Category: Live Reviews
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Beck Pays Warm Tribute To Taylor Hawkins At Intimate London Acoustic Show
Beck paid a warm tribute to Taylor Hawkins at an intimate London show last night, while delivering a masterclass, digging out deep cuts from his three-decade-long career. In the U.K. to watch the Taylor Hawkins tribute show at Wembley, Beck appeared relaxed having decided to play a last minute acoustic show. Playing on rented guitars…
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ABBA – Voyage – “Live” Review from a London’s ABBA Arena
You only had to be at the Genesis farewell concerts earlier this year to wonder about the future of rock music. The O2 Arena looked on as Phil Collins, stymied by age and illness, gamely sung their greatest hits sitting in a chair and moving to the stage with the aid of a walking stick,…
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A Farewell to Genesis
Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks – Genesis to you and me – played their last ever concerts at The O2 Arena this weekend. I last saw Genesis play live in 1987, at Wembley Stadium on the Invisible Touch tour. Collins was a dynamo, walking up to the stage like a boxer, every bit…
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WH Lung: Live at the Scala
With everyone having been stuck indoors for a year and a half, might WH Lung just be the band we need right now as we emerge, blinking, into civilisation once again…? Naming your band after a Chinese supermarket; Featuring a lead singer who dances like the guy from Future Islands crossed with Bez, only more…
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What Have Music Festivals (Like The Village Green) Ever Done For Us?
With a thousand music and performing arts festivals reportedly taking place in the U.K. every year you would be forgiven if the annual bash at Chalkwell Park, within touching distance of Southend-on-Sea, had passed you by. But this omission would be a shame, because Chalkwell’s Village Green, celebrating its tenth year, is a hub of…
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Beatles Reunite As Ringo Starr Joins Paul McCartney Onstage In London
Beatles fans received an early Christmas present last night as the two surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, played together onstage for the first time since Ringo’s 2015 inauguration into the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame, for the first time since 2002’s Concert For George in the U.K., and for only the tenth…
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Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets Showcase A Different Side of Pink Floyd
It says much about the popularity of Pink Floyd that remaining solo members can tour to packed houses around the world decades after their commercial peak. While Roger Waters and David Gilmour have played Floyd’s best known songs from The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon to sold out arenas, the band’s genial drummer,…
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Arctic Monkeys Gallery Exhibition Shows Substance Behind The Style
This week The Arctic Monkeys sold out four consecutive nights at the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena. They now move out of town to sold out shows in Birmingham, Sheffield, Dublin and Newcastle. Such is the clamour for all things Arctic Monkey, they even sold out of tickets for a gallery exhibition in fashionable Fitzrovia, which…
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Yes Overcome Sparse Crowd at Stone Free Festival, O2 Arena
It was the climax of the Stone Free Festival at the O2 Arena, and the 20,000 seater was less than a third full. Perhaps a reflection of the bill which veered from Supertramp to Megadeth but stuck to a “classic rock” brief, but perhaps just a reflection of the popularity of Fathers Day and a…
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Arcade Fire: So Good, They Can Make Even Wembley Arena Shake
Arcade Fire have overcome many obstacles in their path over the years. Grabbing the attention of the world through their indie-released debut LP Funeral; delivering credible follow ups to one of the decade’s most critically acclaimed albums, and then dealing with inevitable backlashes. “Are Arcade Fire their own worst enemy?” asked the New York Times…
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Belle and Sebastian in Health and Safety Regulation Flaunting Shock: Live at the Troxy
Stuart Murdoch walked out intrepidly into the crowd last night during “Dear Catastrophe Waitress”. It’s a Belle and Sebastian crowd, so it’s a friendly, unthreatening and relaxed crowd, more likely to offer him a Tunnock’s Wafer than trouble. But then Murdoch ascended the Art Deco stair case and climbed over the safety railing right at…
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So. Much. Joy. The Hold Steady Live In London
In a week that saw the demise of the NME’s print edition after sixty-odd years, it is reassuring that some traditions remain. The country is still run by incompetents, it’s impossible to find a telecoms provider whose call centre isn’t indescribably awful, and The Hold Steady are still introducing (so much) joy to the world…
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Gaz Coombs Unveils Songs From New Album At ULU
It has been quite a journey since Gaz Coombs began his rock career as the teenage lead singer of…. The Jennifers. Signed to Nude Records in 1991 – the contract signed by his mum as he was too young – The Jennifers tilted a vain lance towards stardom, but their songs, with titles such as…
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Sweet Billy Pilgrim Launch Stunning New Album At St Pancras Old Church
As the dystopian nightmare of 2017 fades, to be replaced with fresh, new dystopian horrors with a shiny “Made In 2018” badge on them, we find ourselves looking for a fresh start. And what better way to find a fresh start than turning to a band about to release their fifth album? Well, okay, on…
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Fleet Foxes Swap Columbia University for Brixton Academy
Seattle. Early 2000’s. Robin Pecknold meets Skyler Skjelset at school and they bond over a love of Mike Wilson, Bob Dylan and Neil Young. They form a band, and give it a quirky name that people will remember and could lead them to greatness. The Pineapples are born. Thankfully they realise that’s a terrible name…
Every record tells a story 