Gig Review - Josh Kumra, The Victoria, Swindon

The Victoria, Swindon, 28th July 2013
Support: Tom McCarthy, Nick Felix

Going to an artist’s hometown gig is always a bit special, but going to one at a tiny venue is a very rare experience indeed – and that’s assuming you can even get a ticket. But I found myself in this enviable position on Sunday as I stepped down into the back room of The Victoria in Swindon to watch Josh Kumra and his two support acts bring the house down.

Stepping up first was Tom McCarthy, who became the epitome of multi-tasking as he strummed guitar chords, beat-boxed and fed vocal harmonies into his looper, and wowed the packed venue with his vocal range. He sang a staggering range of covers from Adele to Bob Marley, with only a slight timing wobble as he went into one of his final songs, Gotye's ‘Somebody I Used To Know’. He pulled it out of the bag though, singing both Gotye and Kimbra's vocals with startling precision, before coming to a deafening finish with the aid of the ardent supporters in the room. It was a brilliantly engaging set.

Next up was Nick Felix, whose dulcet tones were an intoxicating blend of Kelly Jones, Caleb Followill and Rod Stewart. The majority of his set was original, bluesy material, some slow and some faster, for which he expertly played the guitar, both as an instrument and as his percussion. The lyrical and musical content of the tracks was fantastic, and they were expertly delivered by Felix, who again evidently had a large following in the room. With the right manager behind him this guy could be huge - he certainly won’t have to work on stage presence or delivery. It was hard to see how Josh Kumra could follow him.

Finally stepping onto the stage from within the crowd, Josh Kumra and his drummer, Carra Bacon, kicked off proceedings with a cover of Angus and Julia Stone's ‘Mango Tree’, and the bar was raised even higher. Kumra's vocals were absolutely spine tingling as he steered the crowd through his set, skilfully contrasting light and shade in his performance and drawing the audience under his spell. The timing between Kumra and Bacon was outstanding, and the pair played and exceptionally tight set.

Kumra played both material from his current album and a couple of covers, dedicating one track to his parents in the crowd. A comedy moment happened as his Grandad, who was also in the crowd, worked his way through the packed room to the front of the stage at the end of a song and said, “Josh! Josh! Play that song, ‘Oak Tree’!” Kumra paused, studied his Grandad’s face, and said, “I just did.” It was a special moment and this, coupled with the enthusiastic crowd that evidently contained a large number of Kumra's family and friends, really made you feel part of a huge family gathering.

After playing a fantastic set and coming back on for two encores (with much encouragement from the crowd) Kumra and Bacon finished as they had started, with an absolutely brilliant encore of ‘Mango Tree’. It was a truly spectacular gig and it was a great privilege to have been there to share the experience. Having only ever heard his track ‘Don’t Go’ before the gig I really had no idea what to expect, but this very talented young man now has a new, avid fan.

GIG REVIEW - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, New Theatre Oxford

New Theatre Oxford, 6th May 2013
Support: John Foxx and The Maths

After a warm and sunny May Day bank holiday the icing on the cake was still to come. OMD had chosen this date to bring their electronic bag of tricks to Oxford’s New Theatre to promote their latest album, English Electric, with support from John Foxx and the Maths. I was eagerly anticipating my first ever OMD show having been a hardened electronic fan since the early eighties and the days of Souvenir, when I played that track over and over with tracks from the likes of Gary Newman, Human League, Blancmange and the mighty Depeche Mode. I’ve been a sucker for electro bands ever since, and to my astonishment I discovered that in that time OMD have released 12 albums.

John Foxx and the Maths (who are John Foxx and Benge) quietly took to the stage, playing a selection of tracks that took advantage of the addition of multi-instrumentalist Hannah Peel to the line up (who, I was interested to read, has previously worked with Blood Red Shoes, amongst others). Foxx was the original lead singer of Ultravox before Midge Ure took over, and has worked with many of the electronic scene’s legends. The waiting audience seemed to really enjoy their no nonsense performance. Foxx kept audience interaction to a minimum, adding to the mystery and moodiness of the set. The highlight of the set was a track called The Running Man from the band’s critically acclaimed album, Interplay, which drew a very enthusiastic response from the crowd.

