Natural History, Gigs, Friends and OMFG I’m Tired…

Friday the 13th, and we packed up early to head for London.

The main reason for our trip? A chance to see Frank Turner headlining Wembley Arena. The reason for the earliness? Dinosaurs! Specifically, an opportunity to go the Natural History Museum while we were in the area anyway.

We rocked up (see what I did there…?) at the museum in the early afternoon, expecting it to be busy but perhaps not queue-for-30-minutes-to-get-in-to-the-dinosaur-exhibit busy. Never mind: we’re British; we can queue with the best of them – and it was totally worth the wait. We spent hours wandering through throngs of people, taking in skeletons and fossils, birds and beasts preserved for posterity, and even the building itself, which is an impressive maze of exhibits and ornately decorated with all sorts of cool panels. The more modern Darwin Centre was really interesting too, with lots of interactive displays and stuff for kids (and big kids like me) to play with.

On to the big gig: I won’t ramble on about how awesome I think Frank Turner is – I’ve already done that many a time on this here blog – but I will say this: if anyone deserves to sell out a Wembley show, it is Frank. The man works hard, I tells ya.

Hubby and I were seated up in the rafters where we could hear the crowd almost as much as the band – and it was seriously the biggest sing-along I have ever heard. Almost every person knew almost every word to almost every song. And as much as I would have loved to have been jumping about down in the pit, hearing that from where we were was pretty fucking cool.

Support from Beans on Toast, Dan le Sac & Scroobious Pip and Billy Bragg was all good too – even if Beans on Toast did only manage to finish one song (he was charming enough to get away with it)!

The morning after, and the journey back was broken up only by a brief stop in Reading for an over-due catch up with our good friends Hayley and Mel over tea and hot cross buns. Which was nice.

A short stop at home, and we were off again – this time over to Cheltenham to catch some of the Trees on Fire Spring Fling mini festival at The Frog and Fiddle.  By this point I was a bit too tired to really pay attention to band names (getting old, see… and the cider may not have helped), so I can’t really point out my highlight sets other than Andy Oliveri and Ben Marwood, both of whom I’ve seen and met before (yep, favouritism, I admit it). There was a ska-type band that I liked early-ish in the afternoon, and the last band we saw (Arcane Roots, I think) were excellent – hard, heavy and dynamic.

Didn’t have a camera with me, but here’s DominicMeason’s photos of the event.

And then just like that it was Sunday, which I probably should have spent resting but decided instead to try to dig over some of my garden, and then fell asleep at just the right point to prevent me from sleeping at a sensible bed time.

I may have nearly fallen asleep at my desk today, but it was totally worth it. It’s been a hell of a weekend.

The 30 Day Song Challenge, Part 10: Days 24, 25 and 26

Time for another dose of the 30 Day Song Challenge. The Challenge is coming to an end… although it has taken way more that 30 days to complete so far, and has been trickier than I expected! I will finish though. This is the penultimate post, so we’re nearly there.

Day 24: A song that you want to play at your funeral – Vital Signs, Frank Turner

So, that’s a pretty morbid question from the 30 Day Song Challenge creator… Up until this point I don’t think I’ve ever considered my funeral in as much detail as to choose the music for it. With the lyrics of this song, Frank Turner reminds us that we need to keep on living and that we should try to make the most of our time even after a loved one has gone. I think that’s a pretty positive thing to say at your own funeral.

Day 25: A song that makes you laugh – Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros, Flight of the Conchords

Because this is funny – and what kind of rapping name is Steve?

Day 26: A song that you can play on an instrument – Colourblind, Counting Crows

I love this song! And to prove it here I am playing it at Malmesbury Acoustic Sessions at The Three Cups on the 5th November.

Review of Frank Turner at St George’s in Bristol

Ok, I will confess now that this review will not be as objective as perhaps it should be. If you read back through my blog entries you will already know that I am a massive fan of Frank Turner and, since Frank was nice enough to speak to hubby and I after the show last night, I am still totally buzzing with excitement and over-enthusiasm; meaning that this review might dissolve into a ramble about how great I think he is.

Because he is great. And last night’s show was amazing. And I was soo very lucky not only to get last minute tickets, but also to end up right at the front. So much awesome in one evening…

Ah – it’s already happened, hasn’t it?

*Ahem* Well then, now that that’s out the way…

Let’s start with the venue. St George’s is (or was) a church, and so the gig was seated – which just felt weird – but the acoustics were beautiful, and the space open and light. The atmosphere was one of contained excitement, the normal pre-gig chatter slightly subdued by the grand surroundings, but it was pleasant none-the-less.

