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

[gfa]

Was anyone at Kasabian in Glasgow? only found 1 review and it was off a news website and the comments on social media are just a jumble - would love to hear how it was. Setlist looks promising

[maelzoid]

Manics in Bath last night. Played a great show. I just wish the crowd was a little more lively... 

[SighMo]

The Mysterines were ace at The Garage in London last night. Can’t make any of their tour dates next year so I’m glad I made the effort last night. The support band, Document are worth a shout too.  

[Crazyfool01]

Posting a review of showhawk duo wen pissed is probs not the best idea ..  fuck yeah though 😀

[Padjeq]

My girlfriend got covid 2 weeks ago, and then I got it on the tail end of her. I'm free to leave the house as of today, but we had to miss gigs by L Devine and Salem. I think they odds of me seeing them again are pretty slim, but there are worse (better??) acts to be missing out on.

Since returning to gigs with a social distanced WARGASM and a Sleeper/Bluetones twofer, I've been to:

Godiva festival. The free festival that costs £12 for a weekend ticket. Supergrass on the friday were good, but didn't blow me away. Crowd was decent, but the sound is aimed at a very small area, despite the field really filling. We burrow in down the left hand side. Meanwhile snakes of teens would slither into the pit, wait for a mosh that would never come, then slither out again 30 seconds later. This would happen constantly, with numerous different snakes. When I started going to gigs, there were people to learn from, but now it feels like there isn't, and kids want to replicate what they've seen, but don't really understand the context for it, or how it organically happens.

Saturday's crowd was much worse. At one point during Craig David I felt pressure on my back and turned around to find some scutty man clad in patchwork denim leaning back to back on me as if he was a cowboy falling asleep in the hay bales. I threw him off and he rounded up his group of mismatched friends. A white guy with dreads tried to give it the biggun, and I'm sorry but I am not one to be intimidated by some Big Mountain wannabe. They soon left.

Craig David himself I expected more from, but the sound was not good. Performed his own songs, and others, doing what Sophie Ellis Bextor just did, but nowhere near as well. Sophie was great with her full band (especially doing Like A Prayer) but Craig stepping out from behind the decks to sing at 7/10 his capability, kinda reminded me of those terrible bottle service nightclubs that hire lads to do live drumming over dance songs.

 

Couple weeks later and my girlfriend tells me Joy Crookes is doing a gig 1 minute from our flat. I get home from work, throw my bag down and walk out the front door to see her setting up in Victoria Square. She did maybe 6 or 7 songs, but wow. I've seen her before at the Hare and Hounds, but the surroundings here were surreal. A crowd of people stood around the Floozie watching an act buzzing with nervous excitement, laying it all out there with her voice, while in the background, chanting anti-vaxxers try and form their own version of Hands Across America down New Street.

A proper talent with no upper limit to her potential success. The history of popular music is littered with also-rans, but if Joy connects with the general public, she's gonna go all the way.

 

Saw Billie Marten after that. Not much to report. Sounded good but her set was front loaded, much like the current album. Castle and Falcon is a great venue that they keep physically improving. The bar is at the back now, so there's more side space, and you don't get trapped round a corner.

The big one was Bring Me the Horizon. First arena gig back. Got there 40 minutes before Nova Twins, the first support. Normally that'd be a 10 minute wait, then straight into an empty floor. Not tonight. Whether it was the covid checks, arguments about bags we were instructed not to bring, or the all new staff, but the queue was insane. If anyone is familiar with the NIA (now 'Utilita' Arena) in Birmingham, the worst I ever found the standing queue was when it looped from the door, then down onto a bit of the canal. This time it went right down the canal all the way to the Distillery (fka The Fiddle and Bone). Sunk cost, we went off to the shakey, knowing full well were weren't going to see Nova Twins or You Me at Six. After sinking a few we walked back near 2 hours later, just as they opened the upstairs queue for downstairs people. After being questioned about the contents of my pockets ("what's that?" 'the fob for my building' "if you say so") we managed to see the last 2 YM@6 songs. Dunno if they sounded great or if I was just overwhelmed at being in an arena again, but with the lights, the sound and the atmosphere, it was a shot of adrenaline I hadn't felt since Halsey at the Millenium Dome in March 2020.