After a short wait OMD appeared for the first track of their set to cheers from the crowd, some of whom immediately leapt to their feet ready for a dance marathon. From the very start, lead singer Andy McCluskey did a flawless job of embracing and including the audience in the gig, sharing playful banter throughout the performance with both the rest of the band and the punters. He declared that the cure for too much barbeque food and sunburn was to have a good dance, and he joked with 15 audience members that they needed to dance harder to ensure a collapse of the “condemned” balcony onto the audience in the circle (cheekily adding that the theatre was insured for such an event). The other band members joined in, with fellow bandmate, Paul Humphreys, jesting that he’d “set the right sound up” for McCluskey when the pair swapped roles (with Humphreys on lead vocals and McCluskey on synth) for old favourite, (Forever) Live and Die.

They played a great mix of older 80s and 90s material with more recent tracks, airing crowd pleasers such as Tesla Girls, Souvenir, Maid Of Orleans, Locomotion, Joan Of Arc and Sailing On The Seven Seas alongside releases from their latest album, such as Dresden (which has just been added to the Radio 2 playlist) and Metroland. Throughout the gig the audience clapped, danced, sang and waved their arms with gusto (at times it felt a little like being on a cruise ship due to the mesmerising dancing and waving), with the biggest cheers saved for the final track of the set before the encore (the OMD classic, Enola Gay), with every member of the audience on their feet and jigging about.

Coming back on for the encore, McCluskey was having a bit of shirt trouble – between going off the stage and coming back for the encore he was missing a button. Playing a roaring encore consisting of Walking On The Milky Way (for which the audience obliged with singing duties) and Electricity, McCluskey absent-mindedly fiddled with the phantom button while he danced about the stage. The band eventually retired triumphantly from the stage, the crowd cheering, clapping, whooping and whistling for all they were worth. OMD certainly raised the roof in Oxford!

My review score: 8/10

GIG REVIEW - Two Door Cinema Club, Alexandra Palace, London

Alexandra Palace, 27th April 2013
Support: Chvrches, Everything Everything

It’s not every day that you’re blessed with the good fortune of finding out that a band you’ve been wanting to see for a while is supporting a band you already have tickets for. I was already really pleased to discover that Everything Everything were supporting Two Door Cinema Club at Saturday’s gig at the Ally Pally, but when I found out on Saturday morning that Chvrches were also supporting I was over the moon. I’ve been trying to see Chvrches for a while but diary clashes had conspired against me. And so I found myself in the crowd, with 17 friends, on Saturday night, eagerly awaiting their arrival on stage.

Kicking off their set with a slowed down version of the intro to Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy was a promising start and Chvrches soon got into their stride, playing a selection of their electro-infused tracks, and swapping vocal and synth duties between the threesome. By the time they struck into their latest EP, Recover, a large number of people in the crowd were bobbing and singing with them.

All too soon they disappeared backstage, leaving the scene set for Everything Everything, who drew whoops and whistles from the crowd with their opener, Cough Cough. Speeding through their more popular tracks, including old favourite My Kz Yr Bf and new track Duet, the audience were enthusiastic and eagerly clapped and uttered more whoops of encouragement. Both support acts received a great reception, which was well deserved as they really set up the party atmosphere that was ignited as soon as Two Door Cinema Club took to the stage.

With a huge roar from the waiting crowd Two Door started as they meant to go on, building on the electric atmosphere by playing their first four glee-inducing tracks almost back to back, with minimal crowd interaction in between (Sleeps Alone, Undercover Martyn, Do You Want It All and This Is The Life). At this point lead singer, Alex Trimble, addressed the crowd for the first time, humbly thanking the crowd for coming to their biggest UK show to date (which, incidentally, had sold out weeks in advance), and stating that while they were “super-excited to be here” they were also “shitting themselves”.

Next up was Wake Up from the latest album (Beacon), followed by You Are Not Stubborn and Come Back Home from the first album (Tourist History), and the crowd was partying so hard it began to feel like we were part of a big carnival (and actually, a huge conga procession would not have been out of place at all!). The lighting and laser show only served to heighten the carnival feel whilst the band ploughed through more material from the new album in the shape of Beacon and Sun. As the kick drum and spangly guitars of the intro to Pyramid began the lasers came into their own, trapping the smoke from the stage into a mesmerising, laser-lined pyramid. Then came “Ah! Oh! Ah! Ah! Oh!”, signalling the start of I Can Talk, and sending the crowd into a whooping frenzy.

