This is very long overdue as things have been absolutely crazy with me working every other day and going to a gig in between. So here we go, 23 days late. Oh boy.
I never really got into either Hot Chip nor LCD Soundsystem as much I wanted to in the past and skipped on gigs they announced in previous years. After watching their performances at Glastonbury (I was quite bored and depressed at work), both bands slowly grew on me especially Hot Chip.
When they announced a co-headline show at Alexandra Palace, I made sure I had tickets (two in fact, with one completely wasted) this time despite hearing quite bad things about the venue. Back in 2007, Bloc Party and Arcade Fire (on separate dates) performed at Alexandra Palace, and I skipped because of the venue and I think I was pretty skint back then.
The venue is a fair distance from tube stations although there is a bus dedicated for the show which is a plus even though I didn’t use it. The venue from Alexandra Palace is spectacular though as it overlooks London which looks lovely at night. Note to self: visit Alexandra Palace during summer and explore.
When I arrived, there was a really massive queue outside the venue which itself, is pretty massive as well. This was almost around 7:30 in the evening and we could hear a band playing outside but couldn’t make out who it was.
After almost 45 minutes of queueing in the blistering cold, we were inside the venue, well, almost. There was a huge lobby where you could queue for tokens which you would have to use for purchasing spirits and beer (after more queueing of course). I decided to skip grabbing a drink due to this especially when I noticed that it was Hot Chip already playing on stage.
I knew this was a co-headlining gig between the two with Hot Chip listed first but I was hoping LCD Soundsystem would go first as I liked them less than Hot Chip.
Thankfully, I only missed part of their first song. Unfortunately, I was stuck at a bad spot quite far from the stage and devoid of people dancing.
Hot Chip was real fun though and they played a mix of songs from 3 albums which is all good and kept the energy going.
Here’s their full set.
Boys From School
One Pure Thought
Thieves In The Night
One Life Stand
Over And Over
Hand Me Down Your Love
Alley Cat
Take It In
Shake A Fist
We Have Love
Hold On
I Feel Better
Ready For The Floor
Despite the spot I had, I still enjoyed their set but would have really preferred to be much, much closer. As such, I’m most definitely going to see them again if given the chance.
Before LCD Soundsystem, there was a good 30 minute wait. This meant a rush to the toilets and for some, the bar. This also meant queueing up again which has no become quite a chore in this venue. Physically, it’s a lovely venue, a bit too spacious but pretty. Acoustic wise, I have no complaints but then again some of my taste in music could mean I’m tone deaf.
With this break and people shuffling around, I was able to get much closer to the stage and was ready for LCD Soundsystem.
I was hoping for LCD Soundsystem to be good and they turned out to be pretty brilliant on stage. Their set seemed shorter with less songs but each song was quite long.
Here’s their setlist.
Dance Yrself Clean
Drunk Girls
I Can Change
Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
All My Friends
You Wanted A Hit
Tribulations
Movement
Yeah
Someone Great
Home
I would love to say more about this gig, but at this point, specific memories about this show have been almost washed out by other gigs. If only I wasn’t so lazy and tired back then, I would have written something better about this co-headlining gig. Let’s blame it on jetlag, shall we?
Overall, it was a great show by both bands. I personally enjoyed Hot Chip more but have a new found appreciation LCD Soundsystem. As for the venue, it isn’t terribly bad but I’d still avoid it if possible.
Sky Larkin is a band I’ve seen twice in the past but never headlining their own show. The first was during a bandstand busk at Albert Circus and the second was when they supported Best Coast at Cargo. Both are quite memorable experiences for two completely different reasons.
On Monday, I had the chance to finally see them headline their own show at such a small and intimate venue, The Lexington in Islington, as part of their tour for their recently released album, Kaleide, which is quite a gem really.
I’ve never been to The Lexington before (should have been here for Sleigh Bells a month back) and unfortunately, it was smack in the middle of King’s Cross Station and Angel Station which with my new pair of Chucks, totally killed my feet.
The venue itself was of two parts, the ground floor was a pub and I initially didn’t realise there was another level. I had no idea where to go as the place was already full. Apparently it was also a pub quiz night which would explain the crowd. The level upstairs is where the stage was and when I got in, it was still pretty empty.
Similar to Best Coast at Cargo, doors didn’t open until 8 in the evening. Thankfully, this didn’t mean waiting until 9 for the support band to start as there were two this time.
