Common People like me and Jarvis

On Monday I went to see The Drums at the Barfly in Camden. I went with my friends Tom and Melanie. After seeing The Drums supporting White Lies last week I was looking forward to this gig quite a lot.

We turned up at the venue but there was no one on the door, so we went up the stairs to see what was going on. When we got up there I realised we were quite early because there were only about 3 other people standing and watching the first band, Frankie & The Heartstrings, soundchecking. After about a minute I realised that all the other people in the room apart from us, were the bands friends/family/management, etc. So we were the only 'normies' in the room.

We decided to go wait outside for a bit and take in the surroundings of Camden so the bands could get everything ready. I'm pretty sure that they didn't want us to stand about there anyway. So we were standing outside the Barfly and then we realised that Jarvis Cocker was walking across the road towards us. He went into the pub side of the Barfly as well.

Later we went into the venue and I stood at the front while we watched Frankie & The Heartstrings. This was quite entertaining as at one point I was joined by Steve Lamacq, at my left, and Jarvis Cocker, at my right.

Frankie & The Heartstrings were very good. Hailing from the ship builing and coal mining city of Sunderland. They had some dancy, moody pop songs. They seemed like a great group of lads. They had some great stage presence. Lead singer Frankie walked into the crowd which I think scared Jarvis off, though.

Lion Club were up next and they tried to bust everyones ears à la My Bloody Valentine. My sisters friend Guy was playing violin, but what he was doing was drowned out by the drums and guitars of the rest of the Lion Club. What a very big, atmospheric sound they have.

The Drums were on last and they were great, except for the fact that they were using their iPod as a backing track, and the fact that Jacob was flailing around the stage like a fish out of water, almost hitting me with his tambourine or guitar. Pierce was brilliant again. I think he is a great frontman. If the buzz for this band keeps up they will be feautured in NME "hype" tours very soon.


As we left the venue I saw Jamie Hodgson who has a great blog on NME.com so check that out as well if you want - Jamie's blog.

Gary Moore tonight and Muse in nearly two weeks. I'm still 'gigging it up', if that is an actual saying. Let's just pretend it is.

xx

White and Green

This will just be a quick review of my gigs from this week.

On Monday I went to Kentish Town Forum to see some bands. Here's a brief summation of each band using only five words per act.

The Drums - jingly, jangly, surfy, but dancy.
Bombay Bicycle Club - heavy sound with flailing guitarists.
White Lies - bass heavy, epic, crowd-pleasing set.

White Lies were the best I've seen them. Harry McVeigh's vocals have stepped up a gear. They are really starting to make a big push towards the stadiums and vast spaces that their music is destined to occupy.

Then on Friday I went to the O2 in London to see Green Day. Prima Donna, the support band were good, as well but they weren't the reason I was there.
I was there to see if Billy Joe, Mike and Tré were still as good as I remembered from back in the day when I was a wee little lad.
Well, I don't want to disappoint all the Green Day haters but they were excellent. They ripped through old classics, new soon to be classics, accompanied by tons of pyrotechnics and stage invading fans. They worked the crowd as good as anyone I have seen at the O2. Everyone stood up from front to back of the venue, in awe of the punk rock band singing every word from the bands vast two hours plus set.

This week I am going to see the Drums again in Camden on Tuesday. Then I am going to check out The Great Flood on Friday, and also I have Gary Moore on the Sunday which I'm really looking forward too.

In other news I have started driving lessons. The first lesson was okay, but I'm still pretty nervous about the thought of me driving an actual car. My next lesson is on Wednesday, and I'm starting to look forward to it more every day as the nervousness starts to subside.

Talk soon followers.

xx

Stop telling me White Lies

Yes, I got over my illness. Although it was touch and go whether I would survive. That's what it felt like anyway.

This weekend was a bit of a boring one. On Saturday, I went to football. We lost.
I watched a bit of the X Factor. What the fuck were those brothers doing?
This video by RobChappers (YouTube guitar legend) sums it all up.




