Pete & the Pirates - Forum

The shows with Crowded House and Lawrence Arabia were flippin' fantastic ! smile

I was just as excited to see Lawrence Arabia as I was seeing the Crowdies. I highly recommend Lawrence Arabia's record, Chant Darling.

I took tons of pics at the Austin show so hopefully I will get those up soon. I was front row center and I think they turned out alright.
Had some fun after the show as I drove a few of the guys from Lawrence Arabia (who I met at their Waterloo Records instore before the show) to a nearby bar and hung out with them for a bit.

Couple of blasts from the past in the last couple of weeks. First The Dandy Warhols at Koko. V disappointing to be fair. Have seen them when so awesomely good, only a few years ago even but now they are so watered down with dull new material the momentum of their shows has been lost.
Shed Seven last night in Islington. Absolutely tremendous. As good as ever  (most underrated Britpop outfit for me, with Dodgy, probably due to "Good Enough"   ). Love some of the new music around at the minute but really, this lot put so many of the "names" in the limelight today to shame.

well hello Ol

at least something is still feeling summery

A Smiths cover band ?!? That sounds brilliant

It still feels like summer during most of September in central Texas
It almost felt cool enough to put on a hoodie today with overcast skies and a bit of drizzly rain. But I didn't let that stop me to go see a a few friends play a small outdoor show. I went to hear some good 'ole Texas rock by Mitch Webb and The Swindles. Not my typical musical fare but enjoyable nonetheless.

The Charlatans at Hatfield last night. With the following in the setlist no matter shaun ryder couldnt make it and that it was in the middle of nowhere (cabs or nout)......class!

Wierdo
jesus hairdo
cant get out of bed
bird
one to another
Tellin sories
patrol
oh vanity
another Rider up in flames
The Only one i know
north country boy
Blackened blue eyes
This is the end
Sproston green
__________________

I had a lucky gig week with seeing 2 free gigs this pasts week. I won tix to see The Futureheads. Surprisingly I had a bit of trouble finding someone to join me but I found the right person in the end.   PATP have met him (former WOXY DJ and fellow Pirates fan, Mike Taylor). It was nice to catch up with Mike since he moved to Austin just over a year ago. The crowd was small but very appreciative. Even the band seemed happy with their gig (at least according to a Twitter post the next day from Barry : "BRILLIANT show last night in Austin! One of the best we have ever done. I want to do it again NOW!" Hard to stay out late on a Tuesday night but it was worth it .
The following night, I was able to leave work early to go see alt-country/rock band, The Old 97s (fairly popular band in Texas) play an instore at Waterloo Records. A friend of mine was able to secure passes for their show later the same evening sponsored by a local radio station. Sweaty, rollicking set. I couldn't get any closer to the stage. I thought I was going to have to duck down to avoid getting hit in the head by guitars. I've mostly been a casual fan over the past decade but they've grown on me more the past few years. A friendly acquaintance of mine, Salim Nourallah, has produced their 2 most recent albums along with 2 solo records by Old 97s lead singer, Rhett Miller.
Those 2 gigs wore me out. I think I'm still recovering from them

Neat Beats wrote:

poptartjen wrote:

I I won tix to see The Futureheads.

Hey, What was your verdict of them live PTJ (compared to recording)? Did they have a good sound ? Got them in a month or so but not caught them before.

I give their live show 2 thumbs up so I think you should go go go to their gig !
Very tight sound and their acapella harmonies were fab as well. Lots of fun to be had.

not a gig but John Simm as Hamlet was fantastic
caught the play at Sheffield Crucible and loved the theatre, well laid out and comfortable
also had John Nettles but I couldnt remove him from Barnaby and the fact he had no neck so didnt help the more intense scenes
Simm however commanded the stage and has been the first Hamlet I believed was a Prince and not just a madman

Rushed back from Sheffield to see Chuck Ragan at the Brixton Windmill the next night, caught him supporting Frank Turner at Roundhouse and was very keen to see him again, he was excellent, even for someone like me who doesn't know his music. That has since been rectified. Sam Russo was also very good.

Charlatans with Shaun Ryder was a brilliant gig, Shaun was a whole lot better than I expected and Charlies well were Charlies. Really enjoy them live, mainly for the music than the singing or lyrics which is rare for me. Liked their new stuff apart from the shit slow one near the end. I place it alongside Stereophonics Beerbottle as a song which would have been best forgotten and put in the bin. However brilliant night, ended up right on the barrier and had our own dancing space all night long. Again rare and very enjoyable, everyone else looked rammed in

I went to see my Canadian friends, Hollerado, open for glam-rock band, Foxy Shazam, and unabashed 70's pop/rock band, Free Energy, last Sat night. This was an outdoor show. Gorgeous, warm Saturday night - thank goodness the forecasted storms didn't find their way to town. I absolutely love Hollerado. Infectious, incredibly fun, and well written tunes by 4 guys who play hard but don't forget to enjoy themselves onstage. I think that they'll be gaining plenty of new fans on this tour .
Foxy Shazam - over the top performance  - fun to watch but I thought it sometimes tended to dominate over the music itself. I'd only heard 1 Free Energy song before this show and thought it was a decent, catchy tune. But seeing them live was so much better. You couldn't help but smile through their set. Hollerado joined them for a couple of songs. They were bouncing all over the stage like kids on a sugar high .

I was invited to hang out with them afterwards - joining them at a nearby bar for 1 more drink before closing time. Later I had my rock n' roll first - continuing the party at their hotel. It was pretty tame actually - chatting and drinks. But the chatting was a bit too loud and the bands got into trouble and kicked out of the hotel. Oops. Other than the awkward ending, it was a really fun night .

Photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/poptartjen … 137032895/

Friday's gig of The Black Angels was so good, I had a full night's sleep and leaves me speechless. All I can say is "Wow !" repeatedly. You could tell that their recent tour has really whipped them into fine form. Amazing stuff. Psychedelic rock so good, you don't need any drugs to accompany it

BRMC in Nottingham

by miles the best gig I have been to this year, was worth the worrying of getting there and back and no sleep after the blanket fell off and I didnt realise that was why I was so cold.

Played songs I have been wanting to hear, like Stop which is the first song I learnt to play on my bass and awake which is in my sig here.
Band had smiles, I had a huge grin, crowd were fun. Awesome

I did
and I enjoyed them will be getting albums next month but the thing is by the time BRMC were finished I had completely forgotten they had been on
such was my excitement at seeing BRMC

not really been gigging so much recently
so totally tired I havent been able to really get anything together

however did see Frank Turner in York and last night at Borderline
Fibbers is in an interesting venue and it was great to catch up with friends I havent seen for ages
good night but Borderline was a thousand times better
good support acts with Beans on Toast and Jim Lockey
atmosphere was amazing

today we took it down a notch with a lovely afternoon gig with Padraig Whelan, Chris T T and Model Village
Chris T T was definitely the highlight and hopefully will be seeing him again with Dive Dive when they do a mini tour

completely in awe of Dive Dive and Frank Turners backing band bassist, so will be going along to also stand and gape at his awesome skills