Matt Berry @ The Kazimer review

Entering on stage with a full entourage of musicians (The Maypoles), Matt Berry meant business. Going straight into Devil Inside me, Matt was a man on a mission.People obviously think of him as "that guy from the I.T. crowd but watching him onstage that image soon fell away as his voice, which seemed a lot richer than the last time we saw him, took over the Kazimier. 

Going into the title track of his album Opium and through tracks from the WitchHazel album he was certainly not one for a lack of material. Starting with a low, pagen-esque style then throwing the audience into a full on tour de force Matt was beginning to get thirsty and on the search for some Corona. When offered a can of Red Stripe but an audience member he politely refused saying that "it was full of salt"

Once locating the much sought after mystical Corona (it was in a box behind the guitarist) Matt went into Snuff Box. A track that was featured in the movie DREDD and as Matt stated "god knows why" but it kept the crowd happy anyway.

A brief interlude was much needed and Matt served up a cocktail of TV theme tunes starting with Are you being served and then into Sorry with a wonderful touch of the lift commentary to accompany the former...going down!

Then the audience were taken on a bit if a journey.....starting with a gentle flowing notes and what you would expect to hear from an enchanted forest it built up slowly with symbols crashing and the bass drum kicking in to an instrumental medley that kept building and building in intensity till Matt and Cecilia's gentle vocals came back in then ended on a symbol crescendo.

They ended the set, after their encore, by being joined on stage by the lead singer of their support group Pugwash, Thomas Walsh, and decided to bring the house down with a rip roaring performance of Live and let die by wings.

Matt Berry may be known best for his comedy but musically the man and the group and superb. Moving from funk to jazz in a beat of an eye and some of the tightest and most talented musicians I've seen in a long time and mesmerising to watch and thoroughly entertaining throughout.

More photos can be found on our Facebook page

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Liverpool Sound City review 2013

SoundCity took over Liverpool at the May Bank Holiday weekend and once again proved why it is so popular and draws people from from and near to the city centre year after year.

As there was so much musical genres on offer, over so many venues, it's obviously impossible for us to bring you a review of everything that happened, so you'll just have to hear about what we considered some of the many many highlights of this years musical frolics and festivities.

We'll start you off on this three day musical journey, with Liverpool's very own Robert Vincent who performed at the Black E, Rob is fast becoming known nationwide for his folk/country style of music, distinctive vocals and heartfelt lyrics. This time around he had a full band playing with him, including Anna Corcoran on keyboard, which showed a different perspective to his music and worked fabulously in a larger environment. Rob treated us to some of his favourite tracks including a bouncy rendition of his latest EP, "The Bomb" and what has to be one one the most heart felt performances of the weekend with, "Demons".

One venue that was completely new to SoundCity this year was Liverpool's historic Anglican Cathedral, which played host to a few select artists, including Thursday night headliners, Noah and the Whale, whose folk fueled opening numbers including Blue Skies, and a new track from their latest album, Heart of Nowhere, with the same title, which was a heady synthesized rock number, slightly reminiscent of The Killers, the rest of the set had a rockier edge to it and Charlie Fink's vocals which reverberated around the Anglican creating an amazing atmosphere and was great headlining act for the Anglican's first night of musical fun. 

Also playing at the Anglican were none other than 80's legends of denim dungarees, Dexys Midnight Runners, who played firm favourites, Come on Eileen and Geno, but a vast array of old and new numbers and dungaree clad (YAY) lead singer Kevin Rowland showed his vocal range going from folk to blues to pop throughout the set. I have to admit I was slightly perplexed at one point when they seemed to re enact scenes from a bizarre spaced out episode of The Bill, with Kevin Rowland, trying to report an incident to a "policeman" but he couldn't recall what it was.....I'm still slightly confused as to what that was all about now and have at times wondered if I imagined it!! But the crowd seemed to be enjoying it immensely as were Dexy's.

This year, we managed to see quite a few acts in one of my favourite live music venues, The Kazimier and The Kazimier Gardens. I can't ever recall ever being disappointed listening to a band in these acoustically sound joined venues. This year they had some fab acts on offer but the Gardens won outright for me. With French electro pop act Concrete Knives, as a prime example, they had the crowd hooked from the start of their set. Performing their own songs "Wallpaper" and ""Be Your Own King" and a fab rendition of "Hot Stepper" the band looked like they were enjoying themselves just as much as the crowd. With twisting electro pop sounds and hedonistic beats from the drums it had a hypnotic vibe throughout the set that kept on transcending upwards and onwards taking everybody with them on their musical journey, Concret Knives definitely deserved the massive amount of cheers and applause at the end of their set.


