FranticPea wrote:

I don't even like The Charlatans and I know 5 of those songs.

I was a big fan from 95-01, when they put out 4 fantastic albums in a row. They went downhill after that, but they still put on a hell of a show. I’ve not been interested in their last 20 years of albums, but I’ll always go and see them live.

x

Elvana. First gig I've been to since 2019. Nirvana tribute band fronted by an Elvis impersonator. From Newcastle. Had a good night but I can't say I understood the fervent fanbase. I've seen a couple of my favourite bands play to similar sized crowds at the same venue. Good to see a few mates I don't see regularly but as a lazy man I think the pub would've been preferable.

I have the Smile on Sunday. I too am excited.

Christ, I last saw them in Academy 2 in Manchester, which is the equivalent of your school assembly hall.

Yeah, it's pretty much an entire set of bangers.

Reg looks so happy in that photo

Anyone down to see Liam Gallagher at Knebworth.

The Smile tonight!!

Run the Jewels were absolutely superb, which isn’t very surprising. What is surprising is that tonight was their first headline show since they released RTJ4. What a weird time we’re living through.

I went to see Elbow in Scarborough on Saturday night.  To be honest, I wasn’t wildly looking forward to it - my wife had booked it ages ago in a fit of grabbing gig tickets once things re-opened, and whilst I was definitely a fan of some of Elbow’s older records (Leaders of the Free World era) I was also feeling pretty tired from a very full on week.

(In fact, I was considerably more looking forward to the fact that we’d agreed to meet up with the one and only @Unlikely en route, which was, indeed, the highlight of the day.)

All of which is to set the scene for me not being all that excited about standing in the heat on a Saturday night to see a band I wasn’t that sure I was bothered about.  When Guy Garvey first dutifully emerged two thoughts struck me.  The first was that he now looks uncannily like David Bellamy, and the second was that with his now slightly floppy hair, and penchant for pointing to admiring audience members every 3 minutes, there was also just a slight whiff of a benevolent Trump about him.

Still, my indifference lasted about 10 minutes. It always helps when they play your favourite song, of course, and with a “here’s a really old one” they tipped into “Station Approach” and my brain immediately relaxed. I have a huge, slightly inexplicable, love of that song and the fatigue fell away, and I allowed myself to get swept up into the glorious mass hysteria that’s created by 1000s of people singing together.  The night pretty much continued in the same vein. Garvey’s always an entertaining front man, and he was on predictably good form - and as the night went on it became difficult to tell whether the audience, or the band, were most delighted with how things were playing out.  (Another pleasing form of alchemy that seems to happen at the best gigs.)  

They ended on One Day Like This, because of course they did, with the audience singing the chorus to the warm night air long after the gig had actually finished…

(As an aside, Scarborough Open Air Theatre is a bloody lovely venue - so long as the weather’s good.  Most outdoor venues seem to lose the sound to the sky, but here the acoustics were surprisingly amazing. And you can go the beach afterwards…)

Saw Black Country, New Road at the Connect Festival in Edinburgh on Sunday - I absolutely love all of the music they've released and would have loved to see it performed live. However, since the singer had a breakdown and left, they've sworn not to perform any of the music he had a hand in creating.

Which put me in the unique (for me) position of going to see a band that I love performing all new, unreleased material. I needn't have worried because everything they played in their 45 minute set was stunning, more so because they only released their second album in February this year - 4 days after Isaac Wood left. So how do you replace a singer who brought such fragility, vulnerability, honesty and humour to the band? For BC,NR you don't - you just let everybody else take turns.

With only the drummer and one of the guitarists not taking lead vocals during the set, what you get is a real range of vocal styles which superbly complement the eclectic range of post-rock sounds created by some of the most talented musicians I've seen on a stage for a long time. Sitting in the sun on an afternoon, watching and listening to them effortlessly create those incredible soundscapes is one of the best live experiences I've had in years.

What shall we come out to?

*confused looks*

Only joking, of course its The Specials.

The Interrupters, supported by The Skints and The Bar Stool Preachers.

@Gremill Good to hear that BCNR are still a force to be reckoned with. Was lucky enough to see them twice whilst Issac was still there, but couldn't stomach even listening to their new album, knowing I'd never get to hear it live.

Spreading vocal duties across the band seems a sensible move. How do you replace a talent like Isaac? Answer: you don't.

Cool.