Music :: Live Review 10 Oct 2008
Chris Buckle: They may say that the clothes maketh the man. but ‘they’ aren’t clear on whether women, or indeed bands, are similarly made by their clobber. A sartorial glance at guitarist/singer Ritzy of tonight’s support The Joy Formidable (...
Music :: Live Review 09 Oct 2008
Darren Carle: Despite their gruff beards, burly physiques and trucker hats, Woodenbox (***) clearly know a good-time country pop tune when it rears its toothy face. A relatively meek looking saxophonist stage-left initially seems gimmicky but when forthcoming single...
Jason Morton: Whilst watching Dananananaykroyd's (****) contagious brand of jitter-punk unfold onstage, a fellow concertgoer asks me what their name is. “I really like their enthusiasm,” she says. Maybe this is precisely why Foals picked them as support ...
Jorge Marticorena: “We’re really interested in meeting some neds,” jest married front-couple David and Meredith Metcalf. “Yeah, we’ve watched them on youtube and stuff. We love them.” Oh, Bodies Of Water, if only you knew. Thankfully, ...
Music :: Live Review 08 Oct 2008
Darren Carle: The immediacy of the Futuristic Retro Champions (**) puts a smile on the Skinny’s mug as we enter Cabaret Voltaire tonight. This local quintet of fey-yet-hyper pop kids with songs about strutting your stuff on dance floors whilst looking good (ha...
Jason Morton: “I want to try something out,” Mike Skinner declares. He wants the crowd to wait for the appropriate moment, then – basically –‘Vogue’. The stunt works well for the crowd and they all whoop and bounce after it’...
Music :: Live Review 07 Oct 2008
Jason Morton: When Australian math rockers Pivot take the stage at Nice ‘N' Sleazy, it’s almost a challenge to the audience. Addressing an assembly of hipsters, without words, the band throws down the gauntlet with a cut that screams (and imagine an Auss...
Music :: Live Review 06 Oct 2008
Chris Cusack: Lit strikingly from beneath, a heavy-set man in a butcher's apron and pig mask lurches into the midst of the swaying audience and a sweaty path is cleaved through the mess of limbs. A mic cable traces his progress, intermittently vibrating like the acc...
Music :: Live Review 03 Oct 2008
Austin Tasseltine: In Person, Ladyhawk reflect many of the appealing idosyncracies of their sound on record. There's something faintly 60s and San Franciscan about the quartet, as well as a pervasive sense of unpretentious approachability. Performing to a disappointingly...
Music :: Live Review 01 Oct 2008
Chris Buckle: When the six zany members of The Spinto Band hop, skip and jump on stage to play their equally mental brand of kazoo-fusion indie-pop, pulling funny faces and indulging in goofy dancing, the effect is that of a Fisher Price Pavement auditioning for Yo ...
Music :: Live Review 30 Sep 2008
Chris Buckle: In the few years since Rolo Tomassi’s spasmodic digi-shred first demanded the attention of the post-hardcore and indie rock worlds alike, there’s been one issue that crops up with predictable frequency, as vocalist Eva Spence acknowledges. ...
Music :: Live Review 26 Sep 2008
Ryan Drever: Just minutes before the set begins, the crowd for Scars On Broadway - the side project from System of a Down's Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan - looks patchy and unsettled. This being the band's Scottish debut, the ABC gathering may not quite ...
Music :: Live Review 24 Sep 2008
Milo McLaughlin: Even though hipster’s fave Bon Iver is appearing up the road at the Queen's Hall, there are lengthy queues outside The Caves for tonight's Fence Club and a few unlucky souls are turned away due to a last minute sell-out. The subterranean den is a...
Ewen Millar: Tonight, We Are Trapped in Kansas (**) channel the spirit of the Mars Volta away from the excesses of jazz obscurantism and towards the relative safety of post-rock. Some impressive fret-board virtuosity early on is marred by a switch to stripped-back ...
Music :: Live Review 23 Sep 2008
Ally Brown: The underlit crags of The Caves' interior make it a uniquely beautiful setting to watch live music in; a venue where gazing at the walls isn’t necessarily indicative of a pharmaceutical malfunction. Unfortunately, the height of the main chamber a...
Music :: Live Review 22 Sep 2008
Darren Carle: As Super Adventure Club take stage and begin to strip paint from walls with their opening effort, it would seem an early doors arrival has been validated. However, it’s a mixed bag of tricks from there. Math Rock - a pithy side-swipe at, guess w...
Music :: Live Review 19 Sep 2008
Ally Brown: If the wild acclamation of For Emma, Forever Ago has left you a little nonplussed, an explanation for the high praise perhaps lies in Bon Iver's live performances. Put simply, while the album is sweet - but to these ears slightly over-rated - it truly ...
Ally Brown: Shearwater's most recent two albums, Palo Santo and Rook, both benefit from a production aesthetic that values each quiet second equally with each loud second, forging a real sense of space. Unfortunately, tonight, something in the room making a noise ...
Finbarr Bermingham: There might be no household names on show tonight, but it's credit to the Voodoo Rooms that they’re willing to take a punt and offer an alternative to drizzly nights in front of Corrie. Alas, their gamble isn’t rewarded with the numbers the...
Music :: Live Review 18 Sep 2008
Finbarr Bermingham: Shapeshifting between climactic post rock, ethereal progginess and otherworldly psych folk, Canadian octet Woodpigeon draw a wayward line between Godspeed!, Espers and Kate Bush. Their soundscapes are nothing if not epic: the whispered harmonies and mo...