The next day we were back in the very sunny and shiny Kazimier Gardens for "Korea Rocks" and after a few hours spent there I can say it definitely does. As we approched we could hear the raw rock rifts drifting over the walls and were pretty much blown away by "Galaxy Express" This trio are the very embodiment of rock and roll. From their looks, music and raw rasping rock vocals top this off with a free BBQ to sample Korean food (yes I went back more than once as it was amazing!!), goodie bags and the happiest atmosphere Ive felt in a long time and definitely put Korea on the musical go to map.

Later that night we were off to a very packed, very very hot and very very very sweaty O2 Academy for Enter Shikari. and what can you say apart from "Oh my frickin God"...these guys are amazing. The energy alone from them is enough to make your head spin, let alone trying to keep up with what part of the stage they're jumping from or climbing up onto but damn, they give one hell of a show. I don't really want to put them into a "genre" as they cross over so many to create their pretty unique sound and whatever influences they draw on, it definitely works for them and their legion of fans love it, especially when they performed tracks like, "All Eyes On The Saint" and crowd favourite "Destabalise"


Keeping on the metal theme, I'll move onto The Marmozets who played at Screenadelica on the Thursday night. We literally came across these by chance after a fair bit of folk music and being surrounded by the obligatory hipsters at most venues we went to. Marmozets are fronted by lead singer, Becca McIntyre who gave it her all with some full on raw metal vocals and rest of the band providing some heavy back up on guitars and drums, they were like a breath of fresh metal air to hear....I'm still in awe at her range of vocals. Loved these guys totally for their music, energy, head banging finesse and leaping off the stage to play in the crowd.....what can I say apart from fanfuckingtastic. 

And finally I leave you with Fire Beneath The Sea, an eclectic little group of pals who are full of fresh bouncing jazz and ska fueled energy with a dab of hip hop and according to them "skanking" flung in for good measure, and nope, I'm still not too sure what that is, but it definitely works for them. Playing to a very very packed Brooklyn Brewery, and thankfully minus the clown masks this time they performed with such energy and gusto that you cant help be swept up with atmosphere they create. If you love happy bouncy times with a band that is full of character then these are definitely the live act to catch. Perfect for an outdoor summer gig....Kazamier Gardens, I hope you get them in there soon!!


So after three days, we have seen once again that Liverpool Sound City has hit the bullseye once again, offering a vast array of different musical styles to please even the hardest musical connoisseur of modern music. so thank you for a fun packed festival and hears to next years, but if you're going to get Bastille again, try to get them on before 2am if you could!!


Review by Alison Goggin

Photos by Thomas Lennon

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Poltergeist at The Kazimier - Review

 

Poltergeist is the new group created by Echo and the Bunnnymen's Will Sergeant alongside fellow bassist of the same band, Les Pattinson and last night saw them play a gig on home soil at The Kazimier.

The set draped all in white with a reel to reel tape recorder to one side set the scene nicely and brought an eeriness to the place as the crowd awaited the group. And once a short message was announced by someone dressed like an extra from a Clock Work Orange via a megaphone the guys, dressed in white hooded tops, took to the stage to the sound of  "Dem bones" 

What followed for the next hour was a set of compelling and hallucinogenic music which wouldn't have gone amiss at an Andy Warhol shin-dig and with the projections of such images as ventriloquists dummies and clowns flickering against the white back drop you at times felt as if you were a part of some macabre nightmare created by Oliver Stone.

Poltergeist have taken it upon themselves to let the music speak for them. Not a word is uttered by the band and at times it almost seems like they are oblivious to the applause and cheering after each song, completely immersed in playing and relaying their music to the people.

Moving from one song to the other, without so much of a hick up, is credit to the band who are obviously masters in their field and the lack of any communication to the audience only strengthens the effect. You actually don't even need to be watching the band to enjoy the music.

Leaving the stage the same way they entered after their last track , silently and without fuss, left you thinking "what just happened" and the introduction of the lights drags you back, reluctantly, into the real world. 

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Threshold Festival 2013 - Review

Threshold Festival returned for it's third year at the weekend, and this year, as promised, was bigger and better than ever. Held in the Baltic Triangle area of Liverpool City Centre, which is now synonymous with all things arty, it was the ideal area for this grass roots multi arts festival.

