Monday 3 October 2011

#2 Man Like Me//The Hippodrome//Kingston//Thursday 29th September 2011

So on thursday night i jumped in the van and headed down to K town. Banquet records had their weekly new slang indie night on, this week featuring a dj set from Scroobius pip and a live show from london party starters Man like me. At £4.50 a ticket it would have been rude not to!


The Hippodrome wasn't very busy when i walked in but Scroobius pip was playing a banging mash-up set mixing tracks effortlessly from the likes of crystal castles, odd future, the maccabees, daft punk, destiny's child and la roux. I felt a bit bad for him that the room was pretty empty but it didn't stop him dropping banger after banger! For all you fans of a spooky coincedence i actually randomly met his girlfriend on saturday night in (the best place on earth) the birdcage on colombia road and she scored bonus points with me when she saw the funny side of me asking if she has to pick food out of his epic beard!

Next for the main event: now i admit i first heard of Man like me when i saw that great ikea advert where they cover 'in the kitchen at parties', shameless plug alert... you know the really hot chicks in that advert? Well those bang tidy dresses they are wearing are made by some really close friends of mine at fashion brand AQUA. Get yourself down to 12 fouberts place just off carnaby street and have a look at the amazing outfits they do, (sorry, the money is in my account now so i can get on with the review!) i had it on really good advice that these boys were a serious party band and well worth a look and i must say they won me over straight away.


SETLIST

Oh my gosh
Peculiar
Carny
Donut
Lovestruck
Single dad
London town
Man like me

The set was quite short but the band came on really late, it was gone 11pm so i think they may have been restricted, as soon as they walked on stage out of nowhere the place was rammed, maybe they were all in another room that i didn't know about before, who knows? The band's style of music is very interesting, it's got a UK garage vibe running through it with a live brass section giving it a real calypso tinge, you can tell these boys started out DJing and MCing. From start to finish it was impossible for me to stand still, i was having it right off with the best of them! Apologies for the quality of the pictures, i was dancing too hard to keep my hands steady! The crowd reaction to every tune was brilliant and there can't have been many Man like me virgins like myself in attendance because there was defo a band/fans love-in going on. New single 'Peculiar' was brilliant as was 'Oh my gosh' but it was 'London town' that did it for me, the band do a bit of a dance routine where they go up and down and spin round (imagine how you danced at garage raves up Ally Pally when you were 18...just like that) and every single person in the Hippodrome did the dance in time with the band, even the bar staff, it was unreal, defo go and see this band, defo buy their music. i cannot recommend them enough!!






Now for the nitty gritty, the real things that you guys want to know about the gig...

Venue: The Hippodrome is a proper suburban chain nightclub, the sort of place that any child of indie would not be seen dead in but every thursday it is transformed by the legends from banquet records into a brilliant indie disco with DJs spinning all your fave anthems. You would not believe the bands that they get to come down here, over the years i've seen Jamie T, Mystsery jets, Vampire weekend, Foals, Futureheads, The Rifles, Good shoes, to name but a few. The ticket is never more than a fiver. Yes A FIVER! and sometimes if a band has an album out that week you will get a ticket plus the album for a tenner! Remember guys we live in rip off Britain, well done Banquet records and well done The Hippodrome for looking after the fans.

Drinks: it's kind of a student night so it's pretty decent, bottled beers for £2.10 and vodka mixers for £2.90. That's WELL CHEAP. Just how we like it. Boom!

Crowd: can be quite young at times but don't let it put you off, all the little rascals look amazing, gorgeous goth looking, red lipped indie cindy girls to my right, so cool it hurts, skinny jeans, supreme being cap and african tinged badboy shirt that he bought down the roman road lads to my left, that sort of thing. Jeez when i was their age i looked a right wally, they put me to shame. (nah! i was always cool, well mum said i was).

What about the band's clothes and hair???: mop tops and french crops, very 90's its all gucci loafers, burberry shirts, moschino jeans and reebok workouts, they look hilarious, they look brilliant, you know this is true to them though, it's not cos its look of the week in Dalston. Any of my old friends reading this, it's basically how we used to dress 'down the van'.

ACE FACE

Penelope Tacker, fashion student from Shropshire




So Penelope, what did you think of the show tonight?
Loved it! Its the 1st time i've ever seen Man like me, my friends dragged me along but i'm glad they did, so much fun!


What was the tune of the night for you?
It's got to be London Town, did you see all the people doing the dance routine?


Yeah course i was doing it!
Me too!


So what do you think of the new slang nights that banquet put on here?
Really good, my friends and i come most weeks, i saw Wheatus here last week, can you believe that, Wheatus down in K town!

So that was it, i loved Man like me and i think you should all go check them out.
Ok, so in the next month i'm reviewing live shows by Pete and the pirates, The Horrors, Tribes and The Maccabees. Also as a little treat for all the tech heads out there its very possible that i'm off for a little jaunt to the Fly Bermuda festival in Berlin in november, this should be confirmed by tomorrow so watch this space.
If you would like to come along to any shows with me or you would like to be involved in my blog then please leave a comment or drop me an email at dannywoodlands@yahoo.co.uk
Are you in a band? Do you run a club night? Want me to check you out? Email me .

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