If you check my Last.fm profile, you’d notice that Bloc Party is my favourite band which is quite true and not only because of the high number of scrobbles. They are also a great band live whom I’ve seen 3 times in the past.

Sadly, they decided to go on an indefinite hiatus right after their Bloctober gig in October of last year.

The great news has a side-project aside from Matt Tong who took a break completely from music. Gordon Moakes has Young Legionnaire. Russell Lissack has Pin Me Down (which is excellent by the way). And Kele Okereke has his new band called Kele. I’ve been planning on writing a proper entry for them, but you know me, I’m dead lazy.

The demand for this show was quite crazy and the tickets sold out within minutes. I’m glad I grab one for myself.

After seeing his performance in Glastonbury, I was even more excited about this gig.

The venue was something new. It was Village Underground in Shoreditch. It had a steel gate for an entrance and a shipping container for a hallway. The inside was real spacious with high ceilings and bricked walls and arches. Another one of the lovely Shoreditch venues. In my opinion, I’d pick a venue in Shoreditch over one in Camden any day. The venues in Shoreditch are simply smaller, more intimate and have a better atmosphere to it. Old Street Underground Station is not the best station and seems real dodgy really.

Support for the evening was Things I Never Told You which is a fun synth-pop band from London. Their first song was really reminiscent of ’80s synth-pop but the other songs they performed had their own character and felt a bit more modern. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with ’80s synth-pop. Go to their MySpace page and have a listen for yourself.

It took what seemed like an eternity for the next band to get setup on stage with all the fancy synths and all. Eventually, they finished up and Kele, along with his band came up on stage. As confirmed in their Glastonbury set, the girl on synths is extremely hot.

They started off the night with the first track on the album The Boxer, Walk Tall which is a song I absolutely did not like at first but has somehow grown on me. Since Kele is currently working their set from one album only, there was need to dig deep and use old favourites from Bloc Party which Kele called his “Daytime job,” an indication that they have not broken up. This was then mixed in with the more upbeat songs from the new album like Tenderoni which is the first single and Rise, which is quite a great tune.

Here’s the full setlist.

• Walk Tall
• On The Lam
• The Other Side
• Everything You Wanted
• Blue Light / The Prayer / One More Chance (Bloc Party cover/medley)
• Tenderoni
• Rise
• Yesterday’s Gone
• Your Visits Are Getting Shorter (Bloc Party cover)
• Unholy Thoughts
• Flux (Bloc Party cover) (encore)

The best parts of the night were of course the parts where they performed Bloc Party songs. The medley of Blue Light, The Prayer and One More Chance, was well put together though I wish the part of The Prayer was a bit longer. Amusingly enough, if you notice, each song is from one of Bloc Party’s albums.

I’ve never seen Bloc Party perform Your Visits Are Getting Shorter live before, so hearing it that evening made the night quite special. Flux as the encore was expected but was still pretty much crazy.

Of course, the new songs also held there own and got the crowd moving with their wicked beats and synths. On The Lam and Rise in particular, were really great live.

In a way, watching their Glastonbury set may have ruined the surprise when it came to Bloc Party songs. Also, Kele said pretty much the exact same things in between songs as what he did in Glastonbury which was pretty funny.

With Bloc Party’s last album, Intimacy, we already felt things where heading and now that Kele has the freedom to push his own style, he has created something which is pretty amazing and in a way, still gives the Bloc Party feel during live shows.

Say what you want about emo music and the associated connotations, but it’s one “genre” (legitimate or not) which is close to my heart, simply because I just get it. With that said, I was never one of those kids who dressed up like a half goth hybrid and parted his hair in such a way. If there’s one thing about me, I never let the music I listen to dictate the way I dress or look.

Wait, why has this post suddenly become about me.

On Wednesday, I saw an emo band which has been around since the mid-90s, clearly earlier than the emo bands which came out in the Noughties.

The venue was in Camden which is where 80% of gigs happen anyway so is almost always a given, but it was one which I’ve never been to before. I love looking forward to new venues. At least, I can say I’ve been there.

Underworld was the venue for this evening which was under a pub called “World’s End” which I found really amusing.

The venue, as the name suggests, was underground and dark. It had the typical underground smell and feel. The actual stage area was pretty small with the stage no more than 2 feet above the floor. There were these two massive beams right in the middle of the floor area which sort of ruined things.