With an opening night full of fire and aerial artists including Iosis Aerial Acrobatics, quirky music acts, acoustic sets and a few excellent bands, including, "The Tone Puppets" who excelled in Furnace, thanks to their strong vocals and rock bass lines and the brilliant, "Fidel Afro" who provided an enegrtic set in Elevator that combined 90's indie rock with a whole lot of punk rock, especially with. "Soul Hit". Best song of Friday night had to go to them, with the minutes before named, "Arr Aye Lad", which was laden with gutiar riffs Noel Gallagher would be proud of.

All in all, it was a great taster of what we could expect over the rest of the weekend.

Saturday, was a massive line up of many musical genres, from soul to folk to the lovably eccentric "Paddy Steers Three Pronged Audio Band", who provided a very surreal set of psychedelic jazz, once they'd managed to get their bass clarinet sorted out and how the saxaphone player managed to play with his giant papier mache head on deserved a round of applause for that fete alone. 

Also on the Saturday cards was Mobo Winner and Liverpool's very own Esco Williams, whose flawless vocals traveled across the Paper Garden room in Camp and Furnace, accompanied with a full band, he transfixed the audience with a polished performance, especially with "Just Friends"

Another great performance over the weekend has to go to Rob Vincent, who was headlining over at Elevator, who were triumphing all things acoustic, and who better to finish their night off for them than Rob. With little gems like, "The Bomb" and "November" to capture and hold the attention of the audience, Rob Vincent creates a warm atmosphere with his country/folk music style and his smooth vocals ebbing over every note, throw in his personality and you have one hell of a performer, that you can listen to for ages.

Sunday saw a wind down to Threshold and a much more chilled out ambiance everywhere. With an arts and crafts workshop running at Camp and Furnace, specializing in lots of lovely things for Mothers Day, it had a nice family friendly feel to it, and the folk and acoustic mood helped peoples creativity along, especially from, "Bear Beats Band". Meanwhile over at Elevator, Stevie Banks, certainly knew how to wake people up with a superb performance of a modern day one man band. With his guitar, blasting out and his feet stamping away on a drum pad and his raw vocals, it was great to watch this talented young man perform with such confidence and portray so much talent in his short set.

So all in all, I can say that Threshold Festival 2013 provided one hell of a music and arts extravaganza this weekend, in one of the most friendliest environments I've been to in a while and with so much talent on offer, I only wish I could review them all, but I'd be writing War And Peace, as the talent and variety was so vast. Hopefully we'll be able to get round to you all next year. 

Review by Alison Goggin

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Maps and Atlases @ The Kazimier Liverpool - Review

The Kazimier Liverpool saw itself the setting for the latest stop on the Maps and Atlases tour and being a Tuesday night they had quite a good turn out for their set. 

Following a great performance from Tall Ships, the Chicago based group entered a very elaborate set full of glowing triangles and drum base shaped light left of the stage with lead singer Dave Davidson sporting his familiar large beard and glasses.

The set started off in quiet a reserved way with the likes of  "Pigeon" and "If this is" and Dave's nimble fingers doing wonders with the neck of his guitar and sounding very reminiscent of the King of Leon if it was fronted by Paul Simon and before they became watered down and mainstream. The mixture of blue grass, folk and indie going down well with the crowd but over all I felt that the first part of the performance was a bit disconnected and flat.

Luckily the latter part of the set put pay to that and with a rousing cover of Tears for Fears' "Everybody wants to rule the world" both the band and the audience seemed to bring it up a level and there was far more interaction and enthusiasm with bassist Shiraz Dada dancing around like a man on fire whilst playing the likes of  the wonderful foot tapping track that is "Fever" and ending on "Solid Ground". 

Maps and Atlases manage to end the set on a high note saving what was dangerously slipping into the mundane and before the audience ears started to slip away.

http://mapsandatlases.org/

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SUBSOUND Liverpool 2013 review

Saturday night (6/2/13) saw the return of SUBSOUND after a great 2012 this time being hosted at HI-FI in Liverpool.

With a glorious line up featuring Dj Rasp, Utah Saints, A-Skillz and  headlined by Krafty Kuts there was a lot for the people to listen to and dance until the early hours.

We arrived in time to see Utah Saints set and were greeted by an already full venue. Utah played a good set and had the crowd, at times, jumping and hollering to the mix. A bit mis-mash for me and not enough of each track played to totally enjoy it. Highlight was obviously playing some of their well know Utah Saints tunes such as Something Good which saw a vast amount of the old-skool up on their feet.

Arguably this warmed up the crowd nicely for A-Skillz to take the stage.His set in comparison was  a more crowd-friendly piece. Playing a vast arrange of music, from Stevie Wonder through to AC/DC, he elegantly made them flow with ease much to  he obvious delight of the crowd, who by this time were in full effect. 