Bring Me...were incredible. So many songs to choose from, and everything they played went off, including an phone-lights-on acoustic version of Follow You - a style I normally find anathema to a good time - which was actually lovely. The closing run of Obey, Throne and Can You Feel My Heart was pure euphoria, and I gotta hand it to the inventor of the 2 pint cup for creating the perfect vessel for non spill when you're jumping around. The band aren't to everybody's tastes, but I can't think of anyone else from the UK doing anything this big. I want to go back.

[BlueDaze]

I also started with a Sleeper/Bluetones twofer...Seen Bluetones a bazillion times and it is (and was) a great sing along.. Never seen Sleeper before. Louise Wener is still a dreamboat and looks like she is really enjoying what she is doing.. Atomic was great!

Elbow at a reduced attendance Hammersmith Apollo were their usual consistently top performing selves. The new(not new) material from Giants of all Sizes translated well to live performance with Dexter and Sinister a strong opener and White Noise White Heat particularly good.. Given the reduced attendance, my wife was able to brave getting up near the front for the encore which was nice to see... 

October Drift in the marvellous Portland Arms in Cambridge were an exhausting watch as normal... These boys are proper value and i hope they get some big success... I will admit to being very very drunk (Portland Arms barstaff are too fast by half..)

This is the Kit and Mark Morriss to look forward to next month...

Live music makes you feel normal. 

[westholtschic]

16 hours ago, BlueDaze said:

I also started with a Sleeper/Bluetones twofer...Seen Bluetones a bazillion times and it is (and was) a great sing along.. Never seen Sleeper before. Louise Wener is still a dreamboat and looks like she is really enjoying what she is doing.. Atomic was great!

Elbow at a reduced attendance Hammersmith Apollo were their usual consistently top performing selves. The new(not new) material from Giants of all Sizes translated well to live performance with Dexter and Sinister a strong opener and White Noise White Heat particularly good.. Given the reduced attendance, my wife was able to brave getting up near the front for the encore which was nice to see... 

October Drift in the marvellous Portland Arms in Cambridge were an exhausting watch as normal... These boys are proper value and i hope they get some big success... I will admit to being very very drunk (Portland Arms barstaff are too fast by half..)

This is the Kit and Mark Morriss to look forward to next month...

Live music makes you feel normal. 

Was lucky to have seen Elbow at Portsmouth. Was a fantastic gig

[Crazyfool01]

Friday night was showhawk duo on the boat Thekla in Bristol after a change in venue after swx fire so it was apparently a sold out gig ..,, I would say on the third reschedule I think some people didn’t show so there was always room at the back for those nervous of crowds right now … fantastic night bouncing dance floor and only a couple of fleeting thoughts of covid … I’m not gonna pretend that nerves don’t exist any longer because they do and I’m sure others share those thoughts but a few pints do help 😂 next up we have an efest meeting in Manchester on Nov 5th … with around 15 of us from the forum for rythum of the 90s which I’m really looking forward too … catching up with friends made during lockdown in real life 🤩

[DomDom1984]

COP26 rail strikes means that Enter Shikari is off for me, which is an absolute gutter.

[Losing my hair]

First thing after lockdown was Green Man which was absolutely joyful followed 2 weeks later by End of the Road which was even more joyful.

Sea Power @ The Craufurd arms in Milton Keynes - what can I say, one of my favourite bands doing a warm up gig in a small pub , magnificent.

LIFE @ The Black Prince in Northampton, one of the Revive Live gigs, great live band with 2 excellent local bands as support, really fun night.

Wide Eyed, a one day festival at the O2 in Leicester - full marks for trying but let down by some of the organisation. There were lots of technical issues, particularly on the second stage, and they tried to squeeze too many bands in and so almost all the bands were reduced to a 20 minute set. Highlights were Yard Act, Do Nothing, Katy J Pearson, Warmduchser, Snapped Ankles and Beak.

Wave Pictures @ Bedford Esquires - I love this band and they were on great form, the world needs more songs about marmalade sculptures.

Yard Act @ Bedford Esquires - what a great band this is and in frontman James Smith, one of the best live performers around. If you get a chance do go and see them.

