Fireworks Night, My Sad Captains - Hoxton Kitchen Bar and Grill

Missed the first band, having dinner with pa and driving over from the otherside of town. Why is Hoxton so difficult to get to? And parking, don't get me started, well, wasn't so bad really. Parked for free outside The MacBeth, haven't been there in a while.



So, the first band, I caught, the second on stage, sounded like the more bombastic Divine Comedy, and the same lilt as Ink Wilson's How To Swim, but with half as many people on stage. Two violins mind, which gave a rare depth. There was a banjo chap too, he switched to playing the wood saw for the final song.

Nice haunting wig out at the end, if I can find the name of the band, I'd check out their Myspace later.



Oh, Tom SoundsXP and Trev Lost in the crowd and that chap with the moustache from White Heat, three sets of bonus points.

I don't think I've been here since Architecture In Helsinki, its still got that annoying lighting where you can't see where you're going, and save the indiekids, its a bit too Shoreditchy in the crowd, all stubble and the Mighty Boosh.



My Sad Captains, getting into my top three favourite bands right now. Still like last time, when they play live, they sound different what's on my iPod, more stadiummy, epic even, extended play versions, with more depth and flourish. It caught me off guard, I thought it was just where I was standing that sounded different, but no, they're on fire tonight.



I like them in the same way, with the same passion I loved Ash in '95/'96, the way the set flows, not so much with hits, but with the ones I know, all neatly slotting in. Couple of new songs, a little different from their more familiar stuff, remember the difference between Trailer and 1977. Its a step change in the more commercial mainstream direction.

New single out at the end of March on White Heat Records. I hope they have some festival dates lined up.

Bands
My Sad Captains
Fireworks Night

Other Reviews
here
here

Architecture In Helsinki - Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen

It was a hell of a walk to Hoxton Square from Euston, if the scale on the map was an order of magnitude smaller I might have made it to Richard Hawley's gig at the Rough Trade Supermarket, trying to make amends for being thrown off the Richard Hawley messageboard a year ago.

I'm in an expansive kebab house, Shish, round the corner from the venue, some kind of show jazz piped in, my little toe feels like its going to fall off. The waitress is helpful and friendly, putting up with my inability to speak coherently and my poor manners.

Round Hoxton Square hipsters lounged in the sun. From the outside the venue, Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen looked more like an eatery than a twee music venue.

I wish I were in touch with people of the internet who I got to gigs with, rather than just awkwardly/unexpectedly seeing them there. I wonder what Paul's up to.

I've got it, egg shakers filled with match heads. Just leave them lying round before a gig, indiepop kids pick them up, band plays set and leaves the stage, crowd holler for an encore, indiekids shake their egg shakers ecstatically, match heads blow up – indiepop genocide.

Reassured by the lost looking hipsters wandering toward the venue, and strangely surprised by musos walking the other way. Four guitars and a drum kit I counted.

You know when you're paying the bill for your rather nice lamb kebab and couscous and you pull your credit card out a little too forcefully, hitting yourself in the face and having a nosebleed, in a crowded restaurant, but luckily you're wearing a red t-shirt.

Oh dear god, there's a queue, out the door and at least 2/3 down the block. Is this the right gig? I'm sure there were only a few score when Architecture In Helsinki played Mono how long ago.

Ah, large Finnish community here in London.

Hmm, that bird who stood six foot away from me during The Orchids is here, well it looks like her. I tried to find her on FaceBook, but to no avail.

Been queuing for about two hours now. If I made a point about how badly organised it is, would they change anything? The free newspapers said it opened at 19:30, but it was 21:00 when the queue started moving. Capacity is 150, about three times that turned up. I count 60 guestlist folk who push to the front of the queue, still the same stream as paying punters and the gate is only one person wide, so we have to queue for longer.

I hope the band are worth this hell, ooh, free badge.

Cunts with handbags the size of my dad's old camping rucksack, “'scuse me dear”.

Hundred and fifty of us sweat for another 20 minutes whilst being threatened by what I can only assume is Kevin's choice of music and then the band take to the stage. Sounds like they've mated with Chromeo and Bis, the girls sings like a mid-80's Madonna sample. During the second or third song some girl called Debbie manages to lurch onto the stage and look awkward for a few minutes, ill advised fan or secret seventh band member, gereroff any way.

To bring it down halfway through they did a rather neat cover of 1987's Mental As Anything hit Live It Up. I preferred Northern Uproar's. Ashton Kutcher on vocals has a nice voice at times.

There's still a certain majesty to them, but instead of the sweet and maybe nervous twee, its more the hyper, sweaty party fun of The Go Team, will it alienate more old fans than win over new ones?

I didn't mind that there was only one band when the advert promised two, what put a downer on the night was the queuing for hours and the music barely made up for it.

Photies
here
here

Review
here (with video that you can't listen to)
here
here