Romance at Short Notice

Dirty Pretty Things
Proud, Camden, April 6

Former DPT members Anthony and Didz kicked off their new club night Younger Than Yesterday with a surprise reunion from DPT itself, followed by a DJ set from Jamie Klaxons (and a random appearance in the crowd from Harry McVeigh of White Lies). Liz and I had some initial skepticism about the evening, when we entered to the sounds of a rather strange mix of 80s and earlier kitsch that suggested questionable things to come. However, I astutely recognized Carl Barat from a side view of his hairstyle and the fact that he was virtually my height. A passing hipster helpfully asked us if DPT had played yet, so we knew to hang around and have some overpriced and low quality drinks (seriously Proud, who stocks your bar?)



The wait was quite short, and DPT appeared to do a (very, very, incredibly) short set. In true DPT style, it was a fairly ramshackle occasion. Gary had approximately 1/8 of a drum kit, Carl's guitar had some sort of malfunction, there were the prerequisite forgotten lyrics, and some really extensive conversations between Carl and Anthony (presumably deciding what song to play next?). However, the band seemed to be having fun on stage together again, which was great to see after their disappointing experience recording their second album, and subsequent breakup. Apparently the breakup was as amicable as they claimed, since they got together again in a shorter time than most bands take between tours.



The super-short set opened with Deadwood, followed by Gin & Milk, Bang Bang You're Dead, and BURMA. DPT seems to think that it's best to play their songs at the maximum possible speed, which makes things feel a bit frantic but also gives them more energy than the album versions. I would have liked to hear a track or two from Romance, but it was also great that they played old favorites. I was particuarly (and pleasantly) surprised to hear BURMA, which doesn't appear on the American release of Waterloo to Anywhere.


Didz

After the show the rest of the band disappeared, but Carl hung about the side of the stage and took pictures with people. Woe betide, my camera was dead so I took one on my phone and it's just a dark blob, but I know the truth. He mumbled at me apologetically and smiled. Well nice.

22 Grand Job

The Rakes
Rough Trade East, London

Short in-store tonight for The Rakes, promoting their third album, Klang. The band relocated to Berlin to record, inciting some decent hype by proclaiming the British music scene dead. (Unfairly.) However, the shift did help them return to their old ways and take a step back from the gloom that overcame their sophomore album, Ten New Messages. Klangsounds sharper, witter, and more Rakes-like than the previous release.



The in-store was a fairly quiet affair, less unpleasantly corporate than the HMV ones I've attended, which reflects Rough Trade's status as one of London's indie institutions. It was so low key that I had a chance to browse the shop's eclectic selection of vinyls and ended up snagging the new White Lies single, Farewell to the Fairground. (The b-side is their terrific, tongue-in-cheek, gloom-rock rendition of Kanye West's Love Lockdown. Ten thousand times better than the original.)

The Rakes showed up relatively on time, suits, sweaters, and polos keeping up the vaguely nerdy, buttoned-down aesthetic that characterized their first album's focus on office life. The set, technically tight, was a surprising mix of new and old material, considering most bands play exclusively from the new album they're promoting at in-stores.

Set list:
You're in It
We Danced Together
Retreat
Open Book
That's the Reason
The Woes of the Working Woman
22 Grand Job
Shackleton
Strasburg
The Light from Your Mac
1989
The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect



The Light from Your Mac is by far my favorite track from Klang, with it's stripped-down verses, it reminds me a lot of The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect. We Danced Together comes across well live, the slicker sound is less harsh than some of the more angular guitar tracks like Retreat (although that was also a good one). The crowd was most excited (well, there was some nodding, and the one really overenthusiastic guy danced a lot, unfortunately Rough Trade attracts a crowd that is much too cool for dancing, smiling, or moving) for breakout single 22 Grand Job and Retreat, although I was personally happiest that they played The World Was a Mess, which has been my favorite Rakes track since the transcendent version that they played live for a Dior Homme show, which extended the musings on lackluster nightlife to 17 minutes. You're in It was a great opener for the set.

In spite of an acoustically less than ideal setup, The Rakes did well. (Also in spite of the fact that the lead singer didn't blink for the entire set...interesting.) Klang definitely reflects the bleak modernism of Berlin, and is as accurate a portrayal of the city as the band's older albums were of London. The Rakes have always been about boredom, from office jobs to their hometown, but they make it more interesting than anyone else.

