Pulp - Finsbury Park - 1st July 2023
Photo by Sarah Louise Bennett
This is what they do for an encore.
Shortly before their set begins, the big screens give a potted history of the main attraction with old home-movie footage of a pre-fame Jarvis Cocker and Pulp. Then, the screens inform us: You Are About To See The 527th Concert By Pulp.
Not that it was required, but it’s a reminder that the small details and self-awareness set Pulp apart in the 1990s, alongside their generation-defining anthems.
Three hours earlier, the lithe Baxter Dury (one of many who can claim Jarvis as an influence) slinks and slides around the huge stage, the grooves and synths of his canon bolstered by the storming bass of the live system. After one song, his shirt becomes a bandana so he can fully focus on his tantric moves. A beguiling performer, Dury is at pains to stress how happy he is to be performing in his hometown and, despite his perma-snarl, it’s easily believed.
Following as main support, the power and popularity of Wet Leg’s debut album remains potent over a year on. The more gregarious of the two, Rhian Teasdale traverses the tightrope between rock star and mere mortal with magnificent sunglasses and clad in an Arsenal shirt, an effortless attempt to win over the crowd.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/07/review-pulp-wet-leg-london/
Jamie T, Finsbury Park - 30th June
It’s taken a while – for reasons most likely his own (having recently expressed his notable disillusionment with the music industry) – but nearly 20 years into his career, Jamie T finally plays a massive outdoor show. Or, in his own words, ‘This is the first time we’ve played in the dark’.
Beforehand a stellar support bill of Willie J Healey, Hak Baker, Biig Piig, Kojey Radical and IDLES set the scene. In many ways IDLES and Jamie T are comfortable bedfellows; despite the decade-long difference between their debut albums both are pioneers of a game-changing sound, much-imitated but never bettered.
Their first show of 2023 on home soil (and apparently the only one), the Bristol quintet have been slaying crowds across the world, picking up a Grammy nomination along the way.
Fortunately the experiences have not dulled their potency, although it has perhaps taught them a trick or two. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Joe Talbot and co take their time luring the crowd into the set, with a slow burning (then briefly raucous) ‘Colossus’ and ‘Car Crash’ before the stakes are raised for single ‘Mr. Motivator’, the first song much of the crowd recognise.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/07/review-jamie-t-idles-finsbury/
Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett
Grian Chatten - Chaos For The Fly
Oh, to be young and talented.
With three albums in four years, Fontaines D.C. have become one of the leading lights of the contemporary guitar scene.
After a successful 2022, during which they seemed to be playing every festival and city, a break would not be unreasonable, yet frontman Grian Chatten seems determined – if not hell-bent – to keep reaping the rewards of his creativity. A purple patch? Time will tell.
One of the reasons his band have resonated with so many is their consistency, which Chatten maintains on this, his debut solo album.
Fear not Fontaines fans, this doesn’t mean the end of the group. Indeed, plans are afoot for album 4, as the Irishman recently declared: “I just thought; I want to do this myself. I know where the band are going next and that’s not where I want to go with this. I’ve got a couple of exaggerated aspects of my soul that I wanted to express.”
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/06/review-grian-chatten-chaos-for-the-fly/
Glastonbury 2023 Review
And so, Christmas For Music Fans has come and gone once again.
As ever, pre-festival conversations were about the negative elements of the event: too many white men topped the bill, the hiked ticket price (enforced after 3 years of prices being frozen) and a general apathy as life in this country is so damned hard right now.
The armchair critics were brandishing their knives and would, in their eyes, be vindicated as the weekend proceeded. But thankfully, Worthy Farm inhabits its own universe during the last weekend of June.
Although political conversations were taking place across the fields, tiresome words like ‘woke’ and ‘virtue-signaling’ were blissfully absent because people actually engaged in worthwhile conversations.
Admittedly, it’s largely preaching to the choir, but it’s at least mature. Elsewhere, there’s treats to be found in the Theatre & Circus tent, the Cabaret area, the Craft field etc, but undeniably the main reason people are here is for the music.
