The Sound Movement

Liverpool Sound City, Bumper, 29/5/08.

I'd noticed the Sound Movement were playing in Liverpool as part of the 'Sound City' festival. They sent me a message saying where and when they were playing. They were on early so I had to get up to Liverpool for 7pm. I got to Bumper just gone 7, there was a stage in front set up but I could hear SM sound checking in the back. I walked through and there was another stage in the back. I noticed a running order on the wall and they were using the two stages alternatively as one band finished another started on the other. The Sound Movement were the first band on of the evening and playing on the back stage. They were due to start at 7:30. I went back through to the front bar and got a drink, then Kat came through and came over and said Hi. She also gave a cd of some of their new stuff, which was very nice of her.

The SM played a good set nearly all new material which sounded good too. They actually seemed quite relaxed with the new stuff to. The sound wasn't too bad either. When they finished I could hear a band about to start on the front stage so made my way round. I stayed on the balcony as opposed to going to the floor as a) it was the better view point and b) I'd be able to get back to the 'back' stage quickly. Second band were just a typical four piece Liverpool guitar band just then I noticed my nephew Nathan walk in the door. He soon spotted me and waved up. He came up to say hi and asked if I was there to see Nina's band 'The Grand Architects'?. Embarrassingly I had to say no as I didn't realize they were playing. Then I spotted my niece Natalie (Nath's sister) walk in with her boyfriend James. We all had a nice little chat a hug. It then time for Nina's band to play. They play a rockabilly folk type fusion which actually was very enjoyable. There was a decent crowd watching, though mostly friends and acquaintances. In fairness though they were very good, good musicians too. They set up with drums, bass (who was excellent) guitar and Nina on acoustic and vocals.
Later Nina told me that they were playing Telford's in Chester next month. I made a note of the date and told her I will definitely be there. I took a nice pic Nat and Nina too.

It turned out to be an enjoyable evening and nice to see Nathan and Natalie as we only ever seem to see each at Xmas these days.

Is Chester climbing the musical map?

Last night I was chatting to my nephew's girlfriend Nina who's band 'The Grand Architects' had just played at a Sound City gig in Liverpool. I was there to see the Sound Movement and unaware she was playing. She told me they were playing Telfords in Chester in July. We synchronized diary's and I told her I would be there.

I thought I'd just check the Telfords web site today to see if they were listed and just check details really. Imagine my surprise when scrolling down the events in July to be faced with a pic of Laura Veirs. Yes Nina's band is listed on the 18th but four days before is sweet kooky Laura. I starred at this for a few mins, checked Laura's site and myspace. I'm on her mailing list so I was thinking is this right, I haven't heard anything. Nothing listed anywhere but the tickets were for sale and I bought one so YEAH Laura's playing in Chester.

Thea Gilmore is also playing in Telfords next month too (she resides locally now though) so Chester's moving up the music venue map.
So Thea, Laura now just K to complete the great triumvirate! now there's a thought.

VVC/Sad Sheilds

Castle Hotel, Manchester. 25/5/08.

(skip this first paragraph as it's just a personal note of my state of mind this weekend)

On the Saturday for some unknown reason I was feeling really down. I mean 'what's the point of life' down. I arranged to take a half day off work. Great idea, what was I going to do get more depressed? get obliterating-ly drunk? Fortunately I didn't do the latter, I just wandered round town. I felt that every direction I looked at in life I was faced with a brick wall. I'm not sure whether it was a good or bad thing that I was off work for the Sun/Mon, sometimes being in work can take your mind off stuff. Anyway VVC and Sad Shields were playing a tea time show on the Sunday in Manchester so I was hoping they would cheer me up a bit.

VVC and Sad Shields were about to embark on a mini tour together and I think this was a bit of a rehearsal to get themselves ready.
The Castle is a bit of basic pub up the top end of Oldham St, I've seen VVC play here before though. I got there about 4:20 ish not sure what time they were going to start.

