Pre-gig Thoughts

Since the release of Night On My Side, I’ve had a major crush on Gemma Hayes (GH). A combination of her elfen looks (non LOTR-related), pure clean voice with a wicked tongue, may have just stolen my heart. #endcreepiness

If you remove my undulated love for GH, her back catalogue is a bit of an acquired taste. It follows a set folk/pop structure, that you’ll either tire of, or happily add into your collection. Strangely, I really enjoy a couple of her covers (and as you know covers ain’t my style and ting), especially Cloudbusting. A good starting point for everyone will be Back of My Hand (from Night On My Side), and her latest single Keep Running.

My expectations before the gig? High. I’d never seen Gemma Hayes live. Yes, you’d think by now I’d be stalking, and living in her house wall insulation, but she’s been Hanging Around in Los Angeles and Ireland for the last few years. Let the glorious stalking commence!

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Pre-gig Thoughts

Michael Kiwanuka is a firm favourite on the ‘Sound of 2012′ lists, including mine and some other people called the BBC (though their list is a bit s**t, I may add). My reason being a performance on Jools Holland that managed to spike my interest, and the hope of him opening the door for more soul acts. A good vocal, with some breezy/summery songs, was a welcome sound from a prospective mainstream act. Though the EPs hadn’t blown me away, there was enough in the tank to warrant seeing him live.

The tickets were a ‘joint’ purchase at Christmas time. A ‘joint’ purchase in my book means buying one ticket as a gift, and the other for myself (along with a ticket for Lianne La Havas at the Scala – review coming (at this rate) in early 2013).

My expectations before the gig? Low/Neutral. With there being a lot of hype from mainstream sources, I always set my expectation phaser to low to avoid disappointment. A lot of hyped stuff ends up being paper thin guff, but I’d be surprised if this was the case with MK. …continue reading »

Pre-gig Thoughts

“Forget it man get with the countdown, Shake this square world & blast off for kicksville“. Metal in the last 20 years has been giving off a bit of a toxic stench. Too much shouty teen angst, mixed with too much focus on image, has left the genre hobbling along like a three-legged dog. Where are the bands that give off an aura like Metallica, Rammstein, Colour Haze, Kyuss, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Blue Cheer? Mastodon be one of them, but other modern metal bands seem to follow a very specific and uninspiring formula. Technically good, but on an emotional level (be it wanting to go mental or just smash something), many just don’t cut it.

I’ve been a ‘fan’ of Mastodon since they released the immense concept album Leviathan. I use the term ‘fan’ loosely, as I’d never actually seen them live and only own Leviathan and Blood Mountain (the rest are Spotify listens…at the moment). Pathetic, really.

My expectations before the gig? High. With a supporting line-up of Red Fang and Dillinger Escape Plan, surely the night was going to be mental. …continue reading »