Was listening to the new British Sea Power album last night. Think it came out back at the start of April, although I only picked it up a few weeks ago ... and issues with transferring music to my iPod means that I've only listened to it once or twice in my room.
Actually saw BSP at Shepherd's Bush Empire back in April. Think it must have been the fourth time I've seen them, after:
Glastonbury 2004, notable for people bringing tree branches for added 'crowd foliage' and Eamon (sadly long since departed) coming down into the crowd with his chest drum;
supporting the Manic Street Preachers at Manchester Apollo during their Autumn 2010 tour; and
Transmission 001 at Jodrell Bank in July 2011, notable for a dramatic improvement during the second half of the set and Ursine Ultra fighting a giant robot at the end.
It was pretty cool. They played a short acoustic-style set at the start of the gig. Support was provided by Toy, although I wasn't so keen on them. Then BSP played their headline set. Lot's of energy! Plus, Ursine Ultra had a fight with Bi-polar Bear!!
Highlights would probably include the crashing opening threesome of Remember Me, Apologies To Insect Life and K Hole. A great version of No Lucifer. Waving Flags and Machineries of Joy. And obviously, Carrion.
Going back to the album, Machineries of Joy is a great start and first single. Rather relaxing, yet extremely uplifting. It also has a really cool video!
Another early highlight is K Hole. Punky awesomeness in the vein of Stunde Null or Mongk II from Valhalla Dancehall. Definite future live highlight.
Probably need more time to digest the rest of the album properly. It definitely isn't as immediate as Valhalla Dancehall or as anthemic as Do You Like Rock Music. There are some great slices of mildly disconcerting pop music though, notably Loving Animals and What You Need The Most. And Monsters of Sunderland is pretty chaotic like some of the truly classic BSP tracks.
Full setlist from the Shepherd's Bush Empire gig, as taken from setlist.fm:
Back towards the start of June, I attended a special preview screening of Pixar's latest at the British Film Institute.
Let's be honest, Monsters Inc is a modern classic. I doubt anyone who saw that film will be unhappy about another chance to see those characters on the big screen. Whilst Monsters University doesn't come close to those heights, it's still a really entertaining film. I laughed. A lot.
If I were to be slightly critical, there's nowhere near enough Randall and it doesn't quite have the 'heart' of the original ... but seriously, just go and see it. You'll have a great time.
At the start of June. Well, actually. Backing up slightly further. Me and my sister had previously discussed whether we should go to see Muse at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. [Slight tangent: I really hate that, the Etihad Stadium. Could just about accept Eastlands, but shouldn't it be referred to as the City of Manchester Stadium. It was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, after all. I know Manchester council get a significant amount of money, but ... still. Sorry, slightly off topic.] As it turns out, my sister had to work. So I mentioned it to a couple of old school friends via text/facebook on the Monday evening before the gig who were all rather keen.
In the meantime, Muse had announced a free (via a mailing list code) gig to be held on Horse Guard's Parade. On Tuesday morning I bagged a couple of tickets to that. On Wednesday I got four tickets to the Manchester gig. As it was such a last minute decision, we decided to get cheap tickets. In the heavens. Or the third tier of the Colin Bell stand, as it's officially known.
On Saturday morning, I travelled up to Leek. Had some lunch. Then drove up to Manchester with two of my friends. [Second slight tangent: I say drove. Obviously I didn't drive. That would be massively illegal as I don't have a licence. Should probably do something about that.] We parked. Collected tickets. Met the fourth member of our group. And ascended to the heavens.
The seats weren't actually that bad. Considering they were £20 cheaper than standing and a whole £50 cheaper than the most expensive seats, I was pretty comfortable with where we ended up. The view was really good. And these days Muse are such a visual band.
Last time I saw Muse play their own gig (i.e. not a festival) was at Wembley Stadium in 2007. Support was provided by:
Shy Child, very good;
Biffy Clyro, excellent; and
My Chemical Romance, god-awful suicide music for emo-teenagers.
