Return of the Son of Now Gigging

[Ray K.]

Heading up to Brooklyn Sunday night for the Dream Syndicate (and the Eagles/Packers game in some bar).

[Belle Lettre]

Robert Plant has been without me too long - sorting that out tonight.

[Geezee]

Anna Calvi @ Church of St John at Hackney

So I finally got to see Anna Calvi live having missed a couple of opportunities and having considered and then rejected the idea of seeing her support Morrissey at the O2 a couple of weeks ago. I went to see her with my wife and as you can perhaps imagine it was awkward to have my wife and mistress in the same room, but all in all it went well even while Anna was staring right at me and obviously singing every note for me. I wasn't sure how this gig would go - it was billed as a special occasion, and she was backed by a full orchestra plus several special guests - but you never know how these one-off gigs are going to go, they can sometimes go pretty wrong. And the sound was definitely a little bit off at times - this is not a regular concert venue, and it felt like they were holding back the volume levels a little bit in order to control the sound. But this was a small gripe, the venue itself was spectacular and all in all everything came together perfectly. Although I don't know what her gigs are like with her normal band, it's clear she benefits from the full sound of an orchestra, and the audience got the full cinematic scope of her songs. It's particularly noticeable on a few songs - First We Kiss, for example, is just jaw-dropping in the way it is performed. And Love Won't Be Leaving is very tastefully done - it's a song that lends itself to a full orchestra treatment, but they keep it very subtle and understated to begin with until it is drawn into a beautifully arranged finale. Perhaps she can be accused of being a little bit one-paced and/or po-faced - the songs are all passion, love and kisses - but this is someone who is still at the beginning of her career and she is doing some fantastically interesting things. Her special guests - Noah and the Whale's Charlie Fink, David Okomu, Thomas Bartlett and Patrick Wolf all added some great touches, even if I had been secretly hoping that someone like Marianne Faithfull or even Nick Cave might make have made an appearance. Her covers - David Bowie, Suicide, Bruce Springsteen, FKA Twigs - are all beautiful and tasteful, and her much-vaunted guitar-work is very compelling. She's a keeper.

[mentalist (slight return)]

I saw Ty Segall last night. That was a whole load of fun. He likes guitars and has so many riffs in him that no song seems to last longer than 2.30. Everything sounds fuzzy now.

[Qube]

I made a top-13 out of the 142 shows I went to this year: My best shows of 2014: http://someothersuckersparade.blogspot. ... op-13.html

[funky_nomad]

First gig of the year done:

Khartoum Heroes reunion gig at the East Neuk Hotel in Crail on January 2nd. Support slots from King Creosote and Gummi Bako.

Good night, but nothing on this earth will convince me that Vic Galloway isn't a complete twat of a man...

[Jimbo]

[Qube]

Went to see The Vaselines on Friday. Review: http://freewilliamsburg.com/live-review ... ell-house/

[Jimbo]

Just caught OK Go at O East in Shibuya. A fine power pop act - with added comedy!

[pcqgod]

Jonathan Richman will be in town Sunday night.

[savoirefaire]

I am gonna catch my favourite Norwegian act, Nils Bech, on Friday...

[Jimbo]

A dream came true tonight. Richard Thompson. Just him and a bassist and a drummer and that's all he needed to put on an amazing show. And I was sitting 20 feet from the stage. Lots and lots of electric guitar and 1952 Vincent Black Lightening on acoustic. Amazing!

[billy]

double up bollocks

[billy]

A dream came true tonight. Richard Thompson. Just him and a bassist and a drummer and that's all he needed to put on an amazing show. And I was sitting 20 feet from the stage. Lots and lots of electric guitar and 1952 Vincent Black Lightening on acoustic. Amazing!

Hey Jimbo, you grouchy dude

Was that the thursday night or the friday night?

[Jimbo]

A dream came true tonight. Richard Thompson. Just him and a bassist and a drummer and that's all he needed to put on an amazing show. And I was sitting 20 feet from the stage. Lots and lots of electric guitar and 1952 Vincent Black Lightening on acoustic. Amazing!

Hey Jimbo, you grouchy dude

Was that the thursday night or the friday night?

Thursday. You gonna tell me you were there?

[billy]

Thursday. You gonna tell me you were there?

Yep. I was the guy tickling you under the bollocks with a long feather ....

Actually, sorry, no. But I do wish I had been there (... not with the feather, mind).

It's just that I have available a pretty damn excellent quality bootleg of the second night - it does sound like it was a good gig. I can even get a copy to you if you're interested (upload, by mail, whatever ...)

[dgs]

Olafur Arnaulds plays the music of Broadchurch.

25th Feb 15, Glasgow ABC



Grand piano, brass, string quartet and synths. Plus all seated gig which finished at 10.

Bliss and the signs of getting old.

[the masked man]

A dream came true tonight. Richard Thompson. Just him and a bassist and a drummer and that's all he needed to put on an amazing show. And I was sitting 20 feet from the stage. Lots and lots of electric guitar and 1952 Vincent Black Lightening on acoustic. Amazing!

I've seen him play sparser gigs than that. In fact, I've seen him four times, and three of those times he has been solo with just an acoustic guitar. The other time, he was accompanied only by Danny Thompson (no relation) on double bass. He can absolutely hold a crowd with his amazing songs and his personality. Apparently, he was very shy during his Fairport Convention days, and really had to learn how to work as a solo performer, but he managed to do this brilliantly.

I'd still love to see him play with a proper band, mind.

[Jimbly]

Heaven 17 last night, played my local town hall. Good old fashioned venue that doesn't get used enough for gigs due to being so close to Glasgow. Although I did see Morrissey there on the You are the Quarry tour.

The sound was that great last night, I knew there would be backing tracks used. However they had two keyboard players and and at times four vocalists. The sound guy struggled as the vocals were too high in the mix, the keyboards too low and the backing tracks were muddy.

Given these issues the gig was pretty good. the set list was half H17 and half Human League which I didn't expect. First encore was a slowed down Party Fears Two. Which was done as a tribute to Billy McKenzie

Good not great.

[Jimbo]

Just back from what may be one of my best live show experiences ever, Jackson Browne at Orchard hall in Shibuya. Over three hours with three encores, the last part where the band transformed into the Allman Brothers Band jamming on Take It Easy, Doctor My Eyes and this other tune about a party I never heard before but it was a good one.