#8 Fly Bermuda festival//Berlin//Saturday 5th November//Picture diary

Interesting people i met and interesting things i saw at Fly Bermuda festival, what a night, a huge techno party in an old disused airport in Berlin, can't recommend it highly enough, defo go next year!

#7 Maccabees//Village Underground//London//Tuesday 1st November

, 

So November has arrived and for me the first week is spent snowed under doing my other job (Europe's finest heating engineer) i was 'on call' all week, this means i get called out at all hours of the day and night to rescue little old dears with no heating, i know, i know, i'm a hero! (and just incase you were wondering, no, i don't get chatted up by saucy housewives on a regular basis, i know, i cant believe it either). I could not miss the return to London of The Maccabees, luckily after a bit of sweet talking my little brother Lee (Europe's second finest heating engineer) agreed to cover my shift. Thanks Lee, you're a Ledge!

My pals and i are Maccabees veterans, we must have seen the boys at least ten times, loved them since day one so the fact that they hadn't played in London for what must be going on a year, meant there was a real sense of excitement about this gig. The boys did their bit for independent record stores. You could only get tickets for the gig in person from rough trade and it was limited to 2 tickets each, the day they went on sale i rushed down there unwashed in the clothes from the night before after being out raving all night, that's dedication, i wouldn't do that for just anyone you know!

SET LIST

1, Child

2, Feel to follow

3, Lego

4, First love

5, One hand holding

6, Can you give it

7, Pelican

8, Precious time

9, No kind words

10, Forever i've known

11, William Powers

12, Love you better

Encore

13, X-ray

14, Wall of arms

15, Grew up at midnight

Check out these videos for yourself:

No kind words: http://youtu.be/605fY2RqTkI

Love you better: http://youtu.be/8fs1wkwAMQc

X-ray: http://youtu.be/NNXcHJFtVeI

Village underground is a great little venue just off Shoreditch high street in the heart of East London, i've been to millions of raves here but never seen a live band, inside it's like a brick built cave, it seems massive due to its high ceiling but in reality it is really small and intimate, the venue suited the band down to the ground, great shout whoever booked this. As the boys walked on stage they were greeted like old friends, they have a real hardcore fan base, i see many of the same faces at all their gigs, they are a bit like The Rifles in that they don't get much press but have amassed loads and loads of fans through word of mouth and basically just being a shit hot live band. It's well known they are getting ready to drop their third album and they started tonight with two new songs, 'Child' and 'Feel to follow', both were brilliant and after hearing them for the first time i have no doubt that the next album is going to be even better than the last which was amazing, i personally think they are up there with The Horrors as the best bands in Britain right now, every new release better than the last. The lads ran through the classics from albums one and two and were bouyed by the reaction of the crowd who were going mental all night, Felix in particular always looks like an excited puppy up onstage he goes so mad i kept thinking he might fall off any minute, lead singer Orlando, who is often a little shy between songs was even dropping banter with the crowd left right and centre. The whole set was great, an encore was demanded with the boys coming back on for massive renditions of  'X-ray' and 'Wall of arms'. They even had the balls to finish with a new song 'Grew up at midnight', top tune and great finale.

NITTY GRITTY


Venue: as i said, really good, great sound, defo try and see a band here, or at least come to a rave.

Drinks: hmmm pub prices but your getting cans, i do love drinking out of a can, men behaving badly style but it really irks me giving over three and half quid for a can, getting merked really aint we

Crowd: always a great crowd at maccabees gigs, true fans, proper fans, i also saw a couple of Bombay Bicycle Club members in attendance

All i care about is the threads and haircuts?: well they just look pretty normal, Orlando is a bit cool, loving that both White brothers, Felix and Hugo have grown their hair really long! wish i had the patience, looks wicked when they're swooshing it around riffing away together on their guitars!

ACE FACE
(you lucky things, buy one get one free this week)

Del Minney, quantity surveyor, Deptford
Ross Hallam, equity trader
(yes i actually do know quantity surveyors and equity traders! mental!)

