My mate Mikey McD tends to get a bit obsessed by bands and one of his recent favourites is The Raveonettes. He was playing us their old videos and new stuff a couple of months ago and stayed up listening to them long after we’d all gone to bed. He then had a brainwave at 3am and bought us tickets to see them in Manchester……sad to say that I found out I was lecturing that week end and was unable to go……but happily, they were playing Leeds tonight so Andy, Mike and I went along.

First up were Holy Esque who made a great racket but the lead singers vocals were FAR too high in the mix and I felt like my ear drums were being shredded. If you’re going to scream into the mike, then the vocals should only just be heard over the guitars in my book – not be twice as loud……all great musicians though with some nice guitar interplay.

Bumped into Mark who introduced me to Rob and his dad. Rob (only 25) seemed to know everything about all the bands. DIIV, he informed me, is pronounced ‘Dive’ which used to be their name til they found out someone else had got there first. They were only supporting the Raveonettes at this one gig and playing with the Vaccines later in the week.  They were just fabulous – everything I love in a band. Amazing bass (on the thinnest legs I’ve ever seen) and drums with enthusiastic guitars intertwining and throw away vocals and the odd scream to mix things up…..I loved them! Bought the album and was going to tell them how much I’d enjoyed their set but couldn’t find them afterwards. Some footage here

The Raveonettes are a Danish duo and on record remind me of the Jesus and Mary Chain with thumping drums and bass with feedback guitar and dreamy vocals. Live they make a great sound and seemlessly incorperated a backing track which beefed up their sound (“where’s that piano coming from?”) but  felt a bit like cheating to me. That said, they rocked the joint with Sune’s guitar linking it all together and as Mike noted, most of the indie boys attention was focused on Sharin who kept her guitar tech guy busy, as she changed her instrument after virtually every track. Much better looking than those Reid boys….

Bob the Chiropodist

The latest meeting of the Quite Interesting Music Society took place on a wet and windy November evening at John M’s who chose the theme ‘1981-84’. This caused much hilarity in the ranks as his musical selections on these soirees are often accused of being rooted in the 80’s. Typical then that he played the only tunes not actually from that era…….Roger played a selection that showed how he moved from soft rocker into an indie rocker…… I chose mine from gigs I’d been to during those years – I found it much easier to narrow things down that way (I saw New Order more than any other band during those years so put a photo of them I took at the Hacienda on my playlist). Excellent home made chutney accompanied the cheese and the roaring fire made us for a cosy evening…….

My Favourite Dress – The Wedding Present (John M)

Eighties – Killing Joke (Jez)

Charlotte Sometimes – The Cure (Simon)

You’re the one for me – D Train (John F)

Spellbound – Siouxsie & the Banshees (Bob)

Only You Can Rock Me – UFO (Roger)

Love my way – William Orbit (John M)

Run Me Down – The Higsons (Jez)

Kick in the eye – Bauhaus (Simon)

Mea Culpa – David Byrne & Brian Eno (John F)

Your Silent Face – New Order (Bob)

Silent Witness – UB40 (Roger)

Kebabtraume – DAF (John M)

Joe 90 – Guana Bats (Jez)

Army Song – Abrasive Wheels (Jez)

Feel Me – Blancmange (Roger)

North Of Sunset – Tommy Flannagan (John F)

We’re Having All The Fun – Fun Boy 3 (Bob)

Mesopotania – B52’s (Roger)

Whitechapel – S.C.U.M. (John M)

Liberator – Spear Of Destiny (Jez)

Planned Obsolescence – 10,000 Maniacs (Simon)

Elves – The Fall (John F)

The Man They Love To Hate – The Stranglers (Bob)

Message Oblique Speech – The Associates (John M)

Spirit Walker – The Cult (Roger)

Dead Pop Stars – Altered Images (Simon)

Wehe Hhorozin – Pupulvuh (John F)

Follow the Leaders – Killing Joke (Bob)

7 Chinese Brothers – REM (Roger)

The Message – Grandmaster Flash (Jez)

We could send letters – Aztec Camera (John M)

Second Skin – The Chameleons (Simon)

An Ending (ascent) – Brian Eno (John F)

What’s the world – James (Bob)

Amber, Andy & Max have moved to Toulouse for the time being and Amber sends this gig review from last week……

Le Bikini is hidden away on an unmarked road in an industrial estate in the south of Toulouse. Aside from the difficulty in finding the place its a great venue. Purpose built, modern and with a swimming pool by the bar and a restaurant. Its a popular location for international bands.
This gig was much anticipated, the last time I saw Bloc Party was 2008 at Reading Festival and they played just before Radiohead. They were great but I was standing in a crush of perhaps 80,000 other people trying to see them.

They opened with ‘So he begins to lie’ from their new album Four. It quickly became apparent that we were in for a real treat. I was surprised at just how strong and clear his voice was and how tight the band were.

Bloc Party have always been a cross genre band – dance, indie, post punk, electronic rock with a definite London sound. Their ‘Four’ album is the heaviest album so far. It has the usual Bloc Party intensity but also a blistering sense of urgency that plays very well live.

