When life imitates art

Who:  Micky Flanagan

Where: Colston Hall, Bristol

When:  Thursday 25th April 2013

Whilst buying a glass of pre-show wine the barman asked me “so is Micky Flanagan your favourite comedian?”  A difficult question to answer.  I’d been asked by a friend at work if I’d wanted a ticket when she was booking them last year, and never wanting to miss out on a spot of fun, I agreed.  But I don’t even think I knew what he looked like.  And I definitely hadn’t seen any of his work.  (Is that what you call somebody’s comedy performance, their ‘work’?)  But back to the original point, the answer was no, he wasn’t my favourite comedian.  Not yet.

His comic style is more social commentary than stand up.  Drawing humour from real experiences, and for the most part, his relationship with his wife. He discusses the time his better half asks him to take a packet of Kettle Chips away from her to “save her from herself”, and I think, this is actually me!  Or when he mentions the boring sod in the group at a gig asking what time it’ll finish, I realise, that’s my friend Chloe!

Another of his anecdotes revolves around his wife planning a cosy Saturday night in, when he, after a few drinks with friends, was to bring round a takeaway and a bottle of wine for seven o'clock.  It ends up with him delaying and delaying, her getting angry because she’s already warmed up the plates, and them having a big row on the phone whilst he is STILL in the pub.  It’s very funny, relatable, and has the audience in stitches.

What isn’t as funny though is when comedy turns into reality.  The gig is on Thursday night.  Fast forward to Saturday night and I’m expecting my boyfriend round for dinner for seven o'clock.  He rings at around 7.30 to say he’s been waylaid with the football lads, but he’s on his way home now, he just needs to get changed and he’ll drive over.  A little while later I get a text to say he’s realised he’s already had four pints so he can’t drive.  He’ll see if he can get the train.  No, misses the train, so he has to walk.  On that bombshell I stop cooking, make a cup of tea, step out of my nice dress and into my pyjamas to watch The Mindy Project in bed.  I might as well do something useful, I missed last week’s episode.  He texts me to say he’s sorry, and I reply with “you better have chocolate with you”.  No kiss.  The story doesn’t end too badly though, he didn’t turn up until quarter to nine, but he did bring Gu chocolate orange puddings, a big bar of Dairy Milk, and a bottle of rose.

Micky Flanagan, I salute you.  Not only are you funny, frank, witty, and full of East End charm, apparently you can see into the future too!

I heart McFly

Who:  McFly

Where:  The Hexagon, Reading

When:  Tuesday 23rd April 2013

supercity.mcfly.com

I have to start by saying I’m a massive fan of McFly.  I’m not ashamed of that fact.

In pop years they’re practically grandads.  You might not realise they’ve been together for 10 years, had 7 number one singles, and owned their own record label.  Or that they’re currently recording their 6th studio album.  To put things into perspective, their ill fated predecessors Busted only lasted just over 2 years.  As they sing in their opening track of the night, an acapella version of ‘Memory Lane’, so much has changed...

The embarrassingly bad compere who opens the show is a little unnecessary, and there’s definitely too much Y.M.C.A, it’s the pre-set warm up song AND part of a later medley.  It makes it all seem a bit provincial.  Or maybe that’s just the venue?

‘Star Girl’ is McFly at their whimsical best but they choose it as their third song, possibly peaking too soon, as I’m sure this has been saved for the encore in previous tours.  They dig out all the oldies like That Girl, Five Colours in Her Hair and Obviously, and give their all to the performance.  There is a mid gig lull though with darker songs like Nowhere Left To Run from the more recent Above The Noise album, which are not the bands’ typical crowd pleasers and cause the show to loose a bit of momentum.  And admittedly I took the opportunity to go to the toilet whilst they played Love Is Easy, the first song in their encore.  Sorry.

That said, they still have so much energy and enthusiasm, and a great connection with their fans.  At one point Danny asks the audience if anyone knows what was the first song they ever wrote for McFly?  A couple of girls at the front shout out the answer, to which he playfully replies “you’ve seen this before, get out!”

