EEAAAGGGLLLEEEE - Joshua Radin - Academy 2, Manchester, 22/04/2010

Ah man I'm behind on these things. Ive been busy doing uni and other stuff. I will get them all done before the festival season though!!!

Anyway so Joshua Radin is solo singer songwriter from Ohio, USA. If I'm entirely honest i didn't know a ridiculous amount of his music when i went to this gig. But i looked at it from 3 angles.
1. The stuff i did know i do genuinely love.
2. He's on the brink of getting big and this could be the last small venues he plays.
3. I heard he's fantastic live. I never pass on that opportunity.

I was however a bit worried... with his recent fame... would it have the Owl City effect (as its now formally known) where i love a band/artist then go see them live to be surrounded by Radio 1 loving 12 year olds....

So Manchester bound me, Kit and Mads went! Usual deal for a Manc gig... Nice drive through the peaks and pre gig Subway/McD's. We got into the queue just in times for doors. I'd never been in academy 2 before.. 1 is the big one (see Owl City entry) and 3 is the small one upstairs which i had the delight of seeing Bromheads Jacket in on their, essentially, last ever tour. When walking into academy 2 it felt like I'd walked into a school hall. Stage at one end, long and fairly evenly rectangle with a high rise roof. Basketball court sized to a tee. The sound of the room could of gone one of two ways.

First on were 3 very English girls in the form of 'The Staves'. 3 sisters from Watford, they throughout the night felt like Joshua's younger siblings. The three beauties boast angelic, enchanting harmonies led by nothing but the acoustic guitar of older sister Jessica. It was enchanting in its vocal perfection to watch and really did seem to blow, the more mature/musically respectful members of, the audience away.

Next was a long, blond, electric guitar mistress sandwiched between two bearded musicians, who came out right on cue to inject a little bit of funk rock into the now serene audience. Her name was 'Lissie'. The three of them on stage very much reminded me of a country funk rock Blondie. No other way to explain it. Kudos goes to the 'bassist' of the three who somehow managed to play an entire drum kit at the same time as slapping the hell out of his bass. The Staves and Lissie were the perfect mix of support for Joshua Radin.

After an agonising 40 minute wait Joshua Radin took to the stage. Now it was a long time ago now so I'm not going to go into details of the night but just concentrate on the bits that truly stood out for me. Firstly the stage banter.. Never have i seen someone take the stage quite like this guy. He's funny, charming and has the talking voice that quite literally made underwear fall off the women in the room. His reactions to the crowds heckles and constant little stories in between songs didn't get old. At one point someone shouted something at him to which he responded 'YEAH! ... People shout things at me and i have no idea what they mean. Yet everybody in the room laughs... its a British thing I'm sure'. HAIL BRITANNIA!

Onto the music and simply his voice. The man must have a massive set of lungs on him. At various points throughout the night he simply stood away from the mic and filled that School Hall room with his booming yet perfectly pitched voiced. Most gigs i go to its all about the music and sing alongs. This was a performance of his voice. The music mealy backed him along. With an outstanding performance of songs such as 'Brand New Day', 'You Got Growing Up To Do' and the song as made famous by Scrubs 'Winter' the night was a calming one that made me thankful for just experiencing it. Speaking of his ties with Scrubs... the only complaint i have of the entire night was the group of idiot teenage boys that stood in the middle holding a sign simply saying 'WE LOVE SCRUBS' and shouting crap all night... morons, provide me a noose and i will happily kick away the chair.

The inevitable happened with the big song and sing along of the night been the one that's had some radio time 'I'd Rather Be With You' ... to even Joshua explained his shock in this all of a sudden fame and love for that song. He explained that the entire UK tour was because of the sudden love for the song and he wanted to share the rest of his music with the fans.

As a whole its safe to say it was a great gig. He was a thankful man to his fans and he gave his whole heart in his performance. He said himself he loves the UK crowds comparing us to the US ones because we 'just listen and enjoy'. The man has a cracking voice on him and I'm 99% sure he impregnated a few women in that room without even trying.. maybe even a couple of the guys too.

