Monday, February 19, 2007
stars in my eyes
It’s been a busy weekend on the gigging front – Mac and I are catching up for all the lost time last year while he was in Glasgow.
First up on Friday night were the Cold War Kids and the Hold Steady, doing a show at the NME club night at Koko in Camden. Just before Christmas I heard Cold War Kids song ‘We used to Vacation’ on MTV2 and was so taken with it I had to write it down to look into them further. Later, Mac heard it and loved it, as was surprised to find it was the same band I had already flagged up. Mac also bought me the Hold Steady cd for Christmas having read that they were a bit E-Street Band sounding (which they are a bit, early E-Street Band with a bit of Thin Lizzy thrown in). Sadly, the Cold War Kids gig at the Barfly was totally sold out before we were aware of it, and having decided we were not interested in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah again, we discovered too late after the gig sold out that Cold War Kids were the support. Hold Steady had sold out the Borderline as well, so the opportunity to see both of them was worth going to Koko (which I’ve previously mentioned is among the worst venues in London) and going to a show where the first band are not due on stage until 11pm.
Hold Steady were on first and they were great, but truth be told they are very little more than a superior pub rock band in my opinion. Cold War Kids lived up to my expectations and could easily be new band of the year. Looking forward to seeing them again at ULU next month. As it was a club night, Koko wasn’t jam packed and we were able to get to the front making it a much better venue. That said, we all felt so old it was untrue, and it did confirm why we will never return to the days of nightclubbing.
Saturday was Janne’s belated birthday treat – Jarvis Cocker at the Astoria. We missed the first support of Annuals but caught all of Bats for Lashes. I saw her act late last year and loved it but this was Mac’s first time. She really is excellent – if you like Bjork and Kate Bush you will love her. Jarvis was excellent – if a bit put out at a recent review calling him the Judy Dench of Indie rock – and showed why he is such a great entertainer. In a brilliant moment of inappropriate timing, a group of fans released a load of balloons each printed with the message ‘happy 80th birthday Cyril and family reunion’ during the grim song ‘I will kill again’. Apparently they released the same balloons at Jarvis’ Koko gig a few days earlier and the story goes that the balloons were never used for the planned birthday/reunion party as Cyril died a few days before. If this is true it just adds to the wonderful surrealism of the moment.
Sunday was the Rufus Wainwright show at the Palladium where he recreated Judy Garland’s Carnegie Hall concert. It was gay central, but unlike Kylie where all the gays were happy, boppy and fun, the gays here were stuck up arrogant A-gays all in their most designer outfits. I took an instant dislike to two at the bar; one who arrogantly pushed in front of me all full of himself, and the other who was making such a fuss over the choice of champagnes on offer. I also took a dislike to the bar prices after being charged £6.70 for a glass of wine. Minor quibbles though, and Rufus was unbelievable – it really was a perfect show. Great showman, perfect big band backing, clang clang clang went the trolley, sister Martha came out to sing ‘Stormy Weather’ and ‘Someone to watch over me’ (which had Mac and I in tears as it is one of our songs), and Judy’s “other” daughter Lorna Luft also joined Rufus for a couple of numbers. Magical.
I haven’t being reporting on celebrity spots at gigs much recently, probably because the only person I recall seeing was Ben Watt at Richard Swift at the Enterprise a couple of weeks ago. However, I was on the lookout last night as I was sure the A-list would be out in force. First spot in the interval was annoying prick Simon Price, music reviewer for the Independent on Sunday (admittedly not a celebrity but a recognised face, not least because of his stupid clothes sense and headgear). He was already in the bar on his own looking miserable (and a prick as usual). I hope this meant that he was only able to blag one free ticket for himself (as opposed to the at least two hangers on he is usually accompanied by) and that ticket was standing at the back. I truly hope his reputation is waning, I’ve always seen him at every high profile gig I go to and I do wonder why he gets in to everything when, last night as an example, by the time his review comes out next Sunday, everyone else will have reviewed it in every weekday paper going so his review will not say anything people have not already read elsewhere (admittedly I get a bit bitter that I have paid for my ticket and I know he gets everywhere free, even if it is his job so perhaps my dislike of him is biased).
Worried that it would be a bad night for celeb spots, my mood went further downhill at my next spot – former tabloid columnist bitch Nina Myscow. Nothing against her but is this the best Rufus can attract? Finally we score! Not Elton John himself but the next best thing, hispartnerdavidfurnish is doing the rounds, pressing the flesh with as many A-gays as possible. No idea if Elton was there or not (I’d be surprised if he wasn’t, mind) but I have this feeling that davidfurnish is the meet and greet representative on behalf of the couple. He’s a lot bigger than I expected. I love Elton so I have nothing against davidfurnish in the slightest. Next up is Mark Gatiss of the League of Gentlemen. He is wearing a bright silk Paul Smith suit. It probably cost a fortune, was possibly one of the few times he has been able to wear it, and it was ludicrous. Seriously, didn’t suit him and was a total waste of money, but as I said earlier, it was an evening of A-gays in their most glamorous designer outfits. Given the choice I would totally prefer to know the average gay man at the Kylie concert than the average one at Rufus. Final celeb spot, Ray Davies of the Kinks, looking very rock star. Still nothing on a par with standing next to Bjork at the first ever Arcade Fire gig, but a reasonable turnout.
