Tonight we're going to party like it's...
01/01/06 Throbbing Gristle at the Volksbühne, Berlin.
This one was an all-seated show, and they played a new, improvised soundtrack to Derek Jarman's film, In The Shadow Of The Sun. The lack of genuine songs meant that it wasn't quite as fun as the previous night had been: but, hey, it's still TG!
07/01/06 Babyshambles at Jazz After Dark, London.
A tiny place just off Soho Square, maybe fifty people there, certainly no more than that. Pat had just left the band, so they were down to a three-piece. And was Drew playing an upright double bass? I have a feeling that he might have been.
10/02/06 Belle & Sebastian at the Hammersmith Apollo.
My main memory of this is that I initially turned up at the Shepherds Bush Empire, and couldn't understand why they weren't playing. But I made it to the right place in the end.
08/03/06 Dirty Pretty Things at the KCLSU, London.
It was like those shows that The Libertines did without Peter, only with a less interesting setlist.
29/03/06 Larrikin Love at the Water Rats, London.
I thought they were great. So eclectic in their influences, one could hear everything from ska and calypso to klezmer. Kind of like The Coral, but with better songs. Edward broke one of the lights: but, hey, if they will insist on having such a low ceiling, then accidents will happen!
30/03/06 Misty's Big Adventure at the Windmill, Brixton.
I was a little unnerved to find that one of my students was working behind the bar. But Misty's Big Adventure were as charming as ever.
27/04/06 The Slits at Electrowerkz, London.
They were absolutely magnificent. Really, really wonderful. Since then, I have been due to be seeing them on two separate occasions, two years apart, and they've cancelled both.
29/04/06 Belle & Sebastian/Lethal Bizzle in Trafalgar Square, London.
This was a Love Music, Hate Racism event, and lots of other people also played, but those were the only two worth mentioning. Poly Styrene was supposed to appear, but didn't, with no explanation given. And Babyshambles were also supposed to appear, but didn't, because Peter had been arrested on the basis of that morning's tabloids. Because apparently the police regard the front page of The Sun as constituting 'evidence'. The story, like so many of them, was swiftly proven to be wholly spurious: but not quite swiftly enough, prompting a massed chant of "Fuck the police!" Drew came out anyway, and sang 'Albion' by himself, but it wasn't much of a consolation.
08/05/06 Take That at Wembley Arena.
I must admit, I never expected their reunion to go quite as well as it has turned out: but I've certainly been pleased to watch it happen.
26/05/06 Take That at Wembley Arena.
And they really pulled out all the stops with the show too. No sitting around on stools for them! There was fire, there was rain, there were holograms, there were multiple stages, there was dancing: there was everything a boy could wish for. They even revived the Beatles medley I'd seen them do on the 1994 tour. :o)
04/06/06 Vashti Bunyan/Emma Pollock at the Conway Hall, London.
This was one of the 'Homefires' festivals, organised by that Adem guy. And I had the misfortune to catch some of his songs as I arrived. I cannot think of anyone in music that I despise more than him. He's even more annoying than Jools Holland! Absolutely loathesome in every way. It goes way beyond his vile music: I've never met the guy (and hope that I never do), and yet I harbour a deep hatred for him on a personal level. He has a beard, for heaven's sake! People in bands shouldn't have beards. I can begrudgingly tolerate them on folks from the 1960s, because they didn't know any better back then. But nowadays there's just no excuse for it. But I digress. Emma Pollock was from The Delgados, now trying her luck as a solo artist, but it didn't really work for me. Vashti was nice though.
07/06/06 Larrikin Love/586 at the KCLSU, London.
586 were a cutesy, incompetent, teenage, boy-girl indiepop combo: just how I like 'em!
15/06/06 I, Ludicrous at the Bull & Gate, London.
Looking at the date, this must have been their World Cup special, where they adapted a Joy Division song in honour of Peter Crouch: 'He's Lost Control'.
