Mercury Rev @ Oval Space, Bethnal Green, London.

Back \t the Oval Space for the second time in a month for  this sold out gig. I managed to bring a GoProwith me but the review below I have precised from Tony Hardy review on Live Review and the photos are by Kevin England.

I managed to video the opening buildup followed by Queen of Swans on a GoPro
Another Video shot featuring Grasshopper showing how it should be done.

A couple of single women singers warmed up the crowd, both with interesting voices but in desperate need of a band to enhance their songs. The stage was cleared, and the smoke machine started to pump out mist with voilet lights gleaming through the haze.  By the time Mercury Rev took the stage, it was an old-time London smog. Keyboard swirls and arpeggios played over flickering violet light as frontman Jonathan Donahue raised a bottle in the purple haze. Certainly opener “The Queen Of Swans” fitted comfortably with the band’s naturalistic shtick. The sound was loud and richly filled out, though the song’s innate light and shade gave some relief.
Donahue orchestrated both the crowd and his four band mates with flapping arms and trademark wide-eyed stares, but some subtleties were lost in the wall of sound during the next two songs. “Autumn’s in the Air”, another plucked from the new album, provided a bit more contrast, yet still the keyboard, bass, and guitar ensured a dense backcloth. After the classic “Endlessly” from Deserter’s Songs revealed natural comic timing in relating anecdotes about the band’s original singer, David Baker, including his propensity to break off mid-song to get a beer from the bar amid anxieties about whether he would ever make it back to the stage. The audience loved it and returned its clear affection for the band with copious laughter.
As the set progressed, the band looked like shadow puppets onstage as lights cut through the gloom, and the brick wall backdrop lit up like an old movie set while searchlights played. Donahue picked up on the mood by wielding a lamp aloft to the heavy backbeat of “You’re My Queen”. Once you were accustomed to the volume the set was played at, standouts came thick and fast. The light piano- and heavy bass-driven “Diamonds” and guitarist Grasshopper’s shredding during the epic and glorious “Holes” were two such examples. The use of lighting effects underscored a visually spectacular show almost despite the all-pervading smoke. Bubbles rose against eerie green light while Donahue’s grey whiskery face was caught in half-light like a pantomime villain escaping the scene.
The set reached a crescendo during an outrageous wall of noise in “Tides of the Moon” while Donahue wafted arms bird-like and ended with Bach meeting all the young dudes in “Opus 40”. His warm, high-pitched voice was as strong as it was at the start and the instrumental outro as magnificent as it was indulgent. Two anthemic encores ensured a wholly satisfied crowd left clear in the judgement that we had witnessed something special, dramatic, and at times mesmerising,  a show that harked back to the days of classic rock, as loud as it was proud.

Setlist:
The Queen of Swans
The Funny Bird
Car Wash Hair
Autumn’s in the Air
Endlessly
Frittering
Are You Ready?
You’re My Queen
Diamonds
Central Park East
Holes
Tides of the Moon
Opus 40
Encore:
Goddess on a Hiway
The Dark Is Rising

The Joys of working in London

Alabama Shakes @ Brixton Academy, London.

First ever visit to the Brixton Academy and what a great venue it is. Managed to work our way down to the front, and although sold out, had plenty of space. surprising number of unattached women there. Given the events in Paris only days earlier, security is very tight but well organised.
This  gig was all about Brittany Howard and what a stupendous front woman she was.
Very very impressed with her and with the whole package of Alabama Shakes.
Managed a couple of videos on the GoPro.
Hold On

Vintage Trouble @ The Forum, Kentish Town, London

Not All Right By Me, shot on a GoPro Hero4

While Vintage Trouble front man Ty Taylor never actually mutters the immortal phrase ‘get on up’ – he frequently uses the line ‘I can’t even hear you’- he shares much in common with late godfather of soul, James Brown.

There’s the same intensity and ebullient showmanship, the unique dance steps, the incredible athleticism and a durable voice that leads the band’s adoring “troublemakers” up, down and sideways on a soulful roller coaster ride that half way through the set might be mistaken for a giant keep fit routine.

Where Brown’s spontaneity often left him lost in the moment, Vintage Trouble never lose their grip on the crowd. This is a genuine kick ass band that needs neither a horn section or any semblance of hype to draw the crowd to contrasting levels of excitement or soulful reflection.

Sure there are several Otis Redding style Memphis soul moments, but Ty doesn’t dwell on emotion for too long, though when he does explore more telling soulful balledic moments he’s closer to D’Angelo than his soul antecedents.

Vintage Trouble is a band that joyously connects with a cross generational and cultural audience via uplifting mid-set messages aimed at breaking down the barriers. Their commitment to their crowd is further exemplified by an unexpected finale which sees band leave the stage to hang out at the merch desk for well over an hour.

