Gig Reviews

Another review for Spoonfed: Imelda May at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

Imelda May, all quiffed and coiffured, is fast becoming a leading lady of rock and roll. Her distinctive voice and style, based predominantly on 50s rock & roll, rockabilly, and country and western is making waves on the wider music scene, and she already has her own cult following… After one swift twirl of the audience I’ve spotted at least a dozen peroxide top-curls, a lot of leopard print ladies and a whole loada Brylcreem on the fellas. It’s like Quiff City up in here!

As with many of Imelda’s gigs, the fan demographic is as varied as they come. From teeny-bopping rockabilly lovers to the more seasoned rock and roll admirers, this audience spans generously across age, race, gender and seemingly quiff size, too. Filling out Shepherd’s Bush with a pumped crowd marks the completion of a journey for May who began singing at the age of 16 in Dublin clubs. Her booming sass has since earnt her the Best Jazz Artist title from The Times and The Next Best Thing accolade from The Daily Mail.

As the lights dim and the crowd begins to cheer, a man takes to the stage, evidently not Imelda. Apologetic in stance and tone he begins to explain away… May has slipped a disc in her back, so she may not be on top form tonight, so cut her some slack and she’ll deliver the best she can. The crowd’s reactions behind me are mixed, with some petulant brats whining before being beaten back into appreciation by other, more supportive, members of the audience. When May does take to the stage we’re puzzled. She walks fine, she talks fine, and when she begins her set, she sure does sing fine. May’s voice is energetic and loud and she does wonderfully well at masking any pain or discomfort she could be in.

May has the full package, the whole shebang. Her voice is distinctive – with a rare twang of Irish showing through – and its power lends itself perfectly to track ‘Smotherin’ Me’ that makes use of May’s sassy and sometimes raspy qualities. She displays great vocal flexibility, toning the volume down for track ‘Meet You At The Moon’ – a cool, cloudy jazz lounge atmosphere settling across the crowd. A true chameleon, Imelda’s softer side lures you in with a drawl, before kicking you back with feline fierceness, all the while looking nothing less than sizzling.

Accompanied by her aptly named band (The Imelda May Band), the big sounds they provide match May’s booming voice perfectly. Imelda glides seamlessly across stage, bodhran in hand, hair slicked into perfection, tight animal print dress curving in all the right places. But don’t let her smooth style fool you, though. She’ll whip you back into shape in no time with a track like ‘Watcha Gonna Do’, whose interlude coos ‘Count my fingers, one, two, three. One in the middle, to you from me’… This lady’s definitely moving up, and knocking down anyone that dares to stand in her way.

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Noah And The Whale at KOKO. Written for Spoonfed:

It’s not the first time that London-based Noah And The Whale (NATW) have packed out Camden’s beautiful KOKO venue. Chart lovers will be familiar with NATW and their top hit of last summer, ’5 Years Time’, whose catchy chorus had friends and lovers chirping together in the summer sunshine. Their début album, ‘Peaceful The World Lays Me Down’, was a folk phenomenon, entangling melancholy observations of life and love with upbeat riffs and banjo strumming. Their latest music offering, ‘The First Days of Spring’, ties in wonderfully with front man Charlie Fink’s film directorial début of the same name.

In quite a change, their second album is one of utter sadness and regret which may sound initially off-putting, yet its illustration of these issues is entirely beautiful and captivating. It sounds almost schadenfreude-esque, but it’s difficult to find a similar and current record that delivers the message of heartbreak in such a delicate and hauntingly intimate way as NATW have managed.

NATW’s set opens with an instant air of fragility that has the crowd on tiptoes, many of whom are trying to shush out the noise of others gossiping. Their sound has undoubtedly developed and matured, moving away from the somewhat child-like qualities of the first album. Tracks from the new album (and indeed some of the older songs, reworked this evening) carry this rawness, not only lyrically due to their thematic and thorny subject matter, but also in musical arrangement. Tracks such as ‘My Broken Heart’ begin melancholic with the simple strumming of the electric guitar, before ascending into a multi-layered mash-up of instruments so deeply charged with emotion, finally falling at the hands of the soft violin.

