gigsniffer - live!

Unterior + Toy + Sulk + Voyeurist 5/1/12 @ hoxton Kitchen

2012-01-07T19:37:00.006Z

Our 2nd night at the Artrocker New Blood festival and it's all gone a bit goth. First up two piece Voyeurist - her wailing and him doing fuck all on a guitar that's buried by the overwhelming backing tape of drums and effects. Next up Sulk, a brit-pop-a-like Oasis with a Bobby Gillespie front man. This time the vocals are more reverberated than a choir in Wookey Hole. They're watchable once, but that's it. Third on are ex Jing Jang Jong members in Toy. This is more like it. A competent racket that's mesmerising and fun. Last up, Ulterior, with a front man looking like a young Andrew Eldritch you know before they start where this ones going. It's goth all the way. They keep their set down to a rapid 20 minutes which is ideal for these boys. The kids love 'em, but the sniffer sneaks out the back. (3/5)

Underground Railroad + Creatures of Love + Black Cherry + Parties @ Hoxton Kitchen 4/1/12

2012-01-05T19:56:00.006Z

What a great start to any new year - the Artrocker "New Blood" festival. Two weeks of gigs for just 10 quid the lot. This is the second night - last nights was cancelled at the last minute. First up, Parties, are tight and Walkmen-like. next, Black Cheerry are a bit too poppy to be art rock - but top marks to Pauline Black-a-like for her enthusiasm and wit. Then Creatures of Love, who are uber-goth and might become tiresome if they stuck around for more than half an hour. Their image is important to them - they've brought their own lights and strobes. They just needed a mini Stonehenge. Underground Railroad are a real treat. A cool French band that lend much to Sonic Youth. (4/5)

Luke Haines @ The Old Queens Head

2011-11-08T23:44:00.006Z

Luke Haines is always up to something different. Tonight's freak show is a potted history of English wrestlers of the 70's and 80's. Yes, by that I mean Giant Haystacks, Big Daddy et al. This is a real niche and novelty market that Haines is going for here. Are we really going to care about this in 6 months time? Probably not, but for night only it's quite fun. There's an on stage presence from Kendo Nagasaki who sits silently on a sofa stage left, watching wrestling videos. There's also a plate of liver sausage sandwiches - hand made by Haines himself, which wind their way round the crowd - you need to know your wrestling for these references to work. The most touching for the sniffer was a song about Giant Haystacks and his Casio VL Tone and his inability to turn it off, despite his love of the Rock 2 rhythm.

Highlight of the evening is saved for the encore. A recital of a recipe from the Haines food blog. A recipe for rabbit stew, to be made while listening to Hawkwind. There's a Passion for both food and Hawkwind displayed here that, frankly, makes me want to try both. Plate the fuck up - yeah. (4/5)

Iceage @ Old Blue Last

2011-09-02T00:14:00.003+01:00

Turns out this was a late nighter so I never even got to see Ice Age as the last train was calling. Early doors though we got a loud and repetitive set from Cold Pumas. They ate well worth a look as long as your ears can take the pain. There's nothing complicated going on
G

Drugstore @ St Giles Church 18/8/11

2011-08-18T23:17:00.005+01:00

So this is the Drugstore Anatomy album launch show and the tension has been building for some time, if you follow Isabelle Monteiro's twitterings. It realy has the feeling of an event - for a start the venue is a rarely (if ever) gigged church. The tickets are all hand made necklaces of a small anchor, including a pull off "vino" tab to get you a free glass of wine. So already we're feeling personally touched by the evening. When new band members strike up on stage with no sign of Monteiro you know that a dramatic entrance is on the way - she slopes down the centre ailse, seductively, bottle of wine dangling from one hand, reaching the stage with perfect timing to begin her trademark smokey vocals to Anatomy opener Sweet Chilling Girl. The sound is crystal clear and the audience spellbound into silence as they reel off some older songs with a gradually more verbal and more confident Monteiro filling in the gaps. The sense of occasion really shows on Isabelle - this really IS important. It is everything to her and we feel privileged that we are part of it too. Watching her onstage and hanging off every word is a moving experience for us - she lays her whole self out - she may as well be naked on stage at that's how intimate she can make an audience feel. Selfishly though, I never want het to be "happy" - to find her dream man, settle down. It's the unsatisfied edge she has that keeps her so compelling. But it's not all about her - the new band are integral and she even spells this out to us. You are watching a team - though there is clearly only one project manager.

Veronica Falls @ Dalston Roof Garden 17/8/11

2011-08-18T20:33:00.001+01:00

A cold and rainy night on mid summer and only a 6 quid ticket makes it really hard to get up off the sofa. I nearly bailed on this one until the rain stopped minutes before leaving - ok let's do it. The roof garden is a cracking little venue - 5 floors up with a view actods town and some funky astroturf under foot. The main - only - band are on at 8.30 and whack out a 30 or 40 set which is actually quite wonderful. The 4 of them are as tight as hell these days and the whole event reminds me of the velvet underground live album - like you were party to an intimate club. The rhythm guitar sounds like David Gedge if he had been in the Velvets. Ok there's not much variation between songs, but we'll allow them that. The only thing lacking for Mr was a stronger lead vocal or front man. If only they could find their own Kate Jackson icon. 4/5

Dirty Beaches @ The Victoria, Dalston 19/7/11

2011-07-20T19:43:00.006+01:00

This is our second outing to this venue and God we love it. The PA may look like it came from Maplins but holy shit is this place loud. But not only loud, the sound is crystal clear and everything sounds amazing. I could get up there and play the swanny whistle and you'd be forgiven for thinking I was some kind of virtuoso. That's the problem with Dirty Beaches - a one man band from Canada who, literally, does some Karaoke for 30 mins. The backing track is just a repetitive drum loop and he sings inaudible disjointed vocals with the reverb set to 12, never mind 11. He hasn't worked out that a mic stand is a good idea - which means he can only sing or play the guitar, not both, as he has to pick up and hold the mic. When he does go to the guitar, you wish he hadn't, 'cos he's got no fucking idea what to do with it. Check out this video and feel your ears bleed at his ineptitude. Why are the crowd loving this? Ah - that coool Maplins PA...must get one of those.

