The Grates
The Grates
with The John Steel Singers and The Vasco Era
The Gov, 12 Oct 2008
Last night - yes, Sunday night - was The Grates gig at the Gov. Considering I'd thought "quiet" artist Josh Pyke was too loud at this venue last time (due to the sound mix, not due to his songs!) I took the aural precautions - and wore earplugs. It did help, and I could still quite easily hear the music and people talking. Added benefit - I wasn't deaf afterwards, and no tinnitus :)
So how was the music?
Let's start with the supports - I quite enjoyed The John Steel Singers, despite their unfortunate setbacks of a broken guitar string (or two) during early songs, and then a snare drum spring snapping too! I was actually surprised that I recognised quite a few of their songs (from radio play on JJJ) and they are quite easy on the ear and tuneful as well. I'll certainly keep an eye on what they're doing from now on.
The Vasco Era were very energetic and enthusiastic, and their front man can belt out the tunes very well. However, I'm not sure it's the sort of music I like that much, so I remain fairly ambivalent about their performance.
Then onto the main act - The Grates. Pinwheels on stage and gobos shining their logo on the drummer, Alana, these guys certainly know how to work an already excitable crowd. Singer Patience is a crazy bundle of energy - she never ever ever stops jumping around, which is great for the energy of the crowd, but it sucks when you're trying to take photos!
The best shot I managed to get was during the song "Trampoline" when Patience came into the audience and jumped up on some guy's shoulders to sing "Higher! Higher!"
Rest of the photos are on Flickr, here
I had a wonderful time and got caught up in the show too (which is great) - so I didn't video a lot of my favourite songs, because it was more fun to sing and jump along.
But I did get a few, of course:
And the rest are here on Youtube
So a very enjoyable Sunday night, but I did not look forward to (nor enjoyed) getting up at 6.30 the next morning for work...
Thanks to penguin_tummy for joining me :)
Next Gig: Sophie Koh at Fowlers Live, Sunday 19th October.
I'm not a fan of this venue, but I still want to see Sophie perform again. Anyone else want to join me?
with The John Steel Singers and The Vasco Era
The Gov, 12 Oct 2008
Last night - yes, Sunday night - was The Grates gig at the Gov. Considering I'd thought "quiet" artist Josh Pyke was too loud at this venue last time (due to the sound mix, not due to his songs!) I took the aural precautions - and wore earplugs. It did help, and I could still quite easily hear the music and people talking. Added benefit - I wasn't deaf afterwards, and no tinnitus :)
So how was the music?
Let's start with the supports - I quite enjoyed The John Steel Singers, despite their unfortunate setbacks of a broken guitar string (or two) during early songs, and then a snare drum spring snapping too! I was actually surprised that I recognised quite a few of their songs (from radio play on JJJ) and they are quite easy on the ear and tuneful as well. I'll certainly keep an eye on what they're doing from now on.
The Vasco Era were very energetic and enthusiastic, and their front man can belt out the tunes very well. However, I'm not sure it's the sort of music I like that much, so I remain fairly ambivalent about their performance.
Then onto the main act - The Grates. Pinwheels on stage and gobos shining their logo on the drummer, Alana, these guys certainly know how to work an already excitable crowd. Singer Patience is a crazy bundle of energy - she never ever ever stops jumping around, which is great for the energy of the crowd, but it sucks when you're trying to take photos!
The best shot I managed to get was during the song "Trampoline" when Patience came into the audience and jumped up on some guy's shoulders to sing "Higher! Higher!"
Rest of the photos are on Flickr, here
I had a wonderful time and got caught up in the show too (which is great) - so I didn't video a lot of my favourite songs, because it was more fun to sing and jump along.
But I did get a few, of course:
Click to viewAnd the rest are here on Youtube
So a very enjoyable Sunday night, but I did not look forward to (nor enjoyed) getting up at 6.30 the next morning for work...
Thanks to penguin_tummy for joining me :)
Next Gig: Sophie Koh at Fowlers Live, Sunday 19th October.
I'm not a fan of this venue, but I still want to see Sophie perform again. Anyone else want to join me?