Paul Weller is without doubt a legend and one of the coolest people in the music business. Even more so now that he has a slightly more normal haircut. Last night at the Barbican was the second time I had seen him perform as a solo artist. I had also seen him as a part of the Jam and as a part of the Style Council back in the olden days. Last night I was there with my good friend John Williams. We both really enjoyed the support band, the Sundowners from the Wirral. I would describe them as something like Fleetwood Mac in a psychedelic mood whilst on some really strong acid. Their lead guitarist is phenomenal. But they are well worth checking out in my opinion.
As for Mr Weller, well what can I say that hasn’t been said many times before? Not a lot really but I think he is clearly one of the finest musicians of his generation. He and his band maintained a high level of energy throughout the show which was around two hours in total and included two encores. Interestingly he played no Style Council or Jam songs. But then he has such a wealth of solo songs it hardly matters at all. He played some new and relatively new songs; “Saturn’s Pattern” from his forthcoming new album and “Brand New Toy” which was an exclusive Record Store Day release from last year. The highlights for me were storming versions of “Peacock Suit”, “Uh Huh, Oh Yeh” and “From The Floorboards Up” and a really soulful playing of “You Do Something To Me” and “Broken Stones”. However the pinnacle for me came in the second encore when Weller and the band brought the house down with a superbly executed “Changing Man”. I am pleased to say that the sound at the Barbican has improved immensely since my last visit. Paul Weller has picked some great musicians to for this band. Especially Steve Cradock who is an incredibly talented guitarist.
During the first couple of songs a fight broke out, that is something that I haven’t seen at a gig for a while. Weller remarked that this was ‘just like the old days!’ If I have one complaint it is the hundreds of phones and iPad style tablets that became a constant presence as punters filmed as much as they could. For all of those of you guilty of that I say put your electronic equipment down and watch the gig you morons! If you have never seen Paul Weller the I want to know why? I will definitely be seeing him again sometime!
And finally another one of those pesky public service announcements. None of the pictures or videos in this blog post were taken or filmed by me!
Kanye West has been announced as a Glastonbury head-liner and an on-line petition is started to prevent this. What’s the point? That is all bollocks. He is more suited to Glasto than Mumford and Sons are as headliners at Reading and Leeds this year in my opinion.
However I do have issues with Kanye being feted as a genius. I think his early albums; ‘The College Dropout‘ in particular were very good. But for me, since then he has spiralled downhill to the point where in my opinion ‘Yeezus‘, which was highly acclaimed in the media, came across as a kind of Emperor’s New Clothes thing for me.
So my question to you about Kanye West is; Twat or Genius? Let’s vote people!
This gig was yet another excellent recommendation from my good friend Simon Pattinson. He’s never let me down yet and nor did he last night with a diverse and fantastic line-up. No pressure for the next one then Simon! I missed the first few minutes of Skinner‘s set but I am so glad that I was their for the bulk of it. How would I describe the music? Now that is difficult. But they band were well rehearsed and the sound was largely in an electro dance/ pop vein. But those vocals, oh boy can this girl sing. The songs were damned good too. I especially loved “Burn” and “I Don’t Care”. They are from Leeds and frankly if Skinner are on the bill at a gig near you then you will really be losing out if you don’t make every effort to go and see them. I am now very much a Skinner fan.
Next up was Boss Caine who a number of people had recommended to me. It was an acoustic set with some added cello and guitar. The songs were incredibly deep and well written. The vibe evoked a 60s/ 70s US west coast vibe and that worked really well for me. The songs not only contained great melodies but also excellent story narratives too. It’s sometimes hard to believe that this dude is not American, but then he speaks between songs and sings about York. Americana redrawn and bettered; why is Boss Caine not playing even bigger stages? I will definitely be seeing Boss Caine again and so should you dear reader.
