Indietracks in 7 minutes

I'm still hammering away at trying to shorten this video to make it more manageable and digestible. This is a seven minute version.

Indietracks long video - Part 2

Part 2 of the Last Night From Glasgow Indie Eyespy full length video of Indietracks 2009



This video feature the following bands recorded on Sunday

• Cola Jet Set
• Zipper
• The School
• Nick Garrie
• The Smittens
• Lucky Soul
• Pocketbooks
• BMX Bandits
• Stereo Total
• Help Stamp Out Loneliness
• Pete Green
• Cooper
• Art Brut
• Teenage Fanclub
  

My plan has been to do a full length video in two 10-minute long parts, these have now been completed. I also plan to make a 7-minute cut, a 3-minute cut and then finally somehow distill 40 minutes of footage of Indietracks 2009 into a 30 second clip featuring all the bands.

Videos from Indietracks 2008 last year are here, here and here

Sorry the sound quality is pants, I recorded it all on my trusty Canon Ixus 50 camera and built-in microphone with a 2Gb memory card in black and white, and used Windows Movie Maker for editing and subtitles. Its not high definition, its not even DVD quality, it's barely YouTube quality. I'm not a professional, I'm an unemployable wretch, so its got to be quick, easy and hassle free.

There were loads of other video folk at Indietracks, the Scottish mob, the pretty girls with professional equipment and the thousands of folk thrusting cameraphones at the stage, there's got to be some higher quality videos out theremost of them are listed in performance order on this page here, but this video is what I saw and what I heard, and it was great, I know cos I was there. Was There Then.

Videos from Indietracks 2008 are here, here and here

Indietracks long video - Part 1

Part 1 of the Last Night From Glasgow Indie Eyespy full length video of Indietracks 2009



This video feature the following bands recorded on Friday and Saturday

• Modular
• Rose Elinor Dougall
• Au Revoir Simone
• Little My
• Lets Whisper
• Friends
• Tender Trap
• Fitness First
• The Frank and Walters
• Labrador
• The Specific Heats
• Butcher Boy
• Camera Obscura
• Alaska
• Emmy the Great
• La Casa Azul
• 'Allo Darlin'
• The Smittens
• David Pope from The Just Joans
• Moustache of Insanity
• The Vegetable Assembly
• Images of Mathematicians on Postage Stamps
• Pete Green

My plan is to do a full length video in two 10-minute long parts, this is the first one, the second one with cover bands from the Sunday. I also plan to make a 7-minute cut, a 3-munite cut and then finally somehow distill 40 minutes of footage of Indietracks into a 30 second clip featuring all the bands.

Videos from Indietracks 2008 last year are here, here and here

Sorry the sound quality is pants, I recorded it all on my trusty Canon Ixus 50 camera and built-in microphone with a 2Gb memory card in black and white, and used Windows Movie Maker for editing and subtitles. Its not high definition, its not even DVD quality, it's barely YouTube quality. I'm not a professional, I'm an unemployable wretch, so its got to be quick, easy and hassle free.

There were loads of other video folk at Indietracks, the Scottish mob, the pretty girls with professional equipment and the thousands of folk thrusting cameraphones at the stage, there's got to be some higher quality videos out there, but this is what I saw and what I heard, and it was great, I know cos I was there. Was There Then.

Videos from Indietracks 2008 are here, here and here

La Casa Azul - Indietracks

There a chap on stage on his own singing with a video of five of his mates on a big screen behind him.

He's dressed in white and wearing a motorbike helmet, kind of like half of Daft Punk, as Kraftwerk.

Rather thumping sample-based dance music and some neat synchronised video effects.

Lots of people in the crowd are singing along, which surprises me a wee bit, half of its in Spanish.

Emmy the Great finishes on the indoor stage so crowds of people are flocking out to watch La Casa Azul in their thousands.

He kind of cuts a Moby-like figure, when Moby is at his Jesus Christ-est.

But it just goes on and on and on. Its so loud and thumping, the music permiates the whole festival site now, there's no escape. I just want a quiet corner somewhere ans happy quiet music. But instead I must wait for La Casa Azul to finish.

