Dan In The Front Row Awards

Awards ceremonies always spark a lot of debate, as i watched The Grammys the other night i found myself getting really annoyed at all the awful music winning again and again. The musical taste of mass America is terrible; tame indie by numbers (Fun, Black Keys) boring, samey R n B and hip hop (Rihanna, Jay Z) and pop music so bad it could be used to counter terrorism (Taylor Swift). Our own Brit Awards always leave me despairing at the sort of music these ceremonies champion, Jessie J and Ed sheeran, Take That, JLS! Oh please fuck off. I think the only thing that is going to help the state of awards ceremonies is if i start my own ones. so here it is;

The Dan In The Front Row Awards

Best British Band: The Maccabees

Best British Male: Blood Orange

Best British Female: Anna Calvi

Best British Newcomer: Palma Violets

Best British Album: The Maccabess, Given To The Wild

Best British Single: Palma Violets, Best Of Friends

Best Video: Crystal Castles, Plague

Best International Band: Crystal Castles

Best  International Male: Jack White

Best International Female: Grimes

Best International Newcomer: Fidlar

Best Live Band: The Cribs

Moment of the year: Stone Roses at Heaton Park

 

Best British Festival: Great Escape Festival

Best One Day Festival: Field day

Best Foreign Festival: Benicassim

Music Icon: Iggy Pop

Best Film: Django Unchained

Best TV Show: Girls

Best Music Film: LCD Soundsystem, Shut Up And Play The Hits

Hero Of The Year: Frank Ocean

Villain Of The Year: Rihanna

I'm sure this will have you shouting at the screen so please feel free to contact me and give me your picks.

dannywoodlands@yahoo.co.uk

twitter: @DannyWoodlands

The View @ Brixton Jamm 31/1/13

You have to give it to The View, they're still going, steadily knocking out decent albums year after year, ok, so maybe they haven't reached the heights of some of the other bands that broke around the same time, in terms of headlining festivals etc but what they have done is continually release good solid rock n roll and they still have a more than dedicated fan base as was proved by the number of people at tonight's acoustic set.
Brixton Jamm is a great place to see The View. It's a small, tight, rough round the edges rascal of a place absolutely brimming with character, you could pretty much describe the boys like this too, band and venue go together like cheese on a burger and it was this combination that actually got me out tonight, anyone that knows me will tell you i'm not a fan of acoustic, i find a lot of acoustic sets all very meh! If it aint plugged in i aint interested but tonight was very different.

We wisely made this a 'lads night' and since we had all been on the crazy numbers (1664s) since 6pm, by the time The View came on at 10.30pm we were all three parts pissed and ready for a sing song. Thinking about it, is there a better night than being with all your pals, few lagers all arms round shoulders singing your heads off to classics like 'Wasted Little Djs' and 'Superstar Tradesman' then losing your shit to 'Skag Trendy' and finally having a little swaying, lighters up moment to tear jerkers like 'Face For The Radio'? I doubt there is. The boys played a blinding set with these plus great songs like 'Nan's For Tea' and newer tracks including 'The Clock' with it's Fleetwood Mac vibes which i'm still loving.
Apparently they are finally off to have a crack at America and if i'm honest i don't know if the Yanks will get them, let face it, i've seen The View about 9 times and i still cant understand a word they say so God knows what the Americans will think but hey, if it doesn't work out me and the lads will always welcome them back here for a good old knees up.

NITTY GRITTY

Venue: The Jamm is perfect for me, a glorious little dive. The room the band plays in is nice and compact and even at the back you feel close to the stage, massive outside bit out the front for smokers and good quick bar staff
Drinks: Loads of decent beers on tap including Star and Kronenburg, fairly priced. Pleased.
Crowd: Great crowd, all long time fans ready to have a good time, really really good.
Are The View cool or what?: Yeah The View are cool lads, Kieran and Pete always look the business and while Kyle looks like a chimney sweep he gets points from me for staying true to his look which hasn't changed for years.

ACE FACE

Neil Henderson, 30, builder from Bexley heath

What did you reckon of tonight Hendo?
Yeah they gig was blinding, i didn't know what to expect but i was pleasantly surprised, the Squeeze cover was a gem. Great crowd at The Jamm as always, can't beat a night in sunny South London.

What you got coming up this summer?
Hoping to get to The Isle Of White Festival, that's always a good one, gigwise, i can't wait for Alt-J at Brixton Academy, that should be a highlight.

What new bands are you into? Got any tips for me?
New acts i'm loving right now are Palma Violets, Parquet Courts and Virgin Marys.

Finally, what was the last tune you played on your Ipod?
The last song i played... i'm proud to say it was Shakermaker by Oasis.

Great tune! cheers Hendo.


Contact me at dannywoodlands@yahoo.co.uk