White Lies @ The Cluny

White Lies are currently riding a wave of anticipation for their debut album, but for now fans have to make do with the release of their new single ‘Death’. Consequently a headline tour couldn’t come at a better time for the band. A close to sold out crowd are spoilt for up and coming alternative bands however as White Lies are joined by Lemington band Post War Years and female fronted 3-piece The Joy Formidable.
There’s something intriguing and fascinating about Post War Years. They started the set to a small arriving crowd, the majority of which probably hadn’t heard of the outfit. However by the end of their set, they’ve won nearly everybody over with their experimental, sample-crammed set, buzzing with energy and guts. With comparisons to Battles, Hot-Chip and Tom Vek this has to be one of the best support band’s I’ve seen all year. Next up, The Joy Formidable seem a more obvious choice as a support act for White Lies, similarly dressed in all black. Despite a strong start to the set, which gets the crowd tapping along, they fail to win over the growing crowd. A few gems signal promises of more to come.
White Lies seemed to have mastered this doom-and-gloom image malarkey. Which perfectly accompanies their equally drastic sound that plays around with lyrics about funerals, the cost of love and the death of a relationship or the death of someone even closer? What White Lies have in abundance is catchy songs. Unfinished Business and Death have been around for some time but other songs in the set glow as bright as the 2 singles. The 4th time I’ve seen this band and it’s a great feeling hearing a song that you remember liking on previous occasions but can’t track down online anywhere. Part of the draw of this band is the lack of songs they’ve put out for people to hear recorded. This must have been what it was like to see a band before the internet made it so easy to spread music and gossip on the latest hype band. Tonight is one of those performances where even though you might not be familiar with the majority of the songs played, you can enjoy yourself and anticipate any future releases. This band is destined for bigger things, a point no one at the Cluny tonight would contest.


Review by Christian Allen

The Last Shadow Puppets 27/10/08

Having never seen a gig at city hall I wasn’t really sure what to except, I felt it could be a bit too sophisticated and large scale for a band doing their first U.K. tour. But then when you have a collaboration of two brilliant musical minds like Alex Turner and Miles Kane and when the 16 piece orchestra begin to play, I realise they have in fact picked the perfect venue.
I can tell this isn’t going to be any ordinary gig from the second the orchestra start playing psychedelic tones which welcomes the band on stage and without any hesitation the pair launch into In my Room before playing there debut album title track Age of The Understatement, which with it’s grand orchestration has the effect it could be fitting for a film score.
Throughout the gig it’s impossible to take your eyes off Alex and Miles as you can see that this isn’t a business partnership at all, but two best friends who love what there doing and it’s a bonus they are amazing at it! There was endless banter between the band and the audience which created a brilliant and inspiring atmosphere, which was heightened by the ‘man-love’, which could be felt between the two band members!
The set mainly consisted of album tracks but they also played tribute to some of the great rock and roll legends through covers of The Beatles I Want You (She’s So Heavy), Leonard Cohen’s Memories and what Alex named his “x-factor number”, ‘In the Heat Of The Morning’ by David Bowie. It’s obvious to see where their musical influences come from; this is depicted in their music which runs themes of romance, darkness and tales of Femmes Fatales.
You could tell the pair didn’t want the gig to end as much as the audience and their playful side was shown as they crawled onstage for the encore, which if Alex’s trousers where any tighter wouldn’t have been possible! All in all this was an exceptional gig which makes you cherish the beauty of live music.