Support came from Thee Ludds - who started a trifle iffy but did warm up quite nicely, finishing on a Damned-esque note. A bit more practice lads and you won't be half bad. But they need to sharpen up - it looked like your average work's help desk had crawled out for the evening.

Both bands had the right idea on set lengths though - sub half an hour. I can't spend any longer than that on you - the last train leaves in 10. (2/5)

Luke Haines @ Queen Elizabeth Hall 13/7/11

2011-07-14T14:10:00.004+01:00

These "literary" dos are always good value - first up we get a 45 minute set of Haine's 3 piece band. Though somewhat muddy for us, being in front row, far end well below the PA and in front of the bass woofer. After an interval we get two men in armchairs - "History Today" style. The interviewer is an ingratiating Scot who has his nose so far up Haine's arse its hard to even hear the questions. But this could have gone on all night for us - Haines with his views about "The Hit", The Killers, Cooking and Black Sabbath's Sabotage. Even the audience questions could go on. One Norwegian guy starts with a long ramble but gets cut short after announcing "there were only three great songwriters in the 90's... 1) Stephin Merritt, 2).... ". We can assume Haines was one of the missing two - but who was the third?!!

"Shall I play some more?" Haines quips - clearly bored of the idiotic final questions - "What's your favourite word?" !! FFS! He gets up and rattles out a few solo acoustics, before back with the band for a few more. The evening is the best part of 3 hours long and there's never a dull moment. Must buy that new book of his... (4/5)

Pulp @ Hyde Park Wireless 3/7/11

2011-07-05T13:31:00.003+01:00

These big band reforms just keep on coming - if you use a service like or Gigsniffer then you'll see plenty of these fly past you every day. Billed as a festival, this really was just a one band event. Despite the best efforts of Hives front man Pete Almqvist to get the crowd out of their early gig apathy with provocations such as "You LOVE the Hives".. "Love the Hives or you will DIE!", most of the crowd carried on tucking into their http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifMarks and Spencer's picnics. A quick flit down to see Foals in the Pepsi Max tent during freak-show Grace Jones' set gave the only inkling that this crowd were going to be up for it - hot sweaty and rammed meant the only viewpoints were on the big screen outside the tent. By the end of the Foals set the crowd were already leaving in droves to get a prime spot for Pulp's large scale return to London.

Like all these big re-formation gigs, the tension builds in the pre gig moments as you're never quite sure what you're going to get - or will you even recognise your well loved front man/woman after 15 years self indulgence at the altar of the Pukka Pie . Luckily, Jarvis is still Jarvis. Tall and thin, geeky and school teacher-like. You feel like he's here to give you some lessons - and lessons he gives you, with the between song banter as much a part of the man as the songs themselves. Launching straight into “Do you remember the first time” the crowd go ape and the slightly underwhelming sound of the festival’s sound system gets lost beneath the crowd’s top-of-their voice sing along. It’s testament to how Jarvis is still so “cool” that the crowd is so young – half these people haven’t even HAD their first time, let alone forgotten it. It’s not until Jarvis talks about the year 2000 – and how much it meant to people of a certain age - and yet now that it’s long gone we realize we just aren’t kids ourselves any more.

The hits roll out and as the darkness draws in we’re sucked into Jarvis’s world of voyeuristic sex, drugs and overlooked school sweethearts. The final showdown comes with a rip-roaring sing along of Common People – made more touching for us common people in the crowd when he introduces the song by recanting a warm up gig a few nights before where Pulp played at St. Martin’s College and played that very song. We were all left feeling Jarvis’s own sentimentality for the song, the city and his own lost youth.

As a reformation gig this was one of the best – and when I got home my partner asked me "Jarvis Cocker – isn’t he the one who peed on Michael Jackson?". How cool is THAT!

Crystal Stilts @ XOYO 20/6/2011

2011-07-05T13:19:00.001+01:00

Grass Widow @ Dalston Victoria 15/6/11

2011-06-16T13:44:00.002+01:00

Ok i've missed a few again... but here goes. With a new venue - a nice big air con room behind the pub fitting 150 punters. The pub is a mainly west-indian clientele and the food look pretty good. Still, round the back with indie kids we get Float Reviver - a White Stripes set up of him and her. One song in and this is sounding horrific, but it must have been nerves, as soon they pick up and get a rhythmic repetetive sound going. Somewhere between Spacemen 3 and Velvet Underground. Mind you - her drumming makes Meg White look like Keith Moon. And the voice... hmmmm.

Silver Fox next... four girls who it's difficult to find anything to say about. Not bad, but no good.

Then Turn To Crime - one bloke playing guitar to a full band backing tape. He sounds good - but when so much is going on as pre-recorded it feels more like watching someone play Guitar Legends.

