Gigs
We've been to a couple of gigs recently, both at the HMV Picture House here in Edinburgh.
The first, just over a week ago, was by Ocean Colour Scene, who you may remember as one of the least objectionable Britpop acts. I'm not entirely sure why we went: we like a few of their songs, but we're hardly huge fans of theirs. It wasn't a very good idea to go, unfortunately: they played the famous OCS songs, which were fun, but they also played a lot of boring filler that didn't really go anywhere. Overall, they just seemed a bit old and tired, and they generally phoned their performance in. The support band - a Dundee-based band called The Law - were good, though.
The second was much better. The headline act was a guy I'd been at school with, Frank Turner. Frank's gone on record as saying that a lot of people who claim to have been his friends back then weren't, so I'll just say this: we were in the same house, a couple of years apart; he introduced me to punk and metal, and fifteen years later I'm still copying his haircut (though I see that he's moved on tonsorially). I was never a huge fan of his Eton band, the Badger Doritos, though I knew and liked the guys in it; I preferred the sound of his previous band, Headcase (in fact, I still have their EP, Wonderful World - listening again, it's got some good tunes). I remember him as smart, funny, friendly and fun to hang out with. I'd like to think he was a friend, anyway. I'd completely lost touch with Frank, but then a few months ago another friend said "Hey, remember Frank Turner? Apparently he's the next big thing in music", and linked me to this interview. "Cool," I thought, "I wonder if he's playing near me any time?"
Anyway, the gig itself. Unlike the OCS gig, there was very little standing around and getting cold: we went straight into a high-energy, high-fun punk set by Crazy Arm, followed up by a folk/rock set by Chuck Ragan. Then it was time for the man himself, and I'm delighted to say that he played one of the best live sets I've seen, ever. For mostly unrelated reasons, I'd been feeling a bit black, and the previous sets, while enjoyable, did little to lift my mood, but Frank shattered it. Great tunes, great lyrics (what I could hear of them, anyway - I look forward to going through the liner notes of my newly-purchased CDs), emotional highs and lows, singalong choruses (to which everyone else knew the words), and just enough politics. On a personal level, it's great to see him doing so well, with hundreds of obviously adoring fans, a strong back catalogue, a great stage presence, and a Top 40 Album; but on a more basic level, I just had a fantastic time.
Go and see him. You will thank me for this. Tour dates here. He's on a British tour for the rest of March, making his way slowly southwards, then he's on tour in Europe in early April, playing a few dates on the West Coast (US/Canada) in mid-April, and then touring Australasia.
Edit: Partial set list
In no particular order:
The first, just over a week ago, was by Ocean Colour Scene, who you may remember as one of the least objectionable Britpop acts. I'm not entirely sure why we went: we like a few of their songs, but we're hardly huge fans of theirs. It wasn't a very good idea to go, unfortunately: they played the famous OCS songs, which were fun, but they also played a lot of boring filler that didn't really go anywhere. Overall, they just seemed a bit old and tired, and they generally phoned their performance in. The support band - a Dundee-based band called The Law - were good, though.
The second was much better. The headline act was a guy I'd been at school with, Frank Turner. Frank's gone on record as saying that a lot of people who claim to have been his friends back then weren't, so I'll just say this: we were in the same house, a couple of years apart; he introduced me to punk and metal, and fifteen years later I'm still copying his haircut (though I see that he's moved on tonsorially). I was never a huge fan of his Eton band, the Badger Doritos, though I knew and liked the guys in it; I preferred the sound of his previous band, Headcase (in fact, I still have their EP, Wonderful World - listening again, it's got some good tunes). I remember him as smart, funny, friendly and fun to hang out with. I'd like to think he was a friend, anyway. I'd completely lost touch with Frank, but then a few months ago another friend said "Hey, remember Frank Turner? Apparently he's the next big thing in music", and linked me to this interview. "Cool," I thought, "I wonder if he's playing near me any time?"
Anyway, the gig itself. Unlike the OCS gig, there was very little standing around and getting cold: we went straight into a high-energy, high-fun punk set by Crazy Arm, followed up by a folk/rock set by Chuck Ragan. Then it was time for the man himself, and I'm delighted to say that he played one of the best live sets I've seen, ever. For mostly unrelated reasons, I'd been feeling a bit black, and the previous sets, while enjoyable, did little to lift my mood, but Frank shattered it. Great tunes, great lyrics (what I could hear of them, anyway - I look forward to going through the liner notes of my newly-purchased CDs), emotional highs and lows, singalong choruses (to which everyone else knew the words), and just enough politics. On a personal level, it's great to see him doing so well, with hundreds of obviously adoring fans, a strong back catalogue, a great stage presence, and a Top 40 Album; but on a more basic level, I just had a fantastic time.
Go and see him. You will thank me for this. Tour dates here. He's on a British tour for the rest of March, making his way slowly southwards, then he's on tour in Europe in early April, playing a few dates on the West Coast (US/Canada) in mid-April, and then touring Australasia.
Edit: Partial set list
In no particular order:
- Reasons Not To Be An Idiot (not sure about this one)
- Photosynthesis
- To Take You Home
- Jet Lag
- The Real Damage
- Once We Were Anarchists
- The Ballad of Me and My Friends
- Sons of Liberty