rate the last gig you went to

Just came back from my homeboy Gruff Rhys and he provided us with the quote of the year saying he thought Phil Collins was the only solo artist to have ever split up

10/10

The Voices ... there's a blast from the past. Their debut was a cracker. Think they were Welsh weren't they?

Yeah, they'd came all the way down for that gig to play in front of nobody, felt sorry for them. Debut is great, 2nd I didn't like. They had a third but I never found it.

Wowwwwwww

James Blake 5/10

What a fucking sleep inducing, annoying, shit cunt show. The opening act was Prefuse 73 and it was seriously the gayest shit Ive ever seen. Two white dudes playing with computers and bobbing their heads. I really hated just seeing them onstage. Like WTF did they do to get any sort of gig?

James Blake. Not awful. Not good. It was the album perfectly replicated live. Dude was completely and totally nervous (first US gig) which is understandable, but my God. I could've stayed home, listened to the record and experienced the same exact thing. Really disappointed. Nonetheless, once he gets his live chops up a bit, I imagine it will be better, but fuck.

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Non drunk review it wasnt that bad, just lacked any energy. The opener was borrrrrrrring. Blake was boring too, but not as much.

fuck shows on a Monday too

SCREAMADELICA @ the SECC.

usually a shite venue to see any band but it was kind of fitting for this occassion. an indie-rave album being played in a big warehouse full of people dancing, fuck yeah. i was higher than the sun, as was bobby G by the looks of things. massive sound, massive night. 9.

British Sea Power @ Maxwells

Holy fuck. Such a tremendous band. They played a nice long set and they ripped my face off and I think I found it somewhere in my right pant leg. Dont miss these guys. Easily the best gig Ive seen this year so far. Id totally stick my tongue in the violinists asshole too.






10/10

British Sea Power @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Not as jarringly brilliant as last night, but still a really strong show. Setlist wasn't changed much at all at least from memory. They seemed to have a lot more energy tonight, but that didn't really effect the performance either way. Such a honed and tightknit band. Absolutely completely impressed. The place tonight was a little bigger and last night was basically in a closet in comparison and I prefer those intimate gigs much more.

9/10

They're coming again in April, but I have another show that night. Definitely will be aiming for them in a few years when they inevitably come through again.

Richard Ashcroft @ Bowery Ballroom

Aside from getting caught in a hell of a hailstorm on the way to the venue, this was a really good show. I am not particularly fond of his latest solo record (that RPA and United Nations of Sound) but live the material came off really well and he's backed by a fantastic group of musicians. Busted out some old Verve classics and played a really excellent acoustic set. He seemed to really enjoy himself up there and that was pretty contagious.

8/10

Just in from The Abyssinians. Was good, liveliest I've ever seen the Norwich Arts Centre probably. Weird crowd for the reggae really a nice mix of really drunk old people and white twentysomethings stoned out of their mind with dreadlocks who look like they've just finished a shift trying to persuade people to subscribe to a tenner a month to Save the Children.

I'm also a big fan of how reggae artists play their big hit two or three times during a live set. It's a bit like going to see Embrace live and having Come Back to What you Know played 3 times - huge stuff.

8/10

Primal Scream playing Screamadelica @ Brixton Academy, last neet

So huge. Well surpassed my expectations. The vibe there was amazing and I will never forget the feeling when Higher Than The Sun started, one of the best moments of my entire life. Still buzzing.

9/10

Last night saw The Joy Formidable at a tiny club down the road. 9/10. Their record is my favorite so far for 2011. They were loud and very energetic, just what their songs need. Ended up standing a few feet from the stage, right next to the speaker. My gf's ears are still ringing about 24 hours later. My ears are already damaged enough from years of shows that they didn't ring at all. Probably a worse sign for me, but oh well. They only played 8 tunes but got all my faves covered so it was alright. I imagine if they break the US a bit more they'll start having longer sets. They had their drummer at the front of the stage on one side though, which was weird, never seen that before. I was literally 5 feet from the drummer where I was standing.

Mona opened are were alright, I don't know if anyone here is keen to the hype from NME or whomever, but the singer seems to have some chops. Didn't really get a feel for the songs except for the one I'd heard beforehand. Still looking forward to their record though.

Lonely Forest opened before them and weren't too bad. Couldn't stop thinking that the lead singer reminded me of Joaquin Phoenix though. Waffled their record afterwards and will give it a listen or two.

I hit the high notes during damaged

Agreed with that review, didn't quite enjoy as much as the Olympia gig but only because I'd seen it before & they didn't do any any xtrmntr tunes. Still an amazing gig.
Also, I hit the high notes during damaged.

Is that going on the tombstone as well?

"Called the shots when Oasis played Wembley...hit the high notes during damaged"

+ 'went Chelmsford away'

Basically, this.

Loses one for the encore, Shoot Speed/Kill Light would have sounded absolutely incredible given the circumstances. Did enjoy Country Girl/Rocks/Jailbird more than I thought I would though.

Crystal Stilts @ the Arches

Cool band, loud sound and good tunes. C_r_m approves. 8.