rate the last gig you went to

Really? Saw him in Manchester last night and left feeling a tad disappointed. Some good songs but it was all a bit too melodramatic overall which I thought took the edge off the music. He was wearing wings and lycra on stage ffs, it was like watching Lady Gaga at one point. I can see why some left feeling amazed, but it was too extravagant for my liking, even his interaction with the crowd seemed a bit too forced and rehearsed.

Not one for the minimalists 5/10

If it detracted from the music in any way then I'd agree, but it didn't even slightly.

He and the rest of the ten piece band were incredible and the live recreation of the tracks from the last album (and the encore) couldn't have been better.

I'm not one for acts who rely on theatrics for their live act, which I think flaming lips do at times, but the Sufjan show just didn't feel like that. I thought it complemented the music perfectly. It's not like he was jumping around in wings for seven swans or Casimir Pulaski day etc, but for tracks like impossible soul or vesuvius or Get real get right etc it was perfect. I thought he was understated at the right times and all spectacular and overblown at the right times; and throughout the music and his delivery were beyond criticism.

Hey, I was there too, think I saw you with the Hoz father and nat

no, he is coming back to new york
www.mercuryloungenyc.com/event/6115

ahh ahhh you still planning on hitting ACL up??

Stagg & Dagger Festival on Saturday neet in Glasgow.

Top event, quality line-up full of great bands, some familiar, some new. Was on at 6 different venues across Glasgow. I just went to the ABC and the two venues just round the corner at the Art School, where the best bands were on and the cool kids were hanging. Plus it was LESS THAN A FIVER for a round.

In order, I saw:

Clinic I've mentioned them several times on here, but no one seems to be arsed. One of the best bands in the UK by a mile I reckon, they release great album after great album. Their pounding rhythms sound like no one else. Check 'em oot, turtlez later etc. 8.

a quick walk round to the Art School in time to see the semi-well known Veronica Falls, who sound like a good version of the Vivian Girls, no disrespect intended as the VGs are woeful. These guys have some lovely indie pop tunes. 7.

went up stairs to check out American chillwavers Toro Y Moi. The band had some serious grooves locked down, but it was a bit early for everyone to get properly into it. Gonna check them out more tho. 6.

Watched ten minutes of Happy Particles, they were absolute garbage. 1.

Broken Records were on soon after. They put on a great show, reminded me why I loved them so much in the first place, before they lost their live sound on a few plasticy LPs. 7.

wandered down stairs again to chance upon THREE TRAPPED TIGERS. They were un-fucking-believable. THE FUTURE OF MUSIC. 9. Dedicated thread to follow.

Sons & Daughters have been away for years, this was their big Glasgow comeback show, and they had a massive crowd out for it. They were a let-down tbh. Sounded rusty, Adele the once sexy singer was wearing a rank outfit and looked really nervous. New stuff was hit and miss, some of it did sound promising tho, new LP out next month. 5.

I stuck around for Ipswich's finest MC DELS. Bit of a cool fucker it has to be said. Great ryhmes, good presence, and he played with a full live band which too few hip-hop artists do. 7.

Top night.

Nice one. Will have to check out three trapped tigers, what kind of sound have they got? Totally agreed about vivian girls, load of crap. Veronica falls I quite enjoyed them I saw them look forward to hearing a record by them. Clinic, been recommended to me 3000 times by people, never heard a note. Thought they were yanks for some reason.

i love veronica falls but still not too hopeful they will ever release an album. most of the members have been in bands before who release a couple of singles then disappear. seriously think veronica falls could put together a classic if they wanted though.

Anna Calvi at the Bowery Ballroom.

Totally incredible show. She's a great guitarist and her voice is amazing. I was pretty floored by her. Very good opening act (She Keeps Bees) and the 2nd act was basically crap (Cuckoo Chaos), but Anna was just fantastic.



Got a really good guitar solo in that video.



Got a bunch of good pics actually. I'm very happy with some of them.

didnt bother with playfest in the end, kinda glad as i had a good weekend watching the champions league final and playoffs instead. also tonight i went along to this free gig in norwich...

DAVID THOMAS BROUGHTON

was really fucking good and pretty mesmorizing. 8.5/10

Wouldn't go as far as chrissie aboot three trapped tigers but I did enjoy them when I saw them live. There certainly something a bit different.

