Django Django live at Stylus, Leeds

Fresh-faced thirteen year olds attending their first gig rub shoulders with seasoned rockers, forming the biggest motley crew imaginable and packing out Stylus for the men of the hour: Django Django. As the band appears, resplendent in piano key shirts and Christmas jumpers, they are decidedly uncool. All of that is about to change, as lead singer Vincent Neff picks up a tambourine and wields it like a talisman, entrancing the crowd as he waves it back and forth for ‘Hail Bop’. All of a sudden, the four gawky lads stood on stage are transformed into magicians, placing the audience under a spell as they weave their way through an incredibly varied set.

Django Django prove themselves to be more inventive than just another indie electro band. ‘Love’s Dart’ featured the make-shift use of a cardboard box as a drumset and coconuts as percussion; paired with an acoustic guitar, it provides a lulling contrast to the preceding ‘Reflections’.

They also expand outside of their generic bounds with ‘Slow West’; written for the Michael Fassbender film of the same name, it’s the closest the band will ever come to a Mumford & Sons-esque vibe without swapping their synths for banjos.

The most striking thing about Django Django is how much their performance suddenly puts their albums into context. As recordings, it’s easy to see how, objectively, they are undoubtedly quite good, but not hugely impressive or memorable. Live, they are electrifying. Where on the album, tracks like ‘Skies over Cairo’ are repetitive, when performed, you never want them to end.

The band’s own enthusiasm during the show is infectious. Carried through by the mesmerising drum beats, the band enter their own trance-like world which, rather than excluding the audience, pulls them in further.

Django Django: indie rock’s nice guys changing your life one strobe light at a time.

Glastonbury 2015

Source: Wikipedia

After so many years of gazing longingly at the BBC coverage of Glastonbury, sitting warm and dry on my sofa at home, the Eavis' gigantic creation always seemed like a bit of a myth. Couple that with the astronomical ticket prices and the fact that they sell out within minutes, actually going never quite seemed like it was on the cards. Glastonbury was always a far-off fairy tale which changed with each telling, like a folk story passed down through generations, the true meaning always shrouded in mystery. However, with 200,000 people there, the experience itself was sharply real and not at all mysterious.

First off, I would like to make something very clear: the mud is not exaggerated. Although 2015 was relatively dry compared to recent years, the tramping of huge crowds up and down the huge site meant that the mud remained and was impossible to escape, However muddy or cold or rainy it was though, this did not dampen the spirits of either the crowds or the bands. There was always a smiling face wherever you looked, and a cheerful word said in passing. The spirit of Glastonbury is so communal and welcoming that it's impossible to feel like an outsider; the hippie origins of the festival have survived in its open-mindedness towards complete and utter strangers, and everyone is willing to have the best possible time with the best possible people, whoever they might be.

Source: Wikipedia

A few of the more difficult things about Glastonbury are (a) the crowds and (b) the size of it. We'll deal with (a) first. When there are 200,000 people all crammed into one space, all desperate to see the same things at the same time, it's an understatement to say that moving around is a wee bit tricky. Getting anywhere near the front of the Pyramid stage is a challenge of enormous size, unless you're willing to sharpen your elbows and push your way to the front, or you fore-go all calls of nature for the entire day, be they stomach or otherwise related. Ok now onto (b). The site is 900 acres. That's many many acres to be trudging from one end to the other throughout the day and night in desperate attempts to see all the bands you want to and soak in every last bit of the festival that you can. It is, therefore, impossible to do and see everything. Although this does mean that your legs ache by Monday morning, it's worth it to see the huge range of people, acts and entertainment that there are at Glastonbury. However if you do want to avoid running up and down 900 acres of farmland, pick the things that you really want to do and spread them out on different days so you do the things that are close together all on one day. It saves a lot of necessary leg-power.

Source: Wikipedia

And as for the music, I don't know if I can talk about it all here. Literally whatever you are into, there will be something for you, guaranteed. From Burt Bacharach to Jungle, Lionel Richie to Slaves, Glastonbury is the definition of 'something for everyone'. Some stages are dedicated to certain genres, such as Leftfield and The Park, and others, like the Other Stage and the John Peel Stage, cater to huge ranges of tastes, from the rising stars to old hats. Seeing as you pay so much for a ticket, you are given a free guide to the festival upon arrival, outlining the schedules for the weekend and allowing you to plan out what you want to see and where you want to go. One thing in common for all artists performing is how thankful they are to be there. They all recognise the cultural importance of Glastonbury Festival, and all know how lucky they are to be performing their music to thousands upon thousands of people, and to watch them give thanks to the audience in the middle of a set is
rather beautiful, especially when it's as heartfelt and genuine as they all were.

