Crippled Black Phoenix @ Dingwalls, London. 14/9/09

It’s very busy in London tonight, gig-wise. There are at least 6 shows (that I know of) that I could happily be attending If I wasn’t at this one. I’m hoping this is the reason for the venue being painfully thin on punters. It still seems odd, especially as Crippled Black Phoenix (in spite of being English) are not a band who tour all that frequently. It’s a month shy of two years since their last London show. Hopefully the lack of bodies will not mean an atmosphere free evening.

The stage is just about big enough to hold the rather extended live setup of the band. As usual, there is a blend of the traditional acoustic strings mixed with a sizeable bank of electronics. As much as the strings get lost in the mix during the ear piercingly loud parts of the songs, the acoustic guitar and cello add some real beauty and melody to the quieter moments. They start strong, and the set seems to improve with every new track. It’s about as far from Post Rock by numbers as you can get, with songs that know when to end and plenty of vocals. Even the rather modest sized crowd get in on the act for a superb rendition of the choral parts of “Burnt Reynolds”. Loved it!

The Antlers @ The Lexington, London. 4/9/09

Sometimes music can be a bit of a paradox. The Antlers latest release (Hospice) is the most beautiful and uplifting record to be released this year. It’s also an album about someone close dying of cancer. After crafting the debut album on his own, Peter Silberman drafted in Michael Lerner (Drums) and Darby Cicci (Keyboards) to help with Hospice. At some point during the recording process they became fully fledged members of the band.

The finished record is an epic production, and one that takes on a whole new level of emotion charged rawness live. Tonight they are the opening act, regardless of the fact that most of the room is here to see them. The downside of this is that we are teased with a painfully short six song set. They start with a solid rendition of “Bear”, hampered by some dubious sound levels. By the time they start the second song (Thirteen) this has been rectified, and we are treated to some of the choice highlights of “Hospice” (although not playing “Kettering” is almost criminal). It would be almost impossible for them to replicate the high production values of the record on stage, but the raw sound only adds to the dynamics and atmospherics of the show – leaving the subject matter feeling even more urgent and hopeless. A blistering version of “Two” closes the set and, all too briefly, it’s over. Ears are ringing, emotions are wrought and jaws are on the floor. They are back in town at the end of Nov for some (hopefully longer) headline shows. Only a fool would miss out.

Monotonix @ Upstairs At The Relentless Garage, London. 24/8/09

The Garage has just reopened after undergoing a fairly extensive refurbishment. After spending so much on the modernisation, it seemed rather odd that they booked in the band most likely to trash the place. Hailing from Tel Aviv (and rumoured to be banned from playing any of its venues), Monotonix are an act that puts on quite a show. They forsake the stage completely and set up their gear a few feet in front of it. They are all dressed only in the tiniest shorts I have ever witnessed. What ensues is utter chaos. Within the first five minutes we have a singer playing a floor tom whilst crowdsurfing, a guitarist climbing the walls and a drummer covered in beer – and this is just them getting warmed up.

The music consists of some fairly heavy rock jams with the odd song thrown in for good measure, but the music really does come second to the theatrics, raw energy and crowd participation. Members of the audience are now holding the bass drum up in the air, with the singer standing atop of it, screaming at and mooning the audience (gives a whole new meaning to the Gaza strip). I’ve lost sight of the guitarist completely. The drummer looks about to drown in his own sweat. A photographer tries to get a close up of the singer. He beckons him closer and then spits on the camera lens. I’ve spotted the guitarist. He’s behind the bar! Suddenly an hour has passed, the music stops and normality is resumed. I leave exhausted, smiling and covered in sweat and beer.

Oneida @ The Relentless Garage, London. 18/8/09

A rare London appearance for the New York 5 piece, promoting their ambitious new triple album, “Rated O”. How do you even begin to describe their sound? They are equal parts stoner rock, psychadelia, punk and garage - all played with the intensity of The MC5 at their greatest. The set is very heavily focused on the new album, with a couple of oldies thrown into the mix (“All Arounder “ from 2001's “Anthem Of The Moon” being a particular highlight). A projected light show , almost as psychedelic as the music, is covering the whole stage. The drummer is producing enough energy to power a small city. Tonight The O are about as intense as music can get. Long may they continue.