So, this time. Bastille, I could understand. They may not be the most exciting band, but they've got a couple of reasonably decent tunes and they were pretty energetic. Most of their songs are rather forgettable ... but I've been told to give them a chance, so will probably listen to their album on Spotify at some point.
And, then. Dizzee Rascal!? Obviously. Who else would be supporting Muse? Actually, he wasn't too bad. I even liked some of the songs. Bassline Junkie and Bonkers were particularly good. What annoyed me though is that he didn't really play to his audience. Families with fairly young children always go to big outdoor gigs. So why did he have to swear so much. I know it's a small thing, but ... it just got to me.
And so, onto the main attraction. Muse definitely started with a bang!
Or should that be explosion! It was pretty darn loud. I felt it. Even from the cheap seats. Found this video on YouTube that seems to give a decent impressive of the force that those by the barrier must have felt.
Love that video. Part of me is glad I wasn't THAT close to the B-stage. The pyrotechnics were pretty impressive all night, but ... that first explosion was just crazy.
So the gig. Muse were really good. Always forget just how good they are live. It was a pretty extensive setlist. Obviously certain songs that I'd love to see (Sunburn, Citizen Erased, Space Dementia, etc), but ... guess I've seen all of them before, and you can't have everything.
They played some great songs though. I really like the 2nd Law as an album. Panic Station was funky. The visuals for that song was pretty cool too. Cartoon world leaders dancing. Follow Me, Liquid State (with Chris on vocals) and Survival were also pretty fantastic. Obviously, Bliss was awesome. Resistance worked really well live. A particular highlight for most people seemed to be Dead Star.
Seems fairly understandable. Such a great song. [Released as a Double A-Side with In Your World. Also a fantastic song.] Been working out how to play a decent sounding version of Dead Star on my acoustic guitar. Maybe I'll upload a video to YouTube I've done. Struggling with the verses a little at the moment. Would rather use proper chords, but they're going to be pretty obscure. Anyway. Will keep working at that.
One of the things that is quite cool about a big stadium gig in the summer is the transition from day to night. Seeing a band play outdoors at dusk is never a bad thing.
Of course, the fading light brings the light show even more into focus. This show was completely over the top, although all the fancy pyrotechnics and dazzling lights never really detracted from the music too much fortunately.
The multiple encores all worked pretty well.
Really enjoyed the slower songs on the B-Stage, accompanied by acrobatics courtesy of a girl who descended from the light bulb. Unintended was the only song played from Showbiz unfortunately. Blackout is cool. And I love Undisclosed Desires, a lot.
The appearance of Charles, the Giant Robot, was a lot of fun! Let's be honest, 13 foot tall robots are never going to make things worse.
Plug in Baby was suitably epic, as ever. And despite my reservations about that particular song, Starlight closed the set pretty well.
The 2nd Law: Unsustainable (First verse dialogue only, sound only)
Supremacy (Extended intro)
Supermassive Black Hole
Panic Station
Bliss (Extended outro)
Resistance
Animals
Knights of Cydonia (Man with a Harmonica intro)
Dracula Mountain (Lightning Bolt cover) (Drum and bass jam)
United States of Eurasia
Dead Star
Monty Jam
Feeling Good
Follow Me
Liquid State
Madness
Time Is Running Out (House of the Rising Sun intro)
Stockholm Syndrome (Rage Against the Machine's Freedom outro)
B-Stage
Unintended
Blackout
Guiding Light
Undisclosed Desires
Encore
The 2nd Law: Unsustainable (with Charles, the Robot)
Plug In Baby
Survival
Encore 2:
The 2nd Law: Isolated System (Extended version)
Uprising (Extended outro)
Starlight
Chop Suey! (System of a Down song) (Richard Cheese cover) (Sound only)
Have to say, I really enjoyed the Manchester gig. After arriving back in Leek at half past midnight, I even stayed up until four chatting to random strangers on twitter about the gig. Much fun.
