Cast of Cheers

Race Horses

Race Horses

Lotusphere, the conference in question usually starts with a band. But this is the first time a ‘high profile’ band has opened the Opening General Session. But at 8am, what really can you expect? OK Go played three songs with their amazing videos playing on the main screens and let’s just say for an 8am performance it was pretty good. There wasn’t anything bad about the performance, but their performance very much reflected the audience and the event.

Best support act: The Civil Wars

At SXSW I had heard good things about the Civil Wars but they didn’t play any of the venues I frequented. But luckily I managed to catch them supporting fellow SXSW participant, James Vincent McMorrow. 

I think it’s a sign of a good performance if you remember it days later and this was definitely the case for the Civil Wars. There’s something special about this duo. You would swear blind that they are a couple because there is just such good vibes between them. The music falls into the ‘Americana’ genre. At times country, at times blues, but always good.

Worst gig: Fleet Foxes

I’m not a gig Fleet Foxes fan. I kind of like them and heard that they were good live so I thought I’d give this gig a go. But for me, they left me cold. I just didn’t enjoy them or their support. 

Most inappropriate support act: Josh T Pearson supporting The Kills

Another SXSW participant who I saw a few times last year. But this was the worst performance. Josh was good. But the audience didn’t appreciate his ‘tourtured soul’ music and talked through his set and didn’t show the decency to keep quiet during his set

Band of the year: The Joy Formidable

I’d heard good things before heading to SXSW and they were everywhere at SXSW. You couldn’t walk down a street without hearing the raw sound of The Joy Formidable. Every performance from the three piece is full of energy and I’ve since seen them in London and I will be trying to catch them again if 2012.

Gig of the year: The Civil Wars at The Union Chapel

Everything was right. The venue was perfect for The Civil Wars music. This gig was both brilliant and haunting.

Best gig photo: British Sea Power at Berwick Village Hall

My regular Blues Night at the University was interrupted by heavy rock in the main auditorium courtesy of the Young Guns and Jack Daniels. Upstairs in the ‘Attic’,Hokie Joint, were the headline act for this month’s Blues evening. So a great opportunity to see two different styles of music without much effort without getting rained on in a field. (and with a chance to take some photos with a proper camera).

The rock night, was as I expected, fairly predictable. I don’t really like the Young Guns’ material. It’s high energy but fairly bland but I thought I’d give them a try. Their performance was the same,  lots of energy, but not much interest. For me, good rock bands have some ‘light’ in their music. The Young Guns material has no light. Great for moshing, but little else. But the kids loved it. But then I’m not a kid anymore.

Upstairs, however, Hokie Joint were excellent. Fantastic blues rock with a front man with a good stage presence (and lots of black eyeliner), who manages to be slightly freaky without overplaying the part. Of course without a good band around him, his act wouldn’t work. But the rest of the band were more than capable of holding their own. Easily the best band who’s performed at this year’s Blues evenings and easily the best band by miles playing the University tonight.

Hokie Joint

Hokie Joint

Young Guns

Hostage Calm

Apologies, I Have None

Their last album, Blood Pressures was an extremely strong album an album I felt was a departure from earlier work. After two years of touring with the Dead Weather, Alison’s vocals are stronger. It also gave Hince nice time to experiment with new sounds.  It all added to a thicker sound than previous albums.

Since their last tour and album there’s also been a high profile marriage. Hince has married Kate Moss. This has put The Kills name into the mainstream. So I guess it was no surprise to see them play bigger venues on this latest tour, with tonight’s Brixton Academy gig the biggest I’ve been to.

The first support for tonight were Trailer Trash Tracys. I don’t really know what to say about these guys. The sound was awful. Not helped in part by the lead singer’s who appeared to be performing a sexual act on the mic. She really needs to be taught how to use a mic. They work better if you leave some space between your mouth and the mic. I think I made out about 5 discernible words in their whole set. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and put the performance down to poor sound. But I was’t impressed.

Sometimes support acts just seem completely inappropriate. I mentioned the marriage earlier. This year I’ve noticed a change in the crowd. There’s noticeable percentage of the audience that appear to have been attracted because of the high profile wedding. It’s definitely a prettier audience, but it’s not the normal indie crowd.