Fifteen years ago, I would have loved it, the mysteriousness od having a band that no one has seen in the flesh, samples and covers and dance music for hours on end, but I'm old tired this century, I have wish for simpler pleasures.

Emmy The Great - Indietracks

I stumble in when she's playing a cover of Hallelujah, which gets increasingly faster, and its pretty pleasant more upbeat than the usual versions.

Its the busiest I've seen the diesel shed all day, its just getting dark outside, still no sign of rain. Everyone seems to be really into what's going on on stage.

I'm afraid that I'm not all that familiar with the work of Emmy the Great, its sounds almost exactly like bog standard generic acoustic guitar with girl singing, maybe at the high end of that division, deserving of her Indoor Stage headliner placing. Maybe I should have been a fan before I wandered in.

Alaska - Indietracks

Alaska aren't quite as chilly as I was expecting. A little whiny maybe.

A couple of guitar chaps and synth.

Its got a little of the Joe MacAlinden about it, but the singer from Wheatus too.

The festival program says they have dedicated themselves to the fine popsong as a sensitive carrier of beauty and memories. I guess that pretty accurate, but its too personal and sophisticated to get from popping into the Church Stage for five minutes between bands elsewhere.

Camera Obscura - Indietracks

Why is Camera Obscura's album artwork pants this time? Behind them the album cover looms as a backdrop, what happened to the gorgeous photies of Chris and Katie Just Joans, ah weel.

Its been a while since I saw or heard the mighty 'Ob, they've a new album 'My Maudlin Career' and world tours and all kinds of stuff, they're just back from America where they went down well and are loved by college radio. I heard a couple of their new tracks on YouTube and at the time it didn't strike me as much of a step forward from the previous album 'Let's get out of this country', but here today under the sunshine its all quite dandy.

The ladies on stage look swell, Carey momentarily smiled, the gents are looking very dapper in suits. The set's a fine balance between old and new stuff. Razzle Dazzle Rose is great for this kind of weather.

They ought to be headlining, that would have made the day perfect.

Butcher Boy - Indietracks

Whilst Butcher Boy are gods in some circles, mainstream success still escapes them, they'll never be on Top of the Pops at this rate.

They're nice, warm and fuzzy and remind me of gigs my parents would drag me to in the north of Scotland as a wean. Still a little too folksy, not pop enough, no killer hooks, nothing for the postman to hum in the mornings.

The Indoor Stage is pretty crowded and there's dancing and revelling, but no more so than usual.

The Specific Heats - Indietracks

The Specific Heats start off their set with their reverb box bursting into flames and smoke, people screaming and running round until the sound engineer takes it out like a spent ghostbusters trap. On the second attempt at starting the singer chap breaks a guitar string and then whilst that gets sorted they tell a joke about scottish people which mock riles the mad scotish camera crew at the back until they realise that they're fans.

Third time lucky.

They start off all wearing capes but these are dispensed with quite soon.

From where I'm sat I can only see the cute bass player. The way she plays, she looks really dirty. Its the hair, eyes, mouth combo and dancinf whilst playing.

Lots of reverb despite the earlier damage. Have I seen these chaps before? The vamp garage sounds familiar, the Munsters theme tune smoking a wolfknuckle. But the melody reminds me of something else, like the odd bit of melody you could dig up in Jesus and Mary Chain tracks. There's something buried deep in there.

Labrador - Indietracks

Ginger acousticy chap with a neat drum machine that kicks in halfway through. Its a bit jangly and rattley.

But its nice.

The program reckons its '60s / 70s inspired lounge pop', but compared to the other lounge acts this weekend, he's not so much. Admittedly I did only catch the last few songs, so maybe.

The Church stage has been pretty packed all day so far, and I've only just been able to fight through the press of people round the door to find an empty pew inside.

The Frank and Walters - Indietracks

My brother was into The Frank and Walter more than I was back in the early nineties. They have that early nineties sound to them.

Driving synths with desperation vocals.

Amusing Irish banter between songs. Trying to remember if that time we saw them play The Winchester Club we thought the Irish banter was too hammed up.
Occasionally it sounds a bit too shindig for my tastes.

There are some dark dark clouds gathering overhead. Probably just here for the music, they don't rain or anything.

