David Emery OnlineMusic Week
31 August 2005
Over the past week or so I’ve been to a whole load of gigs – the benefits of working for a record label, I suppose – which is why I haven’t been blogging much. Generally I blog in the evening, which doesn’t really work if you are out at a gig, but I don’t have too much lined up this week, so hopefully I’ll be able to write a bit more (I’ve got a whole load of stuff I’d like to write about, but I don’t think I’m going to have time…).
Here is a quick really pretty long roundup of all the stuff I’ve seen:
Saturday 20th August, The Garage London: Kill Casino & Asylum Nation
To start of my mini-gig-marathon I went with an easy gig – The Garage is about 30 seconds walk from my flat, so it wasn’t exactly a strenuous night out. Anyway, I digress – Kill Casino were easily the best band on the bill, with their particular blend of punk and alternative rock working really well, especially when coupled with their female vocalist, Karen Luan – it’s always good to see something a bit different from the standard male-fronted guitar based rock that you see so frequently at this sort of level.
Talking of different, Asylum Nation were certainly that. The lead singer was dressed as a pimp, with a very wide brimmed leopard print hat, with a matching long jacket and cane. The bassist was a rabbi and the guitarist was a “jester”, although he didn’t really get into the swing of things and was simply wearing a silly hat. The music sadly didn’t match their “individual” look and was quite bland, with strong Lenny Kravitz overtones (which isn’t a good thing). It’s also probably worth noting that half the crowd disappeared after Kill Casino came off, so they played to a fairly empty Garage.
Monday 22nd August, Brixton Acadamy London: Queens of the Stone Age
From a small gig to a very large one; Queens of the Stone Age rocked! Now, normally I would try and think a more artful choice of words, but with QOTSA nothing is more appropriate. The only slight negative point was the lack of any kind of support act (other then an irritatingly rubbish DJ), but Queens more then made up for it.
They played for well over 2 hours, and really delved into some of the dustier regions of their extensive back catalogue and put a really good show for the more hard-core Queens fans (of which I’m one of). A particular “thankyou” goes out to them for playing some of the tracks of the Desert Sessions, which by there very nature don’t get played live too often – obscure/weird stuff is exactly the sort of thing I want to see at a gig!
Another thing worth mentioning was that this was the third time I tried to see QOTSA this year, with the first time being cancelled due to illness, and the second time being cancelled due to the 7th July bombings. As a way of saying “sorry” for all the problems, we got limited edition signed 7”s on entry, which was really pretty cool – they didn’t need to do it, and I’m pretty sure most bands wouldn’t, so don’t let anyone ever say that QOTSA don’t love their fans.
Tuesday 23rd August, Mean Fiddler London: The Roger Sisters & Death From Above 1979
I’ve never been to the Mean Fiddler before, but I have to say I was utterly unimpressed. There was absolutely no air whatsoever inside, and it was stupidly hot by the time DFA1979 came on (I was literally dripping ).
The Roger Sisters were easily better then DFA – live they’ve got a real energy and spark about them that doesn’t really come though on record, and they’ve got some really good tunes to back it up. Again, they’re really working the female vocalist thing, and the vocal sparing between Jennifer Rogers and Miyuki Furtado work really, really well. I predict big things.
DFA1979 on the other hand have exactly the opposite problem – the album is absolutely stunning but live it just doesn’t really work. DFA1979 are quite unique as they are a two piece, with Jesse F. Keeler on Bass & Sebastien Grainger on Drums and vocals (yes, that’s a singing drummer and a band with a bassiest and no guitarist…). The problem is not, as you might expect, a lack of sound or tune due to the lack of a guitarist, but more the opposite; as they rely on seriously distorted bass to carry the song, everything else, in particular the lyrics, gets lost in the wall of sound.
I’m not sure if it’s just due to DFA1979 demanding too much from a venue’s sound engineers, or whether it’s something that just can’t be done because of their distinctive setup, but I’ve seen DFA1979 in a couple of venues now and the mix has always been appalling.
Friday 26th August, Reading Festival
Of course, if seeing that little lot wasn’t enough for one week it was also Reading Festival – a three day rock festival which is coincidentally held in my home town (camping is so passé...) – this weekend as well. Here’s who I saw:
Thirsty Merc, Carling Stage: To be honest I only saw Thirsty Merc, who hail from Sydney Australia, as I was waiting for the next band, and they weren’t really any good. The lyrics were pretty poor (including one song about a sarnie ), and the whole feel was “pub rock”. They seemed nice enough though, and seemed genuinely happy to be there, which always goes a long way.
The Roger Sisters, Carling Stage: Yes, I saw them again at Reading. Again, they were really good, with their happy, fun vibe really working with a festival audience.
The Dead 60’s, NME/Radio 1 Stage: Well, they have only one half decent song (Riot Radio), and very little else going for them. Very derivative of early eighties post punk stuff as well. It’s a shame really, as I had fairly high hopes as the single is quite good, but the singer has really quite a week voice, and the other songs they played were lacking.
Death From Above 1979, NME/Radio 1 Stage: Yes, I saw them again too. Sound mix problems still plagued them, but they were still pretty good (don’t get me wrong, I’m a big DFA1979 fan, I’d just really like to hear the album done justice live.
