In an attempt to build content before the website launched in 2007, I began writing gig reviews of the places I'd been in 2006. These are gigs I was going to anyway, I was there for fun and not work purposes. Unfortunately for anyone who likes variety, as a committed fan of the Pigeon Detectives and a bit of Kaiser Chiefs, the content all started looking rather familiar...
Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv in Jan 07 http://www.native.tv
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
CARLING 24
Kaiser Chiefs / Captain / The Pipettes @ Brixton Academy, 24th April 06
This is the kind of ‘24’ that Kiefer Sutherland wants to be doing
“Excuse me, have you got a lighter?” slurs a man as he staggers towards the queue at the Brixton Academy. “I just want to light my joint.” No, sorry. A security man asks him to leave and stop harassing the crowd.
“Or what? You gonna fucking fight me?”
“Yeah.”
My friend panics and turns his back slightly, as if that’ll protect him from a crazed and drugged up Londoner tussling on the floor with a hefty bouncer about five feet away from us. Luckily that fight doesn’t materialise, so we can all breathe a bit easier. Thank goodness.
For those who haven’t heard of it, the premise behind Carling 24 is simple. 24 hours of solid live music in one city, hence the 24 part; and it’s quite obviously sponsored by Carling. That means a free drink, unless you skip the bar and run straight to the front row. Either pick and choose one gig or go to as many as you can.
Ian Brown, the Ordinary Boys, Larrikin Love, Goldie Lookin’ Chain, Dirty Pretty Things and co. are setting up to play in venues across London, but we only had tickets for the first match. Kaiser Chiefs – Best Live Act at the Brits, moshpit fans - promised to be a stunning opener.
My partner-in-crime on this trip shyly let on that he’d never actually been to a proper concert before (What?!) so I gave him tips in clinging onto the barrier and prayed he wasn’t going to get a crowdsurfer on his head.
If there’s one thing which can liven up a few hours waiting outside Brixton Academy, it’s the Wall of Cock. (We knew what it was called as someone had thoughtfully written it in large letters on the bricks). For those of you who have never seen it, the name pretty much describes it – 6ft plus of dirty jokes, band names and drawings of quite impressive appendages, which almost help take your mind off the fact it’s actually quite cold out and you didn’t bring a coat. We were slightly jealous at the people who seemed to have backstage passes slung round their neck, until we were given one and discovered it was just a list of times that bands were going onstage.
The Pipettes had the honour of kicking off the whole event, although sadly they missed out on being filmed for Channel 4’s coverage. The three girls Rose, Becki and Gwenno sing sunshiney 1950s pop, aided by various groovy dance moves, stylish polka dot dresses and an indie backing band called the Cassettes. Cute and fun, especially ‘Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me.’ What are cassettes?
Channel 4 presenter Alex Zane then walks on, trying to bellow ‘Hello Brixton!’ in a microphone which isn’t on and he looks suitably embarrassed. Ooops.
Next onstage were Captain. They didn’t look entirely comfortable, although rumour has it most were suffering from colds. Captain have been hyped up everywhere over the last week, which has timed quite nicely with new single release ‘Broke’. Poppy, with a dreamy fairground keyboard at times, lead vocals are shared by the sweet-voiced Clare and the big hatted Rik. The stage is then hidden away by a sweeping red curtain with ‘KC’ on it.
And at last – the Kaiser Chiefs came on. The crowd goes crackers (we tighten our grip on the barrier – without this, we might be a blob under someone’s trainers in no time) as Ricky Wilson strides down the centre to begin ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less.’ The last year has been amazing for the band, who went from boisterous unknowns to even more boisterous Brit-winners and Live 8 openers.
Of course it’s not only Ricky’s band; the man lording over the back of the stage on drums and backing vocals is Nick Hodgson, a favourite with the ladies for his cheerfulness and shiny hair; Peanut (aka Nick Baines) is on keyboards in his traditional hat, clapping away and loving every minute. Big-haired Simon Rix is rocking away on bass to the right, while Andrew ‘Whitey’ White is calmly playing his guitar and occasionally smiling in quiet amusement.
It’s nearly the end of a long tour for t’Chiefs – they’re closing in their hometown of Leeds in a couple of days – and Ricky is starting to look a little worn, although he still has the energy to climb the odd speaker stack, run along inciting Mexican waves, start a few crowd singalongs, dance with a fan during ‘You Can Have It All’ and lean into the crowd while trying to prevent his trousers being ripped off by a) fans and b) the bouncers.