A wee ladybird landed on my finger and as we got to know each other I was in my own little world with The Frank and Walters just background music. Until it did that pooing thing that ladybirds do, and we parted company.

Fitness First - Indietracks

Another Spanish mob. Very lounge-core with lots of relaxed la la laa vocals. Disco-funk too towards the end.

The singer chap looks like Ron Jeremy, and the singing girls are pretty too.

I think they would have been better playing the indoor stage rather than outside, they need an enclosed space of people standing around chatting rather than lounging around on grass.

Tender Trap - Indietracks

Tender Trap are very far away. With and audience of thousands, squinting in the sunlight and still there are people queuing to get into the festival site.

Its sunshiny music, the ba ba baa backing vocals perfect for the scene.

There are more people here than Amelia was expecting so she's a bit anxious with new songs. They go fine, she had nothing to worry about.

Friends - Indietracks

Friend on stage, six of them, rocking rather heavily. They looked like they've escaped from the rock and blues festival down the road.

They seem like a good, tight, professional, hard-working sort of band. Just too bland for my tastes, not twee enough, or hooky.

Let's Whisper - Indietracks

It was a bit of a mad rush to get into the Let's Whisper carriage, they certainly have some eager fans. The WeePop massive, the Moustache of Insanity crew, even the Motherwell film makery people.
Its awfy warms and difficult to see the front, but it sounds okay. Wee Colin's stood in the middle, fresh from his song writing workshop, Dana is stood to the right and on the left is that chap from One Happy Island on ukulele.

Sugar sprinkled pop with harmonies and people singing different things at the same time. Its magic.

The train stopped for fifteen minutes whilst the engineers swap which end the engine goes gone. During which we ponder what if we're stuck there all day and who do we eat first.

The yelp of 'holy shit' as Dana realises that the train's returned to the platform halfway through 100 Roses which is why Colin's been trying to get them playing double-time.

"They were all right" says Robbie.

Little My - Indietracks

In their element with a a huge stage, and the sun all shining through the skylights. Little My with animal costumes.

Did they play the same stage at the same time last year? Possibly. I think I preferred last years set, the sound was better then.

Its a bit boomy, the levels could do with tweaking. But the crowd seem happy enough.

I couldn't stay for long, I had a train to catch.

Au Revoir Simone - Indietracks

Three girls with keyboards.

A bit droney, they make my sinuses rattle.

A bit disco too, the kids at the front seemed to like them a lot.

Rose Elinor Dougall - Indietracks

The sun's just setting as she takes to the stage, everyone squints. Near to where I sit a girl draws pictures in her notebook. The rain has gone and its all summery.

People are queuing to enter the Indietracks site on a Friday night.

Rose Elinor Dougall on stage is pretty neat. She suits the wide stage and huge audience better than she does the confines of venues like the Enterprise.

There's a dark air of celtic about her sound. Could do with more overdrive for my tastes,but its still has that arch sound to it, the rest of the band is kind of secondary to her voice. Although the leopard print cat-suited bass player is pretty neat.

She has a little of the Help Stamp Out Loneliness to her vocals, that it could be used for opera, but right now its indie.

Modular - Indietracks

Its gone all corporate, there's a fence round the place, the trains are one side, the burger vans and stages on the other.

Its Friday night and on stage are Modular from Buenos Aires.

The program says soundscapes of retrofuturistic and fantastic feeling, which is about right. It music that makes you smile. And eep, they're singing in Spanish. I've no idea what they're saying but it sounds lovely.

Its kind of sunny with on and off rain, some people wearing shorts, some in raincoats. From where I'm sat, behind the toilet block, I can see four people wearing striped jumpers.

Ooh, on stage they have some spacy reverb going down and vocoda vocals, its like 1999 in the future.

Maybe its just the language thing, but its very background musicy, rather than some I can really sink my teeth into. Having said that, soke of the trumpet / drum lines are a bit shoegazery early Boo Radleys, with a bit of Moody Blues psychedelia.

