There are bands which are so completely different and unique that it is both crazy and totally weird but surprisingly refreshing. of Montreal is one of those bands especially with Skeletal Lamping which is the first album I downloaded after hearing about them.
Due to the concept of the album Skeletal Lamping, it took quite a few listens before I started getting it into my system. When I purchased tickets for this gig, I was still not sure I made the right choice. Eventually, I started loving it which made me excited about the gig.
I downloaded their whole discography which had a whopping 9 studio albums plus several EPs and compilations. Scary really as it stayed untouched on my computer for months until only a few weeks before the gig.
Then I decided to listen to their 4 latest albums which included Skeletal Lamping, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, The Sunlandic Twins and Satanic Panic in the Attic.
Excellent choice which really built up the anticipation for the gig.
On Tuesday, I finally had the chance to see them at O2 Academy’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire which is remarkably one of the more popular venues in London which I’ve never been to.
Support for the evening was Local Natives, a band where 4 of the 5 members have mustaches. They sounded pretty good and quite melodic even though almost everyone took lead vocals at some point. Definitely worth checking out again when they release their first full-length album.
After the long wait, a guy with a tiger mask plus a few other masked guys came up on stage and started to cheer up the crowd, building up the anticipation for the band. A few moments later the band came in followed by Kevin Barnes being carried on the shoulders of two masked guys.
Most of the band were dressed quite normally but Kevin Barnes and Bryan Poole had interesting costumes.
Then the familiar and very recognizable intro of Nonpareil of Favor started which is the first track off Skeletal Lamping, and immediately the crowd started going crazy. This was followed by Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider from Hissing Fauna, a great song with a tremendously catchy chorus.
Every other song, a group of performers would play out skits on stage which ranged from the normal to the odd and bizarre which is to be expected if you have seen some of their music videos. The masks they wore involved gas masks, pigs, tigers, and ninjas.
With all the dancing, it was hard to keep up with everything going on stage as there was the band to watch, the performers doing their bizarre skits, and a screen which showed pretty graphics similar to their music videos.
They played one catchy song after the other with most of the crowd going crazy for each. The setlist was a good mix of songs mainly from Skeletal Lamping and Hissing Fauna with a few thrown in from The Sunlandic Twins and Satanic Panic Attack.
A cover of Bat for Lashes’ Daniel was also performed in it’s entirety. I was only able to get a video of the second half.
I’ll be honest since the gig has been almost a week ago, I can hardly remember any specific details about each and every song they played. So I’ll be grabbing the setlist from Last.fm as posted by schmeep.
There was only one song for their encore but it was a 12 minute song, The Past Is A Grotesque Animal and it was pretty epic. Other highlights of the evening would be Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse, An Eluardian Instance, and She’s A Rejecter.
It was quite an enjoyable evening in almost every possible way. Most people on the Last.fm event page complained about the sound, but I found it quite adequate being right in the front. Or I could still have been partly deaf due to The Mars Volta’s gig the evening before. It was also a visual threat with all the antics the band and the performers were up to.
The setlist was also a good mix of songs but could have used less Skeletel Lamping. I would have gone absolutely manic if they included Suffer for Fashion and Disconnect The Dots.
Nonetheless, it was absolutely one enjoyable evening for almost every sense.
This is one band I cannot wait to see again and I am eagerly anticipating their return to London.
When you are about to see one of your favourite bands for the 4th time, you tend to know pretty much what to expect. However, in no way does this degrade the experience but deep inside, you are hoping there would be some sort of surprise, something to spice things up a bit.
A couple of things made this gig different, unique and special.
First, The venue.
The venue was in the courtyard of the lovely Somerset House along the Victoria Embankment. It was an open air venue, a first for me since I’ve always seen The Mars Volta indoors. When I think about it, this is only the second open air venue I’ve been to after Hyde Park as London has several awesome venues. Then, there’s the flaky weather.
The Mars Volta has always been known to be pretty loud and this gig was not an exception even whilst outdoors. I guess the setup of the speakers and how they bounce off the four sides of the courtyard was quite optimal. Actually, I I really try to think back on previous gigs, this may have been the best they have sounded live. The vocals were very good as well.
Second, Cedric talking to the crowd.
Yes, Cedric actually talked to the crowd through much of their set and was introducing almost every song before playing it. The past three gigs I’ve been to, the most you’d hear from him was “Thank you.” while they’re walking off the stage. Highly unusual but the change was pleasantly welcome as it gave a different and friendlier feel which tremendously helped the atmosphere in the venue and of the crowd.
Also, due to the size of the stage compared to ICA, Omar and Cedric had more space to move and this meant more crazy dancing from Cedric.
I didn’t push forward to the front as much as I could since I’ve already seen them up close at ICA and The Roundhouse so I decided to close to the sides.
Here’s the setlist viat Last.fm.