Kele was confident and self assured on stage. He was in complete control the whole way through the gig. Chatting between songs and talking to the audience, he did struggle to understand some of the french language but happily submitted to the crowds request to give them more of his energy. He seemed to enjoy the banter with the crowd and visibly enjoyed seeing the crowd have a good time.

They were on a mission to take us on a journey and we went willingly. A few songs in and the crowd had warmed up enough for there to be a mosh pit and some crowd surfing, impressive considering its quite a small venue.

Towards the end Kele and the rest of the band threw some impressive shapes, they knew they were playing well and there was a real feeling of enthusiasm and enjoyment in the air.

The music from the new album was well received, about five new tracks were played in amongst plenty of songs from previous albums ‘A  weekend in the city’ and ‘Silent alarm’ and ‘Intimacy’. The only disappointment was that they didn’t play ‘Kreuzberg’ or ‘The prayer’, two well loved favourites of ours.

The 90 minute set went by in a flash ending on a high with a mash up of Rhiannas we found love and Flux from A weekend in the city album.

The setlist:
So he begins to lie
Hunting for witches
Like eating glass
Waiting for the 7.18
Real talk
Kettling
Song for Clay
Banquet
Coliseum
Day
One more chance
Octopus
Ares
Sign
This modern love
We found love/flux

We left with sore bodies and hoarse voices, a sure sign of an enjoyable night.
If you get the chance I’d throughly recommend going to see them, especially in a small venue.

Amberpod

The City Screen in York looks like any other cinema on the outside (apart from being shielded from the street by Roman wall that is) with tonights showing of ‘Skyfall’ sold out…..but inside there’s a trendy looking bar and in it’s basement there sits a lovely room that tonight played host to the wonderful Neil Halstead. It must only fit 40 paying customers in at most which made for an intimate atmosphere – perfect for his sublime guitar playing. Mark and I were lucky enough to attend.

Support was provided by Matthew P from Suffolk who also came on to play double bass with Neil on a few tunes. He had a good line in banter between songs and his guitar playing style was great – he even managed to play the tambourine with his foot…….but Mark had a problem with his enunciation “If you’re going to pronounce every ‘S’ as ‘Sh’ then you shouldn’t sing a song about ‘sitting on the beach’!”

I’d previously seen Neil Halsteads band ‘Mojave 3’ at the 2000 Leeds festival. That band helped me through a tough time in my life. In 1999 I was going through a divorce and I moved into Martins new house with Carl in Roundhay. It was a hub for other friends Mark, Kev, Davey to come round of an evening and we would have a few beers, get herbally refreshed, lie on one of the many sofa’s and listen endlessly to ‘Out of Tune‘ and later ‘Excuses for Travellers’ when it was released. A song called ‘Yer Feet‘ is always going to get a Podiatrist’s attention and with lyrics like “I was drunk when I met you, I was drunk when you walked out the door”…….what’s not to love.

Neil’s performance tonight had us dewey-eyed with nostalgia.

Neil’s musicianship is of the highest order – when he plays guitar you’d swear there were at last 2 playing. His voice is like silk and draws you in. I love this man! He asked for requests at which point we realised that whilst we knew all the songs off by heart – we didn’t know what many of them were called! “Return to Sender” I asked – “Can’t do that one” “You’re life in Art then?” “Ok, but I’ll have to down tune the guitar – made by a friend of mine who used to make surf boards”.

Loads of old faves and new tunes to explore – I can’t wait to see him again – just awesome!

Bob the Chiropodist

I always knew Jack White was going to be good but tonight, he was exceptionally good! Bathed in blue light he did a career spanning set that enthralled and delighted. If you like your guitar heroes to have swagger and charm then Jack’s your man. I first came across Jack White on John Peel when he played a White Stripes track from their debut LP that he’d picked up in Holland whilst attending a festival. Initially they were ‘husband and wife’ but later stated they were ‘brother and sister’. Peel had them on live a few times and it was obvious they were a bit special. On one visit to Peel Acres, John had mentioned a track he loved over lunch and they squeezed it into the set for him.

I first got to see them at 2002’s Glastonbury when they played early on in the day on the main stage and did an awesome version of ‘Jolene‘. The interplay between Jack & Meg was a joy to watch – he’d obviously go ‘off script’ (that’s assuming there was one) and you could see her laughing and follow his lead. The 2003 ‘Elephant’ LP rightly took them major success. It was a shame, though enevitable to see him move on to other things. ‘The Raconteurs‘ and ‘The Dead Weather‘ produced a couple of LP’s for each but it wasn’t until this year that he released his first solo LP ‘Blunderbuss‘

He had his ‘all boy’ band with him tonight – they played for over 2 hours and it felt like 20 minutes – always a good sign. I was chuft that his back catalogue wasn’t to be shunned – There were old White Stripe numbers and the wonderful ‘Steady as she goes’ (the ‘Saturday Live‘ theme tune) as well as a good dollop from his newie – the current single being my fave – “I’m Noirvous”

There wasn’t much banter between songs but when you can let your guitar do the talking for you as eloquently as this, there wasn’t much need for it. As ever he seemed to feed off and inspire his fellow band mates with a lot of eye contact and intense burts of energy. I loved it!

Official photos of the evening can be seen here We were asked not to take photos but as I don’t use a flash I thought that’d be ok……..

Bob the Chiropodist