Ultraista @ Birthdays

Playing their first London gig – the recently formed Ultraista brought the vocals and electronic sound of Laura Bettinson, former driving force of Dimbleby & Capper (D&C) and new incarnation Femme, together with Nigel Godrich, producer of Radiohead and Joey Waronker adding percussion and all manner of other sounds to the mix, to Birthsdays in Dalston – ending the UK leg of a short world tour having crossed the USA and circled Europe.

From Ultraista (Birthdays) 2012

Opening the evening in Dalston was Crewdson. He initially had the quickly filling venues a little confused as his musical instruments included the contents of a rather battered Tesco’s plastic bag – but soon had them enthralled as he turned sound samples from the empty can, paper and other assorted items it contained into a glorious electronic sound. With an unconventional set of electronics as your musical tool kit technical problems are likely – but I don’t think I’ll ever hear an electronic artist apologies for a glitch with “bear with me one sec – my motorbike ain’t working….” I’d suggest Crewdson sound could be described as "Electronic via Tesco’s and the Playstation”. Creatively showing what can be accomplished live with a laptop, assorted shopping, saxophone and Playstation controller, Crewdson put to shame those that use pre-recorded samples.

As Ultraista opened their set, the comparisons to previous celebrated incarnations of members of the band were inevitable. The Radiohead fans in the audience here to hear how the Godrich sound was moving forward, heard an up tempo mix with more pop than in the past. A clear contribution from D&C/Femme. The D&C fans in the basement would be please that the visuals impact of that group continued – but the frog and rabbit mask for the male members of the band had been left in the dressing up box…

From Ultraista (Birthdays) 2012

From Ultraista (Birthdays) 2012

Unfortunately Party Line wasn’t on the set list – so I’m still not sure if the opening backing vocals really are “northern line” or the slightly more likely “more than I” of the main lyrics… It’s very possible that the fact that the track first came on my iPhone while stuck on the listening to Northern Line announcements influenced what I think I heard – but if you list carefully I’m sure you can hear how the mix up could occur… The evening and the tour where brought to a close with a long list of thanks to those that had assisted with getting them to the end of this first tour.

Surely if won’t be long before Nigel is moving his latest creation on to similar stages as his previous associates, Radiohead – playing the O2 the following two nights – their followers really missed out if they hadn’t had the foresight to come to town one night early for a Sunday evenings entertainment in Dalston  - if they could have got hold of a ticket!

Jill Scott draws the VIPs to Somerset House

9th/10th July – Somerset House Summer Series presented by American Express: Jill Scott supported by Daley

For the first year two acts will play two nights each in the Somerset House Summer Series – Jill Scott’s two gigs where in the original schedule – Paloma Faith’s second gig was added shortly after the first one sold out so quickly. Judging by the fact that more than an hour before both nights of Jill’s shows a large proportion of the audience where queuing outside this was a good decision – those there on Monday night got treated to a prolonged sound check that almost sounded like a full rehearsal, rather than a simple check of the levels…

The first night also attracted the VIPs – with Lewis Hamilton tweeting a picture from the gig and Perez Hilton, Joss Stone and Misha B amongst the music glitterati in attendance

From Jill Scott 2012 (Monday) (Somerset House)

Opening for Jill on both nights was Daley – whom I’d last seen supporting Emeli Sande at the Borderline for HMV Next Big Thing – he certainly gets to precede some special acts on stage. On both night the audience warmed to his sound – his British take on soul was a great warm up for the Philly version that was the main act – he even made a cameo appearance on the second night during the commercial intermission for “Ball Fresh”.

From Jill Scott 2012 (Monday) (Somerset House)

Jill Scott brought on stage with here a very talented 10 piece band including amongst them “the pipes” – between them they gave her incredible voice the backing it deserved, At some points the performance became almost operatic - very appropriate for the surroundings.

As promised on the first night – if you wanted to see a costume change then you needed to come to another Jill Scott gig – not that her look didn’t change – including at times a wig and a variety gazelles (glasses) – one pair refused to play ball – steaming up on both nights in the damp conditions under the heat of the stage lights. The performances on both nights brought the courtyard in Somerset House to life – mixing soul, poetry, and a sexy sense of humour.