Tory Y Moi at the deaf institute the other day were spectacular, 9/10.

Support were all a bit patchy

So I went to Primavera in a long long journey which started and finished with a 4 hours bus travel packed with excited Barcelona fans. Ate with a friend in a nice Vasque tavern, was nice.

So the festival itself. Liked the location, specially the Pitchfork scenary just by the sea. Didn't like the acoustics between some of them though, there were some annoying collisions. And made same useless walk to go from one to another but that was more my stupidity. Didn't meet babu or titchjuicy btw. It's a no camping festival, don't like that at all but I went only one day so it didn't matter.

The first show I saw was The Tallest Man On Earth, who is not that tall tbh. He's brilliant though, no doubt, he performed wonderfully every song and I nearly melt with his facial expressions. He was joined by a bass player and a drummer for 3 or 4 songs, nice addition but not really necessary, and a girl (girlfriend?) sang one with him, Dylan/Baez style. He did not play Burden of Tomorrow though, a shame for me. 8.5/10

Went to catch Cloud Nothings who had already started. They seemed too hurried, like the new album. The drummer was like a runaway horseman using a foil, quite liked him. I really enjoy the tunes, so it was nice watching them. 7/10

Then I tried to go to see Yuck, who had started at the same time so obviusly had already ended. Anyway I got lost and confused so I didn't even see a bit of Warpaint which I wouldn't have minded. So I went to get a nice placing for Fleet Foxes. First of all, Robin Peckinold surprised me, a lot. He was nothing like I thought he was, I don't know why but I imagined him being an asocial grumpy guy, but he was laughing all the time and making jokes about ending before the Champions match started. He's a weirdo though, but a good one. The band was as I tight as I expected, the highlights being the Jesus bass player who does the harmonies and the black homeless multinstrumentist. Mykonos is one of the best songs ever. I hope I can see them in a hall, festivals don't suit them, although they proved me wrong this time. 8.5/10

Then I went to watch the football match on the screens they put, enjoyed the magnificence of Barcelona and had a shit burger for dinner. Left before the end so I could see PJ Harvey, but when I arrived it was quite packed and had to be content with seeing it from the distance. She was incredible, too perfect if you know what I mean, not a wasted note came from her voice. The set was Let England Shake + some hits, which is what I wanted as I just became interested in her this year. What if I take my problem to the United Nations? 9/10

I was quite tired by then so I just found a place to lie down and rest. I saw a bit of the James Blake DJ set but without too much interest. Remained there to witness Odd Future's party, but sat on the stairs. They jumped and shouted and let the people go up, including some who probably deserved the death shortly after learning to talk, but I guess you can't blame your fans. Also went to see Animal Collective for two or three songs, they were quite strange but not in a bad way. I just couldn't care less by then.

The Black Angels started 20 minutes late and left after a little more than half an hour. Considering it was 3:40AM, my feet were putrid and had lost my knees long before, it was not a bad thing. They were ok-ish, some great moments but didn't feel like they could have bettered it with a longer show. 6.5/10

So it was a great experience, but I don't think if I'll ever do something like that again. Being on my own I didn't drink too much, as I wanted to be sure I was getting the bus Plus the prizes there were as in every other festival, so not worth.

cant wait to high five you at FIELD(S) DAY barny

Be patient, time will pay

Prima review

Everything was slightly tempered by having a bad back for the whole weekend, so had to watch some shows sitting down- not a problem as most of the stages have grassy banks or steps to sit on.

I can't remember exactly who was on which day, and I can't be fussed looking it up.

Sufjan Stevens- Auditori

Each day they have something on inside the Auditori which is a spectacular building with about (rough guess) two thousand big cinema seats- and the best sound of any venue i've ever been to.
I'd seen Sufjan two weeks before at RFH so knew what to expect- and he delivered a more or less identical set. Stunning. 10/10


The Walkmen- Pitchfork Stage

The Pitchfork stage was the only stage where the sound was anything less than excellent, and that was only because you could hear the Main (San Miguel) stage from there- so We could ehar Grinderman all the while the Walkmen played. They were good enough a nd of course Rat was the highlight- but i wouldn't bother trying to catch them at a festival again. 6/10


