OKKERVIL RIVER @ THE BORDERLINE 20/05/08

OKKERVIL RIVER

I had only heard a little of Okkervil River before this show. I had heard Sleep and Wake-Up Songs, Our Life is Not a Movie from The Stage Names and their Daytrotter session, and it was the latter that most appealed to me. This dampened my excitement for the gig though as I knew that the majority of the set would be a full band affair rather than the simple, emotive acoustic songs from that session. Opening with The President's Dead with frontman Will Sheff alone onstage with just his voice and acoustic guitar. Despite inevitably bursting into full band before the end of the song, I was still suddenly very optimistic again.

This soon died down again though and, although they were still entertaining I found that my mind was often found elsewhere. This ended the second that Sheff began playing A Stone. Surely one of the most beautiful songs ever written, they held back having the band intrude upon it until later than in the recorded version, exploding and fading at the perfect junctures to allow the solemn denouement the strongest possible resonance. A truly stunning moment that left my eyes wide and my mouth ajar.

From here it was plain sailing. I couldn't be more alert to the intricacies of the band and their abilities to make their perfect mix of indie and americana. The double blow of Our Life is Not a Movie and Unless it's Kicks to end the set was perfect and then opening the encore with Red was, yet again, supreme. Ending with Westfall and encouraging the crowd to sing the line 'evil don’t look like anything' along with the band, there are very few shows that singing along to a song about murder can still have you leaving with a smile, but this is one. A gig of two halves you might say, but I feel that the first half was more me not being in the mindset than the band not being at their best.

http://www.myspace.com/okkervilriver

ALL TIME LOW/ MID TIME LOW/ SET YOUR GOALS/ THE MOVIELIFE @ KINGSTON PEEL 15/05/08

I feel bad for anyone that wasn’t at this gig. Either you have terrible luck and couldn’t get a ticket, or else you have awful taste. Set Your Goals playing The Peel is a guaranteed sell out but add to that All Time Low being added to the bill at the last minute due to an off day during their tour and then finish it off with Vinnie Caruana doing a Movielife set with Set Your Goals as his backing band and you would be a cleft to miss it.

ALL TIME LOW

All Time Low open proceedings with a fine five song set. The band play fun, sugary pop punk that can cause no real offence, and although it is predictable it is in a familiar rather than tedious way. While I’m not impressed enough by them to head to any of their headline shows, their set flies by and, come set closer Dear Maria, Count Me In, I’m singing along with the rest of the crowd. They make a perfect start to the evening and I’ll be sure to listen to their album and ep again after this.

http://www.myspace.com/alltimelow

MID TIME LOW

The internet really ruins surprises and anyone who had been looking through websites like Punktastic in the days leading up to the gig would have heard rumours of All Time Low being joined onstage by Gabe Saporta, front man of Cobra Starship and formerly of Midtown, during the two bands’ tour and playing a Midtown song. Now the internet took this and ran, with claims of a six song set being touted around. As it turned out we were treated to just that one song, Become What You Hate, but it was lapped up. It was good and, although you could tell that it wasn’t Midtown, it just added to the special atmosphere around the night.

http://www.midtownrock.com/

SET YOUR GOALS

As much as I like Set Your Goals on record when playing live they sit on the wrong side of shambolic for me. They look awkward, sound muddled and, although the crowd seem pretty into it, to anyone who doesn’t know the album there is little to enjoy. Inevitably I will give them more chances in the future but tonight I left for the toilet before they had finished set closer, Mutiny!.

http://www.myspace.com/setyourgoals

THE MOVIELIFE

Vinnie made sure to reiterate thoroughly that this wasn’t The Movielife and that they would never play live again, but I would dare any one of the people who didn’t attend this gig because of that sentiment to have stood, with their eyes closed, during this show and tell me that this wasn’t them. They surely would have been humbled by quite how close this really was. To me This Time Next Year is one of the best pop punk albums ever and being able to the see the likes of Pinky Swear, Once In A Row and of course This Time Next Year live was something that I never expected and fuck me was it amazing. I never get involved at the front at shows anymore but, by the time that Jamestown was bringing an end to the set I had sweated through my jeans I was so into it. It was rammed and, bar a few morons, it was such a positive show; people acknowledging that they were involved in something special. On the train home we attempted to express our joy but failed, and I’m still struggling now. I can only thank Banquet for making me so giddy with excitement on a night of pure nostalgic brilliance.