21/06/06 The Strokes/Belle & Sebastian/The Raconteurs/Dirty Pretty Things in Hyde Park, London.
Four bands (or at least individuals from other bands) that had once been interesting, but just weren't any more.
08/07/06 Nitzer Ebb at Electrowerkz, London.
I was curious. They were appalling. I was no longer curious. Job done.
11/07/06 James Dean Bradfield at the ULU, London.
I had little interest in his solo songs, but I felt that the versions the band played of 'This Is Yesterday' and 'No Surface All Feeling' were better than I'd ever heard them from the Manics themselves. I guess that's what comes from having a bassist who can actually play.
27/08/06 Babyshambles/Buzzcocks/Lily Allen/The Pipettes/Lethal Bizzle/Misty's Big Adventure on Clapham Common, London.
Lethal Bizzle, Misty's Big Adventure, The Pipettes and Lily Allen were all great. Surprisingly, so too were Babyshambles. Buzzcocks were not great, musically, but they came across as such a roly-poly bundle of joy that it was hard not to like them. I also saw De La Soul, Bez, and Graham Coxon, but they varied from the shockingly poor (Bez) to the no-more-than-tolerable (Graham Coxon).
07/09/06 Larrikin Love at the Scala, London.
Too crowded, but still nice musically.
09/09/06 Robbie Williams/Basement Jaxx/Orson in Roundhay Park, Leeds.
Orson were predictably rubbish. Basement Jaxx are clearly very good at what they do, but it's not my cup of tea. As for Robbie, he was a bit under the weather and it showed. But the lad's a trooper and, even when he can't manage to give it 110%, he'll still give it 100% -- and who can reasonably ask for more than that?
13/09/06 Dirty Pretty Things at the Coronet, London.
I doubt I'd have gone, had it not been free. The Libertines once promised to do a free show for the fan club, but then they promptly split up. But they never forgot their pledge, and this half of the band finally honoured it. Paul Weller guested on a couple of songs -- but then I always hated Paul Weller. I do have one very fond memory, though. Some girl asked me for a cigarette or a light or something. As I was fumbling with stuff from my pocket, I noticed the point that we were arriving at in the song, 'I Get Along', and I recalled the old audience-participation routine from the Libertines days. I said to her, "Excuse me", and then screamed "FUCK 'EM!" at the top of my lungs, before matter-of-factly returning to what I was doing.
05/10/06 Babyshambles at the Brixton Academy.
They played 'I Get Along' as well, but in a slightly peculiar lounge-bar arrangement. There were a fair few "fuck 'em"s there too.
07/10/06 Psychic TV at the Astoria, London.
Janine came with me. There was no support band, and they came on around 7:45 to a largely empty room. The room did fill up a little bit as things progressed, but it was still only half-full by the end. And that was on the ground: the balcony was entirely empty, presumably closed off. It also seemed to get both louder and darker as it progressed, but perhaps that was my imagination. I'd been a little apprehensive that it would all be new material, but it mostly turned out to be new arrangements of old material, and they closed on a cover of The Velvet Underground's 'Candy Says'. And it was entertaining enough. They're no Throbbing Gristle though.
24/10/06 Misty's Big Adventure at the 100 Club, London.
And Janine came with me for this one too, and she absolutely loved it. As I was quite certain that she would. What's not to love?
23/12/06 The Pipettes/Misty's Big Adventure at the Roundhouse, London.
More or less a reprise of the Scala show a year earlier -- all the important bits, at any rate. I was amused, during the Pipettes' set, to observe that they evidently weren't accustomed to playing on such a large stage. There was this cleverly choreographed bit in the middle of 'Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me', where the lyrics allude to holding hands, and so the three of them would all do precisely that, and then dance around one another. It was actually a really beautiful moment. Only this time, when they stuck out their hands, they found themselves clutching only air. Too far apart. Whoops-a-daisy. But it was a very nice show, and it really made it feel like Christmas.
