Category: Live Music

Red Hot Chili Pipers at Albert Hall Conference Centre, Nottingham, 28th April 2022

Spice Up Your Night

Albert Hall Conference Centre, Nottingham, is a stunning venue; sparkling, pristine but retaining much of its original Victorian heritage. With great sound, great lighting and great seating, what better place for Red Hot Chilli Pipers to launch their 20^th Anniversary 2002-2022 English Tour.

With barely time to breathe, following a hugely successful five-week tour of the USA, the Pipers are off again touring the concert halls of England in celebration of twenty years being ‘…the most famous bagpipe band on the planet…EVER!’

Now before you turn away at the thought of a couple of hours of bagpipe music, think again!

With nearly 40k social media followers, in today’s terms RHC Pipers are stratospherically popular and, judging by the night’s concert goers, they appeal to everyone across the board.

What is the Pipers’ magic?

You could be forgiven for thinking you should have been at Nottingham’s iconic Rock City when Founding Director Willie Armstrong engages with the audience: ‘Are you ready to rock? Are you ready to Bag Rock!’ With a resounding ‘Yeeesss!’ the familiar skirl of the pipes begins.

From beginning to end, the show is packed with a varied programme, featuring every member of the band at some point, demonstrating immense musicality in every quarter.

The show, in two halves, covers a delicious menu of emotive music as well as some great rock standards. Particularly moving in the first half is when people are invited to wave the torches on their mobiles as the wonderfully powerful Chris Judge serenades the audience with the gorgeous Tom Walker song Leave A Light On: one of those ‘hairs standing up on the back of your neck’ moments!

Its equal, in the second half, is a beautiful traditional tune, Heroes of St. Valery, written in remembrance of the hundreds of soldiers of the 51^st Division of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders captured after the Dunkirk evacuations in the Second World War.

Predominantly, the show was light, fun, and entertaining with brilliant arrangements of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck fused with Smoke On The Water; Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and a bit of Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You to give just a flavour of this rather different rock concert.

With an encore of It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) and Queen’s We Will Rock You, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers left the Nottingham audience cheering, applauding and definitely wanting more following an evening’s top entertainment from a much (unjustified) maligned instrument.

#bagrockrules

Red Hot Chilli Pipers

Words and photos by Tina Sherwood at All The Ts Photography

1st May 2022

Sparks at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, 16th April 2022

The iconic art deco De La Warr Pavilion, steeped in history and complete with a record shop housing a life-size Bowie cardboard cut-out, seems an appropriately worthy setting for Sparks’ visit to the south coast.

After decades of performing and making music that has consistently set rather than followed trends, this was always going to be something special, and as the Mael brothers arrive on stage it takes less than seconds for the crowd to erupt into a cacophony of cheers and declarations of love that will be maintained throughout the evening.

With a showcase of songs from different eras, there are classics, surprises and delights galore. Taking it right back to the start, Wonder Girl rubs shoulders with Edith Piaf and Johnny Delusional, while Russell pours his heart out to a hand mirror in I Married Myself. 

Theatrics have always been integral to the Sparks’ brand, Russell the playful protagonist while Ron’s unsettling stare has been often copied but never matched. These days he rightly allows humour to take the forefront at points in the set, taking centre stage to share vocals on Shopping Mall of Love, and treating us to the famous ‘Ron dance’, a sight to behold; an artist deserving of their keyboards bearing the name Ronald instead of Roland. Still, Russell is the conversationalist, chatting to the audience about everything from the failures of the early days to the highs and lows of lockdown, including the film releases of The Sparks Brothers documentary and Annette, for which they composed the music. His shout out to Ron’s songwriting skills is a reminder of just how accomplished their back catalogue is, their latest album A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip maintaining the standard and showcased perfectly in the articulately dramatic Stravinsky’s Only Hit. With nods to operatics, vaudeville and the purest electronic glam, it’s obvious just how many other artists have been influenced by them along the way.