Review by Ann-Marie Loughney

General Fiasco @ The Union 23rd October

The average age of the people attending this gig must have been the 14 year-old girl. Okay I know that “girl” is not something that defines an age group, but in a way it does. Well there were a couple of middle-aged women present (a surprising number). I believe that was mostly thanks to the main act One Night Only. Well Little Comets are a very nice eye candy as well.
The first band to take the stage was Newcastle’s own Little Comets. Finally I got to see them again, it had been a while since I last went to one of their gigs. Well they have progressed positively since before the summer. They did rock the floorboards, loads of people were dancing, jumping around and a couple singing along (including my friend Marzy and me). These Comets are different from other bands, they experiment in a musical style which is not necessarily a defined genre, they have an amazing stage presents, helped a lot by their good looks.
Then it was General Fiasco’s turn, they are supporting One Night Only on the whole tour. I am struggling a bit when it comes to describing the way that they sound (hence my being very late with this review). There is a bit of a garage rock sound to them with the lyrics having a strong foothold in the Irish accent. They too had a lot of energy to woo the crowd, but there was less communication between them and those attending the gig. Interesting about them is going to see where they will be in a couple of months from now.

Review by Solveig Werner

Alphabeat @ The Basement 21/10/08

I was lucky enough to arrive at The Basement, just as the sextet got on stage, to start their sound checks. They began playing randomly, and within seconds, you could feel their energy filling the venue. Suddenly the sound check had turned into Eminem’s “Loose Yourself”, and all the crew as well as the band got into their best gangster mode. The atmosphere was relaxed, laidback but with a hint of giddy excitement for the show to come. After the sound check, it was time for an interview with Stine and Anders B, aka Lil Anders, in the humble quarters of Basement’s dressing room. To hear the interview click here.
After two excellent supports by the name of Pandering and the Gold Diggers and Das Pop, the show kicked off in best Alphabeat style with Troels the Alphabeater playing the rhythm to “Fantastic 6” on an empty stage. Once the crowd where all clapping along, the rest of the band entered beginning to play the intro, shortly followed by Stine and Anders SG, entering the stage just as the lyrics started. The crowd went wild, and the sold out venue were instantly jumping up and down.

Next was the Danish summer single, “GoGo” a brilliant song to dance to, which everybody in the venue did energetically. After which came the newest UK single “What is Happening”, which is out on November 24. This song really shows off the unique harmony of Stine and Anders SG’s voices, as well as their chemistry on stage. Next up was “A Message” a more low key song, sung beautifully by Stine, and the best known of the four songs played, which are not on either album.

When Alphabeat left the stage after “Touch me touching you”, the audience knew it wasn’t the end, and instantly began chanting “Fascination”. When Alphabeat re-entered almost whispering, The word is on your lips, a rapture spread amongst the crowd repeating the words over and over again religiously.

Through out the entire set the energy was incredible, not only from Alphabeat but from the whole audience, even the 40-something mums right at the back were dancing the whole time. There is no doubt that Alphabeat can not only deliver a good pop song, but an amazing live show, with interesting antidotes, new takes on their songs, a stage presence high above the norm, and an interaction with the audience which is formidable.

I was very impressed by their inquisitiveness in Newcastle and the university, and how eager they where to deliver a great show, even after having been on tour for so long. There is no doubt that Alphabeat are a unique group of very talented, intelligent, fun loving, down to earth individuals, spreading the joy of pop music to anyone who encounters them. They are a must see live act, for anyone looking for a good time.

Setlist:

