From Submarine to Trainspotting .... Films with the BEST Soundtracks.

A film's soundtrack can make or break a film. A film with a slightly above average storyline can be greatly improved to something watchable using the choice of music. It takes a skilled song writer to create music specifically for a film, and a skilled song selector to choose from the outstanding number of songs out there to find the perfect ones for that film moment. Here are my personal favourite films, based on their soundtracks....

 Submarine 

Submarine is this generation's emotional indie film, directed by Richard Ayoade, and with a beautifully written soundtrack by Alex Turner. This soundtrack consists of four, fairly slow songs that reflect the atmosphere of the film absolutely perfectly. I think the songwriting skills here are what makes me think Alex is an absolute genius. Stripped of the rest of the Arctic Monkeys, its just Alex and his guitar. You can hear emotion in his voice as he sings the words songs filled with beautiful imagery.

Lord of the Rings 
The soundtrack for Lord of the Rings heads in a completely different direction, as the whole thing was composed using entire orchestras for use in the film. However, I think it should definitely be credited as a soundtrack genius. The choirs of people singing and the build up of the instruments really reflects the trials and trauma of the films storyline! Whilst it is a very stereotypical sound for a fiction film, it is done so perfectly. You can hear uplifting sections in the music, which builds up to catastrophic ends.

 Trainspotting 
Trainspotting is an absolutely amazing film with some real britpop hits. The whole film has a very 'screw everything' attitude to it, which is reflected with its 80s and 90s pop songs. This films wins with its soundtrack purely with the use of Lou Reed's Perfect Day as Mark Renton enters a heroin induced state in which nothing everything is distorted. I can't say I've ever found myself in that state, but I can say that's one of the songs I can imagine playing in my head. And, saying that, if anyone can be trusted to write a heroin song it's most definitley Mr Lou Reed.

Record Stores Are the Way Forward

I am here to talk to you about the importance of vinyl. Last year I was given the gift of a record player, something I had wanted for some time. I got a reconditioned vintage one on ebay and started checking out record shops, something I only ever did to buy posters before hand. I feel there is something really special about owning vinyl. The only way I can think to describe it is that it is the most physical form of owning music. There is nothing more exciting than waiting till the day an album is released and heading to your local record shop (personal favourites being Jumbo Records and Crash Records in Leeds) and leaving with a bag containing your new record. That, compared to downloading the album off iTunes, or even buying the cd, is less personal in comparison. You really feel as if you are making your best effort for this album that you have been so desperate to hear.

I also draw on the atmosphere of a record store. The feeling of heading into a shop that is wall to wall with good music. Posters on the walls, gig adverts pinned to the boards and shelves and shelves of plastic wrapped vinyl sleeves in badly organised alphabetical order that you must trawl through to find your record. You then have the pride of taken your chosen record of immaculate music taste to the till and chatting to whoever works there about records/music/gigs and feeling really involved.

So, you've done the shop thing and you then have the excitement of getting home to listen to your record. Another great thing about vinyl listening is that you must be there to physically interact with the music listening. It is not enough to just press a button as you would with a computer, you must turn it on and wait for it to speed up, then delicately treat your record when turning it over half way through the listening. This, I've found, means you end up stopping to listen to your music more. Rather than putting music on in the background and doing something else you are actively sat listening to your music. It gives you more chance to experience and appreciate the music without being distracted by other things!

Finally, if there is anything better than having a good CD collection, it's having a good record collection. It's something to be proud of, something to display and show off about. I always tend to have the album I last listened to proudly displayed next to my record player, and in years to come when I believe I will really appreciate my signed records, the sounds of my teenage years!

Why The Cribs could be one of the best bands ever.

If I'm being truly honest, this post comes out of watching about 20 Cribs videos on youtube and getting a bit excited, but let's just go with it.

