Live Review - Fleetwood Mac, London O2 Arena (25th Sept 2013)

Amongst the barrage of glowing tweets about the show, I noticed a tweet from Jeremy Clarkson, who was also there that night, complaining something along the lines of “Since when did Fleetwood Mac become a Lindsey Buckingham tribute band?”. You have to wonder what he was expecting. Christine McVie leaving the band in the late 90's has, in effect, reduced their repertoire rather considerably. It knocks out, “Songbird”, “Little Lies”, and “Everywhere”, to name a handful; a lot of their softer AOR moments actually. Stevie Nicks, although a vital component to their on-stage presentation, a crucial foil for Lindsey, and responsible for some key moments in their back catalogue, doesn't play an instrument (tambourine excepted) on-stage. This leaves Lindsey Buckingham, like it or not, as the key musical driving force for the show. In fact, he's the only member of the Mac who's on-stage for every song of their almost three hour show, and boy, is he driven. I saw another reviewer describe him as essentially battling with his guitar on-stage. This is an apt description. At one point, he appeared to be physically beating the strings, both arms flailing.

Opening with “Second Hand News” set the tone for the night, as if to say, “we're going to play a lot of songs for the casual fans, but don't expect expect some sanitised, compromised version of the Mac”. The way Buckingham spat out the repeated refrain of “DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!” in between the chorus lines made it clear he meant business. The show opened with a Rumours trio in fact, with “The Chain” and “Dreams” following on. Not many bands can unleash a trio like that to open a show.

The bulk of the show seemed to be split into sections. After the opening Rumours section and a crowd-pleasing “Rhiannon”, came four in a row from Tusk, the uncompromising, schizophrenic follow up to Rumours; the title track, in particular, having an incredible ferocity that made you take notice. Later on, there's an acoustic section, a couple in a row from Mirage; you get the idea.

The band seem quite keen on providing context to their work. Before the Tusk section, Lindsey gives a speech about their decision not to keep repeating the same formula, and expressing confidence that the passage of time has proved them right; I would certainly agree with that. Before “Landslide”, one of the most beautiful moments in their catalogue, Stevie Nicks takes time to acknowledge the presence of founder-member Peter Green in the audience that night, and the considerable debt she owes to him.

They seem keenly aware of their chequered, complex history, and seem intent on playing up to it. I'd read that Stevie Nicks said to Lindsey Buckingham that they needed to walk on-stage hand-in-hand, and they had to mean it. At one moment in the set, they even embrace. It's obviously slightly contrived and reinforces the soap-opera image of the band; it's essentially playing out before your eyes, but you have to wonder how a now happily married Buckingham feels as, the obviously pretty bonkers, Nicks starts talking about their previous “relationship” in front of thousands of people every night.

Still, the band are on incendiary form. It's worth restating that it really was Buckingham's show. He is just “on it” all night. One of the highlights comes when he plays a solo acoustic “Big Love”, again taking time to contextualise what the song means to him; the intensity builds and builds, and he growls and grunts like a madman towards the end of the track. He brings such a raw edge that keeps them firmly on the right side of credible. Nicks appears to have lost a bit of her vocal range, but none of her charisma. It's an incredible sight to see her kick the air, and pose around the stage in that inscrutable way she does. She's a little hard to take seriously sometimes, especially when she starts talking about how the audience are like dream-catchers, and the like, but who needs boring rock stars? Mick Fleetwood himself appears to have lost none of his drive and love for the band, also taking the time to give a speech at the very end of the show. “The Chain” aside, right-hand man John McVie gets very few “moments”, but a solid force on-stage and, of course, is literally the Mac in Fleetwood Mac.

I'm particularly impressed at the balance they've struck between pleasing the casual Rumours crowd and keeping the show edgy and interesting. The final encore is particularly brave, pulling out the stunning b-side “Silver Springs”, and the beautifully appropriate “Say Goodbye” from their underrated last album Say You Will.

Mac play the same set every night, a concept which I'm not that keen on; on the pros side though it means that if you can only make it to one show, you get the same as everyone else, and also, they're incredibly tight. The downside is that it can seem like the band are going through the motions a little; a feeling I had when I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (incidentally a band Stevie Nicks was desperate to join at one point!) last year. Still, I didn't get that feeling with the Mac. They played like they meant it. However, we did get a genuinely special moment in the set, when Christine McVie joined them on-stage for the first time since the late-90's. It was all too brief really; they simply played “Don't Stop” together, but you couldn't help but feel privileged to witness the Rumours line-up together again, even if just for a few minutes. She was due to appear a couple of nights later, but that was going to be it. We'll see if she changes her mind, but I was rather glad I was there. I wonder if it even melted Clarkson's heart...

