the word according to neil thompson » Music

Cold Tea and Practice

Neil Thompson — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:39:29 +0000

Dodgy have reformed and that is good enough for me to venture out on a Wednesday night in January to see them play live in, of all places, the Arlington Arts Centre, just outside of Newbury. This seemed like an odd venue given that it is the arts block of the Mary Hare school for profoundly deaf children.

For a band that were at their height quite a few years ago now the gig last night must have felt like starting out all over again. There were probably under 250 people there in what the Dodgy website will no doubt describe as “intimate”!

There were a couple of issues with last night’s gig. The first was that the new “album” isn’t released until February and so the first half of the set, which was all new music, was enjoyable but hard going as I like to practice at home before hearing music live. I thought that the new world order dictated that bands now release music to promote a tour as that is where the money is rather than tour to promote the music but clearly not in Dodgy’s case!

The other issue was not mine but Dodgy’s. To be fair it was actually only leadman Nigel Clarke’s issue in that he likes playing the new music but is now bored of the hits that everyone had actually come along to hear. I can really sympathise with that but while the new music showed a real return to form for the band actually we all love to hear the hits too. So the second half of the set was almost entirely the sing-along tunes you love Dodgy for, including my all time favourite, Cold Tea. But you cannot please everyone it seems as the friend I went with was disappointed as they didn’t play Good Enough. However, given that they went off without playing an encore I strongly suspect that this had been intended but the clock ticked past 11pm and the curfew hour for the venue.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable night in an “intimate” venue and the very welcome return of Dodgy – welcome back guys!

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Here It Goes Again

Neil Thompson — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 20:01:36 +0000

Had a lads night out with a trip to see OK GO at KOKO, London on Wednesday night.

This is the first time that I have been to a concert with both boys which was great. It is also the first time that I have been to a pub with them, which was a bit weird – especially as Alex was drinking and I wasn’t!

The concert was good but not as good as the last time we saw them as it seemed more flowing them. Nevertheless we all had a great time and I am really sorry that I can’t make their next UK gig at the end of August.

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All You Need is… Love and Money

Neil Thompson — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:18:37 +0000

One of the first bands I went to see during my student days at Portsmouth Polytechnic was Love and Money for which it seems I paid the princely sum of £2. From memory it wasn’t particularly well attended and the low numbering on the ticket on the left would seem to bear that out, or at least suggest that we were very keen and got in early! I can still remember to this day being in the union hall watching the support band Hue and Cry and waiting for the main act.

Over the following years I continued to follow Love and Money but never saw them live again.

They went on to release an album called “Strange Kind of Love” which shows that the “difficult second album” doesn’t always have to be that difficult. It is also what I consider to be one of the most “complete” albums I have in my collection, by which I mean that it is one of the few albums that I can listen to end-to-end without skipping a duff track because there really isn’t any. And that’s turned out to be a really good thing because Love and Money have reformed (something lead man James Grant said he would never do) and are touring playing that album and “Dogs in the Traffic” in their entirety and I am dead stoked.

In fact I was so excited when I saw details on the internet I think Helen thought that we must have won the lottery. She was seriously disappointed when I told her that some obscure Scottish band that she is regularly forced to listen to had reformed and was touring!

So we will be at Shepherds Bush Empire in October and I can hardly wait!

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Steve Hackett and a Man in a Dress

Neil Thompson — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 15:34:05 +0000

I don’t know about you but the last thing one tends to expect at a Steve Hackett concert is a man in a dress playing the bass. Ok, so in the end it wasn’t a dress but more of a frock coat but even so it came as a bit of a surprise. What was even more of a surprise was that it was being worn by Kajagoogoo bassist Nick Beggs.

The Nick Beggs side-show notwithstanding it was great to finally see live the final member of the “classic” Genesis line-up (Adding frontman Peter Gabriel a couple of years ago). I even got to hear a few great Genesis tracks such as Watcher of the Skies, Firth of Fifth, Los Endos and Carpet Crawlers. If you click through to look at the rest of the photos you will find a (very) short video taken during Carpet Crawlers during which I can clearly be heard shouting the words!

I have always felt that Hackett has been side-lined in the Genesis history but he plays the classic tunes better than Banks, Collins and Rutherford managed during their most recent tour so kudos to him.

You can see more blurry photos here.

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The View from Hammersmith

Neil Thompson — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:46:17 +0000

And this is what Crowded House look like when at Hammersmith last night.

Yes I was back to see them once again and for the last time on this tour (probably). Once again they were great, playing some unusual tracks (“Recurring Dream” anyone?), as well as plenty of crowd pleasers. However, unlike Oxford, there was no Skype video call but there was an awful lot of singing from the crowd. I don’t think I have heard quite so many raucous voices at a concert before. Say what you like about Crowded House fans they’re nothing if not passionate. The friend I went with commented afterwards how it was great to see so many happy faces singing along when he looked back into the audience.