Support for the evening was a band who I thought was Said Mike but apparently is now called Straight Lines. I am familiar with them since I saw them support Lights! Action! back in March of 2009 when they where still known as Said Mike. Due to the album sampler they gave out back then, two songs stood out during their set, Antics and Perfect Mistakes. I have to say their sound has improved quite a bit from the last time I saw them.

As usual, as soon as the support left the stage, people started filling up the stage area and the place got packed real quick. There were also those anxious fans who squeezed right in front.

The Get Up Kids then came on stage. I’ve never paid attention to their looks before but they did seem quite a bit older than what you’d expect from an “emo” band. Then again, they have been around since 1995 which is totally amazing.

I can hardly remember anything from the setlist and searching online has led to nothing. As far as I remember, they started off just a bit slow and after a good 4-5 songs, kicked off with Holiday which threw everyone into a frenzy. This was then double up’d by Valentine.

This is completely terrible, I can’t remember which songs exactly they played this evening as there were a lot spanning all their albums and a few new songs.

It was amazing singing along to the songs I knew which turned out to be just quite a few but it was still a very enjoyable evening.

They did close the evening with Walking On A Wire which was superb.

Apologies for a lame write up of this gig, I simply can’t remember much of the setlist from this evening. Blame it on thinking about something else throughout the evening.

Last December, something happened with the usual Christmas Number 1 single here in the UK. A couple grew tired of the X Factor winners getting the number one single each and every year and started a campaign to knock them off.

Of course, there was no other fitting song for this other than Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name which ends with “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.”

The campaign started on Facebook and quickly gained ground until Rage Against The Machine mentioned playing a free gig if they would ever won. As you know, this is the sort of campaign and fighting the system the band is all about.

Personally, I didn’t really care much about the campaign but thought it was a cool idea. And of course, it was Rage we were talking about here, a band I’ve been listening to for years and been dying to see live.

Eventually, they won and toppled over the X Factor winner. A few months later, the victory celebration gig was announced which I luckily came across on Facebook.

Lucky since despite it being a free gig, it involved a registration process (with passport picture) for each individual and then a separate rush for ticket allocation. As far as I heard, 150,000 people registered and only 40,000 tickets were allotted.

The venue was at Finsbury Park and this gig was very reminiscent of Blur at Hyde Park for a number of reasons. Dodgy weather which was sunny at times and drizzling at some points, 3-4 support bands, wide open area with lots of bars and food stalls, gates opening at 2 PM with a wait until 5 PM for the first support, and 40,000 to 50,000 people.

For me, it was quite different as it was the first time I went to a gig with 3 people I actually knew which made the experience even better.

There were two DJ acts on stage which pumped up some tunes until the first support band was due to perform.

The first support for the evening was Gallows a pure hardcore punk band from Watford which is close to where I live. It was my first time seeing them as I missed a chance to catch them during a Kerrang gig back in 2007 due to work. When I mentioned punk, I meant it in comparison to Sex Pistols and they started off their set with a cover of God Save The Queen. For first support, they played such an entertaining and lively set with a little humour and attacks against Justin Bieber.

Roots Manuva was the second support for the evening. Not my cup of tea which is all I’m going to say about them.

However, the third support act completely blew things out of the water. The band was Gogol Bordello who played one of the liveliest and most entertaining support acts I’ve ever seen. They were an older group of people but played with so much energy on stage and pretty much everyone was enjoying their performance even the people I went to the gig with. I’m not sure why I haven’t listened to them before but I sure am now. Also, thanks to Rage, I got the chance to see them live which is something which would not have happened otherwise aside from going to a festival.

As great as the two support bands were (I’m not counting Roots Manuva), everyone was of course here for one band alone.

A few minutes around 9 in the evening, a video of an animated Simon Cowell was shown on the screens with a nice funny skit introducing the band.

Rage Against The Machine then came out on stage and immediately rocked the place out with Testify.

As expected, it got crazy real quick. We positioned ourselves right against the middle barrier so people were pushing behind us and we had to keep our hands on the barrier to avoid getting crushed.