Catching up with... Bernie Simpson from the Llama Farmers

So, one of my favorite singles as a teenager was "Same Song" by the Llama Farmers. It was the sort of track that would often make it on to mix-CDs for girls. To this day, it still affects me to hear it. It's deceptively simple, yet inscrutable at the same time. Despite playing shows with the likes of Foo Fighters and Green Day, the band never quite made the leap into household consciousness. So all these years later I wondered, what happened to the Llama Farmers? Frontman Bernie Simpson was generous enough to give me some of his time to let me know what he's been up to, and was more than happy to discuss that gorgeous little single...

So firstly, how on earth are you, and what have been up to?

I am very well thank you. I've been writing and performing under different guises. Most recently I'm involved with new band, Pronk.

Why did the Llama Farmers split?

We didn't so much split as come to the end of what we were doing. You know when the party's over, right? All the bombay mix was gone and the anonymous vomit was piling up in the tour bus. We still meet up and play together regularly. We reformed under the name Bear Hug years ago and tried writing new stuff together. ALL together, not just me this time. We drifted apart again though. We all had separate commitments.

When you look back on it all, do you feel grateful for the ride, or does seeing the success of people you played shows with like Biffy Clyro and the Foo Fighters etc stir up frustrations?

Wow, I had no idea you wanted to write my obituary! When I look back on it all? Oy, well, remember Llama Farmers played those gigs when we were around 17 – Jen was 14 - so we were incredibly fortunate to play shows with the likes of the Foo Fighters and Green Day. I'm still not really sure how it happened!. It's especially fantastic to see Biffy Clyro doing what they're doing now because they were such lovely people to tour with. Beautiful people. (How could I have any frustrations? Llama Farmers also played on the same bill as Atomic Kitten and Lionel Richie at a Japanese festival once. So...yeah).

I wanted to talk about Same Song. I bought that single after hearing it on a Virgin Megastore listening booth. It's one of my all-time favourite singles, but actually nothing like the rest of your stuff. Did it confuse many people at the time? Were their people turning up to shows that maybe only knew that song and were a bit taken aback?

I think you might be one of the few who bought that single! That song kind of evolved directly from one of my home-demos in the studio. The record label really liked it and said why didn't we put it out as a double A-side with another of our songs 'Movie'. So we did. Beggars Banquet were good like that. As much as we were a tight rock band, we also had a gentler side. We all listened to Wheat, Red House Painters, Flaming Lips, Elliot Smith on the tour-bus. We attempted to play it live a couple of times but it sounded a bit limp so we saved it for acoustic radio shows/solo shows etc – just played 'Movie' instead.

In a way it's a very simple song isn't it, but the production gives it such a dreamy feel, and it's so moving. Did you realise the potential it had when you wrote it or did it come to life when you got into the studio?

Well I suppose the sampling and the drum loop on the record was something we added in the studio which could have been said to bring it to life. Clive Martin our producer was always interested to see how far he could push us. The demo sounds pretty similar except for the drum loops and samples. I still don't really understand the lyrics. I like the down tuned bass and guitar that Jen put on at the end best. Makes it dark and heavy far back in the distance.

You printed your personal email address on the inside of that single too, did you get any really weird emails from fans?

I don't think I even checked my email back then. It was all pre wifi and pre smart phones!. It was just me and my discman in those days unless I was back home from tour.

Have you ever noticed the intro to Pornaco sounds like a drunk band trying to cover 'Message In A Bottle'?

Ha! We were a drunk band trying to cover “Message in a Bottle”.

What do you listen to for pleasure these days?

I'll listen to anything i'm recommended but recently I've been listening to the new Beach House album incessantly. Today I've had some Leadbelly, Kelis, and Savages intermittently.

What's next for you musically?

My latest incarnation Pronk will be supporting wunderkind producer Ethan Johns as he strikes out, undoubtedly to blaze a more commercially successful career than I. I like collaborating with other people/musicians at the moment. Solo stuff is fun, but it can get lonely. Also, bands are like really intense relationships. Starting and breaking them hurts a little bit more every time.

Pronk can be heard at http://pronk.bandcamp.com
"Same Song" by Llama Farmers is available to stream on Spotify

Live Review - Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Southend Cliffs Pavilion (19th June 2013)

So I thought this would be good but...

What a night that was. The fact the gig was literally down my road always adds to my enjoyment, knowing you don't have to travel home a long way home after a late show is obviously a huge bonus, but I'd seen the tour last year, and seen Costello with different projects 2 times before that, so I felt I had pretty realistic expectations of what to expect, but there was some extra magic in the air tonight.