Beat Day 09 (Day 2) @ Valbyparken, Copenhagen. 15/8/09

So, after a most enjoyable first day, I have the unfortunate timing to arrive just as Florence And The Machine are starting their set. It’s an apt name for a band who seem about as inorganic as can be. In fact, unless Kasabian change their name to Dogshite, it may be the most apt ever. Florence has a great set of pipes, admittedly, but her manufactured crazy girl playing dress up act in no way moves me. Back that up with some of the blandest tunes I’ve ever been subjected to and it’s a firm “NO” from me. Luckily The Raveonettes follow to readjust the good/evil balance. Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner fill the park with some lo-fi rockabilly tunes twinned with their trademark two part harmonies (ok, The Everly Brothers might have the original copyright, but why let something as trivial as facts get in the way).

Lykke Li has pulled quite a crowd to the second stage.She’s been touring her debut album for 18 months now, and for those who’ve seen her a few times it’s getting a little flat. Picking a Kings of Leon song to cover (Knocked Up) doesn’t exactly help with the staleness of her performance and some new material is much needed to help add some variety to her sets asap. Band of Horses are up next, and they already have a new album on the way. The set is a nice solid mixture of all three records, with some lovely folk harmonies emanating from the stage amongst the southern blues tinted guitar licks. The set goes down so well that they are dragged back out for an encore of “Our Swords”, regardless of their sub-headliner status.

Ladytron are going through the motions, but food becomes a higher priority and most of their set involves a queue for a burrito. Post noms, I head off to get a reasonable spot for the closing act of the festival, Arctic Monkeys. They are not a band I listen to that much, but their live shows tend to be something quite special. The set starts off with a few tracks from the brand new (Josh Homme produced) “Humbug” album. Two songs in and one guy in the audience is already crying with excitement. “Don’t cry. We’ll play some old stuff too” jokes Alex Turner. By the time they start rolling out the hits, the crowd are already well and truly under their spell. The songs really take on a new life in the live arena, with even the rather dull “Fluorescent Adolescent“ sounding passable. They keep the energy levels going right up until the curfew and easily have the biggest crowd of the weekend. They also produced the best performance.

Beat Day 09 (Day 1) @ Valbyparken, Copenhagen. 14/8/09

Beat Day is quite an odd music festival. The setup is not like any I have previously experienced. Here you have a huge park adjacent to the river and some particularly non-scenic views (a power station and an uninspiring bridge). There are stages at either end of the field, and the set times are thus that as one stage ends the other starts. A great idea in theory (no sound bleed and you get to see every act), but not too inspiring in practice (there is no escape from The Ting Tings). The festival started in 07 with just Danish acts, but expanded last year to incorporate a close to 50/50 split of Danish/International music. It is now in its third year, and Valbyparken is its third home.

Day One kicks off with a hometown set from Efterklang. This is the first time I have seen them without their usual keyboard player . Anna Brønsted is busy with her own band “Our Broken Garden”, so Peter Broderick has his sister Heather helping out in her place. The band look a lot more relaxed than usual, with singer Casper Clausen exchanging his usual band uniform for some rather geeky looking shirt and cut-offs combo. They proceed to liven up an already sunny afternoon with a beautiful set featuring a mixture of highlights from Parades (Cutting Ice To Snow being the highest) and a few promising new tracks. A great start to the day.

Oh No Ono follow at the other end of the field with a rather pleasant pop racket before The Ting Tings throw their hat in the ring for the most uninspiring live act of 09 award. Queueing for a burger seems a much more worthy use of my time. Wolfmother are up next , with only singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale remaining from the original lineup. They’ve lost little of the energy that they bring to their live shows, but still just sound like an extremely talented Led Zeppelin covers band. They have a great sound. It’s just not their own.

Basement Jaxx are up next. I’m not a huge fan of their recent output, and I’d heard a few negative reports from their Big Chill performance, so expectations are low. My pessimism turns out to be completely unfounded, as they roll out hit after hit and finally make me start to feel like I’m at a festival and not just watching bands in a park. The front third of the crowd has turned into a massive dance party. They put a huge smile on my face, so I try to steer clear of Crystal Castles and their electrobollocks.

Mew close out the main stage with one of their standard grandiose performances. They’ve come a long way from what started out as a soundtrack project for their art school exam. It’s everything I’ve come to expect from them. Blistering melodies, glass shattering vocals and stunning projected visuals are intertwined to maximum effect. The new tracks from “No More Stories” really come alive alongside classics like “Am I Wry? No” and the epic closer “Comforting Sounds”. A beautiful climax to an entertaining first day.

