Boomtown Rats

When: Saturday 26^th October

Where: Camden Roundhouse

Why: DO THE RAT

I had seen Bob Geldof perform once before, at the North Shields fish quay music festival in 2003 (the same year that Hear’Say were at the height of their fame and were flown in by helicopter to perform, and the same year I also saw Lindisfarne... Such company). Not the rest of the Rats, just Bob, in the middle of a thunderstorm and a crowd full of umbrellas, yelling “Yer all feckin’ mad!” as the rain poured down. But he was clearly grateful and glad to be there, staying on-stage as long as possible until the risk of actually being electrocuted became too great – standard Bob. It was all about the gig and pushing the boundaries of what was sane.

I have no idea how I got into the Boomtown Rats. I think I knew I don’t like Mondays by the time I’d seen them in North Shields, and I remember buying their Greatest Hits album and locking myself in our utility room and listening to it on repeat while I was painting photo frames for my friends before I went away to uni. Eventually I knew every word and bought their entire back catalogue in one go from HMV before I went off to Durham, and had a poster of Bob and a white tiger on my college bedroom wall for quite a long time.

This gig was the first time with the whole band reunited (and their old guitarist came back at the end – won’t lie to you, no idea he was missing but they were happy so I nodded along). I love Geldof’s strutting arrogance – he really doesn’t give a shit, but he’s funny and self-aware too. And he has a massive, huge stage presence – that you just can’t deny. They sang all their classics, and I have never danced so much at a gig by myself before – you just can’t help it. I was also definitely one of the youngest there, which I always love. The Rats are definitely underrated as a band, and if you’re at all interested in sort of melodious punk, definitely give them a listen. Bob’s also a hero – I recently read his autobiography (written in 1985 so slightly out of date), which is insightful and yeah, a bit up itself, but often funny and massively inspiring and shows you what an attitude and a determined fight for what’s good and right can achieve (I’m talking about Live Aid guys).

This was also my first trip to the Roundhouse, which is an awesome venue. Genuinely impressed. Another one ticked off the list!

Brixpig x

Ellie Goulding

When: Wednesday 16^th October

 

Where: (A newly renovated) Hammersmith Apollo

 

Why: We made a drunken decision to go

 

Short review: Ellie Goulding was ok. She’s clearly a nice person, she has some good tunes and an intriguing, skillful and sometimes impressive voice, but not much of a stage presence. The set list was a bizarre mixture of her old, more acoustic stuff, and new dance-inspired songs, and although they’re all good, the way they were mixed up was often jarring and didn’t quite work. I’ve been more inspired at a concert, that’s all I’ll say. But you know, good work Ellie for bringing us your voice and nice hair.

 

Brixpig x

Barry Gibb

When: Thursday 3^rd October

Where: O2

Why: YOU SHOULD BE DANCING, YEAH

All my musical life was leading up to this moment. It’s difficult to describe how much the BeeGees mean to me. I remember staying at my auntie’s house lying in bed listening to her BeeGees Greatest Hits CDs on my Discman (yeah) and having a genuine epiphany. They are song-writing GODS. White suit-wearing GODS. Falsetto GODS. In my gap year I used to sit in my friend’s car after our Greek classes (you know it) perfecting my falsetto Barry Gibb impressions, and so to find myself awaiting his arrival on stage at the O2 was a real pinch-me moment.

I have to say, it was the most emotional concert I’ve ever been to. There were tributes to Maurice and Robin, there were videos and songs in their honour, and I found myself crying at least three times. Barry really held it together, it was the perfect mix of nostalgia and happiness, disco tunes and memory-tugging ballads, public-facing showbiz and personal memories, and it felt like a privilege to be there. This man has shaped the British (and international) music industry and infiltrated our minds with his catchy, catchy melodies, and for that he should be revered and loved.

Bless you BG.

Brixpig x

Laura Marling

When: Wednesday 2^nd October

Where: Shepherd’s Bush O2

Why: I’ve wanted to see her for so long

Laura Marling is quite frankly a genius. She takes her singing very seriously which sometimes makes me chuckle, but she delivered her beautiful songs with self-confidence and self-deprecation. She has an understated modesty which is a breath of fresh air compared to the ubiquitous self-indulgence of a lot of artists (coughlanadelreycough), and she told the story of how delighted she was when she found her stage outfit (a long, white, Victorian nightie style dress) in a vintage shop, which was great on so many levels – firstly, she looked bloody great and I wish people wore that style more often (period drama style capes, anyone?) and secondly, a female singer just standing there and singing and not making it all about the outfits and the legs and the gyrating was more than inspiring.

She held court on a simple stage, tuning her own guitar and not coming back out for an encore (doing it her own way, man), and she was utterly spell-binding. There’s no artifice, just a totally real, forceful performance that soars and envelops you in its beauty and strength. The story she told about her cab-driver on her journey to the venue was brilliant – on asking where she was going and finding out it was actually her headlining rather than just heading to a gig, he apparently said, “Oh god, you’re not one of those female singers always droning on about their husbands making them miserable are you?”, which she replied to with a self-conscious “Noooooo…..” Loved it, especially as whenever I mention Laura Marling to my mate Claire she always chirps out a mournful “maaaaaa husband left me last niiiiiight”, which makes me howl.

