Category: Live Reports (Page 24 of 36)

UNDERWORLD Dubnobasswithmyheadman Live at Hammersmith Apollo

13 March 2015 /

“…and the light it burns my eyes. And I feel so dirty. Here comes Christ on crutches!”

Rewind back to 1994 and the charts were packed to the rafters with Eurodance…WHIGFIELD, CORONA, SNAP, HADDAWAY, CULTURE BEAT, 2 UNLIMITED… the list was pretty endless. So when an album of so-called “intelligent” dance music with stream of consciousness lyrics referencing Romford and Chigwell came out, the chances of it being much of a success seemed scarce. Yet, twenty years on and UNDERWORLD’s ‘Dubnobasswithmyheadman’ is rightly cited as a classic not just of the dance genre, but also electronic music in general.

Its broad spectrum of music from epic four-to-the-floor through to downtempo more reflective styles meant that UNDERWORLD, alongside LEFTFIELD, ORBITAL and THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS were able to push the buttons not just for dance music fans, but also for followers of electro and synthpop. After a testing the water one-off show at The Royal Festival Hall in London rapidly sold out, the following tour dates did the same and this was evidenced by a packed Hammersmith Apollo.

The album itself is pretty perfectly sequenced, and it would have been nonsensical to mess with the track order, ‘Dark & Long’ starting the set as per the album, with minimalistic, Tomato-styled visuals of the song titles being projected in a variety of font sizes behind the band. Due to not having the best seat in the house, it only became apparent a couple of tracks in that remaining founder member Rick Smith was absent, frontman Karl Hyde eventually confirming that he was ill and that long term collaborator Darren Pierce would be fulfilling / covering his role on stage.

This provided the evening with its KRAFTWERK moment, the realisation sinking in that Hyde (at that point in time) was the only remaining member from the line-up that made the album (DJ Darren Emerson is no longer part of the group anymore).

Once the set progressed, the initial disappointment gradually faded as tracks such as a 15 minute long ‘Mmm…Skyscraper I Love You’ helped turn the Apollo into a multi-tiered club, people abandoning their seats and some throwing dance shapes and reliving memories of both the album and formative UNDERWORLD tours.

The tracks themselves were pretty faithful reconstructions of the original album versions, which went against the improvisational ways that they would have been delivered back in the day, when the band (apparently) played live without rehearsing or having a setlist to follow.

‘Dirty Epic’ was a highpoint, reminding that a large part of UNDERWORLD’s sound relied on Hyde’s deeply personal lyrics and guitar playing, much of the former stemming from anecdotal stories from living and working in both New York, Minneapolis and, erm, Romford. Once the album performance was concluded with ‘M.E.’, the crowd was treated to renditions of the single ‘Rez’ and LEMON INTERRUPT B-side ‘Big Mouth’.

Both tracks literally raised the Apollo roof, the former spinning and stretching out the resonating synth riff for what seemed like ages before the drums kicked in. ‘Big Mouth’ was a sort of alter-ego to THE GRID’s ‘Swamp Thing’ as was an earlier rendition of ‘Cowgirl’, both taking country-style riffs and setting them in a dance context, Hyde’s harmonica playing receiving a rapturous reception at the end.

The tracks played throughout also reminded the listener that although aligned with dance music, they never, ever resorted to the cliché, eg the long, extended TR909 snare roll or daft, hedonistic “Move Your Body!” lyric, and it is this that has helped contribute to giving ‘Dubnobasswithmyheadman’ its longevity.

There was only going to be one way to climax the show and that was with the Bill Bailey inspired ‘Born Slippy (Nuxx)’ (Google it!), the PA seemed to raise a notch as the track’s thundering kick drum and accompanying rave-style lighting sent the Apollo crowd home on a high. Downsides?

Due the length of most of the tracks played, there was no room for the single ‘Two Months Off’ and the evening did prompt the usual question posed during an electronic show of “what is exactly being played live on stage?”.