Ricky announces they will play one of their new songs, although he’s less than happy about the media taping it and walks over to a camera, randomly pressing buttons to turn it off. The band is grudgingly allowing cameraphones, as trying to turn off 5,000 of those is a little trickier. The audience is a little quiet during the new songs, possibly because the only recognisable parts are the clips that a sharing person has uploaded to YouTube.
Things get a little worrying during ‘I Predict A Riot’. For obvious reasons some people think the name of the song is an invitation to charge at the person in front, maybe swing a few elbows or try and climb up someone’s back. Looked round to see a crowdsurfer heading for my face, so ducked while the bouncer made a grab for them. A couple of people become ill and have to be pulled out. Later on while speaking to someone who had the luxury of an upstairs seat, they asked: “What was going on down there? It looked mad!” One man is attempting to push his way to the barrier by putting his hands very close either side of me and practically mounting my back. I pull a face which a bouncer notices – he bounds forward and starts yelling at the bloke to give me some space.
The Kaiser Chiefs also play ‘Caroline, Yes’, ‘Time-Honoured Tradition’, ‘Modern Way’, ‘Sink That Ship’ and ‘Na Na Na Na Naaa’ before closing with a storming ‘Oh My God’ which has the whole audience screaming that they’d ‘never been this far away from home’. My friend has a bruise all the way across his chest from the barrier. I have an elbow mark in my back. The night has been amazing fun, but we really feel for anyone going to the next gig (Ian Brown in Islington) and the ones after because we’re knackered already.
On the train home, we compare badges bought and text everyone to tell them to look out for us on the TV coverage. A woman moves away from us to sit with her boyfriend and says: “Sorry, you don’t smell or anything.” We point out that yes we do; we’ve been sweating and dancing for hours. She seems to think we’re joking and laughs. We honestly stink.
A fantastically lively start to Carling 24 – but will people still be feeling this buoyed up at 8am? To be honest we don’t care – we’ve had a great time and are looking forward to more alcohol, a decent sleep and watching the gig again on telly. Hurray for telly, and Kaiser Chiefs.
http://www.kaiserchiefs.co.uk
http://www.thepipettes.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/captaintheband
http://www.carling.com
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THE HOLLOWAYS / THE PIGEON DETECTIVES / SIXNATIONSTATE
@ Southampton Joiners, 18th July 06
Summer heat and stage invasions
Five stage invasions, three water pistols, one fist fight. It’s possible the July heatwave which is lazily covering the south in some sort of thermal blanket is affecting people’s brains.
Tonight is a revolving headline tour between the Pigeon Detectives and the Holloways, promoted by the Joiners as ‘Two NME Faves… One Great Bill.’
First on stage are local band SixNationState, whose lead singer has a belting voice. There’s lots of comedic bobbing up and plenty of knees-up in turn to their summery indie ska. They are joined on stage by two girls bouncing up and down (these two make a regular appearance through the night. Luckily it’s the bands getting a cut of the ticket price, not them).
Next are the Pigeon Detectives, the band I was most looking forward to. The member of this fast upcoming Leeds band are singer Matt, Oliver and Ryan on guitar, David on bass and Jimmi on the sticks. Matt was clearly hot already, one his first acts being to pour a bottle of water over his head and then sprinkle the rest at the crowd. Someone in front of me threw water at Oli. He looked seriously pissed off. The band has been seriously hyped up, mostly by NME and an overexcited Kaiser Chiefs drummer, but they’re worth it (just like L’Oreal).
This band are so in demand, apparently even the members can’t buy a copy of their new single ‘You Know I Love You’ because it’s sold out everywhere. The Pigeons play a nice raw slab of rock music with the biggest, sweatiest mosh pit I’ve seen for a long while. Matt is full of energy, running from one end to the other and leaping face-down into the crowd.
The girl in front of me turns round and shouts: “I’ve never been to a gig before!” She loves it, bless her cottons. There’s another teenager stood on a stool at the front, blocking a lot of people’s views. (Stool Boy later apologises nicely to the people and said he realises it annoyed everyone).
Pigeon Detective fans tend to have a large number of tracks in their collection (hurray for MySpace) and so there are a considerable number knowing the words. The band tear their way through ‘I Found Out’, ‘Wait For Me’, ‘You Better Not Look My Way’ and ‘Don't Know How To Say Goodbye’ among others, getting the crowd to join in on various choruses.
Matt amuses himself by climbing the speaker stack and sitting on the shoulders of a stage invader, dropping the mike and motioning until someone passes him another. “Thanks to the guy who let me rub my sweaty bollocks on the back of his neck for the last song,” he announced. Charmed, I’m sure.
The Pigeon Detectives finish with ‘I’m Not Sorry’, a cue for everyone to climb on stage (shortly followed by a few security personnel).