Headline act, Grass Widow - last night of the tour for this, another all girl band. A bit too amatuer for the sniffer, and their sound was pretty weedy. I started to daydream about cutting the grass this weekend...

Great night though 7/10

Besnard Lakes @ Garage 19/9/10

2011-01-21T11:33:00.003Z

A nice "mature" band for a change! Despite the shitty name they're pretty good...

Jeff Lewis & Peter Stampfel @ Windmill Brixton

2011-01-21T10:51:00.007Z

Ok back on track with the blog - phew!

First off, support from Lail Arad. A slightly nervous looking girl climbs on stage and starts a few songs. What a revelation! She has quirky and witty songs and the voice to deliver them. The crowd are gradually won over and she has their total focus - brilliant! (5/5)

So to Jeff & Peter ... well Peter is an out and out weirdo. A total eccentric who more or less steals the show - Jeff Lewis comes across as his carer - trying to keep him on the straight and narrow and not wander too far off topic during the many between song dialogues on everything from bottle caps, beatniks, Orgone Accumulators, Ether abuse, songs written on speed etc etc..

A cracking show- catch a date on this tour if you can. (5/5)

The Pogues @ Brixton Acadamy 22/12/10

2011-01-21T10:50:00.003Z

Old hat.. yeah yeah. Still fun tho!

LCD Soundsystem & Hot Chip @ Alexandra Palace 10/11/10

2011-01-21T10:46:00.005Z

What a duffer this venue is... You have to leave work on the nose to rush up there. There is no time for a pre gig pint. Then you queue up for 30 minutes to get into the venue. Then you queue for 15 minutes to get tokens for a drink. Then you queue for 15 minutes to get the drink. Then you can go into the main hall - by which time Hot Chip are just finishing.

Luckily LCD were great - before you have to leg it to get in the scrum for the limited train service back.

This is not a venue. It is a shed.

Wire @ Lexington 16/11/10

2011-01-21T10:45:00.004Z

Hmm - a bunch of old geezers playing mostly new stuff? Not really that much fun.

Steve Mason @ Xoyo 21/10/10

2011-01-21T10:44:00.004Z

He's preaching to the converted in this packed and sweaty venue.

David Viner @ Vortex 23/9/10

2011-01-21T09:51:00.003Z

Viner has become the most nervous man in blues. It took him an age to tune his guitar before he self conciously rattled out a few songs. He should go back to his more raucous whicky drinking, belly-full-of-beer self.

The Like @ Madame Jojos 24/8/10

2011-01-21T09:50:00.003Z

The Like are back as a 4 piece and slightly made over. Pretty fine.

Yes Way @ Upset the Rhythm 13/8/10

2011-01-21T09:48:00.002Z

A real lo-fi gig in a derelict car showroom.

Here's Male Bonding in action..

Field day @ Victoria Park 31/7/10

2011-01-21T09:46:00.004Z

A scorcher of a day... Steve mason was superb - even though he looks like a plumber. The Fall were surreal in the sun.

Bundles @ Union Chapel 19/5/10

2011-01-21T09:43:00.002Z

Kimya Dawson + Jeff & Jack Lewis. Kimya was a no-show, so this was a pretty lame gig. Jeff was lost in this cavern :-(

Warpaint @ Luminaire 12/5/10

2011-01-21T09:42:00.000Z

Jeez I am behind with this...

Pavement @ Brixton Acadamy 10/5/10

2010-05-11T13:23:00.002+01:00

Surrounded by devoted Pavement fans this was a looooong evening. A full 2 hour set which I must admit, I ducked out of before the encores at 90 mins. Still - they sounded great - even though the lasting memories I have of them are of tedious festival shows. I think they really need a "venue" instead of a festival to carry the sound. Mind you, I had to stand right at the back as the bass drum was ear drum perforatingly loud. All your favourite songs were there - as were some less favourites. Trigger Cut - brilliant... Shady lane.. Zzzz... These guys still look cool too - I think you can still rock if you still have all your hair.

Not a sell out by any means - if you want to see 'em this week just pitch up at Brixton and snap up a touted ticket for peanuts. (4/5)

Or buy Pavement tickets online - if you like the idea of ticket in hand - from www.gigsniffer.com

Deerhunter @ Heaven 6/5/10

2010-05-11T13:17:00.002+01:00

Another band that are not that exciting on record... but live.. well I was reminded of shoe-gazing moments of the early 90's for a few songs. Long drawn out repetetive noise - which is a good thing. A long 90 mins set was perhaps pushing it a bit, but well worth seeing. (3/5)

Deerhunter tickets the second they go on sale on www.gigsniffer.com

Drugstore @ ICA 5/5/10

2010-05-11T13:06:00.003+01:00

A great gig build up provided by Isabel's tweets over the last few months.. gathering the new band.. rehearsals..the late bar...the Tap-esque rider.. and I think the nerves were on show a little. For some reason "the band" had instructed her to drink less and speak less on stage.. which is a real shame as half the fun of a Drugstore gig these days is the Monteiro banter and ranting. In a band which is, I suspect, a full-on dictatorship, the Monterio needs to stamp her authority pretty quick on these new guys. It's her voice and wit after all that keep Drugstore burning after all these years.

