The Libertines w/ Trampolene @ O2 Academy Brixton - December 19, 2019

Couldn't resist this show once I saw a second date was added in London with different openers, which included a fave of mine, Trampolene.

 

This was my second time seeing each band, and as I'm typing this up way after the fact, I'm re-checking out whenyoung (the other opener) and trying to remember if I actually saw much of their set. I have a song of theirs "The Others" in my favourite Spotify songs - a kind of Cranberries meets Glasvegas sound (they're Irish). Relistening, I recognize it well, but was I that interested on the day? Perhaps we chose that moment to get drinks if they were slotted between the other two bands which I wouldn't have wanted to miss any of. Anyways, I listed it on my setlist.fm tally, so must have caught some of it, but obviously not memorable for me. (A shame, because the more I listen to their stuff, the more I like them. Some research shows, the band may be on permanent hiatus as the couple behind the band have moved back to Ireland and opened a restaurant.)

 

The singer of Trampolene, Jack Jones, has performed with The Libertines and particularly Pete Doherty many, many times (he was in the Puta Madres). They seem to have an almost brotherly or mentor/mentee relationship. The adoration is plain. So, I'm pretty sure they would have got onstage together, probably Jack joining The Libertines for one track, maybe during the encore. But I can't find any footage, so perhaps I'm projecting from something else I've watched online.

 

Following a couple of other solo performers (Luke Wright, then Ed Cosens), Welsh band Trampolene are a lot of fun live, and Jack Jones is an endearing and charismatic performer. I was completely won over seeing them at Dingwalls with a crowd of adoring fans about a year before this. It was lovely to see them again, but if you're not familiar with any of their stuff, not sure this performance would have won you over. Funny how sometimes a band can hit so different on different occasions.

 

I saw The Libertines at the 2015 Reading Festival, and while I was happy to have at last seen them, I'm never fully convinced this is the best way to see any band for the first time. So, of course, I was hoping for a much more memorable show at the Brixton Academy. And while it was great to hear some well-loved songs like "What Became of the Likely Lads" which I was shocked to not hear at Reading, it never quite had the vibe I somehow expected from a Libertines show. I wanted to be blown away, but I wasn't.

 

Perhaps, I (fittingly?) drank too much. Or perhaps the band were more subdued than they might have been. I had a look at a review chatting about how poorly the crowd received the spoken word poems of Luke Wright, who also made an appearance right before the Libertines came on. The article speculated that the band limited crowd interaction and chat, perhaps to punish us. Maybe it was end of tour fatigue, or the fact this was night two in the same venue. Maybe the Libertines are just one of those bands who can only create magic sporadically and unreliably. I have no doubt of that magic, and for some they might be a favourite concert memory, but I can't say they're one of mine based solely on the two shows I've seen. Maybe, I'll get another chance down the road.

 

Setlist:

The Delaney
Heart of the Matter
Horrorshow
Barbarians
Fame and Fortune
Boys in the Band
You're My Waterloo
The Saga
Last Post on the Bugle
Can't Stand Me Now
The Ha Ha Wall
Dead for Love
Gunga Din
Up the Bracket
What Became of the Likely Lads
Death on the Stairs
Time for Heroes
Encore:
Music When the Lights Go Out
What Katie Did
The Good Old Days
What a Waster
Don't Look Back Into the Sun

 

Kaiser Chiefs @ O2 Academy Brixton - February 8, 2019

So, this won't be a fair review. I'd just come off a Dry January and drank too much so my memory is fairly fuzzy.

I will say that Ricky is a great front man, so his energy and showmanship is in no way to blame for my finding this a weird show.

I never thought I would see Kaiser Chiefs live for the simple fact that the venues they have played for the last decade or so are too massive or are sit-down or are some weird outdoor event. So, when I saw the O2 Academy Brixton listing I thought "finally, a great way to see these guys." Some of their songs I really loved back in the mid-naughties, and I'd heard they put on a good show. But I went in being wary about the kinds of fans they must be drawing now.

