New Gig Thread

[pophead2k]

I kind of want to go see Van Halen in March. Am I a bad person? If I do, I'll make up for it by seeing Bob Mould the next week.

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

Steve Earle - Sage, Gateshead, Jan 27th

A (mostly) solo set, accompanying himself on guitar (sometimes banjo or mandolin) with occasional harmonica. Mid way through he was joined by a 'dj' who laid some beats to rev it up a little for the new songs. Alison Moorer then joined in to duet on one song, and sing backing on a few others. Then he was alone again, and attempted to get us to sing along to Lay This Hammer Down. He was v. disappointed at our feeble efforts. Played a good few songs in the encore, with a nice tribute to his Father who passed away just after Christmas. Finished with Copperhead Road.

Alon the way we heard Billy Austin, Tom Ayme's Prayer, City of Immigrants, My old Friend the Blues, Devil's Right Hand, Jerusalem, Jericho Road etc.

Excellent, but like he said 'the revolution ain't gonna start round here any time soon'.

[StrictTime]

Dr. John show last night with Micelle Shocked opening. She wasn't bad. The main show was pretty awesome. He's not so incredibly theatrical like he was in years past, but he put on a good show. Off the top of my head he played Mos' Scoious (know I spelled that wrong), Mama Roux, Tipitina, I Walk on Guilded Splinters, Right Place, Wrong Time, something about a girl named Irene, and more, but damned if I can remember now. A lot of the usual suspects, I guess, I don't really know. But Guilded Splinters was the highlight for me. That's actually what I wanted to hear and it was so good.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Goodnight, Irene?

Popularised by Lead Belly, sung by your fave Tom Waits on Orphans, and adopted, bafflingly, as the signature tune for the fans of Bristol Rovers here.

[StrictTime]

Yes, yes that's it. He mentioned a Lead Belly tune at some point, I couldn't remember if that was it, though. Good detective work, there.

[verbal gymnastics]

I went to see Hard-Fi last Wednesday at the fabulous Koko in Camden. It's strange when you see new bands who "only" play for 75 minutes (Arctic Monkeys/The Kooks etc) when some of the bands I see are only just about warming up after that time.

They were excellent and it was worth the admission money alone when Mick Jones of The Clash came out for the encore and they played a great version of Should I Stay Or Should I Go? as well as Stars of CCTV.

I must admit though, as great a view as I had, it was difficult to recognise Mr Jones at first

[Otis Westinghouse]

The Bootleg Beatles! I was offered a free ticket, thought why not? They've been at it since 1980, toured the USSR for crying out loud. At first I thought it was going to get tedious, but it's all very well polished and they soon got into the mid to late-period, which they seemed more at home with. Something very odd about seeing things from beyond their live period performed live. They play with a four piece mini-orchestra, who do a fantastic job. I was sure that in the weirdy bits of A Day In The Life they were using tapes, and realised, nope, it's all live. It was all very touching. Part nostalgia, songs that are the first things I remember hearing as a tot and that have been there ever since, and also a sadness at the fact that they split up and never got to play all those great later songs live. Highlights were a fantastic double whammy of Penny Lane, with nice backdrops of 60s Liverpool, and Strawberry Fields, and the surprise, due to not being 'a hit', but very well executed Golden Slumbers->The End medley. 'Once there was a way to get back homeward...' gets me every time, and hearing it live more than ever.

First time I've ever seen a tribute band (other than 'From The Jam'!), and I've always kind of wanted to. The voices weren't always great, but they were decent impersonations. Harrison's guitar was spot on. Drums not bad either.
http://www.bootlegbeatles.com/sound_a3.htm

They're touring in South America in May! Not sure I'd want to shell out £21 for it, but great to see for nothing.

[PlaythingOrPet]

Saw them in Manchester a few years ago and they were brilliant. Still one of my favourite gigs I've been to.

The boy has a 'thing' for Robyn so I'm taking him to see her at Koko tomorrow as a surprise. She has scary teeth.

[martinfoyle]

Just back from seeing The Hot 8 Brass Band at Whelans and it was wonderful. The place was heaving and you could see the guys loved the reaction they got. They barely fit on the stage but still played their hearts out. Incredibly tight, there wasn't a wasted second. Highlights were I'll Fly Away, a truly spiritual experience, and their incredible interpretation of Sexual Healing, Marvin would be proud.
Next up,

The Sahara Hotnights
at the The Button Factory on saturday, who are apparently quite good, does it matter?

[verbal gymnastics]

Billy Bragg at the Roundhouse as part of my one Concert A Month Tour in 2008 (or so it would seem!).

Good gig and great inbetween song banter as ever.

I'm booked to see James in April and Paul Weller and The Kooks in May. Shall I see EC at Hyde Park supporting The Police in June though? Even if it is to keep up the One Concert A Month.

[pophead2k]

Just back from seeing The Hot 8 Brass Band at Whelans and it was wonderful. The place was heaving and you could see the guys loved the reaction they got. They barely fit on the stage but still played their hearts out. Incredibly tight, there wasn't a wasted second. Highlights were I'll Fly Away, a truly spiritual experience, and their incredible interpretation of Sexual Healing, Marvin would be proud

Excellent Martin! I love the Hot 8- my favorites besides the Rebirth.

