Blog

Arctic Monkeys
Ash
Asian Dub Foundation
The Ataris
Answering Machines
Babyshambles
Bad Religion
Band of Horses
Basement Jaxx
Beat Bullyz x 2
Be Your Own Pet
Biffy Clyro
Bob Bowles x 3
Bob Dylan
Bloc Party
Bombay Bicycle Club
Bouncing Souls
Bowling for Soup
Bruce Springsteen x 2
Chumba Wumba
Damien Rice
Dashboard Confessionals
Dave Matthews Band
David Bowie
The Delays
Dizze Rascal
The Doves
The Early November
Editors x 2
Elbow
The Enemy
Faithless x 2
Fat Boy Slim
Feeder x 9
Foals
The Fun Lovin' Criminals x 8
Frank Turner x 2
Garbage
Gaslight Anthem
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
Green Day x 2
Gomez
Hard-Fi x 2
Hadouken!
Hot Chip
Idlewild x 2
James Morrison
Jimmy Cliff
Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong
Jack Penate
Jamie T
Jools Holland
Kate Nash
The Killers
Klaxons
Lilly Allen
Mansun
The Maccabees
Maximo Park
Moby
Muse
Mystery Jets
New Found Glory
Newton Faulkner x 211111
Oasis
The Offspring
Page & Plant
Patti Smith
Paolo Nutini
Pearl Jam x 4
The Polyphonic Spree
Prima Donna
Pussycat Dolls
Rage Against the Machine
R.E.M
Rival Schools x 2
Rolf Harris
Roger Walters
The Rumble Strips
Saves the Day
Scouting for Girls
The Streets
The Subways
The Sugababes
The Sunshine Underground
Ting Tings
Travis
Walter Schreifels
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Wintersleep
Wombats x 3

The list below represents a list of all the bands and artists I've seen live over the years, scratched together from old ticket stubs, festival programmes and dragged up from the depths of my pretty poor memory (and prodded by a friend's journal).

The list is far from complete - I've listed support bands where I can remember them but the chances are if the name isn't on the ticket I've not included them. Likewise, my festival memories are sometimes a bit sketchy, so for these reasons I reserve the right to add to the list whenever a name comes back to me.

A
A Place to Bury Strangers
The Airborne Toxic Event
Al Green
Alabama 3
Annuals
Arab Strap
Ashley & Jackson
The Automatic

B
Baddies
Basement Jaxx
Bat for Lashes
The Bays
Beck
Belle & Sebastian
The Besnard Lakes
Beth Orton
The Beta Band
Black Kids
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Bluetones
Blur
The Boy Least Likely To
Bright Eyes

C
Caribou
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
The Charlatans
Chemical Brothers
Coldplay
The Cooper Temple Clause
The Coral
The Cuban Brothers

D
Daft Punk
Dag for Dag
Death in Vegas
De La Soul
The Delgados
Dinosaur Pile-up
Dirty Three
Doves
Dreadzone

E
Echo and the Bunnymen
Ed Harcourt
Elbow
Electric Sound Of Joy
Elliott Smith
Embrace
Emma Pollock
EPMD

F
Faithless
The Fall
The Farm
Family Cat
The Feeling
The Flaming Lips
The Frank & Walters
Friendly Fires
Frightened Rabbit

G
Galliano
Gemma Hayes
Gomez
Groove Armada
Guillemots
The Gutter Twins

H
Happy Mondays
The Horrors
The House of Love

I
Ida Maria
Idlewild
Interpol
Iron And Wine

J
J Mascis
James
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Jesus Jones
Joanna Newsom
Jools Holland

K
K T Tunstall
Kingmaker
Kula Shaker

L
Ladyhawke
Lightning Bolt
The Lilys
Lowgold

M
The Magic Numbers
Magnolia Electric Co
Manic Street Preachers
Mansun
Maps
Martin Stephenson and The Daintees
Massive Attack
Mercury Rev
MGMT
Micah P. Hinson
Mull Historical Society
The Music
My Bloody Valentine