After what seemed an underwhelming line-up (Guns N’ Roses? In 2023? Really?) it feels like speculation about the special guests is rifer and wilder than ever. Notable by their absence are Pulp, who your correspondent was so convinced would be somewhere on Saturday that he was happy to add to the rumours with (mis-placed) confident certainty. Ah well.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/06/review-elton-arctic-monkeys-glasto/
Glastonbury BBC Coverage: Interview with Steve Lamacq and Head Of Pop Music Jonny Rothery
Now, we know what you’re thinking: ‘Doesn’t it start on Wednesday?’ Well, the live coverage from Worthy Farm does indeed commence in the middle part of the week, but a cursory check on BBC iPlayer will proffer enough treats to pass the next few agonising hours.
The coverage across the BBC has already started, with some special programming all over their network, so head over to the iPlayer now (or in a few minutes, after you’ve read all about it). In an exclusive interview with Clash, BBC Head of Popular Music Jonny Rothery and 6 Music stalwart Steve Lamacq talk us through what’s on the agenda both before and during the Biggest Music Weekend Of The Year. With a mammoth 45 hours of coverage, there’s lots to pick through.
“We’ve got more programming across linear (TV) and iPlayer over the festival,” Rothery opens. “Sunday night (June 18th) kicks off with We Love Glastonbury, with lovely moments from the likes of Noel Gallagher, Jake Shears, Sharleen Spiteri (and) comedians like Nish Kumar and Joel Wicks who love Glastonbury. Whether they’ve been or have watched it on TV for years, they’re just going through their highlights.”
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/beyond-the-red-button-glastonbury-and-the-bbc/
Glastonbury Festival - Beginner’s Guide
‘Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’23: Wear Sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis other than my own meandering experience.’
So, it’s June and to a certain section of society that means one thing: Glastonbury Festival Of Contemporary Performing Arts is nearly here. So, it’s time to get serious. Shit, as they say, is getting real.
If you're a first timer heading to the farm, you're probably pretty stressed right now. Staring down the barrel of a 5-day long sensory overload, trying to figure out what you actually need or should know amongst all the noise of advice and tips is hard.
We've been there. Gigwise has been covering Glasto since 2004; so we're seasoned! We've got our packing down to a fine craft and have the best tips in our back pocket. So take a deep breath and lets dive into the Gigwise Beginners Guide To Glastonbury...
https://gigwise.com/features/3430077/the-gigwise-beginners-guide-to-glastonbury
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Council Skies
Although he’s never far from the public consciousness and there has been plenty of new music in that time, it’s been a hefty five-and-a-half years since the last studio album from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, the fanbase-rupturing Who Built The Moon? (lest we forget, a Mercury-nominated effort).
Although planning to take 2020 off after several busy years, Noel Gallagher – like all of us – found himself with time on his hands in that fallow year, to reminisce about his journey on the road up to that point.
Yet despite his usual frankness about the lyrical inspiration, Council Skies is no fusion of The Beatles, The Smiths, The Stone Roses and that band he was in, but something else entirely.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/06/review-noel-gallagher-council-skies/
Arctic Monkeys - Ashton Gate, 29th May 2023
Barring TV appearances in promotion for seventh album The Car, UK audiences haven’t been able to see Arctic Monkeys in action since Reading & Leeds Festival last August.
In the nine months since they’ve been touring the rest of the world, stopping in Europe, Australia, Asia and South America while the home fanbase twiddle their thumbs, in readiness for a series of huge gigs and the small matter of a Glastonbury headline slot in June.
Regardless of the venue, with so many shows under their belt, they should be at their peak for their native audience. Unsurprisingly, they are.
Although touring and playing live has always been one of their many strengths, the foursome transitioned from indie heavyweights to a muscular, festival-slaying rock band during the AM tour of 2013/14.