List of videos of Indietracks 2009

This is going to be a list of Indietracks 2009 videos on YouTube, in performance order:-

FridayMain stage
Rose Elinor Dougall - Recorded by eolrindebara

Saturday
Main stage
Sucrette - part 1 - Recorded by eolrindebara
Sucrette - part 2 - Recorded by eolrindebara
La Casa Azul - Love is in the air - Recorded by Astrid Wiezell

Indoor stage
Friends - Recorded by eolrindebara
Mighty Mighty - Recorded by eolrindebara
Butcher Boy - Recorded by eolrindebara

Church stage
The Rocky Nest - Recorded by eolrindebara

Trains
Lets Whisper - When you were eating ice cream - Recorded by Nick Vestberg

Tents
How Does It Feel - recorded by HDIF
David Pope and Colin Clary - What Do We Do Now? - Recorded by Nick Vestberg

Sunday
Main stage
Cola Jet Set - Recorded by eolrindebara
The School - Recorded by SimonLove
The School - Valentine - Recorded by TheAlexH
Nick Garrie - Twilight - Recorded by TheAlexH
Lucky Soul - White Russian Doll and Up in Flames - Recorded by TheAlexH
BMX Bandits - Recorded by eolrindebara
BMX Bandits - I wanna fall in Love - Recorded by TheAlexH
Stereo Total - Wir tanzen im 4-Eck - Recorded by Lars Frodo
Cooper - Recorded by NeonPike
Teenage Fanclub - Baby Lee - Recorded by Follanegraz
Teenage Fanclub - He'd be a Diamond and Neil - Recorded by TheAlexH

Indoor stage
Eux Autres - Part 1 - Recorded by eolrindebara
Eux Autres - Part 2 - Recorded by eolrindebara
Eux Autres - Part 3 - Recorded by eolrindebara
Disaster Radio - Recorded by NeonPike
Help Stamp Out Loneliness - Part 1 - Recorded by eolrindebara
Art Brut - DC Comics make me want to rock out - Recorded by Nick Vestberg

Church Stage
Helene - Recorded by NeonPike
Countryside - Recorded by NeonPike
Hong Kong in the 60s - Footsteps - Recorded by AnorackHighStreet
Gordon McIntyre - I gave up my eyes - Recorded by TheAlexH
Gordon McIntyre - Part 1 - Recorded by eolrindebara
Gordon McIntyre - Part 2 - Recorded by eolrindebara
Gordon McIntyre - Part 3 - Recorded by eolrindebara

Dunno what day
Talulah Gosh - Beatnik Boy - recorded by HDIF

Recorded over many days
Last Night From Glasgow Indie Eyespy - Part 1 - Recorded by Chris Gilmour

If there's any videos I've missed or song titles I dunno, feel free to leave a comment.

Chris TT - Wilmington Arms

I think this could be the first time I've seen Chris T-T, although Songkick has it that he's played with MJ Hibbett a couple of times.

Tentative piano improv. Lots of arpaggios, its almost magical.

The room is full and the people silent, although a little music is leaking in from the pub next door.

There a strained pauses between each piece as Chris works up the mana to continue. You can see his eyes glaze over when he begins to lose himself in the music.

Quiet chortle as people recognise the outro riffs from Bohemian Rhapsody and Layla.

He finishes up by playing a handful of song requests from the audience on his acoustic guitar.

Sweet Baboo - Betsey Trotwood

I reckon Sweet Baboo are a bit dub gospel. Like Johnny Cash's spaceship had crashlanded in North Wales rather than Smallville. He even does that pointing guitar thing that JC did.

I'm not sure if might not be a carefully scripted and rehearsed comedy act.

Warm and delicate acoustic guitar with like the biggest electric I've ever seen.

No doublebass player tonight "the twat's gone to Latitude instead." I love the banter, "no, I didn't go to the same primary school as you Steve", "Sorry that I've jabbled on. Jabbled?"

The songs have a little of the surreal about them, snow in a vietnamese field with your legs blown off. Backing vocals supplied by the reluctant keyboard player and some ghostly voices to the left of me in the crowd.

Allo Darlin' - Betsey Trotwood

I arrived late and missed Lets Whisper. Lots of familiar faces in the crowd, the WeePOP massive, the Moustache of Insanity crowd, Monster Bobby.