The best thing about the night though was the good vibe coming from the people. The atmosphere was one of joy and it was good to see the old-skool mixing just as easily with the new kids on the block as they were with them.

It was also great to see them taking an effort to make the most of it. Adorned in glowing gloves and long glowing hair extensions it felt like a flashback to the glory days of dance. I even witnessed some dancing round their handbags if you can believe that!

The night was a success on many levels and the fact they had to have a lock out at 1am just goes to show that their is a market for this and hopefully will see more SUBSOUND nights in the future.

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E.P. Review - One Last Night - The Preventers

Straight out of the heart of Cumbernauld The Preventers are a 6 piece pop/rock/soul band who are hitting the Glasgow music scene in a big way.

With they main influences being Elvis and Paolo Nutini it was a must listen for me. So it was with much eagerness that I sat down to listen to the two tracks "One Last Night" and "Irreplaceable love" and I wasn't disappointed.


The first track "One Last Night" is a rip-roaring explosion to the ears. As soon as I heard the opening bars I was tapping my foot. Now I could see why their influence came into play with a mixture of both Elvis and Paolo Nutini in full effect right down to the the stuttering end (you can almost imagine Elvis swaying his hips and legs and girls screaming) The gorgeous country blues style guitar and the addition of the saxophone only add to the glorious track.

In stark contrast "Irreplaceable love" is a slow country/western style track which shows off lead singer Sonny Leto's vocals. Opening with a grand organ it almost feels that you are there to listen to a sermon and when the raspy, gravel-like vocals of Sonny come in to break the tranquillity of this it makes you sit up and listen.

The two songs go to show the versatility of this band and definitely make you want more. If there is an album in the pipeline, I for one cant wait to hear it!

The Preventers will be hitting the road soon with there 1st gig outside of Glasgow on the 16th Feb 2013 in Edinburgh at Cab Vol. They will be playing gigs across Scotland and a few in England in 2013 so watch out for them coming your way.

facebook link http://www.facebook.com/ThePreventers?fref=ts

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Sobi - Betty La Guapa - E.P. Review

The Debut E.P,Betty La Guapa, from Manchester based artist Sobi consisting of the tracks Manly Man,The Narcissist,Glue and I'll run with you is an beautifully crafted piece of work.

The roots firmly based in acoustic/folk, each track flows easily from one to the other with Sobi's almost child-like vocals softly 

Each track, lyrically, is well thought out and meaningful with the contrast at times between the sound of Sobi's voice and the content of the words providing a juxtaposition which works well.

Most of the tracks are vocal and guitar only which for this type of style works well and always has but its the addition of the harmonica on Glue that adds that little bit more edging on blues.

The E.P. itself could be deemed as easy listening but in saying that it is easy to listen to which is postitive thing.

Anyway you can check out the E.P on bandcamp  http://sobi.bandcamp.com/ and find out more about this talented young vocalist below.

www.sobimusic.com
www.facebook.com/sobimusic

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Fyfe - Solace single review

The 23 year old London, England based singer/songwriter, fyfe, sent us his debut single and this seems to be getting quite a buzz at the moment and we can see why.

 ”Solace” is crisp,vivrbrant and soulful that sticks out immensely from the glorious vocals that stand out over the guitars and angel like choir voice.

This single comes in at 3.49 but its so good that it seems a lot shorter and you actually want to hear more once its finished.

Keep an eye out for this guy as we think you'll be hearing more from him in the coming months.

https://www.facebook.com/thisisfyfe?group_id=0

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Liverpool Music Awards 2012

This Saturday saw the first Liverpool Music Awards take place at the Grand Dome Central. The night saw a gathering of musicians and music industry people coming together to celebrate the music produced,performed and celebrated in Liverpool.

With the likes of Mel C (of spice girls fame) and Liverpool Band The Wombats announcing rewards most couldn't argue with the calibre of guests and artists at the awards.

Hosted by Janice Long, who gave a confident and professional  presentation throughout, announced the guests and artists performing of which included MOBO winner Esco Williams, Charlie Blue, Lawson and X-Factor singer Craig Colton to name but a few. 

Winners on the night included Rebbecca Ferguson for best female, Hummingbirds as the Ones to Watch, Single of the year going to the Tea Street Band for Summer Dreaming, Ali Ingle for best male artist.

The show on a whole was a great addition to the music scene and celebrating Liverpool talent and teams/people behind it. 

