Tubelord at the Hare & Hounds 05/11/2009

Maybe it's because it's a Thursday. Maybe it's because it's raining. Or maybe it's because it's Bonfire Night. Somewhere out there a Guy is on fire. And maybe a towerblock too, as I saw a few fire engines surrounding one on the way into Kings Heath. Either way, by 8:30 there's still only about 30 people tops in the second, smaller room upstairs in the Hare. There is another gig on in the room next door, but that seems quiet too. What's wrong with people, £5 for an awesome line up? Words fail me sometimes.
First up this evening are 3 lovely boys from Birmingham who go by the name of Shapes. Not so long ago they released their second EP on Big Scary Monsters, which gives the uninitiated an idea of what they've got in store. They seem somewhat amused by the fact they have never played at the Hare, and despite the lacklustre turn out they play with as much energy as they can muster, but not before asking everyone to stand up and move from the comfy sofas that line the room. "It is a gig after all!" guitarist Steve Bachelor reminds the crowd. This evening the band tend to favour their newer material over the old, which is a shame as their first EP was immense. However, they still treat the amassed with their slabs of spastic prog-metal, launching from the stage into the front row with reckless abandon. Closing with 'You Butcher', I can't help but feel a little let down as they were nowhere near as exciting as they were on my last encounter with them, though I must commend their manners, for they thanked everyone for chosing the gig instead of a bonfire. Bless.

Now, something tells me either Tall Ships are new to this game, or maybe they are just having a touch of really bad luck (I think it may be the latter option): guitar strings break during the first song, keyboard in another, several moments where everything seems (to paraphrase the Shapes song) to be more out of tune than everything else... yet simultaneous to this there are moments of clarity where Tall Ships shine, showing themselves to be a magnificantly forward-thinking and creative outfit (albeit, their choice of clothing may leave a lot to be desired). It's an odd set-up with two facing keyboards in the middle and an assortment of pedals underneath. There are also bits of drum in places other than at the drum kit. It's hard to explain, look on their myspace and you will get a better idea of what's going on. Anyway, the great thing about Tall Ships is that all their songs are built out of loops ie. play a bit of guitar, loop it, play some more over the top and so on. It will be interesting to hear how this translates on record, as tonight some of what they were doing was simply lost in the live setting. Their last song was my favourite simply on the merit of how messed up it was. There was instruments being swapped like wives, a dirty distorted keyboard loop, and the bassist climbed up the PA system to hit a cymbal. They were also joined by Joseph and Sean from Tubelord who helped make even more of a racket and brought their set to a close. I clapped a lot.

Finally Tubelord take to the stage and those in attendance finally act like it's a rock show, getting on their feet and moving forward in the general direction of the stage. The Kingston three-piece work their way through tracks from debut Our First American Friends, and it's upon hearing these tracks live you realise how fun and creative a band they are. I personally felt a little let down by their album, as it didn't for me capture them as acurately as their live show - which sometimes wanders in to the raw and rough around the edges. Yet, it is the live Tubelord which really captivates me. There is something of old Biffy in Joe's guitar riffs, whilst his lyrics remind me of Reuben, somewhat cryptic in places but always anthemic. The subtle use of glockenspiel on a couple of tracks draws the band in another direction, a much more chilled an laid back one, whilst these slower songs are easily balanced out by their bouncy emo-pop in tracks like 'I am Azerrad' and 'Night of the Pencils', the latter of which they sing "three is the magic number" over the final chorus, to much amusement and big smiles. Towards the end of the set Joe decided to read some poetry, and asked everyone to sit down on the floor. Which, strangely, everyone did. There was something a bit surreal about a room of people at a gig sitting on the floor whilst listening to a poetry recital, but at the same time it's touches like this that make Tubelord so special. I did whip out my camera at this point to take a photo but got a little embarresed when Joe pointed at me and told everyone to check out the art student (I wish). And almost as soon as it had begun, it was over, as the gang smash their way through the last song regardless of having broken several strings. And as I stepped out onto Kings Heath High Street with the smell of fireworks in the air, there was no way I could consider that tonight, despite low numbers, anyone had been short-changed.

