Who did you see live last?

[Andermtc]

Last weekend saw They Might Be Giants at the O2 Academy in Bristol, band as great and lively as ever and they played the whole of Flood, saw them do Stellub live for the 1st time, Stellub is the short song Sapphire Bullets which they play backwards, they record it and in the 20min interval they reverse the sound and video to play it forwards on the screen at the back of the stage, it bizarrely works.

 

As for the venue, 1st time I've been there and I don't think I'll rush back, as a O2 subscriber got priority access so went for the balcony front row, its all standing, glad we got there early as visibility otherwise would be poor as it is not very far from the stage quite high and and angles mean you can't see much. Saw lots of people complaining online. It also meant we had the lights in our face at times.

[cybertect]

So following Phil Manzanera on Thursday, on Friday night Mrs C and headed up the Northern Line to Camden to see Squeeze at The Roundhouse

 

They were totally on the top of their game. Glenn Tilbrook appeared to be having the time of his life and in conversation with them afterward, even the ShowSec staff really enjoyed the gig!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cybertect]

Saturday night was Nada Surf at Islington Assembly Hall (not Islington Academy as listed on the tour T-Shirt I purchased 🙃)

 

Support was provided ably by a Norwich band named Other Half.

 

 

 

Apparently, Matthew Caws had been out shopping in Norwich for a present for one of his young kids, got talking to the person at the counter in the shop, discovered they were in a band...

 

So, now he's made an appearance on a track on their new album and booked them as the support act for Nada Surf on this tour. As their lead singer said in front of the crowd 'We're used to playing to thirty people!' I'm now investigating their back catalogue on Bandcamp. 🙂

 

Nada Surf were excellent as I have come to expect. A good mix of songs from the new album and older favourites.

 

At the end of the encore, Matthew went completely unplugged with an acoustic guitar and no amplification, and engaged the whole auditorium to sing along gently to The Blizzard of '77 from their 2002 album, Let Go. It was a beautiful way to finish a gig.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 24 by cybertect

[Stub Mandrel]

On 14/11/2024 at 16:02, cybertect said:

 

Hit me up if you're playing in London and we might work something out 😃

 

FWIW this is the kind of thing I do when I have a 'proper' camera with me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's brilliant to be photographed by an expert at a good venue.

[Stub Mandrel]

On the subject of excellent photography...

 

Just back from seeing James Oliver with Norman Watt-Roy and Mark Kemlo on skins.

 

 

[nekomatic]

KOKOROKO at New Century last night. Monster band, great gig. Diverse but mostly youngish crowd, several hundred strong, out on a Monday night to get down to what is at heart a jazz band (if anyone feels like disputing this they played a song in 5/4 - QED). There is hope for the world, you know. Support from the highly entertaining Lady Donli who is also worth checking out if into a (very broadly) Afrobeat kind of vibe.

 

My first time at New Century (well it has only been open two years now 🙄 ), great space but the stage seems a bit low for the size of the room hence no photos as they would have too many backs of people's heads in the way.

[ubit]

Sleep Token at the Glasgow Ovo Hydro. Absolutely amazing show. Support was by Bilmuri, who were not my cup of tea at all.

[rOB]

Paris Paloma at Rescue Rooms in Nottingham last night.

Great show, brilliant drums varying from absolutely thunderous to very delicate.

Some very tasteful bass playing too, I couldn't see well but I think it was an SG style instrument.

 

[MacDaddy]

Michael Monroe 

Last night, Electric Ballroom, that London.

You'd never guess he's 62 by how active he is on stage. Highlight for me though Sami Yaffa on bass! 😎

It was advertised as the 40th anniversary of Two Steps from the Move, plus the hits. IMO he was a few songs short, no Oriental Beat, Mystery City, or Mental Beat, but otherwise a great gig.

 

[casapete]

Northern Soul Orchestrated at The Globe Theatre in Stockton on Tees last night.

Around 40 musicians on stage playing some of the best ever Northern soul tunes.

Introduced by Stuart Maconie, the show featured the BBC Concert Orchestra

combined with a top rhythm section including the wonderful Steve Pearce

on bass, nailing all those great lines perfectly. Six amazing vocalists sharing the

vocal duties, including newcomer Darrel Smith who totally smashed it.

A fantastic evening of music, and one of the best gigs I’ve seen in years. 
 

 

[Norris]

Just got back from seeing Nile Rogers and Chic at the O2 Academy Leicester. Wow! Absolutely awesome. Jerry Barnes was on great form, as were the rest of the band. Over 90 minutes of hit after hit performed impeccably. Nile seemed such a nice guy too. Very impressive

 

Edited November 29 by Norris

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, Norris said:

Just got back from seeing Nile Rogers and Chic at the O2 Academy Leicester. Wow! Absolutely awesome. Jerry Barnes was on great form, as were the rest of the band. Over 90 minutes of hit after hit performed impeccably. Nile seemed such a nice guy too. Very impressive

 

Backing ladies? I thought silver sharp-Logan always did an amazing job 

[Norris]

12 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Backing ladies? I thought silver sharp-Logan always did an amazing job 

I don't know if you can really count them as backing singers. They were far more forward than that, and also fabulous.

