rock
Kieron Tyler
“We got to play Stonehenge Festival when it was like just a field, a generator and stage. No rip-off burger joints. No packaged new age culture. Just good British hippiedom. A bunch of scruffy, dirty, bean-burger-eating, spliff-making hippies, and in the middle, a bunch of Hell’s Angels.”Instead of a member of an early Seventies freak-rock band, the speaker is Mark Perry, the man behind Britain’s first punk rock fanzine, Sniffin’ Glue. He was talking about the summer 1978 tour his band Alternative TV undertook with Here and Now, an avowedly hippie-oriented combo with roots in the band Gong Read more ...
Nick Hasted
Pete Doherty’s notorious tabloid image as Kate Moss’s junkie rock star boyfriend blessedly faded following that relationship’s end, stopping short of Amy Winehouse territory. Katia deVidas’s documentary focuses on that addiction through his preferred self-image as a latter-day Rimbaud, a punk poet more suited to his current French home. The result is remarkably unvarnished, but narrowly framed.Devidas began by filming a Babyshambles gig in Paris, then became periodically embedded in Doherty’s life over 10 years, convinced he was a true artist, even as smack and crack defined his life. The Read more ...
peter.quinn
Choruses rocked, choreo popped, and thousands of light sticks danced in unison, as an incredible lineup of nine acts lit up this fourth edition of Korea On Stage, celebrating 140 years of UK-Korea relations.The evening commenced with the beautifully clear timbre of the traditional Korean stringed instrument, the gayageum, played by Yageum Yageum, who adroitly fused the ancient and the modern in her opening medley of songs by BTS, FIFTY FIFTY, NewJeans and IVE. Seated centre stage, her nimble-fingered playing, beatific smile and lightly worn virtuosity radiated a sense of joy which set the Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Patterns is a small, low-ceilinged, underground, seafront venue. Tonight it would be a feast for any passing ancient succubae who happens to feed on raw human energy. From 7.00 PM until 10.00 PM, the room plays host to a package tour of three rising bands. Their short, vim-filled sets are hard-wired to a thrilling, relentless punk intensity.First up is Brighton four-piece Monakis (pictured left), fronted by bare-topped tattooed, bass-playing James Porter, who has a touch of Bon Scott about him. The band have just driven down from Glasgow, he tells us, and are glad to be home. They ramraid Read more ...
Jonathan Geddes
The first declaration of love for the Last Dinner Party arrived approximately one song into their set. “I love you too,” declared a delighted looking Abigail Morris, the band’s pirouetting frontwoman, in response, and the ensuing hour suggested outpourings of affection are just one of many reasons for Morris to be cheerful these days.This show had been upgraded from the considerably smaller King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and yet filled up with ease, with a number of Glaswegians getting dressed up like Morris and her compatriots, whether in Gothic chic or Virgin Suicides esque dresses. Onstage Read more ...
Jonathan Geddes
Early on in this arena gig by New Order, a youthful, enthusiastic voice could be heard to say gleefully, “They’re just so 80s!”. That statement was both accurate and yet also misleading, for as this near two-hour performance showcased New Order’s music is both of that decade and yet above it. Take the throbbing “Vanishing Point”, which swirled majestically for several minutes with a driving groove, lights shooting over the crowd. It was a hypnotic, rich tune to lose yourself in, and going by the number of flailing limbs that is exactly what the all ages crowd, from 80s clubbers to Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Canberra band Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers continue the recent tradition of Australian indie bands having unwieldy comedy names. However, their music, as laid out on their debut album, has higher aspirations, bridging their scuzzy punkin’ roots and a larger sound, loosely somewhere between The Breeders and Foo Fighters, yet very much their own thing.Sometimes they sail too far into mainstream rock for this writer but, overall, they win the day. The best of I Love You tends towards either catchy new wavey power pop guitar or snarling, sneering numbers vehemently raging at mistreatment in Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
The acronym “HCA” in the title stands for Hornsey College of Art, the North London college which, in late May 1968, was occupied by its students and a few staff in a high-profile protest which went on into that July. What was wanted were changes in how student union funds were disbursed and how the college was run. Ultimately, barbed wire and dogs were employed to end the dispute.Earlier, future Kink and neighbourhood resident Ray Davies had been a student there. Seventies pop star Lynsey De Paul also studied at the college. In November 1966, Pink Floyd played there with lighting equipment Read more ...
Jonathan Geddes
There remains something disconcerting about seeing the National as arena rockers. Perhaps it’s the nonchalant stage entrance as they stroll on, a far cry from the pyro heavy displays this Glasgow venue usually witnesses. Maybe it’s the unassuming stage attire, with frontman Matt Berninger adopting a smart casual look, or the sort of onstage chat that featured the group remarking on unusual time signatures in their songs.However this hefty set, clocking in at over two hours, was a reconfirmation of the band’s widespread appeal, and how, with little compromise, they have become comfortable in Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Northern Irish rockers Ash appeared in the mid-Nineties, channelling The Ramones when the UK was in thrall to either bangin’ club music or Britpop. They had a good commercial run, longer than almost all their contemporaries, mustering 18 Top 40 UK hits, their last in 2007 (although their albums still usually make the grade). Their eighth studio album is their most heavy rock since 2004’s Meltdown, unashamedly embracing epic riffery. The best of it is an enjoyable romp.Which is not to say that it’s all loveable. Their trademark power pop harmonies are in place, but sometimes there’s a polish Read more ...
Helen Hawkins
Older fans of T Rex will get pleasure from hearing the band’s tracks and reliving some of the buzz of being a dino-rocker, but, despite the title, this isn’t strictly a fan film. Describing what kind of film it is, though, would involve a serious spoiler, which points to its wonky narrative ambitions. It expends a lot of screen time building up to an unsurprising reveal (more on that below).The film opens with a charabanc of children from a Liverpool care home on an outing to a T Rex gig in Manchester in 1976. We meet some of them en route to the concert, all with sparkly face paint and Read more ...
Tim Cumming
One day, someone will compile a full illustrated history of Rolling Stones press conferences, going right back to Mick and Keith in 1964 buying a couple of pints in a pub in Denmark Street for journalists from the NME and Melody Maker – both now in the dustbin of history – and telling them, “here’s our album, have a listen” and leaving them to it.“The reviews were mixed – but it sold well,” laughs Jagger from the stage of the Hackney Empire, some 59 years later. Keith and Ronnie are sat either side of him, the three of them ineffably cool, relaxed, funny, and absolutely within their element, Read more ...