http://www.myspace.com/themovielife

BACKSTREET BOYS @ O2 ARENA 14/05/08

BACKSTREET BOYS

Girls love to scream. Their shrill fucking screams destroy the hell out of my ear drums and threaten to ruin the majority of the Backstreet Boys' two hour set. Nothing could really lessen quite how brilliant tonight is though, for I am a pop-monger at heart. I have never been a fan of experimental music or instrumental bands as, no matter how exquisitely composed, they never grab me for I want a hook. After fifteen years of producing hit albums, the Backstreet Boys have an arsenal of hits that they can unleash whenever they want, and they really do control the set list expertly tonight.

It is 8:35pm, five minutes after showtime. The crowd are entertaining themselves with Mexican waves while I am cringing. I'm about to get used to cringing. The lights suddenly cut the latest wave in half and the shrill screams reverberate around the arena. On stage is a boxing ring. The screens light up and we are introduced to each member individually, dressed like boxers and with their boxing stats beside them. It looks like sports television and is extremely exciting. They each end up in the ring, the curtain drops and they launch into Larger Than Life. Tonight just got brilliant. From here they tend to play three or four songs from the latest album and then a hit. They then take it in turns in between songs to play solo songs, one each. Howie's is pretty poor Latin effort, Nick sounds like a child making terrible 'rock' music, AJ runs around like the BSBs' version of Robbie Williams and then Brian sings a pretty good Christian song. The highlight amongst this is when they play my favourite, Show Me the Meaning Of Being Lonely, and are all sat around a table in suits (bar AJ who refuses to ever dress up for the occasion) pretending to play poker while soft lighting falls on their blemish less skin. But ultimately the first half of the set is dominated by new material and no one really cares for that, they came for the hits (and to scream seemingly).

After around an hour the best thing happens. A medley of hits consisting of: Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)/ As Long As You Love Me/ All I Have To Give/ I'll Never Break Your Heart. When the medley ends I am considering screaming too. And from here on in there are four songs and only one of them is off the new album. It is incredible. Ending with the inevitable Everybody (Backstreet's Back) there are fireworks and all kinds of crazy brilliance. And then the one song encore, Shape Of My Heart, and it is over. Tonight was cheesy (randomly throwing in Stronger by Kanye in the middle of Larger Than Life, breaking into Beat It by Michael Jackson when introducing the band, and throwing Walk This Way into the middle of Everybody and doing the dance while linking arms really only add to this already mature cheddar), but it was also bloody brilliant. When bands/groups play venues of this size and don't bother with a stage show I think that it is greedy. So often this year I have seen bands in large venues but still half this size and they have offered nothing to look at or remember. Fireworks, boxing rings and pretend poker games, I want it that way.

http://www.myspace.com/backstreetboys

ARMOR FOR SLEEP/ FINCH @ SCALA 13/05/08

ARMOR FOR SLEEP

I never liked Dream To Make Believe and haven't really given the latest album a chance, but What To Do When You're Dead is one of my favourite pop-punk albums. Armor For Sleep seem to have a slight darkness to even their most upbeat songs and this makes them sound far more interesting than they actually are. Live they just don't cut it though, and even the songs from WTDWYD sound dull after a few seconds. Musically they seem to be entertaining enough for the most part but it's vocally where they are really let down as Ben Jorgensen (lead vocals) has no one backing him up to add any emphasis to the choruses, or any part of any song for that matter.

Tonight they give it a lot but do not come off that great. Having not listened to the new album and not seen the band live since they toured WTDWYD I cannot be sure if it's the songs that are failing or just that the band are tired, but they were entirely forgettable regardless.

http://www.myspace.com/armorforsleep

FINCH

Finch are back! The review could end there and I think people would understand and then lose themselves in a torrent of giggles. When I last saw Finch they were playing the Astoria touring Say Hello To Sunshine and it was a chore watching them. The passion that I had heard people mentioning in reference to their gigs was non-apparent and they seemed to be even struggling to go through the motions. Tonight they were as people had described previously.