Their longest tour ever, it solidified the ever-evolving band’s place at music’s top table and, despite the musical experimentation since that album, taught them useful lessons which they’ve consolidated since. Indeed, it’s ironic that after their two least commercially viable albums, Turner and co are at playing their biggest-ever UK shows, but such is their power as a live force.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/05/review-arctic-monkeys-ashton-gate/
Leftfield - The Marble Factory, Bristol - 25th May 2023
There’s something melancholic about seeing the electronic generation reach middle-age.
With Underworld, Orbital and The Chemical Brothers all active and touring, their greying hair is a reminder that time comes for us all.
Their music, which soundtracked so many youths, was designed for that stage of life: visceral, hedonistic, unpredictable and exciting. We’re used to the idea of the aging rock star, but seeing older men behind decks is largely a new experience.
But, just as Jagger and Macca can still put on a show, so too can the rave heads. In fact, with superior technology, it’s likely that they sound much better than they ever did. In Leftfield’s case, based on this showing, it’s hard to believe they’ve ever been mightier, even with an accordingly middle-aged crowd looking to roll back the years (aren’t we all?).
Indeed, Neil Barnes is even content to dispense wisdom, as a booming voice echoes around the venue at the start of the set with advice such as, ‘Be aware of your body’, and, best of all, ‘Keep your phones in your pocket as much as you can to show respect for other people’.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/05/review-leftfield-live-bristol/
Chappaqua Wrestling - The Louisiana, 22nd May 2023
Since their formation in 2018 – spearheaded by principal songwriters (and guitarists) Jake Mac and Charlie Woods – Chappaqua Wrestling have built up a solid bank of songs influenced by shoegaze, grunge, and, unashamedly, Britpop.
With the release of their debut album Plus Ultra in April, attention now turns to consolidating and building their fanbase and, based on this performance, they have the steely determination to go all the way.
In contrast, support act Nature TV, while competent and polished, have no aspirations to set the scene for the headliners, with their songs of woe (in their defense, they describe themselves as ‘Door-to-door heartbreak salesmen’) a strange fusion of Dire Straits and Two Door Cinema Club. In the right mood, Nature TV are undoubtedly capable of relating to someone, but raucous pop ‘n’ roll it is not.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/05/review-chappaqua-wrestling-bristol/
Interview - Marseille
Marseille singer Will Brown speaks to Live4Ever.
One of the new breed of young bands proudly taking their influence from 90’s Madchester and 60’s Merseybeat, Marseille are a five-piece band consisting of Will Brown, Joe Labram, Lennon Hall, Tom Spray and most recent addition Felix Moxey.
With patronage from Soccer AM and BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq already on their score sheet, and having completed a successful 10-date tour of the UK, recently the quintet released their Freedom EP.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/05/live4ever-presents-marseille/
Interview - Django Django
Across both their 14-year career and four albums to date, Django Django have been uncowed by the concept of categorisation, creating music and textures from recognised genres including house, art-rock, and everything in between. But with forthcoming album Off Planet, the four-piece are readying their most ambitious offering yet. All human life is indeed here, from 1990s trance-pop (‘Complete Me’, their collaboration with Self-Esteem) to tribal, Afrikan war marches (‘Black Cadillac’). Initially designed (and subsequently released) as four EPs, their eclecticism and musical diversity is displayed across its 21 tracks.
“Initially I wanted to make a bunch of EPs that were throwaway dance tracks,” explains Dave Maclean, one of the group’s founding members. “A lot of the stuff I listen to is dubs of house records where there’s not a lot going on, the whole thing of the track is just about what the snare sounds like. I listen to a lot of minimal, stripped-back music and I wanted to do stuff like that (but) inevitably, they became more like Django Django songs and took on a life of their own.”
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/engaging-with-the-eclectic-django-django-interviewed/
Peter Doherty - o2 Academy, Bristol - 29th April 2023
While the wait for new Libertines music enters its ninth year (the hotel’s up and running chaps, chop chop!), it seems even their biggest firebrand is struggling to fill his days.
This Battered Songbook tour is not in support of a new or old album under any of his various guises, but seems to be little more than an excuse for the former tabloid favourite to rattle around the country and keep himself occupied.
