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The London gig world was delivered another blow last week with news of the closing of another venue. The Flowerpot in Kentish Town hasn’t been around for that long but in its short time built itself a lot of love. The promoters seemed in shock as they explained their lease had been sold from beneath their feet but will be taking the brand name with them to a new venue for The Flowerpot’s next chapter. The venue as we know it will be closed at the end of the month, so if you want to catch one of its final gigs, we’d highly recommend post-punk Brits, The Chapman Family, who play there on 28th October. Which is looking like one of the most gigtastic days of the year.
Gigs Of The Week: 25-31 Oct 2010
BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms– Roundhouse, London – 28-30 Oct
The Roundhouse once again hosts this year’s series of the Electric Proms, this year rebranded to be associated with BBC Radio 2. Scaled down from last year’s five gigs, there are only three events this time around, seemingly themed around ageing music legends of the male variety. Elton John will be there with his current working partner Leon Russell (28 October), as will Robert Plant (29 October) and Neil Diamond (30 October). It may be that the rebranding is responsible for this move away from more contemporary artists that last year included Dizzee Rascal and Doves, but with a tradition of experimenting with instrumentation, hopefully this year’s series will hold a few surprises up its sleeves.
Teengirl Fantasy/Kitten/Twin Shadow– Hoxton Square Bar + Kitchen, London – 28 Oct
It’s hard to pick which one of these acts should be at the top of this bill. We’ve got the girl-led DIY pop of Kitten, the blogworld-approved bedroom electronics of Teengirl Fantasy. But we’re most looking forward to welcoming Brooklynite and 4AD newbie Twin Shadow to London to hear some of his delicious emo-disco songs.
Manic Street Preachers– Brixton Academy, London – 28, 29 Oct
The current Manics (pictured) touring schedule in support of their well-received album Postcards From A Young Man lands in London this week with these two dates at the Brixton Academy.
White Lies/Everything Everything/I Am Arrows – Shoreditch Town Hall, London – 28 Oct
UB40– The Troxy, London – 28 Oct
“Music Of The Mind”: Finn Peters & Matthew Yee-King– Cafe Oto, London – 29 Oct
Meursault – Luminaire, London – 30 Oct
Just Announced:
The Walkmen
With recent album Lisbon released to much acclaim, The Walkmen have announced six dates in January including a gig at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on the 25th. If you can’t wait that long, they’ll also be supporting The Black Keys around the country over the next couple of weeks.
With lead singer Kyle recently taking a bit of time out to do a spot of Mark Ronson collaboration, Scot-rock scallies The View are also due to release their as-yet untitled Youth-produced third album soon. They’ll be showcasing new material on a lengthy tour all over the UK in November and December.
Having perfected their brilliant live spectacle to the point of headlining Glastonbury’s The Other Stage, the nation’s favourite pop duo have announced a one-off Pandemonium show in aid of Mencap at the Hammersmith Apollo on the 8th December. It'll mark the launch of the Big Noise Sessions, to run alongside the Little Noise Sessions.
In a week defined by the rescue of 33 Chilean miners, London welcomed their country-mates Panico to our shores. Having recently released their Kick album, they confirmed their brilliance as a live band, appearing at Club Motherfucker's south of the river debut at Corsica Studios. But that was last week. That's history. Let's think about the future. These are some of the best gigs coming up this week.
Gigs Of The Week: 18-24 Oct
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – The Slaughtered Lamb, London – 18 Oct
Twenty-one year old York native Leftwich recently landed in our consciousness with the gentle, acoustic swirl of his single, Atlas Hands. Having supported the likes of I Am Kloot and Fionn Regan, first impressions are of a sensitive soul with a keen ear for a melody fitting neatly into the Elliot Smith/Jose Gonzales singer/songwriter mould. This week will also find him in Glasgow, York and Oxford.
Joe Satriani – Hammersmith Apollo, London - 19 Oct
Those who like their guitar a bit more raucous should head to one of Satriani’s dates this week. Founder and mainstay of the epic axe-wielding act G3, he’s regarded as a technical wizard in his genre, and we can probably blame the air guitar trend squarely on him and his rock legend friends (Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett are among those he used to teach).
