BRIXTON ACADEMY – WE THE KINGS, FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS, YOUMEATSIX

[INBRED HAIRCUTS!!! - Lia]
Walking out into the circle in the Brixton Academy is a slightly daunting experience. The tiered seating with the ornate, slightly theatre looking architecture around the ceiling looks down on an open standing area which tonight was full within 15 minutes of the doors being opened. The queue circled the entire building, a sign that people were looking forward to this line up.

The first band on stage were the Floridian 4 piece “We The Kings”; an upbeat long haired poppy band whose music has never made the charts, but has made an impression teenage girls all across the land. Travis Clark, the lead singer, announced while on stage that this was the biggest gig they had ever played, and after this statement I had hoped that they were about to step up a gear from the last time I had seen them last year. Unfortunately this wasn’t to be the case. Some of their more well known songs, “Check Yes Juliet” and “Secret Valentine” were well received by the people in the crowd who had obviously taken a quick look at their music beforehand but when Clark held the microphone to the crowd, people didn’t know the lyrics well enough to sing back to him. They played a good gig for people who knew their catalogue back to front and could sing along all the way through; but in truth the most liked song of their set was a cover of “The Middle – Jimmy Eat World”.


Second came “Forever the Sickest Kids”. They played a lively, but short set which seemed to be well received by the mainly teenage crowd. By this time the place was completely full, with people wandering around aimlessly in the circle trying to find themselves anywhere to sit down. FTSK played through their repertoire of songs including “She’s a Lady” and “What do you want from me”; much to the delight of some of the audience who obviously were there to see them. They played a good but not memorable gig, and just enough to warm up the crowd in time for the headline.


Youmeatsix came out onto a nearly bare stage, with only a drumkit for company. After the long changeover time between acts, it was clear that something was going to happen. After the third song, the band ran offstage, to be replaced by red searchlights, sirens, and roadies. The sirens did go on for too long, but the crowd didn’t care. At this point they had already been treated to “Kiss and Tell” one of the bands biggest songs shown by the amount of crowd members parading around in their Kiss and Tell t-shirts. Once the sirens stopped, the curtain was dropped to reveal a setup which allowed to band to walk on ramps around the drumkit. The setup was good, even if slightly reminiscent of one used by the Jonas Brothers at some point last year; but the crowd seemed not to remember this and loved it, especially when the singer from the Blackout came on stage to help out with “The consequence”. The rest of the gig went well, with the crowd seeming to lose no energy throughout. The encore included their more well known “Save it for the Bedroom” and “Underdog”. They were joined onstage during the encore by We the Kings frontman Clark, and Youmeatsix frontman Josh’s sister Elissa.

All in all it was a good gig; the bands played well and the audience enjoyed it. There were a few mishaps, when the drummers from both We the Kings and FTSK tried to flip their sticks high in the air and catch them and carry on, but both dropping them; and also when Josh from Youmeatsix tried to spin the microphone but dropped it on the floor; but despite these, a good night for music lovers.

4/5

Joey Gibbs

BORDERLINE – BRIGADE, CANTERBURY & TWIN ATLANTIC 03/03/10

[TWIN ATLANTIC - dude in the green nearly has Ally McBeal MOOBIES!-Lia]
Being an underground club near Soho, Borderline had an aura to it before even going inside. On entering this was confirmed with quirky pictures on the wall and a stage that just seemed to invite crowd-surfing. A chat with “Twin Atlantic” before the gig showed them to be a group of lads who enjoyed making music and having a laugh.

The first support band were a surprise for the night, even to Twin Atlantic who didn’t know that they were supporting until a few hours before the gig. It was obvious that “Brigade” were used to being a headline act, as when the 3 guitars came onstage so did 12 pedals. During the first song the lead singer decided not to sing or play guitar, but instead to moan about the fact that his pedal wasn’t working correctly, he then changed his guitar; twice. The band itself were okay once the pedal nonsense had finished, the drummer in particular who had extremely quick hands and obvious rhythm.

The next support act came in the form of “Canterbury”. The band were upbeat from the start, with a mixture of looks onstage ranging from the ‘preppy’ lead guitarist to the drummer with flowing ginger locks. They were an obvious hit with the crowd, including a number of young girls at the front who knew every word, much to the enjoyment of the lead singer. A definite to look out for in the future.

Then came Twin Atlantic. No setlists came onstage during the changeover, and when asked later they replied that they didn’t need them. They reeled off a number of hits from their latest release “Vivarium”, all of which were known by what seemed to be the entire audience. Some highlights included “Lightspeed” and “Audience and Audio”, both from the album. They have been compared to Biffy Clyro in the past; but someday it could be the other way around.

4 / 5
JOE GIBB-ster.