First up was The Lost Levels from Norfolk, another band which prominently uses synths. They had a pretty interesting sound though and their set was quite engaging. They did talk quite a bit though which wasn’t too much but just unexpected. The actually singing was also pretty decent to say the least.
Dutch Uncles, a band from Manchester, was the second support band which initially struck me as a very weird band. The singer had his pants up to his chest and the drummer had this weird expression on his face like he was concentrating too much and in a parallel universe. Then they started playing, and the singing was even weirder but it quickly grew on me and I found myself enjoying their set.
During the break, it was nice to see members of Sky Larkin setting up their instruments themselves instead of having techs do it for them. It is a small venue and a small show, but it’s quite a different sight which deserves much respect.
At close to 10 in the evening, Sky Larkin finally took stage and started the evening with Antibodies to an already excited crowd. Pica, another song from their first album, The Golden Spike, followed.
To make things easier, here’s the full setlist:
Antibodies
Pica
Tiny Heist
Sommersault
Anjelica Huston
Matador
Fossil, I
Kaleide
Spooktacular
Still Windmills
Landlocked
Beeline (encore 1)
Summit (encore 2)
Katie Harkin is still one of my favourite female artists and she was simply lovely this evening and played her heart out through each song. Nestor on drums was sweating like crazy at the back of the stage but Doug was playing it cool for the most part but did mention that he needed a towel for the first time on stage.
It was a sweet gig which the small crowd totally enjoyed. The band was having quite a swell time on stage with Katie saying “London, you spoil us!” several times.
They came back on stage twice for two one-song encores. The first of which was Beeline. They then closed the evening with Summit.
As my first chance to see them headline their own show, I really really enjoyed this one. The bandstand busk will be a totally unique experience but this evening at The Lexinton was truly extraordinary.
If given the chance, I’d gladly see them again the next time they headline a show in London as I know it would be a great show and is a nice way of supporting such a great band.
Last year, I saw Muse for the first time ever at The O2 for their The Resistance Tour. To this day, it is still one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. Sadly, I never got to blog about it.
A few weeks after the show, they announced a stadium tour for 2010 and of course, I immediately grabbed a couple of tickets and eagerly awaited the day I’d see Muse live again even though it wasn’t until almost another year.
On Saturday, the day was finally upon us.
They announced two dates, September 10 and 11 with a different list of support acts. A few months before the concert, they announced the support acts. Friday got the short stick and had Lily Allen (?), The Big Pink, and White Rabbits. Saturday got I Am Arrows, White Lies and Biffy Clyro, a band I’ve heard about in the past but never listened to.
I immediately checked my ticket confirmation email and was quite relieved to find out that I did get Saturday tickets since this was clearly the better lineup. It all boils down to Muse in the end, but having great support bands makes the experience sweeter.
Getting into Wembley Stadium was a breeze since it was designed to handle a massive amount of people going in and out of the stadium. This is Wembley Stadium which is England’s premier stadium.
We arrived after the gates opened and there was already quite a huge crowd in front of the stage and this left us standing smack in the middle of the whole stadium.
The whole stage was really massive but I found it hard to imagine how it could be any better than the three pillar design they had for The Resistance Tour.
I Am Arrows was the first support act on stage and they were quite impressive. Definitely not a stadium band but they were able to pull off an interesting performance. I’ve heard a few of their songs before and wondered how they’d sound in such a huge area and it wasn’t bad at all especially for a band who hasn’t been around for too long yet. The only song I really know from them is Green Grass which was their last song.
The next band was White Lies a slightly older band compared to I Am Arrows. Their music style is a bit more suitable for an open air stadium event and Harry McVeigh’s voice was quite powerful still. They played a great set of their better known songs such as Death, To Lose My Life, and Farewell To The Fairground. At this point, the crowd was starting to warm up, dancing and singing alone to the band. I can still remember everyone chanting “Let’s grow old together, and die at the same time” during To Lose My Life.
The third and last support band was Biffy Clyro, a band whom I haven’t really considered listening to in the past and have basically ignored. For the first time in almost a year, I broke my “do not listen to a support band prior to the show” rule. I am glad I did. When I heard they were supporting Muse, I was a bit more excited to finally see them live but still didn’t try listening to them.
Then came the Mercury Prize nomination for their latest album, Only Revolutions, which generated quite a buzz and I finally gave their music a listen. From the start, I immediately loved them.