These quibbles aside though, tonight reinforced how important ‘Dubnobasswithmyheadman’ is as a landmark electronic album and when its contemporaries have long since faded will live on as a classic of its kind.

‘Dubnobasswithmyheadman’ is available as a deluxe 2CD, vinyl double LP and deluxe download via Commercial Marketing

http://www.underworldlive.com/

https://www.facebook.com/underworldlive

Text and Photos by Paul Boddy
13th March 2015

NODE Live at The Royal College of Music

2 March 2015 /

Advancements in modern digital technology are a fantastic thing, or are they?

Whilst the debate still continues to rage about the pros and cons of vinyl versus digital music products, tonight brought up a telling parable as to whether the traditional methods of carrying out certain tasks should be tampered with.

A typical pre-gig meal turned into a farce when in an un-named South Kensington restaurant, instead of bringing the usual paper menus, the waiter brought a single iPad and attempted to explain the convoluted digital method of ordering by scrolling through multiple menus and then looked at us as if we were complete Luddites when we asked to order normally! A brief verbal scuffle and we were out the door and on our way to The Royal College of Music; a stones throw from The Royal Albert Hall and a refreshing change from many of the usual London venues.

After walking into the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall part of the venue, the attendees were confronted with the quite breathtaking sight of a large stage filled to the brim with stacks of vintage and current analogue modular synthesizers plus unusually for a technology-based gig, not an iPad in sight and just a singular laptop.

For those unfamiliar with NODE and if you missed ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s interview with three quarters of the line-up last June, they are a producer super group comprising Flood (DEPECHE MODE / NINE INCH NAILS / PJ HARVEY), Ed Buller (WHITE LIES / SUEDE / PULP), Dave Bessell and Mel Wesson. The group first gained some notoriety when performing a gig at Paddington railway station in 1995 during the commuter rush hour to support their debut album and towards the end of last year, released their long awaited second release of synthetic soundscapes ‘Node 2’ on Ian Boddy’s DiN imprint.

The presence of so many vintage synthesizers was probably enough visual stimulation for most of the audience, but in addition centre-stage was a circular PINK FLOYD-style screen onto which was projected a few subtle images / animations and live feeds of the performers on stage, plus some twinkling Christmas-style lights around Flood’s modular set-up added to the overall effect. Additionally, some effective uplighting under much of the equipment really evoked the halcyon days of early KRAFTWERK and TANGERINE DREAM performances.

The band started with an extended version of ‘Shikansen East’ from ‘Node 2’, the shifting chords eventually leading into the track’s hypnotic step sequencer patterns before coming back full circle to the intro passage again. The structure of the gig lovingly followed the format of a classic KLAUS SCHULZE double album… four 20 minute pieces, with a midpoint break to allow those present (including DURAN DURAN’s Nick Rhodes) to crowd around the front of the stage to survey the gear on stage.

What was refreshing was the improvisational and unpredictable nature of the show, occasionally sounds poked through the mix that were probably unintended, but all added to the experience of watching music that wasn’t pre-programmed and overtly computer generated.

Each performer had their own custom modular set-up plus additional synths including classic PPG, Oberheim, EMS, Moog and Sequential Circuits gear. Right of stage, Dave Bessell had a guitar strapped on for most of the gig, but instead of going for the Edgar Froese solo-style approach, he used it to add more subtle textures to the primarily electronic sounds on offer tonight.

To the right of the stage, Mel Wesson’s area featured a wonderful and very highly stacked Moog Modular. More centrally set-up were Flood and Ed Buller, each with their own preferred choice of synthesizers, the former having an EMS VCS3 and a Roland VP330 vocoder amongst his sonic arsenal.

The evening’s set climaxed in what was the most Berlin School-style track of the night, intricate step sequenced patterns filtering in and out in a hypnotic wash of sound before winding down and fading out to loud applause. The band took their bows at the front of the stage before coming back out for another curtain call, there was no encore, but the audience didn’t seem too concerned, having been treated to a night of electronic music that was probably the nearest you would get these days to seeing a vintage TANGERINE DREAM style analogue synth set.

