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