Although not living up to my previous record from March, I still believe that this last batch of shows are journal worthy, so I'll get on with my critique...
June's live music adventures kick-started on the 5th with an in-store appearance from
Gallows followed 2 days later with
As I Lay Dying's show at the Barfly. However the subject matter of this text begins on the 13th when I made my way into town to see
Art Brut's biggest yet show at the Astoria. After waiting quite some time to see
Art Brut I was quite excited, and they more than lived up to my expectations! While watching first band on the bill,
Ciccone's last ever show, I sparked up conversation with AB main-man Eddie Argos whom I spotted loitering at the back of the crowd. Argos proved to be a truely lovely bloke and upped my anticipation further. I did not get second support
Vincent Vincent and the Villains at all. The words "generic, pointless indie" just rotated in my head the whole time. When the 'Brut finally came on the crowd quite rightfully went mad. Playing a set combining tracks from both their debut and latest efforts, all the songs sounded fantastic and Argos is simply the definition of 'charisma'! I'm not too keen on frontman-ism and how the singer is always the center of attention, but despite the rest of the band never failing to impress, you simply couldn't afford a glimpse away from the energetic antics of Eddie. After finishing with one of my favourites,
Good Weekend, I left the Astoria feeling very thoroughly satisfied. An £11 very, very well spent.
Little over 12 hours later I was on the tube back into the center of town. This time the venue was Hyde Park where I was off to see
The White Stripes headline show at the Wireless Festival. The first band there who I saw enough of the set of to judge properly was
The Sounds, who I heard a bit and heard
Tony the Beat but wanted to hear more of, and I'm glad I did. I was greatly impressed from the half hour of tracks I heard and thought that they put on a good live show, the only thing I was disappointed at was the lack of enthusiasm from the audience. Next on were the oldies of the day
The Only Ones who I was only familiar with and love, as everyone ever does,
Another Girl, Another Planet. However it came quite clear early on why that is their only big hit as I found the rest of the set very inconsequential and dull. Next on were
Satellite Party, who I was very excited about seeing as I do love my
Jane's Addiction and find Perry Farrell to be a great frontman in general. Opening with 'Addiction classic
Stop! and my mouth a massive grin, I was blown away by them as a live force - Farrell himself being especially good. While SP's own music does leave little to be desired itself, when you have a live show that good it really doesn't matter! The second headliners
Queens of the Stone Age followed shortly behind to a similar level of crowd excitement as the headliners! Being quite the Queens fan Ive always been looking forward to seeing them, however I had heard mixed things about the intensity of their performance, and I am quite disappointed to announce that I will for now have to agree to the more negative reports. While they weren't bad per se, my main argument is that the bands level of on-stage action doesn't match up to the music. Josh Homme was, as to be expected, cool as fuck - its just a shame he forgot how to move whilst on stage. As the QOTSA set came to an end I noticed an army of be-suited blokes with red ties standing by the stage and as soon as the last note was over they ran on and started on the White's stage show. After some scrubbing and mandolin tuning from the suited roadies it was time for the triumphant entrance of Jack n' Meg.
The White Stripes have been regarded for quite some time to be the best live act about so I was about to judge for myself. Despite playing a handful of tracks from their last 4 albums including new masterpiece
Icky Thump the set did seem quite short. However they were indeed very, very, very good. Despite her singing in
In the Cold, Cold Night, Meg kept quiet the whole time while the little crowd banter Jack did indulge in was, as you would expect, crazy as hell! I have seen
The Raconteurs twice and have been blown away both times, and while I don't think The 'Stripes exceeded them with their performance, it certainly matched it - which is no easy feat!
After a day of rest, it was back to the
Astoria to see thrash metal legends Megadeth. After missing the support act I fought my way to as far to the front as I could and ended up about a metre in front of guitarist Glen Drover. When the 'Deth came on at (the seemingly early) 8 o'clock, I was very excited as I had been waiting for this for very long. I really liked latest album 'United Abominations' so I was glad they played quite a bit from it. However nothing to match my excitement when they broke out the classics!
Symphony of Destruction sounded as amazing as ever, but it was finisher and one of my favourite tracks ever
Holy Wars...The Punishment Due that REALLY blew me away. Fucking fantastic! However by 9:20 they had gone and we were being shooed out the venue so weekly club G-A-Y could begin at the Astoria, which I found quite amusing, if not a little annoying as I reckon I could have got more 'Deth for my money had they been given the time...
The next day I was in for my biggest gig yet, as I headed over to the new 90,000 (!!!!!!!!!) capacity
Wembley Stadium to see the second of Muse's career defining shows. Which I hasten to add I got a ticket to for eight pounds!!! Despite there being three supports lined up for the show, I only got there to see the final one,
My Chemical Romance, who I had seen twice previously despite not even being a fan! However as a show band this was the best time I had seen them, it was a shame their set mainly consisted of their newer material which I never liked as much as their previous works. I could see from when MCR were on stage that the stage props were going to be very impressive, and by the time
Muse appeared in the middle of the stadium in a fountain of glitter it was already more extravagant than any other show I had seen this week. walking to the stage and bursting into set opener and standout track
Knights of Cydonia the stage really came to life, which it continued to throughout the 23 song set. Muse, a lot like The White Stripes, have gained a name for themselves as an amazing live act - so I had a built up a high expectancy for them, and they delivered but I couldn't help but think that if they didn't have all the fruity lights and screens would they be so good? And yes, I suppose they would be as there is no denying they are amazing showmen, but not more so then many other bands out there who don't receive such acclaim. However this did not mean that I thought less of the show, my highlight track would be a tie between
Butterflies & Hurricanes and
Stockholm Syndrome - both of which I have always rightfully thought would work fantastically well live. Also, I think I should mention the acrobats suspended from balloons in
Blackout which was a fantastic touch to go with the rest of the props which really were amazing (Ive enclosed a photo below to back it up! - I didn't take it, my seat was much better, but it backs me up!)
So in conclusion, I have decided to rank the 5 best bands of my week:
1) ART BRUT!!!
2) The White Stripes
3) Satellite Party
4) Muse
5) Megadeth
And now I'm extremely tired and my writing ability is losing its touch so I'll bid you adieu
L x
Ciccone