Where would a festival review be without a couple of highlights, eh? Patti Smith bringing the Dalai Lama on-stage so a crowd of at least 50,000 could sing him happy birthday for his upcoming 80th birthday. A man dressed in a mantaray costume running around the stage at Slaves for their song Feed The Mantaray. Kanye West flying above the crowd on a crane. Florence placing a flower crown on an adoring fan's head whilst singing 'this is a gift'. George Ezra's dad handing him his guitar for his change-over. FKA Twigs' insanely beautiful outfit. Wolf Alice's not-so-secret set on Thursday evening. Pussy Riot acting out overthrowing an advocate of Putin's regime whilst standing on top of a huge Russian tank. Jamie T joining The Maccabees for their song Marks To Prove It. Everything about The Who. Years & Years' frontman's beautiful rainbow besequined top to mark London Pride. There are far far more than I can put here, which just goes to show the absolutely high standards of the festival itself.

In spite of having just written rather a long review of the festival, I'm speechless in thinking of a way to sum it up, so I'll do it in three words. Just. Fucking. Go.

Latitude 2014

Source: Eventful stays

Music festivals are so intrinsically linked to our idea of a good summer that to actually experience one is like being part of the elite, the desperately cool, the so on-top-of-all-things-cultural-that-the-human-race-may-as-well-start-trying-to-be-you.

Latitude, one of the biggest and best festivals in England, is renowned for being a bit more of a family festival, with much more to it than the music. There's an all-day Comedy Tent, a Film and Music Tent (both of which are discos by night) and several dance stages where the more cultured people can enjoy a spot of Sadler's Wells whilst munching on a bit of Greek cuisine. There's something for everyone there, so if the music isn't quite to your taste, there are plenty of alternatives at all times.

Source: Drowned In Sound

One thing that particularly struck me about Latitude (aside from the incredible coloured sheep) was the intensely laid back atmosphere. 'Intensely laid back' seems like a bit of an oxymoron, but there was just such an absolute lack of pressure to do anything unwanted, or to absolutely have to be anywhere at any one time. This made for a truly personalised festival experience, tailored to your wishes and desires, and not at all focusing on one aspect of culture.

The relatively close-knit layout of the festival meant that it was very likely that you would bump into anyone and everyone within your field of acquaintance; this created a fabulous sense of communal enjoyment of the proceedings, that everyone could take part in and enthuse about together. This make-shift society of enthusiastic music lovers created what Kevin Parker of Tame Impala called "our own little utopia", where anything was allowed. This gives you the freedom to actually be able to let go, forget any sort of stress or worries that have been nagging at you, and simply go where the wind takes you. That's the very clichéd way of saying that fuckin' anything goes.

Source: eFestivals

All this, and I haven't even gotten to the music yet. It was the most perfectly selected array of bands that could ever have been displayed at any festival ever in any universe ever. It catered for everyone's tastes, whether you're into indie rock, soft pop or a little bit of folkie goodness, they had it all. Despite Two Door Cinema Club pulling out at the last moment, the organisers could not have found a better replacement. Lily Allen was simply incredible, mixing her usual wit and sarcasm with pure talent that captivated the audience and created such an incredible buzz around her. Other highlights included Crystal Fighters (for the sheer energy of Plage, if anything), Haim (need I say more), The Black Keys (because they are perfect and no one can argue otherwise) and Gengahr, whose chilled out set gave the impression that they really weren't too fussed about being at Latitude, but whose quality of music and enthusiastic performance proved this to be utterly false.

The main thing that came out of the weekend was how open and accepting Latitude is as a festival. You can stay up all night dancing to some fantastic DJ sets, or you can go to bed immediately after the headliner for the evening. You have the option of seeing both Dara O'Briain or Rudimental in one evening. You can even eat whatever the fuck takes your fancy; the point is, it doesn't matter who prefers what, because everything is catered for, and everything is available. This idea of exclusivity disappears as soon as you walk in the gates.

Wild Beasts - Live at the O2 Academy Brixton

Given the hugely positive reception for Wild Beasts' fourth album, Present Tense, the bar was set high for the level of last Tuesday's performance. Present Tense made it onto NME's list of the best albums of 2014 so far, and it's been highly praised by all who've heard it. It's just praise indeed, but it takes a while to warm up to Present Tense, just because it's such a big step away from 2011's Smother. Anyone who claims to be a Wild Beasts aficionado (and there aren't many, but those who do are truly dedicated) will tell you that the shift isn't obvious, but more of a subtle move away from the insistent and yet artistic vulgarity of songs like Plaything. It's intelligent without being inaccessible; there are songs about sex that are less about fulfilling an animal desire and more about fulfilling an emotional deficit. In short, Wild Beasts have grown up. They'd probably resent that description quite a lot.

