Nothing but thieves in November at Wembley Arena. more sport this year than gigs but been a good few years.
Did you wear trackie bottoms and a nice polo shirt while you fixed it? All you need to be a sparkie, really
We're off to see A Saucerful of Secrets (Nick Masons from Pink Floyds band) this Saturday in Melbourne, Paul McCartney on October 9 in Adelaide and Sparks at The Sydney Opera House on October 31.
Not got any planned but did go to see the unraveling Wilburys a week or so ago and was very surprised at how good they were. They were the original Wilbury brothers though and they could play!
Review of the gig. Arriving at the venue there was a palpable vibe of anticipation and excitement with people queued around the block. Quite possibly over a thousand people. Big numbers for this stylish Melbourne venue. Moving inside the building the audience was greeted with a full stage layout complete with retro backdrop, a sign of what was to come. As the lights dimmed some audio chatter emerged from the stage, heightening (in a typical Floyd way) the concert atmosphere. At last, some prog rock history in the flesh. This early portion of the Pink Floyd catalogue, developed and led by band co-founder Syd Barrett, has literally been lying dormant in a live sense for many years. A chance suggestion by Lee Harris to Nick Mason has brought us all to this point tonight. Nick Mason and band took their positions on the stage to a great reception. Nick Mason, the man of the moment on drums, Lee Harris on guitar and vocals, Gary Kemp on guitar and vocals, Dom Beken on keys/ synths and vocals, and Guy Pratt on bass and vocals. All experienced industry veterans. First off was ‘One of These Days’. Guy Pratt’s signature bass line set the tone for the mammoth shuffling groove that was to follow. What a great starting point. Cue the lightshow and a big band sound and psychedelic imagery. Next was ‘Arnold Layne’, a crowd favourite. Gary Kemp led this song vocally with harmonies and support from Guy Pratt. Really nice retro organ from Dom Beken, amidst some quirky imagery of Nick from the old days. ‘Fearless’ followed featuring Gary Kemp leading proceedings on acoustic guitar. Great harmonies combined with field recordings of Liverpool fans chanting. The backdrop screen images of clouds heralded the arrival of ‘Obscured by Clouds’. Dom Beken’s spacey synth intro built the atmosphere really well before the rest of the band joined in. Duelling unison slide guitar playing from Gary Kemp and Lee Harris gave this piece of music a real rock edge. And so, the songs flowed through, ‘When You’re in’, ‘Candy and the Currant bun’ and ‘Vegetable Man’. As we moved towards the end of the first set, ‘Atom Heart Mother’ (boarded each side by the song ‘If’ and some beautiful singing by Gary Kemp) was treated to some pretty dramatic on-stage psychedelic creativity. ‘Remember a Day’ was introduced and sung by Guy Pratt as a dedication to his father in law, the late Rick Wright, keyboardist and long standing member of Pink Floyd. Before commencing this song, Guy mentioned that he had actually played this venue when working with Australian band Icehouse. Interesting. The final song of this part of the concert was ‘Set the Controls For The Heart of the Sun’. Complete with a gong and a humorous fake phone call with Roger Waters about the whereabouts of said gong, this piece of music really took the audience back to the late 60s and the UFO based London Club that was the epitome of psychedelia in all it’s glory. Again, incredible band dynamics working in sync with a very effective lightshow and colourful backdrop. After a short break the second half of the concert swung into action with ‘Astronomy Domine’ and Gary Kemp and Lee Harris trading guitar licks and building a venerable rock vibe. The set kept building with ‘The Nile Song’, ‘Burning Bridges’ and ‘Childhood’s End’, before unleashing the classic descending riff that underpins ‘Lucifer Sam’. This has to be one of the classiest guitar riffs of all time. What a joy for these musicians to play these quality pieces of music. The final portion of the second set was reserved for ‘Echoes’. The audience had been waiting for this sprawling Pink Floyd classic moment. In the studio ‘Echoes’ goes for something like 23 minutes. Tonight’s performance certainly gave the studio version a run for it’s money. Dom Beken and Gary Kemp traded lines, while Lee Harris was creative in his use of feedback. The power coming from Nick’s drums and the band as a whole was muscular and tight and had to be heard to be believed. Very impressive, particularly within the psychedelic context. Guy Pratt’s bass solo contribution was inspired and timely as ‘Echoes’ drew to a close. Extraordinary. After taking a few bows, the band entered the encore space and were back with ‘See Emily Play’. Again, they sounded incredibly tight. What a versatile band. What a group of skilled musicians each playing their role in delivering these whimsical songs and instrumental offerings in a respectful way to Syd Barrett’s original vision. The encore closed with another dose of psychedelia in ‘Saucerful of Secrets’ and then a short punchy version of ‘Bike’ complete with bike imagery coming off the backscreen. All in all, a pleasure to have been transported back in time to a place where imagination and stream of consciousness ideas collided with new music that was culturally and sonically challenging.
Set 1: One of These Days (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Arnold Layne (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Fearless (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Obscured by Clouds (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video When You're In (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Candy and a Currant Bun (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Vegetable Man (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video If (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Atom Heart Mother (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video If (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Remember a Day (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Set 2: Astronomy Domine (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video The Nile Song (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Burning Bridges (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Childhood's End (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Lucifer Sam (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Echoes (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Encore: See Emily Play (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video A Saucerful of Secrets (Pink Floyd cover) Play Video Bike
Also now booked to see Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills, Nash & occassionally Young) for his concert tour next March.
Seen a gig in Manchester Academy 2 last night by a band called 'Brass Against' In theory it shouldn't work but in reality it was brilliant and not in comical way. It was an American band, doing covers of bands like Rage against the machine, Tool, System of a down, but they consist of Drums, Rhythm/Lead guitar, Vocals were swapped between a tall bald bloke and a dreadlocked young woman, then there was a tuba, trombone, sax and trumpet. The sound and playing was superb! They even did a cover of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant song. There's quite a few Youtube clips of them available.
I’ve got Nothing But Thieves on the 10th nov at Wembley arena. Going with the girl daughter thing. It’s going to be great!
I see Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer have just announced dates… SP are on the bucket list, but only if they play songs off the first 2 1/2 albums!!
Just checked the ticket prices... O2 London, £185 standing + travel, food and drink I could do (will do) a lot of other things with that money. I think Pearl Jam had a good point in the 90s about ticket prices.
I've tickets to see Lucinda Williams next March at Birmingham Town Hall. Billesley Rock Club tonight to see Hard Graft, a local young rock covers band, very good