The current tour has a rather novel concept; a large game-show wheel stands prominently to one side of the stage with various song titles on (along with some "jokers" and themed sections), a pretty assistant ventures into the audience, brings a couple of punters up, they spin the wheel, Elvis and the band play the song chosen by the wheel, while the enlisted punters relax at the on-stage bar or dance in the cage on the other side of the stage.

The wheel doesn't dictate the entire set. If certain major hits aren't selected by the wheel, he plays them anyway. Generally, he was asking people what they most wanted to hear on the wheel, and then duly obliging their wish, in addition to the result of the wheel. There are also sections of the set where Elvis plays songs not listed on the wheel at all. The wheel serves to add a human element to the show, and adds a level of unpredictability to the set. In this way, it liberates the set rather than confines it.

The wheel, the audience participation, the unpredictable set, all serve a purpose and provide the makings of a really fun evening, but Elvis' performance takes it to a whole new level. He's almost like a performing encyclopedia of music; veering between genres with equal aplomb and skill. The wheel landed on "She" quite early in the set, and although my heart sank initially, by the end of the song I had to clap. He ingests enough energy into the earlier new-wave stuff to satisfy that type of fan, but it's in the quieter moments that the full scope of his talents becomes apparent. A particularly jaw-dropping moment occurred towards the end of the night, acoustic guitar in hand, playing a couple of ragtime, Americana-tinged tracks from his last studio album "National Ransom", he steps away from the mic and launches into a spurt of "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime"; the authority and nuance in his voice, just reaches out and shakes you to your core.

Seeing and hearing him "wig-out" in some of the more epic moments of the set is particularly satisfying too. Elvis generally keeps his music lean, but extended moments like "I Want You" and "Stella Hurt" bring real scope and rock credentials to the set; another weapon in his arsenal of musical wonders.

You also realise the sheer amount of great songs he's amassed over the years; hearing "Lip Service", "Radio Radio", "Shipbuilding", "...Chelsea", "Alison" (need I go on?), all in the same evening, is just sheer joy. And there's a case for closing every gig everywhere with "Peace, Love, and Understanding" being a legal requirement.

Elvis, in a way, has a similar approach to Springsteen with his live shows; he wants to draw the audience in, he goes for length (Elvis is on for nearly 2 hours 40 minutes), getting through about 31 songs, allowing for big hits, current creative directions, and deep cuts for the hardcore. Where Springsteen opts for pulling signs out of the crowd to add spontaniety to the set, Elvis has opted for a giant wheel which allows for audience interaction. It's just so well-judged.

I left the venue giddy with joy. That was up there with the best gigs I've ever seen. I don't even think I would've minded a longer journey home.       

Live Review - The Who performing "Quadrophenia", London O2 Arena (16th June 2013)

It's hard to put your finger on exactly what was wrong with tonight's show. As with a lot of bands of a certain age, the appeal in going to see them is more in the fact that you CAN go and see them, a tick off of a mental bucket list as it were, rather than an expectation of a band at the top of their game. There are of course exceptions, actually quite a few of them; Springsteen, Neil Young, McCartney all spring to mind, but The Who were sadly not one of them. I guess an instant problem is how diluted the line-up seems, and when you look at the previous three names I mentioned, you immediately see an issue. Although of course, the E Street Band are vital to Springsteen's live reputation, they're a much larger unit, and the rejuvenation of the line-up that has taken place in recent years has been incredibly successful, enhancing the power of the band, rather than bringing the sanitising effect that "session" musicians often bring when added to a legendary band, and this certainly is a problem tonight.

Performing Quadrophenia live over the years has evidently been a problem for the band, who seem keen to go on the record with the fact that they haven't been happy with previous performances of the record. It's with that in mind that they appear to have put this show together to be flawless. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. There's no denying it's a tight well thought-out show; the footage of a post-war Britain in the early part of the show particularly, is quite affecting. The rather large band are tight, and with all the brass and synths on-stage, the album is recreated in great detail. I'm sure the original tour for the album was messy, but you had Keith Moon behind the drum kit, and John Entwistle on bass; they would have been loud, energetic, and slightly chaotic, and isn't that what you really want from a Who show?

