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

[4AssedMonkey]

On 3/20/2024 at 1:07 PM, gigpusher said:

I'm probably biased because I love them but I do think they are the most underrated of the 'Madchester' bands. They have always been great fun live as well.

Agreed. Seen them 4 times over the years, first 3 with Tom Hingley on vocals and more recently with the original singer. Always good value. And Boon is a legend, both on keys and banter.

[-TLR-]

NahemiA - London last night.

this was a total last minute impulse thing to go to, based entirely on image and cost!

don't know what the first band were called - they were ok, enjoyed their set. nothing to really get excited about but also nothing to get offended about... just sort of black metal by numbers I guess. I will say, however, that in one of the songs halfway through the set, from out of nowhere they pulled out this freaking incredible riff - like the set was just pootling along and then all off a sudden this amazing riff made you wake up and go damn that is nice! but as fast as it arrived, it was gone and back to bland. but they were good.

next up was a band called Burial, from Manchester (as the singer kept telling us every two minutes). these guys were great, really enjoyed their set. the vocals were absolutely fantastic, think along the lines of early Emperor. if I had to level a criticism at them I think they would benefit from layering the guitar a bit. I get that they are going for the fuzz rather than American high gain, but I think a layer of a tighter distortion would elevate it - it was a little muddy, but that could be the sound engineer or maybe thats just the sound they go for. also - the lead singer is a proper funny f**ker, between songs he was something of a stand up comedian. yeah - really liked these guys.

 

and so to the main event - NahemiA.

before yesterday I had never heard these guys... hell, I'd never ever heard of these guys.

but I was at something of a loose end and was scrolling through venue listings to see if there was anything and I saw a picture of them and thought they looked great (well, to be honest I actually thought they just looked like WATAIN wannabes, lots of blood and nails, but if you are going to copy someone then you may as well copy the best).

and I have to say - they were freakin' awesome, really enjoyed their set.

I would say they are probably more comparable to, say, Marduk rather than Watain, but just good ol' straight forward black metal. nothing particularly original, but I really don't know what you could do to be original in black metal these days. they were really good, thought they were great and really enjoyed their set.

I have to say, another reason for going was the door price - £12 entry - old school BM, old school price.

you a possibly aware that I spend most of my time on here moaning about the cost of tickets - when I saw that I thought you know what these guys deserve respect and support if for no other reason than reasonable entry price.

one last thing, the venue was great - I dont think I have been to the Dome (downstairs) since the early/mid nineties when I used to see bands like Decomposed, Mourn, Anathema etc there. its been tizzed up a bit since those days, and it's a really nice little venue.

so, yeah, overall - very good night.

 

😀

[westholtschic]

Waiting for the Chemical Brothers at the Albert hall.

[westholtschic]

So just on the train back to my hotel from the Chemical Brothers at the Albert Hall. I’ve been very fortunate to have seen them 3 times at the farm but OMG in the small venue they were fantastic. The sound and lighting was amazing.

Hope they are back at the farm next year.

Edited March 23 by westholtschic

[briddj]

Was a brilliant night. Don't usually take videos but I was quite far back (much better for Chems) so got Star Guitar. 

 

[westholtschic]

3 hours ago, briddj said:

Was a brilliant night. Don't usually take videos but I was quite far back (much better for Chems) so got Star Guitar. 

 

 

[Robo97]

Glad to see the Chemical Brothers went down well. Was wondering how well that would translate to the RAH setting. 

Would agree with others in that Young Fathers were excellent on Friday, the addition of the choir really took it to the next level. 

[Dales]

Went to see TheSmile last night at Ally Pally. Honestly, I found it very dull. To be fair, I was tired and just not in a mood to listen to them. Could not help feeling they would have been much better in a theatre.

On reflection I shoud have sold the tickets when The Chems were announced for RAH. However, a few weeks ago, I was really looking forward to seeing The Smile as I have never seen them before. I doubt, I willbe rushing to get tickets the  next time they play.

[JayDiesel]

Also saw The Smile recently, but in Birmingham on Friday night.

