This week... let's not even go there. It's like everything that could go wrong in your worst nightmares has gone wrong, and then some.

I'd rather talk about seeing Antony & the Johnsons at Hammersmith Apollo last night. I went with Sooz (the ticket was her birthday present as she missed seeing Antony at the Barbican last October), but we had to leave Stu at home to try to sort out a serious computer crisis, which sucked a bit. After seeing Antony at Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki in 2007, and then at the Barbican last year, I was a bit worried about how a venue like the Apollo would work. And, as it turned out, I had a reason to be worried.

I have waxed lyrical about the out-of-this-world quality of Antony Hegarty's voice, and the life-altering effect of experiencing his live performance, plenty of times before. And yes, those things were present yesterday. There's no other voice I have ever heard that can instantly move me to tears when it flows through me, and in that respect, I wasn't disappointed.

What I was disappointed, no, disgusted with, was the audience. Well, not everyone obviously. I'd say about 80 per cent of the people were there to actually listen, but the other 20 per cent did do their darnest to try to ruin the whole experience for everyone else. Seriously, if all you care about is running back and forth getting more beer, not giving a shit how much noise you are making or how it might be affecting the artist on stage, why not just go to a pub? Surely that would be a lot cheaper night out as well. I just cannot comprehend it. When something larger than life is happening right before your eyes and ears, and when the artist is clearly dragging out the start of the song waiting for people to quiet down, how can anyone in the same space not notice this and stop breathing, instead of carrying on with banging and running around? It's such an insult to the artist, and in this case, to everything that is good about the whole friggin humanity. At some point Antony clearly got annoyed and pulled back emotionally. The voice was still there, but it was clear he didn't want to give anything more to the audience. He did come back for two encores, one of which was the always amazing Cripple and the Starfish. To be honest, if it was me, I wouldn't have come back. But it was lovely that he did want to do that for the people that were there for him. I think everyone did try to make up for it by the huge standing ovation.

I am glad I went, even if it was a mix of elation and pure anger, and I'm sure I will in the future try to see him live when ever I get the chance. My overwhelming feeling throughout last night was put into words by someone commenting on a youtube video with 'The world doesn't deserve him'.

Oh and the picture from the concert is by Marc Broussely, who funnily enough is one of my clients (whom I've yet to meet), who's wedding I'm photographing in August. I had no idea he'd worked the gig until I saw his blog today! Funny coincidence. :D

Here's a clip of River of Sorrow from the Barbican in October 08.

Labels: Antony and the Johnsons, gig, Hammersmith Apollo, music, video

Last time, when I saw Tracy Chapman in Helsinki, I was blown away by the power of her voice and the way a live band really made her music come alive. This time it was just her on her own without a band. Her wonderful voice was present, even when suffering from a cold, and I really loved all the old songs performed in this more low-key manner. But I did miss the band a bit, especially the drums... that take-your-breath-away punch, which the last gig delivered, wasn't quite there. Never the less, I could sit in the same room with her voice for however long, it's just that incredible.

Labels: concert, gig, Hammersmith Apollo, London, music, Tracy Chapman

My computer has been a bit temperamental and a disappearing disk has been causing a lot of trouble. But still, here are finally the clips from the David Gray gig as promised. Can't believe it's Monday tomorrow already...



~From Here You Can Almost See the Sea~



~This Years Love~

Labels: concert, David Gray, gig, Hammersmith Apollo, London, music, video

This is my first post written and posted on my new computer. It feels very strange! Not only does everything look kinda funky thanks to Vista, but it's scary how much faster it is to do anything. :D The build and installation was a bit of an uphill struggle but it's definitely starting to feel like a victory now. So far it seems the only victims of the upgrade have been my webcam (which was very old) and voip phone. Oh and Stu's desk...

Hmm, what has happened other than all things computer-related... let's see.



On Thursday Stu, Sooz and I went to see David Gray at Hammersmith Apollo. Sooz got stuck at work so it was all a bit of a close call, but in the end we managed to time our arrival just right, even if we missed the warm up act. All in all, the gig was very nice. David's voice was lovely and he performed most of my favourites. It was enjoyable indeed, even if he doesn't have the sort of emotional effect on me like for example Damien Rice has when performing live. However, the most annoying thing about the evening was the audience. I don't know whether it was because it was the start of a bank holiday weekend, but everyone seemed to be more drunk than usual. Lots of walking around restlessly and clapping incoherently. Oh well.

I have some video but I'll have to figure out how to use the video editing software I have on this new machine. Hmm. Might take a while. :D



Yesterday Sooz baked a delicious blueberry pie (pictures of which will come later), we went for a walk around town, ate too many chocolate bunnies and embarked on a mission to watch all three extended versions of Lord of the Rings. Mission accomplished.