Bonus question:

This was on top of their amp and seems to migrate around Rough Trade. Also saw it on an album cover there. Any idea what it is??

Lucid Dreams

Franz Ferdinand
Apollo Hammersmith, London, March 9

Endured the interminable tube journey to Hammersmith tonight for my second round with Franz Ferdinand, touring in support of their first new album since 2005, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. After a musically solid but disappointingly corporate encounter with them at HMV in January, I was looking forward to seeing the new tracks in their "native environment."

Having snagged a good spot on the Apollo floor (the venue is a large, old theater, with an interestingly tilted standing section from its days as a legitimate theater), we caught the openers, indie blog darlings The Soft Pack. The annoyingly pushy french girls next to us made a remark about their similarity to "Les Libertines." Which was true in terms of coke-induced speed, but not so much in terms of ability to distinguish one song from another. Their short set was upbeat and some of the songs were moderately catchy, but most were too similar (fast paced rhythm guitar, mumbled lyrics) for me to judge whether or not I would actually enjoy an album from them. Still, infinitely better than last week's dreadful Louis XIV experience and brief, so no real complaints.

Franz appeared after a brief interval opened with Dark of the Matinée, which got the crowd moving (they continued to move during the entire sold-out gig; it was great to see such massive enthusiasm for the band after their long hiatus).

Set list (in sort of order, split more in half than as a true encore):
Dark of the Matinée
Twilight Omens
Do You Want To
Turn It On
Bite Hard
Walk Away
Lucid Dreams
Ulysses
Take Me Out
40'
No You Girls
Michael
What She Came For
Outsiders
The Fallen
This Fire

Practically every song got a massive response from the crowd, although the singles and the tracks from their self titled debut were obvious favorites. 40' was one of the best tracks of the night; the sparse guitar intro silenced the crowd entirely, and the band stretched it for a solid minute. Bite Hard has a similarly escalating intro, which I mentioned in my HMV entry. Michael was a surprise favorite, while Twilight Omens seemed to be a bit subduing after the stomping, chanting opener. The Fallen and Walk Away were the best tracks from YCHISMB (which may have failed solely for its abbreviation-demanding name), but the real standouts were Outsiders and What She Came For. Outsiders began with an extended, slinking keyboard solo and ended in an incredible moment that saw all four band members and a fifth person pounding out the conclusion on Paul Thompson's drum kit (short video of this soon). What She Came For concluded with a spectacular guitar duel between Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy, one of the classic shots in a Franz gig.

Overall, Franz is innovative on stage and seems to be having a great time. They change up their songs live (much to the frustration of fans attempting to sing along), with Kapranos frequently shifting the cadence of lyrics or shuffling the words entirely. There's a huge amount of obvious musical talent in their performances, and they look fantastic . The best of the show comes from Kapranos, who is undoubtedly the most charismatic frontman I've seen. He makes a great comparison to purposefully awkward Brandon Flowers. Comfortable, sharply dressed, tall and slouchingly thin in a way that pairs perfectly with his louche vocals, he is the center around which the band revolves. (He also, incidentally, appears to have not aged since 1997- a fact the NME even found in pertinent to comment on last month.) However, they seem to have fun on stage together, evidenced in their traditional intros at the end of the gig, and their hands-joined final bow.

Kapranos is also the source of the band's significant literary influences. While the entire band is remarkably literate, judging from their clever and topically diverse blog entries, Kapranos is a sometimes-author (his food book, Soundbites, is a fantastic read), and an obvious lover of literature, including direct references to books as diverse as The Master and Margarita and Ulysses (the title of the lead single from Tonight) in Franz's lyrics. The literary references are more diverse, and so was the crowd who showed up for Franz; I was surrounded a group of friends who had come from France for the gig and a pair of Japanese students, intermingled with the Brits who normally form a much larger percentage of the crowd at the gigs I've been attending. In spite of this, the audience connected strongly with each song; Ulysses was a crowd favorite. Franz, and particularly Kapranos in his stage presence, also embody the hedonistic tendencies of the movement I'm studying. Tracks like The Fallen had the entire crowd singing along; clearly hedonism is connecting with audiences well, perhaps reflecting their own values in modern Britain?

