Wednesday i left God's own country (my beautiful south London) and headed north, i was off to visit my old Camden haunts and eventually end up in the Roundhouse for the much anticipated Horrors gig. My first stop was my fave Camden dive bar The Good mixer, it has an amazing juke box, pool tables, football on the tele, weird and wonderful Camden clientel, the odd lead singer propping up the bar and best of all that dive bar smell. perfect. Next stop was The Hawley arms, very touristy on a weekend now but still great on a wednesday night. Nice few Kronenbergs on the roof terrace then it was off to the gig, as i walked to The Roundhouse i remember thinking i need to get out of East London a bit and reconnect with camden, its just chuffing great and it always will be.
As we walked into the main area of the roundhouse my gig partner for the night was taken aback at how jaw dropping the place is, seeing it again for the first time through her eyes just left me in awe, we are so lucky in London to have some of the best venues in the world and i would go as far as to say this is one of them. Its all exposed rafters, lights, pillars, as you might have guessed its round, which is just so weird when your inside, its just great, i love the place. I wish every gig was here.
SET LIST
1, Changing in the rain
2, Who can say
3, I can see through you
4, Scarlet fields
5, Dive in
6, Three decades
7, Endless blue
8, You said
9, Sea within a sea
10, Still life
Encore
11, Mirrors image
12, Monica gems
13, Moving further away
Guys, you should defo check out these videos to experience some Horrors music for yourselves:
Still life: http://youtu.be/sJQk0jDZx8o
Sea within a sea: http://youtu.be/v7WAHnZPIX0
A whole new way (a fave of mine): http://youtu.be/FFnj-Tto-J4
I arrived just in time as the boys took to the stage, the place was rammed, it seems everyone is a Horrors fan now! There is no doubt their second and third albums have made a lot more people take notice but where were you all when they burst onto the scene with Strange House? In my opinion a classic album full of scuzzy garage punk rock, go on admit it, you had them down as style over substance weird goths didn't you? How wrong a lot of people have been proved as with the release of Primary Colours followed by recent effort Skying they have cemented their place as the most exciting band in Britain right now. I cant think of anyone else out there at the moment that can touch these boys, lets face it they are cool as fuck, threads, hair, its all there but much more than that they have the talent, they are the tightest band i've seen in ages, they produce their own stuff now, they make their own pedals and instruments in their own studio, when you hear them in interviews you know they live and breath what the music. Don't just take my word for it, when you see various members of Klaxons, Artic monkeys and Big pink regularly at Horrors gigs you know that they have the respect of their peers aswell.
The set was mainly made up of songs from the latter two albums and while i understand this i must admit my only gripe, and its small, is i wish they would play songs like count in fives and gloves a bit more these days as a little reward for us guys that were there at the start. Recent single 'i can see through you' was epic, 'endless blue' was great and is fast becoming a fave of mine, the way it lulls you in all mellow then switches into a throbbing roaring banger in one swift chord change comes across even better live than it does on record. 'Still life' and 'sea within a sea' were also real highlights. It was a good value 13 song set with no weak points. In my opinion, at a Horrors gig your best bet is to totally immerse yourself and lose yourself in it, 'Skying' is defo best listened to as an album as a whole rather than picking singles and the live set is also like this, we were gone at this gig, just floating, a Horrors gig is a real experience, an experience you all need, if you are even a little bit interested from the singles you have heard lately then go to a gig, you will come out a Horrors disciple.
NITTY GRITTY
Venue: Brilliant, great views everywhere, top sound, easy to get a beer
Drinks: £3.70 a pint, pub prices, fair enough
Crowd: I must admit a few chin strokers and obviously some people here cos they felt they should be, always gonna get that with whoever the buzz band is at the moment but defo enough real fans, bumped into quite a few faces i always see at Horrors gigs, nice to know they have a loyal fan base.
Band's look: Always have been the best looking band around, cheek bones, hair, shoes and threads all black, standard. Effortless cool and charisma in abundance.
ACE FACE
Laura Taylor, Brand Manager at Aqua, Doncaster.
Well aint you lucky Loz?! Managing to get your hands on my much sort after Horrors plus one!
Yeah, yeah, do one Dan!
So, The Roundhouse, pretty special wouldn't you say?
It's awesome! So beautiful inside and really worked well with this band, all dark and dramatic, the light show back drop was amazing. I'd say The Roundhouse is the best venue you could possibly see The Horrors in.
Big Horrors fan then?
Well you used to talk at me for ages about them going on and on so i checked them out live for the first time at this years Field day and i was blown away instantly. Faris is an ace front man, they're all great, you cant take your eyes off them.
Who else are you into at the moment?
Love love love Wild beasts, Warpaint, Two door cinema club and Bombay bicycle club, BBC's latest album is amazing, 'lights out, words gone' is beautiful.
So pretty much any band that begins with 'W' or involves some sort of club?
Again, do one!
I'm kidding, i'm kidding, nah that's good taste, i've taught you well young apprentice, haha
Interview over Dan, bye! x
So there it is as you already knew, The Horrors are soooooo good and even better live than on record, go see them.
My next gigs are Tribes and The Maccabees not forgetting my little jaunt to Berlin, before all this i am going to try and squeeze in a trip to see WU LYF. I dipped into these early but now i'm fully committed and they are coming to London real soon.
Ok guys thats it, if you want to get involved in what i do or contact me about anything, drop me and email: dannywoodlands@yahoo.co.uk Laterz.
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