The new band was slightly shaky in places we thought, but in an endearing kind of way. A few more live shows should settle everything down to the Drugstore of old. And the new songs? As melancholic as ever....thank god. (4/5)

Drugstore tickets snapped up through wegottickets via www.gigsniffer.com

Bear in Heaven @ Lexington 20/4/10

2010-05-11T13:00:00.003+01:00

First time at the Lexington - what a great venue! Great sound.. good view, nice cosy size. I've listened to a bit of Bear in Heaven and found it quite, well, un-exciting, so wasn't expecting to be thrilled here tonight. These guys are a better live prospect than their records suggest though - a bigger sound and so much more engaging. Worth the journey for me, but I think once is enough. (3/5)

We snapped our Bear in Heaven tickets up smartly through www.gigsniffer.com as ever.

Antlers @ Union Chapel 3/3/10

2010-03-04T23:19:00.002Z

Another quiet one at the church. Holy hell my phone went off and that wasn't good. I've listened to Antler's Hospice LP a fair few times and it makes for interesting listening... a cross between Belle and Sebastian and Anthony and the Johnsons. But does it work live? Well - its ok but its not rock n roll that's for sure. It's like watching a film score played live with no film. If only there had been some visuals or a bit more stage presence as I hate to say it guys it did just become a bit, well, .... boring. Sorry guys. Maybe I'm just getting a bit impatient in my old age, but I couldn't just help but feel when does this actually start? I know it's serious subject matter boys but lighten up a bit! (3/5)

Dum Dum Girls, Veronica Falls @ Madame Jojos

2010-03-04T23:00:00.004Z

First time here in a while that the place is actually packed. Of course being such a great venue you can still slip stright down the front for a great viwe of the loft stage - first up Veronica Falls, who soundpretty good for such young bunch - a demonic sounding Shop Assistants. The reverb on the vocals though is so fierce it sounds like shes singing in a oil drum in a cave. Presumably to cover up a rather flat voice...shame. Here's a video to have a little listen... (3/5)

Dum Dum Girls - well there's a lot of leg on display. A lot of long leg. But is that enough to carry it off? Well post gig on XFM she was being interviewed by John Kennedy and was just a bit giggly, saying she just started writing a few songs to fill in some hours while her old man was away. And I think it shows... they won't be progressing out of these small venues but are fun to watch. Check out those legs in the video (3/5)

Ok two 3/5's, but a great night out....

Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Hoxton Kitchen 24/2/10

2010-03-04T22:52:00.005Z

Some else who insists on a slow and deliberate tuning of all 6 strings before every song. I wouldn't mind but at this volume no one is ever going to tell - 'cos ear splitting loud is the order of the day in the here. He also does an awful lot of shouting - to the point that his neck's about to explode. (2/5)

Suede Gig at the 100 club - by AUCTION! is this the new way to sell tickets?

2010-02-25T17:14:00.003Z

Just sniffed on Gigsniffer... Ticketmaster are selling tickets to this by auction. I wonder if this is the way ticket sales will go. As every gig these days sells out with half the tickets going to touts for ebaying the implication is that tickets are just not expensive enough. So can the agencies see more of the cash which is currently being raked by the touts?

It's not a route I'd like to go down - I'd much prefer we got better at anti-touting which, let's face it, is easy to do but no one wants to do it. If the venues actually took RETURNS that would be start, then there would always be some tickets on the door. The danger of the auction route is we end up paying a whopping 45 notes to see Dumpy's Rusty Nuts at the Joiners. We know this is possible as that's what Seatwave, Viagogo, Getmein etc are charging and if they're charging it then some idiot must be paying it. Ok the touts will be squeezed out but only because the agency and tout roles would be all merged into one... tickettout.com here we come.

Girls @ Scala 24/02/10

2010-02-24T13:20:00.006Z

After a long winter break with a complete dearth of gigs we're back with a packed program over the next few weeks. First up, Girls. So I downloaded some songs and gave them a listen, and original they are not. I don't think I've ever heard an album before and picked up so many tunes that I've heard before - two of which are Jesus and Mary Chainer's. Big Bad Mean is Kill Surf City, Darling's lyrics are delivered to Quo's "well here we are and her we are and here we goooooo" (Rockin' all over the WORLD man!). Then back to the Mary Chain for Ghost Mouth which rips of the distinctive start of Just Like Honey. Then they rip off Iggy for a title (who would call their own song "Lust For Life" - it's bound to be a disappointment). Then they rip themselves off... Curls is just a slower version of Darling. Vocally the singer is fairly feeble and lyrically it's all a bit 6th form poetry (I'm just crazy/and totally mad/im just crazy/and fucked in the head). Tcch.

But this is a gig review, not an album review. Live they are actually a better prospect than the songs suggest. They CAN play, and he loves to stick all those arpeggiated chords in, which he does quite well, but it does just sound like someone strumming a new guitar in guitar shop. Just getting a feel for the neck I expect. Plus he's into re-tuning every bloody string between every bloody song - it's all a bit "David Gray" (cf. Luke Haines). For a half hour slot it would all be pleasant enough, but they do milk it for the best part of an hour and a glance round the audience shows the majority of people are texting, chatting or just staring vacantly ahead.

Back for the encore and Kill Surf City and they butcher their "own" song as they just can't do noise. Returning to the mass arpeggiations (if the word does not exist, it needs to for these boys) and what sounds like Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head. This is just too much to stand and so the sniffer sneaks out the back.