The verdict? One of my favorite gigs in London, and gigs in general. Franz is well worth the trip to Hammersmith.

Dustland Fairytales

The Killers
O2 London, February 23

I had high hopes for this Killers gig, having seen them a couple of years ago during their Sam's Town tour and thoroughly enjoying it. The O2 arena is a significantly bigger venue than where I saw them in America, but we had a decent spot on the floor, once we managed to navigate around a cluster of absurdly tall people.

I was excited when I found out Louis XIV was the support act for the Day & Age tour. Generally opening acts are complete unknowns that you sort of nod along to for forty five minutes without a lot of enthusiasm, so getting to see a second band that I know (and actually like) was an unexpected bonus.

Well, until they started playing.

Louis XIV was actually worse than most of the opening acts I've seen and known nothing about, mostly because I actually had expectations that they would possess at least some level of talent. Honestly, this is a band that has decent name recognition and has managed to release two albums, the first of which I really enjoy. However, their performance was lackluster, their lead singer can't sing (he performs in a kind of oddly aggressive spoken word that manages to be both boring and jarring), and their music, when played live, lacks the louche, sleazy slinking beats that makes it enjoyable. Sometimes I actually couldn't recognize songs that I know (well known single God Killed the Queen was a prime example of this, and I could tell from the blank looks on the rest of the crowd's faces that I wasn't alone). All in all, an unfortunate start to the gig.

Intermission followed, during which the O2 filled to capacity, even the seats in the rafters that were so bad Lanette commented she would pay "About £5" for them.

The Killers appeared much more promptly than when I last saw them (concerts here seem to be quite prompt, with the exception of Pete(r) Doherty. Their set looked amazing, complete with a dramatic light screen, mirrorball piano, Brandon's new keyboard faced with a giant, lightbulb-studded K (I miss the classic eagle claw-disco ball combo), and some rather random palm trees. The feather epaulette jacket that has been ubiquitous in this album's promotions was also present for the first two songs, at which point Brandon tossed it contemptuously aside.

Opener Spaceman was absolutely massive live, and Brandon seems to have opened up a lot to the crowd and performing since his earlier days. Spaceman was followed by Somebody Told Me, which got a predictably huge crowd response, then Smile Like You Mean It.

After revisiting some classics, B. Flow and Co. dipped back into Day & Age for This Is Your Life and Joy Ride (easily the most camp song in the history of The Killers). The new songs sound sharp live, but lack some of the stadium-filling guitar riffs that made Sam's Town a great tour album.

The rest of the set list (not necessarily in order):
Human
Mr. Brightside
Losing Touch
Bling (Confessions of a King)
Sam's Town
Neon Tiger
Shadowplay
For Reasons Unknown
Read My Mind
All These Things That I've Done
(encore)
A Dustland Fairytale
Bones
Jenny Was A Friend of Mine
When You Were Young

Mr. Brightside was an obvious standout, as was Human, which achieved far more success in the UK than in the US (basically the story of The Killers in general.) Neon Tiger was glammed up with a surprise tiger-striped background, and Read My Mind sounded great live, as always. It's really one of their classic tracks, bringing in Springsteen-esque nostalgia and imagery without being as much of a blatant copy as some of Sam's Town is. Shadowplay, first covered by the band for Antion Corbjin's film Control, was a pleasantly murky addition to the set, and inspired the best of Brandon's jerky, awkward dancing. All These Things was fantastic, although I would have preferred to hear it at the real conclusion of the gig instead of When You Were Young, which is a terrific track but not quite as spectacular. Jenny Was A Friend of Mine was a nice encore surprise, especially when juxtaposed with the sweeping romance of Dustland Fairytale. The live changeup to "she kicked and screamed while I held her throat) in the second chorus makes the song much darker, and IMO should have been on the album version.

Overall, really a great gig. The Killers were in top form, and Brandon has really expanded as a showman, even from the last album, although it's a bit disappointing how little he plays keyboard live these days. He spoke to the crowd far more, and seemed glad to be in England, referring to it as the place where they first achieved success. The stage show was a step up from the last tour as well; the light screen was used more creatively than most bands, especially during All These Things.