The people in the front area had it worse though. People were flowing out of the front area like water since it got insane over there. The bouncers did an okay job handling the people but there were some instances were they where to rough in handling people trying to jump to the front area. There was even a girl who just collapsed on the floor having an asthma attack right in front of us.

During this time, we were watching these people more than the band onstage. Things eventually calmed down a bit (an understatement!) and we were able to watch Rage on stage and rock out to their songs.

They played most of their old songs from 3 albums, Rage Against The Machine, The Battle of Los Angeles, and Evil Empire. Not a single song from Renegades and I’m glad they didn’t.

Here’s the setlist for the evening.

• Testify
• Bombtrack
• People of the Sun
• Know Your Enemy
• Bulls On Parade
• Township Rebellion
• Bullet In The Head
• Guerilla Radio
• Sleep Now In The Fire
• Freedom
• Killing In The Name (encore)

When you think about it, 11 songs was really a short set but they more than made up for this with their intensity. This is my first time seeing Rage Against The Machine play live and they were in every way as I expected them to be. The energy, the crazy guitar riffs of Tom Morello, the rants of Zach against a number of things. Nothing has changed from seeing them on the videos all over the place. They are the exact same band they were almost 20 years ago which is rare and amazing.

The couple who started the campaign was invited on stage and presented a check of RATM’s earnings from the single which was then donated to their charity.

And then, there was more Rage. They left the stage after performing Freedom but without playing Killing In The Name, everyone knew they’d be back. After a few minutes, a video played on screen about the comments haters had against the campaign and eventually the numbers of the total singles sold.

Rage Against The Machine then came back on stage to perform Killing In The Name and insanity ensued once again for one last time.

It was an evening to remember and a dream come true. Another band ticked off my list and to top it off, it was a free event which is rare for me.

As for the weather, it was surprisingly decent despite the clouds, it drizzled for a bit before Gallows and then stopped. It then started again before RATM and thankfully stopped again.

Let’s just not talk about how we got home that evening. Actually, we got lucky but it was still insane.

It would be foolish to deny that the main reason I listen to She & Him is because of the lead singer which happens to be the lovely Zooey Deschanel which is a Hollywood actress whom you may have heard of in the past.

When I noticed the gig announced on Last.fm, it was already a little too late as tickets were already sold out on most ticketing sites. Luckily, Stargreen still had a few left and of course, I bought a ticket right away.

The venue was Koko yet again but this time I decided to not buy a drink. Instead, I opted to get as close to the stage as possible. Unfortunately, this was also on the mind of every other person in the venue as the area right below the stage was quite packed as I arrived after the doors opened which is rare for me.

Speaking of the crowd, it was predominantly male. Figures.

The Chapin Sisters were the support for the evening who turned out to be pretty good even though they were missing one sister. The two sisters sang by themselves with their instruments for a few songs and was later joined by a band. They were pretty interesting with or without the full band.

For their last song, they invited their third sister for the evening, Zooey Deschanel, and the crowd just went wild (a little and in a calm way).

After a long wait, a person came up on stage and asked the audience not to use flash photography as a special request from the band.

A few minutes after, members of the same band for support came back on stage followed by M. Ward and of course, Zooey Deschanel in a nice silver dress. The Chaplin Sisters were her back up singers this time around. Awfully convenient for the same people to be both the support and headlining band.

Zooey looked absolutely lovely and adorable up on stage. She looked and moved exactly as the many characters she has portrayed in her movies. Surprisingly, she didn’t talk much on stage and was mostly muttering a few words instead. Also, she was looking up most of the time which isn’t really a bad thing but something I noticed.

As for her voice, well, it’s safe to say that she is so much more than just a pretty voice. She can really sing and put on quite a performance. The last song for the evening was a cover of I Put A Spell On You which was simply amazing and jaw dropping. She easily hit all the high notes. This song was even lovelier as only M. Ward was on stage playing the guitar.

Speaking of M. Ward, the other half of She & Him, was mighty as well with his guitar and singing. They had great chemistry on stage which was more evident when it was just the two of them up.

I never remember setlists even the day after a gig so I’m grabbing it again from Setlist.fm created by likelyladtom.