With the rest of the band set up in the corner, Elizabeth Darling lifts her microphone stand and steps to the centre of the room.

The place is packed and its mighty warm. For once I'm in the upstairs room at the Betsey Trotwood, usually the gigs I go to are in the basement.

The first song she plays on her own, just a girl and her ukulele and the whole room falls silent.

Its happy music. Music for small rooms of quiet people listening rather than big rooms with people talking.

Ooh, I've never noticed the Just Joans namedrop in a song before.

Some of the songs are available on iTunes, I'm not sure how to link to them, but if you search for 'Allo Darlin' they're easy to find, and well worth purchasing, I did.

WeePOP: Colin Clary - Buffalo Bar

Like a Tickle-me-Elmo with a guitar, this evening with part-time Elvis mutton-chops and the earnest dial cranked up to eleven.

Colin Clary is a jolly chap, the venue's quiet, its late and people are drifting home tired but spirits are high, and the few who remain are enthusiastic fans.

His set this evening involves lots of tuning up the guitar, and tweaking his wee practise amp, needlessly I'd say, but I am tone deaf.

Actually it is a little tinny and hurts my ears, sorry, I should have said.

Its very cutesy music, twee, but in a slightly different axis to the twee of the Bobby McGees, like you wouldn't see Colin wearing face paints and throwing paper aeroplanes to the crowd. Maybe its just Americanism.

Ooh, I love the solo version of Sapphire that he treats us to, a chap in the crowd videoed it so that'll be a treat for later.

WeePOP: Secret Charisma - Buffalo Bar

A chap on his own, centre stage with his head at a jaunty angle playing a cow-print ukulele, Secret Charisma.

He plays a number of songs from a self-penned rock opera. I gather the story's about a guy who jacks in his job and goes travelling looking up old friends.

Aw man, its the guy from One Happy Island. Oh, he was anecdoting and mentioned Orange Nicole, I saw her earlier this year, she was all right.

For the last song he drags on stage Colin Clary and another quarter of One Happy Island, for a jaunty little number.

WeePOP: Ich Bin Finn - Buffalo Bar

They're an odd looking bunch, Ich Bin Finn. Tonight without their drummer and so are playing an acoustic set.

Acoustic bass, acoustic guitar, ukulele and occasional harmonica, two singing girls.

Folksy, hella set of lungs, London twang, a bit Kate Nash in a leopard print dress, and shaved bits in her hair, a somewhat rockabilly look perhaps. "I'm not in a band and I'm not from Harrow" she cries in the song Delusions of Grandeur, I don't think that's quite accurate.

A little bit shambolic, giggling and corpsing during songs but having a whale of a time at it.

WeePOP: The Sunny Street - Buffalo Bar

Hang on, are The Sunny Street the same band as Electrophonvintage? They've got like the same members, well, no drummer, but a backing track with drums and synth and the girl does most of the singing and the singing chap stands at the back.

It would be nice to have songs in French. The girl singing sounds like Sarah Cracknell tonight, my attractive young ladyfriend notes that she's wearing a retro early nineties tight black lacy mini-dress.

Sounds a bit boomy where we're sat at the back. The vocals low in the mix. Could just be cos of the acoustics, and if we stood up and moved forward it would sound better, but its comfy here.

Its gets lovely and shoe-gazery towards the end, I liked Ian's lead bass guitar, that was neat.

Twee As Fuck: The Days - The Victoria

Four skinny lads, I'm wondering if they are the nominal headline act, the final band of the night after Comet Gain cancelled.


Do Comet Gain always cancel? I lost faith in them a long time ago.

On stage, The Days, from Gothenburg. Breezy and jangly, with just a smidgen of quirky.

Some very gentle hooks in the melody, those wee descending guitar lines, and last night in the city vocals.


Some people at the front really getting into it. But its too relaxed for me, if I could find a seat it the music would lull me to sleep.

Its been a long day, there are lots of big scary drunk people here, staggering and bumping.

I've been listening to lots of early-era Franz Ferdinand recently. This mob on stage, their vocals sound like the more quiet and less arty bits of the Franz.