The two hour set culminates with the big hitters of The Number One Song in Heaven and This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us – both as utterly iconic and timeless as the setting we’re in. Once the adulation from the crowd has eventually died down a little, Russell takes time out to thank the band and extol their individual talents. Of course, they’re never going to get away without an encore and return to complete an absolutely outstanding performance with Suburban Homeboy and All That.

A night to remember for sure and a privilege to witness the phenomenon that is Sparks. When do they get to sing My Way? Any time they like, any song they like, they really have earned a space in the musical elite. It’s worth a mention that everyone from security to the ticket desk and merch stand at the De La Warr was really friendly and helpful too.

Difficult to adequately sum up the experience but, to steal a line from the final song, the show was ‘all that we’ve seen, we’ve heard, we’ve dreamed, all that, all that and more…’

Sparks play tonight at The Roundhouse in London before heading across Europe.

Words / photos by Callum / Siobhan

17th April 2022

Warmduscher & CLT DRP at Concorde 2, Brighton, 9th April 2022

When Warmduscher came together, made up from fragments of other bands, it felt like a great experiment that might or might not last. Happily, the band has done nothing but go from strength to strength – a hybrid of genres meshed and held together by sheer talent and an occasional disco ball.

On Saturday, Brighton had the pleasure of their company on a seaside trip to Concorde 2. Starting strongly with the heady trio of Big Wilma, Midnight Dipper and The Salamander, it was an early reminder that they have accumulated a huge heap of accomplished tracks to choose from and, despite providing matinee and evening performances, there was no let up in energy, the sold out crowd loving every second. There’s no doubting that Warmduscher are rated, but every possibility that they’re still hugely underrated – if the chance to see them live comes along, grab it with both hands.

Solid support on the night came from local punk favourites CLT DRP; a good choice to kick things off, photos from both sets below.

Hosted by JOY.

CLT DRP

Warmduscher

Words and photos by Siobhan

11th April 2022

White Lies & VLURE at Chalk, Brighton, 18th March 2022

The return of White Lies with new album As I Try Not To Fall Apart has cemented their ability to create powerful songs that, despite the perceived sadness in their titles, have the ability to make people very happy. Out on tour around the UK, theirs is an impressive show on many levels.

An interesting pairing taking VLURE along as support – though both bands are with Red Light Management – the Glasgow five-piece have made a huge dent in the music scene captivating smaller venues, but how would this transfer to a bigger stage further from the crowd, many of whom potentially hadn’t heard or seen them before? In a genius move I’ve not witnessed previously, the simple answer was for vocalist Hamish Hutcheson to perform the whole set from the raised ledge in the photo pit – apart from the jump over to wander through and sing up close to the audience (props to security for ensuring the mic lead didn’t claim any victims on its ever extending journey). It’s hard to do the VLURE experience justice in a few words – intense, emotional, and just the right side of chaotic, they’re without doubt one of the best new bands around and clearly give the same maximum effort wherever they play.

And so to White Lies – it’s always a bold move to start with one of your most successful songs and the opening notes of Farewell to the Fairground set the pace for a show full of formidable tracks. By this stage Chalk was absolutely rammed with fans old and new enjoying what it has to be said was a faultless showcase. The band sounded great, the music was beautiful, the lighting was spot on, there was a lovely atmosphere, and really you can’t ask for much more than that.

The new songs are strong and along with the title track from As I Try Not To Fall Apart, other stand-outs came in the shape of Am I Really Going To Die and There Is No Cure For It. The old favourites were very much on hand as well, displaying the quality of their songwriting from early on in To Lose My Life, Unfinished Business and with only a tiny hint of amusement that the crowd was actively cheering for Death.

The tour continues tonight in Dublin, then heads for Liverpool, Norwich, Oxford and London through the week. Go to see White Lies and discover VLURE – or go to see VLURE and marvel at the long-standing talent of White Lies. Either way, this was a mighty return and an excellent night’s entertainment.