Sunday mini festival at Somerset House

8th July – Somerset House Summer Series presented by American Express with What Next Live: Katy B supported by Devlin, Ms Dynamite and P Money and What Next Live – including Kimmy Reader, Rhea Dean and Tom Prior

Regularly giving an opportunity on one of the Sunday’s of the series for up and coming acts to take to the stage is a great innovation that Somerset House continues to provide – this year three of the act from What Next Live shone out – Kimmy Reader, Rhea Dean or Tom Prior could easily have been “headline support acts” – maybe it is time for a slight change to the presentation of these acts and simply put them on as support acts for some of the nights of the series. I’ll be looking out for and looking forward to when these acts perform again.

Katy B brought the acts from her 2011 headline tour with her to Somerset House for her only headline show of the year. I’ve never been sure if a DJ based set works in the classical surroundings of Somerset House – and P Money definitely struggled to keep up the atmosphere that the What Next acts had built up – his act had worked in an enclosed space – but in the daylight, in an open space it seamed not to fill the space sufficiently.

From Katy B 2012 (Somerset House)

From Katy B 2012 (Somerset House)

When Ms Dynamite took to the stage the energy levels lifted – it was still rather strange to be experiencing this in the open air before the dark had fallen. The large separation between the audience and the stage also wasn’t helping

Devlin's addition of instruments in the form of a full band to the stage took the show up a further level.

From Katy B 2012 (Somerset House)

From Katy B 2012 (Somerset House)

The sun had set by the time Katy B took to the stage, that allowed the light show on the stage to have a bigger impact, and with the venue now full the atmosphere was approaching a club – or as close as you can get surrounded by the 18th century architecture of Somerset House. A cover of the Eurythmics Sweet Dreams stood out in a set that ranged from Katy’s better known dance tracks to slower ballads showing there is more to her than just dubstep. The 11pm curfew came far too early – and closing with Lights On seamed very appropriate as the house lights shortly followed, but the audience didn’t want to leave.

Tim Minchin – Comedy night opens Somerset House Summer Series

7th July 2012 – Somerset House Summer Series presented by American Express: Tim Minchin supported by Harry Oakwood Millionaire

This will be the third year when I’ve chosen to try and get tickets to the entire series of summer gigs at Somerset House – even with access to pre-sales Tim' Minchin’s gig was already sold out! Having previously seen Tim at the Apple Cart festival in 2011, I choose to resort to GetMeIN to complete my set of tickets – and by waiting until a week or so before the event I didn’t have to pay a significant premium. It would be nice if Somerset House would consider a “season ticket” to their series of gigs – there won’t be may people that would be looking to attend all of the events given they are drawn from a wide range of musical genres – but there would be some and it might assist in filling the audience for the less main stream acts.

From Tim Minchin 2012 (Somerset House)

Finding a support act to complement Tim Minchin irreverent act was always going to be challenging – Tim selected Harry Oakwood Millionaire to fill the role having heard them himself. They did just justice to his selection – their guitar based sound reminded me of early Beatles.

By the time Tim took to the stage the miserable British summer had started to let the enthusiastic crowd down – causing umbrellas to be produced – there property of being mainly opaque generating an off the cuff line of comedy from Tim – that quickly encouraged their owners to take them down and brave the light rain without their protection. After the distraction of the easy target of the weather Tim was soon back in good form with his comedy based around a series of very clever songs – it quickly became clear Tim may have “calmed down” his set for the “family friendly” Apple Cart festival – it was certainly brave for Jonathan Ross to have invited him on to his show – a pity ITV hadn’t had the courage to go ahead with his inclusion in the show that actually went out – all the targets of Tim’s comedy are valid and his clever use of word play and innuendo highlights many serious issues.

This was a great start to the series of gigs – opening with the “comedy night”, missing from the series last year but represented the previous year by Neil Hannon in his solo performance as Divine Comedy was a brave move – I hope a comedy themed night becomes a regular in the series going forward.

Return from Round the World adventure

I’ve been rather remiss in updating my blogs over the last 10 weeks or so… The reason has been my round the world adventure that has been the source of 20,000+ pictures that need proofing, and copious notes that will form the basis for many back dated entries in the coming weeks – and hopefully not months…. If you are reading this in June 2012 then hopefully there will be lots of posts that you’ve read illustrated by images of some of the sights I’ve enjoyed….

To give you a taster images from the start and end of my journey…..