My only reservation to the night was the organisation of the event and of the people that matter most, (who without them there wouldn't be an awards show), the paying public. Leaving people standing outside for over an hour without a word of explanation is not the best way to start an inaugural event. The somewhat clueless security and staff, peering through the glass doors didn't help and the confusion continued once into the event with staff not knowing where people were to be seated or even where their passes/tickets were located. 

This was in stark contrast to the V.I.P. section who enjoyed red carpets and champagne receptions. I just hope that this doesn't go the way of most UK events where the people that have gone to the trouble to support, buy tickets and vote for the artists and events are over-looked. There wasn't even any acknowledgement from most of the recipients of the awards that the public were even in the building.

But aside from that, the whole event went without hitch and brought together a varied mix of musicians and artists and allowed the up and coming to mingle with the established in great surroundings and a celebratory atmosphere. 

Winners
Live Music Night - Liverpool Acoustic
Producer - Mike Cave
Live Music Venue - Kazimier
Record Label - 3Beat
Manager - Charlotte Bowers
Single - Tea Street Band "Summer Dreaming"
One To Watch - The Hummingbirds
DJ - Lee Butler
Band Of The Year - Stealing Sheep
Recording Studio - Parr Street
Male Artist - Ali Ingle
Female Artist - Rebecca Ferguson
Album - Ian McNabb "Little Episodes"
Local Music Champion - Phil Hayes (The Picket)
Outstanding Contribution - Dave Pichilingi
Lifetime Achievement - Roger Hill

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The Rialto Burns at the Zanzibar Liverpool - Review

The Zanzibar in Liverpool is our venue tonight for what promises to be a great night of music. Supporting  The Rialto Burns, are a great act who we first saw at the Liverpool Music Awards nominations, The Mono Lps. 

They are an infectious band and was good to see a set from them longer than 3 songs. The band seem to enjoy themselves always and the fact they had a giant panda dancing along with them front of stage, made it a little surreal to say the least but a great full on set from the band and look forward to giving them a review of their own. 

But tonight is set aside for The Rialto Burns. As the light dim and the glow from the set surrounded by strategically placed lamps giving it that homely feel , the guys take to the stage. There are no stage antics with this band, no set performance, no gimmicks, but their stage presence is captivating and alluring. Kicking straight into their first track and you are reminded of the obvious similarities in their music to Joy Division and New Order but thankfully with less melancholy  Lead singer Adam's vocals dark deep and brooding. Going swiftly into Cold Hands, the crowd now starting to move forward the band getting into their comfort zone a bit and by the time they get to their new single Hibernation the band seem oblivious to the ever growing mass in front of them.

The whole sound is rich and strangely draws you in. You find yourself staring hypnotically at the band as they themselves wrap themselves up within their music and obviously well thought out lyrics.

The Zanzibar is an ideal setting for this band. You need to be close up enough to almost reach out and touch. An enrapturing performance from the band and one that certainly had me leaving satisfied and warm inside.

Hibernation is out 28th October on Itunes
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/hibernation/id569885345?i=569885597

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New Order @ Ibiza Rocks Review

New Order is synonymous with Ibiza. Bringing what came to be known as the Balearic sound to the masses with their partly recorded in Ibiza1989 album Technique, so its amazing to find that they have never actually played Ibiza live...until now.

Supporting New Order was The Whip. This is not the Whip's first  time at Ibiza Rocks having last supported Madness last year. Their set included DiveBomb, Riot and the one most familiar to the crowd Trash. They were a great support for the band using a mix of guitars and keyboards to produce an Electro feel to the proceedings.

But as they finished their set and the full capacity crowd waited, you could feel the anticipation in the air. And then as the band emerged the crowd went wild. Starting with Regret and leading into Temptation the band had the crowd easing slowly into the gig and building up the tempo. They did throw in a couple of lesser known Joy Division songs which the majority of the crowd didn't know but once they hit songs like Blue Monday and True Faith the crowd were in seventh Heaven, jumping and chanting along with Bernard Sumner who by this time had taken to dancing around in a "dad dance" stylee. He was obviously loving every single second of being there as were we.

Before you knew it though, the set had finished and the crowd were baying for more, and more they got, with the band returning to finish the show with two of the greatest Joy Division songs, Transmission and Love will tear us apart bringing the whole of Ibiza Rocks to a giant dancing and singing mess. 

This was truly a moment in Ibiza Rocks history and will be remembered for a long time to come. It will be good to see if they can top this. One thing is for sure it will be difficult.

