Excellent parenting either way
3 Likes
Tbh the 02 show in November last year for the start of properly touring Brat had the same vibe, more a victory lap than an actual show. She spent most of the time pointing at people and swearing enthusiastically at them. Was a great spectacle but very easily the worst performance of hers Iâd seen (just as Brat, despite being full of bangers, is her least good album in about 8 years imo). Iâm hoping itâs just part of the whole Brat package and persona, because Iâd like to see her sing some songs again.
Appreciate engineering works fuck things, but Viccy Park is like 15 minute walk from and Overground and 20 from the Central line, doesnât strike me as the most awkward?
1 Like
No in the grand scheme of things it wasnât too bad. Just 95mins for me Vs the usual 50.
Itâs just that itâs been 4 weekends on the bounce now Iâve had big nights out affected by it.
Interesting to hear that maybe the show is just this brat era. I didnât hate it or anything, it just felt a bit underwhelming compared to how much those songs excite me on record.
Jimmy Eat World at Cardiff Student Union
Good time rock and roll. You know what you are getting with a Jimmy gig and this was much the same, but considerably bolstered by an energetic crowd. The band put everything into it and seemed genuinely grateful to be there. I very much needed it.
15 Likes
Well I completely made up for missing most things on Wednesday, absolute feast on Sunday.
Hidden Door - Day 5 - Edinburgh
Arriving with ample time on the Sunday, we went to the Room to Play area which was closed the previous wednesday, but hosts live improvisation performances of dance, music and video. We got a piece from Curious Seed, Maintain & Tinderbox; that was delicate and had all the kids mesmerised. However being crouched on my knees for others to get a view began to hurt so we escapedâŠ
âŠto catch San Jose on the Jack Daniels stage. Sounding like a lesser Pulp, they had catchy tunes and some fun crowd work, they even went out of their way to include a chair in their set. Only downside is the singer and bassist kept standing Infront of the drummer and the singers mic sounded off (I think that same mic was off all day).
Next up was Nick Dow again in the Jack Daniels stage (they made great use of it) who reminded me of Jamie XX or a bit of Max Cooper. Nice visual + audio syncing, it wasnât my thing due to a very square beat pattern, but still enjoyed it, with enough crescendo in there to keep me interested.
Humour were next up on the Jack Daniels stage sounding a little like Bloc Party but were too much of a loud shouty white men act for us, perhaps it was the contrast in musical styles or the common tell of a shirtless drummer having poor technique, regardless we moved on before they finishedâŠ
âŠto catch Slow Karma in the Machine Room, whose funk cleansed and settled our nerves after the previous assault. Clearly talented musicians but sounded like a lounge act, most people were chatting over them. I did enjoy what I heard though.
In prep, I do try to find and listen to each of the acts, but there is always one that has a name that makes it impossible to locate, this fests award goes to Y. They were an absolute highlight for me, I recognised one track but baffled from where. Sounding like Surfer Rock via 70s vampire camp with a 60 cigs a day singer, I had a big grin on my face for the full set.
We went to Bee Asha as we waited for the dance stage to be setup. Great bassist, but not sure the lyrics were for us; good on her though, she has her style and was only ever charming to audience; yet we left early to get better seats inâŠ
âŠthe Crane Shed for the dance performance of Spectral, I was only told to expect aerial action, which is something Iâm never a fan of as so much can go wrong. Oh my god, it was incredible; they had performers dancing on laser beams in the air, itâs a feat and image that will never leave me. It received a standing ovation and rightly so, a treat and very much worth watching.
Given the high bar set and the flat reception Snapped Ankles got, I wasnât sure if Ismael Ensemble could top it, but they killed it. Mostly focusing on Visions of Light and Rituals tracks and keeping things up tempo, the 10+ minute rendition of Blinded from Rituals was outstanding and got everyone moving. Only a shame they didnât end on Empty Hand.
Great sets, great days, great peoples; already looking forward to the next one.
[Edit] oh and additional art bits that I liked, well credit to the metal man who was created on Wednesday by a live blacksmithing at a mobile forge and the little dragon man with flames coming from his butt.
11 Likes
LCD Soundsystem @ Brixton AcademyâŠ
We were there for the second night (the Friday). New Brixton Academy security continues to be an absolute pain in terms of getting in, so we missed the first song 
Fortunately, the run after that made up for it: I Can Change - You Wanted A Hit - Tribulations - Tonite got the very up for it crowd moving as one. I see that theyâre varying the set each night, but itâs hard to go wrong with their back catalogue as thereâs barely a duffer in there. When we saw them do their residency back in 2022, we didnât get Losing My Edge and it was with concern that I noted it was missing from their previous nightâs set as itâs my favourite of theirs 
Fortunately, we got it just before the end of the main set.
They are basically just a party machine. James Murphy looks in remarkably good health these days, and the whole band are both simultaneously endearingly sloppy and a tight unit. Was lovely stuff - so much so that I immediately started wondering if I could make another one of their dates 
GIL! SCOTT! HERON!