The verdict? Louis XIV, abysmal. Killers, great as usual. They really are the heirs to stadium rock in the U2/Bruce vein.

X-Ray Vision

The Maccabees
matter, London, February 20

The Maccabees club gig at O2 venue matter, with opener V.V. Brown. matter (not capitalized), ended up being a much bigger and slicker venue than I was anticipating, part of the massive O2 complex, where I'll incidentally be seeing The Killers on Monday night. Opener V.V. Brown was a pleasant surprise; some catchy throwback stuff that sounded like an upbeat Amy Winehouse b-side. The crowd was fairly low-key during her set, so we assumed it would be a relaxed gig. The mix of indie kids there for the Maccabees and ordinary club-goers seemed to confirm this.

Oh, how wrong we were.

The crowd went insane as soon as The Maccabees arrived on stage, opening with an up tempo newer track. (I could see the set list from my very front row spot, wish I'd remembered to snap a picture of it for song titles.) My side of the crowd went especially crazy as we were in front of incredibly enthusiastic guitarist Felix White, who really steals the show from the rest of the band with his hyperactive dancing as well as sharp melodies.

The set itself was relatively short, seven or eight songs that skewed largely toward newer material that wasn't on the original release of Colour It In. Tracks from their debut album got the biggest response from the enthusiastic crowd, though. X-Ray, Precious Time, and especially First Love incurred dancing more violent than I've seen since...well, last year's femur-endangering Wombats gig. The Maccabees sound great live, even though the balance of vocals to guitar could have been better at times, and they chose an upbeat set that kept the crowd moving, although a break with a more relaxed song like Toothpaste Kisses might have been in order after the third or fourth time they had to tell the crowd to stop pushing forward. They closed with the single from their upcoming album, which should be a sharp, peppy continuation of Colour It In if the tracks from tonight are representative.

Although the crowds are sometimes a little...too enthusiastic here, it's great to see people really getting into the music. I feel like that's the main difference between the music scenes in America and Britain. People here seem really excited about up and coming bands and usually know the music at gigs, even unreleased tracks. Fans tonight were requesting b-sides and songs that have only made the internet rounds. Americans seem so much more content to be spoon-fed whatever piece of overproduced Rihanna drivel is being pumped out by Island or Warner Brothers that week, but Brits seem incredibly eager to give new bands a chance. It makes sense that most of the iconic bands, from the Beatles up to Oasis, have been British. The love of music comes through in the songs, and the bands themselves seem to be having a much better time than most of the morose or overly corporate, professional acts (ie. Panic at the Disco, Nickelback and their hundred ripoffs), that come from America. It's just a more organic, DIY feel, down to the merch, and it feels great.

Wasted Little DJs

The View
Koko, Camden, February 10

The View (not the TV show, as I had to tell literally everyone that I mentioned the gig to) last night at indie institution Koko. It's an old theater that's been revamped as a club/venue, so there are about four stories that look down on the stage, a pretty decent sized venue for a band that hasn't seen too much hype for its second album. We got in too late to get a space along the rails in the upper floors, so we headed downstairs during the unremarkable and sometimes outrightly bad openers. I didn't bother to remember their names since I really had no interest in listening again.

The crowd was completely chill until The View came on (in spite of an odd assortment of hipsters, old people, 14 year olds starting chants, and a group of women inexplicably sporting light up bunny ears), but when the band started playing they went insane. The unfortunate sort of drink-throwing, uncontrollable need for unnecessary crowd surfing kind of insane. It was great to see an audience really excited for a gig, but after about the sixteenth cup of beer was flung over the crowd, I found myself wishing they would be just a little bit less excited. Did explain why the floor in Koko always looks faintly sticky, even at the beginning of the night.

The View themselves put on a good show, playing a lot of the better known tracks from debut Hats Off to Buskers and mixing in songs from brand new album Which Bitch? I hadn't picked up the second record yet, but they were good enough that I'm planning on getting it. They kicked off the set with some classics like Wasteland (the crowd went nuts for the super-fast rendition), Five Rebeccas, Skag Trendy, and Wasted Little DJs, then broke in the middle with super short, harmonica tinged tune Typical Time, which segued into a short acoustic set. The end of the gig saw Superstar Tradesman and Same Jeans, then an acoustic encore of Oasis' Don't Look Back in Anger (confirming the frequent opinion that The View are Libs impostors--Pete and Carl performed the track at their latest reunion gig).

