THIS WEEK IN LONDON
- Posted on July 23, 2007 10:06 AM
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THIS WEEK IN LONDON
by Peter Coulston
This week has certainly been a busy one, if not to say, diverse. From TV shows, to live pub gigs to stadiums. All good stuff in it’s own way, with some excellent music experienced throughout.
If, like me, you have never attended a televised music event before, it is certainly an experience. Getting to see and hear major pop stars for free may seem a good way to spend an evening; but this is the UK 2006 folks, nothing comes for free. Probably the worst aspect, if you ignore being asked to cheer at full volume at an empty stage, is the huge amount of time during which absolutely nothing happens. I got invited to the Album Chart Show on Monday at Koko in Camden to preview three tracks from the new album by Feist, a female singer from Toronto. We were told to arrive no later than 6:15, but were kept outside until well after 7.00. The Hope and Anchor next door did great business selling pints of beer in plastic glasses to the people in the line, so nobody was complaining too much by the time they let us in. Another advantage of these events is that you are guaranteed good performances by the artists, which means that, if they screw up, they have to perform it again for the camera. This only happened once with Mark Ronson’s opening number “Toxic”. Turnaround between the acts seemed to take forever, while I am used to clubs where bands share equipment, help each other set up and take down, and you wait ten minutes at best between acts. Anyway, Feist and Mark Ronson were well received and The Coral shone as always with three excellent numbers from their new album. If you get the chance, go for the experience, but be prepared for a lot of downtime.
Tuesday was my first visit to the Water Rats pub in Kings Cross. Located on Grays Inn Road which is across the road from the station, this is every inch a rock establishment. No frills, just a room in the back with a great sound system and a good selection of beer. For those who don’t know the area, it currently resembles a war zone due to the large amount of demolition and building going on there. You can get there by train or tube; the station is served by most tube lines except the Jubilee, Bakerloo and Central. I missed the opening act Big Arm, which features ex Happy Mondays bassist, Paul Ryder, but hope to catch them next time. David Jordan is a great singer/band with influences from Lenny Kravitz and Jimi Hendrix. Could not find out much about them, but they have been signed to Mercury Records and I have signed up to their mailing list so hope to catch them again very soon. They are on myspace. Paul Steel is a psychedelic multi-instrumentalist who claims many influences in his work. I could certainly see a lot of Brian Wilson in there, especially the pure harmonies and great melodies. The band has Mr Steel on guitars, keyboards, vox and vocals, Rachael Wood on guitars and vocals, Addy Nixon on drums, Makoto Kano on Bass and Gemma Carre and Alani Gibbon on backing vocals and percussion. This Brighton based band are well worth a listen; also, check them out on myspace. The Peaks are a thoroughly professional rock trio with great vocals, great guitars and great songs. Consisting of Ben Beer on vocals and guitars, Matt Bundy on guitars, bass and vocals, and Andy Green on drums, you will be hard pressed to find a better example of how a rock band should sound. Check them on myspace and anywhere that they are playing.
Wednesday night was a complete contrast to what had gone before, Barbra Streisand at the O2. The O2 complex warrants a complete article and I do intend returning at some future date to check the whole thing out; however, time constraints did not allow me to on this occasion.
It is easily accessible using the Jubilee Line to North Greenwich and there were lots of buses there, though I could not see any parking nearby. The venue is huge and very modern and ran very smoothly on the entrance but jammed up a bit when it was time to leave. My only real complaint was the availability of refreshments during the interval. There are plenty of outlets offering food and drink but it takes an eternity to get served. I stood in a line up that did not move for ten minutes due, according to the people nearer the front, to the incompetence of the people behind the counter who appeared to have had no training. Eventually, I gave up. So, let’s move on to Ms Streisand; what can you say about a diva. I have never been a big Streisand fan, I have none of her albums and have seen but a few of her films. I was surprised, therefore, that I knew so many of the songs; maybe I have been a fan all along. Her superb New York orchestra got us and themselves in the mood with a selection from Funny Girl, before the lady herself made her entrance with the beautiful “Starting Now” followed by the jazzy “Down With Love”. A lot of the first half was devoted to Funny Girl but we also heard “The Way We Were”, a song in French that she recorded with Michel LeGrand, “People” and some songs in various languages with four young and talented Broadway guys. The second half opened with the guys again and a version of “Music Of The Night” from Phantom of The Opera”, which I am sure pleased Mr Lloyd Webber who was seated in the front row. A selection from musicals and the ballads that she so excels in, including “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” filled the rest of the show, with a few encores thrown in which included “Don’t Let It Rain On My Parade”. Barbra Streisand is a star in every sense of the word and I strongly recommend catching one of her shows even if you think you are not a fan. I came away feeling that I had been to an event, having heard and seen one of the great singers of our time showing how it is done.
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