The Crookes: Joiners, April 3rd 2011
With debut album ‘Chasing After Ghosts’ out in March, The Crookes (so named after the Sheffield estate they hail from) have the world at their feet. Receiving plentiful comparisons to The Smiths, lead singer George Waite does indeed have a hint of Morrissey about him. Championed by radio greats like Steve Lamacq, who, in 2010, named them as his ‘favourite band of the year’, The Crookes will surely be a feature of the long hot summer ahead, with their melodic tunage and catchy lyrics becoming the uplifting soundtrack to hazy days and boozy nights.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Live Review
The Prodigy’s Warriors Dance Festival
With support from Pendulum, Enter Shikari, Chase and Status, Does It Offend You, Yeah? and many, many others.
24th July 2010, Milton Keynes Bowl
Originally I was only being dragged along to this electro extravaganza due to my little sister’s excitement and desperation to go to her first proper musical concert, but I found myself trying and failing to sleep the night before, it felt a lot like Christmas Eve back when my parents still kept up the Father Christmas lie.
So, on only a few hours of broken sleep, we arrived at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, along with 60,000 other revellers who were also ‘well up for it!’. Finding a spot on the grassy hill surrounding the vast crowd area, we started with tiny (expensive!) bottles of rose wine and began working on getting tanned, drunk and happy. The amazing soundtrack to our long day commenced with electronic rockers Does It Offend You, Yeah? Having supported The Prodigy on their previous tour of Australasia, one couldn’t help but feel they were only there as a favour to them. It didn’t stop me getting abused by the couple sitting behind me for getting up and dancing throughout their entire set though.
Next up we were treated to a hour from drum and bass dons Chase and Status, who fresh from touring their epic album More Than Alot, brought on special guests Plan B and Delilah, who sang beautifully on tracks Time and Heartbeat. There was a wall of death in front of the stage so big that it could be seen clearly right from our grazing patch at the back, and we found, after rushing down for the last tune, that having 200 odd people charge at you really is quite the adrenaline rush.
After a quick stop at the bar, a trip to the hazy second stage (witnessing a storming set from Dubstep boy Doorly whilst taking in a suspicious herbal smell coming from the dreadlocked boy behind me) and getting stuck in a particularly smelly portaloo, we made it down to the front for Enter Shikari. Now, having seen them before I thought I knew what to expect, but it’s safe to say that by the end of closing track Sorry, You’re Not A Winner, all old feelings were replaced with everlasting love and an aching body. At 19, I already feel way too old to be moshing but alas, I couldn’t help myself, and knowing I’d be black and blue for weeks I threw myself into a circle pit with the energy of a thousand small children during play time.
Anyway, having moshed off the vast amount of wine from earlier, we went in search of more only to abandon the huge queue in favour of an impromptu dance off at the second stage. Caspa, another rising star of dubstep, provided the soundtrack, though I’m sad to say my sister has the moves and boogied to victory leaving me to wander off and immediately top up on booze.
Pendulum were to be the surprise of the day, I definitely wasn’t expecting a barrage of noise quite as awesome as what was to follow, crowd pleaser Tarantula made the day so far, with young kids and hippy grannies alike bouncing up and down to the Australian drum and bass kings.
And so, we finally make it The Prodigy, the lights are coming up and the sun’s going down. Strobe lights start flashing, and the ambulances either side of the stage begin to siren. I have goose bumps, the lady next to me is screaming, my sister’s simply standing with her mouth open. The world stops...then from out of nowhere The Prodigy grace us with their presence. Opener World’s On Fire does the trick, not one of the 60,000 strong crowd of warriors is still or quiet. And, all the way through, past stand out track Smack My Bitch Up, where the entire audience fell to their knees and flew back up in unison, and classic Voodoo People, the hype was never diminished, and we never tired. Final encore Out Of Space, and this may sound like a cliché, rounded off the longest day of my life in perfect fashion, and with one final flash of the strobes and one last siren, The Prodigy were gone, and my energy left with them.
Best gig ever? Debatably yes.
With support from Pendulum, Enter Shikari, Chase and Status, Does It Offend You, Yeah? and many, many others.
24th July 2010, Milton Keynes Bowl
Originally I was only being dragged along to this electro extravaganza due to my little sister’s excitement and desperation to go to her first proper musical concert, but I found myself trying and failing to sleep the night before, it felt a lot like Christmas Eve back when my parents still kept up the Father Christmas lie.
So, on only a few hours of broken sleep, we arrived at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, along with 60,000 other revellers who were also ‘well up for it!’. Finding a spot on the grassy hill surrounding the vast crowd area, we started with tiny (expensive!) bottles of rose wine and began working on getting tanned, drunk and happy. The amazing soundtrack to our long day commenced with electronic rockers Does It Offend You, Yeah? Having supported The Prodigy on their previous tour of Australasia, one couldn’t help but feel they were only there as a favour to them. It didn’t stop me getting abused by the couple sitting behind me for getting up and dancing throughout their entire set though.
Next up we were treated to a hour from drum and bass dons Chase and Status, who fresh from touring their epic album More Than Alot, brought on special guests Plan B and Delilah, who sang beautifully on tracks Time and Heartbeat. There was a wall of death in front of the stage so big that it could be seen clearly right from our grazing patch at the back, and we found, after rushing down for the last tune, that having 200 odd people charge at you really is quite the adrenaline rush.