And inbetween bands, there is a mass exodus outside. People collapse on the cool pavement holding drinks and chatting across the road. Cars are driving through the centre real slow, looking nervously at the gig goers. Perhaps they’re expecting a riot, but it’s far too hot for that type of shit.
Back inside, the heat is heavy, the Holloways are chatting by the bar in fetching straw hats and a group of guys are walking past the bar singing Spandau Ballet’s ‘Gold’.
And here come the Holloways, ready to cheer up the crowd with some upbeat indie. “Anyone here not sweating?” asks chatty singer/guitarist Alfie, and the drummer picks up an enormous water gun and fires at the audience. The other band members are Rob on vocals/guitar/fiddle, Bryn on bass and Dave on drums (luckily their names fit the part). Alfie walks around the stage randomly commenting on the previous act until the band say: “Just pick up the Mustang and play a song.”
And tonight’s songs include ‘Diamonds and Pearls’, ‘Great Britain’, ‘Generator’ and plenty of others I don’t know (sorry). We’re told they’ve played Southampton lots before and we’re usually rubbish, but tonight we’re, oooh, second best on the tour.
The Holloways should also be highly commended for using an electric fiddle, an underestimated instrument in indie rock (although it keeps detuning in the heat so is only brought out on special occasions).
The heat was affecting a few people the wrong way, with two guys choosing a break between songs to try and punch each other. “What are you doing? You daft bastards,” Alfie says as the crowd try to separate them. One of the guys keeps trying to launch himself at the other, but is being held back by an audience member. The mosh pit, which seemed so frightening ten minutes ago, completely empties.
“He’s trying to punch him… Stop that!” says Alfie. The band decide the heat and the energy is a bit much and play a slow track to chill things down a bit. The gig’s overrunning and they’re not allowed to play everything, but of course there’s time for new single ‘Two Left Feet.’
“If you’re here for the music, take a step forward. If you’re here for a fight… er, just fuck off,” says Rob, who receives a round of applause for his wisdom.
Singer Alfie is having such a good time chatting he forgets to play, then imitates the crowd yelling at him in a high-pitched voice: “Alfie! ALFIE!” So the rest of the band (mainly Rob) blast him in the face with water pistols. The last song is greeted with a queue of people climbing on stage, patting Alfie, trying not to fall off, waving at their friends then launching into the moshpit. It’s overrun by half an hour but no-one cares.
Indie ska is here, boys and girls. And never underestimate the power of sweaty summer rock.
http://www.theholloways.tk
http://www.thepigeondetectives.com
http://www.sixnationstate.co.uk
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TENNENT'S VITAL FESTIVAL - DAY ONE
The Tides, The Pigeon Detectives, Mumm-Ra, Be Your Own Pet, The Raconteurs, Kaiser Chiefs.
The Botanic Gardens, Belfast, 22nd August 06
Norn Iron’s biggest rock/pop festival comes into town
Why are major festivals always sponsored by lager? I am a girl. I don’t like lager. I don’t want lager. I want more choice than warm cider or lemony vodka in the bar. Nothing against any brand in particular, I just don’t like it. Sorry.
If I did have to choose a lager right now though, Tennent’s is the best, judging from the events they put on (think I got out of that one all right).
There had actually been plenty of complaints, not over the choice of beverages, but over the line up for Day One of Tennent’s Vital Festival in the beautiful city of Belfast. Who knows why, because it seemed very impressive. Any line up with Jack White and the Kaisers is not to be sniffed at. ¡Forward, Russia! were headlining the second stage, although I didn’t catch them because I was stuck in front of the main one.
First on stage were Northern Ireland’s rising stars, The Tides. Rising Tides. Arf. They had brought a number of screaming fans/friends along with them for the ride; well, it’s not every day you open the biggest festival in the area. They were pretty enjoyable with catchy songs and looked proud to be up there.
Next up were the Pigeon Detectives, who frankly deserved a bigger audience. I found myself standing slightly apart from their main bunch of fans, so I held my own mini mosh pit (with just me in it, I had no chance of getting crushed/killed. Now that’s festival luxury). The band opened with ‘Romantic Type’, charging their way through ‘You Know I Love You’, ‘Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye’, ‘I Found Out’ and more, saving best known hit ‘I’m Not Sorry’ until the very end. Plenty of jumping up, getting tangled in the mike lead and leaning into the crowd from seriously energetic frontman Matt Bowman. The girls in front of me chose to ignore the band because they could see the Kaiser Chiefs watching from the side of the stage and they were trying to take pictures of them. Little bit rude, but there you go.