With his supergroup Chickenfoot between albums, not one to sit about he’s here on the back of Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards, his 14th solo album release. His tour also takes him to Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle, Glasgow and Birmingham.
Yeasayer’s second album Odd Blood has been one of 2010’s most enjoyable pleasures. Shrugging off any difficult second album concerns they reemerged with an invigorated new upbeat pop direction and a string of addictive singles. A safe set of hands in a live setting, these are the Brooklyn band’s biggest UK headlining dates this year, and will also include stops in Dublin, Cardiff, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle and Glasgow.
These New Puritans – Barbican Hall, London – 23 Oct
The idea behind this concert is to recreate the sound of Hidden, one of the defining albums of 2010 as authentically as possible in a live setting. The 4-piece from Southend-on-Sea will be accompanied by the Britten Sinfonia, with a 15-piece brass and woodwind ensemble being combined with the rhythm of giant Japanese taiko drums to try to find the same dark, rhythmic and boundary-pushing sound. This is the only scheduled UK date, with just two more following in The Hague and in Paris.
Kate Nash – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – 18 Oct
Soap&Skin– Union Chapel, London – 18 Oct
Perfume Genius– Cecil Sharp House, London – 19 Oct
KT Tunstall– Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – 20 Oct
The Good The Bad – Peter Parker’s Rock’n’Roll Club, London – 21 Oct
Robyn – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – 22 Oct
Morcheeba – Roundhouse, London – 23 Oct
My Chemical Romance – Hammersmith Apollo, London – 23 Oct
Just Announced
Little Noise Sessions
This year's Little Noise Sessions lineup is taking shape. Headliners so far announced are Tom Jones, Paolo Nutini, Hurts, The Kooks and Ellie Goulding (impressive progress - last year she was fourth on the bill). Support acts will include big 2011 tips Clare Maguire and Rumer, and reliable turns from We Are Scientists and Stornoway. With proceeds going to Mencap, this is a series of gigs that always stands on its own merits rather than simply being a charity event. They'll once again be held at the Union Chapel, this year between 15-20 November.
This superb Swedish band, their style a heady mix of indie-pop and shoegaze, will be back on our shores for a gig ahead of a singles compilation album due out early next year. Catch them at the Scala in London on 5 December.
Having completed a nationwide tour proving that they can deliver as a headline act, the Everything boys will be reproducing their Man Alive album in its entirety, rearranged and scored for a 13-piece classical ensemble. This will of course be utterly amazing. Make sure you’re either at the Royal Northern College of Music (whose students will be providing the 13 ensemble members) in Manchester on 13 December, or at London's Union Chapel on 15 December.
A new, hopefully weekly, blog feature is upon us. Each week our estimable assistant editor Ben Urdang rounds up some live music recommendations for the denizens of our great capital to to go see.
(Watch out for something similar over on the classical section in coming weeks too, authored by our new classical editor Melanie Eskenazi.)
Slightly late but better than never, here comes the first batch...
11 Oct – 17 Oct
Gigs Of The Week:
Arrested Development - Barbican Hall, London - 13 Oct Back in 1992, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days In The Life Of... shone a new light on what hip hop could do with its spiritual yet politicised grooves being the ying to the in-your-face yang of gangsta rap. With Speech still at the helm, Arrested Development are in town for a rare London date to promote new album Strong.
No Age; Male Bonding; Abe Vigoda – XOYO, London – 14 Oct Quite a lineup indeed. Los Angeles Sub Pop signings No Age have brought with them one labelmate (London’s Male Bonding) and one fellow Angeleno band (Bella Union’s Abe Vigoda) for what promises to be a noisy but tuneful night at this lively Hoxton venue.
Groove Armada – Brixton Academy, London – 15-16 Oct Where Basement Jaxx go, Groove Armada seem to follow. Less than a year after “the Jaxx” packed up and retired from full band live shows, Andy Cato and Tom Findlay are hanging up their funky shoes. Catch one of their last few, always excellent, live shows this week, as they wind up their current tour with two nights at Brixton Academy.