Psychedelic light show

With East India Youth supporting, and with the O2 Academy Brixton as the host for the festivities, it looks set to be an evening of intelligent music and heavy bass. For a one-man band, East India Youth's William Doyle is surprisingly captivating and bad-dance-moves inducing. Everything is achieved with his MacBook and a synth, all wired-up to amplify the noise by a billion. His sufficiently awkward refusal to make eye contact or interact with the audience made his absorbed and passionate performance even more interesting. A "hello" would've been nice, though.

When Wild Beasts come on, it's clear that all their hard graft to achieve some sort of notoriety has paid off; the screams are incessant throughout their set. They kick off with the beautiful Mecca, from their new album, which starts off in a languidly passionate way, giving them plenty of scope for the rest of the evening.

Some bands, when they've just released a new album, prefer to play that album from start to finish, maybe giving the audience a cover, or the staple old song that gets wheeled out at every gig they do. Not so with Wild Beasts. They gave a nod to their past by putting songs like the wonderfully vibrant Devil's Crayon, from their first album, next to Daughters, a slightly disturbingly gorgeous song from their fourth. Far from being a bit strange, the contrast only demonstrates how far the band has comes from the Limbo, Panto days.

What makes Wild Beasts stand out from many other bands is that they in fact have two lead singers: Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming. Both men have distinctly different voices; Thorpe favours a higher range, tending more to use a falsetto, whereas Fleming's voice is gorgeously rich and smooth. It's the vocal equivalent of a chocolate fondue. In their live performances, it's fascinating to see how shared vocals work in practice. With songs like All The King's Men, Thorpe leaves Fleming to do his thing, but in Reach A Bit Further, the two voices mix and complement each other perfectly. On the album, it's wonderful. Live, it's phenomenally phantasmagorical. Alliteration intended.

Wild Beasts

The band members themselves clearly adore what they do. Their performance is full of enthusiastic headbanging, arm-moving, piano-bashing, and, in Thorpe's case, a new method of wide-legged dancing whilst playing the bass. These guys ain't nothing if not inventive.

Wanderlust, the leading track from the new album, isn't revealed until the encore, but it gets everyone screaming "don't confuse me with someone who gives a fuck" with visible glee. The night ends on the epic End Come Too Soon, sending the crowd into hysterics when everything dies down in the middle. It provides the perfect farewell to what really couldn't have been a better performance.

All that show did was prove to me how undeserving Wild Beasts are of being called "pop". It's far too small a bracket for the wide-ranging styles and lyrics that they encompass across their four albums. Their songs are too good to be overexposed with too much airplay. Their albums deserve to be picked up and discovered quietly, and then listened to with awe and wonder. Reader, I call upon ye to love Wild Beasts, and aid me in my quest to love them quietly. I find that too much screaming and shouting only drowns out the music.

Peace - Live

Having been ranked 14th on NME's 50 Best Albums of 2013, nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2013 poll and doing several major headline tours both in the UK and USA, it's needless to say that 2013 seems to have been a pretty good year for Peace. Their debut album In Love, released in April this year, broke in at number 16 on the charts in its first week of release. Don't seem bad for a couple of rookies.

This may be why, on their first night of a double bill at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, the crowd outside are so keyed up and rearing to get in there. In fact, when they do, the lucky few were literally elbowing past each other, sprinting to get to the barriers. They seem to have attracted an unlikely bunch; obviously you've got your indie kids (only to be expected, it is a Peace gig after all) although there is a group of girls standing behind me, wearing nothing but crop tops, leggings and hoodies for warmth, enthusing over the greatness of helmet-haired You Me At Six. Brilliant. But no matter, everyone's equal in the fight for a front row view.

Superfood

This motley crew of fans started piling in very quickly, and even before Superfood, the first support act, came on they were piled at least 10 deep. By the time Peace actually do get on stage, all tiers of seating and all of the stalls were full to the brim with eager, sweaty fans, craning their necks to get a glimpse of the performance on stage.

Superfood acted as a sort of aperitif for the evening. Owing to their limited material, they lasted only half an hour, but it was everything you expect from them: awkward, brilliant, raw. Superfood preceded Drenge, the second support act for the evening. Drenge, two brothers from Derbyshire, were great. If the fervent nodding of Peace drummer Dom Boyce (who gave a cheeky look-in from the side of the stage) was anything to go by, it was going very well. As a band, their self-titled debut CD can't hold a candle to their live performance.