N
The National

O
Oasis
Orbital

P
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Parachute Men
Paris Angels
Pele
Pitman
Primal Scream
Pulp

Q
Queens of the Stone Age

R
Radiohead
RJD2
Rolf Harris

S
Scout Niblett
The Sea and Cake
Shack
The Shamen
The Shortwave Set
Serena Maneesh
Silver Sun
Six by Seven
Skunk Anansie
Slow Bongo Floyd
Sonic Youth
Spectrum
Spiritualized
St Germain
The Strands
The Streets
Sun Kil Moon
Sun Ra Arkestra

T
Tanita Tikaram
Tapes N Tapes
Teenage Fanclub
That Petrol Emotion
Tommy Reilly
Top
T'Pau
Tricky
Turin Brakes

W
The Waterboys
The Wave Pictures
We Show Up On Radar
The White Stripes
The Wonder Stuff

Y
Yo La Tengo

X
The xx

Here's what's making the most popular rounds on Jazz FM's daytime playlist in Februrary!

Jocelyn Brown Somebody else's guy (Bob Baldwin mix)
Kenny G Fiesta loca
Robert Glasper F.T.B.
Jools Holland / Ruby Turner The Informer
Jazzanova Lucky Girl
John Legend Good Morning
Imelda May Johnny got a boom boom
Candi Staton Who’s hurting now
Swing Out Sister I'd be happy
J. View Smooth criminal
Anthoney Wright No me without you

Jocelyn Brown Somebody else's guy (Bob Baldwin mix)
Brian Culbertson Always remember
Eliane Elias Superwoman
Jools Holland The Informer
Incognito Step aside
Jazzanova Lucky Girl
John Legend Good Morning
Imelda May Johnny got a boom boom
Jason Mraz Make it mine
Swing Out Sister I'd be happy
Stevie Wonder Never give you up
Anthoney Wright No me without you

For more information on the Jazz FM playlist or for details on where to service stock, email mike.vitti@jazzfm.com

Sun 29 Jun – Radiohead

This Radiohead gig, which I am about to do no justice to whatsoever with my casual little "review", was merely the high point of a rather eventful weekend in which myself and my now ex-flatmate Lauren had to clean our whole flat from top to toe, get the last of our stuff out, and be officially vacant by noon today. So, I no longer have a flat. *sigh*.

But enough about that! On Sunday afternoon after cleaning the shit out of every room of that place (not literally - just realised how nasty that sounds) we jumped in Lauren's car and began on the presumeably simple journey to Lancashire County Cricket Club (AKA Old Trafford Cricket Ground). Just to put into context how close we actually live to Trafford let me just say that the Asda over the road from The Trafford Centre was indeed our local one and frequented by us. We didn't know exactly where the cricket ground was, but we certainly knew the way to the football ground and knew it was pretty near there. It should've been a 15 minute journey at the very most, meaning we'd get there for the time the gates opened at 4pm.
But no.
Our incompetence abounds!
After missing the turning for LCCC, we ended up in the middle of Manchester, held up by this church parade, then somehow ended up in some Chorlton estate before finally getting back to Trafford probably about an hour later. Ridiculous. How is that humanely possible?

Luckily when we finally did get to the venue it wasn't stupidly busy yet. Of course it was certanly filling up, but we had a while to relax before having to park ourselves somewhere in the actual arena - at this point we were still in the car park, spending far too long queuing for the cash machines and paying £2.50 for a piddly little tray of chips.

We wandered into the actual cricket pitch/gig area literally a couple of minutes before MGMT were on, who I was really looking forward to. However, their set passed me by without much interest. It was no fault of their own, to be fair. It was a few other things: the atmosphere hadn't gotten big enough to justify the venue yet, the screens weren't on and I could see bugger-all of the stage, their music was blowing away on the wind...kinda felt like I wasn't seeing them live at all. It sounded like they were playing great and I love their music, but it just felt like they were so far removed from me. Me! A lowly audience member somewhere towards the middle who just wanted to take it easy before Radiohead! It was all just...so distant. I'm sure I'll see them again some time, though. Hopefully in quite a small venue.