I told Sian I needed cheering up so she said they were going to just rehearse a couple of new songs but would start properly at about 6ish. One of the new songs was slow(ish) one too!

It was fun to watch them rehearse and it was great to see that new drummer Julia has settled and stamped her own character on the way they play. At one point a couple came into the room and stood at the back. When VVC had finished they went up to the stage area, it was the band who had played here the night before and they had come to collect some of their gear. Turned out it was 'First Black Precedent' who I'd seen a couple of weeks ago. I had a quick chat with them and Jennie said she thought she recognized me from the Manchester gig.
I told Jen I was just going to nip and get a quick sandwich and I'd be back latter.
When I got back there were quite a few familiar faces around.


They played a good set of mostly newish material. The slowish song they played was good, though I don't know the name of it. This was a very relaxed affair as they were treating it as more of a rehearsal for their mini tour.
There was some good banter between the people in the room including Sad Shields. Again though they seemed happy playing together.

Sad Shields played next. I enjoyed these when I saw them last year. They were also down at Ladyfest, not playing but there to give some support to VVC.
Again a good little set though Aaron did spend more time with his back to the crowd playing at Vicki than I remember last time. Laura was on good form though.

Again I think they played a few new tunes, well ones not their cd I have anyway. Again I enjoyed them. They too I think treated it as a rehearsal as there was a fair bit of banter between the band themselves and crowd.
It was an enjoyable afternoon/early evening though. Jen and Sian asked if I could make the Leeds show on the 30th, as it was the last one and a party was planned, Hmmm. I must admit I said I'd try and let them know. As much as I'd of liked to have made it I just couldn't.

Footnote - They did cheer me up a fair bit and at time of going to press here I'm much happier. Strange thing life.

Ladyfest London

The Underground, Camden, North London. 10/5/08.
Vile Vile Creatures/Comanechi/New Bloods/Mat&Kim.

Made a late decision to do this . There had been a change of personnel in the VVC ranks. David has left and been replaced by Julia from Fake Tan. Their first gig was in London at the Ladyfest festival on the Saturday night at the Underground in Camden. I know they say they are always a bit nervous about playing in London. This in mind I thought I would go down and surprise them and give them some moral support. Allied to the fact there was a pretty good line up of about 8/9 bands too. I also knew that Julia would be there (a cyber friend) and it would give me the chance to meet her and say hi in the real world so to speak.

My first thought was just to turn up and surprise everybody. I deliberated with this for a while and wasn't sure what to do. In the end I decided to let Julia know I was coming down to surprise VVC and it would be nice to meet up for the first time. I had to put this trip together fairly quickly and managed to get a hotel not too far from Camden via tube, in London terms anyway. I booked a train ticket at not too bad a price either. I was going to treat this one as a double budget gig as all told it was going to cost a fair bit.

So Saturday am I set off for London. I got to Euston about half one got to my hotel, booked in and got back across to Camden by about 2:50 ish. Not bad going really. I sent Julia a message saying I was in Camden and we arranged to meet up at 5pm. I took a bit of a wander and got something to eat. 5pm soon came as time these days just seems to fly by. In truth I was feeling a little nervous while making my way to the arranged meet spot. It's strange that I can be such a strong individual in certain areas of life yet such a wreck in others. I think I knew deep down that this would be ok though and once I got there I was in a semi relaxed feeling, I think!. Next thing Julia was stood in front of me and we said our Hi's and hello's. Julia's friend Gayle soon showed and we went for a drink up the road before going to the venue. When we went in I had a eye out to see if I could spot Jen and Sian but couldn't see them. The venue at first seemed a strange shape but it wasn't until I went to the stage area that I understood its layout. In fairness it was pretty good and in the end I actually liked the place. While at the merch stall all of a sudden a band started playing, and I'd recognise those chunky chords anywhere. Julia and I just looked up at each other and said "they're on". VVC had started so we sped down to the stage area and settled stage right. Immediately it was noticeable how relaxed, free and fresh they were. Jenny seemed much happier and was playing with a freedom I hadn't noticed for a while. Sian was as solid as ever and new drummer Julia seemed settled. Though not as 'quick fire' as David I think she added a different texture to the overall sound. In fact even though David was a supper drummer I think the band 'dynamic' is now better, time will tell. The main thing was that they seemed to be enjoying themselves much more than they have for a while. I was so pleased for them though. There was a lovely moment at the end of FF, which they wisely played in the middle of the set (I think). Sian turned to Julia and they gave each other a high five, because they nailed it.