The View do have a little bit of Libs in them in that they can get a crowd going, and seem to have a fanbase with a high percentage of belligerent young guys. Their music also has the kind of underproduced, loose sound (live and recorded) that the Libs and their various coattail riders prefer.

As for Albion? Maybe a little bit in the atmosphere of the gig. People seemed to be having a genuinely good time, despite the fact that Koko is a relatively corporate venue. (A little too well organized, actual tickets, plastered with NME endorsements). The View seem to encourage this, from what I could understand of their banter. (Being from Dundee, their accents were virtually unintelligible). Lyrically, The View get into class a little bit with tracks like Superstar Tradesman and Posh Boys Can't Play (which was sadly omitted from the set), and the album title "Hats Off to Buskers" suggests something about value for the shambolic, itinerant lifestyle that this movement of bands admires. Not quite the height of Albionesque romanticism, but on the edges. And overwhelmingly influenced by the movement of bands that does revere Albion (Oasis, The Libs, a touch of contemporaries Arctic Monkeys in the snippets of modern nightlife spewed out in fast lyrics).

The verdict? Crazy but enthusiastic crowd, solid playing, a dash of Albion. Great to see a band I've been listening to since I downloaded an elusive live recording about two years ago of Posh Boys.

I'd say pictures are to come, but they didn't turn out especially well. Might toss the Oasis cover video up here if youtube cooperates.

Twilight Omens

Franz Ferdinand
HMV Oxford, January 26

Got up incredibly early (in line around 645) to get wristbands for the Franz instore, then returned later in the day for the gig itself, and even though we showed up much later, somehow got a far better place in the crowd than we had at White Lies. At least we were in front of the stage this time.

Franz themselves sounded great, but I can't wait to see them in an actual gig. Their new album has much heavier, slicker production than either the debut or YCHISMB, but Tonight is about a night out in clubs, so the music feels like it needs to be heard in that situation. Somewhere a little seedy would be best; there's a dark, dirty sound to the weird percussion and whispered vocals on tracks like No You Girls and Bite Hard that just isn't meant for somewhere as corporate as a brightly lit HMV. That combined with the giant mob of press (on stepstools, no less) that blocked the stage for about the first half of the set, left something to be desired atmospherically. The band seemed to agree, Alex chirping "Bye photographers!" when security ushered them out.

Lack of atmosphere didn't mean that the band itself wasn't technically strong. As an instore, it was a fairly abbreviated set of around 8 songs, all from the new album with the exception of Tell Her Tonight mid-set, when Nick took over the vocals. The addition of keyboard to their live setup creates a somewhat different sound than the hard, angular guitar hooks from Franz Ferdinand, but also makes the sound more complex. Sadly there was no drumming with human bones on the live version of No You Girls. I've got my fingers crossed for the next gig.

The set list was something like:
No You Girls
Bite Hard
Ulysses
Live Alone
Tell Her Tonight
Turn It On

Bite Hard and Ulysses were my favorite tracks, particularly Bite Hard. It's very dynamic live, transitioning from whispered intro up to the fast paced guitar break at the end. Ulysses comes across well for similar reasons, although it's another track I think will play better in a more appropriate venue (especially since it's the most Albion-influenced track, it deserves a little more seedy romance). Lyrically it just didn't translate to the atmosphere. When you hear "I'm bored, I'm bored, C'mon let's get high" in an HMV, you're sort of like, "What, over in the Jazz vinyls section?" It wasn't really a fault on Franz's part though, and they sounded great. Plus it was fun to see them in such a small venue (only 300 people) at a point when most of their gigs have crowds in the thousands.

Anyway, they also did a signing, so I got the album signed. Alex Kapranos touched my hand. If this were some sort of lame Gossip Girl style blog I would put OMG here, but it's not so you'll just have to imagine that it was quite a moment.

The verdict? Franz, awesome. HMV, not so much. Can't wait to see them at Apollo Hammersmith in March for a better perspective on the new album and the chance to hear some old tracks.

Pictures TBC