Andy Burrows at Old Queen's Head. March 23, 2011.
Andy Burrows is the former drummer of Razorlight who left the band to start his own solo act which was initially called I Am Arrows.
Had the fantastic opportunity to see him live back when he supported Muse at Wembley Stadium last year and despite the size of the venue, they were able to fill up the venue quite well.
When I noticed the Indie meetup group announcing his show at Old Queen's Head, I decided it would be nice to see the band again especially in a venue 1000 times smaller than Wembley Stadium. I enjoyed the company of the Indie meetup group, so decided to tag along with them yet again.
Oddly enough, I was unable to find the gig listing on Last.fm as I Am Arrows but it as it was listed as Andy Burrows. Apparently, at some point, he decided to call the band under his name again despite retaining the same members.
Met up with the group at the downstairs bar of Old Queen's Head and once we were a sizable group of around 5-6 people, we moved upstairs and were lucky enough to get seats.
Interesting conversations with lovely people, a couple of which kept on raving about how amazing Funeral Party was when they played in Camden a few days before. Got my tickets to see them in May but have at this point, haven't really listened to them properly. At the time of this writing, they are one of my favourite bands along with The Naked And Famous.
Support for the evening was Seye who was surprisingly amazing. His voice was quite elegant, the acoustic guitar playing was fitting to his voice. Played a few songs only but was quite fantastic. He was helped out by his friend Marcel for additional guitars and vocals.
It really good fun watching a gig in a group as it burns the time in between acts. More discussions about festivals and bands over pints of beer.
Andy Burrows walked on stage and started covering some songs which he said was his way of easing into things. Before he started though, he was looking for a guitar capo. After about 15 seconds, he noticed it was clipped to the head of the guitar. It was amusing.
The rest of his band came up on stage after a couple of cover songs.
The band played songs from their album Sun Comes Up Again including Nun, Green Grass, Another Picture of You, Hurricane, and Nice Try as well as a few new songs.
In all seriousness, their set was quite a mess. Andy seemed to be on something that night or may have had a few drinks to many and too early. There was the capo story, then playing the guitar intro for a song but not knowing the lyrics to the song, being unable to tune the guitar, etc.
It did turn out to be very hilarious as everyone was just laughing it up. Andy provided some comic relief while things were going awry in the background. It was a small venue at a gig and nobody was there to see a serious set from a band but rather have a fun evening.
When they eventually got their act together and started playing, everything got serious and their music filled the room with some people singing along.
It was a completely different experience compared to the last time I saw them. At Wembley Stadium, they were supporting one of the biggest bands in the world at the moment and most fans hardly knew them. They needed to play a set which was well rehearsed and professional which they were more than able to pull off.
At Old Queen's Head, they had the chance to simply be themselves and play their songs to people who simply enjoy an evening of good music. I do think Andy may have gone a bit too far with it though. Still, incredibly fun.
In comparison, Seye played a more professional and well-rehearsed set.
Unlike all the other 90+ gigs I've been to, I stayed with a few people from the meetup group for a drink after the gig finished. Lovely conversations and plans to go to Camden Crawl and Stag & Dagger Festival. Been longing to go for years now and have finally found people to go with. As such, tickets have now been booked.
Had the fantastic opportunity to see him live back when he supported Muse at Wembley Stadium last year and despite the size of the venue, they were able to fill up the venue quite well.
When I noticed the Indie meetup group announcing his show at Old Queen's Head, I decided it would be nice to see the band again especially in a venue 1000 times smaller than Wembley Stadium. I enjoyed the company of the Indie meetup group, so decided to tag along with them yet again.
Oddly enough, I was unable to find the gig listing on Last.fm as I Am Arrows but it as it was listed as Andy Burrows. Apparently, at some point, he decided to call the band under his name again despite retaining the same members.
Met up with the group at the downstairs bar of Old Queen's Head and once we were a sizable group of around 5-6 people, we moved upstairs and were lucky enough to get seats.
Interesting conversations with lovely people, a couple of which kept on raving about how amazing Funeral Party was when they played in Camden a few days before. Got my tickets to see them in May but have at this point, haven't really listened to them properly. At the time of this writing, they are one of my favourite bands along with The Naked And Famous.
Support for the evening was Seye who was surprisingly amazing. His voice was quite elegant, the acoustic guitar playing was fitting to his voice. Played a few songs only but was quite fantastic. He was helped out by his friend Marcel for additional guitars and vocals.
It really good fun watching a gig in a group as it burns the time in between acts. More discussions about festivals and bands over pints of beer.
Andy Burrows walked on stage and started covering some songs which he said was his way of easing into things. Before he started though, he was looking for a guitar capo. After about 15 seconds, he noticed it was clipped to the head of the guitar. It was amusing.
The rest of his band came up on stage after a couple of cover songs.
The band played songs from their album Sun Comes Up Again including Nun, Green Grass, Another Picture of You, Hurricane, and Nice Try as well as a few new songs.
In all seriousness, their set was quite a mess. Andy seemed to be on something that night or may have had a few drinks to many and too early. There was the capo story, then playing the guitar intro for a song but not knowing the lyrics to the song, being unable to tune the guitar, etc.
It did turn out to be very hilarious as everyone was just laughing it up. Andy provided some comic relief while things were going awry in the background. It was a small venue at a gig and nobody was there to see a serious set from a band but rather have a fun evening.
When they eventually got their act together and started playing, everything got serious and their music filled the room with some people singing along.
It was a completely different experience compared to the last time I saw them. At Wembley Stadium, they were supporting one of the biggest bands in the world at the moment and most fans hardly knew them. They needed to play a set which was well rehearsed and professional which they were more than able to pull off.
At Old Queen's Head, they had the chance to simply be themselves and play their songs to people who simply enjoy an evening of good music. I do think Andy may have gone a bit too far with it though. Still, incredibly fun.
In comparison, Seye played a more professional and well-rehearsed set.
Unlike all the other 90+ gigs I've been to, I stayed with a few people from the meetup group for a drink after the gig finished. Lovely conversations and plans to go to Camden Crawl and Stag & Dagger Festival. Been longing to go for years now and have finally found people to go with. As such, tickets have now been booked.