I think The Cribs are absolutely amazing. The three brothers started about ten years ago in Wakefield, making their main gig city Leeds which is oh so conveniently where I live (kind of). They have five albums and a 'best of' album out. Each album is absolutely full of amazing songs, and not one album they have produced has been considered a bad album. I think one thing that really sums up how amazing they are is that the one album that they did with legendary guitarist Johnny Marr (Ignore the Ignorant) has been considered their worst album they've made! Now I believe that that is saying something!

Another thing, I love the bands loyal to their favourite venues. Brudnell Social Club in Leeds is probably the smallest Leeds venue, but it is at the same time probably the best. The Cribs played a bunch of gigs there, including a christmas show in 2008. I would like to point out that this is after releasing two albums, whereas most bands who play there are still on their EP's and debuts. They knew they could have sold out a bigger venue, but they stuck to their favourite place! And from what Ive seen it was a pretty decent gig (I didn't go because I was 11, bad excuse I know).

NEXT THING. Their gigs are done on their own terms. No encores (I actually hate encores at gigs - waste of time) They hardly talk to the audience and they just power through each song to fit as many songs in as possible. ALSO, their front man (obviously Ryan) isn't their lead singer (Gary) which is pretty damn cool. And those haircuts are ridiculous to the point of being awesome.

I think I'm done with my positivity-rant on how much I love the cribs. Also bummed that I'm missing them in Leeds this month, in fact that is a very raw patch on my life right now.

Peace // Leeds The Met 02.12.13

The last time Peace were in Leeds (bar Leeds fest) was for Live In Leeds, which was an amazing day but slightly bad organisation meant that they were put as a headliner at the cockpit, and a large amount of people didn't get into the venue, or had to leave early to go get trains. So hopefully this would be better (it was). 

They opened up with Sheffield brothers Eoin and Rory in Drenge. Drenge seem to be a very you love them or you hate them band, and the crowd was split between people who couldn't wait to see them and people who were gutted they had to stand through them. I was in the first half, and was happy to see the crowd jumping up and down and really going for it. They played a bunch of songs from their debut album, all whilst staring intensely into the crowd. At least five songs had passed before Eoin looked up and said "Hi Leeds, we're Drenge". I'm sure the guys are lovely when you talk to them, but I must admit that they're angry stage presence leads me to believe that the reason they're a band of just two people is because they don't like anyone else! They ended by playing Face like a Skull and throwing guitars on the floor and standing on them. 

Peace played a great set list, playing majority songs from In Love, and Bloodshake and 1998 from their old EP. Every song was full of energy, and with Harrison Koisser informing Leeds that we were a good looking bunch, and that we smelt pretty good? I was happy to see that Doug Castle had still not lost his guitar-moves despite having most likely spent the lest few months up all night with his new baby (the only time going on tour will be considered a rest), and that Sam Koisser was still as lovely and sweet as ever, blowing kisses to the crowd as he left the stage. Their encore consisted of my personal favourite, California Daze, a slow and beautiful song that made me fall in love with the band at first listen, and then shambolic indie pop song Bloodshake. We only heard one new song, Money, but it was worth a listen and a good sign of what is next to come from the band. 

Unfortunately, the band took far too long coming out afterwards, but we did meet bass player Sam before the gig (he was very lovely). I was disappointed not to hear the bands new Last Christmas cover, but over all it was an amazing enjoyable gig. 

Blog babbling

So, after reading my good friend Amy's blog (http://dreamfortresss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/dr-who-ten-thousand-and-parodies.html) I decided that whilst my blog should be solely music based, I am going to start blogging about random life and non-music related things as well, to fill the gaps when I have no gigs/bands to review. Here comes the useless babbling... 

I went to see Catching Fire last week after, quite honestly months and months of counting down the days until it came out. I was worried about how good it would be because I had such high expectations for it, and it was most definitely worth the wait. The film was marvelous, it was well made, well acted and of course, being a huge fangirl of the books, it was amazing to see the pages being played out on screen. So amazing in fact that I will be seeing it two or three more times in the next few weeks! I am now also counting down the days till Mockingjay part 1! 