The supports for the evening (and for the rest of the tour) were Ben Marwood and Franz Nicolay, both of whom were very good. Franz pointed out that it’s traditional when attending big shows that the support acts are always shit… and ably then went on to prove that’s not the case.

I’ve seen Ben Marwood a couple of times before, and really love his songs – as I’ve said before, they’re clever, intricate and honest and Ben has one of those voices that I could listen to for hours. His set was a good mix of some older songs, some from his recently released album Outside There’s a Curse and some that I’ve not heard before. After touring for a while he was clearly more relaxed on stage, and was chatty and humourous between songs. Definitely recommend checking him out (I’ve told you this before – why haven’t you already heeded my repeated calls to do so? Hmmm?!).

Multi-instrumentalist Franz Nicolay was the enigma on the bill (for me anyway) as I  had never seen him, or even heard of him, before. Very much enjoyed his set; it felt like a combination of folk and vaudeville traditions, and really suited the arena of St George’s. His songs were story-like in their lyrics and structure and the mixture of guitar, accordion and banjo playing was great. Plus, he has a brilliant moustache!*

Right then, on to our headliner – Mr Frank Turner himself. Of course I loved every second, so I guess I should clarify why.

Firstly, as much as I enjoy the energy when Frank plays with his band, it was really awesome to see a show that was just him and his acoustic guitar(s). It just shows how strong the songs are, and how much emotion he puts into performing them, that one voice and one instrument can keep a packed hall at rapt attention.

The set itself was fantastic – as you would expect he played some songs from the new album (out in a few weeks, I believe), including I am Disappeared. As for older songs,  he played Better Half, a heart-wrenching classic that is rarely heard live; I was surprised and completely overjoyed to hear A Decent Cup of Tea – my absolute favourite song from Sleep is for the Week – which in all the times I’ve been to Frank Turner gigs**, I have never seen him play. He followed it up with another sad song that I didn’t know, then broke into Long Live The Queen. Embarrassing confession time – I almost cried (how very teenage of me)… But then he lifted the mood and got the crowd up, singing and stamping their feet.

He did a song with Franz Nicolay as part of the encore, and then brought Ben Marwood back on stage so all three of them could do an amazing cover of The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by The Postal Service.

When it came to the finale of  The Ballad of Me and My Friends, for which Frank climbed off the stage to stand on the seats in the crowd, the place was in a frenzy. It was an amazing experience – hubby had to duck the neck of Frank’s guitar, and suddenly there he was, right in front of me, and we were all singing and it was indescribably, awe-inspiringly good.

Wow.

Best gig ever***.

Alright, I shall stop now – I think you’ve probably got the idea! But, there is already a video on YouTube from last night’s gig, so in the interest of demonstrating the reason for my possibly-verging-on-obsessive fandom here it is. Enjoy!

*Yes, I know – I shouldn’t judge on appearances… But c’mon, who doesn’t love curly moustaches?!

**On the way to the gig, hubby and I worked out that we’ve seen Frank Turner seven times now – and that’s if you count the year he played about 5 sets at the 2000Trees Festival as one…

***I may have to confess that I might have said that last time… and maybe even the time before that… *awkward cough* But honestly – it will take a lot to beat last night.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Blog (A Mash-up of Blogs I Think You’d Like)

I like blogging, and I like reading blogs. So, I thought it’d be a nice thing to share some nice things with you.

Like this:

[Edit] Radio is a music blog/podcast site and features music news and opinion on the blog side, and loads of amazing artists-that-you-probably-haven’t-heard-of-yet in their podcasts.

The Ocelot is an actual paper magazine (<mild sacrasm>I know, paper is so retro!</mild sarcasm>), which you can pick up in various places around Swindon for free. It’s normally a fun read, and contains loads of info on local happenings/gigs. I’ve only just discovered their website, but even so, their blog seems quite entertaining.

Ben Marwood’s blog details Ben’s adventures through touring, recording and life in general. Check out his blog. And, more importantly, check out his music because it’s clever, charming and compelling – and Frank Turner will cut off your legs off if you don’t*.

And finally, Don’t Make That Face is nothing to do with music, but you should read it anyway. Because it’s funny. The end.**

Um, that’s it for now…

So yeah, have a gander – and if you like, you can add your own recommendations in the comments. Or don’t. It’s a free country after all. But bear in mind that I do like to feel the warm glow of your commenty goodness (ooh, that kind of sounded naughty… *giggle*. It’s not though, just to be clear.).

