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.