But you saw them right? I told you to book tickets!

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Crowded House at the Oxford Apollo

Neil Thompson — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:46:49 +0000

Crowded House are always good for a laugh when live and last night at the Oxford Apollo was no different. They (eventually) played a good mix of new, unreleased until Monday, songs and older stuff. I was a little concerned as the first 2/3rds were from the last few albums but as time went on they started to play more from the first two “classic” albums.

One of the reasons I continue to go to see Crowded House live, other than the music, is that they are just so good live. No two nights are the same. They don’t play the same set list every night (*ahem* Genesis) and their interaction with the crowd is superb and last night was no exception.

At one point Neil brought a laptop onto the stage on which he was running Skype and was in the middle of a video call with his Dad. The audience then had a “conversation” with Finn’s father. This was a trick that he had tried to pull off when I went to see him last but no-one was online. The laptop was then set on top of a piece of equipment facing the audience so that Dad could see his son (and grandson) at work.

That is what makes Crowded House unique in my opinion and why you should be booking to see them.

Below are a few more photos from those that I surreptitiously took as the ushers were pretty hot on preventing anyone capturing the moment for prosperity.

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Zebrahead

Neil Thompson — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:16:16 +0000

A few weeks ago our eldest son wrote to Kerrang magazine stating that he had been to see Zebrahead in concert a couple of times and on both occasions the friends that he had gone with had come away with some piece of memorabilia. Basically he felt that this wasn’t right as it was him that was the real fan and the others were there for the ride.

Proving that sometimes you do get what you ask for his letter was published (see below) and not only that they had arranged for him to go back stage before a gig and meet the band. True to their word last Wednesday Alex travelled to London and before the concert went back stage where the gave him tour merchandise, picks and some beer(!) . He was able to “hang out” with the band and have his picture taken.

I am currently penning a letter to Kerrang to ask if they can fix it for me to go back stage and meet Genesis c. 1973.

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Neil Finn – Bush Hall

Neil Thompson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:06:09 +0000

Having been at Bush Hall only a few weeks previously to see Liam Finn Mat and I were back again last night to see Liam’s Dad and he was just superb. The venue is tiny and there were only 350 tickets available to the public and all of them were snapped up by members of the fan club.

The great thing about Finn is that he is such a natural showman, so easy and relaxed on stage and no two shows are ever the same. Last night with only a piano and acoustic guitar he worked his way through his extensive catalogue. The playlist list quickly went out the window as more and more requests were shouted from the crowd and Finn agreed to songs that he hadn’t played in a while and the audience helped out with the lyrics.

Another great thing that makes Finn so engaging is how he is happy to share the stage with audience members and last night three got the opportunity to go up including one on the piano who brilliant played my favourite Crowded House song, Love you ’til the day i die.

The only disappointment was Finn wasn’t able to raise anyone on Skype which would have been fun to see.

I’m really looking forward to the Crowded House gigs coming up in the summer.

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OK GO – Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Neil Thompson — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:21:13 +0000

Spent last night at my first concert of the year at a chilly Shepherd’s Bush Empire seeing OK GO. I had been in two minds as to whether to go as the weather was grotty still but Mat was keen to go and so we went and I am glad that I did. For a start there was virtually no snow in London and secondly OK GO were just great.

I have been to see some bands who have been great on record (remember those?) and not up to much on tour (see Genesis and John Mayer). Others meanwhile put a bit of effort into it. I have been to many Crowded House concerts and each one has been entertaining and different. OK GO certainly fall into the latter category. As you can see from the photos below it was a well staged and visually stunning show which included ticker tape, mic mounted cameras, video walls and hand bells. You might feel that all of this distracts from the music but it complemented it well and was a great evening.

If you get a chance to see them you should GO, OK?

More pictures and a video of OK GO on hand bells here!

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Simple Minds – iTunes Live

Neil Thompson — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:46:13 +0000

iTunes have been having a series of gigs at the Roundhouse, London over the last few weeks tickets for which were free but you had to win them by applying through Facebook. And win tickets I did – to see Simple Minds and Alex and I went on Thursday night to take up our places.

I have always liked Simple Minds but hadn’t seen them previously. They are very much of their decade with some tracks sounding very “eighties” but without sounding dated.

The great thing about the Roundhouse is that it is a very small venue and so you are able to get pretty close to the action. While the acoustics are good the sound mixing itself was pretty poor with Jim Kerrs vocals almost impossible to hear. It will be interesting to hear what the mix is like on the release when it is available on iTunes.

What really impressed me though was Kerr’s interaction with the audience. He clearly recognised many there and was happy to strike a pose for those taking pictures. He also dedicated a song to the fans that had been supporting Simple Minds for thirty years. There are one or two other bands that could do with remembering just why they are where they are – I’m looking at you Oasis…

Click here for more pictures from Simple Minds, iTunes Live

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