Tonight’s headliner was Hello Operator from York and for all of you who have said or believed that hard rock is softening or dying go and see this band. They are living proof that rock is most definitely not dead. Very heavy and very loud they are, but they are so much more than that. Their sound draws on many influences in my view; Black Sabbath, Muse, Queens of the Stone Age and perhaps more. The vocals are the template for what good rock vocals should be. The lead guitarist has the potential to be a real virtuoso. The engine room of drum and bass underpins the bands sound and flow perfectly. Four top-notch musicians who come together to brew up some fantastic and melodic hard rock. Just when you thought that it couldn’t get any better they played a cover version, something they apparently don’t do very often. But was it a note for note cover of a hard rock anthem? No, it was a cover of the Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow“. On paper it should never have worked, but who gives a shit about paper? The easily surpassed Will.i.am and the other Peas. The band was also joined on stage by Skinner for one song. This was a stupendous show from a bloody brilliant band. If this band do not go on to achieve greatness then something is wrong. In a world of worthless talent shows like X-Factor, the Voice and other such shite this is real music and real talent. Sell your soul, your body (but responsibly), your Gran, your shoes or your X-Box. Just do whatever it takes to see them!
Now for the public service announcement. The pictures in this post were taken by me but the videos were gathered on-line from YouTube
So it’s now legally official that Robin Thicke and Pharrel’s “Blurred Lines” is the same or incredibly similar to Marvin Gaye‘s classic “Got To Give It Up“. Whilst I think that “Blurred Lines” is pretty shit and a long way from Pharrell William’s usual standards this whole ‘your song sounds like my song so pay me’ stuff is getting ridiculous.
Sam Smith giving Tom Petty a writing credit for “Stay With Me” because it ripped off Tom’s “I Won’t Back Down“; really? Oasis made a career out of it didn’t they? Maybe Status Quo should sue themselves for copying the same song over and over. Frankly the same could be said of much of UB40’s efforts after their first album. In case you’re wondering I am a fan of many artists including Oasis, Marvin Gaye, Tom Petty and Sam Smith, Pharrell Williams and a handful of Quo and UB40 songs. Personally though I think that Robin Thicke is a misogynistic twat! What do you think?
We’ve all heard of “Bat Out Of Hell”, Bat For Lashes and Ozzy Osbourne’s taste for bat’s heads but now a real live bat (as opposed to the Ozzy one) has become a rock legend. Maybe not a big legend, but a legend nonetheless in my opinion.
During a recent US gig Napalm Death had to stop the show because a bat was flying persistently above the stage. The band might be hard-core rockers but they did see the funny side of it and broke into an impromptu Black Sabbath song!
Last night was the first time I had been to a gig at the Brudenell in Leeds and I have to say it really is a fantastic venue. The eclectic and diverse mix of acts appearing there means that I will certainly come back. Anyway on to the main event; the Selecter. I had seen them once before but that would have been around 1979/ 1980 when I was younger than excellent support band the Tuts are now!
I arrived at the venue just before the doors opened and met some really nice people in the queue. Roger you’re a top bloke! Soon after I came in Pauline Black and Gaps Hendrickson were manning the Selecter’s merch stand. Obviously I was always going to buy something, so I bought a Selecter polo shirt and a CD of the band’s new album; ‘Subculture’ which the pair of them signed for me. Pauline also signed my copy of her autobiography ‘Black By Design’ which I had finished reading a couple of weeks ago. It is an excellent book and every bit as good as recent autobiographies by John Lydon and Viv Albertine. In the book Pauline comes across as very open and honest and having met her, albeit briefly, she really is a wonderful woman. She and Gaps were very attentive with all the fans in the queue for Selecter product.