Vintage Trouble strike a balance between spectacle, intensity, deep soul, r&b and good old fashioned rock and roll. This after all is a band that has been touring with the likes of The Who, The Stones and AC/DC.

A very retro sounding pre-taped MC sets us up for a big intro, but the band surprisingly opens with the curiously low key, finger clicking ‘Soul Serenity’, before the explosive, tension breaking ‘Blues Hand Me Down’ on which guitarist Nalle Colt rips into the first of several ripping solos, as Ty indulges himself in the first of several elaborate spins.

Ty amplifies the sense of communality by bringing up the house lights up to check out the crowd’s swaying, dancing and grooving, and once satisfied he goes through an incredible dance routine only to find himself perpendicular to the mic stand. He also drops to his knees, races to the back of the drum riser and leaps into the crowd while never missing a note.

And yet while the showmanship will long remain in the memory if only for an on stage proposal which the bride apparently accepts, as well as Ty’s exploration of the mosh pit and dress circle before he dives from a ground floor balustrade into the crowd and body surfs back to the stage, the band never loses sight of the substance of their songs.

This is curiously exemplified by the guest appearance of Paloma Faith with three back up singers on a would be duet of ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’, which ends up with the two vocalists singing at, rather than with each other. It makes for great spectacle but fails to match the bands own musical output.

No matter, it breaks the set up nicely and they rock out on the booming ‘Angel City, California’ which sounds like the ‘Sticky Fingers’ era Rolling Stones and comes with a great chanted hook that the glimmer twins would surely love to have written. The song suddenly drops down, but subsequently rises again as Ty encourages the crowd to carry the chorus.

The ballad ‘Another Man’s Word’ is another highlight and leads to communal singing from a crowd that moment’s ago was leaping about with abandon.

Everything comes together seamlessly on the slide-led ‘Run Like The River’ as the band and crowd combine their energy levels on the song’s titular chorus line to take things up to another level in a demonstration of the power of soul, uptight and outasight!

Earlier on in the night Ty Taylor makes an impromptu entrance to introduce tonight’s guests Slydigs, who evoke everyone from  Steve Marriott, Frankie Miller and The Faces to Oasis on a set full of bristling rock roll played over a wall of sound.

Vocalist Dean Fairhurst cuts a swaggering figure along side guitarist Louis Menguy, and the duo combine to great effect over a punchy rhythm section on the Liam Gallagher vocal styling of ‘Light A Fuse’ and the the stop-time rock & roll of ‘Stiff Upper Lip’, notable for its catchy hook. Their energetic set lights the fuse for a memorable night.

Review by Pete Feenstra

Photos by Mark Hughes at MHP Studios

The Lady in the Van

This is an Alan Bennett story, you either get it or your dont. We got it.
Charming tale told in his inevitable way, with first class performance by Maggie Smith. Will the Americans get it enough to Oscar nominate it? It will pick up the Bafta without a shadow of doubt. Also a very good performance by Alex Jennings playing the two sides of Bennett , a great cinematic effect. Plenty of dry humour and sadness too. And all filmed where it actually took place
A film for the older generation.

8.75/10

The Dreaming Spires @ The Windmill, Brixton, London.

Brixton, a dark mid november evening, and the Spires are playing just over the border from our flat in Clapham. What else do you do?
A 60s single storey estate pub turned into a venue with not a lot of space to contend with. Made it through to the front and stood beside the PA speaker and a column.
Spires on good form and the addition of the keyboard player making all the difference from the last time we had seen them in Oxford. Much more urgent sound much appreciated in this quarter.
Video link to Dusty in Memphis. Or Robin admires his tie.
Video link to Not every sixties song is a classic.

Suffragette

So the third film in a row with a single word title beginning with S.
Quite a fascinating film which just shows how far we have travelled since those  quite dark days. Poor old Switzerland only giving the votes to women in the early 70s was a show stopper fact right at the end.
Had very much that BBC feel to it, although it was co produced by Film4, with its attention to period detail was exemplorary. Although Meryl Streep appearing as Emmeline Pankhurst was casting I just could not deal with.
I did like the fact that Helena Bonham Carter was the great-granddaughter of H.H. Asquith, who served as the Prime Minister during the height of the suffrage movement. He was a staunch opponent of votes for women. Her role was the complete opposite.
Certainly the film was a talking afterwards.

7.5/10

Spectre

Its a Bond film. Good opening sequence, but not a patch on the opening sequence of Sicario (as you know how it will end...Bond survives...) and the little black lace dress that Lea Seydoux wears. But other than that Iwas totally unmoved throughout the 2 hours 30 minutes of its length.
As a Bond film its good but otherwise....

6/10