4th May (Issue 1211) - The Courier

THE COURIER Tuesday 4 May 2010 39
gigs
Ash
O2 Academy Newcastle 2,
April 25
It seems that Ash are a band who
have become unfairly forgotten
amidst the surge of new British
rock bands, best recalled by those
who listened to Walking Barefoot all
summer, or who remembered the
time they knew a Girl from Mars.
Supporting act, The Parlotones,
do not impress, with a set that is
at best dull and at worst severely
irritating.
Despite this, when Ash arrive
onstage, featuring guest guitarist
Russell Lissack from Bloc Party,
there is an air of excitement and
anticipation from the surprisingly
middle-aged crowd.
When the hits start rolling in,
it’s easy to see why – A Life Less
Ordinary, Shining Light, Walking
Barefoot and Oh Yeah all make an
appearance.
When Kung Fu arrives, the
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to see why the bands popularity
is decreasing – these songs are as
catchy, fun, and summer-appropriate
as they always were.
What’s more, it’s clear that frontman
Tim Wheeler can still do it –
his guitar solos are brilliant and as
he grins to the audience and says
“Thanks a million!”, you can tell
he means it.
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into the setlist, which culminated
in a fantastic cover of Weezer’s
Only In Dreams, and big hits Girl
from Mars and Burn Baby Burn
whose choruses can only be described
as indestructible.
Ben Travis
Music Editors: Mark Corcoran-Lettice and Chris Mandle - courier.culture-music@ncl.ac.uk
PRMNT Vibes:
Shift-Static
The Telegraph, April 23
A sentence I was not expecting to
write during my tenure as Music
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‘Bloody volcanoes, eh?’.
But for the latest PRMNT Vibes
extravaganza, the volcanic ash that
has caused so many problems resulted
in the cancellation of headliners
A Grave With No Name.
Bloody volcanoes, eh?
But no worries. What we got instead
was a cheaper but possibly
even more cheerful gig, with all different
strands of the Newcastle music
community gathering for one of
the most memorable and diverse
evenings of music I’ve experienced
here.
Kicking the night off in appro-
Hudson Mohawke
World Headquarters,
April 22
With one critically acclaimed
debut album, the Warp Recordsreleased
“Butter”, under his belt
and a reputation as one of Britain’s
most forward thinking producers
and DJs (he’s been associated with
scenes like wonky and aquacrunk),
Hudson Mohawke is something
of a man of the moment.
Bringing him to Newcastle to
start his current UK tour, the
brains behind Inertia were concerned
about whether such a major
booking could be pulled off. If the
Alphabeat
Northumbria University,
April 20
I must admit I had preconceptions
of an Alphabeat gig: however, they
were completely destroyed by the
end.
The crowd, for a start, ranged
diversely in both age and dress and
the support act Pearl and the Puppets
were a fantastic surprise.
Distinctly different to Alphabeat
they played folk-like and soulful
songs, with an acoustic and rustic
vibe.
The singer Pearl had an individual
voice, melodic with a lovely
twang due to her Scottish accent
and the crowd were very receptive
despite the band’s alternative style
to Alphabeat’s.
However, Alphabeat came on
and totally stole the show as they
had more energy and enthusiasm
than any band that I have ever
seen.
The band demonstrated a love
priately noisy form was drone duo
Totem Recall. As ever, their combination
of retro keyboard melodies,
ambient noise washes and other
assorted chaos was mind-grabbing
and as curiously relaxing as it was
unsettling.
While the layout of The Telegraph
perhaps made it a slightly more dif-
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sound remained formidable.
Up next were de-facto headliners
Shift-Static. In the interests of honesty,
I should maybe point out that
I’m a friend of the band, but that
doesn’t stop them being outstanding.
With guitarist Will out of the game
due to the afore-mentioned massive
volcanic bastard, a stripped-down
acoustic set was called for.
But without the electronics or the
dubstep beats, the beautiful songs
they write were exposed more
clearly than ever, as were Laura’s
astonishing, Kate Bush-esque vocals.
Songs like Fathers Footsteps I
gripped the audience and received
a rapturous, astonished response.
packed, raving crowd was anything
to go by though, the arrival
of HudMo in the toon was a gam-
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Before his set though, we were
treated to some fantastic sounds
courtesy of Inertia residents Tim
Shaw and Sully. Overseeing the
night’s diverse music policy, their
sets run the musical gamut.
There’s smashing funk, ferocious
dubstep beats and, in one detour,
a crazy but superb mix that goes
from Pixies to TV on the Radio to
Why? - whoever said you can’t mix
indie has clearly never heard the
skills these guys have.
But at one a.m, the lights dim
even further in World Headquarters’
already murky upstairs, with
a lit-up DJ booth announcing the
arrival of Hudson.
With MC Oliver Daysoul whip-
and ability for music that many
musicians don’t have, and many of
the members rotated through different
instruments, ranging from
keyboards to guitars to trumpets to
tambourines.
Alongside this, except the drummer,
every member of the band
spent the entire gig jumping up
and down or dancing around the
stage. The lead singers Anders
Music Culture
The full house for their set dispersed
slightly for Richard Dawson,
but it’s very much their loss.
In good humour and great form,
he performed four new songs that
stood up to his already formidable
catalogue.
Some people are great musicians,
some are great singers, and some
are great lyricists: Dawson manages
to be all three simultaneously.
Cherish this man.
Closing the night on a more up-
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artist also present in Playground
and SDF, whose mixture of drummachine
manipulations, old-school
synth builds and triumphant yells
sounded like some awesome house
party down at Dan Deacon’s. Chaotic
in the best possible way.
A good end then to a night that
highlighted just some of the many
fantastic sounds that can be found
right on our doorstep – so get involved,
yes?
Mark Corcoran-Lettice Music Editor
ping the already excited crowd
into a frenzy, Hudson kicked off
with many of his own productions
- hey, when you’re as good as him,
it’d be rude not too.
While the set delivered the
manic hip-hop thrills that had
been promised, he wasn’t afraid to
keep things experimental either,
with one notable beatless, acapella
section towards the end marking
the apotheosis of his more playful
tendencies.
That it worked so well within the
set without sounding contrived
is a testament to his skills: that
the crowd went with it and kept
dancing on is a testament to the
broad-minded approach Inertia encourages.
Next time he’s in town,
don’t miss him.
Mark Corcoran-Lettice Music Editor
SG and Stine Bramsen kept the
audience truly absorbed despite
them being slightly too drunk to
decipher German from English.
Overall, the gig was a lot of fun
and Alphabeat showed a refreshing
love for their music and
performing.
Sally Priddle