A blog on gigs, music, art and London.

Sunday 23 January 2011

Jonny, Water Rats, 19/01/11

I made a rare visit to Water Rats in Kings Cross last week to see Jonny, the new project featuring Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub and Euros Childs formerly of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The prospect of seeing two of my favourite music people on stage together was quite exciting...

Support came from Baltimore indie rock duo Wye Oak who played a very good short set which recalled some of the noisier moments of Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth.

Despite featuring additional members on the album tonight Jonny were just Euros on guitar/keyboards/drum machine/vocals & Norman on guitar/laptop/vocals. Euros began by introducing the band ("We are Jonny, err, without the H"). They started with 'Bread', very much a Euros Childs composition, being quite similar in style to a lot of his recent solo material (the show generally confirmed my prior belief that Jonny was a project largely led by Euros). They opted to play 'Candyfloss' early in the set. It is a brilliant, catchy song which combines their respective melodic, harmonic and lyrical talents and I would encourage you to watch the video by clicking here. They also played the album opener, 'Wich Is Wich'.


Other tracks which stood out were 'Waiting For You', which was quite old-school rock'n'roll in sound and the pretty 'I Want To Be Around You'. After listening to them on the album I found them both surprisingly Beatlesy. 'Cave Dance' was another highlight, a stomping, high tempo track which almost strays into glam-rock territory before it closes with an noisy, instrumental keyboard ending. Again, the recorded version sounds even stronger. 'The Goodnight' and 'English Lady' sounded like late period Gorky's, quite folky and melancholic, especially the latter. 'I'll Make Her My Best Friend' had a strong country feel, and ended with a nice guitar sign-off from Norman. They also played 'Gloria' and 'Michaelangelo' from the free EP.


Coming back on for the encore Norman announced they would play one of his songs, one of Euros' songs and a cover. They proceeded to play a lovely acoustic version of 'I Don't Want Control Of You' (seeing Euros provide backing vocals on a Teenage Fanclub song was a real highlight of the night). They followed this with a version of 'Ursula's Crow', a song which doesn't feature on the album but is something they have played together before. They finished with an a capella version of 'Sky Man' by Geoff Goddard.

It was pretty clear that tonight was the first gig of the tour. There were a few nerves on show and the sound was a little rough around the edges. However, the collective goodwill of the crowd seemed to carry them through, ensuring the gig was a success despite some errant drum machines, occasional problems tuning guitars and misplaced lyrics. I'm sure the shows will become more polished the longer the tour goes on.

After the show I bought a copy of the album  from Euros in the bar area (two weeks before it is released). I was hoping to be able to have a little chat, and possibly ask him if he has any plans to release 'Spin That Girl Around' (a brilliant song he has played at his solo shows but up to now has not recorded). You can see a video of him playing this at the Roundhouse here whilst supporting Yo La Tengo, (a show that I was at). Sadly I didn't get a chance to talk as people scrambled around to pick up a copy of the CD and catch a few seconds with Euros. In the end all I did was thank him for a great show. The Jonny album is very good, a lot stronger than the live show and I fully recommend it to you.

Friday 7 January 2011

Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Troxy, 13/12/10

Due to a combination of being busy with work, the demands of fatherhood and the Christmas/New Year period I have struggled to update this blog despite having done quite a lot in December. I’m writing this entry based on memories of the show and some notes I made immediately afterwards…

So - back in December I went to The Troxy in Limehouse for the first time to see Godspeed You! Black Emperor. On the whole I liked the venue, similar in size/layout to, say, the Kentish Town Forum. It had a special, limited-capacity, segregated section at the front but I arrived too late to gain entry so had to stand approx half way back, resulting in a less-than-brilliant view. Oh, and it is carpeted which is a bit unusual…


I had seen Godspeed You! Black Emperor twice shortly after arriving in London. The first time was in 2000 at the Scala in Kings Cross which remains one of the best gigs I have ever been to (shortly after ‘Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven’ was released, a time when I was obsessed with the band). The drummer left the stage at one point and walked through the audience beating a drum strapped to his front. Amazing. In 2002 I then saw them play Ocean in Hackney. The band then kind of dissolved and went their separate ways, until the magnificent All Tomorrow's Parties persuaded them to curate one of their festivals and also play some shows around the UK.

At The Troxy they opened with a 20 minute, low drone which gradually increased in volume, getting progressively more abrasive. One word - a scratchy, flickering ‘HOPE’ was projected on to the stage backdrop. They then played ‘Gathering Storm’, the first of many pieces taken from ‘Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven’ that were played. I thought the drums initially sounded a little muffled, lost in the guitars and violin. Thankfully, this improved later. The latter section sounded excellent, intense and powerful and moving (just as it did in 2000). Any fears that the momentum may have fallen away after this proved false and some of the crescendos that followed from then on were just so intense and beautiful. In amongst the sublime strings and ascending peaks it is sometimes easy to forget just how heavy and brutal their guitars can be.

One new element (I think) was that the spoken word parts featured on the recorded versions of several tracks were also relayed live, which added further power, emotion and pathos to the show (and is not something I remember happening on previous two occasions I saw them live). The opening to ‘Monheim’ by Murray Ostril as he reminisces about Coney Island was particularly moving. And the final track played tonight, ‘BBF3’, never gets any less affecting no matter how many times you hear it, whether live or on record. ‘Rocket Falls On Rocket Falls’ from their last album ‘Yanqui U.X.O’ sounded staggeringly good. The only (tiny) disappointment was the omission of ‘Moya’ from the setlist. I really expected them to play that one…

Projections on to the back of the stage continued throughout, taking in scenes of revolution, destruction, nature as well as text and abstract imagery. They really add an extra dimension to the show. I don’t know why other bands don’t do likewise…

Setlist (taken from Songkick)

1. Hope Drone
2. Gathering Storm
3. Monheim
4. Albanian
5. Chart #3
6. World Police and Friendly Fire
7. Dead Metheny
8. Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls
9. BBF3

(I later learned that they played a different set on each of the three nights they played at The Troxy)