live music - who to watch out for...

last year, for the first time in a decade, i got the chance to go to a few gigs. here are my views:

limp bizkit@finsbury park - this was a free show and the line up included biffy clyro, inme, A, and cooper temple clause. the support was in pretty standard stuff. limp bizkit , to their credit, did rock. the played all the old favourites, note perferct and it was a good atmosphere. i would pay £15 to see them again.




frank black and the catholics@uea waterfront - £12.50.

ever since i saw pixies back in the early 90's i have wanted to recatch the incredible energy of that gig. frank blank dissapointed.
ALL of the people there wanted to hear pixies songs and nothing else. this transferred to the stage and the result was an under form show with the (students) going ape shit every time a pixies song reared it's head. the set was littered with old material which kept most of the punters happy. not me or frank though. i would not go and see frank black again. i would pay £20 to see the support act 'SERAFIN' they will be big, had great tunes and musicians. i am suprised i have not seen them since.

the darkness@uea - £12.50.

very strange this one. they had 3 support acts, all from the must destroy lable and to my ears all sh*t, generic toss. one of the supports were similar to the bluetones and another like napalm death!
the hype surrounding the gig was always going to weigh heavy on the performance. this is'nt the full truth though. the full truth is that the darkness, fun as they are, only have (had) 3 really good songs (and i'm sure that's a matter of opinion). they made the mistake of getting all 3 out of the way half way through the gig.
shortly after, i made my excuses and retired to the bar. i had just got back from limp bizkit and was full of the realisation that for a god gig you need good songs. i would pay to see them again only because my eyes are now fully open and i'm sure the gig will be hilariously camp.

electric 6 @ uea - £12.50

under rated band. pure pop with a front man who works a crowd. every song was fun and well delivered. obviously not the last word in the musical art but worth every penny. a thoroughly enjoyable evening. would definately see again.

muse & elbow@ wembley - £20

wembley is a dump. got that out of the way.
elbow imo are possibly the most underrated band in the country. so it was a mega bonus that they provided support. a very short set of about 6 songs. great vocals especially when guy garvey delivered 'swithcing off' virtually un accompanied, 10000 or so people who where there to ROCK! just stood still and listened. a beautiful moment.
if you hate muse. if you really, really, really hate them, don't go and see them. if you are at all interested in their work then sell everything you have and get a ticket because this country and possibly the world has noone who can deliver a show like these do. this is three guys don't forget. there were obvious highlights 'stockholm syndrome', 'butterflies and hurricanes' etc. but on the whole it was all amazing. i don't listen to muse religously at home but i would sell a kidney to catch them again. they came on - played 19 songs - went off - came back - played 4 more - went home. astonishingly good. i would say that there stage show was similar ti depeche modes 'devotional tour' if ant one knows what i mean

granddaddy & snow patrol @ uea waterfront - £12.50

if anyone tells you that snow patrol are fantastic - hit them for me.
all i can say about them is they must have kaiser sose as their promoter because i found them insipid and so far up their own arses that they were leaving bean skins on the mic.
grandaddy, on the other hand were great, far rockier than on record and as tight as the proverbial nuns... good little projector show going on aswell considering the venue size. well worth a listen. would see again at £20.

hope some of you find this interesting. i find it amazing that people (myself included) don't see more live music as it really is a cheap night out nowadays. i would love to hear of your recent gigs

ta