If you can see LM live, just bloody do it. I will, every opportunity I get.

Brixpig x

Barbra Streisand

When: Saturday 1^st June

Where:  O2 (right at the top... wobbly kneed)

Why: I’m not going to dignify that question with an answer

Right, let me just get this out of the way before the rest of this entry: nothing anyone could say against this concert will ever be allowed to stand, from my perspective, because Barbra SANG A YENTL SONG. It was The way he makes me feel, it was epic and a pinnacle of my life’s experience. So there you are. Let’s go on.

After downing four jugs of Long Island iced teas at Las Iguanas, my ma and dearest woman-playlist-loving pal Martin headed in to begin the arduous climb to the very top of the O2 arena, to take our place in the “cheap” seats. We had to sit my mother down straight away as she doesn’t handle heights well, but her love for Babs held her up and got her through.

Barbra is a classy broad. The stage was set with a 60 piece orchestra, the black and white photo montage of her life was playing, and then slowly from the centre of the stage rose a legend in a black sequined pant suit, to a rapturous response from the crowd. She launched into On a clear day from the movie of the same name (see my review for full understanding of this iconically mental film), which was a beautiful way to start. Her voice was as powerful and iconic as ever; a little bit more croaky at the higher end of the register but she has been singing for such a long time. If anything an occasional lovely scratch just gave each song more character, and meant one could appreciate the sheer force of the 71 year old woman standing before you. She launched into some vintage classics and a bit of disco (Enough is Enough), and introduced her sister Rozzi to sing for a bit, who seemed lovely and essentially could make a decent living as a Barbra tribute act.

Rozzi was one of a few breaks in the show which meant that Babs could have a wee sit down – others included a lengthy trumpet solo from guest star Chris Botti (very accomplished, but yawn) and a slightly bizarre offering from Jason Gould, her son (bit of a mama’s boy, but to be fair if your mum is Barbra Streisand then I suppose it’s understandable). The show went on for a good three hours but if you counted up the minutes of Babs-time it would probably come in at about 2. I love her and I’m sure her family and friends are very nice, but I can’t imagine many people would pay up to £450 (NOT me – “cheap” seats remember guys) to see Jason Gould and a random trumpeter.

Another small pause came in the form of a Barbra Q&A, which involved questions such as “How are you so beautiful?” and “I met my girlfriend on a Barbra Streisand forum. Will you ask if she’ll marry me?” from a lovely lady sitting not far behind us (lots of applause, it was a beautiful moment even if Babs did seem a bit disturbed by being upstaged thanks to her own website). Another audience member asked why Barbra didn’t sing any songs from the (REALLY EXCELLENT) Guilty album anymore (Barry Gibb, darling), and Babs replied that she didn’t really “believe in the philosophy” nowadays. Which was bold, as that album holds a lot of her hits. She did throw us a snippet of Woman in love though which was snapped up eagerly by the crowd.

She was very chatty and self-deprecating, explaining that this was only her 93^rd concert ever as she had stage fright for decades. But she’s a natural at simultaneously blowing your socks off in awe at one of the world’s greatest stars, and making a huge arena where you’re sitting approximately half a mile away seem like an intimate venue that you’ve been honoured to be invited to. Not many stars could hold such a huge audience spellbound as they sit and sniff the (colour matching) roses on the little side table by her mic, quietly contemplating life for a few minutes as people shriek “WE LOVE YOU”!! (“... thank you darling.”) I loved the small moments in between songs where she’d tell a little anecdote about her favourite people and the sudden realisation that I was watching BARBRA STREISAND would sneak over me and make me hop with glee. Little things such as quoting On a clear day doing her hilarious English accent were what made the show for me. Big hits such as The way we were (mum was very happy with that one) and songs from Gypsy (Rose’s turn/Some people) contributed too though, and when Babs appeared after the interval in a long red dress with epic shoulder pads and fitted with a CAPE, under a video of genuine hot-stuff Omar Shariff in Funny Girl to sing My Man, I did think I might not ever stop smiling.

I was brought slightly down to earth by a bizarre performance of Bernstein’s Let the garden grow in sort of Earth Song-eco message style with all the family and a full choir (who took AGES to file onto the stage) which even though Barbra was involved was just tedious, but sometimes you have to ignore these flaws, and I was grateful for a pause to level out so that I wouldn’t have to float home. Babs is such an incredible singer, completely owning the emotional heart of every song (except the weird choir one) and making you feel like she’s singing everything straight into your heart. Stunning.

For a few lovely (obviously dodgy quality) videos of Babs, have a look at my YouTube channel.  

Brixpig x

The Overtones

When: Monday 26^th November

Where: Hammersmith Apollo

Why: My mum wanted to go (and I secretly love them)

Oh, the Overtones. Five friendly chaps just bashing out some delightful ditties. The harmonies! The slick finger-clickin’ dance moves! The deep-voiced one! Unashamed cheese-mongers and mum-pleasers, you can’t fault them for playing right up to their audience of what was basically 3000 larky ladies seeking a good old dance in the aisles at the Hammersmith Apollo.

