Half Term Report

It’s that time of year again,
'Amsera bryfed'
'le temps vole'
'tempus fugit'.

My first thoughts here were that it has not been a vintage year up to now. But when I start looking at the albums I've discovered and the gigs I've been to it doesn't seem that bad really. I have come across some excellent new stuff.
A fair amount of the good stuff this year has come from the ‘established’ artists I've previously known about -:

BYOP, Death Cab, Nick Cave, Stephen Malkmus, Raconteurs, Portishead, Sons & Daughters, Dukes Spirit, The Kills, BSP. I’ll also put BRS in here even though it’s their first album, I've known of them for ages, also My Morning Jacket.
The best new discoveries this 6 months are the likes of -:
Rue Royale, Angus & Julia Stone, Fleet Foxes, Yoav and Bon Iver (an album I've just acquired). Though a recent acquisition, I’m liking the White Denim album, but I have to give that a few more plays yet.

There seems to a recurrent theme here all of these are what could be considered ’Alt Folk’, perhaps just the way my tastes have gone lately, who knows.
There is also some good ‘alternative’ stuff like -:
New Bloods and One More Grain too though.

If I was to list my favourites at this point it would read something like (though not in order)
Rue Royale
Fleet Foxes
Angus & Julia Stone
Yoav
Bon Iver
BYOP and Scanners.

When it comes to gigs this is a bit more clear cut. Again no particular order -:
The Kills
Fleet Foxes
Angus & Julia Stone
Ida Maria
Kristin’s Paradoxical Undressing (was that a gig???)
Ladyfest in London was a fun weekend too.

On a personal level
Hmm!
It’s been one of those up and down years really. I've had some pleasant times, good trips, two to London unusually. A lovely long weekend in Stockholm too.
My year though has been punctuated by two unpleasant passages, an unusual brief bout of depression. I don’t know what caused it or why it seemed so bad at the time. Also a medical problem with my right (bad) eye. I can honestly say I have never been in so much pain in my life. I will be going into hospital in 10 days to have an op, to which there is no guarantee of restoring the sight I’m told.
I will look at the positive on this and even though it’s a “complicated” case and no guarantee on the outcome the extreme fluctuation in pressure which caused the problem should be cured.
We shall see (hopefully).

Thea Gilmore

Telfords Warehouse, Chester, 23/7/08.

Yay! Telfords plays host again to the lovely Thea Gilmore. Last time she was here was not long after the birth of her first child and she seemed a bit nervous and uptight, though it didn't affect her performance as such. I just hoped she'd be a little less 'formal' this time. Chester is her local gig these days as she resides in Nantwich about 15 or so mile away, the posh part of the Crewe conurbation in reality!! sorry to any Creweonions, or Creweoners or, hey I like that last one we'll stick with that.

When I got to Telfords about five to seven they were just opening the doors. Last time here they had put seating in which I've never known before and hoped they weren't going to do it this time. Damn! seating, though this works to my advantage really as I just occupy the right channel left open for people to move in and out and basically stand at the front by myself.

When I walked in and got a drink the sound guy at the mix desk was just putting on a cd. Turned out to be the Fleet Foxes album, on the opening notes I said to him "Ah Fleet Foxes, saw them at the Roadhouse in Manchester last week" We had a quick discussion about them but he queried that they had played the Night & Day as some friends of his were there. I told him no definitely the Roadhouse. In retrospect I think he was trying to catch me out here, why I don't know. He then told me that they had nearly booked FF to play here but before they could fit them in they went stratospheric, well got noticed, a bit, well a little bit. They missed out on them though, I keep thinking how good it would have been to see FF here in Chester.

The support was an acoustic singer songwriter called Pete Du Pom, I think that's how you spell it. He was ok, nothing particularly new but sang his songs with a heart and tried to interact with the audience a fair bit.

When Thea came on she was dressed less formal than last time here. Jeans and a red T-shirt and black jacket. Her T-shirt had the slogan 'Ethics Girl' on which I thought quite amusing, she is from Essex originally. Later I told her I liked her T-shirt. She seemed more relaxed than last time too and looking good it has to be said.
She opened the set with 'Old Soul' the first track off the new album, somehow I new she'd start with that song, don't know why. She then played one of my fave Thea songs in 'Seen it all before' (see video). During a retuning between songs she said she could see alot of faces from Crewe/Nantwich. She then said "where we have just had a by-election, --- which was shit". I clapped and said "too right". It was then noticeable that no one else in the audience reacted to this. This made me angry at first and looking at the crowd it was noticeable I was one of the younger members! I then found it funny, forever the outsider. Just you and I then Thea!

She also had an extra member with her tonight too, as well as Nigel Stonier (husband, producer and general sidekick) was a young girl who played violin, cello and guitar called Fluff. She was an excellent musician too and carried out her duties with great professionalism. She also added vocal support.

She ended her set with 'This girl is taking bets' and 'Are you ready' which she always gets the audience to sing the chorus.


