Marianne Faithfull at The Barbican

Marianne Faithfull
The Barbican, 23 May 2011

Having recently read Marianne Faithfull's autobiography and listened to her entire back catalogue, I'm more convinced than ever that she's not just a rock icon but a national treasure. Seeing her live tonight for the first time (on Bob Dylan's 70th birthday no less - she even mentions this herself) just confirms the fact for me because Marianne, at 64 years of age, is just as magnificent as I imagined.

Grant Lee Buffalo at the Royal Festival Hall

Grant Lee Buffalo

Heidi Spencer And The Rare Birds

Royal Festival Hall, 18 May 2011

Hello, Royal Festival Hall old friend. Seems like I've been spending more time at the RFH recently but I have to admit it's one of my favourite venues, location-, sound- and seat-wise. It's also one of the best places to see acoustic acts and although Grant Lee Buffalo aren't strictly acoustic, this is still the perfect venue to see them again.

Alela Diane interview

I was lucky enough to chat to one of my favourite current singers the magical Alela Diane at her show at the Scala last week for Hive Mag. She was surprisingly tiny, even more gorgeous in the flesh and absolutely lovely to talk to. You can read the results below:

Having emerged from the same Nevada City folk scene that gave us Joanna Newsom, Alela Diane is a singer-songwriter who seems to change and grow with every record. She’s been through a lot of changes since her last album having married her guitarist and formed a new band that sees her move away from her folk roots into a more country rock sound. We caught up with her at her show at London’s Scala to find out about her fantastic new album Alela Diane & Wild Divine, her dad and husband being part of the band and her unique journey into music.

So Alela, has the tour been going well so far? Because there’s a song on the new record [Heartless Highway] all about the disillusionment of life on the road…

I was particularly run down when I wrote that song because we had been on tour for far too long. But this tour has just been a couple of weeks. I got a little run down and I did get a cold and my eye swelled shut, but other than it’s all worked out and it’s been fine. My body just gets run down, I get really tired and then my immune system just kind of fails on me and then all these weird things happen. [laughs]

Sufjan Stevens at the Royal Festival Hall

Photo from Gigwise

Sufjan Stevens

DM Stith

Royal Festival Hall, 13 May 2011

Astonishing. Breathtaking. Exhilarating. Is there a word to sum up Sufjan Stevens' show? All I know is that my jaw dropped somewhere in the first few seconds and remained that way for a few songs until the amazement couldn't suppress the grin any longer. Visually exciting, amazing fun and riveting throughout, for the most part I thought it was the most unique show I had every been to but the end, while great fun for the audience, owed much to The Flaming Lips with confetti and balloons and dancing in the aisles coming straight out of the Wayne Coyne party handbook. Not that it mattered because after the first two-thirds where else did it have to go? It just had to turn into a party or a light show and it kind of did both.

Alela Diane at Scala

Alela Diane & Wild Divine

Peggy Sue

Dylan LeBlanc

Scala, 12 May 2010

Louisiana singer-songwriter Dylan LeBlanc looks like a cross between Ashton Kutcher and a young Townes Van Zandt. So yes, he's easy on the eye and has a kind of cool, authentic cowboy thing going on.