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.