Devendra Banhart’s live show is a trip into a crazy world of exquisitely executed variety. His richly diverse crowd, from a loud and lively Spanish language contingent, to the typical trendy youngsters, and some elder representatives of the music-loving crowd, all receive a little section that they will thoroughly enjoy. While new his new record ‘What Will Be Will Be’ might lack a few of the idiosyncratic elements that so many of his earlier fans fell in love with, in favour of more typical singer songwriter territory, his live show remains bizarre, wonderful and unique. I know of no other artist who could flit easily from groovy, danceable numbers to bizarre finger picked acoustic songs, to Black Sabbath styled heavy rock (and we’re talking seriously heavy now, not just heavy in comparison to previous Banhart shows) and some latin-flavoured ballroom dance tunes just for good measure.

17 Dec 2009

There is no doubt that whenever Lightning Bolt play there is always a quasi-theatrical element to their shows. This premise is compounded right from the start. As I wait for tickets there are people literally begging for tickets, not only are they holding up cardboard signs but they are literally badgering everyone outside the gig and in the pre-booked tickets queue. Even though you are in the far larger ticket holding majority the desperation of the small minority can’t but not have an extraordinary effect on you. This is a gig people want to fucking see, and there is something about Lightning Bolt that instils such a desperation in people whom otherwise would have not even considered resorting to begging. Lightning Bolt live performances are now increasingly notorious, and I do believe that the well-known cliché of ‘things to do before you die’ seems ever more pertinent.

16 Dec 2009

Had it been just Tortoise I probably wouldn’t have attended having seen them live over the summer, and equally had it been just Cluster I probably wouldn’t have attended either. By contrast the combination of the two was certainly an intriguing prospect: on paper at least. By contrast, when seeing them perform live together you couldn’t help but think it was a little bit of a strange combination. During the interval I overheard many others who were in attendance horribly lambasting Cluster as ‘boring’, ‘mundane’, and one person even uttered the phrase ‘Cluster nearly killed me’. Now in some respects I find this mildly blasphemous. In terms of ‘Zuckerzeit ‘primarily Cluster are not only a well-established band in my eyes, but their role as innovators and their thoroughly unique approach to music demands that they be shown full respect. That said, after seeing them live for the first time, I do admit that it is going to prove tedious to defend their prowess as a live act. When they left the stage before the interval, accompanied by Tortoise who had came onto to jam with them for the last ten minutes, you couldn’t help but feel that the handshakes exchanged were more out of respect rather than a belief that their pairing together as part of BBC’s jazz festival had been a success.

25 Nov 2009

Heard that one about how the Flaming Lips are the best band on the planet? Heard that one about how, despite forming in 1983, their new album is still one of the best albums this year? Heard that one about their live show being the most life-affirming concert you can attend? Well, they’re all true. The Flaming Lips are spectacular. They are aliens, descended from Mars, sent to Earth to create joy, happiness and truckloads of confetti-covered mess wherever they may go. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Flaming Lips are in town, and you motherfuckers have got to sing along.

16 Nov 2009

It is often remarked that Yo La Tengo are the ‘quintessential critic’s band’. Indeed having now been around for over 25 years they have developed somewhat of a cult following, however it is only in recent times that they have began to achieve anything like mainstream success. Despite this on the back of their most recent release ‘Popular Songs’ (somewhat ironic title perhaps?) YLT are now undoubtedly beginning to get at least something like the success they deserve. Having seen them twice in fairly modestly sized venues, a date in the Camden Roundhouse is a fantastic achievement, although quite frankly nothing less than YLT deserve. In fact halfway through the set enigmatic front man Ira Kaplan said just as much; “my band has been around for a very long time now”, he said before adding, “I had started to become used to playing to not that many people, and to play here to this many people is truly an honour, thank you guys, thank you very much”. Of course those with a more cynical disposition may contend that it was just ‘classic’ stage talk; however I for one believe there must be no doubting their sincerity. Yo La Tengo are among the most honest in the business and this clearly reflects in their approach to their music as well as in their live performances.

10 Nov 2009