This one was an all-seated show, and they played a new, improvised soundtrack to Derek Jarman's film, In The Shadow Of The Sun. The lack of genuine songs meant that it wasn't quite as fun as the previous night had been: but, hey, it's still TG!
07/01/06 Babyshambles at Jazz After Dark, London.
A tiny place just off Soho Square, maybe fifty people there, certainly no more than that. Pat had just left the band, so they were down to a three-piece. And was Drew playing an upright double bass? I have a feeling that he might have been.
10/02/06 Belle & Sebastian at the Hammersmith Apollo.
My main memory of this is that I initially turned up at the Shepherds Bush Empire, and couldn't understand why they weren't playing. But I made it to the right place in the end.
08/03/06 Dirty Pretty Things at the KCLSU, London.
It was like those shows that The Libertines did without Peter, only with a less interesting setlist.
29/03/06 Larrikin Love at the Water Rats, London.
I thought they were great. So eclectic in their influences, one could hear everything from ska and calypso to klezmer. Kind of like The Coral, but with better songs. Edward broke one of the lights: but, hey, if they will insist on having such a low ceiling, then accidents will happen!
30/03/06 Misty's Big Adventure at the Windmill, Brixton.
I was a little unnerved to find that one of my students was working behind the bar. But Misty's Big Adventure were as charming as ever.
27/04/06 The Slits at Electrowerkz, London.
They were absolutely magnificent. Really, really wonderful. Since then, I have been due to be seeing them on two separate occasions, two years apart, and they've cancelled both.
29/04/06 Belle & Sebastian/Lethal Bizzle in Trafalgar Square, London.
This was a Love Music, Hate Racism event, and lots of other people also played, but those were the only two worth mentioning. Poly Styrene was supposed to appear, but didn't, with no explanation given. And Babyshambles were also supposed to appear, but didn't, because Peter had been arrested on the basis of that morning's tabloids. Because apparently the police regard the front page of The Sun as constituting 'evidence'. The story, like so many of them, was swiftly proven to be wholly spurious: but not quite swiftly enough, prompting a massed chant of "Fuck the police!" Drew came out anyway, and sang 'Albion' by himself, but it wasn't much of a consolation.
08/05/06 Take That at Wembley Arena.
I must admit, I never expected their reunion to go quite as well as it has turned out: but I've certainly been pleased to watch it happen.
26/05/06 Take That at Wembley Arena.
And they really pulled out all the stops with the show too. No sitting around on stools for them! There was fire, there was rain, there were holograms, there were multiple stages, there was dancing: there was everything a boy could wish for. They even revived the Beatles medley I'd seen them do on the 1994 tour. :o)
04/06/06 Vashti Bunyan/Emma Pollock at the Conway Hall, London.
This was one of the 'Homefires' festivals, organised by that Adem guy. And I had the misfortune to catch some of his songs as I arrived. I cannot think of anyone in music that I despise more than him. He's even more annoying than Jools Holland! Absolutely loathesome in every way. It goes way beyond his vile music: I've never met the guy (and hope that I never do), and yet I harbour a deep hatred for him on a personal level. He has a beard, for heaven's sake! People in bands shouldn't have beards. I can begrudgingly tolerate them on folks from the 1960s, because they didn't know any better back then. But nowadays there's just no excuse for it. But I digress. Emma Pollock was from The Delgados, now trying her luck as a solo artist, but it didn't really work for me. Vashti was nice though.
07/06/06 Larrikin Love/586 at the KCLSU, London.
586 were a cutesy, incompetent, teenage, boy-girl indiepop combo: just how I like 'em!
15/06/06 I, Ludicrous at the Bull & Gate, London.
Looking at the date, this must have been their World Cup special, where they adapted a Joy Division song in honour of Peter Crouch: 'He's Lost Control'.