Peace

x

Rolling Unplugged - Bowling For Soup (An Acoustic Evening with Jaret and Erik) - Sheffield Academy 2, 16/04/2010

I'd seen Bowling For Soup only 6 months ago in this very building. Granted in the main room and was a full band but still. I didn't know what to expect from 'An Acoustic Night With Jaret and Erik' but i looked forward to it very very much.

The support was in the form of a guy called Bob Schneider. A solo acoustic artist with the same satire comedic lyrics of BFS. Very enjoyable and a fantastic warm up for the headliners if I'm honest. Well picked and well played. Already this felt like more of a comedy show than a gig.

BFS came onto stage to rapturous applause. This is BFS stripped down to just the vocalist and the bass player, but both playing acoustic guitars. It was an intimate setting, a couple of chairs, some table lamps and a lectern holding the BFS Songbook. The gig to be talked about properly has to be divided into 2 parts. The comedy/banter side and the music.

Firstly the banter. From Monty Python impressions to stories (mostly made up for comedy effect) about shagging each others dogs and mums Jaret and Erik are naturally funny.

Music wise, hearing the BFS back catalogue unplugged in this way gave it a different dimension. You really appreciate how good these two are at vocals & harmonies and what cracking songs they write, (although we later discovered that Erik is a songwriter and Jaret is a song maker-upper). They took requests from the audience (although ignored the frequent calls for Emily - which I imagine is a bitch to play on an acoustic guitar), played songs from years ago through to the brilliant latest album ("Sorry for Partyin'") and, after discovering that Two-Seater had the same chord progression as a recently revived Journey song, they played a blinding version of Don't Stop Believing. Outdoing Glee by a country mile. The song that really had the crowd singing along was obviously 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want' most likely because its the song that every single person knew even if they got dragged along to the gig by their partner, kids or mate. 2 and a half hours they played.... 2 and a half god damn hours. I'm not complaining as it was a fantastic show but i use 'God Damn' in its shocked form. They literally played a bit of everything. From songs that Erik had wrote and sang for a previous band to the Phineas and Ferb theme tune famously by them.

Just a cracking, intimate night filled with sing alongs and laughs. I'd advise any BFS fan to see them in this way.

Peace

x

Steel City Musical Treat - The Backhanded Compliments, The Forum, Sheffield 08/04/2010

Local music in Sheffield has lacked in its fame recently but what still remains from the 2004-2008 scene are some great great bands. Possibly the greatest is Backhanded Compliments. Consisting of Greeny and Tom from Milburn and Ryan (housemate of Greeny). This gig was a round up of a few local bands.

We got there and to my surprise the Mike Hughes gig wasn't a gig.... it was a video of a gig on a projector. Still it was enjoyable.

The first band on was Mike Hughes' band with Tim Hampton (Bromheads) called Lenders in the Temple. They're unique sound of Bob Dylan esc vocals and guitar mixed with Primal Scream esc drumming seemed to leave people impressed. Myself however, as much as i enjoyed it, much prefer to see Tim on guitar and singing :) but what can i say... i love Bromheads.

Backhanded Compliments came onto stage to a crowd made up of family, friends and die hard fans (some of which Milburn fans, some just love them themselves). So plenty of people to sing along. They don't have a lot of material to play seen as they've only been around just less than a year but what they did play was great. Some off both the first demo and the newest released EP. Tom isn't a big chatter on stage so there wasn't much banter but they made up for it in the music. With Greeny quite literally going mental on the drums songs like 'Radio Blockage' and 'Black Sparks' had enough energy in them to have my feet tapping and head nodding without me even realising. First demo songs such as 'The Mansion' and 'Annabel Was Her Name' had a few people quietly singing along.

I hope to god that these get big.. they are just a great band both recorded and live. If they got a decent active crowd their gigs would be one to remember forever. Don't get me wrong tonight was great, they sounded great and i enjoyed it but a proper fan filled crowd singing their heart outs along with Tom would of topped it off. Greeny been one of my drumming idols truly proved himself why once again tonight, just such a great great drummer.

Bowling For Soup acoustic gig next.

