Th?nk Media Music Live music reviews
Welcome to the Thinkmedia Live music review!
With it's finger on the pulse TMM likes to stay in touch with what's happening with Live gigs, from wannabe hopefuls, to big names, if it's live and musical we're interested.
We would also welcome any third party reviews, so if you've seen a great act recently, even if it's not strictly musical, like comedy for example, let us know...
If it's a good review we'll post it here!
Cardiacs
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London Astoria November 2006
Somewhere in the back of mind I recall the name, like a brand you never knew consciously, but you knew existed, in the case of the Cardiacs I'm told by my friend who invited me to their November gig they have been defying mainstream commercial catagorisation since 1976, I'm sorry Cardiacs fans (of which I'm sure there are many) I really know nothing of them.
That is why I'm basing this review on my discovery of them only a few nights before I write this review, The Astoria home to many legends of music, now quietly hums with aniticpation this is where the fans are, and plenty of them, but still enough room to breathe.
Enter the aformentioned, nothing they need to shout about they've been in the business too long I suspect to worry too much about 'glamming it up', anyway they appear to be more concerned with substance over style, then I'm reliably informed the 'main man' Tim Smith struts onto the stage, wearing a large overcoat and donning a shapely black guitar, without further ado launches into two and a half hours of a rollercoaster wall of noise, but this is finely crafted noise, not for the faint-hearted and a noise that takes some getting used to.
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To the outsider one might say this is progressive punk rock, Tim says he is a composer who writes pop music, all I know is the shear technical genius of the music cannot be explained, you HAVE to hear this one to understand it.
And so the evening comes to an end, I was tired before I got to the gig, and I don't think I fully appreciated what I was experiencing...until later, now sitting typing this review the echoes of those tortured chord progressions are finally soaking in, and strangely I understand the music now that I'm not listening to it.
Would I rush out and buy a Cardiacs CD?, maybe.. would I go to another gig.. definately maybe...
Many thanks to my good friend Tim O'dea for introducing me to this.
Andrew Bates. |
The Mighty Boosh Live
Southampton guildhall April 2006
Like the logical next generation of anarchic comedy following in the footsteps of the Goon show, Monty Python, and latterly alternative shows like The young ones, introduced to me by a friend 'The Mighty Boosh' is at one and the same hard to catagorise, and yet fits neatly into the great tradition of quality surrealistic and satirical comedy.
When I was first exposed to it, like many I was left wondering, what on earth is this all about? set initially within an obscure zoo, we follow the exploits of two would-be heros Howard Moon (Julian Barratt), and Vince Noir (Noel Fielding) and their contemporaries, Naboo (Mike Fielding), and Bollo the gorilla, as they take part in remarkably inventive and imaginative adventures, from tackling killer kangaroos, to spending time hallucinating on a desert island with coconuts...
After watching a couple of episodes on BBC three, I was informed of their live tour, and so went to see what all the fuss was about, I was not dissapointed, they are even funnier live playing to a packed audience in Southampton the show rolls along a terrific pace, and the Boosh fill the hall with their hilarious presence, the tour was a huge success, and a DVD will be recorded of their Brixton performance which will no doubt come highly recommended - Andrew Bates |
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The striking childlike boosh skull logo
Noel and Julian introduce the characters pre-show
The Warm-up 'PIE' skit
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The Musical Box
Southampton guildhall March 2006
'The Musical Box' an enchanting and enigmatic title for a song, by a band by the name of 'Genesis' on an album called 'Nursery Cryme', destined to become one of the biggest names in pop and rock, after working with Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks went on to produce some of the greatest songs the world has ever known.
Before this happened they were led by the tour de force that is Peter Gabriel, a one man army of imagination and lyrical prose, himself destined to go on with a remarkable solo career, culminating in albums like 'So..' which included the unforgettable 'Sledgehammer'.
Zooming forward to 2006 I find myself sitting in Southampton guildhall waiting to hear one of the definitive tribute bands 'The Musical Box', who are about to delight and amaze with their spookily accurate version of the entire masterpiece that is 'The Lamb lies down on broadway'
An eniticing and hypnotic alice in wonderland journey, telling the tale of a contemporary hero in the form of a New York unwashed 'Rael', Rael vanishes off the city streets into another imagination, or another dimension, and proceeds on a trip through differents trials, and his own mind, not easily understood, but breathtaking in its creativity, and truely a benchmark for technically astounding prog, or art rock.
The Musical Box are faithful to the original in every respect, creating all the right sounds at all the right times, the guy who emulates Peter, appears to have studied the man in depth, and produces arguably one of the greatest impressions I have ever seen.
I left slightly perplexed, but utterly capivated, and went to buy the orginal album a few days later.
I was lead to believe at the time that this was to be one of the Musical Box's last performance's, by all accounts a great shame, I would not hesitiate to see them again, and can only recommend that you should buy the album, turn your mind back to the early seventies and experience some of the finest recent music this country has produced.
Andrew Bates.
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