I'm obviously not the only one to make JMC comparisons - as standing in front of me were two twenty-somethings the dead spit of the Reid brothers C1986. Hang on - they're meant to be IN the bloody band!!! (2/5)

Japandroids, 4 Or 5 Magicians, William

2009-10-28T13:43:00.006Z

William: these guys need an image makeover - they look rubbish. However - get over that and they sound bloody good! A cut down three piece with a terrific guitar sound. Vocally they're a bit shouty shrieky though - might need a bit of work there. I'm not being shallow here - guys - image is everything. The bass player looks like he works in the accounts dept. by day... rock out a bit and you might make a few quid out of this. (3/5)

4 or 5 Magicians: already, just 12 hours later, I can't remember anything about them. But there were NO magicians and it would definitely have helped if there had been. (1/5)

Japandroids: are from Vancouver and the singer is called Brian (he reminds us of this all night, in case we forget). Brian is in this for the shags. Now I know that's not unusual for people in bands, but there's no need to make it quite so bloody obvious. He's almost as blatant as Steve "anyone fancy a shag" Jones. That aside, Japandriods is just Brian on guitar, and the other bloke on drums, and they make a right racket. But that's a good racket. The kind of racket that, when combined with a bit of witty banter and youthful enthusiasm is very watchable. Not the kind of racket that would stand up to listening to in the car though, it'd drive me bleedin' nuts. If you're going to be a 2 piece sound then you need the talent or imagination of Jack White or Nick Zinner - if not then you've only got your novelty factor and self belief to rely on and, believe me Brian, even those English girls you're craving will get bored of that by Christmas. (3/5 for now)

Japandroids Tickets or White Heat tickets and all Madame Jojos tickets are on www.gigsniffer.com

Noisettes @ Shepherds Bush Empire 26 October 2009

2009-10-28T13:26:00.006Z

A band of ups and downs for me - some of that chart friendly don't-upset-the-rhythm cack really grates on the old sniffer's ears and I never really paid them much attention. But then I saw them do an unplugged on the BBC's Glastonbury coverage this year and thought - hang on - these guys are good, plus they have a cute singer who can also play bass. And play properly, not in the 'token girl musician' way either. Singer Shingai Shoniwa has a 60's style sound to her, a kind of black Amy Winehouse without all the tedious My Drug Hell stories.

So, not knowing what to expect, the opener, don't-upset-the-bloody-rhythm, set me on a bit of a downer. But then it's hard not to start warming to such a great front-woman and let's face it, without her they have nothing to set them apart. But tonight she leaps, struts and postulates in a way that has your attention focused. From laying prostrate over the drum kit, to draping herself form the circle balcony in a provocative fashion that has every man, woman and health and safety inspector's eye's watering. Don't try this at home kids. There's crooning, shrieking and some all out hard rocking and enough interest to go home and google them to find out just exactly who IS this woman? (4/5)

Noisettes tickets can be bought from www.gigsniffer.com before anywhere else.

Doves + Magazine @ Roundhouse 22 Oct 2009

2009-10-28T13:25:00.003Z

Magazine, Feed the Enemy and Doves with There Goes The Fear both in one night. Great gig. But ditch the bleedin' choir lads.

Spirtualized @ RFH 13 October 2009

2009-10-27T14:19:00.006Z

Well we lucked in and got seats just five rows back. There were a lot of people on stage.. 10 choir, 8 string, 6 brass, 2 drums.... That's cutting the takings pretty thinly. Still - a great show as they blast through the whole of Ladies and Gentleman we're floating in Space. Both an aural AND visual assault. Leaving a gig with your ears ringing we're all used to, but when your retinas are also burnt out from staring straight into one of the highest quality strobes known to mankind then the journey home can be quite troublesome.

Tickets for Spiritualized or RFH tickets are available through www.gigsniffer.com

Fiery Furnaces @ Audio Brighton 7 October 2009

2009-10-26T17:30:00.006Z

The sniffer took a day trip out of town to catch them in a smaller venue as the London show was at cargo, which is a bit faceless. Well worth it - up close and loud. Tonight they're in full rock mode - every time you see them you get something different it seems. Everything set to guitar or everything set to keyboard? Gaps between songs or no gaps? Song A lyrics to song A tune or song B tune? Played forwards or backwards? I think I've made my point. The sniffer's preference would be guitar/no gaps/A to A/forwards. Whatever way round, its all good fun. (4/5)

Fiery Furnaces tickets will appear first on www.gigsniffer.com

Luke Haines @ Borderline 1 October 2009

2009-10-26T17:25:00.005Z

What a card he is. Playing to an army of fans - some well the worse for wear. If you've never seen him - expect some witty banter set to vibrato guitar playing. Always worth checking him out. Short review as I'm well backlogged. (4/5)

Tickets for Luke Haines are available at www.gigsniffer.com

Blitzen Trapper @ Barfly 14 September 2009

2009-10-26T17:23:00.004Z

Hmmm.. load of folksy looking types. Not very exciting. (2/5)

Blitzen Trapper tickets

KASMS + VEGC @ 229 10 September 2009

2009-10-26T17:17:00.010Z

Club Fandango at 229 - FAR too big a venue. There's a smaller stage out the back though we we caught these two. Over a month has passed since we were there and I can remember nothing about KASMS, except they were pretty awful. A girl up front who looked alright but sounded abysmal. Victorian Englishman Gentleman's Club were great though... thank god. They've shed the ball gown wearing drummer for a slightly mad looking geezer, and got a new girl in on pointless-guitar-playing duties who's a ringer for the boring one out of Scooby Doo. They sound better now though - more polished, but still art-rock man. Still a bit weird too and well worth checking out again in their new format. (4/5 VEGC)