1) Fantastic 6

2) Go Go

3) Do what you want

4) What is happening

5) A message

6) Hanging Tough

7) 10.000 nights

8) Rubber boots

9) Get Round

10) Boyfriend

11) Touch me touching you

12) Fascination

Words and photos by Emilia Flockhart

Das Pop @ Newcastle University Union

Even though Belgian band Das Pop was the support act for Alphabeat that night, they got a really good reception from the crowd. I’ve known about this band for a long time, and I was surprised to see that they’re playing so many relatively large gigs overseas now. It was obvious that most people came just to see Alphabeat that night, ranging from old people reliving their youth to young children, but all of them seemed to genuinely enjoy the happy tunes of Das Pop. In a sold out basement of the union the band got the audience to dance and clap along to their new songs such as ‘Underground’ and ‘Try Again’. It gets even better though; when singer Bent asked if they would come see the band again at their gig in February, the audience loudly cheered yes. Which I guess is the most positive reception you can get as band – not only does the crowd like your show, they even want to see you again!
Das Pop - unlike Alphabeat in my opinion - were the only band that night that seemed to make really enjoyable pop music without it becoming too cheesy or annoying. Also as a live band there really is nothing bad that can be said about them, even the vocals sounded like they should. During the last song of their set ‘Can’t get enough’ they asked the whole audience to sing along to it, which most of them actually did. The band enjoyed it, the audience enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, so all in all a successful evening! And hey if you didn’t like the music at least the bearded dungarees-wearing guitarist and dancing singer were fun to watch.

Review and images by Saskia van der Velde

Natty @ The Academy

The Boss Sounds Festival is the UK’s biggest reggae festival so it is a must play event for any rising star of reggae, especially one promoting a new single. Natty is that man. When he is on stage dancing with his acoustic guitar and dreadlocks flailing it is easy to see why he some are hailing him as the new Bob Marley. Personally, I wouldn’t agree with this and I’m fairly sure Natty wouldn’t either.
He came in to the industry by being a tea boy then a studio engineer for various indie bands so there is no questioning his current place in the music world or the fact he was just below Easy Star All Stars in the bill to finish the festival.
When I met him earlier in the day, he had just come from a sold out show in Bristol and seemed pretty run down from working hard (or just unimpressed to meet a student radio DJ – you decide) but none of that came across on stage. The songs were all in perfect order adding sing-a-longs and introductions where necessary. His performance of Bedroom Eyes had everyone (myself included) singing it for the rest of the evening. Of course you would expect nothing less but on top of this Natty has a rare gift. He can make every single person in the crowd feel like he is looking at them and them alone. It makes his female fan base strong in numbers but weak at the knees. He has said himself that people struggle to place him in a genre but he’s also bright enough to know this only a good thing and the only place he really needs to be is on stage to prove his worth.
The best I can do to sum him up is quote a young man from Natty’s MySpace page. Callum tells us that his girlfriend has just left us and he is skint but he listens to Man Like I and “it reminds [him] of the wonderful summer [he] had that [Natty] was part of”. I don’t think any reggae fans are going to get too overexcited about him but some certainly will.

Review by Alec Falconer

NSR Session: The Maddisons

On the 15th of October 2008, The Maddisons played an exclusive gig for NSR in the Green Room. All photos by Solveig Werner.

The Maddisons @ HOKO 10

Four nervous-looking school boys arrive at the bar (on time), absently arranging their set, eyes darting around the room. As they take over the floor, the Southampton quartet come face to face with an almost sold-out crowd; close enough to knock a few drinks right out of their hands. Their set kicks off with a distinctive take on classic indie guitar riffs and a heavy thrashing at the drums, Hit The Nerve soon gets the heaving crowd tapping their feet and the band come alive. They scream into their microphones, smash around the bar like they own it and stand on anything nearby that looks remotely sturdy. I start to worry for the guitarist in particular as he almost head butts his own instrument in a flourish of Sundays Children, a song that the young band seem just about able to keep control of.

'Bittersweetness' slows things down next and the vocals shine. A meaningful and eerie growl into the microphone echoes of Artic Monkeys and Milburn, obvious influences to the edgy lyrics and catchy guitar solos. They are now unrecognisable, no longer are they the youngsters playing with their older brothers’ guitars, as they launch into their final song and new single The Witch the crowd hangs on their every word...even if their singers’ voice isn’t quite broken yet...I can only imagine The Maddisons will get bigger and better with age.