Drenge

As the stage is set for Peace, excitement gradually mounts. Then, the music drops, the lights go down and they swagger on stage with all the confidence their new-found success has given them. The opening number is Waste of Paint, which sets the tone nicely for the songs to come. Peace aren't very engaging as performers, preferring to shut their eyes, stare at their shoes and instruments and generally make as little eye contact with the screaming fans as possible. The between-song chatter is kept to a minimum, although as Harrison Koisser, lead singer and guitarist, attempts to throw a towel out to the crowd, he remarks in the most nonchalant way imaginable "I was born to throw. High." as said towel stops just short of the barrier.

However, all of that doesn't matter. The strength of their material makes up for their slightly self-conscious performance. As they bound through the tunes from the album (notably Follow Baby, Higher Than The Sun, Toxic, Float Forever, Lovesick and Wraith) they manage to stick in a few surprises as well: halfway through Harrison introduces one of their new songs, entitled Money; they end the main set on 10-minute trippy anthem 1998 and even stick in their recent cover of Wham!'s Last Christmas during the encore.

As the last notes of Bloodshake echo through the room, I can't help but think that they are truly a very, very, very good band. Not just good, but really rather brilliant. Well worth the sore feet and throbbing ears.

Check out this alternate review of the gig by my friend Georgia

Noah and The Whale - Live at the Palace Theatre

The Palace Theatre on Cambridge Circus has a banner of yellow around the top of it advertising Singing in the Rain; a cluster of brightly coloured umbrellas adorns the front of the theatre, brash and loud. The only sign that Noah and The Whale are actually playing here is the beige tarpaulin sign announcing their show (which is swiftly dismantled at the end of it), the clusters of dedicated fans waiting to get in and the boiler-suited concierges. More on them later.

Inside the theatre, it’s much the same; the dark wood of the circle has a certain elegance to it without being overly showy. The stage is quite small, and there are faded rugs on the floor for the convenience of the performers. It’s a relatively small venue, and yet there were still whole rows of empty seats. This surprised me, seeing as their single L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N reached Number 14 in the UK charts and their third album Last Night on Earth reached Number 8 in the UK album charts.

However, the whole set up of the show, the understated intimacy of it all, perfectly reflects the vibe of Noah and The Whale. They don’t need to scream and shout for the limelight, because their skill and humility speaks for itself. Charlie Fink’s muttered “thank yous” after every song, Tom Hobden missing his cue on the piano at the beginning of There Will Come A Time – it all seems very human and easygoing.

The concept of the show was this: they wouldn't have a support act. Instead they would play an acoustic set, then there would be a showing of the short film that accompanies their new album Heart of Nowhere, a short interval, ending in a full live set. This worked so well. They acted as their own support act, easing the audience in with acoustic versions of Give A Little Love, Tonight’s The Kind Of Night and Not Too Late. It shows a confidence in their material that they allow themselves to start off with the more intimate songs.

All of the songs were so skilfully played and done so with such passion from every member that the audience refrained from the usual mid-song whoops; instead they sat enthralled and reserved the cheers for the end. The original 5 members were accompanied by Tom Hobden’s string quartet, and they added a new level to the already layered and intricate songs; they slot right in, and complement the band so well.What I loved about the acoustic set was that they played some songs from their achingly beautiful second album First Days of Spring. You would think that the subject matter would be
too painful, too personal to be able to play them live, but the band did an amazing job of translating the intimacy of these songs into an inclusive live performance.

It was with First Days of Spring that you could particularly appreciate the difficulty of such a task.  It built up and dipped down again just as on the CD, but as a live performance the meaning of the lyrics and sentiment of the song became suddenly clearer. Towards the end of the song, a disco ball lit up in the corner, and a full-on light show came into play, adding to the strength of the emotion.

Next was the short film, written and directed by Charlie Fink, sharing a name with their newest album. Each band member has a short cameo, mostly as wardens for the fictional Teenland, an island where all teenagers are kept in quarantine until they can be integrated back into society. This is where the boiler-suited concierges come in. The premise of the film was that three boys, presumably based on the three founding members of Noah and The Whale, run away from this imprisonment. They then decide to play one last gig to go out with a bang instead of being caught “like rats”.

Although it’s only half an hour long, the quality of the acting and cinematography mean that you get the entire plot without it needing to go on for two hours. The closeness of the shots allows for an almost intuitive assumption of each character’s personality and back story  One distinctly touching scene was when the bassist tells his future self not to “let them cut your hair. You have great hair.” Indeed, it has to be said that Noah and The Whale’s bassist Matt Owens (more affectionately known as Urby Whale) really does have great hair.