So, after a few hours sleep ... had some lunch with my family on the Sunday and set off back for London. Arrived back at my flat around half five and set off for central London with a friend around six. Obviously we were towards the back of the queue when we arrived just before seven. Apparently 15,000 tickets were given away. Once we got inside, it was just a matter of waiting.
Could have lived without the repeated trailers for World War Z. It looks pretty bad.
Even so I'm kinda intrigued, the event was arranged to coincide with the Leicester Square premiere as Muse are on the soundtrack ... so it'll be interesting to see how the music is used. But whether that means I'll go to the cinema, I'm not sure. [Having subsequently read a couple of reviews, perhaps it won't be as bad as I originally feared. We shall see.] A glimpse of Brad Pitt didn't really mean too much to me either.
Finally, the music started around 9.30 pm.
To be honest, this gig didn't quite have the energy of the previous night in Manchester. Then again, Manchester crowds are generally better than London crowds. Not always. But generally. All the songs had been performed the previous evening, so perhaps that took away a little of the excitement for me too. Maybe the few hours of sleep could have been an issue too.
Saying that, it was still a lot of fun. The light show and the pyrotechnics were very impressive again. Especially when you consider that there probably wasn't as much time to set up on Horse Guard's Parade as for one of the stadium shows. Couldn't really fault any of the songs. And Time Is Running Out was probably better than the previous night. Great version of Knights of Cydonia too. Not my favourite song, but ... rather enjoyable nonetheless.
Special promotional event for World War Z. Free to fans via the mailing list.
Venue:
Horse Guards Parade, London
Date:
Sunday, 2 June 2013
So, two pretty epic gigs in two nights. My sixth and seventh times seeing Muse. Hopefully the next time will be fairly soon. If you've managed to read this entire post, please feel free to comment.
For the end of my rather pathetic bank holiday weekend, I decided to do something cool ... so mid-afternoon on Monday I brought a ticket for the rescheduled Flaming Lips gig at the Roundhouse. I had intended to go the previous Tuesday, but half an hour of migraine induced blurred version at work convinced me that maybe I wasn't quite up to attending a gig that day. Nevermind.
Rolled over to Camden to collect ticket and spent an hour dossing around before the gig.
It was pretty busy. The markets were packed. Decided to head into the venue when it open at seven. Found a good spot. Sat down. And read my book for a while. Yup, rock 'n' roll all the way. It was a manga called Bunny Drop. Can't remember how I came across it. Kinda slice of life (although a bit too plot heavy to accurately fit that description) about a thirty year old bachelor who takes in his grandfather's illegitimate six year old. Really good book. Read the first two volumes, so far. Need to pick up the next couple.
Anyway, support was provided by Black Books. They were from Texas. I don't want to say that's all I remember about them, but ... that wouldn't be far from the truth. They were reasonably good. Not sure I'll be rushing out to buy their album though.
The crowd seemed pretty chilled, although I did end up standing next to some fairly idiotic students ... alas it's likely that I sounded idiotic when I was 18/19 and I'm probably just jealous that I'm no longer a student. Nothing will beat the crowd from the Jodrell Bank gig in July 2011. So friendly. Especially remember the bumble bee who was seeing them for the third night running. I was only on my second night. And the two guys who wore massive dog costumes all days (despite the searing heat) and were always happy to stick their heads on for photos. The Soft Bulletin gig at Alexandra Palace was pretty special too.
Back to 2013. The stage set they used was pretty interested. Wayne microphone stand was linked to the back of the stage via ... umbilical cords, which shimmered with light in time to the music. He was also on a podium. The rest of the band faded into the background a little.