Warming the freezing nights with great vocals

2nd February 2012 - HMV Next Big Thing 2012: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny supported by Kyla La Grange and Olfar

Having been spoilt for choose, my first HMV NBT gig was Upstairs at The Garage – once initial confusion about the correct queue for the upstairs gig, rather than large downstairs gig in the same series - Reckless Love supported by Jettblack and The Treatment, we where allowed in, out of the freezing cold, as winter finally arrived – the perfect excuse for spending nights listening to live music…

From HMV NBT - Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny, Kyla La Grange, and Olfar

Olfar opened the night – playing without their backing band The Feral Pets – as a duet they gently warmed up the venue with a set that was more folky than their current album – available for the recession busting price of £1 from www.olfar.co.uk – great value – especially as you can listen before you commit to the download… It was a true duet – each member contributed to a great vocals to the opening of the NBT series…

The pace was then picked up by Kyla La Grange, cramming her backing band on to the ridiculously small stage. They then filled the small venue with a large sound – yet another slight British female vocalist with a surprisingly large voice. The highlight of the set, for me, was when Kyla forwent her guitar and let her vocals drive Vampire’s Smile. The set could do with the addition of a couple of more upbeat tracks as the theme is generally down beat – possibly a cover or two I’m sure Kyla’s voice would do the authors proud.

The set change before Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny could make the small stage their own had me trying to think of a “how many people does it take to” joke that was appropriate! I always look forward to bands that diverge from the standard – two or three guitars, keys and a drummer – the Hooves brought to the musical sound stage a violin and trumpet – always good additions to the standard formula. Taking the vocals up a couple of registers from Kyla, Beth has visual hints of Gwen Stefani and isn’t vocally dissimilar – less pop more rock. Taking technical problems in her stride – her music held its own – the jokes used as fillers while she fixed her guitar didn’t! The bands debut album launched on 6th February – one look out for…

HMV may be struggling to make a success of selling recorded music – but they can clearly select good live acts and promote them well – the venue appeared to be sold out – not something that happens easily on a freezing Thursday – especially since they themselves where providing alternatives at so many venues…

Set Lists

Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny	Kyla La Grange
Atlas Dodecahedron Your Holes Night Swimmer Lilliput Humble Digs (Super Cunt) Telephone Return STB (Medley)	Been Better Courage To Be Torn Sympathy Vampire Smile Lambs Catalyst

Big Band night at XOYO – at least in size….

25th January 2012 – Q Now: The Sessions – To Kill a King supported by Jamie N Commons and Jodie Marie

From Q Now - The Sessions - To Kill A King, Jamie N Commons, Jodie Marie

The night started as the previous one had ended – with a talented female vocalist from a home nation – this time from Wales. While her voice is not as powerful as Emeli Sandé, Jodie Marie’s mixes R&B with rock – and steers way from the traditional pop sound. When I last saw Marie she was supporting Nerina Pallot and her backing band only had one member – since touring Europe it has grown to three – and that added depth to the songs, although the best ones featured Marie taking the lead on her own guitar.

Jamie N Commons’ backing band numbered four – spread across the rather wide but narrow stage at XOYO… They brought up the folk level in the night’s music while maintaining the rock element – with an American twang – which brought to mind Johnny Cash or some other 60’s voice out of the west of America – possible re-enforced by his choice of a wide brimmed hat!

The theme of the night was clearly – “how many musicians can you get on the stage” – with To Kill a King supplementing their number with members of Professor Penguin to add brass to their sound, bring their number to eight at times… The sound moved more in the direction of folk, and adding elements of Jazz when the Penguins where contributing. The highlight for my was when Ralph Pelleymounter turned to his keyboard for some of the closing numbers of the set.

XOYO was a little more chilled out than it had been the previous evening with none of the stars having yet risen as high as the star of the series of gig presented by Q Magazine so far on Tuesday night….

Set Lists

To Kill a King	Jodie Marie
Cold Skin Wrecking Crew Fictional State Moon Envy Gasp Rays I Work Nights Wolves Bloody Shirt Funeral Cannibal with Cutlery Family	Numb On the Road Single Blank Canvas I Got You Greeney-Blue Remember Me

1st of 2012 Brit Award winners play XOYO

24th January 2012 – Q Now: The Sessions – Emeli Sandé supported by Michael Kiwanuka

Michael Kiwanuka probably had the hardest job for a support act at this series of gigs – opening for Emeli Sandé, already highly recognised by being the Brit’s Critics Choice and nominated for the British Breakthrough Act – but his own placing of 3rd in the critics choice meant he came highly recommended. In a fairly low key set his mix of soul and folk enveloped the filling venue, preparing the audience for the upcoming vocal display.