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V festival 2012 - Weston Park Sunday Review

Day two of V festival brought a wet start to the Weston Park site but by the time we came to watch Emeli Sande the rain had all but stopped. Emeli’s strong female vocals bouncing all around the area and sparking the very large crowd  to sing along to her hit “Next to me” amongst other songs in her set. We wandered around to watch Tim Burgess, sporting a fetching Dappy style hat which underneath saw a thick head of bright blonde hair, sang the back catalogue of The Charlatans hits to a wet but very jubilant crowd.

Moving over to watch Marlon Roudette play the undercover stage, we were greeted with a wonderful musician and vocalist. A former member of the band “Mattafix”, Marlon may have not drawn a huge crowd, but he certainly won over the crowd that was there. His vocals are smooth, clear and certainly unique. He doesn’t get to play much in the UK but on the strength of this set, I’d definitely like to see more of this young man.

On the 4 music stage, Tinie Tempah was rocking the crowds but we decided to go see Newton Faulkner, mainly to see what all the fuss about him is. With his long dreads and wonderful guitar playing I can see the attraction although I found the covers he played, detracted from his own music, and found myself wanting him to just do his own material which I found far superior. But on seeing him play I can definitely see the attraction and although I haven’t heard much of his recorded stuff I have the feeling that the live version is far superior.

With so much going on, its hard to see everything at V festival, but we managed to briefly catch some of Keane, with lead singer, Alex Ebert, looking a lot thinner than when I last remembered due to, as a woman next to me in the crowd proceeded to inform me, his slim fast diet. We also managed to catch a few numbers by Sub Focus. Sounding a lot like Pendulum, their amazing light show was matched with some high energy music but they should have been far further up the bill to really draw the crowds.

Tim Minchin, was starting his set at the same time as Sub Focus, so we shot across to see some of his set. We had caught him previously at Rockness were he had played solo. This time around he was joined on stage by a band. This, for me, took away a lot of the uniqueness and most of the time, drowned out Tim’s vocals and did nothing to add to the set itself.

Finally for us, we had the one and only Noel Gallagher to witness. With his high flying birds, this was a highly anticipated set and one he didn’t let anyone down on. Mixing his new stuff with Oasis material worked a treat, although as most of his new work is already full of sing-a-long and chant lyrics, it would be easier just to do a 30-45 min set of just that alone. But once again, hearing the crowd sing along to Noel’s lyrics was truly an experience I had missed since the split of Oasis and going by the reaction to songs like “Little by little” and “Supersonic”, I’m guessing most of the audience had to. Finishing on the inevitable “Don’t look back in anger” Noel rounded off a faultless set.

Review by Thomas Lennon

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V festival 2012 - Weston Park Saturday Review

The first day of V saw everyone basking in a whole lot of sunshine while soaking up all the different musical genres on offer. With four different stages covering new, popular and a few all out legendary acts, you could say that at times you were spoilt for choice for who you wanted to listen to, but ours started of with The Enemy, who rocked the 4 Music stage to its core with their indie rock sound, including "Had Enough" and "Away From Here", which had the crowd bouncing and singing along, despite the heat.  

Next up was Tom Jones, who hit the Virgin Media stage doing what Tom does best, blasting his way through a 50 minute set of his vast back catalogue. With his Welsh lilt cascading across the arena with opening number, "Mama Told Me Not Too Come", crowd sing along favourite, "Delilah" and a dirty blues track, originally by Howlin Wolf called "Evil", which he collaborated with Jack White on earlier this year, Tom Jones certainly still knows how to whip that crowd up into a frenzy and definitely crosses over to any age group that was there and you can clearly see he still loves every single second of it.  

Off we trotted then to the Arena tent, to get a bit of a break from the sunshine and see a lot of people coming along for an 80's electro pop nostalgia trip with the Human League. I have to admit, I was never a big fan and for me personally, their music is very similar, so much so, that I thought they'd played the same song twice, but their fans loved it all. With them taking to the stage all clad in black and to be honest looking quite severe and futuristic, think Matrix crossed with Demolition Man outfits, they soon ditched the severe look for a bit of glitter and glitz while taking us back in time with "Fascination", "Mirror Man" and what seemed to have one of the best reactions from the crowd of the weekend, "Don't You Want Me", the only song that received a bigger response was "Don't Look Back In Anger", who'd have though eh!!! 

Snow Patrol were finally back at V for the first time since 2009 and started off their set with a few slower, more melancholy numbers, which I think gave everyone a chance to have a bit of a breather, thankfully, that didn’t last for too long as someone through a giant inflatable penis at Gary Lightbody, who immediately broke down into a fit of giggles mid song, and then the rock started. The set was mixed with new and old including, my all time favourite, "Cars" and "Run", which I can now listen to again, after Leona Lewis managed to destroy it for me for quite some time. 