Drawing perfectly from both albums so as not to alienate the fans of either, they managed to race through the set as though their hiatus had been spent drinking battery acid. Playing Letters To You as their third song was a surprising and potentially risky move but, safe in the knowledge that they were playing to die hard fans and they still had What It Is To Burn on the horizon, the move was a perfect way to get people involved from the off and the crowd didn't need much encouragement. Additionally, the new songs, scheduled for a 15th July release, seem to be more like SHTS musically but vocally more reminiscent of WIITB and so sit seamlessly in the set.

The only downfall was the drummer not sitting comfortable with the WIITB songs, but this can be forgiven after a show of such fulfilled anticipation. I have waited a long time to see this band perform like this and so the abundance of smiles from myself, my friends and my mum when we left the venue left me feeling that the only thing better than Finch taking the hiatus when they did was them returning with such vigour.

http://www.myspace.com/finchmusic

GIVE IT A NAME @ EARLS COURT 10/05/08

I bought a ticket off a tout for this outside the venue. I'm only really a fan of a few of the bands playing and I'm certainly not an advocate for any show being held at Earls Court but, knowing that the event was so remarkably undersold that prices outside would be far cheaper than face value, I figured that I had nothing to lose. However, when I left, eight hours later and before the event finished, I was at a point where I had finally decided to cut those losses that I had previously thought impossible. The sound inside the venue was never going to be great what with it being in a room the size of an airport terminal and with it being a 'festival' the sound checks were never going to be thorough, but I didn't foresee the entire day sounding as though I were listening to the bands through a seashell. Add to that the £3.70 price tag on the only lager available (Carlsberg at 3.8%) I was never likely to get drunk enough to excuse the sound and awful atmopshere of a barely two-thirds filled arena. None of this was the bands' faults though and so I begrudgingly forgave them and write this review with all of the above put to the side.

First up were BROADWAY CALLS. I walked in a song into their set and I had heard good things about them. The crowd was extremely sparse at this point but the band seemed pretty entertaining and I think that I'd have enjoyed their set a whole lot more in a smaller venue. Probably a lot of fun and I wish that they were on the Give It A Name Introduces tour so that I might get the chance to see them again on a slightly more intimate occasion.

MEG & DIA do very little for me. They sound competent but have nothing on offer to make me want to stand up and take note. Instead I kept seated and the same could apply for MAYDAY PARADE. A slightly more interesting proposition, and one that I was looking forward to checking out, but they did little to impress me. As the day went on though I realised that few would have that potential.

CHIODOS, despite being a band that I am never going to be a fan of, managed to hold my attention and, through their heavy riffs, and at one point a whole wave of base, they stood out from the crowd. MC LARS, although very different, could be lumped into the same principle. A 'rapper', with Failsafe as a backing band, was always going to stand out despite the vast majority of his fan base being pop-punk kids. I'm not a big fan but, from what I saw of him, he was probably one of the better performers of the day.

The same cannot be said of COBRA STARSHIP. I was never a massive Midtown fan and so, seeing how bad Cobra Starship are, I cannot imagine how hard it is seeing Gabe waste his time in such a mediocre band, awash with neon hoodies and lacking in hooks. SET YOUR GOALS have hooks and the songs to get the crowd moving for the first time in the day, but the sound is definitely against them. It sounds as though they are playing far off in the distance and so, what would have been a very solid performance from them, leaves me a fair bit cold.

ALL TIME LOW are some way off Hit The Lights and Valencia in the 'great pop-punk bands coming through stakes' in my eyes, despite having rustled up a larger fan base than those two bands already. Today their slick, catchy pop is a welcome break and, despite being on the smaller state, the crowd seem to get into it too.

And so to the first of the two main reasons that I had made this trek to West London today, FINCH. Despite already being in possession of a ticket for their headline show in three days time, I couldn't wait after their hiatus to see how they were going to return. I was not prepared for quite how impressive they would be. The sound seemed to be slightly remedied and they managed to sound big, the vocals soaring and the guitars crisp. A seven song set and only a half an hour set was the only downside but it was the perfect appetiser for their headline show.

My second reason was ALKALINE TRIO. The band are one of my favourite in their genre, dark and with distinctive vocals, they have always stood out from the crowd for me. Tonight they seemed as though they really couldn't be bothered, which is somewhat weird as they are only in the UK for these two shows. Ending with She Took Him To The Lake was a strange end to the set and a strange end to my Give It A Name. My first experience of the event and, unless they change venues and get a line-up more akin to last years, I almost certainly will not be back.