Alright, this image has nothing to do with the post - but it's always good to be organised, right kitteh? (image from icanhascheezburger.com)

*Genuine, actual Frank Turner quote from this YouTube vid.

**I should mention for the more ‘sensitive’ men out there… the last post I read by Don’t Make That Face was about feminine hygiene products. Just be warned if you’re the type of guy who runs screaming from the word ‘cramps’. Yes, I said it, and I’ll say it again too. Cramps, cramps, cramps! Mwhahaaahaa!

The 30 Day Song Challenge, Part 5: Days 9, 10 and 11

You thought I’d forgotten about the 30 Day Song Challenge, didn’t you… Well, to be fair, I kind of did, but this is a symptom of me not keeping up with my blog as much as I should (and promised myself that I would). Luckily (?) for you, I’m once again trying to keep this blog updated regularly, so I will finish the song challenge – but will be trying to do so as quickly and painlessly as possible! Besides, it’s a nice opportunity to share music that I like with you guys… To that end, here are my song choices for days 9, 10 and 11.

Day 9: A Song That You Can Dance To: The Automatic – Monster

This song will almost always get me on the dance floor, because it’s just fun to bounce around to (yes, bouncing is my equivalent to dancing). The video is pretty cool too, enjoy!

Day 10: A Song That Makes You Fall Asleep: Classical Guitar Music

Saying that classical guitar music makes me fall asleep sounds like a bad thing… but no, when I was little I used to have trouble sleeping, so my mum gave me a classical guitar tape to listen to at bed time (I forget which artist it was). It just helped me relax a bit so I could drift off, so now I always associate classical guitar with sleepy time. I chose the above vid just because it’s a nice piece.

And finally

Day 11: A Song From Your Favourite Band: I am Disappeared – Frank Turner

Yes, I go on about Frank Turner a lot – this is because he’s my favourite, thus his latest song is my choice for day 11. Do I need to say why he’s my favourite? Nah – I think the rest of my blog probably sums that up… particularly this post.

The 30 Day Song Challenge Part 2: A Song That Makes You Happy, A Song That Makes You Sad

Day 03 – A song that makes you happy (Good Luck Mr. Gorsky – Sleeper)

I don’t know why this song makes me happy, but it does. Maybe it’s the combination of whimsy and normality present in the lyrics – the way that Mr Gorsky is portrayed as an older guy acting like a big kid despite this being frowned upon by the neighbourhood, and the way that the song celebrates these small acts of rebellion. Maybe it’s Louise Werner’s delivery – her vocals give an added sense of wonder with the slightly breathy way that she sings. Or maybe it’s just because it’s a cool song. Whatever it is, please enjoy the video:

Day 04 – A song that makes you sad (Long Live the Queen – Frank Turner)

I actually find it hard to listen to Long Live the Queen all the way through, it has that much of an emotional effect on me. The thing is this; the song is in honour of one of Frank’s friends, who passed away after battling with cancer. For me, it brings up memories of my father in law, who also fought with cancer and lost. Although the specifics are very different, the emotion that the lyrics stir up are quite raw, even now.

And on that melancholy note, I’ll leave you with Frank Turner:

The 30 Day Song Challenge Part 1: My Favourite and Least Favourite Songs

I was browsing blogs the other day and came across The 30 Day Song Challenge, which has been doing the rounds on blog posts and Facebook for a while, but has somehow completely passed me by until now.

The premise is simple – write about a song that fits a particular criteria (i.e. favourite, or from a band you hate etc.) every day for a month.

Sounds great – but I’m lazy. And for the sake of laziness,  I’m going to approach this slightly differently – each post will briefly cover two songs on the list, and I’ll spread it out a bit so no one gets bored…

Anyway, let’s begin at the beginning:

Day 1 – Your Favourite Song (The District Sleeps Alone Tonight – Postal Service)

I’d like to clarify: this is my favourite song at the moment – my favourite can and does change on a frequent basis. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight has, at least temporarily, crept into my head and lodged itself under my skin and I love it.

The video above is the original version by Postal Service, but I first heard this song performed acoustically by Ben Marwood (at 2000Trees, I believe) which caught my ear enough to lead me to check out YouTube for the original. I also found Frank Turner’s version – note in the vid below he admits he nicked the idea from Mr Marwood…

Each version has its charm, and I love the fact that they’re both so different. But that’s not what makes it my fave… the lyrics are just beautiful – clever, eloquent and heartfelt.