The Happy Monday's were in the Arena tent and it was one packed out place. With the legendary Bez introducing them, they played a set full of favourites and some older more obscure tracks, but got the biggest response from the crowd with "Step On" and "Kinky Afro", which saw Bez doing what Bez does best and I think that’s what some people turn up for!! With Suggs from Madness stage invading, being escorted off and sneaking back on to be dance support, he really does like doing this now a days, and Rozalla on fine vocal form as usual, it was just unfortunate, that Shaun Ryder's vocals were a bit muffled and you had to really strain to hear him at times, but he did take everyone back to the "Beefa" days when hedonism was second nature to the Monday's, but even though their full on partying days may be behind them, they still manage to capture the hearts of all us 90's kids that remember their heady days and what they brought to all of us, including making maraca's cool again!! 

As dusk was settling over Weston Park, LMFAO, took to the 4 Music stage to headline the Saturday night, and whether you love them or hate them, you cannot deny that they put on one hell of an energetic show, with zebras running across the stage and a big pink bear pretending to play DJ decks and so much neon it started to hurt your eyes. Opening with "Sorry for Party Rocking" they continued on the same full on party thread and had the crowd hooked, unfortunately, they clashed with The Killers so we missed the last part of their performance and the two most famous songs, "Sexy and I know It" and "Party Rockers" which I was dying to see them perform as well, but judging by the noise from the crowd they went down an absolute storm. 

  

Final act for us was The Killers, who gave one hell of a performance to end the Saturday night at the Virgin Media stage, with a massive turn out, they did their crowd proud. Playing all the crowds favourites, including "Mr Brightside" and "Read My Mind" and covered Oasis's "Don't Look Back in Anger" which had the biggest response of the night. The 90 minute set passed by with a flash of an eye and before you knew it the main stage was in darkness, and we were left there wanting more, and The Killers did to as they came back on amid huge applause and cheers to perform "Jenny was a Friend of Mine" and "When You were Young" amid a backdrop of fireworks. The only thing missing was Brandon Flowers feathered shouldered jacket!! 

Review by Alison Goggin

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Kendal Calling 2012 - Review

Kendal Calling returned to Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District with an almighty vengance this year, and brought with it 10,000 very happy festival folk to party with it for the weekend. With it's increased populous, we saw the site bigger and better than ever, including a new tent, Chai Wallahs, new area called The Woodlands, were you could bop away at the silent disco, Tim Peaks diner, brain child of Tim Burgess, from The Charlatans, who created a place to chill, eat and listen to Edwin Collins and Nick Heyward perform an acoustic set, a real ale festival within a festival, including a very aptly named beer for myself, “Dizzy Blonde”, so many food stalls from around the world and a couple of fair ground rides, including the helter skelter, which we had to have a few goes on, more sculptures, including "Wooden Man", Iron Man's greener brother rocking out on his guitar and so many cartoon characters thanks to Saturday's fancy dress theme. I don't think I've ever seen so many Dennis the Menace's gathered in one place, definitely makes a change from Where’s Wally. The Beano Club, would be have been proud!!

Our festival began on the Thursday, courtesy of the early bird option, which I always love as it gives you a good chance to peruse the place, before mayhem ensues, and see the quirky acts, including fire act, GeoFest Collective, who bring it back to basics, with a hypnotic primal feel to their performances thanks to the drum and bongo players and the extremely talented fire artists who had their own area this year, just wish they hadn't been tucked out the way so much this year.

Anyway, back to the main reason we were there, the music, and what a line up it was this year. With Friday's headliners Maximo Park, who even though were missing drummer Tom English, who was celebrating the birth of his baby, congratulations by the way, still ripped up the place on Friday night with a full rock onslaught including firm favourites "Girls Who Play Guitars", "The Kids Are Sick Again" and "Our Velocity" as well as some new tracks from their latest album, "The National Health" which sounds like it's going to be as big a hit as the rest of their back catalogue, going by how well it received from the crowd. 

Saturday's main stage brought a little bit of everything for us music lovers with 90's indie band Dodgy playing a laid back set including "Staying Out The For The Summer" and new material from "Stand Upright In A Cool Place". Have to say I loved "Only a Heartbeat" which has a 70's Beatles sound to it. 

