šŸ—£ Gigs

Does Steve Craddock still play with OCS?

Maybe he could be talked into playing Town Called MAlice, he probably knows how - being part of Wellerā€™s band.

We headed down to On Blackheath today. The most middle class ā€˜festivalā€™ of the year. Itā€™s sponsored by John Lewis.

We caught a bit of KT Tunstall, all of Jake Buggs set, sheltered from the rain and saw a bit of The Mariachis and The Cuban Brothers folowwed by a little bit of Seasick Steve ( now I know a lot of people have raved about him but heā€™s not for me). The Libertines werenā€™t too bad tonight. I usually not that bothered with them.

Some annoying things:

_umbrellas in crowds - Donā€™t do it! Youā€™ll have someoneā€™s eye out and no one wil be able to see in your vicinity or further back. _

_People constantly talking - Just stay at home and have a few beers and but a CD on. _

_Lack of diversity both on and off stage. _

Thatā€™s the last outdoor gig this year and thank goodness as it was pretty cold but thankfully not too wet.

Next up The Killers at Brixton Academy on Tuesday.

Here in Dubai we head out of the horror of 52C summertime into the transition month of 38C and 100% humidity, but also into the build up to ā€œThe Event Seasonā€.

We have the big gigs coming - Dubai went ā€œBIGā€ with streams of big name gigs and a battle with Anu Dhabi to get ā€œthe biggestā€.

Meanwhile, going back 20 years or so we never had any of that, our ā€œvenueā€ was Dubai Tennis Stadium and occassionally the ā€œLegendaryā€ Irish Village (a bar under the main stand with a decent sized garden and ā€œpondā€. Those were the venues for our gigs, Blondie, Bryan Adams, UB 40 at the Stadium, Deacon Blue, Human League, The Wombats, Super Furry Animals, The Farm at the IV.

In the mayhem of ā€œBIG GIGSā€ Dave C, the manager at IV struggled to get sponsorship for his gigs so they dropped off the radar, sure we have had some decent Tennis Stadium nights - Happy Mondays and Simple Minds were classics, but they are now back in full swing with a fairly solid line up in October.

We have Soul Jam - Alexander Oā€™Neil, Jackie Graham, Mica Paris and Omar (whoever the hell that is) on 5th October, Remix on the Lake - 5 Live, Boyzlife (left overs of Boyzone & Westlife, Snap and Dr Alban, Ocean Colour Scene as Eric noted and Texas.

For me (after Glasto) the one I want to go to will be Live on the Lake - The Pretenders, Heather Small and Aswad.

Elsewhere so far we have Quo, Scouting for Girls, Gorlliaz/Stormzy, Sheeran, JLo, Elton John and Liam Gallagher & the Chemical Brothers (What an odd mash up that is for a day long bash)

Oh and a bunch of other Brunchy gig things only one of note being Toni Braxton.

The great thing about this town and concerts is that apart from Sheeran who sold out in 4 minutes, we can usually decide to go to a gig a week before. Itā€™s very unusual for them to sell out too early, even the Irish Village which only has a capacity of 1500.

But for me - after seeing Chrissie Hynde KILL IT in front of about 20,000 at Glasto, I canā€™t wait to get ā€œinto the Mosh Pitā€ at the IV next month.

And no, I donā€™t have the budget to go to many more on that list, and yes, it would be REALLY neat IF we could get to see up and coming bands playing.

Hopfest last thursday was the nearest weā€™ve had to a night down the pub with The Zucchiniā€™s (or I guess a night at the old Joiners) - we do miss those still.

Omar did ā€œThereā€™s nothing like thisā€ in 1991. His biggest hit.

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Off to see Dan Oā€™Farrell again tomorrow at The Point in Eastleigh.

Tickets Ā£0.00.

Iā€™ve managed to convince @rallyboy to come along.

A free, intimate gig with a left-leaning, Saints-supporting, local singer-songwiter, whatā€™s not to like?

Details here.

The Killers at Brixton Academy last night were as ever (to me) amazing. A few new songs. Two songs not played live since 2009. Woody Harleson introduced their latest song and then snuggled up to his wife on the side of the stage. We got there early to get a decent view from up in the balcony and didnā€™t have anyone stood in front of us so we did have a top view. So Iā€™ve now seen them 3 times this year.

Next up Foo Figthers next week.

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Pretty jealous of this one, bet it was loads of fun.

Iā€™ve never seen The Killers. Iā€™ve had a bit of a softening of my attitude towards them recently. Always loved their first album, never been too keen on the rest of their stuff.

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Saw U.F.O. at The Brook on Tuesday - was OK - think Phil Mogg was a few sheets to the wind already, but still got great control of his vocals for a near septuagenarian

Next up is Sex Pissed Dolls at Talking Heads next Friday.

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Thatā€™s a great band name.

It was a great to see them somewhere small again particularly after the debacle of Hyde Park gig. Iā€™ve been lucky to see them at Scala, Koko and the Garage.

I actually have a spare seated ticket for sale to their gig at o2 on Monday 27th Nov. If anyone is interested. Youā€™d have to sit next to me which may be a off putting or not ā€¦

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Wow, I bet those were amazing. Were those gigs where you caught them ā€˜on the way upā€™, or more recent?

Was lucky enough to have a mate that was really early getting into Arctic Monkeys and got us tickets to see them at the Islington Academy 2, in like mid-2005, just before they went stratopheric around the release of ā€œI Bet You Look Goodā€¦ā€. Thatā€™s one thatā€™ll stick in the mind for a long long time.

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Iā€™m off to see these lot tomorrowā€¦

They had great reviews for I-o-W festival this year and are already being booked for festivals next year.

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Well I first saw them whilst at work at Southampton Guildhall when they headline a NME tour and Mr Brightaide was everywhere. I nabbed a NME poster of Brandon Flowers on that tour. Still have it somewhere.

Scala was June 2011. S

Koko was September 2012. It was filmed for something and we got free tickets.

The Garage was June 2013 and was a secret gig after they just played Wembley stadium. Weā€™d been at the stadium and I saw a tweet and we headed over, paid a tenner and had a blast.

My video of Glamourous Indie Rock and Roll from the night now has 21k views. :cool:

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Hey, @intiniki , no mention of the bloke on the stairs on his phone on the way out?

:lou_wink_2:

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There are threads for multiple issues. My love of the Killers gigs here and my hate for idiots on phones on another. I like to make sure things are kept in their proper threads!

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Prefer to mix it up tbh, but each unto their own I guessā€¦

:lou_wink_2:

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Ha, all sound ace. Thanks for indulging my boring, nerdy questions @intiniki

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Just bagged tix for LCD Soundsytem at Ally Pally next week.

:lou_lol: :lou_lol: :lou_lol:

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Less than 30 tickets left if youā€™re thinking of goingā€¦