18-10-20 Saturday - A Musical Week

Last week was a bit of a musical week, for a change. It started with a trip to see Eek-A-Mouse at the Concorde II in Brighton, which was a bit different for me. Eek-A-Mouse is a big reggae star, and I was introduced to his music a couple of years ago by a friend. I've got one of his albums, and when I saw that he was playing so close by, I thought I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see him. The gig, as it happened, was okay. Eek-A-Mouse came out on stage in full Arthurian chainmail, tabard and crown, and wore that outfit all night.  

Eek-A-Mouse, wearing a crown and a tabard. Standard Monday night.

I’ve never been to a reggae night before, and I quite enjoyed it. I have to say, the crowd were shorter than I'm used to at indie gigs; I don’t know why that would be, but I did notice that I had a better view of the stage than I'm normally used to. The sound was good, and the crowd were into it and enjoying it, but it all seemed to be a bit same-y, there wasn’t a sense of building towards a big finish. Maybe because I only had the one album, maybe because I didn’t really know his music, I wasn’t on tenterhooks. I left a few minutes early to make sure I caught one of the last trains home.  

The previous week I had finally decided to buy Shigeto’s album, “The New Monday”. It’s been out a while, but I had heard the first track, “Detroit Pt. 2”, and it had wormed its way into my brain with its stripped back beats. So that arrived, and on Tuesday evening, while TW and the girls were out at rugby, I got some time to listen to it at some volume, and enjoy it. I liked the whole album, it’s really nice, mellow, with some insistent beats and jazzy too.  

Saturday night bookended the week and brought another trip to Brighton, to see another band I’d not seen before – Halo Maud. I’d received a promo email from Melting Vinyl referring to her “fantastic sets at the Great Escape”, and as the tickets were only £8, I thought it might be worth a flutter. And an added plus would be not having to sit through Strictly and X Factor at home. As it was, they were fantastic. They reminded me a bit of Sheen, who I saw supporting Cud at The Garage a few years ago, and also Cocteau Twins, in a way. I certainly enjoyed their set, to the extent that I bought their album, “Je Suis un Ile”. Having listened to the tracks again at home, I think I made the right choice. They are an enjoyable collection of tracks, and I am sure I'll be listening to them frequently in the future. 

I also bought some tickets to see “Our Girl” next Friday, and I have a number of gigs coming up over the next couple of months – Courtney Barnett in Brighton, Cud in London and then, in December, PWEI in Wolverhampton. And I've just seen that Kristin Hersh is playing Worthing in March 2019, so next year is beginning to shape up nicely.  

TTFN. 

Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Collapsed Lung @ Concorde 2, 23rd July 2016

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Ned's again, at the Concorde 2 in Brighton. They were supported by Collapsed Lung, who had a minor hit with Eat My Goal in 1996 and again in '98, but it was used in a number of programmes and adverts, and so I was looking forward to seeing them too.
Doors opened at 6pm, which was early, but I expect that there was a club night or something on after Ned's - they were due to be wrapped up by 10. I caught the train at 5:08, to be precise, from West Worthing, expecting to be in Brighton by 5:30. Unfortunately the train ran slow and I didn't get my connection at Hove, and so didn't get into Brighton until gone 6pm. I headed straight for Sawadee, a Thai restaurant we used to frequent from time to time when we lived there. I had fishcakes to start, a perennial favourite, and then a Massaman curry, which is flavoured with peanuts - if you like Thai but haven't tried a Massaman, I'd recommend it.
Anyway, I headed from there to the Bristol Arms for a restorative orange juice (no really), and then wandered down to the Concorde. Collapsed Lung had already started by the time I got there, so I went straight through to the main room and listened to their stuff. I was really impressed, they had a good vibe going and although there weren't many people there watching, I think those that were there enjoyed it. The tracks had a vibrancy, one of the main guys (Jim Burke) was quite striking in that he was wearing a moustache, glasses and a baseball cap. And certainly the group seemed to be enjoying themselves, which is always infectious. They played a few new songs, I think, including one called "New Song Old Band" which is going to be a single in November apparently - I enjoyed that. And of course they played "Eat My Goal", which went down a treat with its call and response chorus. And then they were gone. I would certainly go and see them again, given the chance, and who knows when that might be?
I had seen on Twitter that Ned's were due on at 8:40, so I wasn't really in a rush to get the venue. I did wonder why they opened the doors so early? I normally like to get there as early as possible, but to be in the venue from 6pm and the main band weren't playing for two and a half hours? That just seems a little bonkers. Still I was caught out like that when I went to see Cud at The Garage a couple of years ago...
Anyway, the tunes which the DJ played after Collapsed Lung left the stage took me right back to the early 90s... Carter USM, The Weddoes, Jesus Jones, the Stuffies, EMF even, Mega City 4, Senseless Things, Prodigy... Excellent stuff. And then the song announcing the band was an old crackly version of "I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside", and Ned's ambled on to the stage.
They started with a couple of songs I didn't recognise, I thought the first was probably a b-side from something off of BrainBloodVolume, and someone has already put up the set listing here. All the songs were recognisably Ned's tunes, but I didn't recognise them all. I thought that at points the gig was a little dark, as in brooding, but maybe that was due to me being a little jaded - I had been out at a friend's birthday party the night before, and I was a little off-kilter still. The crowd loved it all though, there was a vibrant moshpit at the front, and a couple of crowdsurfers too. Jonn, the lead singer, certainly enjoys throwing himself around the stage while the bassist guys are sawing away at their instruments, and I think that encourages the moshing. As the night went on, and more familiar songs were played, that moshpit extended out further and further, and the dancing was infectious. The band certainly seemed to enjoy it, and almost seemed surprised that so many people recognised their songs. They even threw in a new one, called "Self Defence" by the sound of it, and it fitted in perfectly with the set.
All in all, it was a good night, and it was worth going. I was intending to meet up with an old friend who I've known since I was 17, but unfortunately she couldn't make it due to family commitments. I was looking forward to seeing her after such a long time; maybe I can find another gig to tempt her down to the South Coast at some point in the future...? Anyway, having seen Pixies at the start of July, and with the Wedding Present in August, Ride in September and JimBob in December, it's shaping up to be a good musical year.