Get KASMS tickets or VEGC tickets at www.gigsniffer.com

Drugstore @ Dingwalls 7 September 2009

2009-09-08T20:44:00.023+01:00

The first gig after 8 odd years away - Drugstore - always a favourite of the sniffer and seen on many occasions. Loud-quiet-loud done better than the Pixies and the vocals of a siren.
What really carries this band though is that Brazilian Isabel Monteiro makes such an enthralling front. Verbal, witty and sincere, you really feel the effort she has gone to - as though it's a personal favour to YOU, to gather the band members up for just one more gig. And hell it was worth all that work and stress as we're given a two hour set of Drugstore's finest, reminding us all of what a great band they were. Somehow, years later, the songs seem even more poignant - songs about the mistakes we've made, the opportunities we've missed and the failed loves in our lives. And when she sings them, you know: it's real. She's been there, and you feel touched that a complete stranger is sharing all this with you. Even down to the fact that the new boots she bought for the gig broke and had to be gaffa taped up, she voluntarily shares. As the show reaches its final moments we can all feel the sadness that's welling up inside her - of how great these guys were together and now it's all over. Final song, Fader, goes though it's final refrain over and over, just to keep the animal alive for a few more moments before we all let go.

Here's the problem though - why didn't Drugstore really make it? Well, there is no reason. It was just bad.... ......timing. In the 90's indie was just indie. These days even the most cretinous indie band can become gigantic in months. (c.f. Kaiser Chiefs). Even credible indie bands these days would have been floundering back then - the Cribs in 1996? No chance. Still - while she still has the voice and the looks she can still compete. Come ON! (5/5)

That's two (5/5) in a week. The autumn gig season has started well... don't miss out on your gig tickets.

More Drugstore pictures here.

Magazine @ Festival Hall 1 Sep 2009

2009-09-08T20:23:00.008+01:00

Jumped on this one even though it's an all seater. Still - turned out to be for the best as the sniffer had mashed his leg up in a freak mountain bike accident the day before. So, I had to turn up like some old geezer with a walking stick and hobble round the place. Somehow though it's kind of fitting in an eccentric Devoto kind of way.

Tonight is a complete rerun through the whole of Correct Use of Soap, interspersed with Devoto reading snippets from an old "how to care for your records" leaflet, while demonstrating the advice with a copy of the Soap vinyl itself. It's always hailed - even by the band themselves - as Magazine's finest yet to me its actually just THIRD best. You could read that as second-worst, but I don't think we can count that awful pink album. So the Correct Order Of Vinyl is, in fact, Secondhand Daylight, Real Life THEN Soap. So let's hope they are doing the play backs in reverse order meaning we've got two more to come before he collects his library card again.

The setting I think did it it justice - sitting dead central towards the back the sound was spot on and the playback was lapped up by all. After an interval we got a selection of other songs delivered with the same precision, for which the crowd even lurched out of their seats. I think the obsession with "Soap" for many people is *slightly* emperors new clothes as what song got everyone out of their seats? : Rhythm of Cruelty (Second Hand Daylight). And the biggest cheer? : Permafrost (Second Hand Daylight). So you see - even if people don't say it, they know it's actually the best album and so now we cant wait for the full playback next feb. Finally...back to nature. (5/5)

Festival Hall Magazine Tickets

Bill Callahan @ Union Chapel 19 August 2009

2009-08-20T13:31:00.012+01:00

Quiet please! jeez - i was too scared to SPEAK! I can appreciate that the audience want to enjoy the man, but when you don't think you could even open a pack of crisps as it's too noisy then have we taken audience adoration too far? We got a nice spot on the balcony just above the stage so had a great few of everything going on... but at the expense of loss of vocal clarity. Enjoyable, in a chin-scratching kind of way. (3/5)

The Bill Callahan tickets came through http://www.gigsniffer.com/

Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Windmill

2009-08-20T13:29:00.003+01:00

Forgot about this one. I think I said "PROG!". In that I have already forgotton about them, it must be a 2/5.

Bought the ticket for Cymbals Eat Guitars at gigsniffer of course, which sniffed wegottickets

Dananananaykroyd at Vibe Bar 7 July 2009

2009-07-13T14:04:00.004+01:00

One word. Fun. A bunch of young kids with oodles of energy backed up with some witty banter. They don't care what they say, how they look or if they're hopelessly out of tune, as long as we all have a good time. Musically there were shades of Ned's Atomic Dustbin, but, who cares. There's a bit of a them-and-us feel to the crown though. The ones who are in the know, in the fan club who doubless follow them everywhere. The rest of us just look on and get swept up with everone's enthusiasm. The whole clicque things reminded me slightly of The Others or The Libertines, where it's friends playing to friends. We all know what happened to The Others - everyone realised they were shit. The Libs faired slightly better to be fair.... mind you, Pete Doherty IS shit too, so maybe i'm onto something. 4/5 for now. I'm sure if I saw them again i would take one off this score each time after the novelty wears off.

Vivian Girls @ Brixton Windmill 17 May

2009-05-26T21:27:00.006+01:00

Not a great live band. A three chord noise-fest. I don't mind three chords, if you know how to play them. Unfortunately this lot don't. (1/5)

Admission tickets for this three chord racket were bought through www.gigsniffer.com and I regretted it.

Specials @ Brixton 7 May 2009

2009-05-12T13:26:00.005+01:00

It's surprising how good they all look after 30 years.. Neville Staple and Lynval Golding jump around like bouncy school boys as they rip through a greatest hits set list for 90 minutes. The crowd you might expect to be all old skinheads - does anyone remember the first Madstock and what a nightmare THAT was? Well, tonight's all respectable and the average age isn't even that high - there's a huge contingent of youngsters in the crowd which is great to see.