Review by Hannah Tomlinson

Hot Club de Paris

The Others Rooms has to get the award for the most clichéd gig venue in Newcastle. Based in the Centre of Life, its part of the ‘Digital Super-Club’, which isn’t a Super-club at all. Referencing it on the dictionary says its ‘Higher in Quality’. Doesn’t that mean that every posh club is one? Or is it a title branched out for places that believe that just because they have a ‘mixture’ of music they can brand themselves in such way? Anyway, it’s a little room on the top floor that has what Hot Club de Paris (hereafter mentioned as HCDP) called an outrage for not having draught. It doesn’t really attract the young at heart, and that was evident by the audience, a bunch of 30 year olds, and the occasional younger couple, obviously saving their parent’s cash for more fruitful events, such as world hunger.
Anyway, the support bands came on. The first one was a local instrumental 3-piece guitar and occasional trumpet band, but to make themselves ‘rebellious’ they had masks on. If they had focused more on the guitar playing (the trumpet was admittedly very good) then they would have been rather good indeed, instead they let it become too repetitive and not telling a story. But, they obviously had talent, and some good songs.
Sky Larkin a female led indie band from Leeds were next up. Female bands are harder to find than male bands, some get marooned in either the Screemo Yeah Yeah Yeah’s sound or the subtler singer songwriter sound of coffee bar girls that sound exactly the same as the other girl I saw previously. For all that (and I would like to say I’m not totally against female singers, I am listening to Feist at the moment), Sky Larkin were impressive. Playing mostly of their new album, they showed quite a developed sound, with some nice lyrics.
When HCDP finally came on at 10.15. Their set can probably best be described as having a pot of (in its loosest term, but as they are actually on an independent Indie Label) indie and a pot of punk, combined in precise quantities to produce punchy pop punk gems that are over before you have chance to catch your breath. Their influences of early punk such as Firehose and Minutemen are very apparent and their execution is sharp whilst perfecting the love for simple harmonies that has stormed the indie scene of late with little difficulty. The majority of the set focuses their latest album Live At Dead Lake with the ingeniously named I Wasn’t Being Heartless When I Said Your Favourite Song Lacked Heart and current single My Little Haunting but classics such as Sometimesitsbetternottostickbitsofeachotherineachother and Your Face Looks All Wrong also get some play time. HCDP have a talent for bouncing off the crowd and their banter provokes many an excited ‘YEAH’ whilst salutes of expensive beer bottles fill the room. An undeniably fantastic performance, let’s hope these guys get the credit they deserve.

Review by Izaac Carlisle 

Gabriella Cilmi @ The Carling Academy 14/10/08

My first encounter with Gabriella Cilmi, was after watching an advert for the new upside down Rexona deodorant, featuring Gabriella’s hit single Sweet About Me. I’m sure the reason for the advertisers choosing this song was the line “the world’s a better place when it’s upside down” although this does not feature in the ad. However it was not just her lyrics that made the song appeal to me, but her soothing sexy voice, combined with sounds from blues and jazz. I liked it so much, that I googled the lyrics from the ad and brought the song on iTunes. Over the summer, the single has been played repeatedly, and I became a bit fed up with it. I hadn’t heard anything else from Gabrielle Cilmi, so I was very excited to see what else she could offer, whilst playing live.
I arrived at the academy at 7pm, sorted out a photopass, got into place, and waited over an hour! for the first warm up to appear. It was a local guy doing an acoustic set with his guitar. It was nice, but nothing special, and definitely something the audience could have done without. After his 30minute set the second support came on. This was also an acoustic set with one guy and his guitar. He was called Liam Bailey, and although he was far more interesting than the first support, he still lacked originality. He was like Ben Harper meets Jason Mraz with a Jimmy Hendrix look. He was good, however he definitely did not want to be background music, and got more and more frustrated that the crowd were talking whilst he was playing, causing him to finish very abruptly, and almost arrogantly storming of stage, after his 45minute support set.