Twee As Fuck: Tender Trap - The Victoria

Fast, exciting, yelpy music, as usual, from Tender Trap. I don't really know what to say. They sure look like they're enjoying themselves on stage, if a little hot and sweaty.

Nice backing vocal 'ba ba baa's, which today I shall describe as yummy.

Setlists dissolving into pulp beneath their feet, the previous band spilt beer on stage, and mopping can only do so much.

They were still undecided which new song to play, the one that half the band know or the one that the other half of the band know. It turns out okay anyhoo.

Twee As Fuck: Slow Club - The Victoria

Slow Club are a two-piece, bloke on guitar and girl standing playing drums. Both singing harmonies, a bit country really, there's a twang in the girl's vocals.

Crikey, the young Jane Fonda is in the audience, that's somewhat unexpected. And there's a chap who looks like Skif45 off of Songkick, which is less unexpected.


Occasional harmony whistling solos, and bumbled songs restarted halfway through, but done nice.

The girl's got a mighty fringe.

Ooh, in the absence of a lead for an additional guitar, the duo wander into the midst of the crowd to play an un-mic'ed acoustic number. A dozen cameras are thrust into the air trying to snatch a shot. Nice harmonies, they silence the yakking at the back of the audience a little, but it soon rises again.

The band grow on me mightily through the set, its the contrast between the twang in the vocals and the between song banter that really makes it. Luv it.

Twee As Fuck: The Bobby McGees - The Victoria

I've never noticed the apostrophe in McGee's before, it could just be a typo I guess.

There was a hella debate on the Anorak forum recently about the nature of 'twee', and how lazy journalists (mostly from The Guardian) brand the whole of the indiepop/DIY scene as twee, and how it really pisses off some of the non-twee folk. Today is the Twee As Fuck 2nd birthday Alldayer, and whilst many acts that play at the Twee As Fuck clubnight are far from the twee end of the spectrum, the Bobby McGees are the very epitome of twee.

They wear facepaints and throw sweeties and paper aeroplanes into the crowd, they have scottish accents and blow bubbles, they have songs with audience participation, songs about being scared your girlfriend is going to dump you or that you're not going to find a girlfriend. They play glokenspiels and ukuleles, they host a series on youtube teaching how to play the ukulele. There are none more twee than this mob.

Its a bit sickly sweet for some. According to Songkick I've seen the Bobby McGees play live fifty seven times, but sometimes I can't look in the direction of the stage lest I wee myself and try to enroll back at primary school.

Christ, Jimmy has glitter in his beard.

They played a new song, which was very nice and soulful, it'd be nice if there was more of that sort of thing and less hamming up of the twee. Actually the one that come next using the closure of Woolies as a metaphor for the loss of innocence, that was beautiful and just a little majestic. The majesty of twee.

Twee As Fuck: Veronica Falls - The Victoria

Traffic was hell, I arrive late at the Twee As Fuck alldayer and manage to catch the last song from Veronica Falls.

Its swelteringly hot in here, not quite Wood Side Social sweat dripping off walls yet, there's plenty of time for that later. The band are a lot heavier than I remember from the other week, thunderous you might say. Patrick's standing up behind his drums when he's not singing, the others rocketing along.

Outside its overcast, raining a little bit, all warm and humid as though a storm's about to break, and on the corner stage in The Victoria this evening, its like the storm has broken.


All raw and youthful energy blasting off the stage.

Ballboy - Roxy Bar and Screen

Bit of a nightmare getting to the venue today, one day the London underground will be running okay, at some point in the mythical future, not today though.

Luckily cos of the Wimbledon final everything's running late.

Tonight there's a screening of a Ballboy documentary / gig footage, “Trying Not To F**k It Up”. I was trying to figure out if I was with my attractive young ladyfriend at the time. A quick snatch at Songkick shows that the gig was a few months before I met her, alas.

I've seen Ballboy quite a few times, Songkick reckons four times, but I swear there was a show at The Arches in Glasgow, well, it was his laptop-based spin-off project Money Can't Buy Music. I'm disappointed that the internet has no record of that show. I always figured that in the mythical future, everything in living memory would be recorded somewhere, somehow. Every gig somewhere out there on a list, in a database. But no, its exactly the same as if the show didn't happen and I'd just imagined it.