The Specials aren't a band you hear that often on the radio, and you forget just how many great songs they had... the highlight for the Sniffer was both front AND back of the Too Much Too Young EP in its entirety. (4/5)

If you missed out on tickets you should get on www.gigsniffer.com !

Brakes @ Dingwalls - 28 April 2009

2009-05-12T13:16:00.009+01:00

Still Brakes defy the public... they can't even sell out Dingwalls! What is it about this band that relegates them to being also-rans while the likes of Johnny Borrell conquer the world? Live they are one of the best bands around. Great musicians, great songs and great banter. I can only assume the lack of popularity stems from their image - they aren't a band of Pretty-Boys and from Sniffer's side-stage viewpoint he got a good look at the crowd and it's a bloke-fest. An ugly-bloke fest at that. I'd hate them to get "made-over" or get a "looker" in the band, but maybe that's what they need to do otherwise all that talent could come to nought. (4/5)

It's easy to get into gigs with www.gigsniffer.com

Sonic Youth @ Scala 27 April 2009

2009-05-12T13:05:00.006+01:00

A sneaky small gig - the problem was this... big band plays small venue which sounds great but.. the Scala is always awful - it's cavernous interior just reverberates with bass - and Sonic Youth themselves are notoriously awful live. All pretention and "we don't give a damn" attitude. Having heard the new single though, Sniffer decides to risk it, bearing in mind the Daydream Nation material must still be freshly up their sleeve from last year...

So what do we get - well even a "big band" can't get over the Scala's failings but, that aside, it's a cracking night. The new material sounds good and un-pretentious, plus we get a selection of crowd pleasers from the past. They still look cool as hell.. even Kim who my God must be over 50. Still from that distance who cares... we can still pretend it's 1985. The banks of guitars are still there... looks like around 15 each.. played with drumsticks, bows or rusty nails... same as it ever was... (4/5)

Get your tickets immediately through www.gigsniffer.com

Wave Pictures @ ICA - 15 April 2009

2009-05-12T12:57:00.011+01:00

My third Wave Pictures Gig over the last year and they've been different everytime. First time was over driven Ukeleles and quirkness and could be likened to Hefner. The second, quiet, pensive, low key and slightly Prog - think more Radiohead. This third time sees them play their biggest ever show and yes, they've grown too - this time think Television. I'm not sure if playing Television over the PA earlier in the evening sets it in your mind, but there were real Tom Verlaine style solos up there on stage. OK, not quite so well executed, but give them another year and they'll be there. (4/5)

Tickets were available through gigsniffer.com

Frank Skinner's Credit Crunch Cabaret - 6 April @ Lyric Theatre

2009-05-12T12:50:00.005+01:00

Is it a gig? Kind of - there was 20 minutes from Goldie Looking Chain, the novelty of which wore off after just 3 minutes. It does show how bad Celebrity Big Brother is though, as I wrongly assumed that "Maggot" was the front man. In fact he's just one of the blokes at the back. What next.. Ringo Starr on BB?!!! Anyway, Skinner is as cheeky and funny as he ever was and the format of the evening is a real life version of his "Packing Them In" sitcom from many years back. Well worth a tenner if you get the chance. (4/5)

To have any chance getting tickets you need the ticket agency crawler.. gigsniffer.com

Phill Jupitus / Tim Wells at Bethnal Green Working Mens Club 9/3/2009

2009-03-10T14:03:00.005Z

What a surprise cracking night. Two middle aged Muso's sifting through their collection of 7 inch singles, whacking them on the turntable and talking about what makes them so special. We get mainly Ska and Soul with a bit of foul mouthed Ian Dury. It all makes for a very funny and informative night. The real revelation was when Nick Drummer from the overrated Kaiser Chiefs joins them onstage and admits they nicked the simple guitar line from Predict a Riot from the original version of Ghost In My House. The dirty, thievin', robbin' bastards. (4/5 ... only because one of the earlier readers was dull as hell)

Crystal Stilts / Wavves at Bardens Boudoir 26/2/09

2009-03-10T13:53:00.005Z

Wavves - basically a bloke on a guitar with a drummer. A friend of mine was raving over him, but I think even she was disappointed. He was OK - but much more than that I already can't remember.

Crystal Stilts are the sound of the 60's - very Phil Spector or Raveonettes. The drumming was straight out of Bobby Gillespie era Jesus and Mary Chain. Definitely worth seeing but it does tend to wear a little thin after a while - the vocals are so massively reverbed that the whole sound tends to merge together. Bardens Boudoir suffers a two inch stage so you cant really get to see much that's going on, even though this is still a very small and intimate gig, which adds to the sense of detachment from what's going on. Maybe I'll catch them again at a better venue. (3/5)

Cut in the Hill Gang at Brixton Windmill 20/2/09

2009-03-10T13:27:00.007Z

Johnny Walker returns to the UK with his new band at last. The demise of the Soledads was a real shame and I can't think of any other band plugging the filthy dirty blues rock hole left behind. Having seen the Cut in the Hill Gang I now know why the Soledads split. They're still a two-guitars-only band, but where Johnny used to lead over the second guitar, now the new guitar player takes the lead, playing to the next level and you get a much more intricate sound, and it works brilliantly. Gone is the giant saxophone of Soledad days which, although looking cool, was over used to my mind, just honking around, Muppet style, and not really adding that much. JW is still a great frontman, halfway between nerdy geek and cool as hell old school Detroit blues man. The other guitar player though is pure geek - he needs a makeover as the Soledad's definately scored higher on image.

