Last week, Lou Bru came up trumps when she sourced me a last-minute ticket for Florrie's debut Dublin headliner at The Academy.
The as yet unsigned singer, songwriter and drummer is closely associated with Xenomania, the man behind most of Girls Aloud's back-catalogue, and has drummed live and on record for the (former?) girlband.
She released her debut EP, Introduction, last year (which is available as a free download from her website) and in a live setting, minus Xenomania's studio gloss, these songs hold their own remarkably well.
Florrie makes the same kind of lightweight but immaculately crafted pop that saw Pitchfork darling Annie, early incarnations of Sugababes and Girls Aloud salvage the genre's sullied reputation in the mid noughties.
Alternating between belting out high-energy numbers and thrashing on the drum kit, even the most po-faced gig-goers were shimmying and shaking by the time she wrapped up her short but supremely sweet set. Second helping: sought.
Last weekend, Eimear and I journeyed to Balado in Scotland for the annual T in the Park festival. Now in its seventeenth year, the festival plays host to 85,000 music fans every July and typically has a similar line-up to Oxegen, which takes place the same weekend.
I've always been one of those people who's quite regimented about trying to squeeze in as many bands as possible over the course of a weekend festival. And this weekend was no different.
On Friday...
We touched down just in time to catch the last few songs in The Temper Trap's main stage stint. The crowd were lapping up the Aussie outfit's set but there was definitely a considerable portion of the audience waiting for The Song. Sure enough, once they launched into the opening bars of 'Sweet Disposition', the crowd erupted and it was the first of many Lovely Festival Moments™ that the weekend had in store.
Next up, was Cockney hero Jamie T, who managed to draw out the rowdier side of the Scottish crowd (who I soon learned will launch into a chorus of 'Here we go! Here we f*cking go!' if you get them the slightest bit excited'). Looking decidedly hairy, Jamie induced mild hysteria and more than lived up to his main stage billing.
The King Tut's Wah Wah Tent seemed to be the spot where we spent the majority of the weekend and first to initiate us into its canvas confines were La Roux. Despite making various attempts to see Elly Jackson previously, this was my first time to catch her and I was blown away. The set reminded me how laden La Roux's self-titled debut is with killer pop hooks and, despite Elly's claims that she was under the weather, I was pleasantly surprised by how well her voice holds up in a live setting. A cover of The Rolling Stones' 'Under My Thumb' was a particular highlight.
Both Hot Chip and Calvin Harris had to contend with power outages during their sets in the same tent on Friday evening. Calvin fared a little better. seeming largely unfazed by the technical difficulties and delivered, for me, one of the best performances of the weekend. I'm not huge fan of his latest album but I remember him stating at the time that he wanted to make 'stadium dance music' and, based on his stonking laser-equipped live show, I guess he succeeded.
On Saturday...
We woke up to heavy rain showers but we didn't let soggy weather prevent us from making it back to the Wah Wah tent for Diana Vickers. Yes, really. The trumpet-toting former X Factor contestant completely surpassed my expectations. I'm not sure if she has a lengthy future in pop but, if it all falls apart, I suspect her pitch perfect voice will land her plenty of work on The West End.
Next we managed to catch Kid Adrift. I'd stumbled upon their track Oxytocin a while back and it flagged my interest, so I decided to investigate further. Their music is curious genre-melding stuff, occasionally verging on punk rock before veering into experimental indie, with smatterings of electronica thrown in for good measure. Some of the tracks were carried off better than others but they're definitely an intriguing prospect.
Example managed to pack out the tent he was playing in ten minutes before his set even began but, to be honest, I wasn't particularly fussed on him. Fake Blood in the Slam Tent was far more up my alley. Serving up a combination of original tracks and remixes (this was a particular highlight), the mixmaster was aided by an incredible sound system and visuals. Mindblowing.
Some timetable confusion meant we missed most of Laura Marling and, based on what we saw, I was kicking myself all the more for not getting there on time. Julian Casablancas was every inch the rock star, swaggering around the stage in the Bedroom Jam Futures stage. Thankfully, his performance vindicated his posturing, '11th Dimension' being a particular highlight.
On Sunday...
The weather picked up somewhat and we set about squeezing in as much as we could muster into our last day.
