You'd be crazy to miss these... Little Noise Sessions

As a seasoned veteran to this event I feel that I can talk with confidence when I say that these gigs bring some of the best old and awesome new, fresh bands to a beautifully set out venue that would have God rocking in his pew! The venue, in the heart of Islington, boasts a stunning back drop and delicious acoustics in an atmosphere that has you rooted to the spot and your ears melting with heavenly delight. The event is always on a first-come-first-served basis so you will need to be praying that 1. You wake up in time to register and then again on the ticket release date. 2. Have God on your side to bag the tickets that you want and 3. Have the fairly substantial 40 nuggets that you will be parting with. Now, although pricey, the artists and venue take no cut of the monies to help support MENCAP. With Jo Whiley narrating in one of my favourite London venue you cannot go far wrong. Past performances I have witnessed include see Jamie T, Mystery Jets, Guillemots ~(Erika’s favourite…..zzz…), Lily Allen, James Morrison, The Automatic, Johnny Flynn, Jack Penate, Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling to name a few. Mr McGlinch and I had a breath taking, handholding moment when Chris Martin bowled out armed with a guitar and followed by a fiddler and no not Gwyneth.

The night packs a fair amount of weight, while pulling the heart strings of the richer, more charitable gig attendees. Check the list, make your choice and make sure you set the alarm because MENCAP is back and hitting you with a tasty little line up…..

November 8th - Glasvegas, Cage the Elephant

November 9th - Razorlight, Florence and the Machine, Esser

November 10th - Stereophonics, Seasick Steve

November 13th - James Morrison, Sam Beeton

November 14th - Kasabian

November 15th - Keane, The Script, Bryn Christopher, Red Light Company

November 18th - The Fratellis

Keep your eyes peeled on the Kasabian gig as they are likely to attract another biggy band. I can’t seem to get Noel and the boys out of my head.....

Fans wanting to buy tickets need to register on Mencapmusic.org.uk between October 1 and 16.
Credit Cards at the ready now kids!

A little more info here....

http://www.nme.com/news/nme/40064

Officer Kicks will kick your back doors in!

Well where do I start with these boys? What a rollercoaster! The journey for me began @ Water Rats, Kings Cross in early Summer. After hearing that they would be playing at Secret Garden Party, Huntingdon as part of an up and coming mix of fresh music which included bands such as Noah & the Whale, Late of the Pier, Mumford & Sons, James Yuill, Thom Stone and Park Bench Poet to name but a few. Off I trundled and was not disappointed with the diamond in the rough that I had been presented with. They are the epitome of cool, calm and collected who could and hopefully will rock your socks off. The boys have been hard at it for a long time now and finally the jigsaw is falling into place.

After an immensely successful 2008 which has seen the boys gain rapturous reviews, comments and copious amounts of love they are ready for pretty much anything. One of the best things about Officer Kicks is that you can feel the love when they perform. The love they have for each other, the love for the crowd and best of all the love for the music. The quirky and straight talking lads know how to have a laugh and certainly know how to entertain.

The bands following should be likened to that of the pied pipers, which is seriously mounting and fans are getting more and more dedicated to the cause even to the extent that one nutter has had the album artwork tattooed on their back! Mental but legendary at the same time! I would like to think after reading this you will have a few moments to drop by their myspace and have a little ear drop of their moosic. Look I’ll make it easy for you. Now go listen and learn…. http://www.myspace.com/officerkicks

Tremendous!

Ps. If you are London based then wriggle your arse along to Monto, Water Rats, Kings Cross on the 30th October 2008. I will review the gig and bless your eyes in early November. They will bless your ears I promise. To say I am excited would be a huge understatement. Supporting that night will be http://www.myspace.com/weusedtomakethings

You have been told in the politest possible way and in the words of Officer Kicks themselves... "OI Feckin OI"

One so-called fan ruins it all

Gutted is just not the word after being forced to read this....

"Oasis are being forced to postpone three further shows as a result of the injuries Noel sustained when he was attacked on stage in Toronto.A CT scan has now revealed that Noel suffered three broken and dislodged ribs in the attack and he has been advised by his doctor that he will not be able to perform for at least another week.The three affected shows are the Eden Project, Cornwall on the 27th September, the Gloria Theatre, Cologne on the 29th September and Bataclan, Paris on September 30. All three shows will be rescheduled and fans are advised to retain their tickets pending further announcements.The Oasis UK Arena Tour, beginning Oct 7, is going ahead as planned." Oasis.net

Pop goes the weasel for this weekends venture. Alas I will turn my ear to some form of musical ensemble don't you worry about that!