I noticed that there was a slight dip in the dancing activities during Costume Party, although this could be because it was released as the B side to I Can Talk and it does not appear on their albums, so it’s possibly less well known. Nevertheless it’s a great track that continues their knack of producing jangly, grin inducing tunes. In any event, a singalong was next on the agenda, with Trimble asking the audience to fill in for one-time vocalist Valentina on The World Is Watching, and the crowd continuing this theme into Next Year, Something Good Can Work and Handshake.

After thanking the crowd again, the band launched into their final two tracks of the set Eat That Up It’s Good For You and It’s Too Late) releasing a net full of large white balloons onto the dancing crowd below. The atmosphere was almost indescribable. The band disappeared offstage but the crowd continued to cheer, chase the balloons and party. Within moments they were back, and launched into Someday in a maze of lasers and balloons, followed by Cigarettes In The Theatre. The band then addressed the crowd once again, thanking them for a “truly life-changing, unforgettable experience”. And then, amid a plethora of showering streamers, they played the final track of the night, What You Know to the elated party goers in front of them.

If I could give the entire gig 11 out of 10, I would. The support acts were great and really set the crowd up for the main event, Two Door Cinema Club completely outplayed themselves with an absolute sack load of party friendly tracks, and the atmosphere was electric and akin to being amid a carnival (helped by the balloons, lasers and streamers of course). The only thing missing was that conga procession.

My voice was shredded, my feet were throbbing, and I had that hangover feeling the next day even though I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol. That is the sign of an exceptional gig!

My review score: 11/10 (....ok, ok…rules are rules I suppose....10/10 then)

GIG REVIEW - Bloc Party, Earls Court London

Earls Court London, 22nd February 2013
Support: Old Men, The Joy Formidable

Having already completed 20 dates in the US, Japan and Europe this year, this was the final date of the European leg of the tour before Bloc Party embark on a 14 date tour of Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific. The gig was their largest UK performance to date (aside from any festivals), playing at the 19,000 capacity Earls Court One venue.

Kicking off to a backdrop of lasers and a huge halogen logo from their latest album, Four, the band threw themselves into the first 13 track first set with a frantic version of And So He Begins To Lie, immediately followed by the ever popular Hunting For Witches. Frontman Kele Okereke was on top form, bantering with the attentive audience and introducing each track by relaying the sentiment behind it, including Waiting For The 7.18 which he described as being “about public transport”, prompting a huge cheer from the crowd. This was followed up by a fantastically tight performance of both Song For Clay (Disappear Here) and Banquet, to the obvious glee of the crowd who sang and jumped around like their lives depended on it. At this point I got slightly distracted. It was extremely dark in the venue, with the only light coming from the stage, making the lad directly in front of me look like some kind of cross between a body popper and the Churchill nodding dog due to the strange type of jigging he was executing. It amused me so much that I almost missed some very interesting screenshots of the crowd that were being transmitted from the large screen either side of the stage (the crowd were, at that point, frantically moshing to Coliseum).

The band performed an impressive array of tracks from all four of their studio albums, with selected songs being performed in a frenzy of lazers and strobes. The end of the first set was marked with “something different” in the shape of One More Chance, and Octopus. The band then disappeared without a word, to the bemusement of the audience, before reappearing a few minutes later to open the 4 track “Round Two” with Kreuzberg, which Okereke dedicated to his parents. Finishing the set with an absolutely blistering version of Flux (preceded by the intro to Rihanna’s We Found Love), the band once again disappeared.

The first track of the encore was a new one, Ratchet, which Okereke confirmed had not even yet been recorded, and had only been aired live for the first time in Missouri on the US leg of January 2013’s tour dates. The track itself has the unmistakeable Bloc Party sound, and features an interesting pitch-bending guitar riff, which the crowd eagerly embraced. The following track, Truth, had been the subject of an email to their mailing list a few days beforehand, where the band encouraged the crowd to download an app to their iPhones and film footage of the track being performed, and this footage would be collected via the app and a video made from the best bits. Okereke seemed a bit uncertain about this concept, but nevertheless asked the crowd to record the track as it was being performed. The final track of the night, Helicopter, was performed amid an array of lasers to the partying crowd, before the band took their final bows and left the stage.

Although the venue was not sold out it did not deter the band, who performed a great mix of old favourites and new material, and at least this gave the crowd more room to dance. The gig did perhaps suffer slightly at times in terms of atmosphere due to the size of the venue, but overall the band and crowd had a good rapport. Once again the band showed off their great musicianship, and the tightness of the band really shone through.