First up was Daisy Dares You, back at our trusty Wah Wah tent. The only track she played that I was familiar with was pop anthem 'Number One Enemy' and this was the odd one out in a set of guitar driven guitar pop. Daisy is gorgeous, a dab hand at the guitar and, even if her high-pitched voice is something of an acquired taste, she's an accomplished singer. It's just a shame (but perhaps not surprising considering she's just 16) that she seems to be experiencing something of a musical identity crisis.
Daisy was followed by Darwin Deez who were probably my highlight of the week. The New York four piece ooze positive energy and their ludicous synchronised dance routines between songs immediately endeared them to those unfamiliar with their music. 'Radar Detector' and 'Up In The Clouds' were especially well received and I came away from their set in a haze of good humour.
Sadly, Mancunian synthpop duo Hurts didn't have quite the same effect. I saw them play in Whelans a couple of months back and thought maybe the venue was the reason for everything not seeming to come together just right. However, playing in the Bedroom Slam Futures Tent, there still seemed to be some vital ingredient that was absent. Maybe it's the deliberately staid delivery from frontman Theo Hutchcraft that makes it so difficult to get excited? I'm not sure. Whatever it is, here's hoping they can figure it out because they've got some cracking pop tunes in their arsenal.
Ellie Goulding's album 'Lights' has been one of the musical lowlights of 2010 for me so far, mainly because I had really high expectations and it fell drastically short. Some consolation comes in the fact that most of her songs sound better when played live. Opening with the song 'Lights' that was criminally tacked on to the album as an 'iTunes only exclusive', Ellie rarely set a foot wrong, finishing with the spectacular trio of 'Salt Skin', 'Under the Sheets' and 'Starry Eyed', all the while thrashing violently on a drum and cymbal.
Before legging it to catch a flight, we managed to squeeze in a few songs by Northern Irish outfit Two Door Cinema Club. The fact that their music has been used to soundtrack umpteen television adverts shouldn't be held against them because their hook-laden pop rock packs a potent punch. This week they announced that they'll be playing at Electric Picnic thus year and I certainly intend to catch their full set. [Darwin Deez image: DonkeyJacket45]
I'll admit to being a fairweather fan of Suzanne Vega. I went through a period of being obsessed with her song 'Luka' when I was in secondary school but, being penniless and having no access to illegal downloads at the time, never got around to investing in her albums.
So, after founding myself surrounded by hardcore devotees in Dublin's The Village, I begin to suspect that my cover will be blown and my 'casual fan' status exposed. To make matters worse, when the incredibly youthful-looking 50-year-old singer takes to the stage, she opens with 'Marlene On The Wall' - one of the three songs in her repertoire that I'm familiar enough with to sing along to.
Thankfully, Ms. Vega proceeds to serve up a set of songs that it's not necessary to be acquainted with to appreciate. For the first half of the night, she plays a selection of songs from her current compilation 'Close Up Vol. 1: Love Songs', which, as the name suggests, is made up of love songs from her back-catalogue.
After the interval (yes, Suzanne Vega comes with an interval), the songstress returns and plays a more varied selection of numbers, including 'New York Is A Woman' (not a lady, she assures us) and 'Pornographer's Dream' (which, apparently is a librarian).
Vega's voice is truly a force to be reckoned with, sounding just as crisp and tuneful in a live setting as it does on record. She seems appreciative of her success, engaging in witty banter throughout the evening and giving some back-information on each song (perhaps for my benefit?)
For the encore, she plays her two signature tunes, 'Luka' and 'Tom's Diner' and allows the audience to choose the closing numbers ('Calypso' is received particularly emphatically). Having arrived a 'fairweather fan', I leave The Village in a haze of good humour, feeling decidedly fanatical.
I stumbled across Australian outfit Teenagersintokyo a few months ago and took quite a shine to their single, 'Peter Pan'. So, when I heard they were playing No Disko at Dublin's Crawdaddy, I figured I might as well head along and investigate further.
I managed to catch the tail-end of support act Spies' set and, having been majorly impressed by what I saw of the Dublin-based five-piece, was left cursing my tardiness.
As seems to be customary at No Disko, the headline act swiftly took to the stage after Spies and began setting up their own equipment. Half an hour later they return and launch into the title track from their new album, 'Sacrifice'.