Alternatively it’s a reminder of Peter Doherty’s hefty back catalogue, a fact which seems to be forgotten. Despite his public perception as something of a wastrel, the (former?) Babyshambles man has 11 studio albums to his name across a 21-year career, as well as countless one-off singles or unreleased material, all of which is well represented tonight.
Befitting the travelling troubadour vibe, Doherty takes to the stage with a minimum of fuss and opens with a new number entitled ‘Black Cloud’.
It’s a low-key affair, and he explains afterwards that his voice is slightly shot and thus continues with a series of subtle, under-stated tracks.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/05/review-peter-doherty-bristol-o2/
Interview - Adam Nutter, The Music
To a dedicated fanbase The Music are An Important Band.
At a time when the New Rock Revival were consuming most of the musical oxygen on both sides of the Atlantic, four lads from Leeds were, in simplistic terms, producing high-octane rock music and sprinkling it with flecks of dance for a unique sound, at various points compared to the Stone Roses, The Verve and Led Zeppelin.
Their tale is a familiar one: four friends who took on the world before being chewed up and spat out by a ruthless music industry.
They supported U2, Oasis and Coldplay in a journey that also included three fine indie-rock albums, with the first having instantly iconic cover artwork.
Last year the band played two reunion shows, the second of which (at Temple Newsam Park in their hometown) saw them perform to their largest-ever crowd.
A heart-warming story for the band and their fans, but it came at a cost. While the rest of the band continued with their lives, the Music’s dissolution hit guitarist and co-songwriter Adam Nutter hard as he turned his back on the industry and went off the radar for a decade.
Now, thanks to the power of the internet and Tim Burgess’ Twitter Listening Parties, Nutter is back on track with a solo album, Badlands On Fire, due for release this Friday.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/04/interview-the-music-adam-nutter/
Adam Nutter - Badlands On Fire
As grim as it was there were a few positives to come out of the pandemic, depending on your point of view.
Where one sits on the rise of digital engagement is down to the individual, but there’s no denying the increased levels of convenience and content (shudder).
More specifically, for those in the know the reformation of The Music and the subsequent rebirth of guitarist and songwriter Adam Nutter is quite the story.
The four-piece from Leeds were perennial outsiders, never fitting in with either the garage rock revival or the subsequent influx of British bands who followed in its wake.
Their first album fostered a cult following which continues to this day – the iconic, circular artwork which adorned t-shirts still recognised as a badge of distinction like a mason’s pin.
For assorted reasons, sadly the four young men were unable to sustain their momentum and Adam Nutter, scarred by his experiences, retreated from the world.
The Twitter Listening Parties brought Nutter out of hibernation and saw him re-engage with his artistic muse firstly through two reformation gigs last summer, and it now culminates in Badlands On Fire, his debut solo album.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/04/review-adam-nutter-badlands-fire/
Feature: Record Store Day
As Record Store Day approaches, celebrating a decade and a half since its inception, one school of thought (which is fast becoming a cliché) gets louder: Is Record Store Day worth it? There have been dissenting voices for nearly two-thirds of the initiative’s lifetime, but the arguments made by the nay-sayers gain more worth as time goes on.
Originally the brainchild of a group of independent record stores in Baltimore, Maryland, the premise was that, by releasing some exclusive vinyl available only in certain stores, buyers would flock in their droves to the stores and increase footfall. The first RSD (2008) in the UK saw the participation of a handful of outlets (mainly because they were the only ones operating) in major cities across the country, launched by Billy Bragg. Consisting only of 10 special releases, artists participating included Death Cab For Cutie, R.E.M., Vampire Weekend and Black Kids.
The following year saw the event grow exponentially, with many European countries getting involved along in stocking 85 special releases to mark the occasion, while in 2010 the first ambassador was anointed (Josh Homme). All of which culminated in a 41% increase of sales from the previous year and 109% increase from the previous Saturday which, unsurprisingly, set the date on the calendar in stone.
