Henry Rollins @ Royal Festival Hall

Damaged

20/01/12

Regarding Black Flag, West Coast hardcore punk's relentless pioneers, I've always been for Keith Morris. However, when Rollings joined on vocals, he contributed in mosh pit masterpieces like Six Pack and Rise Above. How could I resist?
I had to see him live, despite the unwelcoming to punk ethos walls of Royal Festival Hall; me, along with a few other hardcore punksters and spectacular goths.
His uninterrupted spoken word marathon kicked off with the touring highs and lows (like swallowing a helluva lot of spit) of Black Flag, went via Captain Beefheart, his KCRW radio shows and stint as a National Geographic reporter, George W. Bush, Tibet... to end up somewhere I couldn't quite distinguish; I was half asleep by then.
It's not that he was boring. I was tired. But since the very beginning, Mr Rollins gave me the impression to cash in on his notorious punk days - the way he has for years now, taking the high road towards much more commercial and anti-anti-authoritarian stuff (if you catch my drift). I guess I gave up on him. I didn't wanna be an eye-witness to his ascent - pure descent from where I stand; and not just because he wasn't much of a punk anymore. But he abused himself and his art.
What are my impressions of Rollins as a spoken word artist onstage (cause I do own 1984 spoken word Black Flag LP Family Man, I do know what to expect)? On a DIY friendly stage, he'd be unquestionably funny, witty, eloquent, acerbic. But in a high-class venue, he looked much more talented in serving the masses, falsely modest and uncharacteristically likable.
Take almost any eloquent and street-smart artist, "punk", if you may - Richard Hell, Patti Smith, to name a couple of known ones (let alone the army of talented unknowns...). Their gigs are crammed with whip-smart social commentary and jokes. Rollins has a few things to say - and he can do it well; I'm just not convinced his commentary alone got him that far; and not his commercial rock 'n' roll status and ambition.
And for that, I don't respect him. He didn't have to work as hard to perfect his task - cause there are a lot of flashy events in his life, and even if he caused them, they do half the job. It's the witty recounts of a famously loud man that sell.

And he (ab)uses it.

Singing away 2011 @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

Caro-lemon-phonica

December's highlight at the Empire had to be Bryan. Even so, with great delay - partly due to the relative insignificance of these particular live performances - I present you with a couple of handful of moments that stamped 2011 goodbye.

The Lemonheads 12/12/11
I'm unable to grasp the fuss about Evan Dando - sure he's cute, sure it's fun dancing to his version of "too-too-roo-too-too Mrs Robinson", but I still don't get what people (and especially music critics) are going on about. It's A Shame About Ray, the band's fifth album that accompanied our slacker memories of 1992, relived a night of glory among the longtime band's fans. On my part, I've always thought Ray was boring and, seeing ..him live, I still do; and I certainly won't hear of any comparisons between Dando and mega-Malkmus, by way of their mutual slackerness. Dando has a certain music charm (that I will admit goes further than his dimples), but I find songs like Big Gay Heart (which is not included in the album) too soft for my passions - if not predictably indifferent. That night, it wasn't until Into Your Arms (also not in Ray) came up that I euphorically started cavorting. And that's about it...
Caro Emerald 13/12/11
Now, this was a band I wasn't particularly eager to see; given that I wasn't as thrilled by their hit debut single Back It Up either, back in 2009 (as the rest of the world was). But Dutch Caro and her hefty backing band did a really pro job delivering the live goods. Playful, crafty, sparkly jazz, with voluptuous red-lipped Emerald in charge, swung the room and reminded us that sophisticated, yet light-hearted song-making can occasionally dominate the charts.
Stereophonics 19, 20 & 21/12/11
I had no idea those Welsh lads had such a devoted fanbase, but the Empire shook with singing stereophiles thrice-in-a-row. If the band failed to seduce me, the trippy Xmas decor sure did - an atmospherically lit set, complete with a deep pink tree that faded in the intense dark-coloured background (I'm not sure what I saw myself, but it was definitely eye candy). Most of the Stereophonics songs I find forgettable and cheesy, though Jones 's husky voice (if used correctly) is a favourable asset. I sang-along Maybe Tomorrow and I kind of had a nice night with Have A Nice Day and Dakota - the way you do when you have to work either way, so it's better if that is playing in the background, along to a jumping crowd than.... let's say, Alexandra Burke. 

Speaking of, Miss Burke played live at the Girls Night Out charity concert on the 12th of January; the first gig of 2012, along with The Saturdays and co. And it sucked.
That, my friends, was really not fun. Not even for work...

Bryan Ferry @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

Chants of a humble gentleman

15/12/11

I wouldn't call the show humble; far from it. But the gentleman himself was another deal altogether...
Undisputed king of a 12-strong music team, complete with 4 glittery back-up singers and 2 dancers, Mr Ferry travelled us afar: From Roxy Music's ingenious past, with the trademark If There Is Something, to his slow-burning present, with Olympia's promo single You Can Dance.
That last one, along with other Olympia croons, unmistakeably bore intros and hooks that resembled Ferry's past anthems, i.e. Slave To Love (which, of course, was also dutifully added to the setlist). And Kate Moss on the album cover, was a rather failed attempt to relive Roxy Music's epic cover shoots - like a friend eloquently put it, she can try lavishly sexy (like all other Roxy Music cover girls were), but she can never be cult.
Olympia songs, somehow, often followed the same course.