In The City – Various Venues, Manchester – 13-15 Oct For those (ie. me) suffering from festival withdrawal symptoms, Manchester’s In The City is back and to the rescue with a frankly quite astonishing lineup, at a frankly quite un-Londoncentric price of £29 for all three days. With over 200 bands playing around the city and wide genre coverage guaranteed by the likes of Mount Kimbie, HEALTH and Monarchy, those of us who can’t make it will be left feeling grim down South.
Oh No Ono; Glasser; Spark; Horse And Condor - Madame Jojo's, London - 12 Oct Detroit Social Club – Dingwalls, London – 12 Oct Sheryl Crow – Hammersmith Apollo, London – 13 Oct Anais Mitchell – The King’s Head, Crouch End – 15 Oct Brandon Flowers - Forum, London - 17 Oct
Just Announced:
The Vaccines Launching themselves with a raucous but impossible-to-get-into free gig at The Flowerpot last Thursday, The Vaccines are a London four-piece who’ve exploded out of nowhere. Songs heard so far hint towards a hook-heavy mix of garage band and surf rock, so basically they’re doing everything just right. They’ve announced dates through November, so see for yourself if they can assume the mantle of the best definite article band around. Too current to even have a website, their tour will surely find them somewhere near you. London dates are at Corsica Studios (4 Nov) and Madame Jojo’s (20 Nov).
AM This American singer/songwriter’s debut album Future Sons And Daughters is full of likeable easy-on-the-ear tracks with an occasional leftfield influence creeping in leaving him sounding somewhere between Joseph Arthur and Beck. Following a nationwide tour supporting Train, he’ll be headlining his own gig at London’s Water Rats.
The Bees Following a triumphant gig at Bush Hall after a three and a half year absence, the Isle Of Wight boys will be coming to a medium-sized venue soon, with stops including Manchester, Oxford and Portsmouth before ending up at London's Koko on 17 December.
Max Raymond writes: Counter Culture is a pop-up venue, running for three months under the arches on the approach to London Bridge. As a club experience it's rather different to what the rest of the capital has to offer. Firstly, it's only going to be around for 99 days. Secondly, it's not in the east of London, where one might expect to find such a place.
The aim of the organisers is to take away some attention from areas like Shoreditch and Hoxton and to bring exciting 'counter culture' – there's also going to be cinema, comedy and art installations among other things – to south east London.
To discover whether they have a chance of competing against their more established rivals up east we ambled along to the launch night (Friday 24th September) to find out. A Human and Viva City were among the bands playing. Tonight wasn't solely about the music, though, if you were wondering, A Human's frontman wandered around the venue a lot, did a fair bit of thrusting and stole a couple of cupcakes. Viva City were a bit more restrained, hiding behind their instruments. Canapés, cupcakes and alcohol lubricated the mood nicely, but there was the small matter of exploring the new surroundings.
Entry to the venue is through a corridor replete with some excellent band photography from Harriet Armstrong. Once into the club proper there are two rooms: a spacious main area through an archway where bands will play, and a more intimate secondary room that plays host to DJ sets. Overall capacity is about 700 people, and both rooms were amply filled as the night progressed. The layout and atmosphere, beneath the Kent mailine, point to a cross between central London's Heaven and Shoreditch's Cargo.
Judging from tonight's attendees - a sea of trendy folk mixed with one or two eccentrically dressed sorts (the Alice In Wonderland/fantasy look was particularly popular) - this is a place that, in some form, would be a welcome addition beyond Counter Culture's 99-day tenure. It's in a great location and it's certainly got enough appeal to attract large crowds - persuading the local council to make the license permanent seems like a no brainer, given the lack of places like this in south London. Then it has every chance of rivalling the eastern monopoly.
Counter Culture runs till 1st January 2011 at 7-9 Crucifix Lane, London SE1 3JW
