Reviews and Recommendations: pop

Having seen them a few times before I was really up for this, especially as tickets were hard to come by!! The new song Invaders Must Die gave us a hint at what sound to expect, which was more old skool dance mixed with modern day Pendulum. Cant complain with... [more]

Event Date: December 12, 2008
Event Venue: Brixton Academy

Having seen them a few times before I was really up for this, especially as tickets were hard to come by!! The new song Invaders Must Die gave us a hint at what sound to expect, which was more old skool dance mixed with modern day Pendulum. Cant complain with that!! The warm up DJ Eddy Temple Morris got the jibe so right we he played Eric Prydz 'Pjanno', the crowd were also dancey and up for it, unfortunately he then played Rage Against The Machine Killing in the game!! WHY! This turned a proper ravey dancey crowd into a punk gig. Prodigy came on and this vibe continued. The bass was turned down and the volume up (typical metal set up). I was quite suprised because this wasnt expected. In fact when they played the new song again it was drowned out and almost inaudiable because of no bass and too loud! Then Maxim asked for a mosh circle to happen in the middle!! WHY! It was then like a Slayer gig. I love the Prodigy and they were the best live band ever. They themselves just need to decide what genre they want to be. You cant play 'Your Love' (early 90's rave) then ask for a mosh circle. I am seeing them in April and hope they get back to how they were. [less]

What a disappointment! They don't live up to the expectations so either they've changed or I missed something.
With only three members of the band it was always going to be tough to fulfil the expectations but the singer / lead guitarist just doesn't have the range in his voice to... [more]

Event Date: June 18, 2009
Event Venue: Derngate Northampton

What a disappointment! They don't live up to the expectations so either they've changed or I missed something.
With only three members of the band it was always going to be tough to fulfil the expectations but the singer / lead guitarist just doesn't have the range in his voice to do justice to about two-thirds of the numbers they performed. Yes the guitar work is outstanding and the drummer's good too but this isn't enough to do justice to the wonderful music of Queen.
My wife and I were both dissapointed as we've seen Magic - A Kind of Queen many times and understood GA GA were even better but sadly not. The theatre was nowhere near full so I guess others already knew what we found out. We've booked to go and see Magic to make up for a very dissapointing night out. [less]

I was one of a few fans to get a ticket to a private show which was being filmed for broadcast on TV.

I was up in the balcony where I guess there were around 60 people in single rows on three sides. Down below there were probably not many more... [more]

Event Date: February 18, 2009
Event Venue: LSO St. Luke’s, London

I was one of a few fans to get a ticket to a private show which was being filmed for broadcast on TV.

I was up in the balcony where I guess there were around 60 people in single rows on three sides. Down below there were probably not many more than 100 people seated among tables – special guests such as Marianne’s friends and family, record company execs, press etc. The stage was 3 or 4 steps up, quite wide and had the imposing church windows up behind it.

There were 11 musicians - organ/piano, 4 x string section, guitar, drums, bass, brass/woodwind, brass/woodwind/accordion/piano, guitar/ukulele/mandolin/viola/saw. And, of course, one Marianne Faithfull dressed in a black suit and white blouse, mostly standing but sometimes seated on a stall. This was the first time she had performed the new songs in front of people and she said she was a bit nervous to start with.

I won’t go into detail about every song - I’ll just pick out some highlights. She started with a nice rendition of the familiar ‘Times Square’ and then quickly into the songs from the new album with ‘Down From Dover’, the merits of the large band already showing with brass, strings and organ all adding their bit to create a rich backing track. ‘Children of Stone’ included some marvellous flute playing – I’m quite partial to a bit of flute. One of my favourites from the new album ‘Hold On Hold On’ moved along at pace and ended in a great fuzz viola solo (or was it violin?). Another of my favourites ‘The Crane Wife’ started up to a shout of “I love you” from the balcony, building to a crescendo of vocals, drums, guitar and accordion. ‘Easy Come Easy Go’ appeared to be a favourite of Marianne’s and her voice was a superb match for it.

Back to an old song with ‘Broken English’, not as raucous as usual but a more sinister, rumbling sound with an appropriate sounding sax solo. It was nice to hear a different arrangement which took advantage of the big band. Possibly my favourite of the new tracks on the night was ‘Kimbie’, with Marianne’s excellent vocals accompanied by guitar and accordion. It seemed like the whole audience was holding it’s breath throughout the song. Then, my most definite favourite new one, the Morrissey song ‘Dear God Please Help Me’. It was every bit as good as I hoped, with the strings really coming to the fore.

Then followed ‘Sister Morphine’ with Marianne doing a very good impersonation of Bob Dylan and threatening to do the whole song that way sometime, ‘The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan’ with an appropriate accordion accompaniment, ‘Why’d Ya Do It’, as good as ever but again a bit different with organ and sax prominent, and a special arrangement of ‘As Tears Go By’. It was apparently the first time Marianne has sung it live to the original backing arrangement, including the Cor Anglais played by one of the very versatile musicians. Strings and piano were added to make it a very special performance indeed.

‘Sing Me Back Home’ was performed as the encore and seemed an apt winding up, going home kind of song.

This was the end of a very special and intimate performance, the likes of which most of us will never see again, and I felt quite privileged to be there. I hope, for the sake of those that weren’t as lucky as me, that there will be a tour later in the year with the same band and similar set list, as I’m sure you’ll think it’s great.

Thanks to Marianne for making some tickets available to her fans and for a night I won’t forget. [less]

Anyone who has heard her recorded work will know that she is sublimely gifted as a writer and singer, but there's a certain distancing effect there that renders her admirable rather than likeable.
Live on Friday, though, she was warm and funny and elegantly sexy. And still sublimely gifted - To... [more]

Event Date: December 5, 2008
Event Venue: Brudenell Leeds

Anyone who has heard her recorded work will know that she is sublimely gifted as a writer and singer, but there's a certain distancing effect there that renders her admirable rather than likeable.
Live on Friday, though, she was warm and funny and elegantly sexy. And still sublimely gifted - To Be Lonely brought a sometimes-rowdy venue to breath-bated silence. Appearing with just a drummer and a bassist (both of whom were wonderful) gave her voice all the room it needed to sound even more expressive and rich-toned than it is on record. If you were looking for faults, the first part of Anyone, which sounds better the slower it's sung, was a little rushed, but even so it was still like heaven for ears; this is the best female artist working in popular music today. [less]