A blog on gigs, music, art and London.

Sunday 16 November 2008

Mercury Rev at Shepherd's Bush Empire

My busy schedule, alongside 10 days in New York has seen me neglect my blog of late. So much so that I am only now getting round to posting about going to see the magnificent Mercury Rev at Shepherds Bush Empire on 13th November. They were supported by Howling Bells.

I always find the prospect of going to see Mercury Rev play live very exciting. I think it is fair to say they are my favourite live band. The last time I saw them was almost 2 years ago, also at this venue. Their recent album 'Snowflake Midnight' had slowly grown on me after rather my lukewarm initial feelings. I had expected the new material to dominate the set list but in the end they opted for a more balanced, career-spanning (almost) set. We managed to secure front row seats in Level 1. It was the 8th time I was seeing them live, and the 4th time I was seeing them at Shepherds Bush.

They began by projecting images of iconic albums & key influences on the back of the stage, accompanied the playing of 'Lorelei' by The Cocteau Twins at loud volume (which, incidentally, is featured on the album 'Treasure' which was included on my post listing my top 30 albums). I had thought there was a chance they might abandon this routine but thankfully it looks like it is here to stay, which is brilliant news as it is such a cool way to introduce the band on stage.

As I had kind of suspected, they opened with 'Snowflake In A Hot World', which sounded fantastic and much stronger live than on record. They segued into the ambient guitar sounds of ‘October Sunshine’ before going straight into the beautiful 'Holes', the first of 5 songs from 'Deserter's Songs'. The sound was great – very loud, with the guitars (as usual) coming across as epic and beautiful as ever. 'The Funny Bird', possibly my favourite Mercury Rev song soon followed, dropping down the set from its usual opening position. We also got the magnificent ‘Frittering’ and a beautiful acoustic, slower ‘Tonite It Shows’ (accompanied, appropriately by sepia-tinted images of a dancing ballerina on the back of the stage). The shadows of the band were projected onto the backdrop throughout, which is another brilliantly simple way of making the performance look even better.

Jonathan was as captivating as ever – enigmatic, untouchable, enraptured, conducting the band throughout and seemingly synchronising the light show. Overall, a magnificent show which captured Mercury Rev at their magical, exquisite, psychedelic best. Probably the best show I have seen them play, and live personal highlight.

I think the set list went like this.........

Snowflake In A Hot World
October Sunshine
Holes
Black Forest
The Funny Bird
You’re My Queen
People Are So Unpredictable
Frittering
Dream Of A Young Girl As A Flower
Tonite It Shows
Tides Of The Moon
Opus 40
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Goddess On A Hi-Way
The Dark Is Rising
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Senses On Fire

Gehard Richter at the Serpentine Gallery

Last weekend I managed to catch the current Gerhard Richter exhibition at The Serpentine Gallery. It was my first visit to the gallery. '4900 Colours: Version II' is 49 paintings that each contain 100 small squares of colour. The combination of colours on each painting is different so each piece is unique.

I enjoyed the paintings, with their overwhelming geometricism (is that a word?) although I could not help thinking that this was an example of the 'idea' triumphing over art.

Upon leaving I enjoyed a walk through a very autumnal Kensington Gardens.

Lambchop at Union Chapel

I guess the fact that I am only blogging about this concert now says a lot about my extremely busy schedule. Anyway, on Tuesday 4th November we went along to the beautiful Union Chapel in Islington to see Lambchop. It was the first time I was seeing Lambchop (although I did manage to catch Kurt Wagner at The Borderline a few months ago - see previous post).

We arrived in good time and managed to get excellent seats upstairs in the balcony, overlooking the stage. They played pretty much everything from their new album OH Ohio which although has some beautiful moments didn't really translate into a brilliant live show. I found myself thinking back to the Kurt Wagner solo show at The Borderline and comparing the two shows. If I am honest I think I enjoyed the solo show more.


'Popeye' remained as pretty as ever and, for me, represented the highlight of the set. They did finish off with a few older songs (including a quick run through 'Up With People') but I left the venue with the feeling that whereas I had enjoyed the show I had not been blown away by it.


I think they would be good contenders for the Don't Look Back series where bands play entire albums in full. Seeing them do 'Nixon' or 'Aw C'Mon/No You C'Mon' would be great (although maybe Kurt's voice may struggle with some of the songs).

Anyway, a visit to Union Chapel is always a great occasion and tonight was no different in that respect. As usual, the chapel was beautifully lit with candles and coloured lighting and the gothic arches were as striking as ever.

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Man On Wire at Prince Charles Cinema

I went along to the PCC on Sunday to see ‘Man On Wire’, the true story of Philippe Petit, who in 1974 walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center on one long cable.

It is an amazing story which is beautifully narrated by the key participants. Petit assembled a team of brilliant characters to help him achieve his goal (particularly the WTC ‘inside man’ with the stupendous moustache) and these all relate their individual experiences to the camera. The film also features a lot of footage filmed by the participants at the time which provides additional authenticity (if any was required).



Naturally, it features some beautiful aerial shots of New York. In the end it turns out to be a very funny and moving film.