But 2023 is a hugely different world from 2008.
https://gigwise.com/features/3429403/is-record-store-day-still-worth-it-
Interview - The Goa Express
With their latest single, five-piece The Goa Express are taking the next steps in a constantly evolving career to date; each song bristles with intent and a previously untapped vibe of purpose and clarity. Shrouded in guitar fuzz and powered by gusto, their long-awaited debut album lands in the second half of 2023, with recent single ‘Portrait’ which received extensive airplay earlier in the year.
The quintet’s story isn’t wholly unfamiliar, with their chemistry founded on the bedrock of friendship: a group of lads (including two brothers) from Burnley whose formative years consisted of getting into typical teenage scrapes before picking up instruments and forming a band to kill some time while at school, then college.
https://www.clashmusic.com/next-wave/next-wave-1105-the-goa-express/
Afflecks Palace - The Only Light In This Tunnel Is The Oncoming Train
DIY is an oft-used phrase in music nowadays.
One of the many reasons that solo artists are rising in prominence is that, from an instrumental perspective, everything can be done in the bedroom.
Why bother going through the stress of finding a drummer when your laptop can performed the function competently? To say nothing of personality clashes or musical differences.
But in today’s discordant music industry, the Do It Yourself ethic has been taken to new extremes. Gone (perhaps for good) are the days when the coercion of a record label was required. Although it requires more organisation, the entire process from writing a song to releasing an album and coordinating a tour can be done by the band themselves.
Afflecks Palace have taken that to the extreme. The quartet do everything themselves, firstly setting up their own label (Spirit Of Spike Island), creating merchandise, arranging gigs and their own publicity.
And through hard work and sheer force of will, it’s working. The band have built up a devoted following and recently appeared on the bill for the opening night of the BBC 6 Music Festival. Best of all, by drawing a definitive line in the sand in being so proudly and openly Madchester influenced, they have made themselves immune to that criticism.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/04/review-afflecks-palace-the-only-light/
Orbital - o2 Academy, Bristol - 31st March
Although ticket prices for gigs are a bone of contention in some quarters these days Orbital are, in their own way, offering excellent value for money on their latest tour.
Ostensibly to promote brand new album Optical Delusion, there’s also the small matter of their 30 Something compilation released last year, for which the duo repurposed many of their tracks to highlight their evolution in the live arena.
Their attitude has always been that of subversive punk under the guise of electronica and, where some trips down memory lane feel as much, the more recent work demonstrates that age hasn’t softened them.
The set opens with Smiley, all jungle beat and wonky modulated synths that, retooled or not, instantly transports one back to a different age.
The spoken word samples, including the iconic ‘this is acid, man’ taken from 1988 documentary A Trip Round Acid House, were once revolutionary (the film covered a group of young adults during Thatcher’s ongoing war against the underground rave scene) but are now, sadly, nostalgic, even if the house piano still shines. No fools of course, the brothers are equally aware of the passing of time, the track concluding with a simple ’30 Years Later…’.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/04/review-orbital-bristol-academy/
Kele Okereke - The Flames Pt. 2
With this, his seventh album (and fifth in six years) Kele Okereke, the frontman and main songwriter of Bloc Party edges ahead of his parent band in terms of albums released.
Yet, somewhat ironically, The Flames Pt. 2 is the closest of the septet to the art-rock sounds of the indie darlings.
Kele Okereke’s first album (2010’s The Boxer) gave the impression that he was leaning into another aspect of his musical influences with electronic, cathartic house/pop while follow-up Trick went deeper into the club (it’s worth mentioning that Bloc Party met him in the middle, specifically ‘Ratchet’).
Yet while the songwriter has broadened his palette on recent albums for this project he consciously limited his soundscapes to inspire creativity. Namely, it all came from his electric guitar.
Even with that knowledge in mind The Flames Pt. 2 still has a few surprises, not least opener ‘Never Have I Ever’, the riff of which slices and snarls like a razor-sharp buzzsaw (note to Okereke – Matt Bellamy wants his sound back).
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/03/review-kele-okereke-flames-pt-2/