SCALA – HOT HOT HEAT & OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT 02/03/10

Walking into Scala the first thing to be seen in the main room is the large open space in front of a knee high stage; and from the sound checks the acoustics seem ready for a perfect gig. An interview with the supporting act “Official Secrets Act” revealed that the band was tired from travelling but eager to impress. And impress they did.

Energy and presence were obvious on stage, all that was lacking were some of the more well known tunes, including the new single “Believe Me”. But this was the only criticism that could be made, as the final song “So Tomorrow” had even newbies to OSA dancing around.

After OSA came the big haired and equally big voiced Steve Bays and Hot Hot Heat. Their setlist included obvious crowd favourites including the well known “Bandages” which had the whole crowd singing in unison. The band also included some songs from the new album “Future Breeds”. These were well received by the audience filled with obvious fans of the band.

Overall the gig was a definite success for both bands, showing their musical ability to all who were there.

4 and ½ / 5

JOE GIBBS. DA MAN.

Owl City - Ocean Eyes

With arguably one of the most memorable songs of the last few months, Owl City’s Adam Young seems to have achieved the dream of every aspiring musician. Using his bedroom in his parents basement, and uploading songs on Myspace he gathered a large following. He then exploded onto the scene with the obvious single from this album ‘Fireflies’. The song is catchy. So catchy infact that whenever another song from the album comes on, his distinctive voice makes you want to sing the chorus from the albums obvious winner.

It’s not a bad album, there are some definite good points. The albums first track Cave in is a god upbeat tune, sticking to the formula used in the rest of the album. The lyrics on a couple of tracks seem well thought out, if not a bit like the narration of a childish dream; but it is let down by a few tracks, namely ‘Dental Care’; about going to the dentist.

Overall, if you are a fan of ‘Fireflies’ then give the album a listen on spotify or youtube; but don’t commit to buying before you know that he has definitely heard the saying, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it”. Let’s wait and see if the next single, ‘Vanilla Twilight’ will chart as high as the first single from the album.


Joe Gibbs

Bombay Bicycle Club

I've always thought of Bombay Bicycle Club as belonging to the Futureheads/ Maximo Park era of music circa 2005. They exude a cooky innocence with odd heavy bass riffs and the typical jingle jangle guitar interludes. Evening/Morning harks back to a 90's grunge-esque sound, with the vocals of a Placebo and the heavyness you'd normally find in something like Alien Ant Farm (ok, so I'm thinking of that one particular AAF M.Jackson cover song, and relating it to only one bass part of this single, so really, they aren't anything like AAF). It's been a long day. I'm indifferent to the world. I AM THE LIZARD QUEEN! This song is good, alright, yes, I like it. I'd listen to it, 5 years ago I would've danced at Kute Klub in the Cooler down on Park Street to it. I would have thrown some bloody shapes and you would have thought it hot.

4/5
LIA MENTAL

Mumford and Sons - The Cave

The Cave is another great release from folk band Mumford and Sons although it appeals to me in the same vein as when I’m on the rag and suddenly feel like Coldplay aren’t such a crap band afterall. I’m not saying The Cave is crap, but it’s likable like a puppy; there’s a piano hammering out awesome power chords, there’s the added choir (with reverb) on the word ‘I’ (ala Take That signature move) in the chorus and the video is shot on a beach with retro vespas and some weird big band wearing converse. I do like this song but I can’t help also ripping it to shreds. It’ll be used at the end of a reality show when the pregnant 12 year old gets her GCSE’s. Bless.

3/5
LIA

Lady Gaga avex Beyonce - Telephone

[OMG. Flesh coloured bra, check, sexksy lab goggles, check, weird FACE MEN?!!! PLUS!!! AWESOME crinkle hair, you cracked out ho!]

Despite Lady GaGa having the world at her heels, her latest single Telephone, seems to confirm my fears. It appears GaGa is rapidly becoming less and less of a music icon and more and more of a mere business model. Her videos are laced with countless product placements, from online betting sites (see Poker Face), to Ukranian vodka (Bad Romance) and her record label has just spat out The Fame Monster.

Telephone is the second single to be released from this mini-album and includes guest vocals from the unstoppable Beyoncé Knowles. Now if you put these two stars together for a song, you would think it would be the song to end all songs right? Wrong. It turns out putting two of the hottest ladies in pop has only lead to a major anti-climax in every sense. Telephone is bland, generic and frankly a poor effort by GaGa/Beyonce, lacking any of the uniqueness that made both girls so successful in the first place. It is clear that the collaboration was in the name of money and not in the name of music. As filming for the video starts this week, my mind wonders not how sexy it will be, but which mobile phone GaGa will be shamelessly promoting.

Ok, I lie. I do wonder a little bit how sexy it will be.

Oliver Wilkie

from The Happy Hour