Anna
The Courteeners, what can I say.
This was the fifth time I have seen them perform live. The first of which being in 2008 at the University of Southampton student union we could only stay for 45 minutes due to last train home but it was brilliant and from then on my boyfriend and I were hooked to this band from Middleton, Greater Manchester.
The band's first album St Jude came out in 2007 and I am still gutted to this day that we didn't go to one of their first gigs in the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth. I think we have made up for it though having seen them at the Pyramids twice, Bournemouth O2 and in Chester as part of Chester Rocks.
They never disappoint and I think this gig was the best I have ever seen them live. The band, made up of Liam Fray, Michael Campbell, Daniel Moores and Mark Cuppello, seemed more comfortable on stage and you could tell that Liam was feeding off the atmosphere.
I always thought that bands could never really see the audience but I think on this occasion it was Liam who had a front row view. He interacted with people on the front, and looked in amazement at a crowd of lads dancing and moshing in the middle of the floor.
To start with voice his didn't sound as strong as it had done on previous gigs but seemed to warm up pretty quickly. I think he is probably fitter than I've ever seen him, in both senses of the word, as he seems to have lost quite a bit of weight, he looked great.
The band kicked off with Are You in Love with a Notion? From new album Anna, I would say by the crowds reaction to this song and Push Yourself, which they played after, it didn't seem as if many people had the new album. They livened up a bit after the latest single Lose Control, but practically erupted for Cavorting and Acrylic.
The songs from the first two albums St Jude and Falcon went down a storm and the room was buzzing.
Liam added at one point that he was worried people would have forgotten about them but seemed to have a strong following in the room.
The thing I love about The Courteeners is that they are still relatively unknown but should be massive. They never really headline festivals but do play a lot of them. I love them and they are one of my favourites.
My favourite song has to be Take Over the World which looked beautiful with two glitter balls casting a ray of stars around the Pyramids. It looked so good and the song was perfect for the mood, the crowd even quietened down a bit.
Surprisingly they didn't play You Overdid it Doll but ended with Not Nineteen Forever and What Took you So Long?
I loved on the set the light at the back of Anna from the album cover, I joked with my boyfriend that I wouldn't mind it when we have a place of our own.
Liam treated the crowd to a little acoustic bit where he played The Rest of the World has Gone Home this didn't really calm the crowd down but really showed off his fantastic vocal ability.
Liam described the gig on Twitter as manic, with chants of Liam whenever there was a quiet moment, we maybe Southerners but we do love these Northerners.
If you have never seen The Courteeners before but you are going to festival where they are playing check them out you really won't be disappointed.
This is the third time I have seen The Rifles and each gig couldn't have been more different.
The first time was in the Joiners in Southampton a pub venue which was really hot, full of
people and just a little bit mental.
The second time was at Chester Rocks. A one day festival so a completely different atmosphere. Massive field, high volume music and most people either drunk or on another planet.
So this time it was an acoustic gig and I wasn't expecting too much, the band are quite rocky and I couldn't see how it would transfer over to an acoustic gig.
Usually there are five members in the band but at the gig there was Joel Stoker on vocals and playing guitar, Lucas Crowther on electric guitar and vocals and Dean Mumford on the keyboard, leaving bassist Lee Burgess and drummer Kenton Shinn at home.
All the songs sounded really good with minimal instruments, still a bit rocky but some of the song lyrics are quite melancholy without the heavy bass and booming drum.
The crowd were fairly subdued, except for the odd heckling and then a pint being thrown at the end but not as crazy as the gig in the Joiners.
They ended the set with Science in Violence, but played loads of crowd favorites Romeo and Julie, Lazy Bones and The Great Escape. There was a lot of crowd interaction and the lead singer Joel was even given a pint by a member of the audience.
It was actually a really brilliant gig, great atmosphere, great music and a great band in a brilliant venue. If you get the chance to see them do it and if you get the chance to see them acoustic definitely do it.
Also we missed the chance of a lifetime as we were going to go to a nearby pub but went to one down the road. We late found out that band and the support act The Mono Polys were in there...I was not a happy bunny.
I suppose I should also mention the support act. The Mono Polys a two piece band one on guitar and one on keyboard. The lead singer looked about 16 but when he sung he had a Ian Curtis style to his voice very deep and moody. I was not expecting it at all and they were fantastic, one of the best support acts I have seen for a while.
I think we will be seeing a lot of these guys in 2013, well I hope so anyway.
Since I started my new job I have had a busy few weeks. On my first day I saw The Rifles at Southampton, not ideal when you have a two hour commute, they were really good though.
It was fairly quiet for a bit then I had my friends hen weekend, cocktail making, clubbing and dinner at Jamie's Italian. For the first time I had a Cosmo and it was really tasty. We had a competition, racing how to make a cocktail, I raced the hen to make a 'woo woo' fairly easy vodka, schnapps and cranberry juice. I got very nervous and got most of the vodka on my hands, but we drew so I had to drink a flatliner... Tabasco, sambuca and tequila AWFUL! My mouth burnt. It was a really good weekend though.
Then the weekend after it was my birthday and Denis did the Stockholm marathon again, then it was my birthday and I spent the day with Denis just chilling.
It's been fairly quiet but last Wednesday I went to a gig at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth. I saw Warpaint, a four piece girl band from America who I first heard on Fearne Cotton's show as part of the Music Generator. They played most of the songs from Fool album including Warpaint and Undertow, they were just beautiful live, such a harmony to their voices. They are not big at the moment but they will be. I could imagine them maybe being on a Twilight soundtrack some of their songs have a tortured quality to their songs that would fit perfectly alongside Paramore and Anya Marina. They are playing a lot of festivals so if you can go see them live make sure you do.
Then on Saturday I went and saw the matinee performance of Glee at the O2. I will admit I am a gleek! They played for about an hour and fifteen minutes which was a bit of a disappointment but overall they were really good. Amber Riley who plays Mercedes has a phenomenal voice and Santana (Naya Rivera) was exceptional, especially when they sung River Deep Mountain High. Lea Michelle was also amazing, her voice would not be out of place in Wicked, I really think she could play Elphaba in Wicked and be just a good as Idina Menzel. A bit different from Warpaint but more of a show than a gig and they were all really good.
On Sunday it was my friend's wedding but there will be a separate post on that.
