Having never heard of them, I was genuinely impressed by their performance and their fun kind of guitar rock. Catchy beats and interesting riffs. Then there’s this song you may have heard of called Sweet Disposition which is simply brilliant. It was featured n the movie (500) Days Of Summer.

As soon as I noticed they were playing a show in Koko in December, and on a Monday as well, I bought tickets right away.

The day itself was pretty horrible.

As it was my day off, I decided to purchase advance tickets for Avatar at Odeon in Camden as it would finish a few minutes before the doors opened for the gig at Koko which was just down the road. It would be perfect.

Unfortunately, the moment I stepped out of the door, huge amounts of snow started falling. As such, the bus I needed was late by an hour which was real puzzling as other buses, including the same route going in the opposite direction, were all running. Just the one bus I needed. The world was out again to screw me over.

As a result, I arrived in Camden an hour late for the screening I already paid for and had to sit in a coffee shop alone for almost an hour and a half waiting for doors to open at Koko.

Due to the “snow storm”, there was hardly any queue really. A few minutes before 7, there were less than 10 people waiting to get in. Thankfully, they didn’t let us wait to long.

People eventually started coming in around 8 in the evening.

There was a support band whom I can’t remember at the moment and can’t be bothered looking them up now. I don’t think they didn’t mention who they were on stage and I don’t care as there was nothing special about them. The only thing they had going was the fact that they had a female bassist.

The wait was excruciatingly long especially when there is an obnoxious group of people in front of you. They started out as 3 people. Then 5 of their friends came an hour later, squeezing into the already packed front area. Later on, 7 more friends squeezed in and made things pretty damn annoying. Oh, they were from Australia.

Temper Trap probably came up on stage around 9:30. At this point, the venue was really packed up to the rafters. When I watched Jack’s Mannequin here, I was at the back so didn’t see how many levels Koko had. From the front, you could see how many levels there were. Unlike Shepherd’s Bush Empire, tickets allowed access into all areas.

They played the entirety of their album Conditions plus a new song and a cover of Bruce Springstein’s Dancing In The Dark. Highlights of the night were Sweet Disposition, Science of Fear and Drum Song which was amazing.

It was a solid show and the crowd was really into the band. Still, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected.

The magic and awe which I experienced when I saw them the first time at Electric Ballroom was lost. This could have been caused by my frustration with the obnoxious group in front of me but it was simply different.

Don’t get me wrong, the show was still pretty tight and was a great performance from the band. There was simply something missing which was present the first time and really caught my interest.

In some way, this could be attested to their sudden shot to fame which is all good for them and they were loving the cheers from the crowd and their performance was fueled by them.

They already had a 3-day show at O2 Empire set prior to the Koko gig. Two days have already sold out and my decision to purchase tickets for the last day lay on my experience on this day. Sadly, it wasn’t a brilliant one.

In my case, I still love them and would continue listening to them. As for their shows, I think I’ll take a break from them for awhile.

Sadly, the moment I noticed Modest Mouse was going to be in town, it was already too late and all standing tickets were sold-out. The same with Level 1 seats and I had to settle for Level 2 seats. It was on a Monday which is my day off so I went for it.

By the way, there is yet another level to the seats.

A few weeks later, they announced another gig at the Electric Ballroom. I didn’t bother since I needed to be a bit more careful with my spending and it also falls on a Tuesday, a working day, which means booking the day off.

Back to the gig. When I got in, I did have to climb quite a few flights of stairs to get to my seat. It was quite high up but gave you a very clear view of the whole stage which was pretty cool. You can easily see everyone on stage without the need of moving your head from side to side.

Frightened Rabbit was support for the evening. In most cases, support bands are just thrown in with another band regardless of the type of music they play. Rarely are they in the same genre as the headlining band. In this case, Frightened Rabbit complimented Modest Mouse quite a lot and they set up the evening for an excellent evening. They were quite incredible and much fun to watch.

To quote one of their songs, Keep Yourself Warm, “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm.” How can you not like them? A definite addition to my playlist.

Now for Modest Mouse. First of, I had no idea how many they were in the band and seeing everyone up on stage made them quite the crowd. The number of instruments they use was even more. Despite Isaac mentioning he had a throat infection, he still did an excellent job on the vocals.

It was real fun watching all the members on the stage from where I was sitting. The most enjoyable part was watching the two drummers play in unison.

They played a mix of songs mostly from their 3 latest albums with a few songs from the old ones thrown in for good measure. Below is the complete setlist as posted by Simon_FM and JosephRoys on the Last.fm Event’s page.

• King Rat
• Dashboard
• Dramamine
• Bury We With It
• Bukowski
• Missed The Boat
• Fire It Up
• Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes
• Here It Comes
• The View
• 3rd Planet
• We’ve Got Everything
• Gravity Rides Everything
• Parting Of The Sensory
• Paper Thin Walls
• Custom Concern (encore)
• Satin In A Coffin (encore)
• Dance Hall (encore)
• The Whale Song (encore)

I have only been listening to Modest Mouse since 2003 (I think) and due to this, I am more familiar with their newer stuff and enjoyed this setlist very much.

I was a little disappointed when they didn’t play Float On, but a part of me was glad they didn’t cave in despite most people in the crowd chanting it.

They capped off the night with The Whale Song instead which was quite epic and made the lack of Float On very much worth it.

It was another brilliant gig at Shepherd’s Bush Empire from a different viewpoint. Another surprise support band which has already been added to my playlist.

I noticed this gig online at the last minute and was glad there were still tickets for it as I have never been to Cargo in the past and it is always good to watch a band in a new place.