Towards the end of MGMT's set Lauren got a text off Neil, who was on our course at uni (was in our band for a few years, too). We knew he was going to the gig, and we wandered over to the other side of the field to find him in the stands. It took us a minute to spot him but when we did he was already bounding down the stairs and greeted us with big hugs. I think he was already half drunk by the time we saw him, which frankly made me a little jealous! I was too poor to afford beer and Lauren was driving, so unfortunately it was a no-no. The weather was so beautiful that a nice cold beer would've gone down just lovely, but oh well! It's not like it ruined the day or anything. We had a chat with Neil for a while, caught up about what we've been doing since uni and all that, and before we knew it, Bat for Lashes was on.

Like I said, we were over the other side of the field by this point, with the stage to our left and the wind blowing away from us. Consequently, the sound was much better and there was none of that windy delay you get. Lauren and I parked ourselves in the seats in front of Neil and his mates and basically had a chat with Bat For Lashes as background music. I've only heard one or two of her songs before, I think, on Jools Holland or something like that. I enjoyed her set though. I couldn't see anything and to be honest I wasn't that bothered about being able to see at this point, I just wanted to have a listen and a chat. Of course she must get compared to Bjork quite often. She has a wicked voice, though and there were some lovely lyrics jumping out during chat-pauses! There was one track that particularly stood out. I think she said it was a new one. I'm sure I'll be getting some of her music sooner or later, though. Again, though...I did feel very detatched in terms of it being a live performance - might as well have been listening to a CD in a field. Granted, a field full of throusands of people, but a CD in a field nonetheless. I was slightly worried that I would feel this way when Radiohead came on. When I went to Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2007 I noticed this problem in the main stage tent. I don't know whether it's just because of size, or what, but sometimes it just doesn't seem like you're watching a band at all. I would've been devastated if this was the case with Radiohead. Thankfully though, it so wasn't.

I'm a bit stuck for what to say about Radiohead because like I said at the start, I'm just not gonna do it justice. For starters, I think I'm gonna have to say that this was the second best gig I've ever been to (after Led Zeppelin, so that's no mean feat). It must've been because the atmosphere got so much better as soon as Radiohead came onstage - even during the anticipation to them coming onstage - but suddenly it did feel like I was a significant part of an audience watching a live band. I wasn't sure at first about staying in the stands; in fact I was quite disappointed at the prospect, but as soon as I stood up I realised that I'd be able to see loads better where we were than had we tried to find somewhere half-decent on the floor which would've been nigh on impossible.

I guess the aspect I love most about Radiohead's music is that it's just so emotive and moving. This was the thing I wanted to come through the most live and I was ecstatic to find that it most certainly was. The first half of the set I spent shielding my eyes from the sun as it slowly ducked down behind the stand on the opposite side of the field, and the band's set seemed to intensify as the sun set, not only because of the music but because of the sky becoming more and more beautiful and the lights onstage becoming even more bright.

Unfortunately, where we were Radiohead were quite tiny on the stage, but you could pick out a bit of very distintive movement, especially from Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. The big screens made up for this though which were very effective in their simplicity. The lights were stunning, too, with my favourite being the awesome rainbow colours that first appeared at the end of Paranoid Android.

Here is the setlist: =D

15 Step
Airbag
There There
All I Need
Nude
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The Gloaming
The National Anthem
Faust Arp
No Surprises
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Reckoner
Just
Bangers + Mash
Everything In Its Right Place
Fake Plastic Trees
Bodysnatchers

1st Encore
Videotape
Paranoid Android
Myxomatosis
Optimistic
Karma Police

2nd Encore
Pyramid Song
2+2=5
Idioteque

3rd Encore
Lucky

After the second encore I really thought it was the end, but when they came back and played Lucky I was in raptures! I was really hoping they'd have played The Tourist after it, but alas...it was not to be! The only slight niggles I have with the set is that they didn't play How To Disappear Completely, Like Spinning Plates or Street Spirit (Fade Out). This is only a post-gig thing, however. During the set I had no qualms whatsoever. I was just enjoying every single moment of it.