Boybands seem to have taken a backwards step recently - One Direction, The Wanted - essentially five boys stood in a line.  But a bit of talent, playing your own instruments and writing your own songs seems to be the key to longevity.  McFly have still got it.  Girls still throw their bras on stage.  The fans still scream.  This is The Best of McFly, as the name of the tour states.  They rocked Reading, for the most part.

Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Billy Joel did it in We Didn't Start The Fire.  Madonna did it in Vogue.  Inspired by King Charles' cover of the aforementioned Billy Joel classic, an updated version more relevant to the twenty tens, I have tried to do something similar.

Remember the last thirty seconds of You Only Get What You Give by the New Radicals?  You know, 'fashion shows with Beck and Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson'?  Try and read the below in the same style as that.

Kate is pregnant, Harry's naked, David Cameron love to hate him,

Downton Abbey, who won Strictly?  Olympics comes and goes too quickly,

Glastonbury, Bieber fever, Moyles succeeded by Nick Grimshaw,

Benefits, and Philpotts’ lying, Leveson will stop you prying,

BNP, don’t trust the Euro, no tax if you find a loophole,

Thatcher’s funeral, David Beckham, beef lasagne might need checking!

Maybe I'm a poet who just didn't know it?

I’ll be your King and you’ll be my Queen

Who:  King Charles

Where:  The Fleece, Bristol

When:  Saturday 13th April

www.kingcharlesmusic.com

The Fleece is a relatively small venue, but not every gig is a sell out.  Tonight's was though, and quite rightly so.

King Charles (otherwise known as Charles Johnston and his band) take the stage to the sound of pounding d&b.  He’s not theatrically dressed as you might expect - more low key in a t-shirt and leather jacket combo, but a pearl necklace adds an essence of decadence.  A West London boy with an air of Amy Winehouse tramp-chic and the face of Ollie Locke*,  he won the International Songwriting Competition by unanimous vote in 2009, and it’s not difficult to see why.  

There are the evocative tracks like the footstompingly dramatic Polar Bear and the jingly jangly loveliness of Missisipi Isabel, then Bam Bam, the upbeat crowd pleaser with an easy sing-a-longable chorus.  During Polar Bear Charles throws himself around the stage, and it’s hard to know if he’s a) wasted, b) overcome by the music, or c) both.  After re-gaining a little compusure an extended version of Coco Chitty showcases some impressive guitar work, which can only really be appreciated in a live setting.

King Charles on stage.

The hopeless romantic tale of Lady Percy is my personal highlight,  what I’d call a ‘Mr Brightside moment’, (or, more embarrassingly, a ‘Never Forget by Take That moment’).  Lady Percy was my introduction to King Charles and I absolutely fell in love with the song when I first heard it.

The last hurrah is a clever cover of We Didn’t Start The Fire by Billy Joel - instead of JFK, Princess Grace, and trouble in the Suez, it’s Facebook, Afganistan, Kate and Will, and Gaga on the radio.

The gig ends with the support band crashing the stage, jumping around, loving life, and banging drums.

My boyfriend, who’s taste in music could be seen as a lot more credible than mine (if you don’t believe me wait for the next gig review), tweeted “Enjoyed King Charles on Saturday night - wasn't sure what to expect but they were amazing. This is as close as I get to gushing.”  I don’t think you could get a better compliment than that!

*Ollie Locke, as in the one with the long hair from Made In Chelsea

If you're intrigued by the Billy Joel cover, here it is on NME.com:

Have you ever seen a man eating humous at a gig?

Who:  Indians

Where:  The Louisiana, Bristol

When:  Thursday 31st January 2013

heyiamindians.com

billyandbernadette.bandcamp.com/

I talked about support acts in my previous post, this one was definitely one of the most memorable.

With Strange Billy The Saint & Bernadette Pike, a local Bristol band, the name pretty much says it all. On their website they describe themselves as “a slightly crazed delusional boy [who] crossed paths with a slightly crazed disillusioned girl”.  They have originality by the bucket load - I can honestly say I’ve never heard anybody meow during a song which was described as something “a cat would write, if a cat could write”.  And ‘Bug On A String’ is equally as entertaining, particularly Billy’s impression of a bug flying towards Bernadette’s face, over and over again.  They tell stories, with insights into their relationship.  They are worth seeing, if only to help fund their Magic Roll habit (a legendary sandwich shop on the Clifton Triangle famous for its wraps, if you’re from Bristol you’ll probably know it).  They couldn’t do a better job of advertising if they were paid, they mentioned their fondness of a Magic Roll in between every song in their set!