There used to be this club night at The Arches, The Funk Room. Flatmate Alan used to take me along to see acts like The Soul Destroyers and The Dap Kings, but again, those shows are lost in the mists of time, no record of them accessible via google. Almost like it never happened.

So, aye, this film of a gig tonight, I was there then.

Its my first time at the Roxy Bar and Screen, the front half of the place is like any other bar in the world, but there behind curtains at the back is a dark and wide seating area with a big screen on the far wall and people from London's Indiepop gigs sat round the fringes.

There's a bit of a self-referential vibe going on, about half the audience here tonight, were at the show last year. There's Andy, there's Ian, there's Crystalball, and crikey, there's me. Result! Was there then!

Hmm, the sounds good on the recording, I thought it was a bit bass heavy at the start, but further in it sounds okay. Lots of lingering shots of the band, a couple of slightly shakey shots from the stage.

I think when I'm marauding round Indietracks later this month with my camera this year I'm going to try and get more portraits of folk in the crowd. From a 'was there then' perspective that's really important.

Actually, I don't think that is me in the crowd, whoever it is is in almost every shot of the stage, its quite unnerving, he keeps looking down. He's got my hair, but the nose looks different. I could have sworn I was stood at the back and to the side.

The film's a bit long. Feels longer than the show was, there are at least twelve songs there and I'm sure a couple missing that were played live that night, there was that one about Godzilla and the one about dumper truck racing, I think it was called Dumper Truck Racing. But it accurately mapped the gig, only missing out on how blisteringly warm it was that night last summer.

The lights come back on, Gordon takes to the stage, on a small chair set up next to a lamp stand, with acoustic guitar.

The vocals are a bit woolly in real life compared to the film, maybe its cos this place isn't set up so well as a music venue. Gentler than the film too, as is the nature of stripped down acoustic guitar numbers.

His hangover song has something of the Tom Snowball about it, here listen to this and tell me what you think, I wonder if they've ever heard each.

Ooh, someone videoed bits of the evening, via StringBeanJen:-

Gold Sounds - The Lexington

Gold Sounds started off a little bluesy, a little americana. Ooh maybe I'm thinking of Kingmaker, he's wearing glasses and there are some neat hooks in the melody. I think I'll stick with them projecting Kingmaker thing. My attractive ladyfriend reckons shades of The Lemonheads, but with the caveat that she has a limited frame of reference. Or the Shins, she adds.

On stage the singer is hoping to invoke Springsteen, but with literary influences such as Marlow and Fields.

I like their use of keyboards, I'll stick with the Kingmaker thing though, maybe Neil Hannanish vocals.

Ooh, my ladyfriend is dancing, they must be doing something right.

Terris?
The La's?
Adam J Smith lyricism?
Madnessy harmonies ska?

Guitar straps set to four-fifths? Seems a bit dodgy to me, can't trust bands who can't decide between full length and three-quarter lengths. The beast must die.

The singing chap sure can holler. He looks like he's just come from the office, hasn't had time to change but has been looking forward to the show all day, the boss had been moaning at him to get the end of month stats done, but there was no way he was going to be working late tonight.

The clapping intro is a bit iffy. Yeah, everyone was going clappity-clap or clap-clap-clappity, with timing all over the shop, even on stage. Just when I thought shambles would be the word, it started to turn out okay.

It was just the last song with tonnes of reverb, had something of the epic about it, all sparkly and magical. More of that sort of thing, please.

Monster Bobby - The Lexington

Arrived in time for the last three songs and one chord. It was a fine chord, sounded like a D.

Monster Bobby's on stage on his own, with guitar, synth, and sampler, wearing a retro jacket from Shoreditch borrowed from his big brother.

My attractive young ladyfriend reckons he's a bit experimental and avant-guard, she knows what experimental and avant-guard is cos she likes Mike Patton, but Monster Bobby is more twee than him. Essentially he's a bit electro-pop, she says.

I liked his shaggy hair.

Half-arsed Talking Heads dancing, must try harder. Here, take a look at this video.

That sort of dancing would enhance the Monster Bobby experience by at least an order of magnitude