There was another gig happening on the same date for The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart at The Garage, Islington. If I hadn’t seen this band in this same venue back in August, I would have purchased tickets for this instead. Sometimes it is good to wait until the very last minute.

Anyway, Cargo is a nice little venue underneath a rail bridge. Unlike other venues, it has a restaurant and a bar separate from the room where the stage is. It is a nice cozy place to meet up friends (if I had any) for a few pints and some food.

There were no queues which was a welcome change in England and since I arrived early, I had a pint and relaxed on the their comfy seats. With the previous Asobi Seksu gig at ICA, I lost out of the shirt design I wanted. They had the same design here but only in women’s shirts so I bought a different shirt instead.Airship, from Manchester, was support for the evening. They were a pretty decent and interesting band. Their EP is available on Spotify if you want to have a listen. It is pretty good.

Asobi Seksu played a familiar set as to the ICA gig back in February, give or take a few songs. I have listened to the new album quite a bit since then and have come to appreciate and love it quite a lot.

• Sing Tomorrow’s Praise
• New Years
• Strawberries
• Meh No Mae
• In The Sky
• Thursday
• Layers
• Pink Cloud Tracing Paper
• Transparence
• Red Sea
• Strings (encore)
• Me & Mary (encore)

It’s a good mix from Citrus and Hush but still nothing from their self-titled first album.Thursday is still my favourite song of theirs and any gig with it is good enough for me.

All in all, it was a better gig than ICA mainly cause it was a smaller venue with less people. For once, I was at a gig standing right in front of the stage. Stadium events are an experience but nothing beats smaller intimate gigs.

Due to all the irregularities in my shift for the past few weeks, I had Tuesday off and had the chance to see them live at Relentless Garage in Islington.

There were two supports that evening, Veronica Falls and Hatcham Social.

First up was Veronica Falls from London and as per their MySpace page are Pop/Goth/Shoegaze. I would have to say they are more shoegaze than anything else. I love this band to bits and not only because of the lovely lead vocalist with awesome bangs. Of the bands I saw this evening, they sounded the best in that every instrument can be heard clearly with no one overpowering. The vocals were also very clear. It is a real shame though that they don’t have a record out yet and only one song is available on their MySpace page.

As for Hatcham Social, I was not too impressed. For the most part, I thought they played too loudly for a small venue and it was not the sound techs fault as they set up their own instruments and indicated they were ok with the levels. Their performance and songs were pretty much ok, nothing too special. The loudness clearly ruined it for me. It was entertaining though when they started their set by reading a piece from Lewis Caroll’s works.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart was supposed to start at 10 in the evening but did not come up on stage until 10 minutes after. However, this did not mean they started their set right away. Kip (lead) spent a few more minutes tuning his guitar which he continued to do every 3 or 4 songs.

As soon as they started playing, it was clear they had their act together. They started out with a song most likely from one of their EPs as I only have the one album. It was good though. I will not go into set details as I do not remember anything at all especially with the songs from the EP thrown in the mix.

It was a great gig though and the crowd really loved it. Most of the songs from their self-titled album were on the setlist with a few old ones from the EP and new songs as well.

Unfortunately, the instruments didn’t sound perfect. They had an additional guitarist on stage but you can barely here it.

I mentioned previously when I watched Bloc Party at this venue that I totally love it. Well, I now take this back because of one minor issue, overcrowding. The venue was packed. I know it’s a tiny venue but it is not a very good idea to pack so many people into such a small venue as it sort of spoils the whole atmosphere of having a small venue. The poor ventilation did not help either. I am pretty sure this is the hottest venue in London once filled up and I mean this literally.

This was another great evening of indie and shoegaze music which I really enjoyed quite a lot. Sadly, I am quickly disliking this venue.

It was well worth it though as I got a chance to watch the lovely Natasha Khan, more popularly known as Bat for Lashes.

The weather actually played nice until the support’s, DM Stith, last few songs. He even exclaimed at the start of his set, “I don’t think it’s going to rain.” Maybe he jinxed it, but then again this is London which is famously known for it’s freakish weather.

While waiting for Bat for Lashes to start, I spent most of the time at the back near the toilets as this was the only shelter from the rain one could find. I am not a big fan of umbrellas and only had a barely waterproof jacket on.

When Bat for Lashes started, I decided to brave the pissing rain and tried watching her performance which was quite hard considering all the umbrellas up. It was real difficuly to squeeze in a view through the small cracks in between umbrellas.

Thankfully, the sound was quite brilliant and listening to her live was quite the experience.

With a little determination, and I do mean a little, I was able to push towards the front barrier albeit slightly toward off centre. This gave me a great view though of Natasha as she played on the paino, strings and as she danced on stage.

Right after her set, the rain stopped which was perfect for her encore. With all the umbrellas down, everyone had a chance to watch her properly performing Two Planets and Daniel.

Despite the rain, the gig was quite enjoyable. The sound was pretty solid despite the falling rain and occassional thunder. Natasha was quite charming, nice and friendly on stage in between songs and quite powerful and lively while performing songs which consisted of a good mix between her two albums, Fur and Gold and Two Suns.

Here’s a video of her performing Daniel.

Here’s the setlist again from Setlist.fm.

• Trophy
• Glass
• Horse & I
• Travelling Woman
• Bat’s Mouth
• Sarah
• Sleep Alone
• The Wizard
• Siren Song
• Tahiti
• What’s A Girl To Do?
• Pearl’s Dream
• Prescilla
• Good Love
• Two Planets
• Daniel

This is one performer I’d love to watch again though in a closed venue.