My very favourite tracks, if I really had to narrow it down would be Nude, Just, Everything In Its Right Place, Paranoid Android, Myxomatosis, 2+2=5 and Lucky. However, everything was at its most perfect during Pyramid Song. I was so happy when they came back on and opened into the intro to this. It is one of my absolute favourite songs, probably ever, let alone by Radiohead. Everything just seemed to intensify. The breeze and the warmth of the air seemed much more pleasant, the sky seemed even more beautiful. I'm sounding like a right pansy now but I spent half of Pyramid Song with my eyes shut and my face to the sky becoming completely enveloped in the track, smiling away. It was perfect.

I never wanted them to leave the stage, and the number of encores felt like this wish would come true at one point!
Of course though, that just couldn't happen, and besides, according to Thom they were gonna turn into pumpkins and we wouldn't want that, would we?! =P

Well, I think I've said all I can say.

Apart from this:
See Radiohead.
Your life will be better.

=D =D

Pictures here.

1. What are you listening to right now?
Until The End by Breaking Benjamin

2. Your favorite band/artist of all time?
Linkin Park, surprise surprise

3. The band or artist you hate the most?
Crazy Frog

4. Your last musical discovery?
Dunno, probs Boys Like Girls, they're wkd

5. Best feminine voice?
Oh hard one, either Amy Lee from Evanescence or Avril Lavigne

6. Best masculine voice?
Chester Bennington from Linkin Park, then probably Matt Tuck from Bullet For My Valentine

7. What is the musical genre you listen to the most?
Alot of rock, but i like Nu-Metal the most

8. Last concert/festival you went to?
Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers! lol, they were pretty gd actually

9. The last VERY famous band or artist seen live?
Jools Holland!!

10. The band or artist you listen to the most?
Linkin Park, by a long long way

11. What is the worst song in the world?
Hmmmmmm...... either Crazy Frog's "Axel F" or Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body"

12. A band or artist you think the world should love as much as you do?
Boys Like Girls

13. The coolest music video?
Linkin Park's Breaking the Habit or What I've Done

14. Which song makes you sad?
Mainly Hero by Enrique Iglesias

15. What do you listen to, to feel bouncy and happy?
Bowling for Soup, The All-American Rejects

16. What do you listen to when you need to relax?
Linkin Park's Minutes To Midnight, mainly the song Leave Out All the Rest

17. A song that make you think?
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day

18. What is the perfect song for a love night?
Hero by Enrique Iglesias

19. Can you play a musical instrument?
Kinda...............

20. Which musical instrument do you dream of learning how to play?
Drums, to get alot better on the guitar (I suck), bass

21. Do you play in a band? If yes, which kind of music and what is your part in the band?
Nope

22. Did you ever go out with a musician?
Yep

23. And what song are you listening to right now?
In the Shadows by The Rasmus

24. What do you think of classical music?
Soooooooooooo boring, well a few bits are ok

25. What do you think of French Variety?
wtf

26. What do you think of death metal?
Man its great, my head hurts after too long listening to it though :(

27. Are you a fangirl?
Let me check....................Nope

28. Do you listen to music in other language than English?
Nope, lyrics mean alot to the song

29. The best band or artist in your town or near around?
Navaho

30. If you were a musical instrument, which would you like to be?
Probably drums, nice and noisy when they need to be

31. Do you listen to the radio? Which one is your favorite?
Hardly, only when my iPod runs out of battery, and i listen to any station that has rock on it

32. Do you watch music TV?
Yeh only to see the new songs and videos though

33. Do you follow the charts?
From time to time, just to see where my favourite bands are

34. Have you ever met a famous musician?
Nope, hope to though :)

35. The song that could describe your mood and feelings at the moment?
Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin Park