[ubit]

On 28/11/2024 at 23:09, MacDaddy said:

Michael Monroe 

Last night, Electric Ballroom, that London.

You'd never guess he's 62 by how active he is on stage. Highlight for me though Sami Yaffa on bass! 😎

It was advertised as the 40th anniversary of Two Steps from the Move, plus the hits. IMO he was a few songs short, no Oriental Beat, Mystery City, or Mental Beat, but otherwise a great gig.

 

 I love all things Hanoi Rocks associated. Mike Monroes is an incredible showman.

[cybertect]

Last night I saw Soft Machine at my local venue, The Sound Lounge in Sutton, south London

 

Great show, great crowd, amongst whom I bumped into Tom who runs the bass dept at Wunjo on Denmark Street, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

Fred Thelonious Baker on bass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 30 by cybertect

[Stub Mandrel]

Local band the Hindenbergs (yes they just play Zeppelin) last night. Very good indeed. Their bass player Taif Ball was in Killing Joke for a while.

 

We used the tops of this Mackie pa last week and will again this weekend.

 

[jensenmann]

Level 42 in Baden Baden, Germany a few days ago. Sorry, no pictures. What a great band, I´m completely hyped.

[NickD]

On 30/11/2024 at 11:45, cybertect said:

Last night I saw Soft Machine at my local venue, The Sound Lounge in Sutton, south London

 

Great show, great crowd, amongst whom I bumped into Tom who runs the bass dept at Wunjo on Denmark Street, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

Fred Thelonious Baker on bass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not particularly a fan of Soft machine, but bloody hell, Fred Baker and Araf Sirkis on Drums... I'd have turned out to see that!

 

Fred Baker was a friend of my course director at college back in the late 80s, and he'd come in and do a Masterclass type thing every now and again... he was a beast even then.

[WalMan]

GUN with Collateral and Kira Mac at The Brook.

 

Good fun as always singing along though as ever the sound ther was patchy.
 

Collateral had amps onstage so the guitar cut through but was very boomy for me, though a good show and crowd response.

Kira Mac looked to be modellers/no amps and the sound tightened up but the guitar wasn’t there. Otherwise good.

GUN - cabs but no obvious amps. Sound came and went a bit but I was sat at the back under the balcony (by the desk) so that probably didn’t help. Still a fun evening all in all 🙂

[lurksalot]

On 05/11/2024 at 18:29, Steve Browning said:

Steve Hampton. Good player and a mate. Gigs solo around Pompey when not globe trotting. 

 

EXTC tonight, superb , you are absolutely spot on Steve , a great player, really at ease as a great frontman and certainly seemed to be enjoying himself , a brilliant  evening. 

[Tandro]

Philip Sayce at Islington Assembly Hall. That was an awesome live performance. He came out the gate at 11, and just kept it at that level for the entire show. I am defo going to see him again when he's back in the UK.

[BigRedX]

Vision Video on Monday night at The Bodega in Nottingham. A

 

Absolutely brilliant, and a lot more overtly political than I was expecting, which given the current state of the world is not a bad thing.

 

They did storming covers of "Just Like Heaven" and "Transmission" which were still possibly the weakest songs in the set, which just proves how good their own material is. Go and listen to "Dead Gods" now.

[bass_dinger]

I enjoyed a gig by the Colin Peters Set, at a venue in Hextable. 

 

Lots of Jazz standards, played on piano (Colin), guitar, upright bass (a chap who normally plays in West End shows), drums, trumpet and sax, topped off with a superb lady vocalist. 

 

You can be forgiven for not having heard of Colin Peters  - he is my piano teacher, and in his 80s.  However, he was previously the resident band leader at a venue that hosted Harry Seacombe, Shirley Bassey, Norman Wisdom.  He gave it all up when he started being asked to play Led Zeppelin tunes.

 

However, he is now playing again, and all that experience bought him where he is today  - teaching me Grade 1 piano....

 

It was a delight to hear good musicians playing well, and so relaxed too.  As for Colin, it was wonderful to hear him play in a setting that allowed him to enjoy the music - and I learnt that my piano teacher is remarkably talented!

Edited December 7 by bass_dinger

[gazhowe]

The Damned at NX Newcastle on Wednesday night.  My favourite line up (Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Paul Gray, Rat Scabies) playing a set largely of songs from my favourite Damned albums (The Black Album. Machine Gun Etiquette, Strawberries).  The sound wasn't great but enjoyed the show.

[bassbiscuits]

Del Amitri at Sheffield Leadmill on Thursday night.
 

One of my favourite bands (and one of my consistently favourite songwriters in Justin Currie).

Performance-wise it was great - Justin doing a charismatic job on vocals, acoustic guitar and bass; Iain Harvie bringing the guitar grit and the rest of the line up turning in a solid show packed with great sing along songs from the last 30+ years. 
 

But the sound out front wasn’t good - a bass drum and booming low end so painfully loud it swamped everything else and obliterated much of the nuance and dynamics of the songs.

 

In contrast the encore of largely acoustic songs with lush vocal harmonies and accordion was a delight - without the overwhelmingly loud drums, they benefited from a lightness of touch that allowed these songs to absolutely shine as a result. They were some of the best and most engaging moments of the night. 
 

Overall a heartwarming gig, well-received by a capacity crowd, but hampered by poor sound out front.