And whilst on the subject of eating, in the lull between support band and main act I heard rattling behind us and turned around to find a man - who had a rucksack, clearly he’d come prepared - opening a container of humous.  A forward thinking move, but one which lead me to think it was a bit rude he didn’t share his snacks with Billy and Bernadette!

On to the main event, Indians.  The band are from Copenhagen, Denmark, but other than that there is little to be found about them online.  We really took a punt on this band, based on nothing but a paragraph of description on ents24.  They are quite an enigma.  The guy behind the project, Søren Juul, starts his blog posts on the website with “hi friends”, but there is nothing in the About section of the band’s site.

The Louisiana is a small venue, a room above a pub, which is perfect for Indians.  Their  music is subdued, dreamy, sometimes melancholy.  They aren’t going to incite a mosh pit, or rock an arena.  And unfortunately for Indians, Billy and Bernadette have made a more lasting impression on my memory.

The view of Indians, blocked in part by Big Jeff. Jeff seems to be at every gig in Bristol so this is a common occurrence.

Current favourite song

Sometimes I hear a song, and when I hear it I want to listen to it on repeat.  Constantly.  And when I'm not listening to it I'm thinking about listening to it.  Home by Foxes is one of those.



(Type Foxes Home into Google and you'll probably find lots of links to questions like 'what is a fox's home called?'  It's called a den.  Now you know.)

One of the biggest things to ever come out of Cheltenham?

Who: Young Kato
Where: The O2 Academy, Bristol
When: Thursday 17th January 2013

http://youngkato.bandcamp.com/
The Bristol Academy, the place I frittered away the majority of my student loan on endless amounts of cheap vodka and coke every Friday night.  That was back in the Carling days nearly 10 years ago, step in there now and it looks (and smells) exactly the same, but it’s filled with a new generation of Converse clad cool kids.

I’m back tonight to see Young Kato, a self certified alternative pop band, who according to my boyfriend ‘seem ok’.  Quite the accolade.  I like to do my research so I listened to a couple of their tracks on youtube, and they sound like they could be easily added to my current Spotify favourites playlist.

YOUNG KATO

After making our way to the Academy 2 (or little upstairs room, which is a more accurate description) I can’t help but notice that two distinct groups have formed.  There are the hormonally charged crowd of rowdy young teenagers, and the slightly awkward looking parents at the back.  We take our place in the no man’s land that has formed between the two, revelling in the fact that there’s a massive benefit to a mainly underage crowd - a clear path to the bar at all times.

The second support band, Words We Live By, have already started.  They are noticeably young, so teeny and cute you could pick them up and put them in your pocket.  Some of the aforementioned ‘slightly awkward looking parents’ belonged to these boys.  Sadly my stand out memory of them was their Arctic Monkeys cover.  And it’s not that I don’t like the Arctic Monkeys, you cannot deny they have a distinct sound and a dreary northern charm.  And that’s exactly the problem, a young ‘un from Portishead doing his best Alex Turner impression just didn’t really work.  I’d like a support band to grab my attention with a 10 minute showcase of original material.

Another pint of easily acquired cider later and the third support band, Portia Conn, are on stage.  They have a female lead singer.  Pretty, lovely hair.  It’s just a shame some of the high notes aren’t quite so lovely.  I was distracted though by a very personal conversation with my boyfriend of which I’ll have to gloss over the details and move on!

As soon as they start playing their guitars you can tell they are the main act.  Young Kato are noticeably head and shoulders above their support acts, 80s throwbacks with hair Nick Grimshaw could only dream of.  Lead singer Tommy Wright brings an intensity to their performance, he’s in the moment and sometimes seems to be in a world of his own.  You can tell they’re signed [to LAB records, not too shabby for a bunch of 18 year olds from Cheltenham].

