The Raconteurs

Well I know I've got a bit of catching-up to do here, including my trips to Russia and Croatia, but for now I just wanted to tell the world (well, all 3 of you that ever look at this) how great The Raconteurs were the other night. The new stuff sounds like a great step forward, although it seems to be less of an equal balance between Jack White's and Brendon Benson than the previous album. They had a very atmospheric, simple backdrop of tree branch silhouettes coupled with some slightly over-theatrical curtains, which I thought represented them pretty well.

There are much better written reviews here and here.

Elbow

Elbow's show last night was fantastic. The new songs sounded great live, particularly enormous, and a sprinkling of older ones went down really well. Guy Garvey's stage presence adds to a great experience too, dedicating songs like Newborn; "two of our band have recently become dads again, so to celebrate, here's a lovely song about a romantic death". It was a treat to see Richard Hawley come on to do The Fixer; a great song, really dark, and he sounded brilliant. I think Guy Garvey felt a bit inadequate with his maraca next to Richard's outfit and big red guitar though... You can see their shapeless blobs right here! The NME has it's usual incisive report; "Hawley walked on stage and played guitar and sang with the band." It's like you're actually there experiencing it with them isn't it.

Bollo's Audition

Brilliant.

Idlewild

This week I got to see Idlewild play a fantastic gig for the second time. The first time was when they were touring their second album, nearly ten years ago, and it was my first gig (I think!) - it was a bit shoutier than their more recent albums but then I think I was too. I got to Wolverhampton Wulfrun with my friends in time for the doors to open at 7pm, and I think we were a bit confused by the fact they didn't come on 'til gone 9. I still have the t-shirt I bought too, although I think it might be right at the bottom of one of my wardrobes with a lot of other things I don't wear but don't want to throw away, like my V99 t-shirt and my bright purple Garfield t-shirt with 'Florida!' on it (should probably point out that that's quite a bit older...).

But anyway, back to the subject, they were fantastic, and as they're now touring their Greatest Hits (hope that's not an omen - apparently more to do with their parting ways with Parlophone before making Make Another World) they played a huge range of stuff, some which I'd forgotten I even knew, as my Captain and Hope Is Important cassettes wore out, oo, about 8 years ago and I never quite got round to replacing them (rubbish I know). And I'm pretty sure they played it better than they did last time. They do seem to have evolved into almost 2 bands now though - one that's more connected to how they started, more, well, shouty, and one that's a bit more... Virgin Radio I guess. They do both really well, but I thought they just looked like they were having far more fun jumping around shouting. And they even brought their own little carpets in order to make the jumping around (with no shoes on) a bit more cosy. Which is nice.

Official site
myspace
wiki

James Blunt Funny Shocker

I'm so confused now.

The Apples

Ok, ok, I know the whole bands doing unlikely cover-versions thing is getting a little tired now, but this one really is completely amazing. I you like Rage Against The Machine, and you like trumpets, you'll love The Apples.

Buy/Listen here. (And is that really a comment from Mark Ronson?)
theapplesmusic.com
myspace

Feist

Feist's gig at the Shepherds Bush Empire the other night was really fantastic. Not the best venue for a 'standing still' kind of gig (if you're in the stalls, anyway) as it means you only really get a view of the ceiling unless you're 7ft tall. Which I am not. But the sound is great in there.

She played a little bit of Broken Social Scene but pretty much stuck to her solo work. 1234 predictably brought down the house - and I suspect that quite a number of the audience were only there to hear that one song - and at times you could have heard a pin drop between lyrics. The balance was much the same as on the album - mostly fairly simple, honest, somewhat downbeat songs punctuated with a few more upbeat songs, so it didn't get monotonous. My Moon My Man is still definately my favourite song though, it has a great video too (albeit owing a little in inspiration to OK GO);


The point where she invited a random audience member on stage to play the piano did seem a little odd, although it all became clear when he went on to read out a really sweet poem ending in the line, "Lauren, will you marry me?" at which point I think the audince made the most noise it did all night. She said yes... a suitably romantic highlight to a captivating gig.

website
myspace

V festival

I spent last weekend at V festival with Chris and Denise (and Anthony for a few fleeting moments). I'm still pretty knackered from camping so I'll keep it short. ish.

Foo Fighters - fantastic, always are. Odd that they started the set with Everlong though, I don't think the set was quite as good as this one at the Isle of Wight last year. But then again the hair was much much better. Swings and roundabouts.
Just Jack - I wasn't expecting to particularly like or dislike, but actually he was great. A brilliant opener, he got everyone dancing around and up for a party. Until The Proclaimers came on and completely deflated everyone again that is. Ugh.
Juliette and The Licks - otherwise known as That Band What Juliette Lewis The Actress Is In, were really really good. Very un-celeb-ey you can definately see why she made the jump and did it properly (unlike the cringey bands that Bruce Willis/Keanu Reeves/many more dabble in). She is very thin. Not normal thin - LA thin. With white latex trousers and a red sequined feathered-mohican headdress, she looked sort of Vegas-Military I suppose. Very striking and extremely bendy.
Newton Faulkner - lovely, a bit shy and fantastically talented. He's only had 1 single but I think he's going to be really popular. His cover of Massive Attack's Teardrop was a predictable crowd-pleaser but nontheless, somewhat breathtaking with his guitar-clunking skills.
Ghosts - zzzzzzz
The Wombats - great, energetic, playful, brilliant songs. They reminded me a bit of We Are Scientists, another hugely energetic 3-piece not taking themselves too seriously. It's nice to have some personality along with good songs. Surprisingly uncommon at times.
Mr Hudson & The Library - I only knew 1 of their songs but I liked every single one they played. Unusual and definately different from the glut of 'The..' bands. I'd definately buy gig tickets for these guys. Loads of them. And bully all my friends into going (so watch it).
Jet - dissapointingly dull.
The Hoosiers - only saw their acoustic set but they were good, not sure wether the 'cheeky chappies' routine will get a bit grating but we'll see. Love their single, a great pop song.
Plan B - not usually my cup of tea, wouldn't be rushing out to buy it but I can appreciate that he's a great artist, his performance was faultless and very engaging. Angry Young Man.
Cherry Ghost - zzzzzzzz
The Cribs - wasted guitarist/singer yet entertaining. Was he sick behind his amp at the end maybe? He crouched down behind it for no apparent reason.
KT Tunstall - is much smaller than I thought she was. Little and petite. Very good also.
McFly - got a lot of people dancing who I wouldn't have expected to (including myself), especially when teamed with Al Murray.
See it here.