It makes me think back to seeing Roger Waters with 'The Wall' a couple of years ago, at the same venue in fact. That show, in theory, faced a lot of the same issues; missing vital members from the original record (Waters being the man-behind-the-concept a la Townsend, in this analogy I guess), loads of session musicians, performing a sprawling double-album with only a few key songs. 'The Wall' however, had spectacle; spectacle to burn, and it really served the show well. I've never seen anything quite like it, and I found the whole thing really moving. Maybe I just don't have the same emotional attachment to the source material (indeed, I find Doctor Jimmy in particular, horribly distasteful), but I came away underwhelmed from this. Sure, it was great to see Pete Townsend windmill; a tick for the bucket-list in my mind then, but I could have left my heart at home.

Live Review - Ghostpoet, London Village Underground (30th May 2013)



Obaro Ejimiwe AKA Ghostpoet has pulled off one of the best albums of the year so far with his second album “Some Say I So I Say Light”, and expectations were high as he took to the stage at sold out Village Underground venue.

One of the remarkable things about Ghostpoet is how he has been able to defy genre; being a black poet does not have to be as confining as it often tends to be. Whether your musical background is Radiohead or Dizzee Rascal you should find something to love here. He's avoided all the usual rap clichés and bravado, and produced work that's humble, honest, and really moving.

Does it work live? Boy, does it! His live band are excellent, and the crowd are really up for it. Everything feels really genuine; he seems genuinely humbled by the response, and the audience response feels genuine.

The songs really translate well live, and even the first album material which, on record, felt a little under-baked in places, has really come to life and shimmers with intensity; a testament to how far he's progressed over the past couple of years. Singles like “Cash and Carry Me Home” and “Survive It” produce waves of euphoria through the crowd. Of course, the new album sounds great in a live setting, and stand-out moments of the record, like “Plastic Bag Brain” and “Sloth Trot”, duly keep their intensity, Obaro even brandishing an electric guitar for the latter. His voice is sounding great and his performance is passionate, often building towards a crescendo of repeating phrases that create moments to lose yourself in.

This being London, the stops are pulled out and we get cameos from Lucy Rose, replicating her part on “Dial Tones”, and the wonderful Woodpecker Wooliams (interviewed below) who appears on-stage for what may just be the single of the year, “Meltdown”. She's in fine voice and cutely dances through the wonderful extended finale of the track.

The night felt like a real tipping point; seeing an artist on top of their game in a small venue and seriously delivering. He's got a way to go before seeping into mainstream consciousness but on the strength of last night, he's well on his way. Absolutely sublime. Heck, I'm glad I was there.

Interview – Woodpecker Wooliams

There'll be more to come from Ghostpoet collaborator and solo artist Woodpecker Wooliams later in the year, but for now here's a little snippet of our interview in the build-up to the show.

So how did the Ghostpoet collaboration come about?

It was kinda by accident. I was on a train up to a gig in London and I just happened to check my emails, had a message from his manager, who I'd never spoken to before, saying “Hi, how you doing, we're looking for a female vocalist, would you be interested?”, and I was pretty busy and a bit stressed getting to this gig but I thought I'll just reply and say ,“Yeah, fine”, didn't really know what was gonna be involved, then he called me up almost immediately and was like, “Brilliant, if you want to do it we're recording today and tomorrow”, so I just sort of turned around on my route and cancelled the meeting I was going to before the gig, and got a train across town to where they were recording, couldn't listen to the song on my phone, so basically got there, met Obaro, heard the song, and then it was 'Right, you've got to record now', just really quick, and I hadn't done anything like that before either, so it was kind of a challenge.

It's quite scary to think that it might not have been you on that track, because your voice is so perfect on it. Can you listen to it for pleasure?

I can't listen to my own stuff, I never do, but this I can listen to. I think that was probably what worked about me singing on it, that it really moved me the moment I heard it, the string arrangement at the end, he'd put some rough vocals on it, and it nearly made me cry when it got to the end.

It's such an emotive part of the album, it's so instantly affecting. For an “urban” artist to have that much heart and accessibility to it...

That's what I really like about his stuff, that there's something really raw about it I suppose, really authentic. It grabs you, there's real feeling in it.

Did you have any input on the track?

The lyrics were there, but he kind of muttered them as the rough take. I could hear a potential melody there but it wasn't explicit, so I tried a few things. I was trying to match what he was doing with his voice, but it's almost spoken word a lot of the time, you can sort of hear where it's going, but...

Do you think collaborations are a good thing, or are you concerned about being pigeon-holed, or being known for a period of time as “the vocalist from the Ghostpoet track”?

Although it happened unexpectedly, the more I think about it, I really like the idea of collaborating. It's like a cross-pollination thing, mixing elements from different genres or different sound pallets.

Ghostpoet's new album “Some Say I So I Say Light” is out now and includes “Meltdown” featuring Woodpecker Wooliams. Buy it!

