Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at Wembley Arena, 07/09

Somewhere on the northern line, deep beneath the city of London, Noel Gallagher's saxophone player (Andy, as he is later introduced) and I are exchanging furtive looks. He is wearing a lanyard emblazoned with "NGHFB", I'm wearing a t-shirt with the words "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds" on it, and he knows that we know, and we know that he knows. Sticking to true tube etiquette, we don't say anything, but my friends and I spend the rest of the tube journey filled with pre-gig anticipation and trying to figure out where he fitted in amongst "The High Flying Birds".

His proper introduction is to come later, during the passionate encore of NGHFB's set. First, though, after securing a spot at the barrier, we wait for support acts Graham Coxon and The Kooks. Graham Coxon is received with mostly half hearted nods and sways from the crowd as he races through a short sample of his noisy, punky collection of songs, including "Running For Your Life", the comparatively laid back "You and I", and some pretty impressive guitar playing. The Kooks gain a more enthusiastic reception. Frontman Luke Pritchard's energy is infectious, and paired with a set list featuring songs like "Seaside", "Ooh La", "She Moves in Her Own Way" and "Shine On", it's impossible to resist bouncing around. By the time the band finish with a mass sing-a-long of "Naive", the atmosphere is electric.

Of course, everybody is here for the man himself, and there is rapturous applause as Noel Gallagher walks onto the stage, looking utterly relaxed and carefree in the face of the 12,000 strong crowd. At V Festival a few weeks ago, he was present, but not entirely there. It was a good set, but Noel didn't seem enthusiastic, and the crowd were more intent on getting completely off their sunburnt faces than watching him. However, tonight everybody is feeling every moment, and voices shout back the lyrics of "It's Good (To Be Free)" right from the very first second.

The first most deafening cheer comes when the choir and the rest of the band leaves the stage, and Noel is left standing there with an acoustic guitar, and the first thing that leaves his mouth is "I need to be myself...". Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Oasis songs are the ones that get the best reception. The stripped-back, soft acoustic version of 'Supersonic' is something that shouldn't sound right, but somehow does, and of course 'Don't Look Back in Anger' is received rapturously, ending the gig with that infamous chorus echoing around the enormous room like an amplified hymn, and a beautiful knowledge that this is exactly the way that live music should make you feel.

Los Campesinos! at the Electric Ballroom 23/03

Last night, finally, I went to see the wonderfully quirky, 7 piece, Cardiff-formed band Los Campesinos! And it was brilliant.

The support band, Tall Ships, were a fantastic, energetic band with minimal vocals and floor-shaking volume. What was enjoyable about them, as well as their music, was that they looked genuinely ecstatic when a portion of the crowd started singing along to one of their songs.

Anybody who has been to the Electric Ballroom will know that it's an intimate venue, and spending the entire evening happily crushed against the barrier only reinforced the feeling that there were only a couple of us there. However, the reality of the situation was that the show was sold out, and there were hundreds of people behind me shouting along to every word that sped out of lead singer Gareth's mouth.

The band launched straight into their indie anthem 'By Your Hand' and from the word go, had the crowd in the palm of their hand. As well as songs like 'Songs About Your Girlfriend' and 'Hello Sadness' from their most recent album, Los Campesinos! played older tracks like the tragically beautiful 'The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future'. Between songs Gareth chatted with the crowd, and his conversation included an anecdote about the previous night when drummer Jason had faceplanted the stage and broke his nose, and advice about double checking before kissing Tory boys, no matter how drunk you are, because, and I quote "you deserve better than those cunts". 

Enter Shikari at The Hippodrome, 17/01

"YEAH BITCHES!" shouts lead vocalist Rou Reynolds, at the end of one of their songs. "I hate it when bands refer to their fans as motherfuckers. It pisses me off."
"Yeah, we're more polite. Bitches is a much less offensive term." bassist Rory Clewlow grins into his microphone, adjusting his guitar strap and looking ridiculously at ease.

Enter Shikari have a good reason to be so relaxed. They've enjoyed huge success since their first album and yesterday was the day that their new album, A Flash Flood Of Colour  got to Number 1 in the midweek charts, something that the band proudly drew attention to at their sold out gig at The Hippodrome in Kingston.

If this blog was like twitter and I had to sum last night up in a sentence, or just in one word, it would be energetic. To say the least. If you don't like having your personal space invaded, don't go to an Enter Shikari gig. Although, how packed it was might have been more to do with the fact that The Hippodrome has a capacity of 800, and there were around 1400 people there.
I didn't mind too much though, and found a good spot on the stairs where I could actually see over the heads of the audience, which seemed to be made up of mostly 6 foot something men (being short can be difficult).

Enter Shikari's support was a band from Liverpool named Fine Young Firecrackers. Although they had a great stage presence, their music was slightly too generic for my liking. Admittedly, they did a brilliant job on warming up the crowd and had everybody singing along to one of their songs.

I've said how good Enter Shikari are on here before, but I never could have predicted how great they sound live. Last night they seemed to radiate energy. The crowd (and the band) cheerfully ignored the "No Crowdsurfing Please" signs and leapt off the stairs and railings, jumped, moshed, shouted and sang. At one point Rory appeared amongst the crowd, perching on the railings at the top of the stairs. He chucked water over the crowd and then dived straight into it.