The Subways, NME/Radio 1 Stage: All in all, The Subways were “ok”. They weren’t amazing, but they have a few pretty good songs, and they play them well live, but they’re not going to change the world. Three word summary: The new Ash. They also seemed pretty darn chuffed to be there, and had a lot of family with them, which is nice (it’s a bit strange coming from Reading, and knowing that all these rock gods (I’m not referring to the Subways here, btw) know where it is…).
Saturday 27th August, Reading Festival
Clor, Carling Stage: I was mightily impressed by Clor. Their eponymous debut album is very, very good, filled with fun dance/alternative pop/rock, and I thought that live they would probably be very synth/keyboard based, but still good. When it came to it, however, it turns out that Clor happen to have 2 really good guitarists, including the singer, and they really brought a lot more “rock” into it then I thought they would, but it worked really, really well.
Biffy Clyro, Main Stage: Biffy are always good live, and this was no exception. I am, however, no fan of the main stage at Reading. It just too big, and with it being outside you get no sense of actually being at the same gig the band are at. Biffy were the only band I saw on the main stage this year, and even they suffered greatly because of it.
Juliette & The Licks, NME/Radio 1 Stage: Utter rubbish. The only reason why they were on the bill was because the Juliette in Juliette & The Licks is Juliette Lewis, sometime Hollywood actress. The songs were derivative 70’s rock rubbish, with the sole redeeming factor being Ms. Lewis’ outfit (essentially a bikini with leg-ins, but shiny-er. With a Viking hat. With horns. Really.).
Be Your Own Pet, Carling Stage: Again, mightily impressive. Jemina Pearl is a very, very good lead singer, with enough confidence to sink a battleship (confidence is very heavy, as it is very dense – this is the reason many famous singers are quite short, as there growth is stunted due to the weight…). However, the reason for all that confidence became quite clear at the end of their set when, in a particularly rock and roll moment, Jemina threw up on stage – and I don’t think it was down to nerves.
Caesars, Carling Stage: Worst. Band. Of. The. Festival. They’re the people behind “Jerk it Out”, as heard on the iPod commercial. What they were doing playing Reading, I don’t know, but they played a particually cheesy brand of euro rock. Also, the bassist had long, curly, blond hair. I need not say any more.
Sleater Kinney, Carling Stage: Like Queens of the Stone Age on Monday, and also Clor earlier in the day, Sleater Kinney showed how good a band can be live if it’s full of exceptionally talented musicians. All the songs they played were from their brilliant latest album, The Woods, and they were all sublime. Definitely one of the highlights.
The Raveonettes, Carling Stage: Another band rocking the dual female/male vocals thing, but on the whole not that amazing. Pretty good, just nothing exceptional – their first album was ok, and we got to hear a lot of tracks off it, but from what I’ve heard the latest one is nothing special.
Sunday 28th August, Reading Festival
¡Forward Russia!, walking past the Carling Stage: I didn’t actually see them, but walking past they sounded really quite good – worth investigating further, I think.
Art Brut, NME/Radio 1 Stage: Now, a lot of people probably think that Art Brut are simply a comedy band and to be fair, after hearing “We Formed a Band”, their first single, I was one of them. But it does them a great injustice, as the album is a gem, once you get past Eddie Argos’ unique vocal delivery (I’m being nice; he just talks along with the song.). Live, they work perfectly, as Mr Argos’ aforementioned “singing” allows him to go off on a tangent, and ad-lib superbly, and it all works really well. Three word summery: The new Pulp (dear god, I’m turning into a lazy music journalist…).
The Rakes, NME/Radio 1 Stage: The Rakes were great, as their singer was ill. No, not like that – he’s really good normally, but his illness meant that to compensate they brought on Paul Smith, the lead singer in Maximo Park, to sing for a couple of songs and also Russell Lissack, the guitarist in Bloc Party, to play as well. Top marks go to The Rakes for playing without their singer, and making it one of the most unique events at Reading this year.
Test Icicles, Carling Stage: Yes, they have a silly name. Yes, a lot of the live show devolved to white noise. But again, they were another band that really connected with the audience, with heaps of almost-witty banter between the songs, some of which were really good. I’m sure they’ll be in the NME/Radio 1 tent next year.
Maximo Park, NME/Radio 1 Stage: Maximo Park were pretty disappointing, really. They are just a bit too by-the-numbers indie, which is my main criticism of the album as well. Nothing distinctive at all, just angst-y, “complicated” lyrics and your bog standard guitar. I thought we’d done all this stuff 10 years ago?
The Duke Spirit, NME/Radio 1 Stage: The album is pretty good, with some solid songs, but at Reading they just bombed . They didn’t get with the crowd at all , and they were musically very weak. Possibly the most disappointing band at the festival, simply because I thought they wouldn’t be that bad.
M.I.A, Dance Stage: M.I.A is generally not my sort of music, but sometimes you get an album so strong it’s good regardless of what genre it belongs in (and M.I.A straddles quite a few). Live, she’s more of the same; I normally have a strong dislike for anything without instruments in, but M.I.A still worked with 2 MC’s and 1 DJ. Also, near the end of her set she got 20-odd girls from the crowd up on stage to dance, which was worth it purely for distress it caused the security!
LCD Soundsystem, NME/Radio 1 Stage: Last of the festival for me, but certainly not least, was LCD Soundsystem. They were seriously good, and are really rocking the dance/alternative crossover thing which I’m really into at the moment. At one point they had three different people drumming at once, including James Murphy the singer/mastermind behind the whole thing – any band that has three drummers at once has got to be good.