My review score: 8/10

GIG REVIEW – Delphic, Oxford Academy

O2 Academy Oxford, 18th February 2013
Support: Delphic DJs

Having recently released their second album, Collections, to a largely underwhelmed response, Delphic are back on the live circuit and are currently on an 18 date European tour. The new album sees a departure from the guitar and synth electronica of their first album, Acolyte, to a new direction which is heavily influenced by 80s R&B and hip hop. Their current tour is supported by what is billed as “Delphic DJs”.

Breaking out with a strong start, the band launched the show with the lead single from the new album, Baiya. With the new addition of live drums the set cantered straight into old favourite, Halcyon, before slowing for Freedom Found from the new album. This track worked extremely well live, with the simple bass and shaker background of the verses providing a good contrast to the busier choruses. The set continued into Memeo, which again worked well live before slowing into a hip hop style intro for Clarion Call, which was one of the highlights of the whole set.

Don’t Let The Dreamers Take You Away followed, and although this track is one of the weaker ones on their new album, the addition of a new upbeat section at the back end of the track really lifted it, turning a mediocre track into a good one. To a massive whoop from the crowd, the band then embarked on Red Lights, This Momentary and Doubt from the first album, with all tracks including some epic bass and guitar licks and great vocals. Closing the set with Atlas from the new album seemed to be a strange choice, but again this track worked well live even though the bass was slightly overwhelming in some places.

After the briefest of intervals the band came back for a 3 track encore (or “non-core” as the band put it) consisting of The Sun Also Rises from the new album followed by old favourites Counterpoint and Acolyte from the first album. The former song was the weakest of the whole set but was mercifully cut short in favour of launching (albeit in a slightly disjointed manner) into the final two tracks, both of which were great but which both suffered at times from being overwhelmingly loud, meaning that some of the best parts of the tracks were sometimes lost amongst the sheer wall of noise.

During the set the band largely dispensed with any chit chat in favour of stringing tracks together and, although this is sometimes a disappointment to the audience who like to feel part of the band that they are watching, in this instance it really suited the set well. Despite a lukewarm reception to their new album, Delphic really showed why live music rocks by completely changing the feel of that album and adapting it into a great live performance which lived up to the brilliance of Acolyte.

My review score: 7 out of 10

GIG REVIEW – Everything Everything, Oxford Academy

O2 Academy Oxford, 14th February 2013
Support: Outfit

With their second album release, Arc, having recently peaked in the chart at number 5, Manchester-based indie pop band Everything Everything are currently on a 21 date tour of the UK and Europe. Having already sold out all of the UK dates, the tour will conclude with them jetting off for two shows in LA and New York before finally returning to the UK to support Two Door Cinema Club at the Alexandra Palace on 27th April.

Everything Everything’s support, Outfit, kicked off the evening by bringing their brand of art rock to the Oxford Academy. Their style was relaxed and slightly reminiscent of Delphic, with synth and guitar combinations galore. The lead singer chatted to the crowd before the band brought their short set to a close with an excellent upbeat track.

During the changeover, and looking around the crowd, it struck me how diverse the audience was. Usually the O2 Academy Oxford is almost exclusively filled with students and those within the 18-25 age bracket, but Everything Everything’s sold out gig had attracted a sizeable number of people over 25, which is great to see. As a result there was no frantic moshing and throwing of beer, but rather an audience who was captivated by the performance of the band, and who sang and clapped along just as enthusiastically as the usual moshing crowd does. It made a very refreshing change.

As the lights dimmed Everything Everything finally broke onto the stage to start their set. Starting with _Arc_ from the new album, the band sauntered through a packed track list that spanned both of their albums, filled with moody and melodic synths, jaunty beats, staccato guitars and strings, and the unmistakeable falsetto vocals of lead singer, Jonathan Higgs. By the time the band got to their latest single, Kemosabe, the crowd was singing and clapping with great enthusiasm. The set really shone for the excellent vocals and harmonies, particularly in the band’s upcoming new single, Duet, but it was the rendition of slightly rocked-up Suffragette Suffragette that really showed how tight the band has become.

Higgs talked to the crowd frequently, and I marvelled at the contrast between his speaking voice, which is quite low and gruff, and his singing voice. This perhaps explains the great range of his vocals, which skip around as much as they produce soaring, pitch perfect legato phrases.

Playing crowd pleasers including Schoolin’ from first album, Man Alive, the band treated the audience to tracks from both albums, including Armourland and Choice Mountain before finishing the set with the brilliant Cough Cough. After much baying for more, the band appeared for their four track encore that started with the ever popular My Kz Ur Bf and ended with Don’t Try.