The National @ The Royal Festival Hall, London. 10/8/09

Finally, the arrival of one of my most anticipated shows of the year. My want for attendance was so strong that I purchased Southbank Centre membership to ensure ticket success. This certainly hasn’t always been the case. The first few times that I witnessed them live were fairly humdrum affairs, with singer Matt Berninger almost statuesque at the microphone stand, surrounded by a band that were going through the motions. All this changed last year, with Matt finally coming alive on stage. He had discovered how to let loose, how to move around the stage and also how to crowdsurf. He had discovered Wine (and the copious consumption of it whilst performing). This led to some electric performances last summer and the reasoning behind my rather lofty expectations of tonights show.

The band amble on stage to some rapturous applause and kick off the set with “Runaway”, a rather slow paced but emotionally moving new number, before heading off into more familiar territory. An audience member yells out for them to play the hits. “These are the hits”, deadpans Matt and the crowd are lapping them up. Nearly everyone is out of their seats and swaying along to the beautiful intensity flooding out from the stage. The Dessner brothers are leading the sonic charge with melodic distortion resonating from their guitar amps. The band finish the main set with a blistering rendition of Fake Empire before the obligatory 5 minute vanishing act that is the precursor to any encore. Matt is even more animated for this section. First he knocks over an ice bucket before sliding around on the cubes like Bambi. The next thing you know he’s halfway to the back of the stalls belting out “Mr November” (That is one long microphone lead he has). The night draws to a close with “About Today” and a riot of applause from a very grateful and appreciative crowd. High expectations exceeded.

She Keeps Bees @ The Sheepwalk, Leytonstone. 5/8/09

Ok. I have to be honest. Up until the day before this show i had no idea there was even a venue in Leytonstone. This is even more of a suprise as it's only 10 minutes away from my house. The venue is not very full, which is hardly a shock as it took major detective skills to even find out where this show was happening in the first place.

Another night brings another New York band my way, but with relatively nothing in common with last night apart from geography. She Keeps Bees are much more of a blues laden affair. The origin of their name comes from the mother of singer Jessica Larrabee commenting on how when her daughters band makes it big, she can use the money to look after her. Hence she will be keeping the Larrabees in their twilight years. Yes, i know you didn't ask.

The show that the duo treat us to is short but sweet. Their latest release, Nests, comes in at under 30 minutes, so i suppose it's to be expected. Jessica makes the best she can of the rather sorry looking P.A. system to hit us with some raw steamy blues vocals and riffs, whilst drummer Andy keeps a solid backing to procedings. There is an energy and raw emotion to their performance which has, for me, not really been captured on their recorded work to date. It seems the more sparse the track, the higher the intensity. Minimal but beautiful.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart / Hatcham Social @ The Relentless Garage, London. 4/8/09

So, finally the refurbishment of The Garage has been completed and, as seems to be the trend around these parts, now has a sponsors branding plastered everywhere. It's only a matter of time until i end up going to see a show at the Bodyform Luminaire or suchlike.

The first band i catch tonight are Hatcham Social. They start the set in a seemingly haphazard manner, which leaves me rather bewildered, but soon get into their stride. for a London based band, they have a very North West England vibe about their sound. There is certainly an Echo & The Bunnymenesue undertone to the tunes, albeit a more quirky tilt. By the end of the set, i am interested in pursuing them further (and not in a staker like way - just to be clear).

New York has created so many buzz bands in the last few years and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are no exception. I managed to catch their rather splendid set at Primavera this year, so i have some fairly lofty expectations for tonights show. Their debut album is certainly one of the catchiest debuts i've encountered since The Stone Roses hit the scene, and there are even some hints of the Manchester lads in the rhythm sections laid back beats. Add some shoegaze era fuzz into the mix and some uptempo keyboards and you have a most pleasant noisepop cocktail. It's also a pleasure to see a band having fun on stage and still keeping things tight. Overall, a solid performance of a great debut album.

Field Day 09 @ Victoria Park , London. 1/8/09

The first Field Day in 07 was a logistical nightmare, with toilet and bar queues that seemed to go on forever. It also suffered from some of the worst sound bleed i've ever encountered. No, that's not a dance remix comng from Laura Marling. It's an unintentional mashup of two stages. The weather was nice, though, but not a lot else. It was the first festival of this size that the promoters had put on, and it showed.

Field Day 08 had addressed a lot of these concerns but suffered from torrential rain and what had to be the coldest temperatures the capitol had ever experienced during August.

It's for these reasons that the approach of the 09 festival filled me with apprehension , rather than excitement.

First Aid Kit kick things off. The Swedish folk siblings play a harmonious set, with a cover of Fleet Foxes (Tiger Mountain Peasant Song) thrown in for good measure, which is quite apt as they are the first act to come to mind whilst listening to the sisters do their thing. Signed to Rabid Records (owned by The Knife), expect to hear a lot more about them when the album lands in the new year.