Day 2 – Your Least Favourite Song (Baby – Justin Bieber)

I hate this song so much that I’m not going to post the video – to be fair, you probably know which song I’m talking about anyway: it seems to be everywhere at the moment.

Normally, I try to keep the tone of this blog a little more on the positive side, but I guess my least favourite song wouldn’t be my least favourite if I didn’t despise it wholeheartedly. So, yeah, this next bit might turn into a bit of a rant…

I could go on about how Justin Bieber is a puppet of evil record companies and has been shoved into the limelight with a combination of style-over-substance marketing and a massive amount of pushy-parenting (at least I assume that’s the case – I’d be surprised if I learnt that much of the hype was his own doing).

But I’ll sum it up my hatred of the song like this: Musically, I can find nothing of value in this track – the tune (if that even counts as a tune) is repetitive, it’s not clever, it doesn’t say anything new, you can’t really dance to it because there’s no interest or passion in the rhythm. It is everything that is wrong with the music industry smooshed together and force-fed to the masses, and I for one, do not appreciate it.

Yeah, that was a rant, wasn’t it… but at least it was a short one.

See you next time!

In which Ells ponders genre boundaries (or what the hell is anti-folk anyway?)

Ben Marwood - image 'borrowed' from the BBC Berkshire website

The other weekend I went to see Ben Marwood and Oxygen Thief playing at The Victoria in Swindon. It was a fun night and we ended up chatting with Ben and Barry (Oxygen Thief), to discover that they are both lovely as well as fantastically talented – but anyway, that’s not the point.

The point is that Ben Marwood has a shiny new album out and when I went to buy said album (I know, how current and trendy am I?!), the website described him as an ‘anti-folk singer-songwriter’.

Anti-folk? What the ****??!

Ok, I know that human nature is to define oneself against something. Punk is a fairly easy to bring to mind example: the music, the fashion and the attitude were (still are?) all to be what the mainstream wasn’t; to differentiate from the ‘normal’ ideology and to belong to a group of like-minded people. But that’s kind of what folk already is – it is the music of the people. It comes from people like you or me singing about the normal concerns of normal people.

Admittedly, the ‘folk tradition’ conjures up thoughts of more traditional songs, but to label anyone’s music as anti-folk is to miss the point, I think. I know that the definition of folk as a genre has changed, it has become more of a ‘sound’ these days. But still, to be ‘anti’ something, you must be against it, and how can you be against the music of the people when you are, in fact, a person making music?

It is very easy to jump on the label band wagon of anti-folk, post-rock or nu-metal (arrg, that one always annoyed me – it was never really new nor really metal…*), but maybe we should think just a little bit harder before we tag a name on things…

Or maybe we could just enjoy the music for what it is without getting bogged down in ye olde genre argument.

I will finish with a quote from Mr Frank Turner, who has eloquently said in the booklet of his recent Rock and Roll EP what my little rant here has tried to express:

“So when I am asked to pick a genre tag to describe the music I make, I hesitate. But I shouldn’t. I could call it punk, or folk, or rock & roll. But to me personally it’s all of these things: together they represent a continuity, different faces of the same idea. And that idea is that music is something simple that brings us together, makes us more than the sum of our parts and tells us something inexpressible about the human condition. It might only be something as simple and as small as rock and roll, but it might yet save us all. Or just sound really, really cool.”

See – what he said!

*I just want to clarify, I like some nu-metal  – it’s just the name that annoys the hell out of me! Especially as some idiot decided to spell it nu. Give me strength! You’ve shortend a three-letter word, dip-s**t!

What I did at the weekend (or a review of Frank Turner in Oxford)

Frank Turner Live at 2000Trees: Pic - Laura Pitcher

 

I know I posted about Frank Turner last time, but the thing that prompted my last post was buying tickets to Sunday’s gig – and getting a bit over excited, if I’m honest! If you read my earlier post, you’ll know that I like Frank Turner a little bit (well, ok… a lot). I’ve seen him a couple of times before (well, ok… 6 or 7 times), but still getting my tickets through and waiting with anticipation for the day to dawn was enough to prompt my last little out-pouring of hero worship…

So, finally, the day arrived. Jon and I decided to take advantage of a trip into Oxford, to make a day of it and do some Christmas shopping before heading off to the venue. I’ll not bore you with the details, except to say that I bought the coolest woolly hat ever. Yay!

After dumping our shopping bags in the car, walking to the venue in the freezing cold, and patiently (well, kind of patiently – it was freezing after all*!) waiting outside in the queue, we found ourselves in the hall of the The Regal.