First up on Friday night were the Cold War Kids and the Hold Steady, doing a show at the NME club night at Koko in Camden. Just before Christmas I heard Cold War Kids song ‘We used to Vacation’ on MTV2 and was so taken with it I had to write it down to look into them further. Later, Mac heard it and loved it, as was surprised to find it was the same band I had already flagged up. Mac also bought me the Hold Steady cd for Christmas having read that they were a bit E-Street Band sounding (which they are a bit, early E-Street Band with a bit of Thin Lizzy thrown in). Sadly, the Cold War Kids gig at the Barfly was totally sold out before we were aware of it, and having decided we were not interested in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah again, we discovered too late after the gig sold out that Cold War Kids were the support. Hold Steady had sold out the Borderline as well, so the opportunity to see both of them was worth going to Koko (which I’ve previously mentioned is among the worst venues in London) and going to a show where the first band are not due on stage until 11pm.
Hold Steady were on first and they were great, but truth be told they are very little more than a superior pub rock band in my opinion. Cold War Kids lived up to my expectations and could easily be new band of the year. Looking forward to seeing them again at ULU next month. As it was a club night, Koko wasn’t jam packed and we were able to get to the front making it a much better venue. That said, we all felt so old it was untrue, and it did confirm why we will never return to the days of nightclubbing.
Saturday was Janne’s belated birthday treat – Jarvis Cocker at the Astoria. We missed the first support of Annuals but caught all of Bats for Lashes. I saw her act late last year and loved it but this was Mac’s first time. She really is excellent – if you like Bjork and Kate Bush you will love her. Jarvis was excellent – if a bit put out at a recent review calling him the Judy Dench of Indie rock – and showed why he is such a great entertainer. In a brilliant moment of inappropriate timing, a group of fans released a load of balloons each printed with the message ‘happy 80th birthday Cyril and family reunion’ during the grim song ‘I will kill again’. Apparently they released the same balloons at Jarvis’ Koko gig a few days earlier and the story goes that the balloons were never used for the planned birthday/reunion party as Cyril died a few days before. If this is true it just adds to the wonderful surrealism of the moment.
Sunday was the Rufus Wainwright show at the Palladium where he recreated Judy Garland’s Carnegie Hall concert. It was gay central, but unlike Kylie where all the gays were happy, boppy and fun, the gays here were stuck up arrogant A-gays all in their most designer outfits. I took an instant dislike to two at the bar; one who arrogantly pushed in front of me all full of himself, and the other who was making such a fuss over the choice of champagnes on offer. I also took a dislike to the bar prices after being charged £6.70 for a glass of wine. Minor quibbles though, and Rufus was unbelievable – it really was a perfect show. Great showman, perfect big band backing, clang clang clang went the trolley, sister Martha came out to sing ‘Stormy Weather’ and ‘Someone to watch over me’ (which had Mac and I in tears as it is one of our songs), and Judy’s “other” daughter Lorna Luft also joined Rufus for a couple of numbers. Magical.
I haven’t being reporting on celebrity spots at gigs much recently, probably because the only person I recall seeing was Ben Watt at Richard Swift at the Enterprise a couple of weeks ago. However, I was on the lookout last night as I was sure the A-list would be out in force. First spot in the interval was annoying prick Simon Price, music reviewer for the Independent on Sunday (admittedly not a celebrity but a recognised face, not least because of his stupid clothes sense and headgear). He was already in the bar on his own looking miserable (and a prick as usual). I hope this meant that he was only able to blag one free ticket for himself (as opposed to the at least two hangers on he is usually accompanied by) and that ticket was standing at the back. I truly hope his reputation is waning, I’ve always seen him at every high profile gig I go to and I do wonder why he gets in to everything when, last night as an example, by the time his review comes out next Sunday, everyone else will have reviewed it in every weekday paper going so his review will not say anything people have not already read elsewhere (admittedly I get a bit bitter that I have paid for my ticket and I know he gets everywhere free, even if it is his job so perhaps my dislike of him is biased).
Worried that it would be a bad night for celeb spots, my mood went further downhill at my next spot – former tabloid columnist bitch Nina Myscow. Nothing against her but is this the best Rufus can attract? Finally we score! Not Elton John himself but the next best thing, hispartnerdavidfurnish is doing the rounds, pressing the flesh with as many A-gays as possible. No idea if Elton was there or not (I’d be surprised if he wasn’t, mind) but I have this feeling that davidfurnish is the meet and greet representative on behalf of the couple. He’s a lot bigger than I expected. I love Elton so I have nothing against davidfurnish in the slightest. Next up is Mark Gatiss of the League of Gentlemen. He is wearing a bright silk Paul Smith suit. It probably cost a fortune, was possibly one of the few times he has been able to wear it, and it was ludicrous. Seriously, didn’t suit him and was a total waste of money, but as I said earlier, it was an evening of A-gays in their most glamorous designer outfits. Given the choice I would totally prefer to know the average gay man at the Kylie concert than the average one at Rufus. Final celeb spot, Ray Davies of the Kinks, looking very rock star. Still nothing on a par with standing next to Bjork at the first ever Arcade Fire gig, but a reasonable turnout.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Three is a magic number
Welcome baby Joseph Henry Hitchman, latest member of the family and grandchild number 3 for my parents.