A valid point could be raised as to whether this style of music is the only type that can be made with this equipment, and whether a more forward thinking, more innovative approach could be taken in places. But then again, if you went to see Eric Clapton or Brian May, you wouldn’t expect either of them to feed their trusty guitar through a Kaoss pad or glitch pedal.

It could also be argued that Mark Shreeve’s REDSHIFT project took more risks and developed this sound to a much higher level (especially from a live perspective) with similar equipment, but because they are now on hiatus, the chances of seeing a set-up anything like this nowadays is extremely limited.

Modern digital technology is often a brilliant thing, but sometimes there’s a lot to be said for an analogue approach and tonight’s overall experience certainly reinforced that. If NODE ever get to do another live performance, beg, steal or borrow a ticket, you won’t be disappointed.

‘Node’ and ‘Node2’ are released by DiN and available from http://www.din.org.uk/din/

http://www.nodesynth.com

https://www.facebook.com/nodesynth

Text and Photos by Paul Boddy
2nd March 2015

HOWARD JONES Engage Live at Indigo2

23 February 2015 /

Just a few days short of his 60th birthday, HOWARD JONES launched his new multimedia project ‘Engage’ at London’s Indigo2 with a special live performance.

The ethos behind ‘Engage’ was to curate “a highly interactive live experience designed to immerse audiences in an audio/visual feast” with “EDM, contemporary classical, cinematic and pop music influences” as well as links to ballet and philosophy.

He told The Huffington Post: “There’s not so much interest in recorded music, but people love to go to a show. So I was thinking, ‘How can I make an incredibly immersive, visceral experience with all the things that I love all mashed up together?’” Indeed, this was no ordinary HOWARD JONES concert with the first 35 minute set showcasing ‘Engage’ in all its glory with a mix of vibrant accessible technopop and instrumental interludes.

This was all accompanied by the thoughtfully constructed hi-tech visuals put together by Stephen W Tayler and projected onto a huge mesh screen which was draped in front of the stage. As the band performed behind the images, it created a suitably impressionist backdrop for new, optimistic songs such as ‘Seize The Day’ and ‘The Walk’.


“Get your gloves out” shouted Jones as he prepared to perform ‘Five Pianos’, an abstract ivory piece in the vein of avant garde composer STEVE REICH. Those gloves comprised of different coloured fluorescent images which were to be waved in synch with the visuals via a smart phone app following being triggered from the stage. HOWARD JONES’ use of apps as part of the show was novel and innovative… people do seem to spend a lot of their time on their phones at gigs these days, so why not make them part of the show?

The mesh screen eventually dropped to reveal Jones, keyboardist Robbie Bronnimann and drummer Jonathan Atkinson with even more fluorescent colours enhancing the percussion and controller hardware being used. As they performed ‘The Human Touch’, a song that was easily as good as anything on ERASURE’s The Violet Flame’, it proved that HOWARD JONES still has the knack of knocking out a good tune with enlightening, philosophical sensibility after over 30 years in the business. Indeed, philosophy was an important part of the ‘Engage’ live presentation with quotes from Ikeda, Thoreau, Einstein, Kierkegaard and Tolstoy displayed during various sections of the show.

With the audience largely appreciating Howard Jones’ sense of ambition with ‘Engage’, he treated his followers for the second longer set with a greatest hits presentation. But before that, he returned to the stage after a short interlude, with a Korg RK-100 strapped round his neck, for a short synth rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Child’. Making full use of the keytar’s marvellous ribbon controller, it allowed Jones’ to exploit his fine tutored virtuosity.

After that, it was all the hits! Beginning with popular standards such as ‘Pearl In the Shell’ and ‘Like To Get To Know You Well’, those in the crowd who had been more muted during the ‘Engage’ set now livened up. Taking in all periods of his career, there was also ‘Everlasting Love’ from 1989’s ‘Cross That Line’ and the terrific but under rated ‘Just Look At You Now’ from 2005’s ‘Revolution Of The Heart’.