19 Likes
The version of Losing My Edge they were doing last year with all the little cover snippets was immense, unthinkable that theyâd not be playing it every night
Didnât realise they were playing North American Scum again, didnât think theyâd played that for years
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They had the support band on backing vocals (Friedberg) for North American Scum, may have weighed into the decision. See if they do it with the second support band for the next 4 shows (Working Menâs Club).
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Was good - great call and response from the crowd 
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Got back from their glorious Dublin show last summer and my housemate and his bro asked if they played North American Scum or Daft Punk and I had to say no to both and they both reacted like it was a pretentious band stubbornly refusing to play their biggest hits. I had to explain most people are actually there waiting for All My Friends, Dance Yrself Clean etc.
3 Likes
saw The Guillemots at Leeds Cockpit. they were shite
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Took me quite a while to work out what the bit was, but itâs a good one
(Guillemots were great!)
2 Likes
Iâm on the bus home from
Deafheaven @ Trinity, Bristol
Sensational, the best Iâve ever seen them
11 Likes
Wilco @ OLT Rivierenhof Antwerp*
Played two sets lasting nearly three hours in this open air venue in the middle of a city park that feels like youâre in the middle of a forest.
Excellent sound, laid back atmosphere and a drinks menu to keep the craft beer wankers in top form.
Oh and the band were fucking excellent too. And we get to do it all again tonight.
20 Likes
Awesome - seeing them in Brighton tonight. How long did they play for? (trying to work out stage timesâŠ)
About an hour and a half, DH came on around 9:20, done by ten to eleven. Pain Of Truth were on about 8:30, possible this was delayed a little though as there was a lot of queuing to get into the venue.
Been thinking all day about how good they were. Had the potential to go a bit wrong - Iâd had a bad day at work, was tired, had to go queue, then Iâd wanted a shirt but they were rubbish and expensive, so the stars werenât exactly aligning, yet they absolutely blew me away. A great performance.
Setlist spoilers: overwhelmingly the new album, only three songs not from it all night
3 Likes
Patrick Wolf- Rough Trade Nottingham
Only found out about this in-store a few days ago, very glad I did. I first saw Patrick Wolf supporting Bloc Party 20 odd years ago, and loved him straight away (It was Wind In the Wires era).
Saw him again countless times over the next few albums, then lost touch. He didnât seem in a good place and it made me sad to see him like that.
What a difference to today, it was like An Evening With Patrick Wolf, chatting to us happily about the song inspirations and the influence of old English folklore.
Of course, an in-store show with Patrick isnât going to be your usual fare of ânew album played on acoustic guitarâ. We got a harp, keyboard and some kind of four string guitar.
Loved the harp versions of the new album, forgotten how good he can be live. Really enjoyed it. A very respectful, rapt audience throughout.
Got my album signed after and had a nice âremember old timesâ chat. Lovely to see him so happy.
14 Likes
Kim Deal - Vicar Street, Dublin
I never managed to see the Pixies until after Kim had left, and the only time Iâve seen The Breeders was a short 8 song set at 6 Music Biggest Weekend in 2018 (canât remember why I didnât go to their 2013 Belfast show, think I just hadnât listened to them much despite being a big Pixies fan). So it was fun getting to see Kim with a full 10 piece band including strings and horns. Had the Breedersâ old bassist from the 00s back in the fold, and the guitarist Rob Bochnik has played in Dublin band The Frames on and off for the last couple of decades so heâs no stranger to this venue despite being from Chicago.
Played the whole new album from start to finish, feels like an interesting contrast to the Pixies in that people were actually enthusiastic to hear the new material. Then played a couple of her older solo singles from a decade ago which I donât think I really knew existed until recently, and a bunch of Breeders songs (was particularly fun to hear Safari) plus Gigantic with her playing the left handed bassistâs upside down bass (good thing he plays it with the strings backwards).
Very enthusiastic crowd with a lot of âWe love you Kimâ shouts. Enjoyable moment when an error message popped up on the backdrop and someone behind the scenes had to slowly click out of it which got a big cheer.
Support was a local band Madra Salach who I hadnât heard of and donât seem to have released anything yet. Theyâre a bunch of young lads who look like they should be in yet another Fontaines-alike post punk band, and the guitarist was wearing a t-shirt saying âHeavy Fucking Metalâ but they were playing trad. Six of them including bass and drums. Actually pretty good - they did a good version of Spancil Hill and a darker arrangement of The Poguesâ The Old Main Drag, plus a couple of their own songs that slotted in quite well. One of the membersâ parents must have been in front of me as the mum was waving as they came on which was quite sweet. Slightly odd choice of support but I enjoyed them.
15 Likes
Have A Nice Life - St Lukeâs, Glasgow
10/10
Summary
With arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
Arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads!
(arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads)
(arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads)
(arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads)
(arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads)
(arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads, arrowheads)
12 Likes