At 9:30, two and half hours after the show was supposed to start, Gabriella Cilmi and her band finally appeared on stage. It was clear from the moment she stepped out that she was a “rock chic”, with her black lace up boots, “bed hair look”, and diamond-studded microphone, although there was still definitely something sweet about her. After the first track she addressed the crowd, in her sexy Aussie accent and girlie giggle. They played a total of 13songs, including a beautiful heartfelt song about being homesick, and a groovy cover of Cry me a River.
The track that everybody had been waiting for, Sweet About Me, came after the 7th track, and was introduced by Gabriella encouraging everybody to get their phones and cameras out, ready to add to the thousands of other bootleg recordings of the track on YouTube. It was quite different from the rest of the more rock based set list, though perhaps the only one capable of being of a successful single. Gabriella and the band were playing it almost mockingly rocking from side to side, and allowing the audience to do most of the singing, which they gladly did. The set ended with Led Zeppelin’s A Whole Lotta Love, making clear where Gabriella’s true musical passions lie.I was very impressed by her stage presence, incredible voice, sassiness and maturity far beyond a girl who had only just turned 17, four days earlier. The chemistry in the band seemed really good, especially between Gabriella and the bass player Kali De Vaux, who slightly resembled Side Show Bob, with his big ginger dreads.
There is no doubt that she is a talented young musician, and gives a good show, however she needs to develop her own sound more. Sweet About Me is a great track, but combined with covers from artists such as Justin Timberlake and Led Zeppelin, it’s hard to define who Gabriella Cilmi is at the moment, other than a young girl with a passion for a wide variety of music.

Set list:
1) Sanctuary
2) Cigs & Lies
3) Awkward
4) Einstein5) Safer
6) Cry Me a River
7) Got No Place To Go

8) Sweet About Me
9) Echo Beach
10) Terrifying
11) Don’t Wanna Go To Bed
12) Save The Lies
Extra) Whole Lotta Love

For more information visit:

http://www.myspace.com/gabriellacilmi
http://www.myspace.com/kalidevaux
http://www.myspace.com/liambaileyuk

Words and photos by Emilia Flockhart

Polarbear @ The Cluny 12/10/08

Sunday evenings at the Cluny are always more than a pleasurable experience, especially when combined with good company, good food from the Cluny’s kitchen, a pint of Budvar, and some live music. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the bands playing, all I had heard was that it was jazz, which I have rather mixed feelings towards. Good old Dave Brubeck and the likes, I really enjoy, ultra modern stuff, not such a fan, and unfortunately the first band fell in to the latter category.
I should have guessed, judging by the audience mainly consisting of men in their 20s to 40s, nearly all wearing trendy flat caps. This was to be a gig for musicians by musicians. The first band were a VERY experimental Jazz trio. The kind that to the unknown ear, just sounds like a really annoying mosquito that won’t leave you alone, combined with the sound of kitchen shelves collapsing, leaving pots and pans crashing to the floor.
I can appreciate the musical ability it takes to play such complicated music, with off beats, but to me the beats are so off, it seems completely lacking in rhythm. I’m sure that the music would be well fitting for an arty independent thriller film, but in this case it just made me stressed, and I have to admit I was delighted when they stopped playing at 9:45 a guy with absolutely huge hair (Sebastian Rochford, drummer) walked on stage followed by the other four band members of Polarbear, the evenings main act. The gig began with a Seb addressing the audience in his timid voice, almost apologizing for his existence. When the audience started clapping, he modestly replied shy and mumbling, “thank you, but you haven’t heard us yet”. After the short banter between Seb and the Audience, sounds began emerging from the left of the stage where Tom was crouched behind his Mac book, with what basically looked like a PS2 controller and a bag of crisps over a microphone. However pretentious this seemed, the sound was captivating and the audience where immediately enticed.
The first track, Want To Believe picked up with nice melodic sax, accompanied by up beat rocky drums. The set continued including rhythms from jungle, and drum and base to reggae and jazz, as well as “instruments” such as the electric guitar played with a bow, saxophone tapping, and squeals of a balloon loosing air.
I was pleasantly surprised by Polar Bear’s ability to combine modern jazz, with melodic dreamy tunes, which captivated the audience leaving their faces deeply serious and concentrated, throughout the gig. The set was well performed, with sexy beats, intricate and unique sounds, combined with smooth overtones from the tenor sax duo, and deep double base riffs.
The set lasted just over an hour, plus an encore requested by the applauding crowd. I very much enjoyed it, although they tended to draw the indulgent parts out a bit too long. It was slight case of the emperor’s new clothes, so to say that the audience seemed to lack criticism, and took Polarbear, as they perhaps do themselves, a little too seriously.

