Boy George

When: Thursday 3rd April

 

Where: Indigo2

 

Why: Me mum loves him (don’t they all?)

 

You’re such a flirt, George. Complimenting the crazy mum dancing, the man with the glittery beard, the man with the massive hat on, and generally working the crowd with his funny little dance moves and relaxed attitude, he couldn’t have been more charming. Apart from the tiny strop he threw during a Bob Dylan cover, to get the noisy crowd to shut up (I was in full agreement with him, people who stand at the bar and yell during gigs are dicks, pure and simple).

 

He sounded incredible. His voice was clearly on top form, so soulful and touching, and smooth as silk. And he looked pretty good too (loving the beard) – clearly that raw diet he keeps going on about on Twitter is working for him. The band were cracking and had a super cool brass section, which really built up the sound and gave a different feel to some of the more reggae tunes. The Culture Club songs predictably got the biggest crowd response (Poison, Do you really want to hurt me, and a new chilled-out version of Karma Chameleon), but I loved his somewhat unexpected cover of T-Rex’s Get it on (see video below). He finished with the joyful, arm-waving, peace-n-love, jingly jangly Bow Down Mister, and a euphoric crowd sent waves of love back at him – this crazy, charming music god.

 

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