Its always great when a band looks like they're enjoying themselves as much as the crowd, and that was certainly the case last night. They were charging around the stage, throwing the microphone out into the crowd and a couple of times Rou leapt into the audience, impressively still managing to sing (or shout) at the same time. At one point a coat landed on bassist Chris Batten's face and he just shook if off and did a comedic "who did that?" look at the crowd. It's easy to see why Enter Shikari have such a strong fan base; not only do they make great music, they're so likeable.

Enter Shikari's new album sounded incredible live, highlights were 'Sssnakepit' and 'Hello Tyrannosaurus, Meet Tyrannicide'. On a stage lit up by the giant upside-down triangle, Enter Shikari also played some of their classic songs to please their older fans, including 'Juggernauts' which was received with much enthusiasm from the crowd.

By the end of the night I was covered in sweat, water and God knows what else, I had been punched, kicked, elbowed and even sat on, and had lost everybody I was with, but it was completely worth it. It was a night of pure, beautiful chaos and has only confirmed my belief that Enter Shikari are one of the greatest, most unique bands around at the moment and will hopefully continue to be for a very long time.

Brumalia

Patrick Wolf has released a new EP, Brumalia. A quote on his website states that the choice of songs on this EP was inspired by the "bleakness and melancholy of England in the winter months". I'm not sure which part of England he is thinking about, but if I created a concept album on my winter experiences, it would be full of songs reminiscent of walks to starbucks, colds, itchy scarves and getting overexcited about 1cm of snow then complaining about it after a few hours. But of course, this is Patrick Wolf, and he obviously manages to present even wintry England in a romantic way. 

A highlight is Jerusalem, an unexpected adaptation of the words of William Blake. Sitting, rather awkwardly, between a song about the summer riots and the festive Time of Year (it doesn't actually mention Christmas but it's still a song about it), a piano is all that is needed to accompany Patrick Wolf's impressive voice to create a song that is dramatic, haunting and beautiful. The aforementioned song about the riots in the summer, Nemoralia, despite being strangely positioned, is an interesting song that seems unstructured and chaotic; which is of course entirely suitable for the topic that is reflected upon in this song.This is what makes it exciting to listen to.

Summed up in a few words, Brumalia is experimental, theatrical and brave. Completely Patrick Wolf.

Yabba Dabba Do One Son

I've just heard Gandhi Mate, Gandhi from Enter Shikari on BBC radio 1. It's brilliantly weird and I've don't think I've ever heard so much packed into one song. There's pounding drums, angry electronic guitars, and a drop that would probably shake the ribs of anybody lucky enough to hear it live. It starts off with a rant that descends into electronic sounds, followed by another angry rant that is then succeeded by a load of voices going "woah mate, calm down. Gandhi, mate. Remember Gandhi". It's a little humour in the middle of a rant about quite serious topics, reminding us not to take Enter Shikari too seriously. Afterwards there's fast paced vocals over a huge messy clash of drums and various other instruments, concluding with a massive outro that slightly feels like a build up to something; then suddenly just stops.

Overall, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Gandhi Mate, Gandhi. What I will say is that this song is undeniably bewildering, furious, disorientating and generally mind-blowing. The link is below if you want to listen.

Pixelated People

From the haunting Live For What I'd Die For to her breathtaking cover of Chase & Status' End Credits, Jess Mills never disappoints. Her new single Pixelated People is no different, and is out on February 12th. Pixelated People is full of dubstep-influenced rhythms and electronic sounds that clash beautifully with Jess Mills' ethreal vocals. There's an orginiality and darkness to her songs which keeps them fascinating. She's yet to release an album, but from the sound of this, when she does, it will be huge.

The Cowboy's Christmas Ball

Christmas trees are being put up, advent calendars are frantically being ripped open, and  Happy New Year is being played in every shop on the high street. Yes, it's December, and since I'm already stating the obvious, that also means it's nearly Christmas. Well. In 25 days. And, one of the many things to look forward to about Christmas is The Killers' single. The Cowboy's Christmas Ball is the lasso-ridden, almost painfully happy 5th Christmas song that Brandon Flowers et al have released. It is to be part of an EP which will have all of their previous Christmas releases.

It's cheerful without being overly cheesy, original, festive, light hearted and fun. And the proceeds go to a good cause. Really, what more could you want from a Christmas song?

Various Good Things

Today I spend most of my afternoon listening to reggae covers of Nirvana, by Little Roy. Yes. Reggae covers of Nirvana. I was slightly confused, too. But on his album Battle For Seattle, Little Roy has covered classic Nirvana songs such as Come As You Are, Lithium and Polly. And surprisingly, it's really very good.

Another singer who is really rather talented is Seye Adelekan. He's got covers on his youtube channel of Adele, Mumford & Sons, and Paloma Faith which demonstrate his excellent singing and guitar playing abilities, but what was unexpected was the refreshing and catchy Mexicana Bounce that later appeared. White Noise is an appealing and upbeat song with a rhythm that you will inevitably end up awkwardly dancing to. But what else can be expected from the brother of Metronomy's Gbenga Adelekan?