Up popped Mumm-Ra, the best band from Bexhill-on-Sea, and with one of the best names on the bill (I’m afraid the Pigeons take top honour there, but only after gaining points for surrealism). The lead singer stood on the amp on tiptoe, leaned forward and almost plunged headfirst into the crowd. He also made use of a plastic duck on stage, singing to it and putting it on his head. The audience looked confused. Tate, Noo, Oli, Niall and Gareth play a bewildering yet beautiful mix of styles in each individual song, and everyone is impressed. I'd most definitely go and watch their curious set again.
In the break, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson decided to wander across the stage, wearing shades and sporting an enormous grin. When he was done, one of the girls in front of me turned around screaming ‘Oh My God… I think I just saw Ricky!’ There’s nothing like an overexcited fangirl almost weeing themselves on your shoes to make the time spent waiting between bands pass oh, so much faster.
Be Your Own Pet are probably a fantastic band if you’re a rebellious 15 year old. I’m not, and I found their rolling on the floor, hand gestures and spitting slightly ridiculous. But hey, if it’s what the kids like. Good shouty punk though, which got the crowd going. Tough frontwoman Jemina Pearl was booed for thanking the audience with a drawled ‘Thanks, you’ve been great. NOT!’, but as this was the lady who also reportedly started a gig in Newcastle with a phrase along the lines of ‘I hear all Geordies are wankers’ this was most amusing and actually good manners on her part.
The Raconteurs caused a few crowd surges well before they came onstage. It’s amazing the effect a golden curtain with a logo on can have on several thousand festival goers. On walked Brendan Benson and the crowd went wild, but it’s the sight of Jack White which caused a frenzy. The band launched into ‘Steady As She Goes’ fairly early on and the place was bouncing crazily. Jack White is a superb guitarist and the band play together tightly. One of the highlights is a corking, spine-tingling version of ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’ featuring White’s screeched vocals and some heavy guitar hanging in the air. There’s one reviewer here who has made it a mission to get hold of their album. (Well, when the stores start their 3 for 2 sales anyway).
And it seemed to be raining again. It’s been on-off all afternoon, but luckily the organisers have put some metal flooring down to stop the first few metres of fans disappearing into some kind of quickmud (“The audience members seem to be barely a foot tall, but it’s because most have sunk into the grass and will next be seen arriving feet first in Australia”).
And look who bounded onto the stage next. That’s right, they’re the Kaiser Chiefs, and boy do they look pleased to be here. The headlining act exploded with ‘Na Na Na Na Naaa’ and everyone went wild. Sadly I had arrived a minute too late to hang onto the barrier, so I spent most of the night gripping the person in front with fear in my eyes (spot the mosh pit coward).
The Chiefs treated us to many a track off ‘Employment’, including ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’, ‘Caroline Yes’, ‘Born To Be A Dancer’ and ‘I Predict A Riot.’ There were new stage lights (oooh) which were lit to a cry of ‘Kaiser! Chiefs! Kaiser! Chiefs!’ The band also made UK debuts for several new tracks, including ‘Everything Is Average Nowadays’ and ‘Heat Dies Down,’ which went down well.
Things went a little awry later on during ‘Modern Way’. Ricky was crowdsurfing as usual when suddenly the vocals stopped and he fell from sight. Turned out a fan girl had leapt on him and wouldn’t get off. Security craned their necks and the band carried on playing but looked a little concerned. Eventually Ricky surfed his way back to the front. He landed squarely on a girl’s head a foot away from me, doubling her up so I reached out a hand to try and lift his weight off her. Unfortunately the only part of him I could reach was his bum. Damn shame, but I honestly wasn’t making a grab for it. “Thank you,” he said sheepishly after making it back on stage. Keyboardist Peanut laughed at him.
It ended with a lengthy version of ‘Oh My God’ (always amusing to the KC Hardcore Massive when some of the crowd launches into the chorus a verse too early) with everyone screaming their lungs out. A top class finish to the day, with the Kaiser Chiefs living up to their excellent live reputation and the Raconteurs proving a fantastic choice and one of the highlights.
I got lost on the way back to my hostel and asked police for directions into town. My legs hurt, my wet hair looked like there were birds nesting in it and I had accidentally spent nearly £20 on a new band t-shirt. A nice man by the cashpoint offered me some chewing gum, so presumably I smelt bad too.
I like this festival. It’s a lot smaller than Reading/Leeds which makes it a lot nicer, seemingly more about the bands than about how many people you can cram into one field. Shame it’s quite short and isn’t suitable for camping or a longer stay though – but maybe next year…
http://www.vital06.com/lda.php
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