A sparse slow-burning number, imbued with a slight sense of forboding, it serves as an adequate introduction to the considerable vocal talent frontwoman Samantha Lim. Dresssed in a string top what my limited fashion-related lexicon can only describe as a leather hula skirt, Lim immediately commands the moderate-sized crowd's attention as she prowls the stage and pouts theatrically.
The band then up the pace, playing their two most recognisable tunes 'Peter Pan' and 'End It Tonight' before a spiky cover of Halle and Oates' 'Maneater'. Delivering an intoxicating combination of serrated guitar riffs and murky synths, while Lim alternating between seductive purring and riot grrrl howls, it's soon apparent that Teenagersintokyo are a cut above the dearth of posturing indie outfits trying to catch a break.
From here on in, it's plain sailing as the crowd, presumably largely unfamiliar with the material, lap it up. After a relatively short set, the band bid us goodnight but, moments later, they return to the stage in response to repeated calls for 'one more choon'.
I've recently seen old favourites Marina & the Diamonds and Florence & the Machine play Dublin dates and, although I acknowledge that both acts delivered the slickest performances I've seen from them to date, I couldn't help but mourn the slightly rough-around-the edges quality and humble appreciation of the crowd reaction I'd seen from these artists in their earlier gigs.
Teenagersintokyo may follow the same trajectory but, for now, they're at that point in their evolution where they haven't quite of just how good they are and appreciate the whoops and applause that bit more than those artists who've 'made it', which is lovely to behold.
"This is our first ever encore..." Lim tells us, barely containing her glee. First, maybe, but certainly not the last.
There's always a certain sense of occasion about the Heineken Green Spheres events. Maybe it's that people tend to get a bit carried away when it come to free stuff? Maybe it's the extensive promotion in the run up to the events? Or maybe it's the fact that the roster of artists they've had play are worth getting excited about.
Either way, there was a palpable sense of anticipation when my friend and I touched down at The Academy for the latest installment in the Green Spheres franchise and promptly took advantage of our free beer voucher.
First up to entertain the crowds were Belfast rockers, LaFaro. Not short of enthusiasm, the quartet are a bit too 'heavy' for my liking and, dare I say, a tad derivative. That said, they seemed to appeal to some audience members, who thrashed about almost as violently as their guitarist (who, at one point, lost his balance and fell over completely.)
Next to grace the stage were London four-piece Bombay Bicycle Club with their charming brand of sprightly indie-pop. They can hardly be described as the 'edgiest' of outfits and banter between songs was kept to a minimum, but Bombay Bicycle Club adeptly proved that they've got the chops.
Jack Steadman's lilting vocal is just as impressive in a live setting as it is on record and hefty portions of the crowd sang along gleefully to their signature hits 'Always Like This', 'Evening/Morning' and 'Dust on the Ground'. On most occasions, they'd have upstaged the main act. No pressure, Foals.
I'd seen Foals play at this same venue a little over two years ago and have always regarded it as one of the best gigs I've ever been too. However, I've seen them play twice since but never experienced quite the same headrush, so was beginning to question whether maybe I'd exaggerated how good they'd been on the first occasion.
On top of this concern was the unavoidable issue of how different their latest album, 'Total Life Forever', sounds to its predecessor 'Antidotes'. I'm a fan of both but, honestly, I struggled to see how it was all going to fit together in a live set and presumed they'd just shoehorn some old stuff in at the end.
Not so.
After opening with the title track from the new album and following it with early hit 'Cassius', these concerns were obliterated. As a friend said on the night, seeing Foals play live kind of makes sense of the apparent change of direction they've taken with the new album.
As for the headrush? Oh, it was there alright. Within moments of the band taking to the stage, I found myself swept away in the crowd, bouncing up and down like a 16-year-old fanboy. As they worked their way through a near-flawless set, I was able to assert that there was nothing rose-tinted about my memories of that first encounter with Foals.
Highlights of their set included frontman Yannis indulging in an extended bout of crowd surfing and a rousing performance of the incredible 'Spanish Sahara'. The build in the song lends itself really well to a live setting and the big release towards the end of the song felt positively euphoric.