For a two-song finale Ben Swank joins them on the drums to rattle through a couple of old Soledad's numbers. Yes, we do miss his deranged playing style. But the Soledad's are dead. Long live Cut in Hill Gang! (5/5)

Black Box Recorder / Madam at Luminaire 18/2/09

2009-02-19T13:55:00.006Z

Madam - a slightly quirky and bashful looking lady quietly strumming an acoustic guitar, backed by another on a cello. She has a great voice, no denying, and the Cat Power comparisons are justified. I just can't help thinking it's all a bit too stripped back and minimalist - one song, for example, being just a slow strumming of one single chord. I thought three chords was the well publicised minimum to form a band? Her playing style is actually the same for all the songs - the only real difference between the songs was a change in lyrics and it does start to wear on you after a while. Good sound and total silence in the Luminaire gives the whole show more of a feel of a classical recital than a gig. It was so quiet that the bar staff were whispering and gently squeezing the till drawers shut. (3/5)

Black Box Recorder - a real treat to see them at such close range after the long distance affair supporting the Jesus and Mary Chain at the tail end of last year where they were somewhat lost in the very empty (on stage at 7.30) Forum. Here though, it's up close and personal. Sarah Nixey is still looking fantastic and delivers her lines with no visible sign of emotion in her dead-pan plummy voice. Luke Haines still manages to look cool, despite his advancing years causing him to look like George Roper playing the part of Lee Van Cleef. Still, he looks a natural with the guitar and plays with feeling - unlike John Moore who, to be honest, does not contribute much to the sound and plays guitar like my eight year old niece. There were a couple of new songs and certainly a hint that there may be some more to come - though I think I had my fill last night.

Did anyone see Eddie Argos? With my current interest in Art Brut i'd like to downgrade him to Eddie Woolworths.

Women / Soft Pack at Madame JoJo's 18/2/08

2009-02-18T12:57:00.006Z

A fully packed out venue to see Women. I'm already struggling to remember anything about Soft Pack... other than the guitar sound on half the songs had the sharp metallic sound of Steve Albini or Big Flame, and in the strokes-per-minute stakes David Gedge would be proud of 'em. A couple of OK tunes and some cool American swagger makes for a pleasant enough set.

Women though - Jeez. What a boring bunch of bastards this lot are. Just because you can play some fancy chords it does not mean you should be in a band. Random chords, pointless disjointed noodling... there is such a thing as chord progression, but these guys are blissfully ignorant. You'll get some songs that start in a Sonic Youth jangly style, but instead of crashing into Teenage Riot you just get even more random nonsense until the song ends. As for stage presence - forget it. All of this would be forgivable if they hadn't gone on quite so long. Top tip: if you've only got two songs, don't play ten. Some kids loved 'em - maybe they think they're the new Foals. They forget though, Foals had charisma. And some tunes.

As ever at JoJo's, the sound is great and the viewing area superb. As small venues go, it's right up there and even the most disjointed nonsense can give some pleasure.

Michael Davis of MC5 at Dirty Water Club Tufnell Park 13 Feb

2009-02-15T15:04:00.009Z

This may have been a gig too far - but we were at Magazine just down the road and it was my birthday. There's not much you can say really - an overload of wah-wah from some retro youngsters, to be joined on stage by Davis towards the end for a blast through Kick Out The Jams. To be honest, this Davis character looks more like someone I should be getting a quote off to replaster my hall than standing on stage. It's all a bit of a blur to be honest, due in part to a mixture of Sambucas. Still, we were the last to leave even though the journey home was to be far in excess of most of the young whipper snappers who cried off early to catch the last tube. Luckily I was rescued and delivered to Forest Hill where I spent a merry couple of hours serenading a guinea pig with a miniature violin.

Magazine at The Forum, London 12/13 Feb 2009

2009-02-15T13:20:00.002Z

It seems like many people have been waiting a long time for this, the Ultimate Reformation. And was it worth the wait? Ye Gods yes. Once you get over the similarities between Howard Devoto and the love child of Jasper Carrot and Mini-Me that is.

A totally charismatic front man whose bizarre mannerisms and behavior are delivered without hint of irony, every word preached with an almost demonic authority. When he reads "The Book" from a lectern stage front, it doesn't sound like a story any more - it is real. Jesus, poor Mr. Manifold, I really felt for him.

I was there for both thursday and friday - as I'm sure most of the (95% male, middle-aged, balding) crowd were. Maybe one criticism I would level at Devoto is my disappointment on the friday that the between song banter was quite so scripted - word for word a repeat of the thursday. And the complete omission of all but two tracks from Secondhand Daylight. How can Feed The Enemy not be included? What were they thinking of?
It seems that half the venues in town have now been snapped up by HMV who are obviously shitting themselves that CD sales are now so bad that they have to get into live music and have somehow ousted Carling from the sponsorship top spot. I'm sure as a result of this, I was threatened expulsion from the venue for using a "professional camera", despite being surrounded by people taking photos on "lesser" cameras or even videoing the entire show on their phones! This is the typical record industry behavior that has got them up shit creek in the first place - sheer greed. If I had a press pass I would have been in the press pit, NOT ten rows back straining over people heads to take a quick snap for here. Funnily enough my pictures are not good enough to sell to OK magazine. And here I am, promoting live music for all and encouraging people to visit HMV venues. Bastards. Anyway, three shots survived to tell the tale.