After a quick stop at the bar, a trip to the hazy second stage (witnessing a storming set from Dubstep boy Doorly whilst taking in a suspicious herbal smell coming from the dreadlocked boy behind me) and getting stuck in a particularly smelly portaloo, we made it down to the front for Enter Shikari. Now, having seen them before I thought I knew what to expect, but it’s safe to say that by the end of closing track Sorry, You’re Not A Winner, all old feelings were replaced with everlasting love and an aching body. At 19, I already feel way too old to be moshing but alas, I couldn’t help myself, and knowing I’d be black and blue for weeks I threw myself into a circle pit with the energy of a thousand small children during play time.
Anyway, having moshed off the vast amount of wine from earlier, we went in search of more only to abandon the huge queue in favour of an impromptu dance off at the second stage. Caspa, another rising star of dubstep, provided the soundtrack, though I’m sad to say my sister has the moves and boogied to victory leaving me to wander off and immediately top up on booze.
Pendulum were to be the surprise of the day, I definitely wasn’t expecting a barrage of noise quite as awesome as what was to follow, crowd pleaser Tarantula made the day so far, with young kids and hippy grannies alike bouncing up and down to the Australian drum and bass kings.
And so, we finally make it The Prodigy, the lights are coming up and the sun’s going down. Strobe lights start flashing, and the ambulances either side of the stage begin to siren. I have goose bumps, the lady next to me is screaming, my sister’s simply standing with her mouth open. The world stops...then from out of nowhere The Prodigy grace us with their presence. Opener World’s On Fire does the trick, not one of the 60,000 strong crowd of warriors is still or quiet. And, all the way through, past stand out track Smack My Bitch Up, where the entire audience fell to their knees and flew back up in unison, and classic Voodoo People, the hype was never diminished, and we never tired. Final encore Out Of Space, and this may sound like a cliché, rounded off the longest day of my life in perfect fashion, and with one final flash of the strobes and one last siren, The Prodigy were gone, and my energy left with them.
Best gig ever? Debatably yes.
Monday, 21 March 2011
Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys! Review
Elbow: Just dad rock, or something for the masses?
So, the five piece from the aptly named Ramsbottom in Manchester have just released their fifth studio album Build a Rocket Boys!, and it’s keeping the band on form. Having previously been winners of the coveted Mercury Music Prize for the critically acclaimed modern classic The Seldom Seen Kid, all despite little commercial success before this record, that really set the bar for their next outing. A band always slightly overlooked due to their ‘dad rock’ tag.
Build a Rocket Boys!, more than lives up to the hype generated around these northern boys. The poignant and candid lyrics penned by front man Guy Garvey show no signs of tiring, and leading track ‘Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl’ is incredibly catchy, and will surely be one of this year’s standout sing-along tunes, with fans at festivals across the world screaming the words back at them.
‘Open Arms’ is a personal favourite, really lifting the mood, with a delightfully simple feel. Definitely a song for a sunny afternoon, in fact, the whole album is the perfect soundtrack to a hot day. Absolutely one for the masses, although you could totally buy it for your dad too.
Just wanted to add this gem from this year's Comic Relief, safe to say it made me cry.
So, the five piece from the aptly named Ramsbottom in Manchester have just released their fifth studio album Build a Rocket Boys!, and it’s keeping the band on form. Having previously been winners of the coveted Mercury Music Prize for the critically acclaimed modern classic The Seldom Seen Kid, all despite little commercial success before this record, that really set the bar for their next outing. A band always slightly overlooked due to their ‘dad rock’ tag.
Build a Rocket Boys!, more than lives up to the hype generated around these northern boys. The poignant and candid lyrics penned by front man Guy Garvey show no signs of tiring, and leading track ‘Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl’ is incredibly catchy, and will surely be one of this year’s standout sing-along tunes, with fans at festivals across the world screaming the words back at them.
‘Open Arms’ is a personal favourite, really lifting the mood, with a delightfully simple feel. Definitely a song for a sunny afternoon, in fact, the whole album is the perfect soundtrack to a hot day. Absolutely one for the masses, although you could totally buy it for your dad too.
Just wanted to add this gem from this year's Comic Relief, safe to say it made me cry.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
60 word singles reviews
Le Loup – We are Gods! We are Wolves!
Le Loup have a similar set up to Arcade Fire, with band members pretty much coming and going as they please. However, in this track it sounds way too much as though they’ve crammed everyone into the studio with a million different instruments and simply listened up for a passable outcome. Arcade Fire have this down to an art, Le Loup are still finger painting.
King of Prussia – Misadventures of the Campaign Kids
You know the feeling when you wake up in the morning with a plan, and nothing, not even a crippling hangover, will stop you. Well, this song would be the soundtrack to that morning. Assured, clever indie music is want we want, and King of Prussia are on a mission to deliver, making sure you get done what you need to. I’m marching down the street in my pyjamas already!
Le Loup have a similar set up to Arcade Fire, with band members pretty much coming and going as they please. However, in this track it sounds way too much as though they’ve crammed everyone into the studio with a million different instruments and simply listened up for a passable outcome. Arcade Fire have this down to an art, Le Loup are still finger painting.
King of Prussia – Misadventures of the Campaign Kids
You know the feeling when you wake up in the morning with a plan, and nothing, not even a crippling hangover, will stop you. Well, this song would be the soundtrack to that morning. Assured, clever indie music is want we want, and King of Prussia are on a mission to deliver, making sure you get done what you need to. I’m marching down the street in my pyjamas already!
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