The histrionics have also being toned down. Alas, no space ball to start the set with. To be honest, it did make sense. The Terror isn't really an optimistic album. It's quite downbeat at times. Even the confetti was black! There sure was lots of it though. I've been finding that confetti about my room, bag and person for nearly two weeks now. Seriously, there was some in the bathroom yesterday.
During the gig, the focus was firmly placed on Wayne ... backed up by a spectacular use of lighting.
Not sure he'd completely recovered from his illness the previous week, but he's such a magnetic stage presence that it was fairly irrelevant. His voice seemed to hold up fine.
The set list focussed on songs from The Terror. Some old songs from the 90's were thrown in, although I wasn't so familiar with those. Race For The Prize was slowed right down, until the final chorus. There were also a couple of songs from Yoshimi. All We Have Is Now was a particular highlight. The songs from The Terror stood up really well though. Try To Explain is a masterpiece.
If the gig lacked the euphoria of the previous two times I've seen them, it still packed an emotional punch. The Flaming Lips are definitely a band that aren't content to rest on their laurels. The light show was pretty spectacular. Wayne stopped the gig for five to ten minutes to allow one girl to receive medical assistance. Presumably a reaction. I saw another person getting treatment as I left the venue. I'm not sure that's an endorsement, as such.
* Look...The Sun Is Rising (The Terror)
* The Terror (The Terror)
* The W.A.N.D. (At War With The Mystics)
* Unconsciously Screamin' (In a Priest Driven Ambulance)
* Try to Explain (The Terror)
* Race for the Prize (The Soft Bulletin)
* Moth in the Incubator (Transmissions from the Satellite Heart)
* Butterfly, How Long It Takes to Die (The Terror)
* Heroes (David Bowie cover)
* Turning Violent (The Terror)
* Do You Realize?? (Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots)
Encore:
* Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast (Embryonic)
* Silver Trembling Hands (Embryonic)
* All We Have Is Now (Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots)
* Always There, ... In Our Hearts (The Terror)
Obviously, I'd always love to see more songs from the Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. Yoshimi is the first Flaming Lips album I brought. It'll probably always be my favourite. It was good to see songs from The Terror performed live.
This is the rather cool poster that I brought at the gig. It even has Wayne scribbles on it.
Ah, naked guitar women. You are so very cool.
Will definitely go to see the Flaming Lips next time they're in town, although don't think I'll make it to Bestival in September ... probably not.
So, last weekend was the spring bank holiday. Three days with no great plans. Shining sun. London to explore. Alas, I finished work on Friday with a fever. Awesome timing. Still, managed to do a couple of cool things ... despite spending most of the 3 days chilling in my room.
Decided to head out on Saturday afternoon to see Star Trek Into Darkness. I really liked the 2009 reboot. It was a great blockbuster film. Not so sure about Into Darkness. Suppose my expectations were much higher. Although there was lots to like and I did enjoy it, ... upon leaving the cinema it just all felt a bit stupid. Characters didn't really develop. Any actions felt like they were taken to further the plot, as opposed to having a logical basis in terms of the individual character. Consequences lasted for a matter of moments, before everything was kind of okay again.
In the evening I watched Baseketball with my flatmates. Late 90's film, starring Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame. It's pretty funny. Most importantly, Reel Big Fish are the half-time band:
Never used to be fussed about ska-punk, ... but the influence of others and seeing Reel Big Fish live a total of three times now has converted me. Beer is probably up there with my favourite songs. If you ever get chance to see them play, do it. So much fun.
Okay, so I say this every few months or so ... but I really intend to start updating this blog more often. Maybe once a week or so. Probably. At least, so that I can mention some cool things that I've been up to. This seems like a good week to start.
Finally brought a new laptop a few weeks ago. It's a HP Envy ultrabook. Seems pretty nice. Plus, I'm writing this post on the iPad 4 I received for Christmas! Liking it a lot so far. Hopefully this means I can achieve a belated New Year's resolution to update this blog more often. Did see some cool stuff during the month of January.
