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

[NorthernSoul52]

Culture Club's big eighties tour yesterday was fun, but with a pretty major disadvantage. Playing their first two records sequentially, which has the misfortune to mean Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? and Karma Chameleon arrive back-to-back at the end of the first half, which does leave the audience restless for the remaining forty-five minutes or so.

 

Tony Hadley appeared to be in pure lush mode, perched on a crooner's stool with his bourbon, but even with his cravat and copy of the Brexit manifesto in hand, he's got a set of pipes on him - and Spandau Ballet did have some of the best new romantics tunes out there at their peak.

 

Heaven 17 has a surprisingly lush sound compared to the records, probably aided by a pair of soul back-up singers. Gave it some good welly for the half-hour they got early doors.

[SPW]

Confidence Man at Brixton last night (the tckts bought while at the services en-route to Glastonbury this year!).  Felt more produced and polished compared to the rawness of their earlier gigs but that's understandable I guess and they put on a great show. Ended up at the front as was in early for the support and the crowd was a good mix (said as an oldish git).  They know how to get a party going and I really enjoyed it, a great buzz.

 

Fcuckers supporting were v.good. I knew they had done some stuff with LCD Soundsystem who I am a big fan of so was interested to see them. They put on a great set and got the crowd going which not always easy as a support, and were a perfect match. Will be looking out for them. 

 

My first time back at Brixton since it reopened and getting in is a bit of a faff now, having to go a long way round the block in the  queue system (which was frustrating but understandable given what happened). So was grateful to be there early. The support came on at least 20 mins later than the set times scribbled on a board inside the foyer and a steward said that was because of the crowd outside. So I'd recommend getting in early if going tonight. But great to be back there - it's a brilliant gig venue imo. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7 by SPW

[Ayrshire Chris]

Vampire Weekend in Glasgow tonight.  terrific gig, pity they won’t be at Glasto. 

[NorthernSoul52]

Midge Ure in Leeds last night. Doesn't quite have the vocal range but excellent musicianship and also has a bigger catalogue with Ultravox than I recall. Skipped out on his time with Silk, though he did play The Boys Are Back in Town - presumably given he had a stint in Thin Lizzy and wrote Yellow Pearl.

[Johndenis]

9 hours ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

Vampire Weekend in Glasgow tonight.  terrific gig, pity they won’t be at Glasto. 

Incredibly I managed to think the gig was tonight.  Very disappointing.  I heard this morning that it was very empty?  I find it hard to judge how "big" VW actually are.  Saw them at a full O2 in 2013.  They subbed The Cure at Glastonbury in 2019.  "European exclusive" at Primavera this year but I'm not sure that was the coup the festival thought!  I love the latest album but wasn't so bothered about the one before, which I understand was borderline a solo project by the singer.

Edited December 9 by Johndenis

[Ayrshire Chris]

5 minutes ago, Johndenis said:

Incredibly I managed to think the gig was tonight.  Very disappointing.  I heard this morning that it was very empty?  I find it hard to judge how "big" VW actually are.  Saw them at a full O2 in 2019.  They subbed The Cure at Glastonbury in 2019.  "European exclusive" at Primavera this year but I'm not sure that was the coup the festival thought! 

Standing was busy but plenty seats, curtains over the level 3. It was a great gig though. 

[Johndenis]

On 12/7/2024 at 11:06 AM, SPW said:

Confidence Man at Brixton last night (the tckts bought while at the services en-route to Glastonbury this year!).  Felt more produced and polished compared to the rawness of their earlier gigs but that's understandable I guess and they put on a great show. Ended up at the front as was in early for the support and the crowd was a good mix (said as an oldish git).  They know how to get a party going and I really enjoyed it, a great buzz.

 

Fcuckers supporting were v.good. I knew they had done some stuff with LCD Soundsystem who I am a big fan of so was interested to see them. They put on a great set and got the crowd going which not always easy as a support, and were a perfect match. Will be looking out for them. 