And I was right. It was WEIRD. We made our way (easily) to the front and found ourselves among what seemed to be big groups of, maybe, college-aged kids, mostly female, and very basic-seeming. Since we were right at the front, if there was any kind of mosh-pit behind I missed it, but I'm doubtful there would have been much.

Smattered throughout the show, and building more towards the end were several stage-props and pyrotechnics: a lit-up shallow staircase for Ricky to mount, Projectors, confetti-cannons and the like. So, they put on a SHOW, but I'm here for the music not the fireworks.

And about the music. Faithful renditions, performed with gusto and met with surprisingly passive singalongs. It was the tamest audience I've seen at what alleges to be a rock show. Poor Chiefs. It reached a crescendo of absurdity to my inebriated (so easily amused) brain during the I Predict a Riot / The Angry Mob back-to-back portion of the show. This "mob" wouldn't riot over a Black Friday sale at (what's a shit store?)... ASDA!

So...sorry for the snarkiness. Glad I've seen 'em, I guess. Wished I'd seen 'em long, long ago. Awful fans. The End.

Telling anecdote: Overheard while returning from getting a drink, "How sad they have to play such small places now." Fuuuuuuuuuuck.


Setlist: 
Saturday Night
Never Miss a Beat
Parachute
Wait
Na Na Na Na Naa
The Factory Gates
Cannons
Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning)
Target Market
Coming Home
Golden Oldie
Everyday I Love You Less and Less
Ruby
Take My Temperature
I Predict a Riot
The Angry Mob
Retirement
Encore:
Hole in My Soul
Time Honoured Tradition
Oh My God

The Streets @ O2 Academy Brixton - April 26, 2018

Loved this show way more than I thought I would. There was such a good vibe from both Mike Skinner and the audience, which was full of plenty of diehard fans.

Skinner is such a charismatic showman and chatted to us throughout the night, encouraging circle pits and good vibes. The songs were his greatest hits and delivered with infectious energy and joy. It was easy to see a good and sweaty time was had by all.


Setlist
Turn the Page
Let's Push Things Forward / Urban Hero
Don't Mug Yourself
Everything is Borrowed
Has It Come to This? / Little Man
Never Went to Church
Too Much Brandy
It's Too Late
Could Well Be In
Going Through Hell
The Escapist
Heaven for the Weather
Dry Your Eyes
Encore
Your Wave God's Wave God / Open the Till
Boys Will Be Boys
Weak Become Heroes
Blinded by the Lights
Fit But You Know it (with Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor mixed in)

Pixies @ O2 Academy Brixton, London - November 28, 2016

33 songs is a lot for the average concert. But, I was really surprised at some of the omissions. It made sense when I checked the setlist for this blog entry, and saw the following night's setlist in the same venue. They almost didn't repeat themselves. This would have been awesome for the fan attending both shows, of course. So, I missed Wave of Mutilation, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Gigantic, and some lesser gems like Is She Weird and Subacultcha. But, fortunately I got to hear U-Mass, my favourite Pixies song, to which I lost my shit over. As you do. Because they're touring in support of their new album, Head Carrier, I was expecting to hear the first single which I really like, Um Chagga Lagga. The next night's fans got that treat.

We got a good spot with a view of centre stage, and I spent much of the show letting the Pixies sound/noise wash over me. It was a slow builder, and no one in the band addressed the audience, but slowly you get swept into their sonic sea. The early songs are mostly back lit, obscuring the detail of their faces, as they seemingly take their time letting us into their world. Then the full colour hits and by the first notes of Here Comes Your Man, we are fully welcomed in, with the attendant singalong.

It was great to experience the Pixies' sound live, having loved many of their albums and tracks for years. Some bands are all about showmanship or energy or loudness, but the Pixies' live are all about the sound. And they got it right. It was special, and before a brief encore, the band took a bowing curtain call, which you don't often see at rock shows. Then, just before they came back on, the dry ice machine belched a massive wave over us. As it cleared, it was like emerging from a warzone, grey and surreal. As the Pixies played Into The White in the eerie fog, the new bassist Paz Lenchantin stood silhouetted with her low slung bass and sang almost motionlessly. Then more massive waves of dry ice buffeted us. It was by far the most I've ever experienced and then that was repeated half a dozen times. This final destination was a fittingly atmospheric representation of the enveloping aural journey we'd been taken on.