According to Last.fm, I’ve listened to Biffy Clyro 1,243 times in the past 3 months which is way more than the 577 times I’ve listened to Muse over the same period.This does not include playing their songs while I’m driving along the motorway. This seemed totally wrong since I was about to watch Muse headlining and Biffy Clyro supporting. Then again, I know Muse’s songs by heard so didn’t really need a refresher prior to the show.
To say that I was looking forward to seeing Biffy Clyro would be a massive understatement since at several points leading up to the event, I was more excited about seeing them than Muse who would most likely sing the same predictable setlist yet again.
For their set as a support band, I was expecting 6-7 songs. Heck, 8 maximum. Much to my surprise and joy, they played 11. 11 freaking Biffy Clyro songs which was similar to their Reading Festival set. This included That Golden Rule, Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies, Glitter and Trauma, Bubbles, Who’s Got A Match?, God & Satan, Mountains, Born On A Horse, Shock Shock, Many Of Horror, and The Captain.
There was a delay in the sound relayed through the speakers towards the rear of the stadium which was hardly noticeable for most of the evening but it turned out to be a very cool effect when Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies was played.
Wow! 800+ words already and I haven’t even started with Muse yet. This is the biggest show this year, so don’t mind me here. Besides, nobody reads this anyway, right?
There was one more band set to play and they were the reason everyone was there in the first place.
Their intro was not as spectacular compared to The Resistance opening which was a nerve racking 3 minutes long before they started playing Uprising, the same song they opened with on Saturday.
Here’s a video of the opening during The Resistance Tour.
In comparison, here’s a video of their opening last Saturday.
A bit of a disappointment as I was expecting something better since this is Wembley but at this point nobody cared really as Muse was finally playing onstage. The intro was very short and involved a bunch of people with flags walking onstage and a subpar visual display on the panels which is the stage. After the brief intro, they immediately kicked off with Uprising followed by Supermassive Black Hole.
Most of the setlist was pretty much the standard Muse concert variety but notable surprises for the evening were Bliss, Citizen Erased and Ruled By Secrecy. Sadly, no Dead Star as originally rumored on the Last.fm event page but thankfully they did not play Neutron Star Collision which they did play on the day before, the day with Lily Allen.
Here’s the full setlist.
Uprising
Supermassive Blackhole
MK Ultra
Map Of The Problematique
Bliss
Guiding Light
Hysteria
Citizen Erased
Nishe
United States of Eurasia
Ruled By Secrecy
Feeling Good
Mk Jam
Undisclosed Desires
Resistance
Starlight
Time Is Running Out
Unnatural Selection
Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (Overture) (encore 1)
Stockholm Syndrome (encore 1)
Take A Bow (encore 2)
Plug In Baby (encore 2)
Knights of Cydonia (encore 2)
This is a Muse concert so pretty much everyone was singing along and moving to each song but the best bit I could remember was during Time Is Running Out when pretty much everyone in the standing area started jumping all at the same. It was pretty much incredible to say the least. This happened again when they played Plug In Baby during the encore.
As much as I’ve compared the Wembley stage to the one at The O2, this one still had quite a few tricks under it’s sleeve. After Muse played Feeling Good, Matt walked off stage and Dom together with Chris walked towards the front of the stage. I thought this was the end of their set but it was too early for that.
For their first encore, Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (Overture), a UFO balloon came out of the left side of the stage and flew around the stadium. When it got to the back of the stadium, everyone including myself looked towards the stage since the band was also playing and everyone had enough of looking at a UFO balloon. At this point, a trapeze artists popped out of the middle of the balloon and proceed to do acrobatic tricks. It was pretty darn neat.
The balloon eventually made it all around the stadium and disappeared to behind the stage again. Muse then kicked off with the excellent Stockholm Syndrome which got everyone singing and moving once again.
The band disappeared once again but a few minutes later Matt came back on stage wearing a LED suit and started playing Take A Bow. Muse then finished off the evening with Plug In Baby and of course, Knights Of Cydonia.
Muse is truly the best live band at the moment and despite my views towards the stage design for this tour, the atmosphere was completely amazing. There’s just something about blasting out music and hearing 75,000 people singing along.
With that said, I’m not too keen on going to another stadium concert to “watch” a band since you don’t really get to see them. The O2 is just right but Wembley Stadium is just enormous. Matt did mention in an interview that the next stuff they’ll be working on will be more suitable for smaller venues. So fingers crossed that I’m still around by then.