What did you make of tonight lads?
Really good, their sound has really evolved just like it did from albums one to two, the first album was great but the second had tunes that were ultimately better made in terms of complexity, depth and maturity, hearing the new tunes tonight, its clear they are ready to move on again. i loved that they played a load of old stuff but the new tunes have really wet my appetite for the third album


What else you listening to at the minute?
Bit like how the macs are changing, i used to be a real indie kid but my tastes are getting a lot darker now,  im listening to a lot of deeper music, xx, pj harvey, stuff like that, i love gorillaz also quite into reggae and dub at the moment. I gotta recommend LA SHARK too, defo check them out. 


Cheers boys, blinding, i'll defo get on La Shark,


So it was another cracking gig from The Maccabees, roll on January and their Brixton show!
Ok guys so last weekend i was at the fly bermuda festival in berlin, now i'm not gonna pretend i'm a bible on techno so a picture diary of all the cool people i met and things i saw will have to do, Stay tuned!

#6 Tribes//Electric ballroom//London//Friday 28th October

Camden four piece Tribes have got to be one of the best bands to emerge this year, think the best bits of The Pixies and Smashing pumpkins with a bit of Libertines ramshackle thrown in, whats not to love? I've managed to catch loads of their shows this year with the boy's Field day appearance this summer being a personal highlight. The ticket for this show was a tenner! A tenner to see a band that will no doubt be filling Brixton soon, plus it was Friday and i was full of that Friday feeling, so it was on with my Docs and onto the old trusty Northern Line (which i seem to spend a lot of my time on either a, drunk, b, asleep, or c, both).

SET LIST

1, Whenever

2, Girlfriend

3, Sappho

4, When my day comes

5, Himalaya

6, Coming of age

7, Dumb it down

8, Not so pretty

9, Walking in the street

10, Night driving

11, We were children

Check out these videos: 

We were children: http://youtu.be/52QHnUF13hs

Sappho: http://youtu.be/anVPXNnUkkk

Coming of age: http://youtu.be/anVPXNnUkkk

Camden's Electric Ballroom was Sergio Ramos tonight, there was a real mixed bag of people, young and old which shows the bands broad appeal. Every song is a potential classic with Tribes, its all infectious riffs, singalong choruses and pints in the air, you only need to hear a song once and your singing your heart out. They have that knack of making you feel like they are singing about your life. For example 'coming of age' is pretty much about my life over the last few years and don't be shocked if you see me at a gig drunk and emotional when they play this! Haha! but that is what good music is all about its supposed to connect with you and move you inside, Whether your in a tent at Field day with all your fave people arms round each other singing your head off feeling like no one can touch you or all alone in  the van and that song comes on your shuffle mix and makes u think of what might have been. That is it right there. The power of music. Tribes have this in their songs and that's the biggest compliment i can give them. Tonight's gig was amazing, it was like a big coming together, like everyone who was there was in the know, the boys are quite the celebrities round Camden way, kind of local heroes and they clearly buzzed off playing to all their friends and family. Tribes are getting a lot of radio play now and playing bigger and bigger shows, i would see them now if i were you and not in a couple of years when u pay loads of dollar to see them in a big shit venue like the 02. Hey, don't just take my word for it, Pixies booked them as their tour support after they had only played nine shows as a band! If they're alright by Black Francis and Kim Deal then they're alright by me.

NITTY GRITTY

Venue: nice size, pretty small, easy to get a beer, the only thing is, the stage isn't that high so if you are standing at floor level, don't get stuck behind a tall person.

Drinks: plenty of bar staff, no waiting, pub prices, reasonable.

Crowd: up for it, all sorts of characters.

Come on Dan i just wanna know if the band looked cool?: yeah, they're cool, all grungey, baggy shirts, leathers and ripped jeans.

ACE FACE

Jessica Etherden, Teacher, Hornchurch

Hey Jess, what did you think of tonight?

Loved it Dan, lived up to what i was expecting, i missed them at Field day but this made up for it.

Best bits? 

Coming of age is great, mainly cos it was funny watching u being a big girls blouse, but no its a great tune and sappho is great too

Do you like the Electric Ballroom?

Made me feel like i was 16 again at an indie disco. This is a good thing!

Finally, what else you into?

SBTRKT, loving that track wildfire, Metronomy and Bombay Bicycle club are also great.

Ok people, make sure u stay tuned for my review of The Maccabees and my picture diary of Fly Bermuda festival in Berlin, also just booked up Wild beasts, BANG!