I just picked up tickets to see Nick Lowe and Ron Sexsmith in April!!!

[Otis Westinghouse]

What a great night out that will be!

[pophead2k]

It will be my first time seeing either of them live, so needless to say I can't wait! Nick's label (Yep Roc) is based here in Chapel Hill, so I'm hoping he pulls out a special show for the label town crowd.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Nick Lowe should be OK, but lucky is the human who shares live musical time with the brilliance of Ron Eldon Sexsmith.

[mood swung]

OK? Just OKKKAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY?

I gave serious thought to doing the NL Charlottesville (? I disremember the exact name right now), but can't do that and EC.

Unless somebody wants to buy a child. PM me.

[Who Shot Sam?]

OK? Just OKKKAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY?

I gave serious thought to doing the NL Charlottesville (? I disremember the exact name right now), but can't do that and EC.

Unless somebody wants to buy a child. PM me.

Really sucks. Three dates I could conceivably get to - NY, Albany and Northampton, Mass. - but the first one is on my boy's birthday, and the other two are midweek.

[ice nine]

Saw Patty Larkin last night in a nice intimate venue - maybe one hundred people there. She was alone up on stage with here Fender Strat, an acoustic guitar, and a mandolin. She used a drum loop for some of her numbers. Very good show!! Nice angelic voice and good guitar player. Everything from jazz to ambient to straight folk. Sorta like an almagamation of Suzanne Vega, Joni Mitchell, and Bill Frisell.

[Otis Westinghouse]

OK? Just OKKKAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY?

Bearing in mind that he's sharing a bill with Canada's best recording artiste since Neil and Joni made themselves known to the world...

Really sucks. Three dates I could conceivably get to - NY, Albany and Northampton, Mass. - but the first one is on my boy's birthday, and the other two are midweek.

Midweek schmidweek! Gotta be there, WSS, and you know it.

[BlueChair]

I am elated, having just booked Red and I to see Leonard Cohen at the Hummingbird Centre on Saturday, June 7.

[verbal gymnastics]

Have booked to see Paul Weller with Steve Craddock at the Royal Albert Hall on April 10th. It's a one off acoustic show in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust.

I've also booked to see Mr Weller on May 21st on his tour.

[miss buenos aires]

Just opened a birthday card from my lovable boyfriend to find two tickets to see the Police AND EC & the Imposters at Jones Beach in August!

[ice nine]

Saw a performance by Il Fondamento last night presented by The Renaissace & Baroque Society of Pgh. IF is a touring group of sixteen classical musicians out of Brussels. The instrumental pieces were four minor Bach suites. The ensemble uses period instruments so there was a real harpsichord.

I couldn't help but wonder if this was the way concerts were in the seventeen hundreds. A group of musicians touring the countryside by day and playing whatever town they come into by night.

[BlueChair]

Just got in from seeing Gary Louris (formerly of The Jayhawks). Great performance including most of his solo album, Vagabonds, along with a good number of songs he wrote for The Jayhawks and Golden Smog. The highlight definitely came during the encore, when surprise guests The Sadies joined him for the 'hawks tune "Tailspin" and Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere."

[verbal gymnastics]

Paul Weller supported by Duffy last night.

Duffy has got a beautiful voice. I thoroughly enjoyed her set.

For the first time in many a year I found Paul Weller disappointing. He played an acoustic show with Steve Craddock, his guitarist.

One of the problems was that as the show was a charity show on behalf of the Teenage Cancer Trust, there were a lot of corporate boxes full of people who were there for the hospitality and who had no idea who they were watching.

It was also a poorly paced set - fair beginning, a few smatterings of Jam b-sides (Shopping, a fantastic Liza Radley and Butterfly Collector) and two long songs to end the main set (Shadow of the Sun, Foot of the Mountain). The only encore saw him sing C'mon Let's Go (and it was interesting watching his face singing the line "Sing you little fuckers"), You Do Something to Me and a rousing That's Entertainment.

It was evident that there was no real audience interaction and there was a subdued call for the encore.

Enjoyable but not as enjoyable as had it been a "proper" Paul Weller fan base show. Even Paul's "Thank you, you're very generous" comment to the audience seemed very insincere.

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - Hall 2, Sage, Gateshead Sat 19th April 2008

This was the last night of the UK tour, postponed from Tuesday 'cos they did Later ... With Jools Holland instead.

Excellent! She's a showman (showgirl is not quite the same thing, is it?) and works hard. Also, a diva. There were problems with the sound and twice she abruptly left the stage - she sang 'they can't hear me', gave the sound man a filthy look, and walked.

But the band are so good they masked it v. well.

During the encore they did It's a Man's World, she gave us all dancing lessons (the Mashed Potato, Hitch Hike etc) and, during a testifying section in Answer Me (Sweet Jesus), she repeatedly sang 'Why has it taken half the night for them to hear me?[/i] whilst glaring (again) at the sound man.

However, the assembled masses barely noticed the problems. The standing were dancing and the seated were grooving. A good time was had by all.

What a voice! What a band!