Passion Pit at the O2 Academy 01/11/2009

My second time in the O2 Academy in a matter of days, and this time I at least felt a little more aware of my surroundings. It couldn't be any more different a crowd either - quite a diverse mix was filing into Academy 2, probably due to the amount of hype and/or airplay that Passion Pit have received over the last few months. But, first things first, we have an odd gentleman on the stage who is surrounded by keyboards and boxes with leads coming out of them. That man is Max Tundra (real name Ben Jacobs, fact fans), and whilst knowing the name I had never heard his music. By honest first impression was "what on earth is this?", and it's a good question if ever there was one. This balding 30-something makes music which sounds like a cross between a Nintendo 64 and Nathan Barley's ringtone, or (just so I can use another silly similie) the soundtrack to Vince Noir's wet dreams. It's not bad stuff, his 90s rave track being my highlight, but it's too early on a dreary Sunday evening, and Max sems to be too much for most and more faces painted a picture of confusion than anything else. He finished his set with his rendition of the Goodbye Song. Irony, much?

Next up were one of my highlights of Hop Farm festival, The Joy Formidable. Despite only having a mini-album to their name, the show the Welsh power-trio put on comes across like a greatest hits set. 'The Greatest Light...', 'Whirring' et al. all sound fresh and absolutley vital in the live environment, singer/guitarist Ritzy is every inch the rockstar, despite being tiny... and very cute. They remind me very much of the late great JJ72, with the smallest smattering of Smashing Pumpkins heaviness for good measure. Drummer Matt Thomas is a powerhouse of a drummer and pummels the kit within an inch of its life. TJF should be huge, and with a self-financed live album on its way, we will all be able to relive the excellence of their live show in our bedrooms. I'm looking forward to catching them again in the future, but will have to get used to the fact they will be moving into larger rooms sooner rather than later.

Hype can be a double-edged sword. It can build you up, but it can also knock you down, and tonight it did the latter. Despite the high expectations I had from from the rave reviews about the band, and from their enjoyable debut record Manners, tonight Passion Pit fell short of the buzz that surrounds them. Although there are moments of pure electronic pop beauty in singles like 'The Reeling', other songs are lost in the ether in the live setting, missing the fragile layers that exist on the LP itself. That's not to say the band weren't playing well, but after The Joy Formidable's set it was hard for me to get as excited about them as the previous trio. A faulty mic lead also led to mayhem for the band played through 'I've Got Your Number' (one of their most popular tracks) as an instrumental, oblivious to the crowds blank response and shouts that there were no vocals. Luckily, following some swapping of cables the band obliged the crowds calls of "Again!" and played the track through once more with the vocals. Its probably the only time I've seen a band play the same song twice, with possibly the exception of Let's Wrestle, but they are a whole different kettle of fish. Maybe another time Passion Pit would shine, but for tonight at least the politely bow out, knowing that it wasn't their strongest show, but still an enjoyable evening.

Funeral for a Friend at the O2 Academy 30/10/2009

Right, I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into when I bought a ticket for this event. Organised by Vans, and heralded as the "Off the Wall New Music Night", I was almost certain of what the music would be like and what the demographic of the audience that matched this music would be. On both of these accounts I was not let down. Yet still, I made my way to the new O2 in order to catch two bands: one new, and one old. I would probably have tried to catch some of the smaller acts playing in Academy 3 if doors hadn't been so early, meaning that by the time I actually managed to get home from work, change, catch train, walk across Birmingham, get into the venue, I had missed a large chunk of the evening. Luckily, chances are I wouldn't have missed anything exciting. As I made my way through the maze of corridors between rooms, trying to a) find my bearings, and b) not get knocked over by marauding teens, I found myself in the smallest of the Academy rooms watching a band called Prego. They were playing fairly average/instantly forgettable alt.rock/emo, and looking at my watch I realised that local heroes Blakfish were about to start in Academy 2. I was excited. I left and made my way upstairs.

I love Blakfish, and tonight's performance just acted as fuel to the fire of my interest in them. The sound wasn't fantastic, with there being far too much bass in the mix, however they were just as mouthy as ever, levelling insults towards the other bands on the bill, Vans' merchandising policy, and members of the audience who had the audacity to leave the room mid-set. And there wasn't that many people in the room to begin with. They even managed to break part of the monitor. Playing through a set which comprised mostly of tracks from Champions, the band threw their all into 'Jeremy Kyle is a Marked Man' and the classic 'Economics', as well as the almighty group sing-along that is set closer 'Ringo Star: 2nd Best Drummer in the Beatles' with band and (what remained of) the crowd joining together with the cries that "it could be worse, we could be dead. I don't know how we survived, all I know is we did." Of course, it could be worse than that - they could be in any of the other over-the-top, over-produced, Americanized groups which littered the bill (they threw down several cheeky bars of a Green Day song, before laughing themselves out of it). Instead, Blakfish present something real and raw, it may sound unpolished tonight, but they are still fascinating and unpredictable to watch. It just seems that this crowd aren't that interested. And in one final act of rebellion Sam and Thom left the stage, walked to the back of the room and climbed on the bar, still singing the "it could be worse..." refrain... before they were promptly told off and asked to get down by security staff. Brilliant.