‘What Is Love?’ was a terrifically communal affair with lashings of audience participation and the synth man from High Wycombe was clearly enjoying every moment of his early birthday party. “I feel like I’m among friends” he told everyone. In buoyant and talkative mood, he told of how the opening line “You can look at the menu, but you just can’t eat” from his biggest US hit ‘No One Is To Blame’ was inspired by an Elektra Records executive in San Francisco. Asked what he thought of the attractive women that were resident in the city while on a promotional visit, Jones’ replied he was happily married, to which the man from Elektra gave his witty culinary themed retort.

There was the fun, electro-calypso of ‘Life In One Day’ which was fairly true to the original but for ‘The Prisoner’, Jones announced to the crowd that he had the guitars taken out and added more synths. Indeed, he kept his promise with the end result coming over like an enjoyable cross between CUTTING CREW and Gary Numan! An extended singalong of ‘New Song’ completed a brilliant main act but the soon-to-be sexagenarian was not done yet!

With a solo piano set to start the encore, he began with a more free form take on ‘Don’t Always Look At The Rain’ from ‘Human’s Lib’ which more than revealed his love of Donald Fagen, followed by ‘Look Mama’ which was dedicated to his late mother Thelma. There were shouts for ‘Hide & Seek’ and that finally came with a short stripped down version as performed on ‘Live Aid’. But it was then segued into a full synth reprise with a meditative vocodered chant added to proceedings alongside the Buddhist influenced lyrics.

‘Things Can Only Get Better’ finished the night with the 1985 lyric “Get to sixty and feel no regret” summing up what the evening was about. A surprising rave climax to the Top10 song, complete with sawtooth stabs, drops and dad dancing showed Howard Jones had no signs of hanging up his keytar. Indeed, he had said earlier in the evening that he intended to carry on for another 10 years!

It was a superbly entertaining evening reflecting on the past, but looking forward as well. The superb reproduction of original electronic sounds from the older songs with proved how digitalism can indeed be beautiful, while the new numbers exploited everything that the modern world had to offer. But the important aspect that Howard Jones wanted to maintain was the human interaction. And with full live engagement, that was most certainly achieved.

‘Engage’ is released by Dtox Records as a CD/DVD package

http://www.howardjones.com/

https://www.facebook.com/howardjones

https://twitter.com/howardjones

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
23rd February 2015

MESH + VILE ELECTRODES Live at The Garage

4 February 2015 /


Exciting are the times when two great bands come together to do a gig, one that will lighten up the darkest and coldest January night.

MESH and VILE ELECTRODES performed at The Garage and the event was certainly one to remember. Richard Silverthorn of MESH mentioned that he would never choose mediocre bands to support them, as he was more interested in the overall experience for the ticket buyer, rather than being the top dog and shining above all others.

That certainly was true for this gig; the headliner being one of the most celebrated alternative electronic acts that the UK has to offer with years of experience and multiple albums to showcase their immense back catalogue; and the main support, an extremely unique duo with superb synth interplay and quirky vocals, fast gaining popularity both in the UK and Europe. The Garage was certainly the place to be.

2014 closed a chapter for VILE ELECTRODES, a period which has seen them support OMD and JOHN FOXX as well as playing live in front of ex-members of KRAFTWERK. So for their first gig of 2015, the South Coast based synth couple took the opportunity to air some new material.

Despite taking a running start with the accessibly groovy ‘Empire of Wolves’ from their first album, it was straight onto the road test with ‘Drive’, a great little electronic ditty that was pleasingly immediate, yet fresh as well.

The dynamics of studio and live performance are quite different so although very promising, ‘Last Of The Lovers’ went on a bit too long, a fact that was dwelled upon by Anais Neon who endearing admitted to forgetting to cut out the last verse in the planned edited version they had rehearsed.

But while not yet fully formed, the other new songs ‘Evidence’ and ‘Stark White’ showed why VILE ELECTRODES have been winning music awards in Germany and enthusiastically championed by OMD’s Andy McCluskey.