Set list:
1) Want to believe
2) Fluffy
3) Industry
4) Tom loves Alice
5) Goodbye
6) Dub
7) Happy for you


For more info visit http://www.myspace.com/sebastianrochford

Words and photos Emilia Flockhart

British Sea Power @ Newcastle University 09/10/08

Upon entering the Basement, I am trembling with a nervous excitement at the chance to see if an this Mercury-nominated band’s live show pays a suitable tribute to the glowing nature of their reviews for third LP ‘Do You Like Rock Music’? After all, said album (in addition to the two preceding ones) boasts beautiful, heart-wrenching anthems, designed by the band themselves to ‘challenge the listener’s perspective on what rock music actually is’. But can they cut it live? (I won’t mention at this point that I witnessed a superb display last year in the slightly smellier, colder surroundings of All Saints Church which promptly converted me to the Sea Power cause. For now, I am a neutral observer).
Well the answer is a glaringly obvious ‘absobloodylutely’. The moment the band arrive on stage, singer Yan (Scott?) Wilkinson begins proceedings with a shy ‘Hello, we’re going to play this one first for my Dad ‘cos he’s here tonight but has to get the Metro back to Sunderland in half an hour....’ the audience is smitten. Well, those down at the front are anyway, leaping around in ecstasy to a ferocious Remember Me disposed of in a three-minute flurry of furious aggression. Some have described BSP as ‘the Futureheads sparring with Arcade Fire’. Either way, it’s awesome.
As the set gathers pace, the band’s slightly eccentric tendencies (the stage is covered in foliage and stuffed owls) become prevalent. A reconstruction of the sweeping instrumental ‘The Great Skua’ slows everything down and gives fans a chance to breathe, while the backdrop of a projection of penguins on to a screen provides a welcome distraction from now static musicians. Then it’s back to business as usual, lead guitarist Martin Noble’s understated, melodic riffs sailing over the mesh of noise for the frantic Down on the Ground and, most impressively, the jaw-dropping Carrion. It doesn’t take long to realise that this band actually has everything one could want from a rock outfit, especially in their obvious joy at beating out their songs which is thus enhanced by the appearance of ‘Ursine Ultra’, a 12-foot (fake!) bear that makes an appearance during the encore for an insane Spirit of St. Louis, which sees piggy-backs among band members, the theft of Noble’s trouser leg and a prolonged crowdsurf from Yan.
One leaves the venue completely bewildered, but buzzing. And that’s probably exactly how a rock concert should be.

Review by Kate Edwards (images by Solveig Werner)