If I'd one complaint it would probably be that they neglected to include 'Hummer', the song that first introduced me to Foals, in their encore. However, considering how much Foals have matured musically since releasing that track three years ago, it's understandable that they'd want to distance themselves from it. Frankly, I'm more excited about the next phase of their sonic evolution.
One of the victims of Volcanosaurus Rex last week was the live music circuit, with many touring bands being forced to cancel dates due to flight cancellations and the likes.
After finding herself in Iceland at the same time good old Eyjafjallajokull started blowing chunks, the chances of Amanda Palmer making it to Dublin for her scheduled Evelyn Evelyn gig began looking slim.
To make matters worse, the rest of the Evelyn Evelyn team and the equipment for the show were stranded in New York. The easiest thing to do would have been to cancel the gig, possibly re-schedule it for later in the tour, but Amanda wasn't prepared to throw in the towel that easily.
After making her way to Glasgow, she took the ferry across to Dublin and, using all her savvy (and the counsel of her Twitter 'followers'), pieced together a replacement show.
Evelyn Evelyn, if you're unfamiliar, are three-legged conjoined twins Evelyn and Evelyn Neville, 'discovered' by Palmer and musician Jason Webley over Myspace in 2007. After being coerced into the studio, Evelyn Evelyn recorded an album and, under the auspices of Palmer and Webley, are now hitting the road.
For the tour was that Palmer and Webley would fill in the support slots for Evelyn Evelyn but, in light of the circumstances, Palmer had to draft in a last-minute replacement. Brighton band Bitter Ruin jumped at the offer of supporting Amanda in Glasgow.
Having being so impressed by their performance, she persuaded them to come to Dublin. They jumped at the chance, despite the fact that they had to chug buckets after the gig, purely so they could afford to get home.
It was a good call by Amanda because Bitter Ruin were fantastic. So fantastic, in fact, that they warrant a post all of their own.
Bitter Ruin - Chewing Gum (Dublin)
Shortly after Shane and I nabbed the last two Bitter Ruin EPs, Amanda took to the stage and shed some light on how the gig was going to go. Since her fellow 'conjoined twin' Jason Webley was stranded on the other side of the Atlantic, she decided to bring him to Dublin via the power of the internet and, after calling him on Skype, was able to project a huge image of his head on to a screen.
After hauling a motley crew of audience members up from the audience (as unofficial ambassador for freaks and geeks the world over, Palmer tends to attract an especially devoted fanbase) and bringing Bitter Ruin back on stage, Amanda began to describe what the Evelyn Evelyn show would be like if the various components had made it to Dublin.
With those on stage being used as substitute characters and performing puppet shows, Amanda and Jason worked their way through the Evelyn Evelyn set. Adding to the ridiculousness was the fact that the gig was being broadcast on the internet by a camera Amanda had borrowed from a Dublin fan.
Granted, at times, the performance bordered on shambolic as the performers grappled with the unorthodox set-up but, if anything, this only served to make the whole thing more enjoyable and it was obvious that Amanda and Jason had invested a lot of effort into resuscitating the show. After Amanda performed a clutch of her own songs, including 'Oasis', 'Astronaut', 'Runs In The Family' and 'Girl Anachronism', she brought Georgia from Bitter Ruin back on stage for a duet on 'Delilah'.
The fact that the gig happened at all was both a testament to the power of the internet and a big 'up yours' to the volcano's attempts to prevent it happening. As such, it was sort of fitting that, as her encore, Amanda premiered a song she had written over the course of the previous 24 hours over the web with husband-to-be Neil Gaiman, called 'Fuck The Ash Cloud'.
Based on Jason and Amanda's description, The Evelyn Evelyn show sounds wonderfully theatrical and I was a bit miffed not to see it as it was intended but, in a way, the show we saw in its place was probably far more memorable.
A prime example of somebody taking volcanic particles and making 'volcanade', this was a truly singular experience and has only served to deepen my appreciation for Ms. Palmer as an artist and, lame as it sounds, as a person.
“I am very very clever and first wrote about Ellie Goulding in the year 150BC, here.”
“Due to recently being named the BBC Sound of 2010 and winning a Brit Award, there was always going to be a lot of hype surrounding Ellie Goulding. The question is, though, has she lived up to the hype?!?!?!?!?!”. Cue disappointing review in which they will probably conclude that, no, she has not.