Next were Comancehi who didn't seem as riotous as the last couple of times I've seen them, still good though.The New Bloods were up next. I was looking forward to seeing these as I've been enjoying their album this year. They have an unusual sound centered around interesting bass lines and rhythms and the lead instrument being a violin, a growing trend these days. They were good and solid as opposed to being dynamic, they replicated their material well but that was basically it.
A duo called Matt & Kim were next on stage. Kim plays drums Matt guitar, ala' 'White Stripes'. I had a really strange feeling that I'd seen these before somewhere either that or a severe case of deja vu. They were quite good and probably the more chatty band of the evening.

The 'headliner if you wish was a lady called 'Angie Reed'. Who I'd never heard of to be honest. As she was setting up the three of us had a bad feeling about her. No instruments just a beat box thingy (presumably) and she was dressed as more of a performance artiste. I think we got about 30 secs into the first 'song' and decided to escape. Julia commented that she is the first headliner to clear a room, yeah a good call that.

We moved to the upper bar and I caught up with Jen and Sian. I told Jen I thought she was much more relaxed and free of a tension even I hadn't noticed. I introduced Jen to Julia and Gayle, it was nice to bring everyone together. Jen asked if we would like to join them for a drink after to which we agreed. In truth this fell apart at the seams a bit as VVC were trying to keep a posse of 12 - 15 people together. So Julia said she would head off so we said our goodbyes. I hung around with them for a while as it was not sure where or what people were doing. In the end I made my excuses and told them I was going to head of back in the direction of my hotel.

As an absolute bizarre twist on this trip it turned out my hotel was literally on the corner of the road Julia lived on. I knew she lived north London but that was about it. I'm still struggling to get over that fact.

I was glad I made this trip, though not something I can afford to do every month. It was good to surprise VVC and great to see them much happier. It was lovely to meet up with Julia too.

Oh! and thank you again Julia for inviting me for a coffee on the Sunday morning before my journey home. That was very welcome as the coffee in the hotel wasn't up to much. Thanks again and hopefully we can catch up with each other again someday.

Violet Violet

Fuel, Withenshaw, Manchester. 5/5/08.

A late decision this one. Because I was off the Bank Holiday Monday and also the Tuesday and the fact that the Violet Violet gig at the Star & Garter the following week (I was going to go to that one) has been cancelled. The main reason I originally wasn't going to go was the gig was in Withenshaw. A part of Manchester I don't know and being out the way so to speak was going to be more difficult to get to and away from, especially on a Bank Hol.

After some research it turns out it was not too bad to get too. I decided to up and just play it by ear so to speak. If I could find somewhere locally to stay at a reasonable price, fair enough if not I could scootle back home on the last train.

Anyway got sorted found the venue and found somewhere to stay just up the road.

Got to the venue about 8:10 and went upstairs, was surprised to find the place fairly full. There was a merch desk at the back and I spotted the girls from Violet Violet there, so I went over to
say hi. I told them I was due to see them last year but the show got cancelled. I also said I had pencilled in the Star and Garter gig next week but that was cancelled too!! We had a chat and I bought their new EP and told them I was up from Chester to see them.

There were a few faces I recognised here, I knew them from VVC gigs. First band on were 'town Bike' a four piece of two guys (guitar, drums) and two girls (vocol, bass). I quite enjoyed these they played a set of a late 70's punk sound a'la Rezillos!. I was absolutely positive I'd seen the lead singer in another band somewhere and thought I must ask her later. They were ok though.
Next up were 'First Black Precedent' a trio of a guy on guitar a girl on bass and another guy on drums. Again these were pretty good, a bit more anarchic and off kilter than the previous band. As is becoming more noticeable these days they used violin, Operator Please, Paris Motel, Joan, and the New Bloods to name a few off the top of my head. The girl bassist also did the play guitar with violin bow thingy a'la Jimmy Page. Good fun though and another band to keep an eye on.