I really enjoyed this open air gig and sort of a departure from the norm for the band with Cedric talking and no obscenely long jams to bridge one song to the other. I guess the main reason I enjoyed this gig quite a lot was lowering my expectations and not expecting a performance like they did at Brixton.
Last week was pretty much a blur for me. For most of the week, I was sick with the flu (the “common” one) and missed out on two days of work. On the two days in which I did work, I hardly did anything which is quite typical these days.
In between the week, I got well enough to head over to Hyde Park on Thursday and catch one of Blur’s comeback shows after being away for so many years. Mind you, this was a date I booked the day off for weeks before I got sick.
I’ve never been the biggest Blur fan but I am so glad I managed to grab some tickets when they announced the second date of their Hyde Park shows. With my health not being a 100%, I spent a lot of time on the day itself deciding whether to go or not, right up to the moment I stepped out the door. It was the responsible thing to do as long as I still showed up for work the next day.
Even though I left pretty late, I arrived at just the right time when the massive queues to get in have disappeared and 30-45 minutes before the first support band was to start.
Four support bands were up that day, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Golden Silvers, Crystal Castles and Foals. Friendly Fires was earlier mentioned to play on the Thursday date but sadly were missing from the official timetable for the show.
I’ve never heard of Hypnotic Brass Ensemble nor Golden Silvers prior to this event and I don’t think I am missing out on much. They are ok, but not impressive enough especially with the wide open area.
Crystal Castles however was fun. Alice, the female singer, is freaking crazy though and could hardly stand up straight. She was properly wasted. I started listening to Crystal Castles when I found out they’d be supporting Blur. Somehow, the electronic samples using an Atari 5200 sound chip, immediately drew me in. They sound pretty ok live but not as forceful as I hoped. This can be attributed to the wide open space again. I’d pay to see them again at smaller venues.
Next up was Foals, a band I quite like and made me somewhat happy of scoring Thursday tickets instead of Friday ones. Their set was longer than when they supported Bloc Party in April. I enjoyed the songs they decided to play but the wide open space sort of distorted their sound. I’m still waiting for the day I’d see them headlining their own show at a much smaller venue.
The support acts made me think about the second date which had Florence and the Machine, Deerhoof, and Vampire Weekend.
Still, the 50,000+ people did not come for the support acts and neither did I. We were all their for one band which finally came up onstage a few minutes after 8 in the evening.
Blur played a very well constructed set which was a mirror of their headlining show at Glastonbury. Screencap is from their Glastonbury page where you could also watch 30 minutes of their performance (if you are in the UK).
Unlike all the support bands, Blur sounded amazing outdoors with Damon asking if everything was adequate and it sure was.
Being less of a fan than 60% of the other people in the event did not hinder me from enjoying the show in huge amounts. Most songs are very catchy and after a few lines you’d be singing along with the crowd. That’s britpop for you.
One of the best parts of the evening was Tender. It was pretty much epic. The crowd was still singing bits and pieces of it on the way home.
You can also see how much fun the band was having being back in London playing such a massive show after being away for so long.
The crowd was quite fun as well with everyone being big fans, dancing and singing along. A large percentage was around my age which was totally cool. Gone are the emo teeny boppers.
Blur at Hyde Park was one of the better gigs I’ve been to this year and I am thankful I decided to grab tickets right away when they announced the second (Thursday) date of their show.
My biggest regret was not listening to Blur as much as I could have when I was in highschool and college. One could easily say that Blur (and Oasis) were the definitive (brit) bands of my generation. Damn, that just made sound quite old.
As I am writing this, I am watching Bloc Party’s Glastonbury 2009 performance which is the best possible way to bring back the high I was on last night (Thursday) which was the best Bloc Party I’ve ever been to.
Third time’s a charm so they say and it was definitely the case for Bloc Party.
To kick things off, let’s talk about the venue, The Garage which is right across Highbury & Islington Station. The venue had been previously closed for major renovation and officially opened on Friday. Yes, we got in a day early and together with Bloc Party, had the chance to crack open the place.
The venue was quite small which according to their website lists the capacity at 630. There is one long bar at the end, and the stage on the other with small booths for merch and the DJ. Also, it was quite pleasant to use toilets which didn’t smell like urine but instead lingering paint fumes.
Bar service was also noticeably new as the bartenders tried to get their scanners working properly. It probably took me 15 minutes to pay after getting my drink. Then again, there was an error in the scanning and I did pay a quid less which surprised me when I ordered my next pint.
As for the sound, I am not the strictest of audiophiles, but I have to say it was pretty superb. Everything can be heard just about right and at a reasonable volume for the size of the place.
Wet Paint was the support band for the evening which was something we only found out at the last minute, ie, upon entering the door. I saw Wet Paint when they supported Bloc Party during their Olympia show. They are ok, but nothing really special about them.