The band were fantastic, but I can understand why the commentor above wasn't frothing for them if they weren't in the mood - it was a very, very low energy crowd where we were, and by the sounds of things, everywhere else. I'm not saying The Smile are necessarily are spiral pit band, but songs like The Smoke, Bending Hectic, You'll Never Work In Television are so groovy and high energy that it's utterly tragic to be stood utterly still. I imagine the average demographic near me being close to 60 didn't help.

Main point on the crowd was that, like all gigs seem to be now, chatting would not f**king stop. People near me were largely alright apart from the odd conversation every now and then, but people on the left hand side of the stage (Thom's side) were clearly causing a major distraction. Thom told one guy to 'Shut the f**k up' fairly playfully before playing an unreleased track, but then before You Know Me, the final song of the night - and, importantly, a very relaxed piano ballad - the same group of people were shouting again. It was genuinely quite uncomfortable to see a whole band waiting for three/four people to quieten down before continuing their set, but after maybe a minute or so of them piping up, Thom said 'Five more minutes and you can all talk as much as you like, but until then, can you just, please, shut the f**k up?'. They finished the set and were off stage immeadiately, really soured the last few minutes of an otherwise amazing show. 

Reading online, sounds like it was the standard cokehead/drunkards that fly about at gigs as a given now, but why security refused to kick them out is beyond me

[Chip Batch]

11 minutes ago, JayDiesel said:

Also saw The Smile recently, but in Birmingham on Friday night.

The band were fantastic, but I can understand why the commentor above wasn't frothing for them if they weren't in the mood - it was a very, very low energy crowd where we were, and by the sounds of things, everywhere else. I'm not saying The Smile are necessarily are spiral pit band, but songs like The Smoke, Bending Hectic, You'll Never Work In Television are so groovy and high energy that it's utterly tragic to be stood utterly still. I imagine the average demographic near me being close to 60 didn't help.

Main point on the crowd was that, like all gigs seem to be now, chatting would not f**king stop. People near me were largely alright apart from the odd conversation every now and then, but people on the left hand side of the stage (Thom's side) were clearly causing a major distraction. Thom told one guy to 'Shut the f**k up' fairly playfully before playing an unreleased track, but then before You Know Me, the final song of the night - and, importantly, a very relaxed piano ballad - the same group of people were shouting again. It was genuinely quite uncomfortable to see a whole band waiting for three/four people to quieten down before continuing their set, but after maybe a minute or so of them piping up, Thom said 'Five more minutes and you can all talk as much as you like, but until then, can you just, please, shut the f**k up?'. They finished the set and were off stage immeadiately, really soured the last few minutes of an otherwise amazing show. 

Reading online, sounds like it was the standard cokehead/drunkards that fly about at gigs as a given now, but why security refused to kick them out is beyond me

I was at this too but stood up on the balcony. I couldn't hear the talkers from there but for the band to hear it must have been pretty bad, and for anyone stood by them. I half expect it at gigs these days - so many idiots about.

[CRxece_]

57 minutes ago, JayDiesel said:

Also saw The Smile recently, but in Birmingham on Friday night.

The band were fantastic, but I can understand why the commentor above wasn't frothing for them if they weren't in the mood - it was a very, very low energy crowd where we were, and by the sounds of things, everywhere else. I'm not saying The Smile are necessarily are spiral pit band, but songs like The Smoke, Bending Hectic, You'll Never Work In Television are so groovy and high energy that it's utterly tragic to be stood utterly still. I imagine the average demographic near me being close to 60 didn't help.

Main point on the crowd was that, like all gigs seem to be now, chatting would not f**king stop. People near me were largely alright apart from the odd conversation every now and then, but people on the left hand side of the stage (Thom's side) were clearly causing a major distraction. Thom told one guy to 'Shut the f**k up' fairly playfully before playing an unreleased track, but then before You Know Me, the final song of the night - and, importantly, a very relaxed piano ballad - the same group of people were shouting again. It was genuinely quite uncomfortable to see a whole band waiting for three/four people to quieten down before continuing their set, but after maybe a minute or so of them piping up, Thom said 'Five more minutes and you can all talk as much as you like, but until then, can you just, please, shut the f**k up?'. They finished the set and were off stage immeadiately, really soured the last few minutes of an otherwise amazing show. 