Main attraction next Violet Violet a three piece band from Norwich who I've been trying to catch since last year. Forget how I came across them now but I liked their sound and ordered their debut 'Bitchbox' album, from them direct I think. I was due to see them last year but the gig got cancelled.

They opened with the lead song off the album called 'Baby's going down' which features a good riff and a shouty vocal chorus reminiscent of early S-K , well close-ish. Most of the set was between the album and the new EP. 'Spicy Noodle Treasure' off the new EP sounded a good one. A problem here was they had a few sound issues, for some reason their sound went 'wonky' on a few songs but they dealt with that professionally. During one song their mikes completely cut out, no matter what the sound girl tried to do. They made light of this and just treated it as one of those things.

One of the things I noticed about their way of playing was the drummer Fliss. She was excellent and headrocked in a good style, different to Janet though as J rocks from side to side Fliss rocks up and down, she was ace to watch. Good little band this.

At the end I went over to Cheri (guitar) and told her I enjoyed the instrumental song. She laughed and apologised and said it probably wasn't worth travelling all the way up from Chester for. She then added "Ah! we'll come and play in Chester", I said "there's nowhere to play there really" to which she added "we'll come and play in your living room then". I laughed and said "ok, I'll give you my address later.

I'm glad I made the trip to this in the end as it was a very plesant night.

Angus & Julia Stone

Manchester, Academy 3, 25/4/08.

This is just typical me, I wanted to get away from work early to catch the 5pm ish train. There was no way though so I had to aim for the 5:53. Things just backed up on me and I didn't get out till 5:35. I made a dash for the station and as I was buying my ticket the train was pulling out.
Damn! the next train was at 58 and I had to run right over to the other side of the station but again I pulled out just before I got there. I was now knackered. The only thing I could think of was to get myself to Crewe and hope for the best. So again had to run across back to the other side and just caught the 6pm Crewe train (2 mins late thankfully). When I got to Crewe I stepped off the train as a train was pulling to the opposite platform, The 7 min delayed Manchester train. I now faced another problem this train bypassed Oxford Rd and went straight to Piccadilly. I pulled into Picc'y at about 7:09 and had to again get to the other side just as a Blackpool train was pulling in, next stop Oxford Rd. I leaped a bus on Oxford Rd got to the hotel and managed to get to the venue at 7:35. My lucky traveller tag is still in tact!!

Anyway to main point here, jeez I was rambling a bit there. I've really loving the A&J Stone album so was looking forward to seeing them. It had a good feel straight away as they had decked the stage out with plastic flowers/vine and cardboard figures as featured throughout the album sleeve.

The support were interesting, Paris Motel they were playing an acoustic show here but were quite entertaining. I'd like to see them with the full band.

By the time A&J came on the place was pretty full with a nice atmosphere.

The Stones (!!) are sibling folk duo from Australia they swap vocals, I think the rule of thumb here is whoever writes it sings it. Julia has a really interesting voice too quite high pitched and squeaky, beautiful with it though.

Angus plays strictly acoustic guitar but Julia will also play keys and on some songs trumpet.

They are backed by a rhythm section who were very good it has to be said just a bassist and a drummer who didn't steal any limelight from A&J but were solid enough to notice.

The set comprised mostly of material from 'A Book Like This'. I really enjoyed them their sound was a bit more upbeat than the record which made some songs like 'The Beast' and 'Like a boy' sound good and rocky. During some songs Julia who is a flooky, barefoot, Antipodean temptress dances round in a strange way that is captivating.

They played a 'request' encore and finished the evening with 'Wasted'. In all a super little show and a good responsive crowd made this probably my second fave show so far this year.