Was as excited about Addison as I was about the headliner, having rinsed her album loads, and given she’s only done a handful of gigs so far, did not seem phased by playing such a venue and absolutely smashed it.
Lana turned up before 9 (good), and there were some really good moments (Ultraviolence, Venice Bitch and a breathtaking …Ocean boulevard). The critiscsims of this tour are valid though (there is a weird disconnect between the screaming adoration she has from her fans and her presence as a performer which often feels a bit half arsed). The hologram lulls were two too many and the sound was ropey AF for parts of it.
I splashed for front standing (first time ever, think as it was winter and miserable when they went on sale I felt like treating myself) and although it was great in that there was loads of room and easy to grab a drink, it did feel a bit souleess down there if you weren’t with the throng at the front (I heard a security guard saying people had left last nights gig and immediately went to queue up again for today, I really hope these people are eating) and that the loud chorus coming from the stands were probably having more fun.
Anyway, I’m still nowhere near home despite the gig ending over an hour ago so that might be clouding my judgement but I’m glad I finally saw her but not sure I would bother again and definitely not for those prices.
Almost gave this one a miss, a combination of rain, wind, the venue being outdoors and me having already seen them tour this album was making staying in an attractive option. Glad I went though, it did feel like a slightly subdued start but the rain decreased to smirr and the sound improved and all was well.
I thought the setlist was excellent, Fable of the Urban Fox, New Birds, Girls of Summer were highlights for me, nice shout out to JD Twitch too.
I decided at the last minute (half an hour before online tickets went off sale at least) to go along to this yesterday. Mixed feelings on Hayden Thorpe (liked his Diviner album and enjoyed a gig back then, but was a bit bored/left early when I saw him at a small London festival a year or two ago), but Cody Dock is a 6 minute cycle from home and it was a lovely evening.
Anyhow, I turn up early, asked the guy putting out the merch/front desk did I need to show my ticket, and he said that he assumed I could just go through. Then realised that he was Hayden, before I got caught by the ticket buy asking for my ticket. Anyhow, lovely setting (with the new-ish rolling bridge in the background), so I sat down and read for a while.
They then lit the campfire for Hayden’s set at 9pm, starting in the still-daylight still but ending in the dark as shown below. Maybe 80-100 people in the audience.
The first 50 minutes was all from his latest album, Ness, which he wrote after speaking to the author of a book of the same name / putting some of his words to music, about a decommissioned nuclear bomb. It started fine, but think I got a bit bored as it went on, and if it wasn’t such a nice setting so close to home then I may have left early. He then did a few songs from his other albums afterwards, including a couple from Diviner, which were a bit more interesting.
Anyhow, due to go back to Cody Dock again in four weeks’ time to see Joshua Burnside there, which I’m looking forward to. That one’s sold out, so will be interesting to see if it feels particularly busier.
Ooh one of them is on when I’m heading down to London to see Rosali & SG Goodman, might add it to the list — not heard of the act playing that night (Bird in the Belly) but if the weather’s nice it’d be a fun thing to do
Somehow, I’d not got around to seeing Slayer previously which is surprising to myself given how long they were near the top of the metal tree. Bizarre to be seeing them play such an enormous outside show in broad daylight, but the atmosphere was excellent. Who knew Slayer fans were such a friendly bunch?
Started with South Of Heaven and the pace didn’t relent at all. Got a bunch of tracks from the unholy trinity of Reign In Blood, Seasons In The Abyss and South Of Heaven. Nice Sabbath cover too.
Having called it a day back in 2019, be interesting to see if they stick around. Current line up has lost none of their intensity live, and seemed to be having a genuinely lovely time so hope so. Probably need to record a new album at some point however.
Had a great time at this too for all the same reasons, hilarious start though when the banner didn’t unfurl properly and then got disentangled over the front couple rows
Took my 11 year old daughter and her best mate to London to see Sabrina Carpenter in Hyde park on Saturday
Not usually my sort of thing but fair play it was banging. My daughter had the time of her life
Beabadoobee was ace too (and had some beautiful guitars). Clairo was fine but a little downbeat for main support
Loads of kids there and as a result it seems the show was slightly toned down in comparison to previous tours. We had a ticket for my 9 year old but decided it might be too much for her and she didn’t come, but in hindsight it would have been fine
Terminal Sleep / Spaced @ Joiners, Southampton
Spaced were very fun and sounded great. Blasted through their set in about 25 minutes. All the things I like about hardcore. Liked the bass players Steve Irwin shirt too.
Terminal Sleep play the kind of modern metalcore which relies on big sub bass drops in lieu of writing good riffs so I watched two songs and left. Not for me.
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis - Cafe Oto.
I wasn’t aware of these until last year after reading a post on Facebook by the ever dependable Matt from Gringo Records. I saw them at the 100 Club earlier this year and they were great, but they were even better last night. There seemed to be more guitar in the mix and it came through really well. No support and they played for ages. For those interested in celebrity watch, Stewart Lee was there. I didn’t say anything to him.