36. The song that could describe your life?
Tear's Don't Fall by Bullet For My Valentine

37. Do you know the name of the people in the bands you listen to?
Sometimes, Linkin Park, Yellowcard n Bullet For My Valentine mainly

38. Does physical appearance influence your musical choice?
Nope

39. Favorite Original Soundtrack?
Stardust by far

40. And RIGHT NOW? What are you listening to?
James Bond by Scouting for Girls

41. Do you wear t-shirts or anything else of your favorite bands or artist?
yh, LPU7 t-shirt and LP bag

42. What do you think of people who do that?
dedicated fan

43. Which song did you have in mind all day today?
Numb by Linkin Park, only coz its my alarm in the morning.

44. Do you sing in the shower? If yes, what? If not, why?
Yh all the time, Faint or Bleed It Out by Linkin Park

45. To which musical culture to you think you belong to?
well apparently I'm a greeb, according to jake........

46. What is in your MP3 walkman at the moment?
oh lots of things, Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park, The All-American Rejects, Boys Like Girls, etc

47. Which importance have the musical taste of your boy/girlfriend? Friends?
Dosent matter to me what they listen to as long as we have a few artists in common

48. Hanson moves in next to your house, do you go introduce yourself or make everything possible so they want to move somewhere else?
make them move!

49. Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, is that your thing?
yep, except for the drugs

50. Do you sing on the toilet?
sometimes

In this second journal entry I'd like to say a few words about an artist I've seen perform live last weekend: Jools Holland, or to be fair with respect to his musical partners, Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, accompanied by singers Louise Marshall and Ruby Turner.

I got into boogie-woogie about three years ago, and I think the first piece of music I heard by Jools Holland was a song called River Boogie Woogie, released on an album entitled Solo Piano that I've since given up on finding. A very clean sound, a great swing and an incredible musicianship that made me hungry for more. So I started documenting on Jools Holland's discography, and found out that he was playing with -- a LOT of -- other musicians, including his own "big band" (drums, guitars, bass, trumpets, saxophones, trombones, ...).

Since then, I've been listening to about anything I could find that he and his band has released. The music they play is mostly swing and jazz, but they're not shy about playing boogie woogie, blues, reggae, ska, and old rock n' roll. I had the opportunity to see them perform live for the first time over a year ago, and their show, which featured singer Ruby Turner, was truly mindblowing. I did not know many songs, but I was thrilled every single second of the show, with a big smile on my face all the while; a quick glance around showed me I was not the only one: everyone seemed so happy, smiling, singing, dancing, drinking ... I knew for sure it wouldn't be the last time I'd attend their shows.

As I understand, Jools Holland is not only famous in the United Kingdom for his music, but also for a TV show he hosts, which is called "Later with Jools Holland". I never watched the show, but it might be worth checking it out; it seems that he had the opportunity during the show to perform with Tom Jones, and this was the beginning of a collaboration that would lead to a true masterpiece naturally entitled Tom Jones & Jools Holland. I assume it is one of the many collaborations that was made possible by the show, since most tracks that can be found on Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra's album feature well-known artists -- I'll leave you the pleasure of finding out which ones ;-)

Besides the album with Tom Jones, my recommendation would be to give Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska a try. You should not be disappointed, to say the least...

11 November 1994 > Newport Centre, Newport
Counting Crows > Cracker

10 March 1995 > Anson Rooms, Bristol
Radiohead > Marion

25 / 26 / 27 August 1995 > Reading Festival
China Drum > dEUS > Beck > Teenage Fanclub > Hole > Green Day > Smashing Pumpkins > Powder > Hooker > The Bluetones > Drugstore > Flinch > Pennywise > NOFX > Silverchair > Vent > Ash > Pavement > Soundgarden > Neil Young