Male Bonding- Pitchfork Stage

They were playing when no-one else was on the San Miguel, so the sound was good. They played too much new stuff for my liking probably 70/30 new to old ratio, but I suppose it means they're moving forward, which is healthy for a band. It's gonna be difficult to judge the new stuff until a proper listen, but the tracks from the 1st album sounded great. 7.5/10


Ty Segall- Vice/Jagermeister Stage

I only know his first album, which i love, but again the set seemed heavy on later stuff, which leans more towards metal and less towards the lo-fi sound on the first album. A bit disappointed, but the people i was with loved them. 5/10


The National- Llevant Stage

Stunning set. This is my 5th time seeing them in just over a year, and on the biggest stage during that time. The Llevant stage shares the headliners with the San Miguel Stage, and is probably just as big, and they totally owned it. The sound again was exemplary and the performance did it credit. Sufjan Stevens joined them for two tracks. A bit surprised they finished with about today, but a minor gripe. 9.5/10


Belle and Sebastian- San Miguel Stage

Can't really give a proper review as we were sat up on the hill watching this. It was close enough to hear clearly, but we weren't paying a great deal of attention, which kind of sums up how i feel about them anyway- pleasant enough background music, nothing to get excited about. 6/10



Suicide (playing their first album)- Ray-Ban Stage

Again, not really listening properly, sitting on a grassy bank to the side of the stage, which is probably just as well because they sounded like a very difficult listen. I think if I was on Crystal Meth or Crack i might have enjoyed them, but not for me. 5/10



Yuck!- ATP Stage

These played really early and we has a lovely spot on the steps to the right of the stage in the sun. I'm really growing to love these guys, and their set at that time, on that stage, in the sun was pretty much perfect. I think they the one band that everyone in our group both watched and enjoyed- even the one's that hadn't heard them before. 9/10


Fleet Foxes- San Miguel Stage

Only saw the first 5 or 6 songs cos had to make tracks over to the other side of the site to watch the footie . Again, the sound was immaculate, which is essential really to get the most out of fleet foxes (especially the stuff off the second album) as there's so much going on. Short set, but 8/10 for what I saw.



OFWGKTA- Pitchfork Stage

I don't know if there was a problem with the sound from where we stood, or that the sound was rubbish in general or just that they're not very good live but we couldn't understand a word of the performance, which left it as a load of shouting over heavy beats and the occasional sample. The best I can say about it was that it was energetic and I've never seen so many people stream away from a performance halfway through. Most disappointing act that I saw 3/10



Pulp- San Miguel Stage
Unlike seemingly everybody else in the world ever, i'm not a huge Pulp fan- i don't really know much past the hits, so wasn't that arsed about seeing them, but went along as everyone else wanted to. As it was, they were magnificent and the atmosphere was the best of the weekend. 8.5/10


Dean Wareham playing Galaxie 500- ATP Stage
This was the surprise hit of the weekend for me. I've only heard the 'today' album a handful of times, but went along with a mate who was a big fan. He/they were magnificent. 9/10

If JP can do it then i can.

Went to see John Bishop tonight. I caught him back in 2006 at the Carling Weekend in Leeds when he played to about 45 people in the Comedy Tent.

Anyway i wasn't going to go but my Dad bought me a ticket so it would have been rude not to. I've not seen him on 'A League Of Their Own' and never watched 'Bishop's Britain' or whatever it was called, so this was the first time i'd seen him for a few years and i thought he was pretty good.

Not as good as he was back in the day but still had me lol-ing.

7/10

Tonight at Cambridge Junction I saw THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART...


Puncture Repair Kit opened, I'd seen them before and they wern't much cop. Tonight did little to change my mind. 5/10

Fanzine were better live than on record. Reminded me a little of Yuck if they'd been raised on Teenage Fanclub rather than Dinosaur JR. 6.5/10

PAINS were brilliant, much better than at Latitude I'd say and the new lp songs sounded so much better live. nice touch in the encore too with kip coming out and doing contender on his own. 9/10

ALSO as I was walking to the venue from the train station I walked past the PAINS bassist dude Alex. ROCKNROLL

Cults @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Really good show. I was impressed with her vocals live and the songs had a really fleshed out sound in this setting. Very 60s pop-ish with a modern crunch. Highly enjoyable

8/10