For more info on Woodpecker, visit www.woodpeckerwooliams.com

Live Review - The Zombies, Sevenoaks Stag Theatre (28th May 2013)

It's a funny old world when a band as influential as The Zombies are touring around backwater theatres at under £20 a ticket. Their 1967 misspelled masterpiece “Odessey and Oracle” continues to capture the minds of younger generations, despite not selling well at the time. Their growing list of celebrity fans has ensured their myth and legacy has grown over the decades. Paul Weller proclaimed “Odessey...” as his all-time favourite album, Dave Grohl is a big fan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have covered them, and their influence of the likes of Belle and Sebastian is obvious.

The show itself is a more of a celebration of what Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent have been up to over the past 50-odd years, than a dedicated Zombies night as such. There are, in fact, as many original members of 70's rockers Argent on stage as there are original members of The Zombies, thus two of Argent's most recognisable moments, “God Gave Rock and Roll To You” (covered by Kiss of course) and “Hold Your Head Up” are rapturously received key moments in the set, two of Blunstone's biggest solo hits, “I Don't Believe In Miracles” and “Say You Don't Mind”, are thrown in, and Blunstone's time with The Alan Parsons Project is represented by a warmly welcomed “Old and Wise”.

Of course The Zombies' key tracks are present and correct; “Tell Her No”, “She's Not There”, and of course, “Time of the Season”, all stand up nicely. Blunstone's voice is still pretty stunning, to be honest; it really cuts through, and his performance is enigmatic and impassioned. Their creative urge is still strong too, and they're not afraid to play stuff off their current album.

While it's great to see a band of their calibre in an intimate setting, the sense of occasion is maybe a bit lacking. The evening feels very polite, and Rod and Colin seem to feel obliged to explain every song in the set, and Rod in particular seems very keen to explain and defend their legacy at every turn. I can't imagine, for example, Bob Dylan explaining to an audience where “Blonde on Blonde” came in Rolling Stone magazine's “Top 500 Albums” list, but I guess that takes us full circle; I can't imagine Dylan bothering to play Sevenoakes either, and I can't imagine him seeming as gracious and happy to be on-stage as these guys. The night may be a bit “tame” to the more jaded rock 'n' roll fan, but if the Stones' ticket prices are putting you off, you could do a darn sight worse than an evening with The Zombies. A joy.



Live Review - The Postal Service, Brixton Academy (20th May 2013)

Nostalgia often gets a bad rap in music. Bands getting together to perform older material instantly makes them easy targets. Surely though, no one can begrudge The Postal Service a belated victory lap. For those not in the know, The Postal Service was a collabaration between Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, and Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello. They, of course, only made one record, the wonderful "Give Up", which reaches it's 10th anniversary this year. It's been somewhat of a slow burner, but has now sold over a million copies.

A look at their tour dates from 10 years ago shows that, while the USA got a reasonably substantial tour, the UK appeared to get one show at the 250 capacity Spitz venue. Here we are 10 years later and they've managed 2 nights at the somewhat larger Brixton Academy. Simple mathematics would indicate that the vast majority of the audience across the two nights haven't seen the band before. It feels more like a belated first album tour, than a simple exercise in reliving the past.

So how was it? Well, in theory it worked. Now swelled to a 4-piece including the beautiful Jenny Lewis (who contributed vocals to the original album), they've tried to make the show relatively "live". In the past Ben Gibbard had expressed concerns about watching 'a guy with a laptop' being dull for the audience, but in this post-Skrillex age, it's maybe a more commonplace sight, regardless of which, there was plenty of live instrumentation and a lovely light show.

The songs stood up well. "Nothing Better" was hammed-up by Ben and Jenny emphasising the both-sides-of-the-story narrative of the original. The original album was bolstered with a couple of bonus tracks from the new re-issue of "Give Up", and a Beat Happening cover was thrown in for good measure. Ben seemed in good shape, in good voice, and generally "in to it".

So this all would have been well and good were it not for the earth-shaking, head-pounding, arrhythmia-inducing bass. It felt like it was being mixed by a 14 year old dubstep fan. It sucked all the nuance and subtlety out of the songs, and was just plain uncomfortable. I saw a similar complaint regarding the Manchester show a couple of nights before, so whether it's an intentional band-sanctioned mix or not is unclear, but I seriously hope not. I endured about 40 minutes before giving up my prime spot and heading for the back. An absolute shame all round really, and a lesson that it only takes one factor out of place to derail an otherwise strong show.

For now, I'm certainly grateful The Postal Service album came into my life, but slightly concerned my love for it will be tarnished by the memory of such a dissapointing night.

"Give Up (10th Anniversary Edition)" is out now.