But they all had the gentleman's style, and heart; and accordingly, from fellow veteran Chris Spedding on guitar, to newest sensation Jorja Chalmers on sax, the band managed to capture our imagination.
The audience, quite mature in their majority, sadly underlined the fact that younger crowds hardly indulge in Ferry's magic. I just wish someone could shake them up (and I would love it if it could just be me...). The nah-nah romance of Slave to Love, or Reason or Rhyme, are hardly my style, but when he sang "I Put A Spell On You" (one of the night's numerous covers) I was, once again, hooked. And don't even get me started on Roxy Music... There's something youthfully sinister about his mature-sounding romance, no doubt.
On my way backstage, I came across the man himself. Waiting, alone, by the venue's medical centre, buttoning in silence his elegant coat. I was ready to make the decisive step and go, simply, say "thank you", when a friend of his approached and introduced his girlfriend; so I just backed out... And the gentleman got introduced with kind pleasure.
That's Bryan for ya; ever imposing in his humble presence.

Planes, Sulk @ The O2

December Sessions under way

07/12/11

 Twenty nights, a hundred bands parading in the O2 London Piazza at no charge whatsoever was an ambitious plan and, as far as I saw at least, not a very successful one.
And it was probably that Piazza to blame... Cold, impersonal and, if it were to get busy, it would be rather for the world-famous gigs being held at the nearby O2 arena, and the mainstream chain cafés and restaurants which decorate this tacky neighbourhood. In a few words, it's not the place to be for young and talented kids with an audience that probably doesn't have much reason to "drop by" the O2 Greenwich complex.
Shame.
 Planes and Sulk were surely worth it; but I was given the impression they were being made fun of, being put against an audience of five...ten people taking turns (though a few of them looked like groupies right out of Almost Famous, I must admit). In a generous space dominated by a gigantic bank ad (which I masterfully tried to avoid in my pics - and I failed), with no heart, atmosphere or sense of hanging-and-drinking camaraderie, to say the least. It certainly didn't do them a favour.

Planes are fronted in vocals and guitar by ex-Placebo drummer Steve Forrest, an obviously pro performer that leads the band through colourful rock'n'roll-blues-folk paths. And Ms Char O'Lette makes things interesting with her violin and fancy dress.
Songs like Moving On and Grinding Teeth range from beautiful to plain catchy. Still, I feel that Planes fly through diverse influences without having fully determined their character; meaning that various sound colours are not as integrated in their music as they would obviously like them to be. It's still the beginning, though, and they're definitely on a good path.

Sulk I've seen before and, from what I hear, in the meantime they've been taking steady steps toward bigger, better and more far-away things; even Texas' massive SXSW (South by Southwest) festival might take a place in their 2012 calendar.
The band holds on tight to its' euphoric, psychedelic imagery; an addictive tribute to the Roses '90s, eloquently manifested in their newest video/single Back in Bloom (and I love the cover on the 7'' vinyl it comes in). Their frontman also brought it down a notch in exhibitionism since the last time I caught them on stage.
I find Britain particularly prone to such sonic revivals at the moment; what I believe became the cause of the Stone Roses' reunion and developed from there. Sulk are set to receive increasing interest and attention, but they're revivalists that are worth it. If it's your sound, pay them a visit. They won't be short of new live ventures.

Review and photography by Danai Molocha.

Back at the Empire - Snippets from the O2 Shepherd's Bush

The bold and the beautiful

Two bands that have absolutely nothing in common, apart from the fact, of course, that they played the Empire. And that, together, they inspired a great reference to a soap legend - hence the title. Crass or what?...

Crass Steve Ignorant performed a tribute to the anarcho-punk songs that caused a stir 34 years ago, appropriately naming it The Last Supper. A last goodbye to a musical life that he and Penny Rimbaud tirelessly fed with beliefs, ideas and a helluva lot of activism, showing a truck-full of bands - and a lot of us kids - the way.
Penny joined him on stage for a rather unusual cover of Do They Owe Us a Living? (which also rebelliously opened the gig) - and it even got a little emotional.
Eve Libertine rocked then and will always rock as female punk-attack; a comment I rarely ever make, as I often find that women in rock try too hard to show their balls and desperately mask the fact that they actually don't have any (maybe if they stopped trying...). As a stage presence, though, Eve was ever slightly awkward.
I could talk forever about Crass - but just because their importance could never fit in a stupid review, I'll just have to stop._

Lisa Hannigan The Irish cutsie won over a seated Empire with picks from her two acclaimed albums. The quirky jerks of her hair and her rather dorky Irish dances spiced up her stage performance, physically contradicting an unexpectedly graceful repertoire.
An apt band accompanied her in the violin, the guitar, the percussion - plus a double bass that made us gloriously aware of its heartbeat. Lisa herself seemed, on the other hand, very talented in making a new instrument magically appear from every direction.
Occasionally vocally reminiscent of Joanna Newsom (though far more... earthy a vocal species than the latter), with a touch of Laura Veirs folk sophistication, Hannigan wasn't as enchantingly quirky as the two above, but she was definitely alright.
Too tame, in comparison, and romantic for my taste, she nevertheless made clear that - after her years spent accompanying Damien Rice - she has become a beautiful addition to the pool of new folk princesses.