Roots Manuva @ The Sage Gateshead 7th October 2008

Hall 2 at the Sage is probably my favourite venue in Newcastle; it’s a purpose built intimate venue where the artist can get really close to their audience, it has the feel of a dingy pub without having the smell or the residue from the previous evenings festivities. This, though, was probably the weirdest and most surreal gig that I’ve ever been to.
Roots Manuva, to give you some background, is one of the most prominent and critically successful British Hip Hop artists ever. So you expect a certain stereotypical audience, like you expect old couples to be courted to the theatre, and the 14-year-old tight jeans and scruffy hair ‘emotional’ kid to go and see My Chemical Romance. So when I get to there do I then get a 45-year-old guy (age is a guess, I didn’t ask him) on one side, and a mother and daughter on the other. Looking at the standing area, I see mid 30s couples holding hands at the back as their expecting Damien Rice to spring himself out. I actually had the thought ‘Am I at the wrong gig’. So there was Root’s, his DJs, that guy (the typical guy that fills in the last parts of the sentence to amplify it), and around 300 middle class white guys.
Anyway, Roots was on great form, his lyrics meaningful. There was no bling; no East Coast culture. Just straight up music, the warm britishness of his lyrics (Cheese on Toast and Bitter) brings him away from the Americanisation of British Hip Hop, the need for excessive production, which drives away the uniqueness. Everybody, though, were waiting for Witness the Fitness, and it was done with a huge audience reaction that was surprisingly lacking in the earlier songs (probably seeing if Dad was coming down with his Porsche to pick them up).
Overall, a really solid performance, but in my thoughts as I walked away I thought about the problem that has swept to Indie music specifically. Stop making all your music sound the same! Roots has always been in that slot of critics hip hop without making that ‘one record’, that big song. If he wants to become big, like Dizzie or Sway big, he needs to think about that one song, and maybe go and get some American influences in there. Only for one song though, then he can come back and sit on his rightful place as the spearhead of the British Hip Hop scene.

Review by Izaac Carlisle

The Chevrolites @ The Cluny 04/10/08

Having previously seen local lads The Chevrolites play in Edinburgh simply by chance... I was eager to check them out in their hometown. So I scampered on down to The Cluny where the boys scuttled onto the stage. Getting straight down to business with Came Here To Fight I felt my toes tapping and the alcohol flowing. Think Milburn, think Arctic Monkeys, these influences are pretty obvious; catchy riffs and edgy lyrics aplenty, particularly in Malia. A good-time band, look into these kids if you’re one for dancing. A few gigs’ time and a larger variety of songs could see The Chevrolites stand out from the rest. Quite possibly the funniest gig I’ve ever been to, you know those gigs every so often where someone takes things a bit too far, this was one of those times. If not for the music go for the girl jumping onstage and the man rolling around on the floor whilst the rest of the crowd are bowled over with laughter. If a band can inspire fans such as these well they must be worth making a fuss over.

Review by Marzena Dabrowska

The Automatic at Northumbria 01/10/2008

For the third time in my life I attended a gig by the Welsh band The Automatic. It was in fact the second time in less than two weeks. I had not in anyway planned to go to this gig, but you can’t always plan how life works out for you. After having interviewed Frost I was asked if I would like to go to the gig later that night.
I missed the opening act Operahouse, and that when they were a band that I was really hoping on seeing. Lately it seems like that I miss out on the first support band, you could blame Rob and Frost of the Automatic for that.
The second support act was Dinosaur Pileup, band from Leeds that are on their first major tour at the moment. For me it is rather hard to describe what they were like. They put a lot of energy to show. Behaved like they owned the world when they played their music and were shy when it came to talking to the people. With their long hair they were playing heavier rock, not something that you can call indie. Some of their songs were very melodic, while others weren’t. I can’t complain about what they gave to show, I very much enjoyed myself, even though it isn’t my favorite type of music.
The Automatic! As I already said this was the third time that I saw them. I was a bit deceived by the second time, but this is about the third concert I attended. So I must say I was well impressed, the music was good, the crowed was good, which is always a good thing. I think they very much enjoyed themselves playing for a public that was to an extent made up of friends of their newest member who in fact is from Sunderland. The setlist was not just focusing on the songs of the new Album, but also on classics of the debut album, including the obligatory Monster, I feel sorry for them that they more or less have to play that song at each of their gigs. And of course Raoul got played. They almost seemed embarrassed when playing their second to last song Love In The Club the cover of the Usher song they had done for Live Lounge this August. Now I am wondering when I will next see the Automatic reform live.

Review by Solveig Werner