 

My first time back at Brixton since it reopened and getting in is a bit of a faff now, having to go a long way round the block in the  queue system (which was frustrating but understandable given what happened). So was grateful to be there early. The support came on at least 20 mins later than the set times scribbled on a board inside the foyer and a steward said that was because of the crowd outside. So I'd recommend getting in early if going tonight. But great to be back there - it's a brilliant gig venue imo. 

 

 

I am genuinely confused as to what genre Confidence Man are.  In my head I've been treating them as an update of 2 Unlimited, but are they actually "credible", or wanting to be credible?

[NorthernSoul52]

People I know who are into Confidence Man are really into Confidence Man. I kind of got the impression it started as something of a laugh and has mutated into a different beast entirely, but I'm not as down with the kids and the hipsters to know for sure.

[Robinn]

Went to the Zeitgeist festival in Nijmegen last Saturday, really solid line-up. My three favourite acts:

 

- Ditz: intense vibe. Reminded me of Daughters, but also definitely some overlap with Idles and Fontaines DC. Can't wait for their new album in January.

- Snapped Ankles: I was looking forward to this band the most. I still have no clue what happened, but boy, it was awesome! The way they're building up songs works very good. Only knew one of their songs though, anyone know if they're working on a new album?

- Enola Gay: like a blend of Rage Against The Machine and Kneecap, great energy!

 

Although I did talk to others and almost everyone seemed to have enjoyed Sprints, Geordie Greep en Porridge Radio more haha.

 

[Chip Batch]

Everything Everything in Birmingham Friday night. I enjoyed them as always but at about 1 hour 20 minutes-ish I thought their set could have been a bit longer considering their back catalogue now. Heavy from the latest album which is to be expected, but it's not my favourite of theirs.

[Solidgold]

Mattiel at Yes Manchester- very disappointed.

Didn’t have a full band, just keys and one guitar. Was really just glorified karaoke. She seemed lacklustre and as if she just going through the motions, painting songs by numbers. Been waiting to see her a long time and felt very underwhelmed , especially after seeing the videos of her on Jools Holland and Glastonbury. Very flat.
 

As a side note Yes don’t do kebabs anymore and have replaced them with awful soggy sandwiches, mine was 90% coleslaw. Probably put me in a bad mood for the gig, but anyway Mattiel was still bad.

[Nobody Interesting]

On 12/7/2024 at 10:00 AM, NorthernSoul52 said:

Culture Club's big eighties tour yesterday was fun, but with a pretty major disadvantage. Playing their first two records sequentially, which has the misfortune to mean Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? and Karma Chameleon arrive back-to-back at the end of the first half, which does leave the audience restless for the remaining forty-five minutes or so.

 

Tony Hadley appeared to be in pure lush mode, perched on a crooner's stool with his bourbon, but even with his cravat and copy of the Brexit manifesto in hand, he's got a set of pipes on him - and Spandau Ballet did have some of the best new romantics tunes out there at their peak.

 

Heaven 17 has a surprisingly lush sound compared to the records, probably aided by a pair of soul back-up singers. Gave it some good welly for the half-hour they got early doors.

 

They have changed the set list as last night Karma was last in 2nd half. Loved it all, but then I knew both albums really well.

Tony Hadley was epic as were Heaven 17.

Would love to see Culture Club on the Pyramid.

[The Nal]

21 hours ago, Robinn said:

 

- Snapped Ankles: I was looking forward to this band the most. I still have no clue what happened, but boy, it was awesome! The way they're building up songs works very good. Only knew one of their songs though, anyone know if they're working on a new album?

 

Yep same when I saw them in Dublin. Some of the new tunes are absolute bangers.

[Ayrshire Chris]

On 12/9/2024 at 10:00 AM, Johndenis said:

Incredibly I managed to think the gig was tonight.  Very disappointing.  I heard this morning that it was very empty?  I find it hard to judge how "big" VW actually are.  Saw them at a full O2 in 2013.  They subbed The Cure at Glastonbury in 2019.  "European exclusive" at Primavera this year but I'm not sure that was the coup the festival thought!  I love the latest album but wasn't so bothered about the one before, which I understand was borderline a solo project by the singer.