21/06/06 The Strokes/Belle & Sebastian/The Raconteurs/Dirty Pretty Things in Hyde Park, London.
Four bands (or at least individuals from other bands) that had once been interesting, but just weren't any more.
08/07/06 Nitzer Ebb at Electrowerkz, London.
I was curious. They were appalling. I was no longer curious. Job done.
11/07/06 James Dean Bradfield at the ULU, London.
I had little interest in his solo songs, but I felt that the versions the band played of 'This Is Yesterday' and 'No Surface All Feeling' were better than I'd ever heard them from the Manics themselves. I guess that's what comes from having a bassist who can actually play.
27/08/06 Babyshambles/Buzzcocks/Lily Allen/The Pipettes/Lethal Bizzle/Misty's Big Adventure on Clapham Common, London.
Lethal Bizzle, Misty's Big Adventure, The Pipettes and Lily Allen were all great. Surprisingly, so too were Babyshambles. Buzzcocks were not great, musically, but they came across as such a roly-poly bundle of joy that it was hard not to like them. I also saw De La Soul, Bez, and Graham Coxon, but they varied from the shockingly poor (Bez) to the no-more-than-tolerable (Graham Coxon).
07/09/06 Larrikin Love at the Scala, London.
Too crowded, but still nice musically.
09/09/06 Robbie Williams/Basement Jaxx/Orson in Roundhay Park, Leeds.
Orson were predictably rubbish. Basement Jaxx are clearly very good at what they do, but it's not my cup of tea. As for Robbie, he was a bit under the weather and it showed. But the lad's a trooper and, even when he can't manage to give it 110%, he'll still give it 100% -- and who can reasonably ask for more than that?
13/09/06 Dirty Pretty Things at the Coronet, London.
I doubt I'd have gone, had it not been free. The Libertines once promised to do a free show for the fan club, but then they promptly split up. But they never forgot their pledge, and this half of the band finally honoured it. Paul Weller guested on a couple of songs -- but then I always hated Paul Weller. I do have one very fond memory, though. Some girl asked me for a cigarette or a light or something. As I was fumbling with stuff from my pocket, I noticed the point that we were arriving at in the song, 'I Get Along', and I recalled the old audience-participation routine from the Libertines days. I said to her, "Excuse me", and then screamed "FUCK 'EM!" at the top of my lungs, before matter-of-factly returning to what I was doing.
05/10/06 Babyshambles at the Brixton Academy.
They played 'I Get Along' as well, but in a slightly peculiar lounge-bar arrangement. There were a fair few "fuck 'em"s there too.
07/10/06 Psychic TV at the Astoria, London.
Janine came with me. There was no support band, and they came on around 7:45 to a largely empty room. The room did fill up a little bit as things progressed, but it was still only half-full by the end. And that was on the ground: the balcony was entirely empty, presumably closed off. It also seemed to get both louder and darker as it progressed, but perhaps that was my imagination. I'd been a little apprehensive that it would all be new material, but it mostly turned out to be new arrangements of old material, and they closed on a cover of The Velvet Underground's 'Candy Says'. And it was entertaining enough. They're no Throbbing Gristle though.
24/10/06 Misty's Big Adventure at the 100 Club, London.
And Janine came with me for this one too, and she absolutely loved it. As I was quite certain that she would. What's not to love?
23/12/06 The Pipettes/Misty's Big Adventure at the Roundhouse, London.
More or less a reprise of the Scala show a year earlier -- all the important bits, at any rate. I was amused, during the Pipettes' set, to observe that they evidently weren't accustomed to playing on such a large stage. There was this cleverly choreographed bit in the middle of 'Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me', where the lyrics allude to holding hands, and so the three of them would all do precisely that, and then dance around one another. It was actually a really beautiful moment. Only this time, when they stuck out their hands, they found themselves clutching only air. Too far apart. Whoops-a-daisy. But it was a very nice show, and it really made it feel like Christmas.