GigReview

Gas Light Anthem

Hives

Pearl Jam

Songs about cricket may not be everybody’s cup of tea. But the Duckworth Lewis Method are a call to the crease to any cricket fan.

The DLM are Neil Hannon (Devine Comedy) and Thomas Walsh (Pugwash) and take their name from the mathematical methodology used to decide the targets for the chasing team in rain effected games. Their first album (I hope they do more) was a tongue-in-cheek whistle-stop tour of cricketing folklore and loosely coupled cricket related summer songs. It was one of my favourite albums from last year

Tonight’s gig was the first time they had played together for about 6 months, but it didn’t matter. Their live performances aren’t based on tight performances but are laid back performances, by friends and for friends. Tonight’s performance was no exception, with breaks for ‘tea’ and at one point ‘rain stopped play’ causing the band to stop and open the umbrellas.

With only one album to draw upon it meant DLM had to play it to completion. But with two frontmen who don’t take themselves too seriously who happily filled the time with light banter and anecdotes the night was thoroughly enjoyable. The highlight for me was ‘Jiggery Pokery’. With only one album they fell back on a rather small pool of cricket related songs and eventually playing songs from their album for the second time! But no one in the audience was complaining. The evening was finished off with a fantastic rendition of ‘Soul Limbo’ by Booker T and the MG’s, better known to cricket fans as BBC TV’s cricket theme tune

Seasick Steve Flickr album

The Pixies didn’t ‘do anything’ for me when I first heard them. At some point around 2000 I gave them a proper listen and discovered that I had been missing out on an excellent band. So I was happy to see them reform to give me a chance to see them live. Last year I saw the Pixies at Brixton Academy. Although the gig was very enjoyable, it wasn’t the longest set.

Tonight’s gig came out of the blue when a mysterious email arrived claiming to be from the Pixies offering tickets to a gig at Troxy, a venue I’d never heard of. The gig was organised by the Pixies as a ‘thank you’ to fans the set list was built-up from email suggestions from fans. So the set list was varied and very good, managing to cover most of my favourites.

Unlike last year’s short gig. There was no short changing this time and the excellent set list meant there were no weak links. In fact the band seemed to enjoying themselves much more than at Brixton (I saw them on the fifth and final night at Brixton) which I think only added to the crowds enjoyment. A great gig.

Pixies on flickr

This was a kind-of new venue for me. The Forum, at the University of Hertfordshire was opened in September 2009. It’s a place I go into at least once a week and although I did sort-of attend a gig when the Uni had a Christmas party with rubbish ‘Blue Brothers’ and Abba Tribute Acts. (Why do so many tribute acts pay tribute by murdering their ‘heros’ work?). This was the first time I’d been to see a band.

I think the Uni’s trying to get a blues night off the ground. If this was an example of the job they’ve got to do, they’re choosing the right acts but unless they improve their marketing, I’m afraid they’re going to struggle, with less than 20 people in attendance.

Lightnin’ Willie is a blues artist who splits his time between the UK and US, with a ‘Poorboy’s’ band on each side of the atlantic. Most of the set was straightforward, honest electric harmonica driven blues. With such a small audience, Lightnin’ Willie and Giles King, the excellent harmonica player took the opportunity to come down from the stage and join the ‘crowd’ an acoustic set. Despite the inadequacies of the audience, Lightnin’ Willie played close to 2 hours. In fact I suspect if it wasn’t for the sound guy’s need to go home, I suspect the band would have been happy to play for another hour.

The Ukrainians returned to the 100 Club with their usual energy filled set. They were ably supported by ‘The Penny Black Remedy’.

Flickr Photos

Maybe it’s overkill but this is the fourth time this year that I’ve seen British Sea Power, (fifth if you include the two sets they played at Tan Hill Inn), but unlike most bands who stick to the tried and tested London venues, BSP like to play some of the more obscure London venue.

Tonight’s gig was at the Bloomsbury Ballroom. A small venue hidden in the basement of one of those big buildings on Bloomsbury square. It’s a weird little venue where you have to walk through what looks like a kitchen to get to the ballroom itself. Although it was an interesting little venue, the sound quality wasn’t the best I’ve heard.

Supporting BSP was John and Jehn, a French duo who also played at BSP’s Sing From The Hillside weekend, so I was aware of what to expect. At Tan Hill Inn,I managed to miss half of John and Jehn’s set. What I heard was okay but tonight, listening to their full set, I enjoyed their performance.

