Several years ago now, back in 2006, a chum and I hopped the bus to Wickham for a day out at the village's then fledgling festival. Having avoided the massed Morris Dancers (one of whom stopped traffic by trying to stare down a bus) we pitched up in the bar to enjoy the day's entertainments, specifically the mid-afternoon set from Devon's Seth Lakeman.
Of course, as events have a way of transpiring, I missed most (well, pretty much all) of Mr Lakeman's set as my chum and I were having a cheeky beer with Scottish songsmith (and thoroughly nice chap) King Creosote who, having just entertained the crowd with a large chunk of KC Rules OK, had strolled into the bar with his backing band. Oh well, these things happen.
Moving swiftly on, Seth Lakeman is, as he seems to be quite frequently of late, on the road again. His autumn/winter tour, in support of the forthcoming 'Tales From The Barrel House' album, makes a couple of stops on the south coast this December; the Mercury Award nominee will pitch up at Brighton's Concorde 2 on Wednesday 14th December (tickets are priced at £18 in advance) before moseying along to The Brook in Southampton on Thursday 15th December (tickets £19 in advance).
UPDATE: The tour now includes a date at The Wedgewood Rooms, Wednesday 29th February. Tickets are on sale now priced £18 in advance.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Jesus Jones - 'International Bright Young Things'
So there I was, wilfing across the vast expanse of the internet as I'm usually wont to do of a lunchtime, when I stumbled across the news that 90's pop/rock combo Jesus Jones have reformed. And yes, I may have done a little happy dance.
Mike Edwards and chums are planning two 'thank you for your patience' gigs in November, one in London and the other in Birmingham, with plans afoot to tour the UK next year [crosses fingers for Portsmouth Guildhall].
OK, so the gigs aren't local but, well, any excuse to play this..
Saturday, October 08, 2011
NME Radar Tour @ The Wedgewood Rooms 04/10/2011
The NME Radar Tour always throws up a mixed bag of musical delights; like a tin of Quality Street you're never quite sure if you're going to get the Noisette Triangle or the Peanut Cracknell. The bands on this, the Autumn leg of the tour, are not unknown quantities however, I'd made sure I downloaded the tour EP from the venerable music mag's website beforehand. Nice.
Sweden's Niki & the Dove are first up; lead singer Malin Dahlström appears to have raided Cyndi Lauper's wardrobe whilst keyboardist Gustaf Karlöf has come straight from the set of Miami Vice. These are good things; I liked Cyndi Lauper, I liked Miami Vice and, is it transpires, I really love Niki & The Dove. I could be objective and witter on about where the elements of their music have been lifted from, or make comparisons to other fine acts from Scandinavian parts *koff*The Knife*koff* but, honestly, where's the fun in that? Suffice to say that I thought their performance was excellent, powerful, gripping and delicate. So, after this wonderful start, what follows?
Next to tread the boards are S.C.U.M, a London-based five piece who [reads notes] take their name from Valerie Solanas' SCUM Manifesto. They're a hairy combination of pretentions and driving beats and, whilst I like the sound the band produce, I must confess I find it lacking when compared to The Horrors' current and similarly 80s flavoured tunes. Ultimately it's the antics of the lead singer that begin to disjoint my gigging experience; within two songs of their set the lead singer has appealed to the lighting engineer for the front of stage illuminations to be turned off. This, he assures us, will make things nicer. Subsequent to this he prances around the stage, barefoot, finally sitting down out of sight of the audience. Sitting down, on the stage, right where the singer from The Computers spat copiously several weeks previously. Oh dear.
The final band of the evening are Wolf Gang. Throughout the two previous sets my attention has been slowly drawn to a large white cube, resting on a keyboard stand, at the rear of the stage. Given that it was emblazoned with a large W and a large G I surmised, correctly, that it was part of Wolf Gang's stage accoutrements. Other than the natty scarf the lead singer employs to differentiate himself from the rest of his suitably attired cohorts, this is pretty much the most interesting thing I can say about their live set. Whilst I liked what I heard previously the live experience, especially after Niki & The Dove and S.C.U.M, is to my ears bland to say the least. I recall muttering something Coldplay related under my breath (I know, I shouldn't but...) before making for the door, it looked like we got the Toffee Penny in the end after all.
Sweden's Niki & the Dove are first up; lead singer Malin Dahlström appears to have raided Cyndi Lauper's wardrobe whilst keyboardist Gustaf Karlöf has come straight from the set of Miami Vice. These are good things; I liked Cyndi Lauper, I liked Miami Vice and, is it transpires, I really love Niki & The Dove. I could be objective and witter on about where the elements of their music have been lifted from, or make comparisons to other fine acts from Scandinavian parts *koff*The Knife*koff* but, honestly, where's the fun in that? Suffice to say that I thought their performance was excellent, powerful, gripping and delicate. So, after this wonderful start, what follows?
Next to tread the boards are S.C.U.M, a London-based five piece who [reads notes] take their name from Valerie Solanas' SCUM Manifesto. They're a hairy combination of pretentions and driving beats and, whilst I like the sound the band produce, I must confess I find it lacking when compared to The Horrors' current and similarly 80s flavoured tunes. Ultimately it's the antics of the lead singer that begin to disjoint my gigging experience; within two songs of their set the lead singer has appealed to the lighting engineer for the front of stage illuminations to be turned off. This, he assures us, will make things nicer. Subsequent to this he prances around the stage, barefoot, finally sitting down out of sight of the audience. Sitting down, on the stage, right where the singer from The Computers spat copiously several weeks previously. Oh dear.
