LAST WEEK IN LONDON
- Posted on November 12, 2007 10:45 AM
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LAST WEEK IN LONDON
Mostly In The Jeans
By Peter Coulston
Hello and welcome to a review of some of the good things, musically, happening in the capital last week. Much of the action was down to Levi Jeans and their Ones To Watch promotions with The Fly. These have been used effectively to promote bands like the Kaiser Chiefs and the Editors, and they continued the good work on Tuesday at the Borderline on Manette Street off Charing Cross Road. This traditional rock venue was host to an evening of new(ish) talent supporting Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong, who are not exactly vintage themselves. The problem with this gig was the sound; all three acts rely on strong vocals which were all but drowned out by the other instruments. The first performer, Ida Maria, also opened the gig the following night, so I will review that one as the sound there did her far more justice. Pete and The Pirates were next up and are obviously a very competent five piece with a strong line in vocals. Unfortunately, the lead singer had to fight to be heard and the strong harmonies just about made it. There were some very well crafted songs and the band was tight, but you should visit their myspace to appreciate them, and appreciate them you will. Likewise, the aforementioned Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong have great songs and good vocalists who had to work real hard on the night. You can hear “In Competition” and “I Ain't Sure” on myspace and I enjoyed “Brooklyn” and Teenager” for the barely audible harmonies. All I can say is, I could hear enough to want to hear all three again, properly this time.
On Wednesday, my wish came true in the case of Ida Maria, who opened another Ones To Watch evening at the University of London Union at Mallet Street. This a a nice modern venue with good acoustics and can be reached from Goodge Street tube by turning left, crossing Tottenham Court Road and turning right at Torrington Place. It's on the left after Gower Street. Ida,'s from Sweden via Norway (read her myspace) and is a raunchy rocker with a great stage act. She opened with a blues with just herself on bass, followed by “Louie”, a rocker with the help of her 3 piece backing group. All her songs are hard but melodic and catchy, and the excitement builds up as she blows us away with her vocals. Her wild stage act ended with her single “Oh My God”, and I would love to see what she gets up to on a bigger stage. Good things to come I think. I saw The Dykeenies at Dingwalls some time ago and was impressed. The scots boys were on form last night with strong songs, vocals and harmonies which were well balanced. They did justice to “Stitches” and “Clean Up Your Eyes”, which are on myspace, and I also enjoyed “New Ideas” and “Things You Cannot See”. Very good set. The headliners were those cuddly scousers, The Wombats. They have already mastered the art of image building with a smooth intro and a mascot; but, in addition, they are a very good band. The songs are well written, tongue in cheek stories about falling in love, marriage (or not) and Metros (cars that is). Super harmonies and boundless energy make these lads a great band to watch, and the audience loved them; not least when they played “Let's Dance To Joy Division”. These guys could get you to dance to anything, and surely will for the foreseeable future.
Thursday night was spent at that home of good music in the heart of London, The 12 Bar Club, where Australia was represented in all it's acoustic glory. Located on Denmark Street, off Charing Cross Road and near Tottenham Court Road tube, this is a great venue for this kind of music, although rock sounds pretty good there too. Andy Lowe, the booking man and author of the 12 Bar website gig section, which is certainly the most informative gig site in the whole world, was there overseeing and a great time was had by all. Aviator Lane opened with good songs, nice guitar and understated vocals by Michael Radzevicius with the help of a young lady on bass. He had some drum tracks to fill out the sound and used that technique whereby you repeat what you just played and keep overlaying. If anyone knows what it's called, please let me know. Anyway, a very nice set to open, I recommend his website, which has one track to listen to, and you can buy his stuff on Electronic Eel Records.
We then moved right along to Dave Gander, a singer/songwriter from Adelaide with a strong voice and versatile guitar style. “Afternoon” was quite commercial, “Watch The Sunset” was blues, “Voodoo” rocked while “Girl On The Moon”, which is on hismyspace was stylish and sounded good with his friend Patrick on second guitar. Very entertaining. Mick Hart, also from Australia, has opened for Bob Dylan and Van Morrison among others, and I can see why. Every song, and there were plenty, was great and he is a superb guitarist, be it straight folk, dodgy tunings or slide. It is difficult to pick out any song as they were all so good. He was launching his “Finding Home” album, which was recorded in France for Besides Records and is released in the UK on Cargo. The title track was performed using slide and sets the pace for the whole album. “All At Your Door” was reggae, “Let Me Sleep Tonight” was dark “On The Run” was a rocker, and there were more fine acoustic folky songs than you could shake a stick at. Mick is a great showman, talented musician and songwriter and is highly recommended by this reviewer. Check his myspace and buy his album. So, there goes another week; I understand there is some good stuff in the pipeline for next week so check it out, or, better still, come and join me.
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