gig

The Twang

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The Twang, originally uploaded by spinneyhead.

I’m still not 100% convinced by The Twang. They get it right more often than I want to punch the singer.

Eclectica 2007 – Echo & the Bunnymen

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Eclectica 2007 – Echo & the Bunnymen, originally uploaded by spinneyhead.

I think the best thing about this image is the expression on the steward’s face. Guess he doesn’t like this kind of music.

DPercussion 2007

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DPercussion 2007
Originally uploaded by spinneyhead.

So that’s it, DPercusion is dead. Which is a damn shame.

This year’s event was huge. You could feel the 80,000 attendees they’d expected and there were far more stages than you could easily expect to visit. I managed to see most of the bands I wanted to and gave away a transformer and a GI into the bargain.

First up were This I Seb Clarke on the main stage. It’s always good to see a band with a horns section and their set was energetic enough to wear you out just watching it.

Next was The Mekkits on the Kenworthy stage. You’ve got to appreciate a band who tell you their songs are dedicated to reindeer and monkeys. It’s the second time I’ve seen them this year and I quite like them. I had wanted to catch the Ting Tings but their set was cancelled.

Set of the day, as at Unknown Pleasures, was The Whip. Cherry Ghost followed them but were a bit disappointing, though I think that was because of the levels and mixing rather than the quality of the band.

What now? I’m sure there’ll be new festivals to fill the DPercussion shaped hole, but it’ll take a while to do it properly.

DPercussion 2007 set at Flickr.

Stick 'em up punks, it's the Oldham Festival

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Oldham Festival
Oldham Festival,
originally uploaded by spinneyhead.

It’s not every Sunday you can go to an old mill town and watch one of the coolest bands in the world do a live set outside Woolworths.

I’ve lived in Manchester for a long time but this was the first time I’d been out to Oldham. Various of the landmarks (well, businesses who advertise, anyway) were familiar from Revolution 96.2. We arrived a few hours before the gig, to check out the events of the Festival. The (nearly) naked Australian chef was amusing, briefly, and the Village Disco a bit worrying, but I got the sense everything was winding down before the show.

Huey claimed to have been at his sister’s wedding on Saturday, hence the slightly late start, and paused two thirds of the way through the set to say his hangover had finally gone. Despite self censoring at the end of the first song he didn’t hold back as they worked through the Criminals’ expletive filled back catalogue. An excellent show, made a little weird by ending at half past six. I got some shots on the SLR during “Scooby Snacks” which will look good if they come out. I need to finish the roll of film ASAP to find out.

After some great luck just catching the train back to Manchester we headed to the Eurocultured Festival off Oxford Road. Here we listened to a bit of Czech hip-hop and watched graffiti artists at work.

You learn something new every day. Yesterday I discovered that the chip was invented in Oldham. There’s a local pie called a Rag pudding, which consists of suet wrapped around mince, a bit stodgy and definitely in need of gravy to moisten it. Winston Churchill was MP for Oldham from 1900 to 1904.

I’d like to quickly mention Jazz Jamaica, who played a supporting set of Junior Walker covers and had people dancing in the square.

All Flickr photos tagged Oldham Festival

All Flickr photos tagged Eurocultured

Jazz Jamaica’s latest album- Motor City Roots

Music by the Fun Lovin’ Criminals.

Oldham in Wikipedia.

Originally posted to Spinneyworld 29/05/06 by Ian

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I didn't know Steph could play bass!

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Steph aka Matt Tones, m(atw) bassist

I’ve been wanting to go and see a gig for months now and, after weeks of checking ticketmaster for bands coming to Cambridge with no joy, I decided to be original and go check out a local band last night at the Portland Arms. The crowd were small but the venue was smaller- possibly a double garage sized room- so the atmosphere was friendly and relaxed.

First up was The Hope– a fast, slick and entertaining punk band straight from the Green Day/Sex Pistols mould. The lead singer has a voice that works well with the material and an accent when announcing songs that can only be described as classic punk. While I would go and see this band again if they were performing nearby, I’m not sure if I’ll buy the album as they have a style that needs to be played live and it’s hard to capture this in the studio.

Next came Papa Shango and their dancing gorilla. The band started well and put on a good stage show, but a lack of variety in the music (sex, sex, sex) left me wondering what time it was and they didn’t have the slick performance of The Hope. The highlight of the band was the young guitarist who pulled of some great riffs and gave the music a bit more depth. It might be good to see them again sometime as their stage show would probably do better with a bigger crowd- worth a listen if you see them performing nearby.

The headline act was Me Against The World and the reason for coming along following downloads from their website. The band are influenced by a wide range of great performers (The Wildhearts, Nirvana, Billy Bragg, Pearl Jam & The Police) and the result is a style of their own that I really enjoyed. The performance was slick with all of the members fully involved and even the Muesli joke during a tuning break got a good reception. I’m going to be buying this CD as soon as it comes out- all good music shops from April(ish)- and may try and see them again before they make it into the mainstream as £4 was a bargain.

Originally posted to Spinneyworld 16/02/06 by Duncan

Burnt To The Ground

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Burnt To The Ground
(Burn Baby Burn, Disco Inferno)

MANCHESTER’S CREATIVE BUSINESSES RISE FROM THE ASHES

Burnt to the Ground (Burn Baby Burn, Disco Inferno), Sunday, 3rd June, is an impromptu live music event in the Northern Quarter’s Stevenson Square – Manchester’s positive reaction to the devastation of the Dale Street fire.

Manchester events agency, Ear the to the Ground, is organising the 5000 capacity street party bringing together Manchester’s creative talent at its finest – combining music and art to bring the community together to dance in the face of adversity.

The event will raise money for the businesses left homeless by the fire and various local charities including the Fire Services Benevolent Fund.

Come Home

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Shadows
Originally uploaded by spinneyhead.
It’s that time again when I lose my friends
Go walkabout, I’ve got the bends from pressure
This is a testing time when the choice is mine
Am I a fool for love or foolish with desire
You can throw him out you can spit on him
Call what he does a sin if it makes you feel better

And I can’t believe you’re all I’ll ever need
And I need to feel that you’re not holding me
And the way I feel just makes me want to scream
Come home, come home, come home
Come home, come home, come home

After thirty years I’ve become my fears
I’ve become the kind of man I always hated
I am pulled apart, and my swollen heart
Has flipped out of the pan into the fire
I am in love insane with a sense of shame
That I threw stones at the condemned and
Now I’m slated

And I don’t believe you’re all I’ll ever need
And I need to feel that you’re not holding me
And the way I feel just makes me want to scream
Come home, come home, come home
Come home, come home, come home
Come home, come home, come home

James – Come Home

Photo set from the gig.