The final band of the evening are Wolf Gang. Throughout the two previous sets my attention has been slowly drawn to a large white cube, resting on a keyboard stand, at the rear of the stage. Given that it was emblazoned with a large W and a large G I surmised, correctly, that it was part of Wolf Gang's stage accoutrements. Other than the natty scarf the lead singer employs to differentiate himself from the rest of his suitably attired cohorts, this is pretty much the most interesting thing I can say about their live set. Whilst I liked what I heard previously the live experience, especially after Niki & The Dove and S.C.U.M, is to my ears bland to say the least. I recall muttering something Coldplay related under my breath (I know, I shouldn't but...) before making for the door, it looked like we got the Toffee Penny in the end after all.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
CHAOS: 20 years and out
It's hard to believe I know but Chaos, Portsmouth's legendary alternative club night, is 20 years old this year. Since its inception in 1991 its entertained thousands with its fresh and dirty approach to music, first at South Parade Pier and, more recently, at the Wedgewood Rooms. Along the way its twice won The News' Guide Awards Best Club Night & Best DJs and has quite comfortably become the South Coast's longest running independent club night.
The 20th anniversary Chaos is scheduled for Saturday 26th November but, before you get a hankering for a slice of cake, any celebration must be tempered by the knowledge that it will also be the last Chaos; after 20 years of outstanding club nights the good people behind the scenes have decided to call it a day. The reasons behind the decision are both straightforward (20 years is a long time) and logical (there are many more pubs and venues offering a wide choice of music, wider than when the club night started) and fully explained on their website.
Over the years I've had some very good and, on occasion, very bad nights at Chaos, pretty much dependent on the amount of alcohol imbibed (more beer = more jumping around like a loonie). I'm old enough to (hazily) remember loud and raucous nights at the Albert Tavern on South Parade Pier, hopping over the moat of broken glass at the bar to get the beers in (and never risking the Sangria). I'd awake the next morning a fetid mess, wreathed in the smell of cigarette smoke and stale alcohol. Good times indeed.
Before it goes the way of Topdoris there are still a few opportunities to experience 'that Chaos feeling' before the lights finally dim over the wheels of steel; first up is this coming Saturday 8th October (£5 advance), then there's the legendary Halloween Special on Saturday 29th October (£6 advance). That sets things up nicely for the final Chaos, a two room celebration featuring DJs both old and current, all of whom will be spinning a cavalcade of Chaos classics (fingers crossed for Limp Bizkit's cover of Faith). Tickets will be £7 in advance and should be available soon.
See you down the front then, yes?
The 20th anniversary Chaos is scheduled for Saturday 26th November but, before you get a hankering for a slice of cake, any celebration must be tempered by the knowledge that it will also be the last Chaos; after 20 years of outstanding club nights the good people behind the scenes have decided to call it a day. The reasons behind the decision are both straightforward (20 years is a long time) and logical (there are many more pubs and venues offering a wide choice of music, wider than when the club night started) and fully explained on their website.
Over the years I've had some very good and, on occasion, very bad nights at Chaos, pretty much dependent on the amount of alcohol imbibed (more beer = more jumping around like a loonie). I'm old enough to (hazily) remember loud and raucous nights at the Albert Tavern on South Parade Pier, hopping over the moat of broken glass at the bar to get the beers in (and never risking the Sangria). I'd awake the next morning a fetid mess, wreathed in the smell of cigarette smoke and stale alcohol. Good times indeed.
Before it goes the way of Topdoris there are still a few opportunities to experience 'that Chaos feeling' before the lights finally dim over the wheels of steel; first up is this coming Saturday 8th October (£5 advance), then there's the legendary Halloween Special on Saturday 29th October (£6 advance). That sets things up nicely for the final Chaos, a two room celebration featuring DJs both old and current, all of whom will be spinning a cavalcade of Chaos classics (fingers crossed for Limp Bizkit's cover of Faith). Tickets will be £7 in advance and should be available soon.
See you down the front then, yes?
Monday, October 03, 2011
Ghostpoet at The Railway & The Registry
Fresh from playing Bestival singer/producer Ghostpoet has embarked on a tour of the UK which takes in two stops on the South Coast this week. The Mercury Prize nominee will be playing Winchester's venerable venue The Railway on Wednesday, 5th October, with support coming from from Craig's Band and Brighton's Woo!Worths. Tickets are available, priced £8 in advance, from the venue or Entertainment24.
The following evening, Thursday 6th October, the action moves to Portsmouth for the headline slot of Churchgonewild at The Registry. Support comes courtesy of Breton and Sumo DJs Kry Wolf. Entrance for this gig is FREE (no, really, I'm not making it up), which is nice.
The following evening, Thursday 6th October, the action moves to Portsmouth for the headline slot of Churchgonewild at The Registry. Support comes courtesy of Breton and Sumo DJs Kry Wolf. Entrance for this gig is FREE (no, really, I'm not making it up), which is nice.
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