Peace

x

'The night of the living dead is on its way...' - Mayday Parade, Corp, 04/04/2010

Short one. Mainly because i remember little....

Mayday Parade were Great! A lot of fun and sing songs. Opening with 'Jersey' was a perfect start and including 'Three Cheers for Five Years' made me a very happy chappy. Great performance from a great pop-punk band. Met the singer afterwards at the merch stand and he was a top lad too. Told me they were opening as 'friends' to Madina Lake... thank god... so much better than the other two bands.

In between MP and WATO... a lot happened. For some reason me and some scruffy looking emo kid started fighting. All i know is that i had a bruise on my forehead and he had a bleeding mouth, Adam rightly dragged me away... he deserved it the little prick. *disclosure* i am in no way a fighter, i do not condole it. he started it and got what he deserved.


We Are The Ocean.... meh, from what i remember it was loud and made no sense. Last time i saw these we supported em and they were better from what i remember. May be the alcohol.

Madina Lake... i watched these from the bar. They weren't bad... pretty good live band if I'm honest. Just not my cuppa tea. I felt about as comfortable as Hitler in a Synagogue... also... i seem to remember confetti.


Backhanded Compliments next,

Peace

x

'Somewhere Near The Big Wheel'...ish - The Book Club, Frog and Parrot, 01/04/2010

Free gig at Frog and Parrot to celebrate the launch of their newest single/video... good stuff. Gig started at half 10 so been at work till half 9 meant i didn't miss it... Great stuff.

So first on way the F&P regular Mike Hughes. Seen him here before and reviewed him for his headline gig (mid Jan). Once again he provides a great performance with his Bob Dylan esc sound, he fills the room with warmth. With Beatles and Dylan covers included. The highlight been his fantastic song 'Shake the Shakes'.

Now The Book Club... or Joe Carnall and The Book Club (formally known as). The buzz around this band mainly comes from the lead singer been the infamous (in Sheffield at least) Joe Carnall, singer from Milburn. Book Club has a very similar feel to Milburn yet a maturity that shines through. This been their (hopefully) final line up after many changes. I saw this bands first ever last summer in The, now shut down, Shakespeare pub. Back then it was Greeny (from Milburn) on drums, Louis (from Milburn) on guitar, Joe (from Milburn) lead and Andy (ex Arctic Monkeys) on bass. Andy now in Rev and Makers, Greeny in Backhanded Compliments and Louis..... hopefully still alive. Then again in various places including the Bowery, tramlines, Harley and leadmill. But this was smaller and a celebration.

I knew the majority of the songs from been to many of their gigs and been a keen fan online so i was looking forward to their new material been preformed live. I can't remember the exact order if I'm honest (was a couple of weeks ago) but 'Somewhere Near Oxford' was a cracker of a live un'. Probably their most well known tune, they burst into the chorus with many singing along to which Joe looks and smiles. New (ish) songs included the video track 'Wheelbarrows for Wallets' that includes a fantastic line 'The red tops tell us we're drowning, and the broadsheets say we're using too much water...' simple in its greatness. Also 'What was said on the Landing' made another great appearance in the set list. For me either an old favorite 'The Test' or new (again..ish) song 'Justice for the 96' stood out as best song of the set. 'The Test' because i love it... biased. But 'Justice for the 96' because previously seeing Joe preform this solo acoustic, i knew what this was about. The Hillsborough Disaster is a big deal for any born and bred Steel City civilian. But the heart and soul put into this song for that purpose comes across live and really does show how much Joe loves his city. Great great song.

Overall was a nice gig, nice to see Joe again (playing and to have a quick chat with) also nice to see some Sheffield faces showing their support. What makes the city what it is and music scene as great as it is.

Mayday Parade (well...kinda) next but after that another Sheffield Music gig in the form of Backhanded Compliments.

One last note for anyone who reads this from Sheffield. If you like gigs you'll be pleased to know 'Sheffield Gig Goers' are back!!! http://www.facebook.com/dyall?ref=mf#!/group.php?gid=4217199987&ref=ts there's the link. Join it for news on gigs in Sheffield, comps and various other info. Truly a bunch of great guys and gals who are passionate about their live music.

Peace

x