Archive for the ‘music’ Category

Glenn Tilbrook at the Sage

February 27th, 2010

Glenn Tilbrook was awesome. The Sage decided to go with seating for this gig in Hall 2 – are they saying we’re old?

He was thankful for being able to do what he does for a living, trying to learn this same life lesson.

We only caught the last song of the opening act Floe. We didn’t mind… they rhymed love with glove…shades of Phil Collins…when I’m feeling blue…all I have to do…is take a look at you…then I’m not so blue.

The annoying thing is we wanted to like them. Right before they performed their last song they told the crowd that anyone who really wants their CD should get one from the merch table…there is a suggested price but they want their music out there so if someone can’t afford it they should get one anyway. Enlightened sales policy, crappy, lazy rhyme.

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Stornoway and Beth Jeans Houghton at the Sage

February 15th, 2010

Stornoway should have been the headliner in this pairing. Caught them for a couple of songs at Middlesbrough Music Live and have seen Beth Jeans Houghton a few times now.

She is young and has a gorgeous voice, is very cute and very creative.  What’s the problem?

Part of her persona is giggling through a bunch of messing up.  She is from the area and the crowd is supportive but it is annoying when you pay money to see someone in a fantastic venue and it doesn’t seem like they have bothered to rehearse very much and have possibly spent more time planning outfits.

I highly recommmend her EP and hope she gets her sh*t together for future gigs.

lyrics of zorbing

Conkers shining on the ground,
The air is cooler
And i feel like i just started uni
Walking backwards to my van
You’re at your window,
And I’m tripping every time i think of

Lying in your attic
I can feel the static
The storm has broken, Heavens open

Send my body out to work
But leave my senses
In orbit over south east London
Wind the window down and pinch
Me on the shoulder
Whilst i’ll be driving off to dream of

Lying in your attic
I can feel the static
The storm has broken, Heavens open
So electrifying, Oh I’m nearly flying
Lost my heart between the sheets of lightning

I’ve been singing you this song,
Inside a bubble,
Been Zorbing through the streets of Cowley,
We were always meant to be,
Zorbing together, And i think its high time we started

Lying in your attic
I can feel the static
The storm is breaking, windows shaking
So electrifying, Oh I’m nearly flying
Lost my heart between the sheets of lightning

Lying in your attic
I can feel the static
The storm has broken, Heavens open
So electrifying, Oh im nearly flying
Lost my heart between the sheets of lightning

conkers on wikipedia

zorbing on wikipedia

Kev’s new favourite song (even if it’s a bit folky for him) because it involves disconnecting…one day we both will:

Gregory Liszt’s Deadly Gentlemen at the Cluny2 in Newcastle

January 30th, 2010

Went to see the Deadly Gentlemen at the Cluny 2 in Newcastle this past Wednesday. It was a Jumpin’ Hot Club gig – they put on lots of folk, alt-rock good stuff on in the area.

Serious Sam Barrett opened. A guy from Leeds singing country…I had an amusing misheard lyric moment on one of his songs.  ”She’s as pretty as the hair on the mossad? what?!!…spoke to him between sets to ask him what he was singing…She’s as pretty as the heather on the moorside  - makes a lot more sense. : )

Gregory Liszt is the banjo player from Crooked Still. We saw them at the Cluny 2 also. They are amazing and the venue was packed that night. Greg Liszt was very entertaining and as soon as I saw this new project he was doing was coming I immediately bought tickets. I was stunned that there weren’t more people at the gig, maybe people were scared of winter weather.

Happy to document a very fun gig (their first ever in England). First off they are really talented musicians – Mike Barnett on fiddle, Stash Wyslouch on guitar, Sam Grisman on bass, and Greg Liszt on vocals and banjo. They bring to mind a cross between Chris Thile and Mike Ford from Moxy Früvous bluegrass mixed with speed, the ability to communicate lyrics that are super-quick and clever. See for yourself.

Love Hobo Rockstar cause it reminds me of Kitteh and Pip.

Kitteh and Pip the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats

Kitteh and Pip the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats

Shot videos while my battery lasted with Greg’s blessing (I asked before they went on stage).  Shot it with my new Kodak Zi8 with the internal microphone. The neat thing about the Zi8 is that it can also take an external mic (though I didn’t bring one).

Kodak Zi8 on amazonI was pretty close (2nd row) and there was an empty seat in front of me that I could lean the camera on as a makeshift stabilizer. The Zi8 is pocketsize and many people mistake it for a largish smartphone. Nope, just a decent pocket video camera that shoots HD.  Should have also brought another recent purchase a portable, rechargeable power supply for when your battery runs out…oh well.

Shot the videos up until the battery went dead which to be fair I didn’t charge it before I left the house so it was on half strength from shooting random stuff.

Wish it would have lasted to the end. The encore was especially great. The small but enthusiastic crowd cheered them on to get back on the stage. They agreed to play another song but did it unplugged, off the stage – near the door with the crowd on their feet. I was not even 2 feet away from them. It was in the dark and awesome.

It would be great to see them in a festival setting like the Cambridge Folk Festival; they’d be loads of fun in one of the tents.  The next night they were going to be at Celtic Connections in Glasgow. Check out their myspace page for upcoming gigs.

Random extra info: At one point during the gig, Greg asked if anyone in the crowd or the band plays a banjo. He thinks they’re cool and that people should pick it up. Just don’t give one to a beautiful woman anonymously according to this ask.mefi thread.  The consensus is it’s creepy.

Video Games Live at the Sage – 25 Nov 2009

November 30th, 2009

Kev and I went to see Video Games Live at the Sage – Northern Sinfonia performing music from video games.
Possibly the only time we will see Northern Sinfonia at the Sage decked out in Threadless Gaming T-shirts.
Kev was wearing:
Video games ruined my life... two extra lives. - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

I was wearing:
This is not a Pipe - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

Would have been just as happy wearing:
A Simple Plan - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

Some photos from the evening:

The show was good fun.  Multi-generational audience. Our only lament was that we weren’t seeing it in the US or Japan where it would have been sure to sell out and more people would have been dressed up.

Jack Wall was the conductor, Tommy Tallarico was the MC. It turns out he composed the music to one of the games I used to play Earthworm Jim (also loved the cartoon). Martin Leung the video game pianist also performed including a rendition of Super Mario blindfolded. There was also a skype video chat with Marty O’Donnell.

You can watch a good chunk of it with the youtube playlist below.

Kev’s new favourite lyrics

November 22nd, 2009

“I need your love
I need you in the morning
To make me tea
To kiss me when I’m yawning
I can see you’re head over heels for me
I can see you’re head over heels for me

From Head Over Heels by James Yuill

Original version on amazon.comRemix version on amazon.com

Kev’s favourite because it involves making a cup of tea!

Highly recommend checking out James Yuill.

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