Honestly, few things annoy me more than bloggers repeatedly reminding you that they discovered an artist first but I don't think I could do justice to my experience at Ellie's debut Irish headliner without acknowledging the fact that I've been looking forward to seeing her for quite a long time.
And yes, I'll admit to being disappointed by her album, Lights, but as kDamo rightly points out, we've been listening to some of the album's better tracks for months and, if it had emerged fully-formed before the hype machine went into overdrive, we'd probably all be hailing it as a masterpiece.
So, after positioning myself up the front of The Academy well before Kildare band Planet Parade take to the stage and deliver a decidedly impressive set, I wait for Ms. Goulding to appear.
Armed with a guitar and cutting a slinky figure in a fitted black outfit, the singer takes to the stage with her bandmates and, with minimum fanfare, launches into 'Lights', an iTunes only bonus track I didn't realise existed until recently.
Ellie's vocal prowess is instantly apparent as she delivers a rousing, pitch-perfect rendition of the song, immediately following with sprightly numbers 'Everytime You Go' and 'Your Biggest Mistake'.
Although she's visibly overwhelmed by the emphatic reception she is greeted with and doesn't engage in much chit chat between songs, the singer barely puts a foot wrong musically as she works her way through the setlist.
A few songs in, she sets aside her guitar for 'This Love' and 'The Writer' but, just as it seems the set is beginning to sag under the weight of these slightly MOR numbers, she takes to the drums for 'Salt Skin' and elevates the set to a whole new stratosphere.
If there was any doubt over Ellie's superstar potential, it's obliterated at this moment as Ellie serves up the highlight of the night. Thrashing violently on a drum and cymbal while delivering a vocal performance that reveals the light and shade of her distinctive singing voice, Ellie displays a flair and striking originality that some of the album's weaker material doesn't showcase quite as well. It's plain sailing from here and Ellie sustains the momentum by swiftly launching into breakthrough single 'Under The Sheets'. She then exits the stage only to return moments later for an encore comprising a pared-down version of 'Wish I Stayed', a gorgeous cover of 'Roscoe' by Midlake and current smash 'Starry Eyed', which induces mild hysteria from some of the more 'enthusiastic' audience members.
Already, some have ranted about the gig while others have raved, but I'd be inclined to position myself somewhere in between. Ellie's talent is undeniable but, in terms of her live performances, a little inexperience definitely shows.
She needs to figure out how to engage with the audience a little more, so that people leave feeling more of a connection to her music. Presumably this sort of thing come with practice and I reckon, with a few more killer songs, Ellie Goulding has the potential to graduate to the big league. Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets (Live at The Academy, Dublin)
On a night out at 'Antics' in Dublin's Crawdaddy last Summer, I stumbled upon a London-based trio by the name of We Have Band, whose brand of sprightly indie disco was right up my alley.
After nabbing a last-minute ticket courtesy of Le Cool, I braved an apocalyptic deluge and wandered along to see the band play Crawdaddy once more on Friday night.
Dublin band Feed The Bears aren't perhaps the most appropriate choice of support act but turn in a decent set before, after setting up their own equipment, We Have Band take to the stage.
They may have the wardrobe and demeanour of painfully cool London scenesters, but band-members Dede, Darren and Thomas waste no time in demonstrating that they have the substance to match their style. Launching into their set of frenetic, dance-pop numbers, the band soon have the soggy crowd busting a move and shaking themselves dry.
Combining chunky basslines and electronic samples with an assortment of electronic drums, tambourines and cowbells allows We Have Band to produce a much more layered sound than you might expect from a three-piece and, by sharing vocal (and whistling) duties three ways, the band add another facet of variety to their sound.
Interspersed with establish anthems 'Oh!', 'Hear It In The Cans' and 'You Came Out' are new tracks from the band's forthcoming album, scheduled for release in the new year. The new material goes down just as well as the more familiar tunes and it seems that, however much success We Have Band have enjoyed in 2009, 2010 may well be the year that sees them graduate to the indie elite.
Last week, Lou Bru came up trumps when she sourced me a last-minute ticket for Florrie's debut Dublin headliner at The Academy.