The interval allows for some comfort that you don’t usually get with live shows; Fink refers to this during the show laughingly, saying “next we’ll be playing in the DFS showroom. Then you won’t even know we’re playing because you’ll be asleep”. But again, this unusual, almost theatrical set up reflects the tone and vibe of the band themselves.

Although the acoustic set was fantastic, it was with the full live set that Noah and The Whale fully came into themselves. They made it so the audience felt a particular affinity with every song, as though the band were playing it just for them. The way that Fink’s voice bounced and glided off each note draws you in; you can’t possibly look away. They’re clearly all so passionate about their material, shown in Charlie’s bouncing, Urby’s hair swishes, Tom’s toe tapping, Matt’s swaying and Fred’s air drumming. If anything, this part of the show emphasised their versatility; songs like Heart of Nowhere and All Through The Night show that Noah and The Whale can do rock as well as anyone. As they played Silver and Gold, Fink announced that it was the first time they've performed it live, and it kicked off magnificently.

Throughout all of this, the audience’s excitement is slowly building, until someone plucks up the courage to yell “I love you!” to which Fink gives a thumbs up and goes “thank you!” Somebody then yelled “Stranger!!” To my absolute delight, they played it. Halfway through, Fink forgot the words, and Tom Hobden, Michael Petulla and Fred Abbott were clearly improvising, but this only served to embed the idea that they are just five normal guys playing music they love, grateful for the attention. Speaking to Urby Whale afterwards, he thanked me for coming out to see them. Astounded, I replied it was my absolute pleasure, that I’d love to any time to which he just smiled thankfully. Charlie Fink shook our hands and thanked us for our support. The actual Charlie Fink. Yes, really.

During Still After All These Years, somebody handed Urby Whale a guitar, and he and Fred Abbott exchanged guitar solos, with Charlie Fink standing back, grinning at each one. Again, this not only reaffirmed the versatility of their music, but the versatility of each band member. This was when you truly got to see the amicability between them, the
sincere friendship. Long may it last – I want them to keep producing albums for as long as possible.

As soon as the opening chords of 5 Years’ Time began to play, the entire theatre got up on their feet and began to dance; my photographer, the lovely Maya Colwell, said to me afterwards that she doesn't think she’s ever danced that much in a theatre before. It allowed the audience to be as uninhibited as if they were at a festival, and danced madly, hands in the air, screaming all the words. Then came the amazing L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. I, personally, went slightly crazy, arms waving everywhere and bawling out each line. I think I got several odd looks from those sitting in front of me, but I really couldn't have cared less. The band themselves looked invigorated by this outpouring of support that they allowed the crowd to sing the last chorus, stepping back modestly from the microphones to allow our generic voice to come through.

As they went off, the screams of “encore!” got louder and louder, so they conceded and came on again to play the fantastic Lifetime. Some might say that ending on a new song was risky, but in all honesty, it integrated the new material further into their repertoire, making them firm favourites with everybody.

Rating: 11/10. Every time.

The Black Keys (again...)

Here are some of the pictures from The Black Keys! The ones of the band are kinda crap, but oh well, it's my little piece of amazingness...

Yes, I got a little bit excited

My dad and my friend Eve

A very fuzzy picture of The Black Keys themselves

The Black Keys live

As I mentioned in the previous post, The Black Keys one of my favourite bands. Understatement: they're my favourite band of all time. And on 12/12/12, I was lucky enough to go and see them live at the O2 arena in North Greenwich. OH my god, you have no idea how excited I was, I almost spontaneously combusted at several points during the weeks leading up to it...!

To start off, as a taster to the amazing night ahead of us, The Maccabees opened with a fantastic set, including Love You Better, Pelican, Feel To Follow and Can You Give It. Aaaaaaaah, SO GOOD!!

Then they went off, and we waited half an hour for The Black Keys to come on, although it only felt like 5 minutes to me (the adrenaline slightly got the better of me from 7:00 onwards...) And then they came on, and I nearly cried, I was so happy. They opened with Howlin' For You, from their 2010 album Brothers. It only got better from there! They included some oldies (Thickfreakness and Strange Times) as well as the majority of El Camino. So far, so incredible.

They "finished" with Lonely Boy, which was just electric. Then, when they came back on for the encore, a giant glittery disco ball came down from the ceiling and they played Everlasting Light... Just watch this and you'll see what I mean.

Altogether it was an incredible evening. I've become a complete concert addict now, and will angle to see anyone and everyone I possibly can! I'll post some pictures when I've had them developed, so godspeed, folks!