rate the last gig you went to

Snoop says no.

Just in from seeing The Go! Team

They were good but definitley the worst time I've seen them. Sound was pretty poor it was just like everything had been turned up full whack - no subtlety to it at all. Can't knock them for effort though always an energetic and fun live band.

Also felt a bit like I was watching a band on a downwards spiral. The venue was nowhere near full and not exactly big (last time they played Norwich they sold out the much bigger UEA). The crowd was much older than I expected too and when Ninja questioned it just about everyone said they had been a fan since the first album. I just get the feeling they're not really picking up any new fans these days and I wouldn't be suprised if this was their last album.

7.5/10

LCD Soundsystem.

Pretty amazing. Glad I got to see them once.

Crowd was wild and they acknowledged that too.

9/10

i'd like to cover a few, since i just (re) signed up and i saw a lot of good concerts while i was visiting the UK.

British Sea Power Nov. 7, The Grove, Wimbledon

9/10: Great Set, small pub, and a band that rarely tours here in North America.


Gorillaz, Nov. 14, O2 Arena

7/10: Pretty enjoyable, nice to see Mark E. Smith, Mick Jones, and Paul Simonon on stage. The visuals work well with the live action. Certainly more of a real 'band' type performance than what I heard about those early Gorillaz shows back in the early 2000s.


The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Dec. 2, 229 The Venue, TCOTU

8/10: A fun show. They've added a second touring guitarist since I last saw them in 2009. They've improved a lot as a live act since then, and I'm really excited about the new LP.


Suede, Dec. 7, O2 Arena

9.5/10: A really fun show, and a solid setlist (a couple favourites I was really hoping to hear didn't make it, which keeps this at a 9.5 [example, To The Birds over My Insatiable One? Really?]).


New Pornographers, Dec. 9, Shepherds Bush Empire

6/10: I've seen the New Porno's a few times in Toronto. This set just fell a bit flat. Maybe they were worn out from travel. Not as lively as I'm used to seeing them.

yuck tonight

brilliant stuff. i saw them twice last summer and theyve improved so much since then.

9/10

Seems like an obvious choice to me, Brett. To the Birds would make my top 5 Suede songs.

a matter of personal preference

it was exciting to hear To The Birds though

Went to Snafu in Aberdeen at the end of January, first time I've seen a gig there in ages, for the 5 year anniversary of Dirty Hearts Club live music/indie DJs thursday club nights. Local boys JJ Bull (promising singer songwriter now backed by a solid band, 6/10) and The Little Kicks (ever-presents of the Aberdeen local scene, lacklustre on the night by their own standards though, 6/10) were ok starts to the night, but the reason the venue was crushed full was because Frightened Rabbit's lead singer Scott Hutchison was playing an acoustic set as headline. Starting with Old Old Fashioned and playing much of The Midnight Organ Fight set to loud backing-vocal audience participation, he was in humurous form the whole night, played Be Less Rude and a cover of Set You Free as well, took requests throughout and the whole thing had a feel of open-mic-gone-ridiculously-well to it, heaps of fun and excellent tunes. Absolutely implore anybody who is yet to listen to FR to download The Midnight Organ Fight as an ideal starting point. 8/10.

Just past this weekend, I witnessed The Streets' last Scottish headline gig at the Glasgow ABC. The previous time I saw Skinner was in Aberdeen in 05 following 'Hardest Way...''s release: at this point he was the face of Reebok and consequently training for a "promotional" marathon that he never ended up running due to ankle injury, so while this time around he was less animated and on-point, he made up for it by being fairly pissed and handing out pints to the front row, goading the crowd into throwing beer at him at generally running the whole gig effortlessly. ABC, Soldiers, Don't Mug Yourself, Dry Your Eyes & Heaven for the Weather were highlights of a class night. 9/10.

(ps. his support act Engine Earz were like a dubstep Scooter, sort of amusing but really, avoid at all costs. 2/10)

On Saturday, ventured back down the road to the ABC again for another gig. Support act was Cocknbullkid, and her breezy soul-pop set was marred only by unfeasibly shit sound engineering (is this solely a problem in Glasgow? the worst three gigs I have ever heard sound-wise were all there). 7/10.
Headliner Janelle Monae was introduced by a boy in a top hat working the crowd and an intro video screen giving the whole spiel that themes her debut The Archandroid. When Dance Or Die hit, it was all worth the gimmickry though, and Janelle and her absolutely excellent funk backing band ran through the absolute best tunes from her unfortunately overlong 2010 album and a couple of tracks from her EP as well. Tightrope, Faster, Oh Maker and beasting encore Come Alive were all highlights, but overall the entire show was the most enthusiastic, joyous and involving performance I've seen from any band in ages, huge grins all round. 10/10

Roll on Les Savy Fav tomorrow!

darwin deez tonight

was my 4th time seeing him in under 12 months and it was one time too many. id always thought his live show was excellent but it was pretty much the same old setlist with the same old banter and same old dance routines. i kinda expected this though but the band was really sloppy tonight too and darwin kept singing out of rhythm for some reason which was really annoying.

pretty disappointing

5/10

janelle monae @ roundhouse last night

apart from a poor soundmix for the first couple of tracks (you could hardly hear her vocals), it was pretty much faultless. It's just jaw-dropping how talented she is as a performer (not just her, all 10 or 11 of them)...seriously she's possibly as good a performer as i've seen (including prince and james brown).

I love the album anyway, but seeing it performed like that was extra extra special. Difficult to pick out highlights, but obvious moments were cold war into tightrope, wondaland (during which she painted a picture..which she gave away to someone in the crowd when they all came out to say thank you after the encore!) and come alive.....oh and getting everyone to sit down during the encore, while they all laid down on stage and carried on playing.

I can't remember ever dancing, laughing and being gobsmacked all at the same time at a gig.

9.5/10 would be a ten if it wasn't for the sound on the first couple of tracks


oh, and a great crowd for a change

Beady Eye, The Barrowland, 1st night, 10/10.

The Low Anthem - Twas just okay. They were very good, but I dont think I was prepared for how incredibly mellow the majority of their set was going to be. Boeing and Love and Altar were my favorites and the stand up bass was pretty cool, but definitely a band you have to be completely in the mood for.

7/10

Love Language and Telekinesis tonight, and both have been ripping shit up from what I read, so very very amped for around 24 hours from now.

Joanna Newsom

7/10

4th time seeing her, good venue, decent crowd, and songs from all three of her albums. 5 other musicians on-stage, so the sound was always dense where it needed to be, dropping back to just Noose and her harp when apt.

The Love Language

Fucking adore this band so much. Great people, such a good set. I didnt even bother with the headliner, ended up at the bar with a few of them and had a wonderful chat and drinks for a couple of hours. Set was blistering. They've gotten so much better from the last time.

9/10

Cold War Kids

3/10 fucking horrible.

Seen them about 3 or 4 years ago and they were horrible live.