LADYFEST LONDON 2008 @ THE UNDERWORLD 09/05/08

Inside the Underworld today there must have been at least three ladies to every man. Never before have I been to a show with such a heavy ratio in that respect (although that might change when I go to see Backstreet Boys next week). Ladyfest is an arts festival that first started in Olympia, Washington in 2000 and has since been seen worldwide. Its sole intention is to raise awareness of women in art, as well as run workshops on issues surrounding women within the industry. With that in mind it really isn’t surprising to see so many women present, but it is nice to see guys here too. Being alone here as a single male is a little daunting though, but, in a way, equally comforting; the atmosphere seems far more tranquil but I hadn’t realised how frightening a large group of girls assembled in one place, especially those with punk beliefs, can be. Soon there is music though to allow me time to forget.

THE BOBBY MCGEES

Sitting on the floor at the Underworld is normally an awful idea but it seems perfectly fitting for this two-piece. First song in and, once you get past Jimmy’s thick Scottish accent, you become immersed in their mixture of heartfelt, offbeat, comedic songs that say things about life but keep these insights to the subtext. The between song banter is very similar and you get the feeling that, illustrated well with Jimmy being a big bloke with glitter in his beard and strumming a ukulele, that they’re a band that tend not to take themselves too seriously, but the enjoyment factor is there for them and the assembled crowd.

Going back to that first song though, which was my favourite personally, and it saddens me, now that I’m listening to their MySpace, that I cannot find it online. Written entirely upon a backdrop of Star Wars characters, they manage to build a really quite touching premise of this underdog character who, as the lead lyric repeats throughout the song, ‘Don’t want to be Jar Jar Binks anymore.’ I can’t imagine them becoming Han Solo anytime soon, but they might manage R2-D2.

www.myspace.com/thebobbymcgees

MONDAY CLUB

Monday Club do not suit sitting on the floor for. Sitting somewhat strangely on a bill consisting entirely of acoustic loveliness come this balls-out (minding the obvious irony of such a statement) rock ‘n’ roll band that have electric guitars and try their best to blow the crowd away. Ultimately this is pretty hard for a band that sticks out like a sore thumb on this bill to do to a seated audience, but it’s not the arses being on the floor or the band being on an inappropriate bill that is the problem as much as the band just not being very interesting. As a three piece straight out rock band you need a guitarist that can really play, mixing solid riffs in the verses and then being able to unleash a solo on cue, but you do not get that from Astrud (guitar and lead vocals). Instead the band seems to struggle awkwardly through their set with nothing of note sticking out.

Somehow managing to stand out for the rest initially and then become instantly forgettable by the end of their first song is the only achievement that I saw from this band.

http://www.myspace.com/mondayclubband

SLOW CLUB

I imagine that no one reads my reviews of this band anymore. This is the sixth time that I’ve seen them and guess what? Probably better than any other so far and so you can imagine how much I want to just draw a big heart here and leave it at that. They are a band that make music that people disliking would baffle me. It is inoffensive but not dull. It is simple without ever seeming basic. It is one of those rare occasions where I can find no faults or pointers in anything they do, new songs sound just as promising as old ones and their set list can feature, or not feature for that matter, any of their songs and I’ll still walk away content.

I once loved a girl. She could do no wrong. She had lovely blonde hair and then one day dyed it brown. She told me this over the phone and my stomach tightened but when I saw her she was just as pretty. She would speak solidly for fifteen minutes without me even being able to acknowledge her sentences and yet I’d listen. I’d spend all day thinking of how to make her happy. I would write stories about sea creatures and she would illustrate them. We made each whole and she could make my day just by existing. One night at a party she broke up with me. I went back to our hotel room and cried solidly. I eventually fell asleep and woke up with pillows wet from tears and sweat. In the morning I watched Wimbledon highlights on the television and had a shower then took her stuff back to her. She didn’t come out so I left it in the front garden behind a bin. And then I went home. I cried a lot but always in private as it was my sister’s birthday and I didn’t want to ruin it. I got over it quickly but it still hurts from time to time. I miss those days and nostalgia is not my friend.