Back to some lighter news and word on the street, from Bows, is that the Levi's Ones to watch gigs are to be broadcasted on Channel 4 @ midnight on the 9th, 10th and 11th of October. Catch the action all for your very fine selves! You heard it here first.

I'm off for a cry and a whinge about the idiocy of one stupid fan...

Bombay Bicycle Club rule Macbeth

The first gig of the week is done and dusted. Bombay Bicycle Club headlined the first of five nights for the 'Levi's ones to watch' gigs in Macbeth, Hoxton Street, London. So it all began with a large slice of smelly, ear bleeding from a band called Snish, led by Josh the model for the new 501 unbuttoned adverts that you will have seen or will now see all over Londonium. Mixed reactions to the heavy hitting boys just as it always is for the opening band of any gig. This ranged from the dedicated followers with the "Fuck you" T-shirts to the girls at the back casually reading the paper sitting on the leather comfys! Bizarre. Not my bag to be honest but having listen to their myspace again in the early morning..... its growing on me. Full of energy and even parading down the bar like a show girl... pictures to follow they know how to have a ball and undoubtedly a smash up! www.myspace.com/snishband

As the sweat box heated up the people seemed to grow larger and taller. My vertically challenged friend, not JP but Justin, struggling to see above anyones knee caps from then on in! Much to his rage and my amusement.

So onto Sky Larkin - out of nowhere, they arrived and calmly began. An interesting sound and fresh out of Leeds... always a cosy combination! Molten being my personal favourite track, currently on their myspace page www.myspace.com/skylarkinskylarkin. Worth a listen. As the crowd pounded the bar and getting to the toilet became more of a chore on bowled BBC.
Now, as they are my favourite band of the past three years, this review is probably going to sound a tad gooey and biased! I will try not write this through rose tinted glasses.
As they took to the stage in smokey, almost moon lit surroundings I began to feel like a child waiting to see if Father Christmas had eaten the mince pie and sherry that I had left out. I was not disappointed. They not only swallowed the mince pie but downed the sherry and asked for more. Enough of that talk... The boys played the usual suspects that are common sounds in my ipod headphones, nailing the likes of Cancel on Me, Evening/Morning and a new track called Dust on the Ground and hitting a rip roaring high with Sixteen. All very pleasing to the ear and had me joistling for position with my camera in one hand, beer in the other and my monster bag of lifes essentials between my legs. I must have looked rather special! The boys are really coming good and of age and growing into the enormous boots that they have made for themselves. I am ready for the album and you should be too.... Check their page www.myspace.com/bombaybicycleclub Trust me your ears will love it! 'To be or not to be - that is the question' and the choice is yours!

Rolling on Saturday now.
Next stop, the West Country with Joe McGlinch

OASIS... OASIS...OASIS!

So this week is a busy one for me. A weekend packed with learning, research and probing for this venture of mine.....
I seriously reckon that people are sick of me talking about doing this already, especially the lady of my life. I hassled a variety of friends over the last few days and will have some of their views and reviews in the coming weeks from them. I have a tidy eclectic mix of mates who are effected and influenced by a wide range of music and fasion tastes. I will pick and poke at them soon and rate a mate a week if i can.

Back to my busy week, starting off with a rather exciting and youthful band that I have followed with one of my keen four eyes for a few years now. Bombay Bicycle Club are one of my favourite bands of the naughties so far. An extremely young four piece band from the North of the capital. Jamie and Jack lead the line of a band that are so energetic and full of life that iIpersonally cannot help but dance a round like a five year old and sing along as loud as I can. So I see them at Macbeth, Shoreditch in the first of a string of nights for Levi's ones to watch gigs. Credit must go to a certain Miss Raymond, who will be refered to as Bows in this blog. She works on the advertising for Levis and gave me an early heads up on this.
Pictures and a short review will follow as soon as I can sort them.

On a slightly different note, no pun intended, I and the legend that be McGlinch are off to see the small band OASIS on Saturday in Cornwall, which I am literally peeing my pants with excitement about. We will indeed be rolling with it!
More soon.....

IN THE PRESS THIS WEEK: The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick wrote in an article entitled, "It takes more than a credit crunch to keep musicians quiet" : "Perhaps escapism is the primary function of music; when the going gets tough, people dance to forget their troubles" - My thoughts indeed!

Well, were do i begin. First ever blog right here. Enjoy the undoubtedly bumpy ride! I will speak soon and unleash my musical tastes and preferences on you. If you are reading this then congratulations, if you don't read this then ho hum you'll miss out. The base will be touched soon.
Until then....