Non-album EP track ‘Re-Emerge’ made a welcome return to the set, its energetic arpeggios now augmented by a barrage of Simmons drums from Martin Swan.

Meanwhile ‘Proximity’ and its haunting synth line borrowed from JOY DIVISION’s ‘Decades’ closed a well received set in front of an almost capacity crowd. MESH began their part proceedings with singer Mark Hockings standing by the mixing desk with stripped down renditions of ‘Trust You’ and ‘Not Prepared’.

This was a brave way to start with the beany capped Hockings exposed, but fully relishing his challenge. The full live band of Silverthorn, Sean Suleman (drums) and Richard Broadhead (keyboards) launched into ‘Flawless’ as the singer rejoined his bandmates on the stage and so began a passionate set, dealing with the downturn of relationships, both personal and virtual.

Indicative of the Bristol combo’s success in Europe, fans had come from all over the continent for this special show with German being the dominant language in the venue.

These fans were treated to a wonderful surprise in a terrific cover of YAZOO’s ‘Tuesday’ as Hockings did a fine tribute to Alison Moyet without actually trying to imitate her. This early Vince Clarke song was effectively turned into one of MESH’s own while still retaining its original essence and grace.

The dark yet uplifting ‘Crash’ from 2006’s ‘We Collide’ provided a great dance rock moment with plenty of anthemic qualities. And it’s this that MESH do best, emotive gothic tinged electro with melodies and the occasional dancefloor tendency. There was another surprise when REPUBLICA front woman Saffron made a special guest appearance on ‘Who Says’, a number from ‘A Perfect Solution’ which was originally a boy/girl duet with Julia Beyer of cult German band TECHNOIR.

The surprise pairing certainly kept the crowd in good spirits as they went on to enjoy further excellent songs from MESH’s most recent album ‘Automation Baby’ such as ‘Never Meet Your Heroes’, ‘Just Leave Us Alone’ and ‘Adjust Your Set’.

Incidentally during ‘You Didn’t Want Me’, former MESH live keyboardist Geoff Pinckney made a passing remark that watching his former colleagues live from the other side was “very emotional”.

The rousing stomp of ‘You Want What’s Owed to You’ and a fine crowd singalong conducted by Richard Silverthorn during the closing bars of ‘Taken For Granted’ was warmly embraced by all in attendance, with that latter now possibly MESH’s own ‘Never Let Me Down Again’. Returning with fan favourites ‘Born To Lie’ and ‘Friends Like These’ for the encore, MESH ably delivered to their loyal public.

With every UK MESH gig, the audience receives a rare treat. First of all, the exquisite performance from the band themselves, both musically and vocally, with Mark Hockings being indistinguishable from the album recordings.

Secondly with the choice of their main support; VILE ELECTRODES were a perfect pick and followed in the footsteps of KLOQ, DE/VISION and TORUL, each unique and fresh, making the whole experience truly one to remember. It was a most satisfying way to begin the year’s busy gig schedule.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Richard Silverthorn

MESH play ‘Gothic Meets Classik’ with COVENANT and ANNE CLARK at Leipzig Haus Auensee on SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER and Lepizig Gewandhaus on SUNDAY 25TH OCTOBER. Details at http://www.gothic-meets-klassik.de/

VILE ELECTRODES play ‘A Secret Wish’ at The Lexington in London on SUNDAY 18TH APRIL with SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN and guest DJ JOHN FRYER. Tickets are £10 in advance or £15 on the door, available from https://billetto.co.uk/asecretwish

http://www.mesh.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/vileelectrodes

Text by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Monika Izabela Goss
Photos by Ray Davis and Andrew Garley
4th February 2015

WOLFGANG FLÜR Live at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen

31 January 2015 /

WOLFGANG-09A packed Hoxton Bar was filled to capacity including the DJ who helped popularize KRAFTWERK in UK, Rusty Egan, Stevo Pearce of Some Bizarre, Clive Pierce from HARD CORPS, VILE ELECTRODES and assorted members of SPEAK & SPELL and ANALOG ANGEL.