My first impression was of an odd venue – it had a part theatre, part bingo hall, part band venue feel to it – with art deco style walls and balcony contrasting strangely with a big modern bar. But the stage was big and the lighting set-up looked impressive, and we managed to find a spot to the side where there was a raised platform – brilliant for short people like me to avoid the usual gig situation where, no matter where you stand, tall people will come and stand in front of you.

We had a great view, so we were ideally placed for the support bands, Dive Dive and Ed Harcourt. I really enjoyed Dive Dive’s set – it was energetic, catchy and accessible, but quite varied musically. Solo singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt was interesting – a blend of acoustic guitar, piano, percussion and recorded loops, all held together by Ed’s soulful voice. Not quite sure what I think of him yet, it’s the sort of music you need to hear a lot to get your head round, but it was fascinating to watch him build and layer the sounds.

At this point, waiting with anticipation for our headliner to come on,  I had a weird little panicky feeling – what if Frank wasn’t as good as I remembered? What if I’d idealised him in my head so much that he couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations? What if my admiration was mis-placed? And then suddenly the lights dropped, and Frank Turner was walking on stage…

He was brilliant – from the first song to the last, from the new material to the old favourites to the acoustic cover of Bruce Springsteen. Full of energy, alive with conviction and generally looking like he was having the time of his life, Frank  rocked! The random and completely unfounded worries of earlier melted into non-existence and I was left feeling pure elation. And I was not alone – the venue was packed and the crowd sang along to almost every song – and looking over the room from where I stood, I could see the joy that I was feeling mirrored on so many faces. The set was well constructed; starting with the full band, breaking down to just Frank with his guitar for a few numbers before building up again to the finale. I loved new song Peggy and sang my little heart out to classics like The Road and Photosynthesis.

An awesome experience and a fantastic gig – pure genius. Can’t wait for the next time.

*Note – buying a new super-warm woolly hat before standing in a queue in minus temperatures gives you a lovely smug feeling. Sometimes those impulse purchases are a good idea!

Frank Turner (or how I found someone to hero-worship)

I saw Million Dead once, you know.

It was back when I was a student at Derby uni, and my friend’s housemate’s band Dragonflies Draw Flame were playing a support slot, and so off I went. Of course, I was there for the support band, so I wasn’t that bothered about Million Dead at the time… But anyway, the two main things I took from that evening are these:

• Million Dead are (sorry, were) one of the loudest bands I have ever heard play live (seriously, it took days for my hearing to get back to normal!)
• Their lead singer is pretty cool though (and yes, I know it’s shallow, quite nice looking too)

Little did I realise at the time that ‘that lead singer guy’ would one day become one of my biggest influences.

The boys from Dragonflies Draw Flame were kind enough to let my friend and I dump our coats in the dressing room, and I remember going to get our stuff after the gig and wanting to speak to both bands, but letting my stupid teenage shyness get in the way. I think I just stood there and smiled – hopefully sweetly, but if I’m honest, I probably looked like an idiot – and couldn’t think of anything to say.

I didn’t think much of it for quite some time – Million Dead broke up, which I heard about and thought “that’s a shame, they were alright” – until one day my friend, I’ll call him G,  handed me a home copy of Sleep is for the Week and said “I think you’ll like this”. G is someone whose opinion is pretty much spot on as far as music is concerned,  so I took the cd home and listened to it… and listened to it and listened to it. To this day, it’s my favourite Frank Turner album – there’s just so much passion in those songs.

Not long after, I heard that Mr Turner was playing at Moles in Bath. Moles Club is a lovely little venue, and the opportunity to see my new favourite band (ok, artist) up close could not be passed up. I will always remember that gig for several reasons: The guys jumping up and down going “this is the tenth gig we’ve been too!”, the atmosphere of a small venue, the way that Frank connected with the crowd, the way that he was behind the merch stall eating pizza while the support act was on, G putting his hand on my back and gently forcing me to go and talk to him (I bought Campfire Punkrock and Frank signed it. Yay!) and the overwhelming feeling of being part of something new and exciting, something shared, something somehow bigger than this crowd in this cramped little venue.

After that I was hooked. Frank Turner, to me, is everything I would like to be in my own music – honest and passionate, clever but unpretentious. My hero.

So, kind readers of my little blog, I pose a question to you. Who are your music heroes, and why? Answers on a postcard (well ok, in the comments then!).

An addition: I just realised that I posted this without any of Frank’s music with it… so to demonstrate my point, this is Frank Turner playing a cover of The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by Postal Service.

http://www.youtube.com/v/aaLdJ7EbrVU?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0