This is a theme that runs through some of the tracks from ‘The First Days of Spring’. A certain duality is present – a beginning of vulnerability that ends in a climax of musical and emotional enmeshment. There is a great sense of not only hurt and upset, but also of anger, passion and often hope, which is visibly noticeable in the performance of tracks such as ‘My Door Is Always Open’. Its beautiful confessional opening has Fink laying his emotions bare before gaining hope and confidence in change, again both reflected lyrically and musically. Despite the obvious issue of sharing such weaknesses, Fink’s voice is thick and faultless, reminiscent of Johnny Cash and often full of regret.

It’s NATW’s finale with title track ‘The First Days of Spring’ which has the crowd not only speechless, but many shivering with goosebumps. The song’s lyrics are built around hope (‘Like a cut down tree / I will rise again / and be bigger and stronger than ever before’) and it seems fitting to end on this note. The extended crescendo sees Fink down on his knees in an epic entanglement of sounds, drowning in guitar feedback before leaving the stage empty, guitar still humming, and the crowd full of thoughts.

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Went to see Florence + The Machine on Sunday. Absolutely wonderful. Every time I see her I come away feeling slightly different. Totally different from the two times I’ve seen her at Glastonbury. Here’s a review that I wrote for Spoonfed:

Florence + The Machine… seems to be the name on everyone’s lips. Blasting onto the mainstream music scene this year, Florence Welch has been continually mentioned across all media platforms in the run-up to the Mercury Prize, for which she unfortunately missed out to Speech Debelle. Simply put, I’m a big fan of the Florence machine. After seeing her two years ago at Glastonbury and wincing slightly throughout her set (it was LOUD, I was hungover), I then heard a couple of stripped down demos which pricked up my ears. This year, back at Glastonbury, her production was a little slicker, better organised, and her desire to create bold, cataclysmic music even greater.

London-based The XX get a well-packed Shepherd’s Bush Empire paying heed during their own set that sees the quiet, meek band spilling out their beautiful electronic soul sounds. Painfully shy, with little audience reaction, their soothing subdued bass compliments a mixture of male and female vocals, equally melancholic in delivery. The XX have come a long way for a band that met at nursery school, much alike their headlining act, who was discovered in a club toilet.

Florence’s music is hard to define – sometimes brash and loud, with other tracks poetic in their lyrical content and delivery. A huge strength is Florence’s ability to convey emotion in her own kooky way, whether that be in the sparkling track ‘Cosmic Love’ (‘No dawn, no day, I’m always in this twilight / In the shadow of your heart’) or the epic rumbling of ‘Drumming Song’. Her style fluidly slides from delicate fragility, wistfully twisting wrists, to the bold empowerment of femininity, her statuesque figure howling out at the sky. Florence’s appearance is harsh at times, standing tall in a bellowing cape, tussled hair and yet, like her music, her demeanour alters at the end of each song. Giddy and perhaps a little overwhelmed, it’s refreshing to see her down to earth and girlish attitude break through her tough performing exterior.

Despite concerns that Florence’s performances often waver given her nervous state and sometimes lead her to look like she’s over-thinking things, tonight’s performance is stellar. Tracks such as ‘Howl’ are high-energy, with the audience lending their own caterwauling vocals throughout. Softer numbers like ‘Between Two Lungs’ are delivered gracefully, even hauntingly, a talent that Florence seems to have mastered.

After forging an electric atmosphere, it wouldn’t be right if she didn’t finish the night with her cover of Candi Staton’s ‘You Got The Love’, an almost obligatory closing crowd pleaser. If her current success is anything to go by, there’s no stopping this drumming machine…

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Totally forgot that I ended up accidentally going to see Britney Spears a few weeks ago. I was in London for a wedding consult and a friend had too many extra tickets. Ended up winging my way to the O2 for the evening.. Not really my thing as I’m not a particularly big Britney fan (in fact, the only song I was excited about was Slave 4 U as it’s the closest to a filthy song – just my style – that I think she’s done). Ciara was supporting (more my thing) and I was surprised that I actually really enjoyed the performance. Granted, she only song one song live, but it was quite theatrical and cheeky and a little dirty and of course the company of A, Rooks and Miss O made it all worth while! Particularly liked the visuals playing whilst Marilyn Manson’s cover of Sweet Dreams played. Here’s some photos I snapped..

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