However, as I mentioned, the atmosphere makes it all worth it and I would most likely go again. Blur at Hyde Park (50,000), Rage Against The Machine at Finsbury Park (60,000) and Muse at Wembley Stadium (75,000). I should get scout badges for these. All that’s left really is an all weekend open-air music festival with camping included and I’m all set. Then again, we need friends for that.
Now, if I could somehow manage to get reasonably priced tickets for Biffy Clyro at Wembley Arena then this would be more than just an incredibly great year in music.
I’ve lived in London for just a bit more than 3 years now and there is always something new to discover.
A few weeks ago, I stumbled across this website called Bandstand Busking. Buskers are a pretty common thing here in London and you can see them almost everywhere; in parks, the tube station, the sidewalk, etc.
This however mixes things up a bit and came up with one of the most brilliant ideas ever.
If you’ve been to London, you know how many parks we have in this fine city. In these parks are numerous bandstands which are hardly used for their intended purpose anymore, which is for bands playing music.
Gather 2-3 indie bands together and invite people (for free!) on a weekend at one of these bandstand, and you have the idea of a bandstand busk.
On July 25th, I went to my first bandstand busk since it was a Sunday (my dayoff) and I had nothing better to do. Despite this being my first, this was already the 100th Bandstand Busk which featured bands such as of Montreal, Asobi Seksu, Micachu and the Shapes, Slow Club, Frightened Rabbit, We Were Promised Jetpacks and a whole lot more.
Since this is a simple bandstand, gone are the massive amps and speakers associated with most bands. With these busks, instruments were stripped down to the bare minimum (think acoustic as some bands still use synths) and added a whole new dimension to the typical electric sounds you hear at gigs.
For this afternoon, there were 4 guest bands; Frightened Rabbit, The Hundred In The Hands, Sky Larkin and Vivian Girls.
I totally missed Frightened Rabbit, a band whom I have seen earlier this year at Koko, since I arrived late as they started at noon. It would have been nice to see them in an acoustic set. Now that I think of it, this wouldn’t be much different than their live gigs.
When I arrived at Arnold Circus bandstand in my favourite place in town, Shoreditch, people were scattered all around the circus sipping beer and waiting for the next band to start. There was quite a small crowd already which was a good mix of people who knew about the busk before hand and people passing by, surprised by what was going on.
After a few minutes of waiting, people were asked to gather round the bandstand for the next band, The Hundred In The Hands, a two piece band from New York who played an incredible set. If you’ve heard a few tracks from them before, you’d know they are quite techno and according to their MySpace page, psychedelic/disco house/pop but they translated marvelously into a semi-acoustic set which composed of a guitar and a tiny synth machine. Also, Eleanor is quite a sight and her voice was quite surreal which means lovely in my book.
Sadly, they only played 3 songs and their set was over so soon. They’d be a band to look out for when they do some London shows in the future.
Next up was Sky Larkin, a band I have started listening to and liking (who else) since last year but have not seen live. This be another band I discovered through Wichita Records email list, they aren’t all spam you know.
Their music was more easily translated to an acoustic set which sounded pretty good. Katie looked as cute as she was in the Antibodies video but her voice didn’t sound real perfect as on the record which was to be really but was still great and fresh. These imperfections make me love indie music compared to mainstream stuff. They played 4 songs including lovely renditions of Matador, Still Windmills and Fossil, I.
The finale for the afternoon were Vivian Girls from New York. They set up a bit early and sat down on one side of the bandstand and tried their instruments out. Fiona, the drummer, just tapped on the concrete and the wood as well as a pair of tambourines and was pretty much satisfied with the sound. It was quite a sight seeing her look for the right sound by tapping on the cement floor.
Once they were ready, they put on a very endearing and unprepared series of songs. They even asked the audience for requests since they didn’t really know what to play. If I can remember correctly, they played around 5-6 songs. It was quite the set.
As I mentioned, these Bandstand Busks are a tremendously great idea, making use of the numerous bandstands in this beautiful city and allowing bands to play their songs in a totally different environment with stripped down instruments. The atmosphere was also great and the audience simply loved every second of it.
I still can’t believe I didn’t know about this during their 99 busks before this but if the next one is on my day off, I am definitely not missing it.
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.