Following all that I was left at a bit of a loss. There was nothing that really took my fancy at all, and it was only roughly one set away from Funeral for a Friend who were obviously the old band I wanted to see. Cutting my losses, I decided to try and get a decent spot in the main room, which also meant having to watch Fightstar. It appears that to be a fan of Fightstar you either have to be an obnoxious teenager or approaching middle-age and trying to recapture your youth. Either way, their appeal was lost on me. Perhaps it's due to the fact I had little knowledge of their music outside of the odd single, or maybe it's just because to me most of their material sounded like sub-standard Deftones covers.

So it is left to Funeral for a Friend to lift my spirits. Considering I've been following the band off and on since the release of their first EP way back in 2002 I'm not sure how I've never managed to catch them live before. I'm not sure what the significance of the guy dressed as a banana was (Blink 182 video anyone?!) who came out to introduce the band to Stevie Wonder's 'I Just Called' but that aside, the band thrashed their way through a well thought out set which incorporated plenty of classics as well as some of their more recent tracks. This was a stroke of luck, as admittedly after their second LP my knowledge of them falters slightly. I was stoked to hear that tracks like 'Juno' and 'Bullet Theory' still rip it up and sound as fresh today as they did 7 years ago. In many ways, it's seeing bands like this that make me realise I am getting older. Corr, can you believe how long these guys have been around now! But hey, seeing them has helped fill the FfaF shaped void that has existed, and maybe just for that hour I was just like those obnoxious teens again, if only in spirit.

Everything Everything at the Flapper 28/10/2009

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I'm one of those people who find that if a band have a rubbish name I find it really hard to get over it and enjoy the band, thinking that bad name equals bad music. Fix Monday are a band with one of these names. However, despite the dodgy moniker, they aren't half as bad as I had anticipated and actually had a fair few catchy tracks, such as 'I Change' which got the crowd (myself including) tapping their feet. However, the highlight of their short set for me was their "reverse stage invasion", when the band dropped their instruments and came off stage and joined the crowd to perform a simple yet delicate vocal piece with four-part harmonies and the smallest amount of guitar to anchor them down. What I liked most about this was the way in which it confronted the audience - there was no way of ignoring them when they were stood in front of you. I didn't know where to look and almost felt I should hold my breath, an amazing moment from a band I had written off before even having heard them. Seems that Fix Monday are doing their very best to prove that old idiom wrong.

Next up were Findo Gask, who were the main reason I had come along, after being impressed by their performance alongside Dananananaykroyd earlier in the year at the Xbox Reverb gig at the Rainbow Warehouse. Now, before anyone thinks to say anything, yes they do have an odd name, but it's cool - they're Scottish, and named themselves after a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. They throw down a chilled out electro-pop groove which has glimpses of Hot Chip at their most inventive. There's a lot of instrument swapping and often it appears they are so full of ideas that what a lesser band would have milked out into 3 songs, the Gask boys will compress into one brilliantly formed pop gem. Playing through their singles, it is obvious what a talent Findo Gask are: 'Go Faster Stripe' being a personal favourite, as well as the multi-layered, twisting trumpet-led 'Nubo' from the One Eight Zero single, which comes on like a blissed out Youthmovies. They are a band I will definately be keeping an eye our for in the future, as they are a fun band to watch and lovely guys to talk to too. I recomend you hunt down the aforementioned single, it's brilliant.

Last but not least this evening were Everything Everything, who I had heard very little about apart from a few good things from a friend. They stay in a similar world to Findo Gask, writing inexhaustably creative electronic-tinged indie with some amazingly obscure lyrics. They were a bit of a funny looking troop, but have some truly brilliant tracks, namely their trilogy of singles: 'Suffragette Suffragette', 'Photoshop Handsome', and 'My Keys, Your Girlfriend'. 'Photoshop...' is probably my pick of the lot, with its 8-bit gamer tune spliced to a wonderfully catchy vocal hook. I know it sounds crude, but this is probably what The Automatic wish they sounded like if they could actually write decent music.