• I Was Made For You
• Thieves
• Black Hole
• Me And You
• Lingering Still
• Sing
• Home
• Change Is Hard
• I Thought I Saw Your Face Today
• Brand New Shoes
• You Really Got A Hold On Me
• Would You Like To Take a Walk? (Ella Fitzgerald cover)
• Magic Trick (M. Ward)
• Gonna Get Along Without You Now
• In The Sun
• Take It Back
• Don’t Look Back
• Over It Over Again
• This Is Not A Test
• Ridin’ In My Car
• Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
• Sweet Darlin’
• Fool’s Rush In (Johnny Mercer cover) (encore)
• Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry cover) (encore)
• I Put A Spell On You (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins cover) (encore)

Wow. That was just a whopping 25 songs. Albeit short 2-3 minute songs, it’s still a pretty massive setlist. I had no idea they played so many songs that evening.

As mentioned earlier, the main reason for me going here was because of Zooey Deschanel and seeing her was very much worth it. Thing is, she can really sing well and M. Ward compliments this very well with his music. There was never a doubt of me going to this gig as I would have found a way to get tickets. If that failed, I would have purchased tickets to the second date they announced a month after tickets sold out for the Koko gig.

In short, this was a simply an amazing night being star-struck by one of my most favourite actresses and blown away by her amazing voice.

It’s safe to say that I was grinning the whole evening up to the time I put myself to sleep. *sighs*

Last year, I watched Foals in Heaven and along with them was this surprisingly amazing three-piece band called Two Door Cinema Club. From the first song they played at Heaven, I immediately loved their music.

When I got home, I was slightly disappointed to find out that they hardly have any music released which you can actually download. I went ahead and purchased their first song bundle on Amazon entitled Kitsuné: Something Good Can Work which contained the songs Something Good Can Work and Do You Want It All?. A few months later, another bundle came out which contained I Can Talk and Costume Party.

Less than a month ago, their first full-length album came out, Tourist History, which is such a brilliant record and also allowed me to listen to Undercover Martyn anytime I wanted.

On Wednesday last week, I had the chance to watch them headline for the first time.

This was at the Hoxton Square Bar and Restaurant in Shoreditch which is another amazing and small venue tucked away in lovely Shoreditch like Cargo. It also had the same format for the venue, a bar, a restaurant, and a small stage area for live music performances. The stage here was so much better than Cargo’s since it is quite high and provides a better view for the audience.

First support was Citadels which is a lovely new band from London. I don’t know how to describe them but they were really great. Stef usually does the main vocals which is pretty good, but when Lucy steps in to sing Sons of Clovis II, my mind was blown. Do check their Myspace page to sample their songs.

These support bands have been surprisingly good lately and I really need to get my act together and write up a support band post.

Before Two Door Cinema Club came up on stage, I suddenly realized something. There was a drum kit. When I saw them at Heaven, there was no drummer and drum kit to be found, just the 3 members of the band with their guitars and electronic samplers (or whatever they are called). I remember mumbling to myself that having a drummer on stage would make them so much better to watch live.

When they came up on stage and played their first song, Cigarettes In The Theatre, I immediately noticed the difference and it was awful. Thankfully, it was just a volume problem which was quickly fixed before the second song started. A minor tech issue really. Whew.

Fixing the drum volume issue was quite essential since they followed the opening song with Undercover Martyn which is such an upbeat and fun song. I would have been pretty disappointed if they messed this one up as well.

As for the setlist, I attempted to take notes while watching them on stage and dancing a bit in my spot.

• Cigarettes In The Theatre
• Undercover Martyn
• XXX
• What You Know
• Do You Want It All?
• Something Good Can Work
• This Is The Life
• Kids XXX
• Costume Party
• You Are Not Stubborn
• Eat That Up, It’s Good For You
• Come Back Home
• I Can Talk

The items with XXX’s are songs I don’t really know and have never heard from them before. The first one had a title but I didn’t catch it, the band mentioned the second one. Apologies for my ignorance.

They played all of the songs on Tourist History plus Costume Party which is only on the I Can Talk bundle.

Due to the music they have, I was expecting a bit more dancing but there wasn’t really. Could be the Shoreditch type of crowd. The lovely French girl in front of me was dancing her heart away though and this, among others, made my evening.

I might as well say this now, Two Door Cinema Club is now one of my favorite bands second only to Los Campesinos!

Until next time guys. And by next time, I mean Monday when you support Phoenix at Roundhouse.