As for the gig it was the amazing Tuts who opened the show. They are the support band on the Selecter’s UK tour and Pauline Black has championed them every step of the way. I think that this is the fourth time I have had the pleasure of seeing this incredible young band and it is clear to me that they just keep on getting better and better each time I see them. The stage costumes for tonight were made from a material patterned with the leaf of a popular and some would say refreshing herb. They looked very effective too! Their set was energetic and powerful and they certainly know how to work a crowd. On”Tut, Tut, Tut” especially for International Women’s Day they invited Sarah Statham from local band Esper Scout to drum the intro while all three Tuts ran through the crowd making sure that we all sang along. New song “Do I Have To Look For Love” will become a classic and old favourites like “Worry Warrior” and “Dump Your Boyfriend” already are. The girls cover of the Clash’s “Rudie Can’t Fail” was sublime. Nadia berated the music industry about the apparent need to posses a penis to succeed in the music business. Now those of us with half a brain know that shouldn’t be true, but judging from the line-up for Reading and Leeds this year it certainly and sadly has some credence. So come on all you labels and management companies stop all the macho willy waving and sign this band! Metaphorically they have more balls than many of the men in the music industry! The queue and interest in the band at their merch table was incredible which shows that the fans are there! So come on record labels how about a deal. As for more gigs what about another support slot? Garbage must need a decent support band and the could not go wrong with the Tuts, are you listening Shirley Manson?
As for the headliners what can I say? The Selecter were awesome. They played most of their biggest songs; “On My Radio”, “Missing Words”, “Celebrate The Bullet” and my particular favourites; “Too Much Pressure” and “Three Minute Hero”. I thought “Danger” and “London’s Burning” went down a storm too and really got the crowd rocking! One of my newer favourites and it’s yet another crowd pleaser is “My England”. They played a few songs from the new album, which I have now played a couple of times now and it is bloody good. It gets an official release next month, but for now is available at the band’s merch stand on the rest of the tour. Some of the new material fits into the set so well that you’d think it had been around a while. “Box Fresh” could easily become a classic pop song. “It Never Worked Out” and “See Them A Come” are the Selecter at their best and on top form. Another song from the new album, “Breakdown” tackles the large number of black people who have died in custody in this country and is as you would expect very hard-hitting. This is clearly a band that stands up proudly for human rights and are openly anti racist and anti sexist, as frankly we all should be! The pre encore show ended with a magnificent version of “Last Train To Skaville” which had all the aging skinheads from the ska revival of the late 70s stomping and skanking hard enough to cave the floor in! Like me many of those folks now have a natural skinhead look given the lack of hair that age brings to some of us. The encore kicked off with a mighty version of “James Bond” and the Tuts joined the Selecter on stage at the end for a final goodbye to the Brudenell crowd. Nadia even managed to stage dive and briefly crowd surf. As for the energy of the band, Gaps must have sweated gallons! (Is there an exercise DVD that could be made from that performance?) Finally I should also mention two other covers that the Selecter performed; Doris Day’s “Secret Love” which worked really well when ska-ified and Springsteen’s “Because The Night” from the new album and for me worked even better when played live. Overall this was a cracking night and I would definitely not leave it as long before seeing the Selecter again and I am already looking forward to seeing the Tuts again.
You can still catch them both on the remaining dates of the UK tour and if you haven’t already done so then sort yourself a ticket out. You will not regret it!
OK and now for the usual public service note, this time the pictures were taken on my little phone but the videos were all obtained on You Tube.
Miss Piggy supreme Muppet diva was modelled on singerPeggy Lee. In fact the first lady of Muppetry was originally to be called ‘Miss Piggy Lee’. She was described as a ‘blousey, self-obsessed, blonde singer. But that all changed when Peggy Lee threatened to sue the Muppet creators and Miss Piggy Lee became the now iconic Miss Piggy!
The life of the late great Ian McLagan of Small Faces, Faces and Rolling Stones fame might have turned out very differently if he had followed in his father’s footsteps. Ian’s Dad was crowned British Roller Skating Champion in 1928!
So now enjoy a couple of Mac’s finest moments while you lace up your roller skates. “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones on which McLagan played some excellent piano and keyboards along with the Faces’ “Cindy Incidentally” which he co-wrote with Rod Stewart.
Until now though I never knew that there had been collaboration between the two bands. Not in a big way, but the boys from Frankie sang backing vocals on ABC’s song “SOS”.
Remember Peters and Lee who had a UK number one with “Welcome Home” in 1973? Well did you know that Lennie Peters (a.k.a Gary Hall, a.k.a Leonard George Sargent) was the uncle of Charlie Watts‘ off of the Rolling Stones? Well he was!
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 