For the encore she asked if any af the crowd wanted to come up on stage and sing along. I must admit I had half a thought of joining her, but when the time came I bottled it and just videoed the event. About 10/12 people joined in and it made for an interesting climax to the show.

After the gig I had a nice chat with Thea and told her she seemed more relaxed this time round. I got her to sign her album cover and setlist too. This is the best I've seen her, even better than the Nottingham show last year.

Vibrant Vivacious Creations

Vile Vile Creatures, Bar Fresa, Liverpool, 19/6/08.

As far as I was aware this was V V C's first Liverpool gig. Good to see them trying to broaden their base.

There was nearly a cock up here too as I just decided to pop up to Liverpool and get the last train home (11:45) I sent Sian a message asking what time they were on and who else was playing.
I got a message back saying they were on at 11pm then Flamingo 50 would be headlining. This meant that I stood no chance of getting the last train home, so I'd have to try and stay over. Upon arriving in Liverpool I headed to the hotel I normally use and was able to book in. Because I now had plenty of time I sent a message to my nephew Nathan asking if he was in town and had an hour or so to spare. He'd just got in from work so unfortunately it wasn't viable to meet up.

I decided to get something to eat though. After just ordering a meal I get a message from Sian saying there's a change of plan and they're now playing at 9pm!!

Ahh! ok I should be ok and able to get there about then.

I made it to the venue about 8:45 just as VVC were sound checking. When they had finished we went outside for a chat and a catch up. We had a nice chat and they showed concern about my eye. Sian said she has a new job in Port Sunlight and some of her new work colleagues including her boss were coming tonight. She was a bit nervous about this though. Sian was having the usual trouble with her glasses so I gave her a couple of 'lassy bands I use to protect my camera, which sorted the problem, 'tightly'. Jen was telling me that Julia had done a thesis on Riot Girl and had gone to Olympia to do some research .
Jen also introduced me to Louise from Flamingo 50 saying that she was also a KH fan. Turns out she is more of Tanya Donelly fan and got to K via the Belly/Breeders route. She told me she had seen Kristin play in a Cafe in San Francisco last year too, lucky girl.

V V C were called up to play at about 9:30 ish. Again a set of mostly new material, though they opened with city lights. Again they played FF in the middle of the set. They seemed to enjoy themselves again and talking to Jen later she revealed that they feel they are getting better as a band. I agree, there's a growing confidence in their performances. Sian had little bit of a technical problem but they seemed to get through it ok.

After they had finished they said they were going to head back to Manchester, so off they tootled. I stuck around and watched a couple more bands, nothing worth writing about though. So I too wandered off into the thick scouse air.

Fleet Foxes

Roadhouse, Manchester 17/6/08.

I'd imported the Fleet Foxes album a quite few weeks before its release in this country. I could have bought their EP but because of the exchange rate I imported the full album. As soon as I played it, it was evident there was an ethereal quality to the piece. Their beautiful Beach Boy-esque harmonies fit so well within their framework of simple acoustic based folk rock. This may well be the album of the year, certainly top five.

I was undecided to go to their gig at the Roadhouse until I got the album, as soon as I got it I was there. They were going to be playing with a band called 'Beach House' who I'd been keeping an eye on too. A low-fi duo but who sounded interesting and seemed to have a good song structure about them.

The Roadhouse being one of my fave venues allied with the fact that the Crown is just literally 2/3 mins walk away always makes it handy and less hassle. Got to the venue about 7:40 as I really wanted front row on this and was sure it would be a pretty full show as FF are the band on a lot of peoples lips at the mo.
I was 4th in line by this time and a good queue soon was formed. I got in and decided to go as usual Corin's side as what I'd researched this was the best side to see them anyway.
Beach House soon set up, a duo from Baltimore who I'd been keeping an eye out for.
In truth I was a little disappointed in them, Victoria's vocal was not clear enough. Being low-fi it's a big part of their sound. Their sound was much fuller than their stuff that I'd heard and somehow didn't work as well. That said they were pleasant, chatty and gracious and told everybody what a treat it was for them to play with FF.
Fleet Foxes set up they are a Seattle (Pacific Northwest again!) based five piece . Rustic and hairy, they look like their music and their music has their personal demeanor and essence. The lead singer Robin sits on a stool flanked by bassist and guitarist with a keyboardist to the right again and drummer at back. Robin plays acoustic only and bassist erm! who's name I don't know (could check it but can't be arsed) form the base of the harmonies. The guitarist does a great job of playing between the acoustic, keys and the rhythm.
They came over as a very together band all excellent musicians too. A good stage presence and funny with it too. The drummer complained that he didn't feel part of the band 'stuck at the back' and that it was alright for the guitarist as 'at least he was stuck on the side'. The keyboardist at one point asked if Peter Hook had made to the gig.

They played their set with a real humble assertiveness, this is one of the best 'new bands' I have seen in years. The singer has such a sweet lovely voice which just lends itself to be harmonised alongside, and they do it exceptionally well. There are some people asking what the fuss is about here as they are just an acoustic based folk/rock band, nothing new. All I can say is see them live and I promise you'll fall in love with them.