From Q Now - The Sessions - Emeli Sanda plus Michael Kiwanuka

As the audience waited for Emeli, the anticipation built as the tempo of the tracks being played by the DJ increased… With a smooth backing band behind her and occasionally on the keys, Emeli’s vocals resonated through the venue – possibly a little too big for such a confined space – she could easily blow away a venue such as the Royal Albert Hall. The highlight of the evening, for me, was a medley of her collaborations with house hold names that has already seen Emeli in the charts for most of 2011. Surely the days of Emeli playing intimate venues such as XOYO and Borderline for the HMV Next Best Thing series in February are numbered – the larger venues that her voice demands beckon. Surely no one in the audience left without knowing they had been privileged to hear Emeli in such close proximity.

Has this series reached it’s high point? To Kill a King, Howler and the Rizzle Kicks will attempt to raise the bar again on the next three nights.

Set Lists:

Emeli Sandé	Michael Kiwanuka
Tiger Where I Sleep Suitcase Lifetime Clown Next to me Breaking The Law Hope Medley Montage! Maybe Daddy Mountain Heaven My kind of Love	I’ll Get Along I’m Getting Ready Rest Tell Me a Tale “Lasan” Home Again I Don’t Know

Subtly rocking the XOYO for Q

23rd January 2012 - Q Now: The Sessions – Dry The River supported by Clock Opera & Rae Morris at XOYO, London

I returned to XOYO for the first time in 2012 – having experience a wide variety of great live music there in 2011 – as usual they were running late and the bands hadn’t finished sound checking when the doors should have opened… The cold chill of January in London wasn’t a problem as they now have a bar upstairs to wait in…

From Q Now - The Sessions - Dry The River, Clock Opera, Rae Morris

The first act on the programme was 18 year old Rae Morris – from Blackpool – offering to advise on the best places to get fish & chips in that locale should any of the audience be in the area… Rae appeared to be very nervous – but she had no need to be – it is acts like hers that are the reason to get to gigs for all the support acts. Rae opened without introduction with a new song Back to Front – then confessed she’d gone straight into that number otherwise she’d have not had the courage to perform it. Her set of six songs was perfectly formed – she filled the room with a mature sound that could have graced any venue in London and not been out of place – Q have definitely found a potential new star to join the group of great female vocalists representing the UK in the world of music.

Clock Opera certainly had a high bar set for them vocally… The foursome added guitars and drums plus a tray, tankard and what looked like a milk or sugar jar from a tea set!  As you’d expect from a band who have been performing for 3+ years the wasn’t any sign of nerves caused by selection by Q as one to watch this year – they took the sound up a level and filled the basement of XOYO with an eclectic mix of rock, electronic, indie and ambient sound – really hard to pigeon hole them into one genre. It certainly warmed the audience up after the relaxing opener from Rae.

From the appearance of Dry The River, I thought I was in for another night when the promoters haven’t managed to find a set of artist all of whom would appeal to the same audience – but that impression only proved that you shouldn’t judge a book/band by its cover/appearance – I’d just expected more of a rock/metal sound from a group of 5 guys sporting tattoos and long hair!  The give away should have been the presences of a violin on stage – always a good indication that you are going to get something more complex than the normal 4/5 guys with drums, guitars and a keyboard… That’s not saying that Dry The River didn’t have a number of songs in their set that would have been very at home during a night of rock/metal – they did – but they also have a repertoire songs that display subtly that you’d not expect from a “rock band” – particular impressive was when they choose to “go unplugged” – bring quiet to a venue far more used to the loud sound of a fully amped band…

Q have kicked of this short series with a great evening of music – the expectation have been set high for the other participants that follow this week – anyone looking to hear some of the likely new sounds of 2012 are highly advised to arrive early to make sure they catch the support bands as well as some of the better know headliners…

Sub Project 52

As part of my Project 366 I've also joined a number of groups on Flickr which are aiming for the apparently less taxing goal of 1 photo a week rather than a day throughout 2012... I'm not entirely sure that is much less challenging - I've already spent many brain cycles selecting my submissions for the first two weeks from the two sets of 7 candidates....

Winter Get Away?

Manful @ Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen

16 days into Project 366 and I'm almost up to date with all the "process" surrounding it - without the need to scramble for a subject at 11:55pm...

Project 366 – publish one picture a day for a year…

The new year brings me a new project – and possibly my first “new year’s resolution” – to take at least one photograph every day of 2012 – all 366 of them.

One challenge I’ll have to over come creatively is crossing the international date line – which means that I’ll actually only experience the normal 365 days this year, loosing the leap day to jet lag as I travel round the world….

I’ll be publishing one picture a day on a new blog I’ve created – 66photography99 – as regularly as internet access and time allows. I’m also uploading them to flickr and adding them to a number of groups on flickr.