Today I've been watching the Grand Prix and doing some Contextual Studies revision for Wednesday at UCA. I'm having a break now, so I thought I'd write this, and I am so I'll carry on.

I'm looking forward to Monday though. White Lies + Bombay Bicycle Club + The Drums at HMV Forum with Melanie.


The guy on the far right of the picture is their lead singer, I think...


Things are really going well for me anyway. I've got to try and get some more revision done now.

That's all I have to say.

xx

Cartoons, Photographers and Paracetamol

I've just got back from London. Me and my family went up to see the Chris Duffy photo exhibition, as well as the Peter Brookes cartoons, at Chris Beetles Gallery. It was very enjoyable and the Peter Brookes cartoons were hilarious and brilliant.



Then we went to a nice Italian and had some pizza and stuff. I'm not feeling that well today and I've got a bad cold, but hopefully I'll feel better for university for tomorrow.

Here's a great guitarist from YouTube for your viewing pleasure whilst I try and get better...

pasterofmupets (Seb) - Lines In The Sand



He's a superb guitarist from YouTube who I follow. I urge you to watch his videos also.

Bye for now.

*cough* *cough*

Ed

Let's go to London, for music and fun

Today I took a trip to London to see Colin Jones' The Who photo exhibition, in Proud Galleries (in Charing Cross WC2) with my dad. It was a great exhibition. The photos gave you an inside look at the lives of the band, some were even taken in the morning before they had got out of bed. Jones basically had a free pass to the lives of The Who, so he could just walk into their hotel rooms and anywhere backstage without much fuss. There were some photos of their gig in Manchester in 1966, and lot of backstage shenanigans caught on camera as well.

After we had spent about half an hour there we decided to head to Denmark Street just off of Oxford Street. For those who don't know this street is a guitar player’s paradise. The whole of the small street is dedicated to musical instruments (especially guitars), save for a few hairdressers and coffee shops. I hadn't been there for ages, so I was quite happy to wander round aimlessly, just staring and drooling over the Gibson and Fender guitars. Most people seemed to be doing the same, one shopkeeper ended a phone call with his friend by saying, "OK, I'm just going to get back to my shop and not sell anything. Bye mate". This made me chuckle.

We had lunch in a nice café. Paninis and Milkshakes were very welcome after a long day walking around London.

The funniest thing I heard all day (and there were quite a few things) a white man who was obviously a Muslim, he was walking with three men in suits and one of the men he was with sneezed, and he said to them, "Uh oh, you haven't been eating pork again have you?" (Swine Flu reference and Eating of pork banned in the Qur’an jokes all in one). This caused me to laugh out loud.

I've bought tickets to see the Drums on the 27th of October and also White Lies, Bombay Bicycle Club and The Drums (again) on October 19th. So, I'm really looking forward to them. I'm going to see Green Day sandwiched in between them on the 23rd, as well.

Treetop Flyers

Last Tuesday I went to launch of Treetop Flyers' EP 'To Bury The Past'. I'd read a bit about them and I'd had a listen to some of their songs on their MySpace. What I'd heard I liked very much so I bought a ticket to see them play the Lexington. They play a mix of electric and acoustic. I instantly thought, "This band sound a lot like Crosby, Stills and Nash", and unless I have made some massive error, then they actually take their band name from Stephen Stills track from his solo album "Stills Alone" entitled Treetop Flyer.
So on Tuesday, I went to see them and they were superb. Epic sound and great harmonies. I think they are a great tip for the near future. I'll definitely be seeing them again.

Check out their song "Is It All Worth It?" in the Nokia video below.

Also check out their website - http://treetopflyers.co.uk/

Nokia 'Skate' from Tubby Brother on Vimeo.

Life is mostly Music

My life is now your life. My music is now your music.

Understand?

Well then ...... let's get started.