Reading online, sounds like it was the standard cokehead/drunkards that fly about at gigs as a given now, but why security refused to kick them out is beyond me

Was also there, echo the points made here - I think it's hard with alot of their slower songs; One of the bigger venues near Birmingham city centre on a Friday night, a heavy 18+ crowd isn't going to help the drunken idiots - with not alot of crowd interaction during the set this probably didn't help with the drunken antics happening.

But the end before You Know Me! really did ruin the experience for me, real shame.

[baggie92]

Birmingham crowds are on the whole awful, especially at the academy, been at so many gigs where all you can hear under the balcony is talkers. 

[Nestacres]

Gaslight Anthem were great last night at the Roundhouse

[Gnomicide]

Robert Plant and Saving Grace at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall last night. 

Unreal performance, I love that he just goes out there doing what he loves instead of cashing in Zep reunions. Still got the vocal chops and the band were incredible. 

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

13 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

I love that he just goes out there doing what he loves instead of cashing in Zep reunions. 

With the price of gigs these days, can you imagine what a Zep reunion stadium tour would/charge? It's admirable that they stick to their principles, they could probably make more money on one tour than in the whole of their careers

[Gnomicide]

22 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

With the price of gigs these days, can you imagine what a Zep reunion stadium tour would/charge? It's admirable that they stick to their principles, they could probably make more money on one tour than in the whole of their careers

I think Jimmy Page would jump at the chance but Rob seems content with the path he is on.

[JayDiesel]

Won Pendulum tickets (alongside half of the UK by the looks of things) for Cardiff last night. Combined with my girlfriend's NHS access, we managed to get 4 tickets for a total cost of £11.25.

The show was pretty much what you expect from a Pendulum gig, load of drops, load of pits, load of fun (for 40 minutes or so). Only knew 5 or so of the songs they played, but can't complain for a literal free ticket.

Interested in Pendulum's live techncial setup mind, they had four musicians on stage, and the drummer was the only one who I could tangibly work out their contribution to the sound. No DJ for a DnB show? I know Rob plays that funny midi guitar thing, but surely they must've been playing mainly to a backing track?

Edited March 27 by JayDiesel

[4AssedMonkey]

Seeing The Hives at Nottingham Rock City on Friday.  Really looking forward to it.  If you see a 50 year old man in the pit, who looks like he should know better but is going batshit, that's probably me.

[pablowoods]

Saw the Wytches at the Social London on monday. Awesome heavy fuzz doom psych rock. 

[The Nal]

6 hours ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

With the price of gigs these days, can you imagine what a Zep reunion stadium tour would/charge? It's admirable that they stick to their principles, they could probably make more money on one tour than in the whole of their careers

Jimmy Page is 80 and worth about 200 million. Plant similar albeit a youthful 75 years old.

Think they've fallen out over the whole thing anyway.

 

[chickenfire]

1 hour ago, 4AssedMonkey said:

Seeing The Hives at Nottingham Rock City on Friday.  Really looking forward to it.  If you see a 50 year old man in the pit, who looks like he should know better but is going batshit, that's probably me.

Would love a review in here after if you can!

I'm off to see them at the Barras in Glasgow on Monday and cannot wait. Should be a cracker. 

[sheffinghell]

1 hour ago, 4AssedMonkey said:

Seeing The Hives at Nottingham Rock City on Friday.  Really looking forward to it.  If you see a 50 year old man in the pit, who looks like he should know better but is going batshit, that's probably me.

Very envious! Their other stage headline set at Live at Leeds was one of the best things I saw last year. 

[sheffinghell]

Going to see Robert Plant do a bit of folk/blues/Americana tonight with his Saving Grace project. Reviews have given high praise, so should be interesting.

[4AssedMonkey]

2 hours ago, chickenfire said:

Would love a review in here after if you can!

I'm off to see them at the Barras in Glasgow on Monday and cannot wait. Should be a cracker. 

Will do. But they’re always good value live.

2 hours ago, sheffinghell said:

Very envious! Their other stage headline set at Live at Leeds was one of the best things I saw last year. 

This will be my 4th time. Howling Pelle’s schtich never changes but always entertains. He’s top 5 in the Premier League of frontmen/women.

[Porcelina]

Bleachers in Kingston on Wednesday - blew the bloody roof off. The E-Street Band would be proud.