In other news, it was my 17th birthday yesterday, and I celebrated by buying my provisional license ready to get set and get driving! I also got an amazing selection of gifts of my lovely friends, including a new Bass guitar, Voldermort's wand from Harry Potter World in Florida and a plectrum and setlist from when I saw Jake Bugg. I also had a lovely party put on for me by my friends full of references to The Office and with Canned Heat playing on repeat all evening. I got a happy birthday tweet of Fred Macpherson which pretty much made everything perfect. I also spent the entire day bleaching my hair which has now resulted in me having candy floss pink hair which is pretty cool. 

I'm really excited to go and see Peace next Monday and to see all my lovely Leeds gig friends, so you should see a review of that pretty soon! And finally, my friend Laura has interview me for her brilliant group blog Fiblar about the perils of being a fangirl so read it! http://fiblar.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/interviews-five-fangirls.html

I guess me babbling about life is pretty dull, but whatever- #yolo so to speak. 

Happy Thursday 

Maisy Meets Palma Violets (Leeds Met 21.11.13)

Palma Violets Rattlesnake Rodeo tour kicked off in Wolverhampton last week, and I managed to see them in Leeds on thursday night. We hung around before the gig and met the majority of the band (including the absolute genius that is Harry Violent) before they went to Dry Dock (ITS A PUB IN A BOAT ON THE GRASS) for cheap beer and chips. 

The first support act was Glasgow band Baby Strange who I already knew one or two songs of. They were really good, their act made better by the fact that Harry was disgusted with the crowds lack of movement for the support and decided to start a mosh pit in the middle of the room - fair enough. The bands best songs were Friend, Pure Evil and an amazing upbeat cover of Peter, Bjorn and John's Young Folks which I would love to see being recorded as a B side for their next record. Would definitely go see the band again and have high hopes they'll be booked for Live at Leeds this year. 

Next support was a band called Childhood, think a hybrid between Splashh and Theme Park. They were probably less enthralling but still good. Palma Violets came on and played two unknown songs before playing their way through their album 180. Highlights were the amazing single that introduced Palma Violets to the world, Best of Friends, and my personal favourite Rattlesnake Highway. As is to be expected at a Palma Violets gig there was havoc with people crowd surfing and falling on top of people, and I did at multiple times have my hair ripped out. They left the stage for a few minutes, in which time Chilli took his shirt of (standard) and came back on to play a couple more songs, including the cover of the Hot Nasties Invasion of the Tribbles, with members of the two support bands actually playing their guitars for them so the rest of the band could just prance around on stage and jump into the crowd. 

Afterwards we went backstage to talk to whoever we could. We found Harry and talked Game of Thrones, his antics in Sheffield the night before and how people of the North are so much better at gigs than in the South, followed by a YORKSHIRE YORKSHIRE YORKSHIRE chant and lots of jumping around. He then dragged Chilli out to see us, who took photos with everyone and thanked us all profusely for coming, and promised they'd be back soon. I can't wait to have them back to Leeds. 

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the gig, as I was scared that if my phone came out of my bag I'd never see it again. You'll have to just use your imagination as to how it looked.... 

Vampire Weekend / Leeds First Direct Arena

On saturday night I saw Vampire Weekend for the second time in my life. The day started with slight disappointment, as me and my two sisters arrived at the arena 10 minutes after Ezra and Baio went into the arena, meaning we missed them! However, we did get there early enough to be at the front of our queue and get to the barrier.

I really enjoyed the support act, Noah and the Whale, which I doubted I would after seeing them at Glastonbury 2011 and be sorely disappointed. However they were a good opening act, and pretty much the entire crowd knew L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N and 5 Years Time which made for a nice sing along. A highlight of the evening, I must admit, was at the end of 5 Years Time a girl next to me just throwing up all over the floor and there being a huge circle of people in the middle of this crowd, trying aimlessly to stop drunk lads from stumbling through this pile of vomit. As sorry as I felt for the poor girl, it was hilarious.