If you’re not familiar with the Overtones, imagine One Direction’s older brothers and you’re pretty much there. It’s something to do with the way that they just make you smile and you can’t help but enjoy them even though you feel a bit shifty about it. Simon Cowell would probably say they had star quality, but I think it’s basically about five quite nice-looking, high energy dudes, usually in a waistcoat, bopping about to some lovely melodies, which is all a lot of people want from a musical experience (still talking about both 1D and the Overtones here – focus now, focus). Anyway they’re a very nice, enjoyable group and their albums are brilliant to listen to at work, by way of jazzing you up a bit when you’re wrestling with a spreadsheet. Plus I’m a sucker for either a squeakily high-pitched voice (Darren Hayes, the BeeGees, the…high-pitched one from the Overtones) and a rumbly deep voice (Lachie from the Overtones…) so it’s a win-win for me.

Highlights of this particular evening included my mum somehow getting into a fight with the woman in front, who ended up moving and telling my mum to “fall down the stairs and die” (what a bitch), and an incongruous charity intervention which involved Gethin Jones from Daybreak collecting a trolley full of canned food in the middle of the second half (yes. There was an interval).

It was lovely. Lovely.

Brixpig x

Gotye

Not even the poster from this
gig, I just liked it

When: Monday 12^th November

Where: Hammersmith Apollo

Why: I don’t really know… it was just one of those things

The main thing you should know about this gig is that I went on my own and I didn’t drink. There was also some kind of drunken, aggressively-swaying Portuguese love-square going on next to me so I was anxiously tapping notes into my phone to stay out of it. So if this seems like a more detailed review than my usual, then that is why. 

Gotye was a revelation. He is COOL. I had no idea what to expect as I only knew his 2011 album (yes, the one with Somebody that I used to know on it), but he was awesome. It was like a proper jam session, with him very much as part of the band rather than a super frontman, and his drumming is phenomenal. Who actually knew? He was so dynamic, starting out quite spooky-peaceful, then billowing out into an 80s synthy retro psychedelic vibe. Good beats. I also love how he just slips into Phil Collins style poppy-ness every now and then (Learnalilgivinanlovin, In your Light etc). He also sang the obligatory Somebody that I used to know and got the audience to sing the Kimbra part, which was surprisingly effective (the entire Aussie population of London bellowing it back to him must have been quite a pleasing sensation).

Each song was accompanied by a self-contained short film, all of which were completely different but amazing. Hard to describe in detail because there were so many but if you youtube him you’ll see the breadth of stuff going on. A great example from the gig is State of the Art (a song which I hadn’t liked before but teamed with the video is just entirely new and cracking).

Also, because it’s such a sweet video, here’s the official version of Bronte which I love.

Nice one Gotes.

Brixpig x

Darren Hayes

Photo by Richard Cullen

When: Monday 24^th September

Where: Indigo2 at the O2 Arena

Why: Sixth time’s a charm!

Yep, I’ve seen Darren Hayes in concert six times now. I know this classes me as a full-on pop nerd, but I am unrepentant. He is such a charismatic performer that I know I’m guaranteed a great evening. His voice is as delicious as ever – stronger in fact every time I see him. I had never been to the Indigo2 and it’s a really nice, fairly intimate venue with extremely comfy seats. Bonus. I got a King’s Row VIP seat (because they were the only ones left and weren’t too expensivo), which was exciting because I got to skip the queue for entry and we had our own little bar, also with no massive queues. But it was a bit boring in the VIP bar and there were no actual VIPs in there for me to goggle at. Nice toilets though… I was on my own (again, I realise this adds nothing to my street cred) but I sat with a Budweiser and quietly revved myself up. 

Anyway it was a beautiful evening and I will always love the Hayes. The support were The Candle Thieves (@candlethieves) who were very sweet, twinkly and tuneful and defo worth a listen – especially if you’re a fan of Nizlopi as their lead singer sounds EXACTLY like them. Seriously, it’s mad.

Only downsides were that despite my good view, I was sat behind the world’s most insane dancer, who must win the prize for ‘fan most desperate to get the artist’s attention’. The fact that she did get a wave at the end will surely only reinforce her RIDICULOUS moves and make her keep going, and for this I feel sorry for anyone who has the misfortune to sit behind her in the future. It’s impossible to describe, but I’ll stick my video up and you will be able to see what I mean. It wasn’t intended to capture her moves, but inevitably it did because she was UNAVOIDABLE.

Other sad point was that the set-list was almost identical to that of his last concert (which I was obviously at). While I realise that he is touring the same album, I had thought the point of this tour was to showcase some of the songs that hadn’t been performed at the last gig. But apparently not. It was ok because it’s a great set (apart from the We Are Smug cabaret number in the middle – once was enough for that, seriously) but I was a little bit disappointed. As was the chap next to me, who I had bonded with through mutual hatred of crazed dancing woman in front of us.

Still. Any gig that ends on a mash-up of Instatiable and Rhythm is a Dancer is a gig I need to be at.

Brixpig x