The World Tour

The World Tour is currently approaching day five, after a busy March. Reading Festival 2010 has been added to the schedule tonight.

Editors - Live at Brixton Academy

Pictured Above: Editors watch their career as a live band go up in flames.

This was night four of The World Tour, and once again I wasn't expecting alot. Indie bands are pretty boring live, and I expected as much from Editors. Before I get there though, I'd like to briefly mention the dire support band.

Fujiya & Miyagi, as they were called, have finally shown me that Biffy Clyro do not write the worst lyrics ever.

"Vanilla. Strawberry. Knickerbocker Glory. Vanilla. Strawberry. Knickerbocker Glory..."
"16 shades of black and blue. 8 shades of black. 8 shades of blue. 16 shades of black and blue..."

Hopefully that is enough for you to understand the one star rating they have recieved.

Editors came out to track one of the new album 'In This Light and On This Evening'. It was pretty good. They played through a setlist with a really decent balance of songs, probably about a third dedicated to each album (the way it should be).
After expecting them to be pretty poor I was actually surprised at how good they were. Their songs sounded great and Tom Smith was greatly entertaining.
The main problem I had with tonight was the crowd. Probably the most boring crowd I've ever seen. There were moments where some hands were in the air, and sometimes a few people jumped. But for the best part of the show everyone was stood still, waiting for them to play the singles that they bought tickets to see.

I think Editors are aware that indie bands have to suffer this, and they went really out of their way to make the show good. The light show was top notch, probably one of the best I've seen. They even had pyrotechnics (something I've never seen in Brixton) and confetti. But despite their best efforts they didn't really win the crowd over properly. Every non-single was met with a still and silent crowd, and it was a terrible shame.

I was going to give Editors three stars but considering it really isn't their fault and I think they played well I'm giving them four.
★★★★

Frank Turner - Live at the Camden Roundhouse

Frank Turner at the Roundhouse marked night 3 of the 'Dan and Chief World Tour 2010'.
The event began with Crazy Arm, who performed a few songs which failed to really do much for me. They weren't bad at all, but they did nothing but make it difficult for me to talk. Their music wasn't too bad at all, but they had a really awkward stage presence, which I could feel really strongly. It also reminded me that I don't like bass players.

Chuck Ragan was up next and had a little more to offer. Mostly in the violinist (?), who was the second coolest man ever (more on that later). Chuck Ragan had some pretty good songs and the crowd seemed to enjoy him, especially when Frank Turner joined him on stage for a song.

After a short wait, Frank Turner came on the stage. I was a little doubtful for the show, in all honesty. Even though I was amazed by his performance at Reading 2009, I didn't expect too much from him. He came out and went straight into 'Photosynthesis', one of my favourite tracks. The crowd absolutely loved it, and immediately all of my doubts for the show were gone.
Frank plays his songs brilliantly, and to me they sound identical to how they come on record. This is where my doubts were formed, as this is what I expected. However, Frank Turner offers a lot more than sound at his shows. It's a really atmospheric, and very visual experience. The crowd are great, everyone is having a brilliant time and you don't see any angry men running around. 'Jet Lag' is one of the songs on the 'Love, Ire and Song' album that I think is "alright". But live last night, it was my favourite track. It had so much feeling in it, and I think you can hear the words with so much more meaning than when listening on iTunes.
Frank stormed his way through a set consisting of twenty-something songs, with plenty to offer fans of old and new songs alike. It also helps that Frank Turner is the first coolest person ever.

It was a really great night, and I think everyone there must have had a brilliant time. I'd recommend his Brixton show in December to anyone. Although maybe not a blind person, as most of the enjoyment comes from the visual experience.
★★★★★

The Used

Times Seen Live: 2
First Seen: Taste of Chaos 2007. 28th November 2007
Last Seen: Sonisphere Festival 2009. 1st August 2009
Best Show: Taste of Chaos 2007. 28th November 2007
Best Live Songs: All That I've Got, Hospital
Live Rating: ★★★
Notes: I've seen The Used live twice now, and have to say they have disappointed both times. It's a shame really, as on record they are one of my guilty pleasures, providing some really catchy tunes and also some really powerful ones. Their songs are pretty synth-heavy, and live it honestly feels like they've just left that behind and play the songs in a really raw, demo-sounding state. And it really doesn't work very well. And for a band that don't sell many records and need to tour heavily in order to promote their music, this is really unfortunate.

Nine Inch Nails

Times Seen Live: 1
First Seen: Sonisphere Festival 2009. 2nd August 2009
Last Seen: Sonisphere Festival 2009. 2nd August 2009
Best Show: Sonisphere Festival 2009. 2nd August 2009
Best Live Songs: The Wretched, Lights in the Sky
Live Rating: ★★★★
Notes: I saw Nine Inch Nails at their last ever UK show (what a shame) and had been really excited about the show. The show we got was totally unexpected though, and I think a lot of people went away from it pretty disappointed, because the setlist was basically full of their slower material. I remember afterwards Trent Reznor posting on Twitter that he wanted to be controversial. However, the set was absolutely full of emotion, and you could see how much he (Reznor) was putting into it, even adding a few tears at the end of Hurt. The songs they played were great, just maybe not what I wanted from my first (and last, sadly) Nine Inch Nails show.

Pendulum

Times Seen Live: 3
First Seen: iTunes Festival 2008. 28th July 2008
Last Seen: Download Festival 2009. 13th June 2009
Best Show: iTunes Festival 2008. 28th July 2008
Best Live Songs: Blood Sugar, Slam
Live Rating: ★★★★★
Notes: I won tickets to see pendulum in summer 2008, which I was really pleased about as InMe were supporting, and I liked two Pendulum songs. I was a bit skeptical about seeing them live though. I got into Pendulum through Motorstorm, Slam being my favourite song on the soundtrack. When I saw Pendulum at Koko for the iTunes festival, I said afterwards that it was the best gig I'd been to, and looking back now it probably still is one of them. Seeing them at Reading (2008) and Download (2009) was also awesome, although we were pushed to the sidelines at Reading because they were just too popular for the tent they were in. I think as a live act Pendulum are really accessible, and would recommend them to anyone who likes live music.

Limp Bizkit

Times Seen Live: 2
First Seen: Download Festival 2009. 12th June 2009
Last Seen: Sonisphere Festival 2009. 2nd August 2009
Best Show: Download Festival 2009. 12th June 2009
Best Songs Live: Break Stuff, Faith
Live Rating: ★★★★★
Notes: Limp Bizkit probably sold me my download ticket last summer. In 2001 they were everyone's favourite band (that has to be a fact, right?). After the greatness of their only good album (Chocolate Starfish...) wore off they eventually disappeared. Now they're back and, love them or hate them, if you caught their set at Download and/or Sonisphere in the summer there is no way you could admit to not being amazed. They're bound to be doing at least one UK festival this summer, and there is no excuse for missing them.