Yeah, @intiniki Iâm not really a fan of BST. Itâs always pretty poorly organised (or has been when I used to go), loads of faff, and as you say, so bleedinâ segregated. Iâve not really missed it. Sound is always crap as well, which is an annoyance.
Iâve pretty much just carried on since Glasto, trying to put off the blues as much as possible.
Saw The Maccabees last show at Ally Pally Saturday before last. It was a pretty emotional night, if Iâm honest. Way more so than I suspected. It probably sounds a bit daft, but I feel a bit like I grew up with them. They were amongst the first gigs I went to âon my ownâ (i.e. without parental supervision). I saw them play in tiny venues, as support act (to Jamie t amongst others), and saw them open the Carling Stage at Reading, my first ever festival. I watched them grow from an angular, up-tempo indie guitar band into a really interesting, ambitious band with a much rangier repertoire. The gig itself was brilliant, a really jubilant, triumphant blast through all their hits, spanning their entire career. Despite Ally Pally being approximately 4.5 degrees cooler than the sun that night, there was loads of energy in the venue, and by the end when they were joined on stage by Jamie t, Jack Penate, The Mystery Jets and various other pals that have been on their journey, there was barely a dry eye in the house. It was a fitting send off for a really good band, that perhaps never quite made it as big as they deserved. Like Intiniki, this was a band I have seen more times than I can count (including festivals etc probably 25+ times), Iâm going to miss them a lot.
Couple of days off, then up to Manchester for Radiohead @Old Trafford. We had tickets for the original shows at MEN, which for obvious reasons, had to be rolled into one show. The result was that ticket holders for the original shows got preferential âFront Standingâ tickets, similar to the Golden Circle. It was a bit weird, tbh. On the plus side, we were dead close, and had plenty of room to throw some shapes (as you obviously do at a Radiohead gig) and easy access to bar/bogs. That said, it did feel a tad weird having so much space when the barrier keeping people out of the circle was absolutely rammed. The gig itself was, unsurpisingly, fantastic. A similar set to that at Glasto, with a few changes. They opened on Let Down, and swapped The Bends for Creep in the encore. Once again, there was raptous applause and cheering in repsonse to the line âBring down the governmentâŠâ during No Surprise, with the seemingly almost ubiqitous âOh Jeremy Corbynâ, to which Thom joined in, playing along on his guitar. Great show, I really like Manchester (probably a good thing, as Iâll probably end up living there), itâs full of good people. Made loads of âmatesâ with folk around us during the set, and then afterwards at an unofficial after party in town. Cracking day and night all round. May have to start more of these away day gig trips.
Theeeeen, the following evening I took me dear old ma to see Arcade Fire at York Hall, in Bethnal Green. As @supermikey mentioned previously, they played in a square stage in the middle of the venue. Not sure if they did this at the other shows, but with YH being a boxing venue, they came out to an announcer in boxing style - which was a fun touch. Was an interesting experience, did also mean that you were never much more than 3/4 people deep from the stage, so it really heightened the sense of intimacy. Again, another absolute treat of a show. Such an accomplished set, packed full of hits. The showing from Reflektor seems a tad sparse (was a seemingly controversial album for non-superfans), and I was pretty disappointed that Orpheus seems to have been dropped. Other than that, I canât fault it. They still sound huge, bombastic and relentlessly euphoric. For of Winâs charm and charisma RĂ©gine forever steals the show- it does, perhaps, help that she gets vocal duties on one of the biggest songs, Sprawl II. In addition to most of the classics, the new material sounded great, dead excited for the new album now. I couldnât probably go on about them forever, so Iâll stop here.
Off to Lovebox, hoping upon hope that Frank Ocean doesnât do a Frank Ocean and actually shows up. Have been dying to see him for a good few years since falling in love with Channel Orange. Then Citadel on Sunday.
My body hates me, nearly as much as my bank balance. Fuck it.