Support DJ Annie Hogan did a sterling job in warming up the crowd with spins of SOFT CELL’s ‘Memorabilia’, a remix of FAD GADGET’s ‘Coitus Interruptus’ and the ‘Travelogue’ version of ‘Being Boiled’.

During the evening’s main set, several of the background images flashed up “WOLFGANG FLÜR – ex-KRAFTWERK”, but in reality, the man (machine) himself needed no such introduction.

There was a huge sense of anticipation as to what Flür would perform, as aside from his time spent with KRAFTWERK and YAMO with MOUSE ON MARS, there has been little in the way of solo work and only the recent release of ‘Activity Of Sound’ by iEUROPEAN (coincidentally Sean Barron of that project was present tonight too).

WOLFGANG-11The set started promisingly with a hard-edged remix of ‘Home Computer’, whilst behind Flür were projected images of his time spent in KRAFTWERK, many of them from his private collection, showing an often unseen and candid side of the band that Hütter and Schneider have constantly tried to suppress. Taken alongside Flür’s controversial book ‘I Was A Robot’, many of the show’s images seemed calculated to help destroy the myth of the band as being automatons who only exist to clock in and out of Kling Klang studio, didn’t have girlfriends, and (God-forbid) enjoyed a social drink or two!

One could easily imagine the sight of Ralf Hütter walking in on the set and face-palming at the sight of some of the (less than flattering) images on show here. However, for the crowd, it provided a fascinating insight into some of the lesser-seen life and times of this iconic German band.

Throughout the set, Flür DJ’d using a Mac and occasionally manipulated a Korg Kaoss pad to filter some of the tracks, and after about 20 minutes it soon became apparent that the set was going to be far from a laurel-resting KRAFTWERK ‘Greatest Hits’ performance despite the reliance on images which seemed to suggest otherwise.

WOLFGANG-10Tracks such as ‘Overdrive’ from Karl Bartos’ 1993 ELEKTRIC MUSIC album ‘Esperanto’ and the unreleased proposed sequel to ‘The Model’: ‘Cover Girl’ by the YAMO project provided some welcome relief from a set of mainly vocal-less techno which made up 80% of the tracks played. Despite a dogged determination not to play the nostalgia card, Flür seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself on stage, mimicking some of the animations behind him, throwing a few dad-dancing shapes and bringing out his Pickelhaube army hat at the climax of a driving techno set.

Ironically, the music and images seemed to click best when there wasn’t the distraction of the KRAFTWERK images behind Flür, with the venues lighting flashing to accompany time-lapse footage synced to the driving beats coming from his computer.

WOLFGANG-01After about an hour the set was over and despite desperate shouts for an encore, Flür came back onto the Hoxton stage and explained that he didn’t have one. Such is his reputation, WOLFGANG FLÜR could have probably played anything vaguely electronic and the majority of the crowd would have travelled home happy.

But for many, it may have felt like a missed opportunity not to showcase some more KRAFTWERK songs. A snippet of the “21st Century” vocal from ‘Expo 2000’ made a tantalizing appearance half way through the set, but that (alongside the opening ‘Home Computer’ remix) was all you got.

With the unexpected passing of TANGERINE DREAM’s Edgar Froese a few days earlier, it did however feel reassuring to be able to enjoy an evening in the company of one of electronic music’s legendary founding fathers, and although the music played may not have been quite what was anticipated, it was still an hour spent with an undeniable legend who’s band and technology formed the blueprint of much of the music we listen to today.

‘Activity of Sound’ by iEUROPEAN featuring WOLFGANG FLÜR is released on Subculture Records. The download bundle including a remix by Clive Pierce and Rob Doran of HARD CORPS is available from http://subculturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/activity-of-sound

http://www.musiksoldat.de

https://www.facebook.com/musiksoldat

https://twitter.com/iwasarobot

Text by Paul Boddy
Photos by Richard Price
31st January 2015

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