The Murder Capital @ Bedford Esquires, what a band, 4th time I've seen them and they get more confident every time, played some new tracks which sounded great; really looking forward to the second album. Excellent support from Low Girl.

Laura Marling @ De Montfort Hall, Leicester. Couldn't be more different to The Murder Capital but an absolutely sublime evening.

Full marks to all the organisers for putting everything on, in particular Green Man and EOTR which must have been logistical nightmares, full marks to the bands for getting back out there and full marks to all the punters who have returned and seem to be relishing live music again.

Edited October 17, 2021 by Losing my hair

[NoBuses]

saw the Reytons in camden. Little landfill indie band but put on a great show, crowd was mental and well up for it. Decent gig in a great venue (dingwalls/powerhaus)

[kingcrawler]

Just in from seeing For Those I Love. I’m sure a few others on here got tickets for his tour this week, it’s nothing like any other gig I’ve been to but well worth going to if you like the album. Pretty much just him with a backdrop behind him but it felt incredibly intimate. He looked genuinely happy as if he was reliving every moment he talked about in You Live / No One Like You but was clearly very emotional throughout, he ran straight off stage after the last song. The album was probably still my favourite of the year so far anyway but that gig has just confirmed that.

[gigpusher]

On 10/16/2021 at 12:29 AM, crazyfool1 said:

Posting a review of showhawk duo wen pissed is probs not the best idea ..  fuck yeah though 😀

They have actually been my favourite live gig post lockdown. The audience were so up for it, they were so up for it and their support act Mellowmatic were really good at getting the crowd going as well. 

[gigpusher]

9 hours ago, kingcrawler said:

Just in from seeing For Those I Love. I’m sure a few others on here got tickets for his tour this week, it’s nothing like any other gig I’ve been to but well worth going to if you like the album. Pretty much just him with a backdrop behind him but it felt incredibly intimate. He looked genuinely happy as if he was reliving every moment he talked about in You Live / No One Like You but was clearly very emotional throughout, he ran straight off stage after the last song. The album was probably still my favourite of the year so far anyway but that gig has just confirmed that.

I'd love to have gone to see him in Manchester but sadly the timing of the gig was awful for me. I am hoping he might be doing another tour. I don't suppose he was selling the vinyl on his merch stall??

[cdm22]

Saw Orla Gartland at the Electric Ballroom in Camden on Friday who was excellent. I think I was possibly the oldest one in the room but the bonus of a lot of the audience being both young and female meant many were quite short so I had a decent view for the entire gig 😄

Their van was broken into the following day and many of their instruments and equipment stolen which obviously sucks so putting this here too https://www.clashmusic.com/news/orla-gartlands-van-broken-into-equipment-stolen on the vaguest offchance it helps them get something back.

[jump]

3 minutes ago, cdm22 said:

Saw Orla Gartland at the Electric Ballroom in Camden on Friday who was excellent. I think I was possibly the oldest one in the room but the bonus of a lot of the audience being both young and female meant many were quite short so I had a decent view for the entire gig 😄

Their van was broken into the following day and many of their instruments and equipment stolen which obviously sucks so putting this here too https://www.clashmusic.com/news/orla-gartlands-van-broken-into-equipment-stolen on the vaguest offchance it helps them get something back.

I see the small band having their equipment stolen too often, it's fucking shit. It's made even shitter by it happening mid-tour making it harder to replace their instruments in time for the next gig. I remember when Maximo Park had their stuff stolen and the frontman was more worried about his notebook being returned more so than the equipment.

[kingcrawler]

1 hour ago, gigpusher said:

I'd love to have gone to see him in Manchester but sadly the timing of the gig was awful for me. I am hoping he might be doing another tour. I don't suppose he was selling the vinyl on his merch stall??

I’m not sure unfortunately, I didn’t go over to look. I noticed there were the usual t-shirts and jumpers but couldn’t say for sure about vinyl.

[Padjeq]

11 minutes ago, cdm22 said:

Saw Orla Gartland at the Electric Ballroom in Camden on Friday who was excellent. I think I was possibly the oldest one in the room but the bonus of a lot of the audience being both young and female meant many were quite short so I had a decent view for the entire gig 😄

 

Best gigs in the world. Young women take up very little space so there's always loads of room at the back, great sightlines, and no queue for the bar.