Slow Club seem able to capture the emotions of the entire above paragraph, the utter contentment of Me and You will go directly into the agony of loss in Apples and Pairs and your heart will be a flutter with all kinds of feelings that you only get from knowing someone truly special. Get to know Slow Club; I couldn’t be happier that I did.

www.myspace.com/slowclub

KIMYA DAWSON

There couldn’t be a more appropriate artist to appear at Ladyfest. To me she encapsulates everything that is feminine in this world, she knows what she wants from life but always makes sure that she gives just as much back. Her songs are full of honesty, simple truths told by someone who seems to love manipulating words to make them sound as wonderful as their meanings are purposeful. With the success of her work on the soundtrack to Juno it is hardly surprising to see a packed room for this cult character, the kind of person who sits behind her merch stall throughout the day and who is happy to just soak up everyone and everything, whilst being open enough to explain her inadequacies. She seems to have gotten to a point in her life where she is accepting of herself and her place in the world and being in someone’s company like that is worthy of the admission fee alone.

Why am I talking so much about Kimya’s personality instead of the music? Well while her guitar playing is lovely and her cracked, sweet vocal both manage to do her incredible song writing justice, it is the atmosphere that she musters that makes the gig quite wonderful. When people complain about there not being enough floor space due to people sitting down she invites a whole bunch to join her and sit on stage. When she plays songs from her forthcoming child’s album, Alphabutt, she gets the crowd to suggest animals that didn’t feature in the song and even make the odd animal noise. A lovely performance from a person so rich of heart that it seems like an almost religious experience.

www.myspace.com/kimyadawson

LAURA FRANCES/ MOMERATHS @ THE BOURNE AND HOLLINGSWORTH 08/05/08

LAURA FRANCES

It is fucking hot tonight and so spending the evening in a basement bar no bigger than my bedroom with around thirty people whilst sweating profusely wouldn’t be my first choice of activities. If it weren’t for the live music then I wouldn’t be here, and so it surprises me when people are downstairs talking the whole way through Laura’s set. It’s just rude, she can see you doing it and for me it ruins her performance. Too often tonight she is forceful with her vocals, trying desperately to silence the huddle but, in doing so, not singing with the comfortable grace that left me throwing compliments her way a couple of weeks back.

Laura knows nine chords apparently. I was wrong last time but not one of them can make enough noise to drown out the crowd and tonight she doesn’t appear happy on stage. I don’t wish to write a bad review for Laura as the crowd being as unreceptive as they were was in no way her fault, but tonight wasn’t her best night.

http://www.myspace.com/laurafrancesmusic

MOMERATHS

Momeraths are a revelation. They sound like Sunday barbeque music, the kind that your little nephew and gran would both love. Paulo on vocals sounds like a young Morrissey and could easily have found his way into any number of awful Libertine-imitation bands, but instead fronts a band that sound like a mixture of the best parts of The Kooks, Dodgy and the new wave of twee anti-folk bands.

This little faux living room setting is perfect for this band; they have something distinctly old-fashioned about them. Smiling throughout their set and laughing when someone hits a bum note, they seem genuinely happy to be playing for this, now distinctly thinned, crowd. The only thing that matters for bands of this ilk though is whether they have a big single and theirs is The Boyfriend Song; a stand-out song from a stand-out performance. Go discover this band in one of these tiny venues that are in equal need of discovering too.

http://www.myspace.com/wherethemomerathsgo

THE MAPLE STATE @ THE WATER RATS 05/05/08

THE MAPLE STATE

I once loved The Maple State. At Least Until We Settle In... is one of my favourite EPs by any British band, a perfect mix of summery synth and catchy hooks that never sound formulaic, I could even forgive the American tinge to the vocals. But The Maple State are no longer that band. Seemingly, having realised that they were never going to find a market big enough to prosper, they took aim at the mainstream. In my opinion they missed.

Tonight I watch four of their songs. Not really a fair base with which to critique the band but those four songs, when coupled with the releases post-At Least Until We Settle In..., leave me feeling as though I will not give them another chance. They sound like they have rubbed up against so many harsh industry backs that any edge that they once had has long sanded away. To see a band with such promise change to fit suit is always sad, but worse still is that in the current market the old stuff would probably go down better.

http://www.myspace.com/themaplestate