Tag Archive for '2008'

iLiKETRAiNS Live at Roadhouse, Manchester, April 30th 2008

Published on May 1, 2008 in Music, gig and review. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Seeing as iLiKETRAiNS had scheduled no dates in Scotland for their current tour, I arranged a trip back home to coincide with their Manchester date. I’ve not been to many gigs in Manchester but was impressed by Roadhouse as a venue. It had a cosy feel, and an excellent selection of beers. The stage setup was unusual, as the drums were situated at the back, in a sort of alcove. I thought this was quite nice, and the gig itself felt nice and intimate, which is how a good gig should be.

The first support was supposed to be Laymar, a local band, who sound like they would have been good to hear live. However, they had a technical failure which meant that they couldn’t perform at the gig.

The touring support were Kyte, who I would describe as a British Jeniferever. The vocalist admitted to losing his voice, but still managed to create the right atmosphere for the type of music they played, which I enjoyed. I think I prefer to see more atmospheric bands live, as I find watching where all the different parts to the songs come from fascinating. Also, I think all their songs featured a glockenspiel, which can go a long way to making any song instantly better.

So on to iLiKETRAiNS. They opened with 25 Sins, which has become pretty standard since they started touring the album tracks. I remember when I first heard the song live, as I’d not heard it on record at the time, and it was amazing. That hasn’t changed and I would have been disappointed if 25 Sins was not the opening track. The opening drumstick clacks are just brilliant and really set the song up well. Also the use of a guitar solo sets it apart from most of iLiKETRAiNS’ other songs. After that, the setlist was similar to that which was used when I saw them in Scotland. This is no bad thing, especially as they played Victress. One of the enthusiastic blokes from the side of the stage seemed surprised that they would be playing a B-side, but Dave, the lead singer asked if it was good anyway. I replied that it was fantastic! Which it clearly is. The refrain of ‘all men will be, sailors until the sea shall set them free’ is just brilliant and gives the song that little bit extra.

As this was the ‘We Go Hunting’ tour, they certainly seemed to get more into this particular song and gave it their all. It’s one of the more accessible songs on the album, as its upbeat, and the atmospheric nature of the band and Dave’s voice really make it something special.

we also got treated to a new song, which is still in the writing process. It’s working title is ‘Progress is a Snake’ and it was excellent. I think it may be one of my favourite iLiKETRAiNS songs despite only hearing it once. (Plus the youtube quality version of it) I really liked what Simon did with the drumming at the beginning, and there were 2 synths used which was something a bit different. Overall though it was certainly iLiKETRAiNS, and I thoroughly look forward to the finished product.

I think the gig itself went very well for the TRAiNS guys and they said themselves that they had enjoyed it lots. A minor technical hitch was suffered with the projector which was noticeable through the show. After it showed no signs of recovering, it was swiftly turned off by the expert multi-tasker, Ashley, and the show went on. This was only in the last song anyway, and the truly epic nature of Spencer Perceval meant that nothing was lost from the experience and the show ended on an extremely high note.

During the gig, I shouted to Dave that the band should come back to Scotland again, and he said that they would. Hopefully they will stick by this, as I love seeing them in my favourite gig venue Cabaret Voltaire, as well as King Tut’s as it has an excellent atmosphere.

Tonight is iLiKETRAiNS’ homecoming gig, where there will be films and chess. Unfortunately it is not possible for me to go, but I hope that the band members and fans that can make it have an excellent time. Another upcoming TRAiNS date is the 26th of May, when there will be a cinema screening of Elegies to Lessons Learnt, which will probably be amazing to attend.

¡Forward, Russia! Live at Fat Sams, Dundee, April 17th 2008

Published on April 18, 2008 in Music, gig and review. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

I think its fair to say that Fat Sams is quite a different place than King Tuts. While I don’t quite share the opinion that King Tuts is the best live music venue there is, it certainly comes close. Fat Sams? Well, it’s a club. This immediately alters the mood, the bouncers have inflated egos, the atmospher is generally a bit worse. This wasn’t helped by the fact that it’s a club in Dundee. So far as I can tell Dundee doesn’t have quite the same music scene as somewhere like Edinburgh or Glasgow. In Edinburgh and Glasgow people go out to gigs fairly regularly, at least some people do, in Dundee this is not the case. People go to gigs to see local bands in Dundee.

Speaking of which, the local band that opened last night were terrible. I actually had to leave the room a couple of times because the music was so poorly conceived. Indeed as someone I was at the gig pointed out, one of their songs didn’t end. This was not in a good way either, for instance on The Mars Volta’s Amputechre many of the songs are literally amputated, this song however meandered on after it should have finished, then suddenly with no warning they stopped playing. There was no feeling that the song had finished. Then there was the awful pairing of Meg White style drumming to a song which didn’t suit it. I like The White Stripes a lot, but Meg’s drumming suits the style of music they play. When you insert that style of drumming into a song that is not in that style, it does not work.

Moving swiftly onwards and back to Johnny Foreigner. Another excellent set from the best thing to come out of Birmingham in along time. Again they played with an energy, and their songs were so dynamic that you couldn’t help but get really in to the set. The inter song banter continued in the same vein as that in Glasgow. This time it was more outrageous though, at one point they apologised for their lack of organisation and proceeded to talk at length about what to play next. When this got a heckle from the crowd the instant response was: “Could you be quiet, we’re trying to have a conversation here!” I think I’m in love with the song they finish on, excellent set finisher. Suffice to say, I will be getting their album when it’s released. Despite their candid admission that they steal music from the internet, so they can’t expect us to buy it. I certainly will be buying it though.

After the band once more walked on to the sounds of That’s Amore, Tom announced that he was having problems with his throat. It’s to his credit that he soldiered on through the performance, especially as the band had to cancel today’s Newcastle date after a reccomendation from a doctor. The band were on fine form again, once more opening with the excellent Spring Is A Condition. The setlist was largely similar to the Glasgow gig, only this time we did actually get A Prospector Can Dream. Unfortunately the technical problems meant that once more Nineteen wasn’t played. This did however mean that Whiskas dedicated Gravity And Heat to me, which was a really excellent thing for him to do.  Again the set took in the epic Don’t Be A Doctor and finished on Spanish Triangles. Spanish Triangles is easily the best finisher I’ve seen, the opportunity for group vocals at the end during the epic guitar, where Bentley the guitar tech comes on stage to play extra guitar, is immense. I was left once more wanting much more and tempted to go to Newcastle, thankfully for me that was cancelled; preventing me from doing something irresponsible.