[Quark]

Frank Turner & Sleeping Souls

Beautiful Days fest

The Mysterines

IDLES

MarthaGunn

The Lathums

Thoroughly enjoyed all of them!

[fred quimby]

4 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

 

Vince and Andy have classics like you can't deny it.  Farm is missing a trick.

This

[westholtschic]

1 hour ago, Woffy said:

JFC. Why did it take almost, what, double the time it should take?

Well, for those efforts I’m glad you had a cracking gig!

Traffic in Salisbury and roadworks near Southampton. Thank you. It was much quicker back as we went straight to the caravan at Glastonbury . Thank you.

[Dales]

Done a couple of festivals since things opened up and fair few gigs.

Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls @ Margate Dreamland, only booked it as we had tickets for James and thought we would make a weekend of it down in Margate. James cancelled but Frank was great and also had Beans on Toast as support, a real bonus.

Gorrillaz @ O2 This was the free NHS gig and trully amazing amount of quests singers. I am a huge Cure fan and first track up Bob was the guest! It don't get better then that but boy did they try.

Culture Club/James Blunt/Van Morrison @Heritage live. A few tickets came my way for 3 of these days. Cultrue Club were a slice of notstalga nothing serious and whats left of Bananarama were fun. I know he is not popular but I thought James Blunt was pretty damn good (Don't tell anyone I said that) Van Mossison was rubbish but The Waterboys supporting made up for that. A honour mention for The Hackney Colliery Band. Can't remember which day they played but were damn fine (Nirvana's) Heart Shaped Box sticks in the mind.

Liam Gallagher @ O2 Another free gig for the NHS and I was lucky to get tickets again. Liam was on form (Well as much as he is these days) Plenty of Oasis stuff and best of all supporting by Primal Scream (One of my favs) Plus Black Honey (A new fav). If you dont know them take a chance  to  see them if they are on lineup of a festival you go to.

Sign of the Times Festival Showing my age but a fun 2 day festival with Adam Ant, Happy Mondays, Ash, Peter Hook & the Light, Cast and many more.

Biffy Clyro @ Margate Dreamland. A trip down from London on a school night, stayed overnight but stupid early start the next morning to be back in London for work at 8am. How was it? It was Biffy F**** Clyro so it was damn fine.

Bombay Bicycle Club @ Camden Assembly Hall. An odd one I enjoyed the gig but it was the first standing gig in a  packed sweaty venue. So we left after about an hour of their set. It was so different from all the out door gigs and O2 shows. Still a little unsure about going back to these sort of venues as partnet was shielding during the pandemic.

Victorious Festival, Portsmouth. First time and loved. Felt good to be outdoors again to see some bands. Far to many to mention but loved Royal Blood, Blossoms, Black Honey

All Points East Foals & Bombay  Bicycle Club Got back from Portsmouth and went to this on the Monday. Loved Bombay but Foals sound was not good for me. A bonus for me was Gang of Youths & Holly Humberstone.

Lets Rock Exeter, Lots of cheesy stuff. We were on holiday down this way and Adam Ant was headlining and so a no brainer for a relaxing fun day.

Eden Sessions Royal Blood/Snow Patrol/IDLES Our holiday had moved on to Cornwall and so booked a few of the sessions. They were all great and our first Eden Sessions. Another vote for Black Honey who supported IDLES.

Gerry Cinnamon @ Ally Pally. Maybe not everyones cup of tea but I dont mind a bit of dark fruits. He was great as usual love his mix of social commentary and energy. Circa Waves were support another band I have a soft spot for. Me and my partner have really warmed to the Ally Pally. We stayed towards the back but had plenty of comfortable space. We are still not at the place were we ant to be in acrushed crowd but still want to go out and have fun and listen to music.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis @ Royal Albert Hall - Pure class.

 

[thewayiam]

Frank Turner at the Roundhouse and a Noughties Weekender which was organized as well as Playground seems to have been. Had i knew if the drop outs I'd have requested the refund and sacked it off.

Frank Turner permormed well and it was a decent gig.

Most of my gigs are upcoming though, it's like a dream run.

Also it's football that I've mainly attended. A year taken out for travelling and then last year unable to go so it's great to be back. 

[dotdash79]

Been to the following:

moovin festival was good but had our tent robbed and put us on a bit of a downer. 
 

new order - was great, ace venue and there first gig back and they went for it. 
 

manic street preachers- always great, but the set was only 75 min which felt a little short. ( was a last min gig and only paid half price, thanks twickets)

jungle- so good they made me forget how bad the Victoria warehouse is 
 

roisin Murphy- not that into her but she was great. First gig at Brixton academy, also Brixton is still as mad as always. 

[Stokesy10]

10 hours ago, cdm22 said:

Since lockdown ended i've been to...

Sigrid - London Lafayette (support who was brought in to replace the original support last minute was really good too but can't for the life of me remember her name!)

Mew - London Royal Festival Hall

Beabadoobee - Cambridge Junction

Tom Jones - Cambridge Junction

Duran Duran - Birmingham O2 Academy

Damon Albarn - London Shakespeare Theatre

Pip Blom - Cambridge Portland Arms

October Drift (with Junodef supporting) - Cambridge Portland Arms

Lanterns on the Lake (last night with Wyldest supporting) - Cambridge Storeys Field

 

and all have been excellent with the crowds in the main being excellent too. Only another 12 gigs before Christmas to go 😄

 

How were Duran Duran in Brum? I was dying to go but had to go London for work. Gutted.