One of their big songs, ‘Break Out’, is a live life, play guitars kind of anthem.  Think Editors or Athlete, with a bit of sparkle.  ‘Drink, Dance, Play’ is more upbeat, easy to dance to, and will be stuck in your head for hours.  ‘Life’s Good’ is my personal favourite, melodic and sing-a-longable with lines like “if you see it coming, you call out my name and I’ll come running”.  Listening to the other track from their EP ‘Revolution’ I’m struck by how much the vocalist sounds like Morrisey.  It’s uncanny actually.  He manages to evoke that gritty realism of an 80’s Smiths, for a new generation of eager listeners.  Their music certainly has influences dating back to a decade in which they weren’t even born.  I’d also like to point out, as an aside, that the first song to come on the speaker system when the band had finished was The Smiths.  Coincidence?

I hope they’ll come back and play in the main Academy next time.  Worth the £6 face value?  Undoubtedly.

Musical Inspiration

Inspiration can come from anywhere.  You can look for it, but sometimes you don’t even have to.

Today I was listening to the radio in my kitchen.  Pretty insignificant you might say.  But I was listening to a different station to my norm - one of my housemates had left my radio tuned to BBC 6 Music.  It was Lauren Laverne’s show and Tim Burgess from The Charlatans was showcasing some new material, performing live in the studio.  It was an eye opener (or ear opener if you will) and I realised I should probably think about broadening my mind and listening to something other than Nick Grimshaw on Radio 1.  So I started thinking about the different ways in which we discover music.

Have you ever heard a song on an advert, looked it up on Google, then downloaded it?  Legally of course.  It can be an advert for anything from shower gel, to an ipad, or a tv programme.  You may remember a Channel 4 ad a few years ago for a new teenage drama called Skins, in which the cast were partying to Standing In The Way Of Control by The Gossip. I’m not saying you’ll only have heard of The Gossip because their track was used to advertise Skins, but it must have helped filter their music through to an audience who may not have heard it otherwise.  And speaking of tv, music sets the mood in a lot of programmes.  I watch Made In Chelsea and this is where I first heard a band called King Charles, as well as M83 who sing the current theme tune, and I’m not ashamed to say it!

If you spend your time out in town getting drunk with friends the chances are you’ll be dancing at some point during the night.  Throughout my second and third year at uni every Friday night I could be found at indie club night Ramshakle at the Bristol Academy.  One particular night I remember hearing a song, it stopped me dead in my tracks, and I had to know what it was.  I ran to the stage to catch the dj’s attention and was told it was a band called The Killers, and the song was Mr Brightside.  This was before I had Spotify, Youtube or Myspace, and my iPod would only sync to the computer at my parents house.  So at the first opportunity I went to buy the Hot Fuss album, and listened to it all the time on my cd player.

Whilst writing this post I’m listening to Haim, winners of the BBC Sound of 2013, on Spotify.
The ‘related artists’ tab is showing me I might like AlunaGeorge, Alex Winston, The Neighbourhood and Jessie Ware amongst others.  Some good suggestions seeing as I’ve already listened to the odd track from a couple of the aforementioned artists, and I’m likely to give the others a listen too.  And I was only listening to Haim in the first place because Huw Stephens had been plugging them massively on his Radio 1 show, and I’m easily influenced!

Of course, gigs are a good way of finding new music.  I didn’t used to make much of an effort to get to a gig in time to see the support band, but the truth is you never know when you might catch the next big thing.  I saw Lily Allen on tour a couple of years ago and her warm up act was the glass shattering La Roux.  Some of the notes she sang I’m convinced would only ever be heard by dogs, but she was memorable.

I also love festivals as a source of inspiration.  Take Glastonbury, where else would you see the Arctic Monkeys and Shirley Bassey on the same stage on the same day?  Sometimes you may stick around after a band has finished, go along to see [insert band name here] in an attempt not to get seperated from your friends, or catch part of a set whilst you’re walking past.  Sometimes people ask me why I’m willing to buy Glastonbury tickets without knowing who will be performing?  If you listen to mainstream music you’re bound to find some of your favourite festival acts on the Pyramid stage, but take it as an opportunity to learn about music you might not have necessarily heard elsewhere.

I’ve started scanning local gig listings for all the bands playing in the local area, and picking some out at random.  Last week my boyfriend suggested we go and see a band that neither of us had heard before play at the Academy.  New discoveries, this is where it starts...