Vampire Weekend were brilliant. Baio and his dance moves provided great entertainment as he hops around the stage. They opened with Diane Young, and moved through their songs pretty swiftly with little talk in between them. I was at the barrier for about half of the show with my little sister, who's 10. She did really well getting squashed at the front, and the security guys looked after her well. However, half way through she got a bit overwhelmed and wanted to get out so both of us got lifted over the barrier (Ive never done that before and it's really fun) so I watched the remainder of the show from the back. Regardless, it was a really enjoyable show.

If I realised anything about Vampire Weekend it's how amazing their new album is. Their album Modern Vampires of the City, which came out in May, slipped into the set really well, and although these songs are relatively new, people knew and enjoyed them as if they were classics already. They ended with Walcott, a classic off of their first album and the crowd left the arena to the sound of New York, New York.

Good Old' Miley Cyrus

Seeing as Miley Cyrus has spent the last two months or so bouncing from magazine to tabloid with her ridiculous and raunchy antics I decided to allow you my view on her situation. Lucky you.

At the VMA Music Awards in August, former Hannah Montana pop star Miley Cyrus took to the stage wearing a nude coloured underwear set, 'twerking' on teddy bears and dancing with Robin Thicke (shudder). This seemed to be her baptism of fire into her new persona. Since then she has smoked a joint on stage whilst accepting awards, danced provocatively with dwarfs (?) and released a music video where she licks a hammer. Now, I totally get that she has spent her entire life as this blonde, Tennessee country pop star Hannah Montanna, and is primarily, a disney child star. So whilst I think the stuff she is getting up to is quite frankly stupid and disgusting,  I don't blame her for wanting to break free from this.

However, the complaint of many (including myself) is that due to her disney career, Miley Cyrus will forever be a kids star. The age group of her fans are pretty much around 11-14, which raises the argument of her being a bad example to these kids. Suddenly Hannah Montana fans are going to buy tickets to her concerts which will be nothing but glorified strip shows. Young girls are going to start sticking their tounges out and twerking on things. But is this Miley Cyrus' fault? Should her life be constantly tied down to being a good example for these children? Is that really fair? It seems as if the only option for child stars is to die down into non-existence or shock everyone when they announce that they actually want to have some fun. In all fairness you'd see worse behaviour coming from normal non-famous girls her age, but because of her highlighted life of fame, she gets all the stick for it. Sort of doesn't seem too fair?

This blog post has no real meaning or formulated ending. I'm not even making any point, other than child disney stars are sort of trapped in a cycle of good example vs living your life. I would however like to point out that I am in no agreement to Miley Cyrus' behaviour, but she wants to do it and so thats that. Give the girl a break?

Heaven Knows He's Miserable Now (Morrissey Autobiography Review)

This past week I went to Turkey, because ever so occasionally I do something social that isn't music related (not often mind). Whilst in Turkey I enjoyed reading three books, Gone Girl (excellent - really recommend), The Fault In Our Stars (re-read it for the fifth time and cried on the beach) and finally, the autobiography of Steven Morrissey.

My first attempt at reading this was cut short. It was the first book I tried to read, yet the first two lines, 'My childhood is streets upon streets upon streets. Streets to define you and streets to confine you', indicated that this wouldn't exactly be an easy read. Morrissey is obviously a very poetic man, as we all know through his classic Smiths songs, which meant that he struggled to write about his childhood in any simple sentences. Every sentence had two or three meanings which takes time for me to get my head around. So I put it away, read a book about a psychotic fictional woman, and then picked it up again for round two.

I was afraid that reading it would really put me off Morrissey. I have made the mistake in my head of ignoring anything anyone has ever said about him being a completely miserable arse, and have imagined a fictional Morrissey that smiles at fans and whips Gladioli around his head 24/7, however obviously this is not true. In truth, Morrissey's outlook on life seems to be that everyone and everything is out to get him. If anything, it's horrible to read about a musical idol who suffers so much inside, so much so that he spent his teenage years either waiting for something exciting to happen or to just die.