(White Lies European dates follow until the beginning of May).

White Lies | VLURE

Event hosted by Lout Promotions

Words / photos by Morgan / Siobhan

21st March 2022

Lynks & Jessica Winter at The Green Door Store, Brighton, 17th March 2022

From their Brighton debut at the tiny Rossi Bar two years ago, the Lynks message has clearly spread. After stealing the show at Mutations Festival in November, tickets for the Green Door gig started flying out and those who were lucky enough to grab one were not disappointed.

First though, proof if it were needed that you should always catch the support slot. Stunning vocals from Jessica Winter and the stage presence of a film noir starlet captivated the room. The perfect way to kick things off.

To the strains of The Wedding March and clad in a psychedelic bodysuit, Lynks walked down the aisle through the crowd and jumped on stage, catapulting straight into live favourites This is the Hit and Everyone’s Hot (And I’m Not). New track Hey Joe (Relax) was just as well received, with sing backs from the heaving crowd continuing throughout the set.

Ably backed by the Lynks Shower Gel trio, a Lynks show is an immersive experience that never fails to lift the spirits. Finishing with the ever popular Str8 Acting, the crowd response was as loud as I’ve heard at the venue and justifiably so. The tour continues tonight at London hotspot Heaven, then moves through Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Birkenhead, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Southampton and Margate – catch it if you can.

Lynks | Jessica Winter

Words and photos by Siobhan 

18th March 2022

The Cribs & The Blinders at Chalk, Brighton, 12th March 2022

With a back catalogue spanning eighteen years and every album full of fan favourites, it’s difficult to imagine how The Cribs pick their setlist and still leave everyone happy with their choices. I guess if you don’t have a bad song in there you can’t really go wrong.

Their release of latest album Night Network was a welcome return that lifted the shadows of lockdown, and the anticipation of the accompanying tour proved utterly justified as they hit the stage at Chalk in Brighton on Saturday.

First up with a lot of support in the crowd, The Blinders treated us to a mix of older tracks and others taken from this year’s Electric Kool-Aid EP. Their advancement from a trio to a five-piece adds extra layers to their performance, though the dark undertone is undeniably still present.

By the time The Cribs walk out to the heady hat-trick of Running into You, I’m a Realist and Our Bovine Public, Chalk is heaving with the unmistakable atmosphere that comes with each and every one of their gigs. You won’t find a better crowd and, no matter the size of the venue, it always feels like it’s just a big group of friends out to see that band they love – the group of friends has extended majorly over the years but the love for the band never dips. Whatever the circumstance, when  you meet another Cribs fan you just know they’re alright.

The energy continues on and off stage alike, word perfect singalongs from the crowd to everything from an unexpected rendition of I’m Alright Me to an acoustic Shoot the Poets and later set stalwarts Be Safe and Pink Snow, the band, mosh pit and surfers barely pausing for breath.

After the show ends, the surrounding streets of Brighton are filled with reasonably in key variants of the opening chords of Another Number. Whatever else is going on in the world one thing remains dependable, you’ll never leave a Cribs gig without a smile on your face – here’s to many more.

The Cribs | The Blinders

Words and photos by Siobhan

15th March 2022

 

Franz Ferdinand at Concorde 2, Brighton, 11th March 2022

Launching their 20-track greatest hits collection Hits to the Head, Franz Ferdinand dropped into Brighton last night to play an intimate outstore performance for local record shop Resident. Back at Concorde 2 for the first time since April 2004, it was a fantastic opportunity to see them in a smaller venue and marvel at the extent of their back catalogue.

Dark of the Matinee, Walk Away, Michael, Always Ascending, the hits just kept coming and the newest formation of the band, including Audrey Tait on drums, sounded absolutely on point. What a fabulous night – captured in pictures here by Mike Burnell.

Franz Ferdinand
Hosted by Resident and One Inch Badge

Photos © Mike Burnell (iso400.com)
Words by Siobhan

12th March 2022