Labels: concert, David Gray, gig, Hammersmith Apollo, London, music, my life

Jacob Golden has seriously gotten under my skin. I can't wait to see him live next month with Catherine Feeny, of whom I only learned about when getting the tickets to see Jacob. Turns out she's wonderful as well, soulful. But yeah, Jacob is the one I'm really yearning to see. I can hardly wait until 5th of September! And then, on the 7th, we're going to go see Regina Spektor as well. All in all, next month is shaping up to be the best gig month yet.

Went to see the Goo Goo Dolls last thursday. It was a fun gig, high energy and nostalgic. It was strange how different the venue was compared to when we went to see Tori Amos at the same place. Strange in a cool kind of way. Different music, different crowd, different energy. It's fascinating, the nature of live concerts, the different energy that different artists radiate. I took some video with my mobile but I can't seem to convert the clips into any sort of format that I could put online. Oh well. Not going to write a review this time either, I just don't have enough space in my head to think about that kinda stuff at the moment.

This weekend has been about cleaning and scrubbing, getting the flat ready for an estate agent who's coming to value it tomorrow. As much as it breaks my heart to leave this flat, it's gotta be done. The sooner the better. There are so many decisions I need to make, so many loose ends to tie up, so many life-altering steps to take. I'm feeling overwhelmed and confused at the moment. I just need to get my head straight and jump, that's all.

Labels: Catherine Feeny, concert, gig, Goo Goo Dolls, Hammersmith Apollo, Jacob Golden, music

To start with, I must confess that when I found out Joshua Radin would be opening for Tori Amos at the Hammersmith Apollo on the 4th of July, I was over the moon as these days his music is probably even closer to my heart. He came on stage at 7.30pm and we managed to miss half of the first song since there was not really any announcement or indication that everything was about to kick off. The hall was only half-full at this point, which worked out fine for us as we got seats a lot closer than our assigned ones. It was a simple set, mostly with him and his guitar, and of course his beautiful beautiful voice. The gentle warmth of it was a really comforting experience live. Oh how I wish the set would have been a bit longer than half an hour. At some point Schuyler Fisk joined him onstage for a couple of songs. Her voice is absolutely gorgeous as well. Can't wait for her to finally get her album out! It's not surprising they have recorded and toured together, the chemistry was obvious and their voices gelled in such a pleasant way.

After the set there was a half an hour recess before Tori, and I managed to track Joshua down and ask him to sign my t-shirt. I don't believe I've ever been so starstruck in my life, for some reason I completely lost any sort of ability to act like a normal person. I went over planning on having a little chat with him, but all I managed to get out was 'I'm so lucky you were here!'. Like, seriously… It barely makes grammatical sense, and isn't exactly an opening line that leads to intelligent conversations is it. Oh man, I still cringe. :D He was lovely though and gave me a hug and posed for a picture with me.

By the time Tori, or should I say Isabel, came on stage the audience was packed, and we were back at our almost-backrow-seats. I'd categorise myself as a somewhat relapsed Tori fan, although two of her previous albums have brought her back on my playlists in a strong way. She certainly has a strong presence live and her performance was spell-binding from start to finish - even from where we were sitting. I wish I had a set list as it was sooo long it's just impossible to remember the order of any songs. About a third-way through there was a costume change while a dance version of Professional Widow played over the speakers as a distraction. When she re-appeared again as Tori she was dressed in over-the-top sparkly stars and stripes outfit. Well, it was 4th of July after all!

I saw the recording of Tori's performance in Provinssirock earlier this summer and I think the first half of the set followed pretty much the same list. Performing with the band she really throws herself in the music and looks like she's having a lot of fun. I really like her live rendition of Cornflake Girl, it somehow has a lot more spunk. However, my favourite part of the gig was when Tori was performing alone with her piano. Her voice had the chance to really shine through sending shivers down everyone's backs. Her voice certainly has an incredible range and she can go from an intimate whisper to really belting it out taking the listener on this gorgeous rollercoaster ride. Her mastery with the piano/keyboards is something to behold as well. She played all her instruments, sometimes two at a time, with such ease and passion that it was a joy to watch.

One thing that can be said about Tori is that she certainly isn't a 'people pleaser' in the way that she communicates very little with the audience. I think the only comment was something about it being the 4th of July. That's alright though, as it's fascinating to see someone really throw herself into every performance and let her art speak for itself, like she does.

As I said, it was a very long gig, she sang from 8.30pm to almost 11pm, which is probably the longest I've seen a single artist ever perform, without a recess. I can't really fault any of the songs she performed, but the ones that stuck out for me - all for different reasons - were Big Wheels, Winter and God, which was one of the encores and really reminded me how big an influence she did have on my music taste back in the day.

It was a great experience to see her live, and not entirely unlike rekindling an old love affair.

Labels: concert, gig, Hammersmith Apollo, Joshua Radin, London, music, Tori Amos

Joshua Radin hugged me! And signed my shirt! And was lovely. And sang like an angel. I on the other hand acted like a total teenage fangirl. :O :D



Oh yeah and Tori was pretty brilliant too. :P More about all of it when I get home tomorrow... Gotta crash now.

Labels: concert, gig, Hammersmith Apollo, Joshua Radin, London, music