Sunday 24 October 2010

photo

Just in case you thought I looked over the internet for this fisheye photo of the Colosseum in Rome.
I took the picture when I went in July, Rome is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Perfect place to take your girlfriend.

Thursday 21 October 2010

Darwin Deez Review


Wednesday 20th October 2010. The Cavern in Exeter.

The cavern is an apt venue for Darwin Deez, being underground and small and narrow. Meant the atmosphere was kept in and everyone felt included.

The support 'Naive New Beaters' were amazing as usual. I had seen them twice before at Benicassim and Bestival. Their simple catchy lyrics and french electro beats got the crowd moving. But it was the trio's dancing and lead singer 'David Bowie''s interaction with the crowd which makes the band so good.
Hi-5 ing everyone at the front after every song, getting everyone to move from left to right and having a homemade LED display of their band name. The lead singer also wowed the ladies with his pelvic thrusting and throwing confetti from his pocket into the crowd. The keyboardist who I believe is the singers brother, came on stage with sparklers attached to his shoulders... this is a sign of a true artist. As they are willing to become a fire hazard to entertain the crowd....



They played songs off their debut album 'Wallace', my favourite songs of theirs include 'Get love', 'Live Good' and 'Can't Choose'. The crowd immediately released they were here to have fun when they heard the lyrics to their first song.

'One two... don't touch ... three four... yourself ..... one two three four, don't touch yourself !'

After the show they stuck around and I told them that I had previously seen them and their response was ...'Wow we have a superfan, hey have a freepin badge'
The pin badge is still attached to my hoody and will most likely never be removed.

Darwin Deez came on only 10 minutes later. I had also seen them before at Bestival . They are a band which seem to love the crowd and do not take themselves too seriously. Between every two songs they would perform dance routines to old school songs, which were amazing and so well timed it looked like it should of been out of a movie. Which I think makes the gig worth the money so much more. As your not just paying to listen and watch them play but also to watch an entertaining show.

They tried freestyle rapping as well, after I asked them when they decided to do it and the guitarist said 'We just decided this morning to try it out, we have never tried it before tonight !'.
Darwin Deez also played songs from their debut self titled album, some of the songs I find the riffs are very similar. But they are just so energetic and feel good when performed live that it didn't matter.

Their favourite songs of mine besides the singles 'Radar Detector' and 'Constellations' include 'Up in the clouds' and 'Bad Day'. Their set lasted just over an hour, I think the whole album was played.... To the excitement of the crowd the band stuck around at the bar and merch stand and everyone got to talk to them. The drummer was a bit shy I don't think he was used to the fame of random people just wanting to talk to you. But the bassist was a really cool guy and was saying how much he enjoyed bestival .

Was defiantly one of my best gigs, amazing support and two bands who like to dance, not take themselves seriously and hang around with the fans after the show.
10/10

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Skream and Benga Review

Tuesday 19th October. Plymouth Uni SU in the Main Room.

We arrived at midnight, the place was pretty dead in comparison to a normal night at the SU, but hey ho. At least the drinks were an alright price.
For tonight a massive soundsystem from 'Unleashed' was brought in and speakers were either side of the stage. I felt the bass through my whole body it was crazy.
I didn't realise how many people were on pills untill I queued for the toilet cubicles. Only to realise that everyone else in the queue couldn't see straight or stop their jaw from dancing independently from their body.

The night was a bit of a sausagefest, but thats standard when you play in a small place like plymouth and dubstep/drum and bass community is more male populous.

Benga played an amazing set 1 til 2, accompanied by mc pokes and mc youngman.
Skream joined Benga midway and the two continued til 3am. Playing some classics and also their new project magnetic man, which I am a currently loving. I advise spotifying, buying or downloading the album. From 'Perfect Stranger' to their first single 'I Need Air' as well as Katy B's 'On a Mission' the crowd was mental for it.

As the night drew to a close round 2.50am the crowd knew the music was soon to end therefore went all out. The SU security had been telling the MC's to make people move back throughout the night otherwise they would stop the music.
Well by the time it came to 3am the crowd didn't care, and 'In for the Kill' was on. The security then turned the lights on and decided it was over...

But o no ! They didn't count on people still dancing whilst being exposed to bright florescent lighting (which properly won't be there too much longer with all the budget cuts) and so we danced on !. The MC's got a chant of 'When I say Benga you say SKream' Benga' 'SKRRREAAAMMM' Skream realising he had little time left mixed in the tune that all security hate
Killing in the name of..
It was the perfect song to end on, the event had been shut down by 'The Man' and the people wanted to rebel. The head of security physically had too get up on the 1 foot stage and put his hands on the turntables and start ushering Skream and Benga to oneside.

They left the stage and the crowd followed them outside. I got a handshake off both, and a quick soundbite of SKream.

Skream ;'Thats the fifth riot i've caused this year'
Me ' What happened ?'
Skream; 'The security get too anger'

All in all a sick show and kudos to Unleashed for supplying that massive base, lets just hope the Security haven't put the two dj's from returning to Plymouth again. Below is a picture which goes to show that true artists keep n playing even when they are told not to. And the crowd will always keep on dancing.