Friday 15--04-03 Courtney Barnett @ The Concorde II, Brighton

A week ago I saw Courtney Barnett at The Concorde II in Brighton. I was at work during the day and decided to stay in town as the doors opened at 7pm and I thought that as it was a Friday, there was likely to be a club night, and so Courtney would be on early.
I started at the Great Eastern, and as soon as I walked in I was assailed by that old pub smell of stale spilt beer. It was a comforting smell, bringing back good memories of the Peds and the Park Crescent. I enjoyed my pint, and moved on to William IVth. I had another there, and then caught the bus out towards the end of Kemptown and the Bristol Arms.
By then it had gone 7pm, so I wended my way to the Concorde and started watching the music. There were two support acts, the first of which was Fraser Gorman, who was a good fella. He had a good rapport with the crowd (as small as it was, at that stage), and he had some good tunes. He did say that he was planning to come back with a full band for The Great Escape, I think he's one to watch, especially if  the record labels start looking for "the next Courtney Barnett" - although, of course, he's not a woman.
The second support was called Spring King, and their lead singer was the drummer, which was an unusual twist. They were a bit punky, which was offset by the rest of the band doing some really good harmonising, which was really nice. I had a couple of beers watching the supports, and then it was time for the main event.
Courtney Barnett came on with her band and she rocked it. I don't know that there is much more to say. She has just released her debut album, but she has previously released a double EP, which was almost as good as an album. Anyway, I only bought the album last Wednesday, and only listened to it once before going to see her promote it. Each track is brilliant, with perhaps "Pedestrian At Best" being the stand-out track, although I think that other tracks will grow on me more. She played all the good 'uns, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, although to be fair I was more drunk than I intended to be. Next time I shall ensure I stop off for a dirty burger or some other guilty pleasure rather than hit the booze straight away. She is certainly worth watching again, and I hope she comes back to Brighton at some point in the near future. Recommended.

Monday December 1st - A Birthday Treat

So as a birthday treat, TW bought a pair of tickets to see Beardyman at Concorde II, which was nice. I'd only just recovered from the trip up to Brixton to see Carter, so I was almost feeling like I had my finger on the pulse...
We did things a bit differently though, compared to my Brixton visit. No guilty Maccy Dees for us; instead we went to Sawadee, which is a lovely Thai place at the bottom of Kemptown. We shared a bottle of wine and ordered their delicious fishcakes, which we still talk about, even more than nine years after leaving Brighton.
We finished up and walked to the Concorde. The warm-up guy was a mixologist, JFB, who has apparently been the DMC UK champion twice, in 2007 and again in 2011. And as expected, he rocked. They had some cameras close up on his hands as he was working, and those shots were showing on the backdrop behind him. He was brilliant. I would pay to see him again, and apparently he is working on an album, which I shall be watching out for. The way he rebuilt DJ Shadow's "Midnight" was amazing.
Then it was the interval, and we were all waiting for Beardyman to enter the arena. A man came onto the stage and started talking Swedish or some other Scandinavian language, and TW and I didn't know whether it was Beardyman or not... Turned out, of course, it was him, and he started sampling his own words as he was talking to us. All of a sudden, he was playing some pretty cool stuff, looping his own words, and adding in some beats and basslines. It was really good; I started movin' and groovin' a bit - I wasn't throwing shapes but it was funky stuff.
Then it got a bit harder. There was a camera under his chin, so pointing up at him, and the images captured there were then refracted and disjointed and displayed on the backdrop. The room was pitch dark and the beats and tunes were getting heavier, and actually it was getting quite oppressive. I think we left about five minutes before the end. It was a great gig, and a brilliant way to spend my birthday and a cold Monday night. The amazing thing was that he was improvising the whole event. Of course he had a couple of hooks and ideas on which he based the whole show, so I'm sure that some elements would sound familiar to people who have seen him before. I would go and see him again, although I was expecting a lighter, more humorous feel, but there were touches of that. If I had been on drugs I don't think I would've enjoyed the end of the show...
Well worth going to see though - there was lots of techno, lots of mixing and lots of funk. Well done fella and thanks TW for buying tickets to see him. The night was topped off with a beer on the train home, and then we relieved M & P from babysitting duties...