I mention this because the second support was Josh T Pearson who I saw last week at the Barbican. It was also the fourth time I’ve seen him this year. As usual his performance was strong. But he was completely inappropriate for this crowd. His 10 minutes long songs were never going to hold the attention of a cosmo reader and the crowd just talked through his set.

Surprisingly, tonights Kills set was more varied and longer than I expected. Gigs earlier in the year focused almost entirely on the material from the Blood Pressures album. But tonight the set was much better balanced with material from every album. (Although I’d like to hear a few more No Wow songs). Some songs I’ve not heard for years. The new material also benefited from the year on the road and felt fresh and new. They were also much tighter than they were at the first gig of the year at SXSW. The danger for a band that consist of a guitarist and a vocalist playing such a large stage as the Brixton Academy is that you could easily get lost on the stage. So sensibly they employed the services of drummers and a choir for some of the songs and the bigger stage just gave Alison more space to stalk around. So overall, an excellent gig.

‘The Blanks’ played the University last year and the reception was very good so I thought I’d give it a go. To be honest, I didn’t think they were that good. The comedy aspect was ‘student review’ level and lacked any real sophistication and although the singing was good, the choice and arrangement of some of the songs I didn’t feel was too strong. That’s not to say they were bad. I suppose inoffensive is probably the best description. I also didn’t find the prolonged ‘buy our album’ sketch to be appropriate. I believe they’re touring Students’ Unions and this is really where their UK market is. Our students seemed to enjoy the performance and there were long queues to meet the guys.

As it turned out I managed to get to the Barbican with a good 30 minutes to spare. Which gave me ample opportunity to be appalled at the prices in the Barbican (a beer and a packet of crisps cost over £7). So it unexpectedly turned out to be a rather dry evening.

It was billed that there would be four support acts ‘curated’ by Josh, each of whom who would play three songs. The Barbican website said that Josh would personally introduce each band. This didn’t happen, which was a pity. I would have loved to hear why Josh ‘picked’ these groups.

The first band ‘Big Deal’ really didn’t make an impression on me. Pleasant enough, but also bland. The second band, ‘We three and the Death Rattle’, were an big improvement. Some of the lyrics were rubbish, but the music was actually pretty good.

The third group Cold Specks, has a lead singer with a voice that seemed to have come from the cotton fields of the deep south, rough but full of soul. It seemed like her voice had been lifted from a gospel recording from the 1930s. I believe the lead singer is actually from Canada, but her voice definitely resonates with the gospel singers of the deep south. Personally, I loved her voice and her music.

Rounding up the decent support was Richard Warren with his stripped back 50s sound who had supported Josh in Cambridge.

If you’ve not heard ‘Last of the Country Gentleman’ you’ve missed possibly the album of the year (it’s a close run thing with PJ Harvey’s ‘Let England Shake’). There’s more emotion in just one of it’s 10 minute long rambling songs, than most bands excise in their whole career. You feel like you are listening to the sound of a tormented soul asking for redemption. Before SXSW I’d never heard of Josh T Pearson and if I hadn’t seen him live, I’m not sure I would have ever picked up this great album.

Live, I think Josh’s music needs the right venue. I’d seen him play a church in Austin and the setting was just perfect. Tall, dressed in black with his long beard, he cut an imposing figure standing at the front of the church. He was the preacher and we were his congregation. His songs at time seemed like hymns being sung by a tormented preacher looking to us to give him the redemption he was seeking. This was the perfect setting. I don’t think there will ever be a more perfect setting for his music.

The Barbican, is not a Presbyterian Church. It’s cavernous stage dwarfed even Josh’s imposing physical presence. But nevertheless, as soon as Josh uttered his first words, his presence filled the theatre. It helps that he matches his intense music and a wry, self deprecating sense of humour. The only downside is that with most songs clocking 10 minutes, the time flew so quickly it seemed that just as he was stepping onto the stage, he was stepping off it again. But when every word uttered comes from the depth of your soul, I’m sure there’s only so much a man can sing in one evening.

I’m not sure enjoyable is the right word to use for a Josh T Pearson’s performance. If delving into the darkness of this man’s soul can be called enjoyable, then this evening was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

(No photos. So this is an iPhone photo taken at the end of the gig)