The Twilight Sad at the Hare & Hounds 26/10/2009

My first impression of the evening was how busy the Hare and Hounds was; the gig room was positively crammed when Goodnight Lenin took to the stage. It seemed that a lot of people had come out to see the local lads play through a highly entertaining set which was a lot folkier than I personally was expecting. I don't mean that in anyway derogatory however, the band clearly have a penchant for writing catchy and emotive music, and I was very impressed by their harmonies. They even threw out a cheeky cover of Kings of Leon's 'Four Kicks', however to call it a cover would be unfair on Goodnight Lenin, who it was clear to hear they had put a lot of thought into their reinterpretation of the piece.

Next up were Manchester-based Mutineers who, despite having a well formed sound, failed to engage with the crowd and recapture those who had wandered off following the end of the previous set. The band obviously wear their New Order/Killers-esque influences on their sleeves, which came across in my favourite of their bunch 'Shadow Kisses', which was a slice of Get Ready era synth-pop. Sadly I felt that they were a bit out of place on the evening's bill, and could easily have shone much brighter on another evening.

Last up of course was The Twilight Sad and, accordingly, the room fills up again. Tonight they were at their most epic, playing an equal mix of classic material from 2007's Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters and new LP Forget the Night Ahead. Opening with 'Reflection of the Television' I was impressed with the sound in the Har, which was much better than when I saw them back in the summer at Hop Farm Festival, enabling every layer of their dense sound to be picked up. Also improved was the general demeanor of the band, whom had seemed unhappy at aformentioned festival, however tonight vocalist James Graham even cracked a funny, joking that he couldn't see Birmingham for the constant cloud being thrown out by the smoke machine, proving that they're not always as miserable as their music may suggest. The lighting was also spot on, providing an apt and dramatic setting for the group - suiting their brooding, cryptic tales which switch effortlessly from beautiful meloncholy to brutal frustration with the touch of a guitar pedal. Vocally, I am left breathless by this band, Graham is easily one of my favourite frontmen of the moment, the highlight of his prowess coming in set-closer 'Cold Days from the Birdhouse', where he holds the melody over little more than a monotonous hum, before breaking into the final refrain of "where are your manners?" framed beautifully by walls of cacophonous, crashing guitar. This was a night I won't be forgetting for a while.

You can buy The Twilight Sad's latest album, Forget the Night Ahead, from FatCat Records

Theatre

04 May 2001
Twelfth Night at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon / £8.00
21 October 2003
Clerk's & Merchant's Tales at the Shrewsbury Music Hall / £7.50
11 May 2007
King Lear at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon / £5.00
28 June 2007
Much Ado About Nothing at Stafford Castle (Open Air) / £14.00
15 May 2009
The Darling Buds of May at the Grange Playhouse, Walsall / £8.00
25 June 2009
Twelfth Night at Stafford Castle (Open Air) / £15.00

Cinema

19 Aug 2009
The Orphan / Odeon, Telford / £3.50
05 Aug 2009
The Taking of Pelham 123 / Odeon, Telford / £3.50
22 Jul 2009
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince / Odeon, Telford / £3.50
15 Jul 2009
Bruno / Odeon, Telford / £3.50
08 Jul 2009
The Hangover / Odeon, Telford / £3.40
01 Jul 2009
Year One / Odeon, Telford / £3.40
12 Jun 2009
Angels & Demons / Odeon, Telford / £3.40
05 May 2009
Che - Part Two / Odeon, Telford / £4.70
04 Mar 2009
Gran Torino / Odeon, Telford / £3.40
26 Feb 2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button / Odeon, Telford / £6.80
06 Jan 2009
Slumdog Millionaire / Odeon, Telford / £4.70
15 Dec 2009
Inkheart / Cineworld, Wolverhampton / £4.90
24 Sep 2008
Tropic Thunder / Odeon, Telford / £5.80
02 Aug 2008
Batman: The Dark Knight / Imax, Birmingham / £7.25
31 Mar 2004
The Passion of the Christ / UCI, Telford / £4.40
19 Feb 2004
School of Rock / UCI, Telford / £5.40
03 Nov 2003
Finding Nemo / UCI, Telford / £5.25
23 May 2003
The Matrix: Reloaded / UCI, Telford / £4.25
14 Aug 2002
Eight Legged Freaks / UCI, Telford / £3.50
30 Jun 2002
Rollerball / UCI, Telford / £5.25
06 Jun 2002
40 Days & 40 Nights / UCI, Telford / £5.25
01 Jun 2002
Not Another Teen Movie / UCI, Telford / £5.25
20 Apr 2002
The Scorpion King / UCI, Telford / £5.10
22 Jul 2001
Jurassic Park III / UGC, Eastbourne / £3.60