This book also gave me the impression that Johnny Marr was the lifeblood of The Smiths. Johnny came to Morrissey, Johnny brought in Andy and Mike, and convinced them to come back when they didn't want to be in the band anymore. It was through Johnny's 'man about town' persona that got them in touch with people, got them playing gigs. I believe this book also didn't give enough insight onto the break up of the smiths, with Morrissey reporting that they broke up without any screaming and fighting, but later on having Johnny asking Morrissey wether he did have any idea how the rest of the band felt in those last days. If this book did anything for me, it made me desperate for a Johnny Marr autobiography, to piece together the real emotions of the band as they went through their fame.

Finally, one of the later sections of the book goes into great, great detail about The Smiths famous legal battle over royalty payments, which I do believe Andy Rourke won and got his money. Morrissey uses his book as a platform to tell the public about the court case in, quite honestly, too much detail! Page after page of how Rourke had no evidence to his name, and everyone else wanted to gang up on him. The case is put across to the reader as if it is all completely unjust and that the judge just wanted Rourke to win, however I find myself doubting the complete truth in this. The english justice system may be unfair at times but I highly doubt a judge would award a man £1 million after presenting as little evidence as Morrissey made out.

It may not seem as though I did, but I really enjoyed reading this book! This blog has turned out to be less of a review and more of a 'what I thought was wrong with it', but for some reason I'm struggling to pick out particularly good points. However, overall I enjoyed reading it, and really hope we'll be seeing a Marr autobiography soon.




Final note: I appreciate that by removing chapters in the book, Morrissey was breaking free from literary boundaries or whatever, but it feels like he's rebelling against something just because he can. Books have chapters for a reason and I don't really want to give up ease of reading in order to stand up against every writer ever for the past 300 years....

Arctic Monkeys Manchester Review

Last night I went to see Arctic Monkeys on the second night of their tour. I had only ever seen AM once before at Glastonbury, which was obviously amazing, but I was interested to see their tour for their new album AM.

Firstly, can I just ask the world; why has everyone got so painfully delicate about Arctic Monkeys nowadays? Fair enough AM was really hugely overrated but it seems like the world has been split into Alex Turner FANGIRLS and people scathingly angry at the fact that No 1 Party Anthem wasn't amazing...?

After spending a tense few hours plotting to find the right door to queue at to get to the front, we finally got let into the arena and speed walked to the barrier and slammed ourselves down, securing our place at the front. Their only support act was a bit of a hype band at the minute, The Strypes. Initially when listening to their music at home I wasn't too enamoured. However, when they came on stage with their mod revival hair do's and their suits I was absolutely blown away. Their songs were really enjoyable, if a tiny bit samey, but I'm sure once you know the band you don't get that. There's been a big sort of buzz around how young the band is, but I can honestly say that this didn't show in their skills. They were all extremely skilled musicians, especially Lead Guitarist. They all had charisma and they were fun to watch - will definitely be seeing them next time they're around Leeds.

Arctic Monkeys didn't faff about and came on fairly soon after The Strypes had left. Opening with Do I Wanna Know, they played a long setlist containing mainly AM stuff, but some classics such as Flourescent Adolescent, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor (opening with "LAAAADDDIES") and Cornerstone (a particular favourite of mine). The first thing I figured watching Alex was that if you put him next to Whatever People Say I Am... Alex with his shelltoes and scruffy hair you wouldn't for a minute think he could turn into the suave and sexy guy he is now. Sporting a suit with a large cowboy belt buckle, and his new signature quiff, he didn't look like he come from Sheffield! He has developed a real showmanship, avoiding playing guitar all the way through songs and instead dancing and acting along to the lyrics of his song, which instead of being cheesy was actually quite entertaining. Particular favourite being when he made his pick disappear during the beginning lyrics in Crying Lightening: the man is obviously a wizard.

They ended the night with an encore of Snap Out of It (not bad but not my favourite), a lovely semi-acoustic performance of Mardy Bum, incorporating Don't Look Back In Anger lyrics as a homage to Manchester, and finally R U Mine which left the concert on an amazing high. The sold out stadium was obviously impressed and they will be welcomed back to Manchester as soon as possible.