21 October 1995 > Anson Rooms, Bristol
Cast

09 November 1995 > Anson Rooms, Bristol
Chumbawamba > The Cardiacs

1995 – 1996? > Moles Club, Bath
Compulsion

1995 - 1996? > Lousiana, Bristol
Urusei Yatsura > Longpigs > ELKA

27 June 1996 > Lousiana, Bristol
Compulsion > Evil Superstars

18 February 1997 > Colston Hall, Bristol
Placebo > dEUS

09 September 1997 > Gloucester Leisure Centre, Gloucester
Radiohead

16 May 1998 > Club Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Unbelievable Truth

21 July 1998 > Fleece & Firkin, Bristol
Sparklehorse

18 May 1999 > The Stage, Stoke-on-Trent
dEUS

27 March 1999 > Fleece & Firkin, Bristol
Drunk In Public (Levellers acoustic)

06 November 1999 > Wembley Arena, London
Red Hot Chili Peppers > Feeder

2000 > Bedminster, Bristol
Kyoko

06 April 2000 > New Trinity Centre, Bristol
Godspeed You Black Emperor > Sigur Rós > Fly Pan Am

02 September 2000 > Tredegar House, Newport
Radiohead > Sigur Rós

17 June 2002 > Academy, Bristol
Counting Crows

23 June 2002 > Academy, Bristol
Sonic Youth

28 / 29 / 30 June 2002 > Glastonbury Festival
Alabama 3 > Bush > Ash > Spiritualized > Coldplay > Jools Holland > No Doubt > Rival Schools > Starsailor > The White Stripes > Stereophonics > Rolf Harris > Ooberman > Badly Drawn Boy > Elbow > Roger Waters > Gorky’s Zygotic Monkey > Air

03 December 2002 > Academy, Bristol
Badly Drawn Boy

07 October 2002 > Anson Rooms, Bristol
Sigur Rós

21 October 2002 > Colston Hall, Bristol
Beth Orton

27 / 28/ 29 June 2003 > Glastonbury Festival
The Darkness > Athlete > Mogwai > Zwan > Suede > Beth Orton > R.E.M. > Jools Holland > The Thrills > The Polyphonic Spree > Kings of Leon > The Flaming Lips > Radiohead > Cerys Matthews > Feeder > Sigur Rós > Moby

6 October 2003 > The Foundry, Sheffield
Elbow

20 November 2003 > Hallam FM Arena
Bob Dylan & His Band

29 November 2003 > The National Ice Centre, Nottingham
Radiohead

18 June 2004 > City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester
Red Hot Chili Peppers > James Brown

14 November 2004 > Leadmill, Sheffield
Hope of the States

22 February 2005 > The Spitz, London
Hood > Half Cousin

28 May 2005 > Zodiac, Oxford
Lou Barlow

09 July 2005 > Lowry, Manchester
Sigur Rós > Amina

15 October 2005 > Octagon, Sheffield
Supergrass

10 December 2005 > Octagon, Sheffield
Levellers

24 April 2006 > Hammersmith Apollo, London
José Gonzàlez

06 June 2006 > Koko, London
A Silver Mt. Zion

25 / 26 / 27 August 2006 > Reading Festival
Fields > Gogol Bordello > Belle and Sebastian > Kaiser Chiefs > Franz Ferdinand > Wolfmother > The Automatic > Feeder > Arctic Monkeys > Muse > Hope of the States > Coldcut > Placebo > Pearl Jam

26 October 2006 > South Bank Centre, London
Sparklehorse > Sol Seppy

08 February 2007 > Brixton Academy, London
Massive Attack > Spiritualized

07 March 2007 > Brixton Academy, London
Nine Inch Nails > Ladytron

01 March 2008 > Brixton Academy, London
UNKLE > Zoot Women

07 April 2008 > Scala, London
A Silver Mt. Zion > The Owl Service

16 April 2008 > Scala, London
dEUS > White Lies

16 May 2008 > The Forum, London
Iron & Wine > Bon Iver

25 June 2008 > Victoria park, London
Radiohead > Bat for Lashes