Janet Weiss & The Jicks

Manchester Academy 2, 7/6/08.

Wasn't sure whether to come up for this as my eye problem was still there so to speak. Fact was though I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see Janet. It's been two years since I've seen her (Quasi gig, Roadhouse).
Even though I've never been a huge Malkmus/Pavement fan, saw them many years ago at a festival (I think). I wasn't hugely impressed at the time and wondered what all the fuss was about. Though in fairness I felt they came over better on record.

Got up to Manchester early as I was staying in the Crown in the Northern Quarter, the hotel I normally use for Academy gigs was full.

Got to the Academy early as I wanted to get a good view of Janet. I'd forgotten that Thea Gilmore was playing Club Academy in the basement and the queue formed included Colin and a few other people I know from the 'acoustic singer songwriter circuit' as it were. I explained that I'd already booked my ticket for Malkmus before Thea announced her date. We had a good chat though and it seemed everyone would be at the Chester gig on the 23/6. See you there people.

I got a good position front row with a great view of Janet's kit. The support band were 'Wild Beasts' a band I'd heard about but haven't got round to checking up on yet, I'm so far behind it's unreal. Wild Beasts are a four piece band who sound nothing like the name would suggest really. They were ok, they were multi-instrumentalist too as they seemed to swap after every other song. Though not blown away I think they were a confident lot who gave the attitude of 'this is what we do, like it or loath it'.

Janet in full flight (ok I've posted this clip earlier I know, but what the hell)

It didn't seem long before Malkmus came on and Janet wearing a cute pink ribbon round her waist ? She gave her customary little wave too. I must admit I forget now what they opened with I'm sure it was a track off 'Emotional Trash'. The set was quite varied though some stuff of earlier 'Jicks' albums and some Pavement stuff too. Main body was the new album though. I said before I was not too impressed last time I saw Malkmus but this time round he was really good, the Weiss factor? probably. Janet and Joanna Bolm really provided a solid base for his undisputed talents as a guitar player, good to watch too. One thing I noticed he play's mostly without a plectrum and uses thumb and forefinger. I really enjoyed this gig and will probably feature in the frame come the end of the year.

I probably needed something to take my mind of recent events and this gig really helped.

Eyes who'd have 'em!

Saturday night I got home from work with what I thought was a migraine. I took some painkillers and tried to carry on as normal. It soon became apparent that there was something not right here. The pain was getting worse and more of a throbbing of my eyeball. I tried to just lie down and let it settle but it just got worse and worse. By I think 10/11 pm ish ( my time scales may be a bit out as this was not important to me at the time) I was in absolute agony, if you can imagine a throbbing eyeball feeling like it was about to explode backed with a vicious migraine.

By 1/2 am ish I finally gave in and decided to get to the A&E at the Hospital. Ah! it's a Saturday night/Sunday Morning A&E will be packed full of drunken battle scarred arseholes that I just couldn't cope with at this time. The fact here is if I had a gun I would have blown my brains out to get rid of this pain. At about 4 am after actually passing out with pain a couple of times I decided to ring a taxi to get to the Hospital.

I got to A&E and there were no other patients there. The girl at the desk could see I was genuinely in pain and I was seen quickly. They took a look at me and decided straightaway to send me up to Arrow Park Hospital on the Wirral (about 15 miles away). That journey seemed so long and again I think I passed out along the way. When I got there I was whisked to a ward examined and put on an IV drip pumping me full of drugs. As I lay on that bed my whole body was shaking I think a nervous energy was being released. A couple of hours later, 8am ish, a doctor came to me and asked to take a look in her consulting room. After a look into my eye with several instruments and gadgets she comes to a sort of conclusion/diagnosis.

What had happened here was that the cataract in my right eye had burst fluid causing the pressure in the eye to build up and up and up. In the end the pressure was that high it could not cope, hence the pain. The next problem was that the cataract was so dense she could not check if there was any damage or infection at the back of the eye. More drugs and two examinations on Monday and Tuesday followed.

To give an indication here imagine you eyes as car tyres. The pressure in the good one 20. The bad one zooms up to 40/50 then after med's drops to 1. They have to get my right eye to the same(ish) pressure before the can operate on it.
So I'm now back home putting drops in my eye every 4 hrs and going to the hospital every other day till it's right to go under the knife.

This isn't a pleasant experience and the fact that it may take a while to fix is a pain. My eye is not too bad at the mo but still very sore and bruised from it's total shift in pressure. Time and an op are the only healers.

I'd just like to add a thanks to the staff at Arrow Park who were very nice and especially DR. Pennefather (a cute Cheryl Crow type lady) for understanding my pain and discomfort.

Consequently I missed the Land of Talk/ Tape's n Tape's gig on the Sun in Manchester's Club Academy which was a shame, I was looking forward to that one.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me messages of concern and support I appreciate it very much. Sorry too if I freaked anyone out as I know I'm not the only one with eye problems.

Thanks again.

Janet Weiss