Setlist:
Where Is My Mind?
Nimrod's Son
Break My Body
Brick Is Red
Winterlong (Neil Young cover)
Blown Away
Mr.Grieves
La La Love You
Ana
All the Saints
Here Comes Your Man
Motorway to Roswell
Magdalena 318
Tenement Song
Classic Masher
Head On (Jesus and Mary Chain cover)
U-Mass
I've Been Tired
Velouria
Havalina
Snakes
Caribou
Rock Music
Baal's Back
Isla de Encanta
Oona
Planet of Sound
All I Think About Now
Hey
Gouge Away
Debaser
Tame

Encore:
Into the White

Weezer @ O2 Academy Brixton, London - April 5/16

This concert has been a long time coming. I was a fan from the first, back to '94's Blue album. And Island in the Sun is probably my favourite pop song....Of. All. Time. Weezer seem to play a lot of festivals, and as you may know from reading below, I avoid festivals unless they are really really packed with amazing bands I can't bring myself to miss. Then, finally, back in 2008, Weezer were playing Vancouver and I was on the verge of buying tickets when I checked out the date with my brand new (at-the-time) boyfriend, Steve. Uh-oh. Same date as his best friend's wedding, of which he was the best man, and of which I was his date. Can't really wriggle out of that one. Many swear words were invented and tested out that day. It's probably a good thing I didn't know then it would take another eight years for this to finally happen. But it has. And it was great.

It wasn't great in exactly the way I thought it would be though. Based on the many mellow songs Weezer has, I was worried it would be a more sedate show than I really like. Sure lots are poppy and make you want to move, but not in a moshing kind of way. But fans mosh to Weezer. There was a definite crush up front, not helped by some idiotically placed permanent barriers on the O2 Academy floor. Maybe I was a little less sweaty than I would be after an Against Me! gig but I jumped up and down a whole hell of a lot. Many songs live are more energetic than off the albums, Island in the Sun being a prime example. The prettiness of it got lost somewhere between the fans screaming along and the less sparse, simple arrangement of the recording. The perfection of the "hip, hip" moment, produced perfectly on the record, was just an approximation on this night, but it was enough for me.

I heard plenty of North American accents, as we wound our way from the bar towards the stage. The crowd looked to be about 75% geeky college boy, which makes sense. No bad asses in sight, and a few cute, if straight-laced, girls. I'd say most in their mid to late 20s, but it's harder to tell as I get older. But, they seemed a good deal younger than that when Weezer closed the main set with the Sweater Song and a violent grappling of a jumper ensued after someone held theirs aloft. They will have a good story as to how they lost a sweater during that song at a Weezer concert, but the garment, I'm sure, is history.

So, my impression is that Weezer live are a massive and bouncy sing-a-long band, even though the band themselves are pretty low-key. I thought that the show would be more centred on the new, White album, as it only dropped 4 days ago, and the show seemed to be promoted in that light (and it's a bit of a trend to do whole albums these days), but we only got 5 out of the 10 new tracks. My favourite new track Do You Wanna Get High? was my least favourite new live song of the bunch which was weird, but there were so many other highlights it was fine.

Setlist:
California Kids
My Name Is Jonas
Hash Pipe
Back to the Shack
L.A. Girlz
El Scorcho
The British Are Coming
Pork and Beans
(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
Do You Wanna Get High?
Cleopatra
The Waste Land (Instrumental)
Thank God for Girls
Say It Ain't So
The Good Life
You Gave Your Love to Me Softly
King of the World
Island in the Sun
Undone- The Sweater Song
Encore:
Beverly Hills
Buddy Holly

Full Set recorded by fan, Vaso Proiou:


Or watch on youtube, with comments and song timing marked.