The main stage is already running late. Fanfarlo are supposed to be on, but there is no sign of them at all. I witness the last two tunes of a shambolic East London female choir (Gaggle), before stumbling across who i assume is King Charles (set times seem to already be a very rough estimate). Looking like a Mighty Boosh character who didn't make the final cut, King Charles is a sonic delight. Playing slide guitar with a mobile phone, he injects some badly needed energy into proceedings. We even get a Billy Joel cover for good measure. I am now officially awake.

Fanfarlo have finally decided to grace us with an appearance. There is some kind of apology about having to break into their rehersal space to get their instruments, but the wait has been worth it. We are treated to a fairly faultless set of highlights from the debut album, Reservoir. It's the perfect soundtrack to the summer, and seems to be holding off the rain - for now.

After a swift visit to the bar (warm Red Stripe - yummy!), it's back to the main stage to check out the electronic tinkering of Errors. It's a solid set and my focus is such that it's not until they finish that I become fully conscious of the rain falling around me. At least it's fairly light, for now. Plugs fill the gap until Final Fantasy make it out on to the main stage. What was one of my most anticipated acts turned out to be a low key affair, with a set mainly featuring new material. Maybe it wasn't the perfect environment, but it did not hold my interest at all.

The XX are about to make an appearance in the excruciatingly tiny Bloggers Delight tent, so i head over there to see what all the hype is about. Their set is an uninspiring offering. The stage sound is so low that the band members are struggling to be heard over the chattering scenesters crammed inside the tarpaulin. You can hear some resemblance of tunes, but bad sound and a charisma free performance last the whole set long. Maybe the rain is not just dampening the grass, as things go from bad to worse. Micachu fails to impress, Juana Molina seems more interested in finding a way to kill the guy doing her stage sound, Little Boots is just as soulless and contrived as you would imagine and The Big Pink destroy any positives from their energetic performance by not really having the tunes to back it up.

I catch a few minutes of a lively and well received Mumford And Sons set before heading back into the quagmire that has become the main stage, where Santigold fianlly adds some professionalism to the wet afternoon. Arriving on stage just as the rain finally dies off (or as they call it, technical difficulties), we are treated to all the songs that made her debut album such a pleasure last summer, as well as a rather fine rendition of Killing An Arab by The Cure.

James Yorkston helps keep things back on track with a solid set, in spite of the heavy drinking of his band, and it's only fair that another Scot gets me warmed up nicely for the main event.

The sun has set, the rain has stopped and Mogwai have arrived to deliver a collection of tunes that totally underlines the reason why they are headlining this festival. Ignored by the Mercury awards panel, The Hawk Is Howling may not be their best album, but it's still miles ahead of anything on this years shortlist. It's time to show all the new pretenders here today how it's done. Epic instrumentals fill Victoria Park and make the warm beer and cold mud worth it. Witnessing something this brilliant feels like a reward for perseverance.

Remember Remember / Clorinde @ Cafe OTO, London. 26/7/09

It's a shame to have to start a blog on loving music with what has to be easily the worst overall gig experience of my life. The venue interior looks more like an art space than somewhere to put on music, and the seemingly random placing of tables and chairs make getting to the bar/toilet a bit like navigating a minefield. It's a Sunday night in Dalston. The nearest tube station is a bus ride away, so it's with absolutely no consideration for anyone who's actually made effort to get here that Clorinde take the stage at around 9.30pm.

I don't have many good things to say about Clorinde. The Italian brothers mix some minimal guitar with out of tune mandolin to very little effect. It's an uninspiring, overly simplistic sound that doesn't really go anywhere, but the chin-strokers sipping on their organic beer seem to be lapping it up. They seem to get into their stride a bit more towards the end, but they are still only changing from a hobble to a limp. Gripping it isn't.

Finally, around 10.45pm, Remember Remember take to the stage. Graeme Ronald starts with a quick solo cover (Daniel Johnston) and then the rest of the band join him. What (briefly) follows is some looping of bubble wrap and a beautiful blend of instrumentation. The venue is doing everything it can to destroy the atmosphere though, with chatter from the bar infiltrating the quieter moments. I look forward to catching a full set in the (hopefully) near future. Unfortunately (due to tube catching time constraints) i only get to hear the first two songs of the set.

Well, Good Evening.

I've finally decided to blog all those damn gigs i go to. Expect to see a variety of show reviews on here - from Stadium performers right through to some new chancers playing to the bar staff. The good, the bad and the indifferent. Coming very soon.