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There was a tingle in the air at Bush Hall, a sense of expectation – and those expectations and hopes were fulfilled.
Jake Morley is a singer-songwriter who gained a strong following from his early YouTube recordings showing him playing the guitar in a very peculiar and jaw-dropping style. As he sings the upbeat love/hate-song to London, entitled “This City”, his hands flash around his guitar, plucking at strings, banging it on top, on the side, whacking and plucking a whole band out of the one instrument.
This was a very popular video, but there is always a danger that the musician can be trapped by the popularity of this one thing, to become an online only flash-in-the-pan.
This night, in a gig that launched his first album “Many Fish to Fry”, Morley proved that he has the potential to be much more than a one-hit-youtube wonder. Looking 100% at ease with where he was, and what he was doing – playing to a packed Bush Hall – Jake and his talented band proceeded to grab the already eager audience into the palm of his hand and lead them through his collection of songs that were at times heartfelt, funny, revealing and emotional – and ultimately uplifting.
This is a man to follow, but not just on social media sites, but in real life whenever he plays a gig.
This is music to cherish, an album that is personal, but speaks to you on many levels.
This is Jake Morley.
I’m not big on nostalgia gigs but sometimes you have to bend your own rules. When you get the chance to see the best songwriters of the 80s supported by one of the best songwriters of the 90s, it has to be worth a punt.
Some sections of the music press in the early 80s saw Squeeze songwriters Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford as the latest incarnation of Lennon and McCartney, with some justification. The early songs were scenes from Jack-the-lad territory in south-east London but as the band developed they moved on to more adult themes such as relationships and hangovers. In common with The Beatles, Difford and Tilbrook were self-taught which led to a less orthodox approach to chords and melody and gave their songs a very distinctive Squeeze sound.
On to Shepherds Bush Empire, November 2010. The Lightning Seeds open the bill with a tight greatest hits package which demonstrates Ian Broudie’s ability to write the perfect pop song. The set includes “Pure”, “Sugar Coated Iceberg”, “The Life of Riley” and a delicate, stripped down version of the classic Ronettes single “Be My Baby”. It’s a good set of great pop songs played well and the crowd appreciate it, but most of them are here for the main event. Read more
As Electric Six stepped on stage on Friday night, they received a typically warm Glasgow welcome.
It would have been even warmer, had the audience known what a show they were about to witness. Kicking off with the opening staple “After Hours”, frontman Tyler Spencer (aka: Dick Valentine) had everyone in the palm of his hand. This set the tone for the rest of the night.
“Everything you do here, you do the correct way!” Valentine claimed at one point, to enormous cheers from all. It seemed the same for him onstage: during the guitar solo on “Infected Girls”, he assumed a power stance and didn’t move a muscle until the vocals returned. This delighted the audience.
However, the band’s success in winning over the crowd not only resided in Valentine’s charisma. The songs themselves had people moshing, pogo-ing and chanting, with their hit, “Danger! High Voltage”, bringing the venue to an even higher excitement level. In between songs, the band burst into a short cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and during the encore almost ended up playing the Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”, a moment of comic genius much appreciated by the Scottish audience. Read more
It’s difficult to believe that it’s been 20 years and it’s an understatement to say that it’s been a roller-coaster. This is the closest thing to a hometown gig on the tour and there’s a lot of love and mutual respect here. The audience looks a lot older than at the last London show I saw and the reason is that most of these people are the fans that were there at the beginning. This is an audience primed and waiting for the fuse to be lit. The flamethrower that ignites it is “You Love Us” and Newport Centre erupts; the Manics are back in town.
James is trying not to swear too much because his dad’s here and Nicky manages a whole gig with only 1 costume change. It would be easy to be complacent on a night like this but the Manics just don’t work that way; they’re incendiary from start to finish. Songs from “Postcards from a Young Man” feature throughout the set and are well received by the partisan crowd, particularly the title song. The strength of the performance, however is in the Manics back catalogue and their ability to deliver them with just as much venom as when they were originally recorded, although between songs the love and respect within the band and between the band and the audience is obvious. There are a lot of references to Richey tonight and the tone is one of fond remembrance, which suggests that maybe the band are beginning to come to terms with that particular tragedy. Read more