Even with a couple of strange set list choices (such as choosing the downbeat The House Is Dust for the penultimate track of the encore, which prompted those who wanted to beat the crowd to make an early exit), Everything Everything executed a great performance that contrasted beautiful vocals with their trademark quirky synths and beats. The crowd’s response to Cough Cough might have made that track a better choice for their final track of the encore, but overall the band have shown that they mean business, and are serious contenders for the indie pop crown.

My review score: 8/10

GIG REVIEW - Skunk Anansie at the Brixton Academy

Brixton Academy, 1st December 2012
Support: Arrows Of Love

For their last European tour date of this year, Skunk Anansie chose to do a homecoming gig at the mighty Brixton Academy. The gig had sold out early, leaving unsuccessful fans desperately trying to find tickets for what promised to be a cracking gig.

Those who were able to get tickets were not disappointed, except perhaps by the support band, Arrows Of Love. Unfortunately they failed to engage with, and win over, the majority of the audience. They suffered badly from technical and sound issues, and this was not helped by the fact that you could really only see the outlines of the band members in the haze of dry ice and poor lighting. Most of the audience continued to chat (loudly, to overcome the wall of noise emanating from the stage) and ignore the band, and the band eventually slinked off stage.

Over an hour later, it was a completely different story. Kicking off with The Skank Heads, the band burst onto the stage to projected footage of a car racing through traffic, with their "fearless leader", Skin, appearing in a black, feathery looking outfit resembling the image on the front of their new album, Black Traffic. From the moment they started, the audience was in the palm of their hand. A couple of tracks later Skin ditched the feathery effort, and bounced back onto the stage in sparkly hotpants, proving that she is one of the only people who can pull off this look whilst still remaining the epitome of a rock chick. She then joked, "Some of our songs are a tiny, teeny, tiny bit political...", raising laughter and cheers from the eager crowd.

The band played effortlessly, with drummer, Mark Richardson, providing a solid, relentless backbone for bassist, Cass, and guitarist, Ace, to power their way through a really tight set. After I Will Break You, I Believed In You and God Loves Only You, and bringing it down a notch, the band played their new single, I Hope You Get To Meet Your Hero, before Skin whipped the crowd up into a frenzy with Twisted (Everyday Hurts), marking the start of a number of surfing voyages over the heads of the lively audience. A few tracks later Skin cheekily told the frazzled security guards to give up as she urged all of the audience on the balcony to their feet, and launched herself into the crowd in the stalls, only to be lifted up above their heads so that she looked like she was on a rather unsteady podium, to sing Weak with absolutely flawless vocals.

After returning to the stage for Hedonism, Skin then introduced another singer (Erika), and the two of them sang Our Summer Kills The Sun to a projected backdrop of speedily growing flowers, after which Skin stated that she was coming back to the audience for some more surfing and teased the audience about grabbing her backside during her previous escapades. Alternating between crowd surfing and throwing herself around the stage (all, I hasten to add, whilst delivering perfect vocals) she and the band sliced their way through the following few tracks, including I Can Dream, Spit You Out and Because Of You, before Skin jokingly chastised the audience, during Sad Sad Sad, that there was way too much camera phone action, again raising cheers from the crowd. The band's final song of the set was the mighty Charlie Big Potato, which was enthusiastically received by the audience, and was delivered uncompromisingly by the band, to bring the set to a shuddering climax with much clapping and cheering from the crowd.

Coming back onstage for the encore, the band delivered Tear The Place Up and the downbeat Secretly before Skin introduced the band and urged drummer Mark to take his t-shirt off. This revealed "scientific shit" (as Skin put it) by way of a contraption resembling an heart ECG to monitor how hard he was working (which, given the heroic performance that he and the other band members were providing, must have been sending the device into a frenzy). After thanking the crowd, Skin once again threw herself into the stalls for the final song of the night, Little Baby Swastikkka, making it all the way from the stage to the sound desk. After standing on top of the desk and posing for photos, she returned to the stage to finish the song, and the band left the stage to deafening whooping and clapping.

The whole gig was spectacular and memorable due to the tightness of the band, the flawless vocals of Skin, and the band's ability to identify with the audience and get them involved. It helps, of course, that their back catalogue is brimming with energetic, solid tracks. They really are a must-see act.

My review score: 9/10

Did you see the gig? What did you think? Leave your comments below...