On a last note - can we all please be very impressed that I ate three mcdonalds whilst waiting for the concert to start? Yes I think we can.

Maisy Meets Pete Doherty

I'm afraid I have struggled to think of anything to blog about. So, after being prompted by someone who saw this youtube video, 02 Babyshambles  , in which I was interviewed, I thought I'd write about meeting Pete Doherty.

Me and my friend Molly, both being huge fans of The Libertines, decided to meet up in Leeds on the day Pete played with his band Babyshambles. Despite not having tickets to the gig, we went anyway. The initial plan was to get there at 12, and hopefully catch Pete as he darted between tour bus and venue, then get home in plenty of time and not be too soaked from the rain. However, we soon learnt that a) no 02 Academy workers are allowed to tell you whereabouts the band are and b) Pete does nothing but sleep in the tour bus. We arrived at the venue and placed ourselves next to a huge, white tour bus with 'pete <3' scratched onto the side. We sat in a door way, waiting for Mr Doherty himself to leave the bus however it took us seven hours before we convinced his tour manager to pull him off the bus for us. Even after resolving to not stay longer than three hours, we felt like any minute he could come out and we would have wasted our opportunity. In this seven hours we pretty much just sat there singing Can't Stand Me Know and discussing the finer points of Carl Barat and Pete Doherty's relationship.

When we did eventually meet him, he was a lovely guy. My initial reaction was the weight he has put on recently, but when he chatted to us and hugged us and gave us his hat he was wearing we were pretty glad we waited.  Yes, it's pretty mental to wait in the rain for seven hours - but being a stalkerish music fan does that to you. And I have to admit it's pretty impressive when you tell a music fan that you've met Pete Doherty.

*Sorry for the boring blog post, I'm seeing Arctic Monkeys on Wednesday so hopefully that will give me something more interesting to write about!*

Noel Gallagher criticises BBC Radio 1 for ignoring Temples and Jagwar Ma Read.... hmmm

Todays post is focused about this NME article that has just popped up on my Facebook http://www.nme.com/news/noel-gallagher/73245 and got me thinking about wether or not I agree with Mr Gallagher's statement...

Firstly, Radio 1 is not my cup of tea. I can deal with Phil and Alice when they have a good band (and can pride myself in the time Palma Violets said Hello to me on radio 1) and I enjoy Zane Lowe from time to time. However, as a radio station it tends to make my skin crawl, Nick Grimshaw in particular making me want to claw my ears out.

Maybe I'm being a bit of a hipster elitist here, but I disagree with Noel, in that I like the exclusivity of bands such as Temples and Jagwar Ma. I enjoy the idea that fans of these bands are people immersed in the music scene, who go out of their way to seek out new, innovative bands to listen to. I for one heard a random souncloud demo when first getting into Temples, and heard about Jagwar from twitter friends. I hate the idea that this music is being put in a place (radio 1) where people just listen to it to fill a silence, for example when they're in a traffic jam or stuck at work. I even more detest the idea of masterpieces such as Come Save Me are being played back to back with the noise that comes out of Niki Minaj and the like.

I understand on the flip side that these bands need to grow, they need to develop more listeners and get themselves out there. They need to make a name for themselves and Radio 1 helps them do that. However, I fully believe they have the talent to be able to do that without help from Radio 1! Watching Temples play a packed out venue on Monday leads me to believe that they are growing but with the right people! I do think there is room for elitism in music, it's what stops Rhianna fans turning up at cool gigs in their snapbacks and chinos.

Please comment if you agree/disagree with me or good old' Gallagher.

Wolf Alice // Blush Review

I apologise that this blog post could be far too biased in favour of Wolf Alice, as I can't honestly get over how amazing they are. Anyway....

Blush is Wolf Alice's debut EP and has come out just as they have finished touring the UK with Swim Deep. Wolf Alice had already seriously impressed me with their infectious singles Bros and Fluffy. The band has a different sound to most current bands, most likely because they have a female singer. The beautiful Ellie Rowsell's voice is, for me anyway, what makes Wolf Alice's songs so perfect. Her delicate voice sends shivers down my spine in their slower songs.

