Archive for the ‘Gigs’ Category
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
It’s been two long , agonizing years since I last saw Westlife live on tour but, their performance at the CIA on Friday 21st May proved that it was definitely worth the wait.
The show ‘Where We Are’ featured some of the best songs from the album of the same name. They sang ‘What About Now’, ‘Shadows’, ‘Where We Are’ and a jazzed up version of ‘How To Break a Heart’’.
As well as the new tracks, they also played some old favourites such as ‘If I Let You Go’, ‘Uptown Girl’, ‘Tell Me What Makes a Man’, ‘When You’re Looking Like That’ and of course ‘Flying Without Wings’ which had me in tears for yet another year.
As is tradition for a Westlife gig, the boys did a medley of cover songs in the middle section. I look forward to this every time as I never know what they’re going to sing. This year we were treated to ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’ (very appropriate for this tour), ‘I Gotta Feeling’ and ‘Sex On Fire’ – all were huge crowd pleasers. (more…)
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Thursday, March 11th, 2010
So what do you want from your live music? Do you:
a)want to hear the band play all their recorded material exactly the way it sounds on the album or;
b) want them to hit the stage with the aim of blowing you away with technique, dynamics, showmanship and sheer enthusiasm. If you’re in the b) set then the Billy Walton Band are the band for you.
The 100 Club is a venue with a fascinating past. If you’re interested in the history of rock music, it’s worth a visit just to look at the photos on every wall, where you can see everything from early jazz to The Damned and beyond. The Billy Walton Band set takes inspiration from many of the bands featured here and many, many more. (more…)
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Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
The Maccabees are set to headline the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour 2010, with Bombay Bicycle Club, The Big Pink and The Drums completing the stellar line-up. The tour kicks off in Newcastle on 4 February 2010 and culminates on the 20th February at London’s Brixton Academy. The South London five-piece recently played a triumphant home-coming headline show at this very venue, from which The Guardian ran a five star review, acknowledging that “The Maccabees’ star has risen spectacularly in 2009”.
In October The Maccabees headlined the Lake of Stars festival in Malawi, Africa and are currently on tour with Editors in Europe. Both bands return briefly to London to play a Little Noise session at the Union Chapel in Islington in aid of Mencap on Monday 16th November. (more…)
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Friday, November 20th, 2009
When someone has had serious praise (and a sackload of songs) from Bruce Springsteen and he’s described by Jon Bon Jovi as the reason he got into music, you know there has to be a story there. The man in question is John Lyon, or Southside Johnny, and he’s aided and abetted by the Asbury Jukes. The band, with many personnel changes, have been around for 35 years with a current line-up which has been fairly stable for the last 10 years (stick with me, it’s all relevant).
Despite the long lifespan, this isn’t a nostalgia gig; Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes (shortened to The Jukes from now on) have released 4 albums of new material in the last decade and his audience expect to hear the new songs as well as the 70s classics. The audience at the Buxton Opera House were mainly the expected glad to be grey generation with some notable exceptions, including the teenager behind the mixing desk applauding the solos and singing along to songs recorded around 2 decades before he was born. (more…)
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