At past 9:20 in the evening, Bloc Party finally took the stage and fired up the crowd with One-Month Off. This really lit up the crowd and sent everyone into a frenzy. After a few words from Kele, they then played Positive Tension followed by Hunting For Witches. Personal favourite of mine from Intimacy, Halo, came next with the now popular part were the crowd copies the riffs of the guitar which was pretty damn fun.
With 4 high energy songs, it was time to slow things down which they did with Signs. With Gordon already on the gloc, it was only fit to continue with Waiting For The 7.18. Singing the chorus “Let’s drive to Brighton on the weekend” never gets old. Note to self: This is one of the first things to do when we get a car.
Then it was time for the ever popular and epic combo of Song For Clay (Disappear Here) playing straight into Banquet.
However, a highlight for the night was played next, Two More Years, a song I’ve never seen live but one which they play quite often. It was played during the second date of their Olympia gig. This almost made me tear up.
It was back to A Weekend In The City after with Uniform followed by the heavy hitting Mercury which along with Ares are two of my least liked songs.
The crowd was given some breathing room which really meant less dancing since So Here We Are is more of an anthem for fans.
They then finished off their set with a terrific trio which included The Prayer, Helicopter, and Ares.
Of course, they weren’t done yet and came back for an encore which started of with the first ever live performance of One More Chance, a song which when I first heard puzzled me a little on how it would be played live. Surprisingly, it sounded pretty superb and clear. The crowd was pretty into it as well which is always a good thing. They coupled this with another song which was not originally included in a studio album, Flux which has become quite a popular song left for encores. A personal favorite of the band perhaps.
At this point, the lights were turned on and everyone started to move away from the stage. Heck, I decided to head to the merch stand to buy a shirt when the band came out for one finaly song which had everyone rushing back to the front. From the start of Bloc Party’s set, there was one song everyone was chanting for them to play, Skeleton, which the band did and much to the delight of everyone.
To sum up, this was the best Bloc Party gig I’ve been to. The venue was top-notch with great acoustics which made every instrument clear especially with the songs which used less guitars and instead other instruments like the gloc and keyboard. The crowd was small for a Bloc Party gig and this meant the people in the crowd were real fans, singing and dancing to pretty much every song, a very intimate gig. Being included in a few “firsts” was another, such as first gig at The Garage and first to hear One More Chance live. And let’s not forget about the playlist, Two More Years and Skeleton pretty much made the evening although they could have swapped Ares and Mercury for Trojan Horse, Talons, or This Modern Love.
**Apologies for the super blurry pictures. The setlist may be a bit mixed up but this is the best I could remember it to be.
This is the third time I’ve seen The Mars Volta after Brixton Academy and The Roundhouse last year. Still, this gig was quite different.
If you’ve read my other The Mars Volta posts about the previous gigs, you would know what to expect from this one. Cedric dancing and hardly saying anything other than good night and thank you. Omar doing some crazy riffs. Their relentless assault of song after song. The bands loudness compared to others. And, no encores.
So I’ll try not to bore you and will keep this real short. I will try.
Their soldout show at ICA was quite special as the theatre was real small (around 350+ only) and as such, was quite intimate. I watched Asobi Seksu here earlier in the year, and really enjoy the place as a music venue.
This should have reminded me of one very important thing which I will be considering next time, wear some bloody ear plugs. The Mars Volta is a loud band live but this mixed in with a sound system which is clearly too much for the sound venue will really destroy your ears eventually. Ears were still ringing until the next day.
In typical The Mars Volta fashion, there was no support band and sometime after 8:30 in the evening, the familiar Mexican/Western intro they use played, with the band following shortly.
They started their relentless assault with Goliath, followed by a new song, Cotopaxi. I’ve never good with song titles and remembering them so I will cheat and grab the setlist from Setlist.fm again.
It was a great set being a mix of songs from all five albums. Almost 2.5 hours of The Mars Volta.
A few things were a bit different though. Cedric seemed to dance less than he did before but he did sound much better especially on the new songs. Also, they somewhat had more breaks between songs now. In the past, someone would be continuing a guitar riff, a drum roll, or an effect over into the next song.
Omar’s quitar solos were still pretty intense and you really see the emotion and passion in how he performs and handles the guitar.
Cedric did talk more than just a simple good night and thank you though. Sometime towards the end of the evening, there was some technical difficulty with the lights which he requested repeatedly to be turned back on.
The Brixton gig is still the best in my book, but this gig allowed me to get closer to the stage and see them better. It was pretty wicked to see each member of the band do their own stuff. In the past, my view was almost restricted to watching either Omar or Cedric.
This was an intimate evening with The Mars Volta shared with a small number of true fans. As you may have guessed, I’d rank this right after the Brixton Academy gig.
I may be preluding myself since on July 13, I will be seeing The Mars Volta for the fourth time, this time at Somerset House.