Blush has a great combination of slow songs that pick up. Fabulous lyrics, and each song sounds unique which sometimes seems difficult to achieve for some bands. Half the record makes me want to sit quietly and sway along and the other half makes me want to jump around and dance. I honestly can't wait to see them again, and I hope the SD tour gives them the recognition they truly deserve.

Favourite Song : Blush.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/oct/03/wolf-alice-blush-ep-stream

Temples // Brudnell Social Club Leeds

This evening I went to the famous leeds venue, Brudnell Social Club, to see the band Temples. The Brudnell is an amazing venue, like working men's club and the only place you'll find Alcoholics and Hipsters in peaceful cohabitation. The gig room at the Brudnell filled up well this evening, with many people already waiting outside before doors opened to get into the gig. Extremely different from when Splashh played a week before and me and my friends were the only ones there when doors opened!

Support band was a band called Telegram (https://www.facebook.com/teletelegramgram), and they were fit the perfect appearance of Indie bands, long hair and shockingly tight jeans. They were lively on stage, which is always great to see for a first band, and they had a similar yet a bit more rocky sound to Temples.

Temples played an excellent set, and remind me why they're one of the best up and coming bands at the minute. Their short set was, unfortunately, punctuated by the fact that their Guitarist/Keyboardist's amp stopped working halfway through their set. However, they carried on, and the fact that their songs didn't sound remotely different leads me to believe that a second guitar may be superfluous in their music! They played 5 currently unreleased songs, which went down almost as well as their 5 released singles and their B sides. The song that stole the show for me was Ankh, a B side. If that song is a reflection on what their album will be like, then I can not wait to hear it! Overall amazing gig, and I came away with an overwhelming need to go out and buy some face glitter and a tambourine.

side note. Bass player looks EXTREMELY like Bobby Gillespie

First Blog / Maisy Meets.... Spector

I've been intending to start a blog for ages, and since I have started my Journalism course at Leeds City College I've realised how it's important for me to start a blog in order to practice writing. I don't have a particularly interesting life or anything to write about, but I have my passion for meeting and watching bands which gives me plenty to write about.

Yesterday I went to see Spector at the Duchess in York along with my friends Sophie and Charlotte. We got there at about 4:45pm and sat outside the venue, in order to try and meet the band. At about 5:30pm Spector arrived at the venue after a day at York Dungeons and we said Hi to Tom and got a picture with Fred. Fred is my absolute favourite human, I'm obsessed. He said Happy Birthday to Sophie which really made her day.

The venue was really good, barrier which is never great, but small, low down stage. Large room that pretty much filled up. First support act were mediocre, each song sounded quite honestly the same. Second support was the band Jaws who I have seen three times. I like Jaws, but I've always been disappointed by their live stuff, they lack stage presence and charisma. That said their music is always great to hear live.

Spector came on and, if you've ever been to a Spector gig before you can quite easily understand how amazing it is. Fred Macpherson is the ultimate front man. He jumps about the stage with energy and exciting athleticism and does intense staring at you when he sings his songs, which is, quite honestly amazing. He knows how to interact with his crowd, chatting to them and joking with them between songs. Their new songs they played were brilliant. If the night lacked anything it was the absent Chris Burman, but I guess we have to get over that departure.

I now must apologise to anyone reading this who knows me as I have talked about nothing else, but part way through the gig I reached over and handed Fred my badge with his face on that I bought from Etsy.com. He then took about five minuets to talk about the badge, saying how much it meant to him, and how I was to pass this down through my family. Finally before handing it back he turned to me and  said "I love you" and I died a little bit inside. I am the most embarrassing Fred Macpherson fangirl. It honestly was the best gig I've been to in a while, and I can't wait for their new album to come out and to see them for the 5th time!

I guess next time I write a blog I'll write about something more serious, or even interesting. But this will do for now.