BSP’s set, as usual was excellent. With this being the last night of the gig, the set list was mainly crowd favourites though there were a few new songs from the forthcoming album.

The venue unfortunately had an 11pm curfew which curtailed BSPs usual 10+ minute song encores into a much shorter, though no less enjoyable 5 minute encore.

Encore

Waving Flags

Flickr Photos

British Sea Power @ Bloomsbury Ballroom

Ok I’ll admit this before starting, I love Zooey Deschanel kookiness so I probably afford her a few sins that I wouldn’t afford other performers. In fact I only gave the ‘She & Him Volume 1′ a listen because she was singing, well that and I really liked the first single from the album.

Tonight, supporting ‘She & Him’ were the Chapin Sisters who have an Americana, bluegrass sound. Although their set was enjoyable, there were times when I wasn’t 100% convinced by their harmonies. But since one of the sisters isn’t touring due to recently having a baby, as a threesome the occasional harshness might be smoothed over.

For their last song, Zooey filled in for their missing sister. A nice appetiser for the main event

If you’ve seen some of Zooey’s films, you’ll know that she’s got a great voice. She has a classical film musical voice. But when this is crossed with her natural ‘kookiness’ it’s something special. (I don’t like the term ‘kookie’, but I can’t think of a word that sums her up any better)

It’s rare that an album artist sounds as good live as they do on disk. It might have been that Koko’s acoustics suited Zooey’s voice, but Zooey’s voice was exquisite. Simply the best female vocals I’ve heard for years. It really was that good.

If you’ve heard She & Him’s music you’ll know it’s 60s influenced kitsch pop and it transferred really well to the live arena. The evening’s highlight for me was the encore (see video below) but also an earlier section where it was literally She and Him with no backing band.

My second encounter with British Sea Power in the space of a week was their three day mini festival ‘Sing Ye From the Hillsides II’, at the Tan Hill Inn. Tan Hill Inn is the highest pub in the UK, situated in the North Yorkshire Dales.

BSP had managed to put together a wide range of talent for the festival:

Friday

Goodnight Lenin, John & Jehn, Bo Ningen*, Race Horses*

Race Horses

Saturday

Sharp Tongues, My Sad Captains, Tom White, Basia Bulat*, Phantom Band, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis* and Modern Ovens

My Sad Captains

Tom White

Basia Bulat

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

Sunday

Alessi’s Ark, Matt Eaton*, Rose Dougall, Erland & the Carnival*, I Like Trains, Metronomy

Matt Eaton

Rose Dougall

Erland & the Carnival

I Like Trains

and of course British Sea Power headlining the Friday and Sunday nights.

The whole weekend was fantastic, if a little cold. With Tan Hill’s staff doing an fantastic job of keeping the food and drink flowing. BSP’s choice of bands (ably helped by Mark Riley) was absolutely spot on. Although some of the music wasn’t to my taste, none of it was bad. Some, such as Rose Dougall had previously failed to impress me, yet here with a full band, worked. Matt Eaton without his band, preformed a random set in the bar accompanied by Noble that could have been a disaster, but turned out to be a refreshing ‘down to earth’ set. Everything just seem to work.

The standout performances for me was ‘Race Horses’ with their energetic indie pop sound. Tom White’s amazing performance where the stage wasn’t big enough for him, was a performance where even if you didn’t like his music, you couldn’t help but enjoy. Basia Bulat’s amazing voice helped the Americana inspired indie sound lift the audience (she’s Canadian). Probably the biggest surprise was the amazingly talented Kitty, Daisy & Lewis who brought us a big enjoyable slice of rockabilly. All the members of the band are from the same family, including Mam on double bass and Dad on Guitar. With the kids able to move between all the instruments, I wonder what home sounds like in the evenings.

Most of the bands were so good, that since returning, I’ve bought several of their albums (indicated by * in the lists above).

Moving on to the main event. British Sea Power played two sets. The First on Friday night and a second set on Sunday. Despite Sunday’s set being affected by a power cut, both sets were more than up to par. On both nights, the highlights were the fantastic encores. Sunday’s included Yan and Noble crowd surfing and then hanging from the rafters during the energetic 20 minute performance of Lately.