Up and coming star, Juan Zelada, played not one, but two sets back to back, one on the main stage and one in the brand new Chai Wallahs tent, and both sets went down an absolute storm, so much so, people left the main stage to catch him play again and I can understand why. With an eclectic mix of funk, blues, soul and a Jerry Lee Lewis style piano playing all rounded up with a fabulous vocal range, that can go from mellow and laid back to smokey blues you cannot help but be drawn into this high energy performance and find your ass shaking along to . You can see that Juan clearly loves what he is doing and thrives on crowd participation and the crowd definitely love him. I've got to say, this was one of the best performances of the whole weekend.

We then had a quick jogback to the main stage for Glasgow born and bred band The View, who do what they do best, get the crowd jumping and bouncing along, especially to the very much loved and very apt for a festival, "Same Jeans"

Headlining the main stage on Saturday, was the man who brought us the brain itch of a song, "Bonkers", yes that's right Dizzee Rascal, who put on one hell of show to end Saturday night, with a whole lot of instructions to "bounce" and "jump" coinciding with flares and fireworks going off, took us right back to the beginning and performed a wide array of his hits, which, I didn't realise, are hell of a lot, including, Jus a Rascal", "Road Rage"and "Dance Wiv Me". He also performed the Olympics song he wrote, "Scream" with the main bulk of the vocals performed by Dizzee's young protege "Pepper" whose vocals flowed over the crowd effortlessly. He ended his performance with, yep you guessed it that little brain itch ditty I mentioned before "Bonkers" and we can confirm that the vibrations felt throughout Lowther and the nearby towns was from the crowd bouncing as one for all their worth, not a mini earthquake!

Pretty soon Sunday was upon us and to be honest excited was not the word, not because it was the last day, but my favourite band in the world when I was 14/15 were headlining the main stage but I had a lot of great bands to while away the hours till then. So thank you to Manchester band, Twisted Wheel, who gave a rockin performance, even though the crowd were a bit subdued and pretty tired looking, but that didn’t stop a majority of them dancing and singing along while shouting “Wheeeaal” inbetween some of their best numbers, including, ”Strife”, “You Stole the Sun” and “Dirty Rock n Rolla”. At least they got away without being accosted by hundreds of Wheel fans who hijacked the stage the last time I saw them. You’ve got to love those Wheel fans.

Inspiral Carpets played a fab set, full of guitar riffs, big grins, Manchester accents and “This Is How It Feels To Be Lonely”. I have to admit I can’t really remember them sounding so rocky but it definitely works. This is one band from the 90’s Manchester music scene that have improved with age, both musically and vocally.

They were followed by Feeder, a band that can rock any stage anytime anywhere. From the opening number, “Am I Just Like You” and “Fight the Feeling”to their new material including “Tiny Minds” and new single “Idaho” (out this month) which is still full of heady drum beats and the grinding guitar riffs that they are synonymous with, but has a happy catchy note to it, that instantly grabs your attention.

And finally the band I’d been waiting for, with trumpets, Tim Booth’s mad dancing and the sound of “woooo hoooo hooo hoooooo hooooooo” it could only mean one thing, James have finally hit Kendal Callings main stage. Playing new and old material, including, “Born of Frustration”, “Waterfall” and “Johhny Yen” which he paid tribute to the “27 club”. Every song was met with enthusiasm, happiness, dancing and applause from the crowd. James are definitely a band who put everything into their performances and even though there was a break for a few years, they have come back bigger and better than ever before. Tim’s vocals are still as crystal clear and his enthusiasm for performing along with the rest of the band grips you and you get carried away, some of us on a reminiscent trip and others who may not have heard some of there material before. By the time it came to the final songs, James had the audience as one and then, the song that they are most famous for “Sit Down” started, which saw the crowd hugging, dancing and singing along for all they were worth. Some people even re-enacted the 90’s and actually sat down, mud be damned to them. Final song for the night though, was my all time favourite song, “Laid” and going by the crowds reaction it was theirs as well. I honestly cannot put into words just how great James were at Kendal Calling and they have definitely got to be the best band I have seen there to date, so go over to Kendal Calling web site and check out the recordings of them and all the other bands to see for yourself.

So that’s the end of another brilliant year at what has to be my favourite festival on the circuit, and yes that includes the godfather of festivals Glastonbury. There is something about this festival that just captures your heart and makes you want to return year after year. I’m just hoping that the expanding doesn’t go too far as I fear it may loose that quirky loveable feeling it has. The House Party, in my opinion, fell foul of that this year. Where had all the furniture and unique feel and atmosphere it created gone???, and that was my favourite places to go after hours  to party once the “difficult” job of listening to top music acts playing all day ended.

But once again many thanks to Kendal Calling for letting us be part of the festivities once again and I can’t wait to see what and who they’re going to get to top this year.

More Photos can be seen HERE

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