[gigpusher]

23 minutes ago, cdm22 said:

Saw Orla Gartland at the Electric Ballroom in Camden on Friday who was excellent. I think I was possibly the oldest one in the room but the bonus of a lot of the audience being both young and female meant many were quite short so I had a decent view for the entire gig 😄

Their van was broken into the following day and many of their instruments and equipment stolen which obviously sucks so putting this here too https://www.clashmusic.com/news/orla-gartlands-van-broken-into-equipment-stolen on the vaguest offchance it helps them get something back.

Yes saw that news how awful for them as if musicians haven't had a shit enough time. 

11 minutes ago, kingcrawler said:

I’m not sure unfortunately, I didn’t go over to look. I noticed there were the usual t-shirts and jumpers but couldn’t say for sure about vinyl.

Seems to have been a tiny vinyl run and despite looking regularly I have not seen it being restocked yet. A shame as it's in my top 3 albums of the year so far. 

[found home in 2009]

13 hours ago, kingcrawler said:

Just in from seeing For Those I Love. I’m sure a few others on here got tickets for his tour this week, it’s nothing like any other gig I’ve been to but well worth going to if you like the album. Pretty much just him with a backdrop behind him but it felt incredibly intimate. He looked genuinely happy as if he was reliving every moment he talked about in You Live / No One Like You but was clearly very emotional throughout, he ran straight off stage after the last song. The album was probably still my favourite of the year so far anyway but that gig has just confirmed that.

I was also at the gig. Was in front row, it felt really intense and like you said that he was reliving the emotions as he performed. He also seemed really touched that he got such a strong response from the crowd. Did feel like we'd got to witness something fairly special. Think being in a small venue helped, not sure how it would translate if he blows up and ends up playing bigger venues.

[Gilgamesh69]

21 hours ago, kingcrawler said:

Just in from seeing For Those I Love. I’m sure a few others on here got tickets for his tour this week, it’s nothing like any other gig I’ve been to but well worth going to if you like the album. Pretty much just him with a backdrop behind him but it felt incredibly intimate. He looked genuinely happy as if he was reliving every moment he talked about in You Live / No One Like You but was clearly very emotional throughout, he ran straight off stage after the last song. The album was probably still my favourite of the year so far anyway but that gig has just confirmed that.

Good to hear. Im seeing them on Saturday at a nice little venue in Bristol. Very intimate.


Also have Lorraine James and Boo Radleys lined up for this weekend too.

[Crazyfool01]

13 hours ago, gigpusher said:

They have actually been my favourite live gig post lockdown. The audience were so up for it, they were so up for it and their support act Mellowmatic were really good at getting the crowd going as well. 

Thanks for the nudge on the support I’d forgotten the name of them 🙂 … I was fully expecting the usual support of benji and hibbz not sure what happened to them ? 

[Watergirl]

Still waiting for my first gig back.  No gigs yet in Ireland, only socially distanced limited capacity "book-a-table" events....

[gigpusher]

10 hours ago, crazyfool1 said:

Thanks for the nudge on the support I’d forgotten the name of them 🙂 … I was fully expecting the usual support of benji and hibbz not sure what happened to them ? 

Yes so was I. Big fan of theirs as well. So much so that my husband has a Mcvities rich tea biscuit t-shirt and we frequently say that our dogs take us for rich tea biscuits!

[priest17]

On 10/17/2021 at 10:40 PM, kingcrawler said:

Just in from seeing For Those I Love. I’m sure a few others on here got tickets for his tour this week, it’s nothing like any other gig I’ve been to but well worth going to if you like the album. Pretty much just him with a backdrop behind him but it felt incredibly intimate. He looked genuinely happy as if he was reliving every moment he talked about in You Live / No One Like You but was clearly very emotional throughout, he ran straight off stage after the last song. The album was probably still my favourite of the year so far anyway but that gig has just confirmed that.

This is good news, seeing him on Sunday and didn't know what to expect. Can't really drink as I'm on it all weekend and have one of those workdays I can't just sit scowling in the corner on Monday but seems like the kind of gig that lends itself to being sober from what you say.