Their attempt to cover Bjorks oh so quiet was pretty funny. 

[fred quimby]

9 hours ago, Solidgold said:

Mattiel at Yes Manchester- very disappointed.

Didn’t have a full band, just keys and one guitar. Was really just glorified karaoke. She seemed lacklustre and as if she just going through the motions, painting songs by numbers. Been waiting to see her a long time and felt very underwhelmed , especially after seeing the videos of her on Jools Holland and Glastonbury. Very flat.
 

As a side note Yes don’t do kebabs anymore and have replaced them with awful soggy sandwiches, mine was 90% coleslaw. Probably put me in a bad mood for the gig, but anyway Mattiel was still bad.

Saw her on Sunday in Bristol Seen her a few times and at Glastonbury.  Agree with you, just didn’t feel great. Lost a lot of humph, some great tunes and moments. 

 

On the other hand the support from Cosmic Cronner was brilliant. Very different,  bought his vinyl and had a chat. He got the gig by messaging Mattiel and asking

[Solidgold]

3 hours ago, fred quimby said:

Saw her on Sunday in Bristol Seen her a few times and at Glastonbury.  Agree with you, just didn’t feel great. Lost a lot of humph, some great tunes and moments. 

 

On the other hand the support from Cosmic Cronner was brilliant. Very different,  bought his vinyl and had a chat. He got the gig by messaging Mattiel and asking

I had a chat with Cosmic Crooner too and bought his CD.  Yes very different but great fun. Singing along to his pre recorded music on his reel to reel player you could call that almost “karaoke“ like, but he embraced that and played it tongue in cheek. Nice bloke too.

[CantWaitForGlasto22]

Sam Fender at The 02 was great last night. Had the crowd jumping and singing along, and sounding really good. I think he could easily headline. I’d seen others complain the set was too short but he played 9-10:40 which seemed pretty normal for other gigs at the 02. 
 

Wunderhorse supporting were also fantastic. Love their music, and think there on an upwards trajectory. Hopefully see them at The Other/Woodsies this year 

[efcfanwirral]

I don't think I've been as excited for a gig as I am for Paul McCartney on Sunday for years. It feels like a proper big one

[Chip Batch]

BC Camplight solo piano tour in Coventry on Wednesday. Tiny venue and a great setlist. Really, really good. It felt intrusive to take a photo so none supplied. 

[sfroml]

The Prodigy at The Spa in Bridlington last night.

One of my favourite venues, as expected it was wild from start to finish. Played one new song and an unsurprisingly heavy set of their most well known songs.

Didn't let up for a moment. Sore head today!

[Badlands]

Macca this evening, he better play his Xmas song!

id also like to know the damage to see his sound check. Slips Coming Up in every time but never in the main show.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Reckon you have a decent chance of Wonderful Christmastime.  I saw him in mid December a few years back and he delivered it right on cue.

[Dales]

Last night Peter Doherty at Islington Assembley Hall. A mixed bag of songs with a few performed with the support acts. An enjoyable set even if he left out a lot of my favourites.

[CaledonianGonzo]

In that photo he looks like Garth Brooks 

[Watergirl]

My favourite (non-festival) gigs of 2024:

 

1. Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, Dürer Kert, Budapest, Hungary, 3 November
2. The Waterboys, Universal Hall, Findhorn, Scotland, 16 September
3. Ben de la Cour, Green Note, Camden, 5 July
4. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, 3Arena, Dublin, 12 November
5. ØXN, Vicar Street, Dublin, 29 February
6. Margo Price, Vicar Street, Dublin, 28 January
7. Diana Jones, Whelans Upstairs, Dublin, 21 July
8. Allison Russell, St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, 26 January
9. Arooj Aftab, National Concert Hall, Dublin, 13 October
10. The Unthanks, Liberty Hall, Dublin, 28 November