The Decemberists at The Coronet

 
The Decemberists
The Coronet, 19 December 2009

After the disappointment of the Monsters Of Folk show, with the awful venue, overbearing security and general unfriendliness towards the audience, I was feeling a bit disillusioned by the whole gig-going experience and was so reluctant to shuffle up and see the next show on my schedule, The Decemberists at yet another old cinema-turned-venue, I even missed the support act, Emmy The Great, a girl I would have actually really liked to have seen any other day (apparently, so I'm told, she had problems with the sound during her set, so it wasn't her best performance and I didn't miss much on this particular night).

Monsters Of Folk at Troxy

Photo from Gigwise

Monsters Of Folk

Troxy, 17 November 2009

The guys in Monsters Of Folk, particularly Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, inspire an almost fanatical, blind devotion, maybe that's why I haven't heard a bad word said about their mammoth live show but for me I was a little underwhelmed by it all.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears at the Garage

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
The Garage, 13 November 2009
Anyone fed up with how smooth and sampled soul music has become will find Black Joe Lewis and his awesome band The Honeybears a welcome change. Harking back to the raw passion of the very best Stax bands, they're probably best described as James Brown meets garage rock, and it's impossible not to want to dance and to be totally rocked at the same time.

The Flaming Lips at Troxy

The Flaming Lips
Stardeath And White Dwarfs
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Troxy, 10 November 2009

The morning after seeing The Flaming Lips at the Troxy I picked up my coat and a few handfuls of confetti floated to the floor. That stuff really does get everywhere. In fact after the show the floor of the Troxy (which I liked much more this time around) was completely obscured by the stuff, so much had fallen on us throughout the concert. It was like a carpet of party leftovers: piles of coloured confetti, burst balloons and streamers. But then each Flaming Lips show really is like a huge kids' party (but with way better music, oh and naked girl images on the screen). Even if you've been to their shows before, they are still the most unique concerts you'll ever go to and even the most miserable music fan can't fail to leave without a big grin on their face, it's that much fun.

Steve Martin at the Royal Festival Hall

Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers
Mary Black
Royal Festival Hall, 9 November 2009

On paper the idea of a Hollywood comedian indulging in a spot of serious banjo-playing sounds more curious than entertaining but in this case the comedian in question is an absolutely superb banjo player who has just released the best banjo album of the year, full of bluegrass tunes he wrote himself. Add to that the fact that he's been playing with the first-rate bluegrass band, North Carolina's The Steep Canyon Rangers (who have to be some of the finest musicians I've ever witnessed), then what you have is a pretty damn good show. And that's not even taking into account that on stage (between songs) Steve Martin is still one hell of a funny guy.

Fleetwood Mac at Wembley

Fleetwood Mac
Wembley Arena, 6 November 2009
For my third Fleetwood Mac concert in a week I was expecting more of the same, and while the set list didn't change, the final show of the European tour took me by surprise because it was really something magical.

Wilco at The Forum

Wilco

The Forum, 4 November 2009

A few years ago I saw Placebo play the Reading Festival where they had the misfortune of their bass amp breaking down mid set. It was a painfully boring set anyway, I had seen them years earlier where they seemed more in their element playing small venues, but on the huge stage they lacked the charisma to fill it and the situation was made even worse when their equipment failed. But rather than adapting and making the best out of a bad situation by maybe talking to the crowd while the problem was fixed, or singer Brian Molko performing something unplanned by himself, the band, without a word to the audience, walked off the stage and left the thousands in the packed audience just standing in the mud with no music or entertainment for 15 minutes, waiting for them to return. When they finally came back they resumed their set without a word and I completely lost any respect I had for them as a live band. A simple problem had left them flustered and unable to stray from what they had rehearsed and even communicate with the audience. But last night at the Forum, Wilco, and Jeff Tweedy in particular, proved what an incredible band they are by facing a similar situation and coming up triumphant.

Two nights of Fleetwood Mac at Wembley

Photo by Suzy Vermoesen

Fleetwood Mac
Wembley Arena, 30 & 31 October 2009

When I was 14 my Dad took me to see Stevie Nicks as a birthday present. I was madly obsessed with her and Fleetwood Mac at the time and even though our seats were terrible, and by all accounts it was one of her least impressive tours voice- and energy-wise, it was a magical evening for me and started what would be a lifelong passion for music, concerts and, of course, anything Fleetwood Mac.