And yes, I watched some more speed skating this week. And surprisingly, I was quite pleased with Sven Kramer not winning any medals (apart from the odd bronze medal he might win tomorrow). He was getting a bit cocky anyway. The only sad thing is that Chad Hedrick is now gonna win another medal, and some crazy Korean guy won gold, again. Also, yay Nicolien Sauerbreij! Is the first Winter Olympic-medal we've won that's not related to skating? (I know Sjoukje Dijkstra won a gold medal in figure skating, so I'm not saying speed skating here).
Other than that, I've not got a lot to tell you guys this week, as again, I went to four gigs this week. The only thing that might be worth mentioning is that I've discovered Whittard tea, of which even the instant version is a million times better than any other tea (including Twinings, Lipton and Dutch PickWick). So, on to the reviews it is!
New Young Pony Club/Chew Lips/Lyrebirds @ O2 Academy Islington I really, really hope Lyrebirds have gotten the idea for their name from QI. If you have not seen that episode (or never watch QI anyway): a lyrebird is a kind of bird that can imitate every sound imaginable. Apart from this band, I guess. Or I hope so for the sake of the bird. It was nice to hear some post-punk again, I've been slightly deprived of that niche of the musical spectrum, but this band did not particularly fulfil my post-punk needs. Chew Lips were slightly better than when I saw them last month. But that just might be because this appearance wasn't related to either NME or Koko. Both of those entities tend to slightly, how shall I describe this?, ruin an otherwise excellent gig. Not that Chew Lips were excellent, they were okay. Though I rather liked their debut album at first, it has already started to be a little boring. Or make that a lot. Live it's better though, as singer Tigs (seriously, that's what she wants to be called) is able to express a whole spectrum of emotions through her rather amazing voice. Too bad none of those emotions are related to the lyrics in any way. Kudos for the wacky dance moves though.
Finally, the band I wanted to see this night: NYPC. They've got a new album coming out next month, which after this gig, I'm going to completely ignore. I've now heard 'Ice cream' live, and that's enough NYPC for me. Yup.
Girls/Frankie & the Heartstrings @ Scala Highlight of the evening: playing air guitar to The National's 'Slow Hands' when the DJ decides to play Boxer in it's entirety in between the support act who should go back to playing at weddings and the main act who can compete with the Arctic Monkeys in inability to show any signs of life while on stage.
Los Campesinos!/Swanton Bombs/Islet @ Koko Hmm, Koko, that name popped up earlier, didn't it? And not in a good context I believe. Yes, you're absolutely right. If there's one venue in London that I try to avoid at all costs, it's Koko. Downside is that they've got an amazing line-up and that it's just around the corner for me. And when bands as LC! are playing there, I just can't resist. One of the things I like about LC! is that they tend to have at least one really good support act. On this particular tour, that part is taken up by Islet. Their sound is the best description I could give you of what my room usually looks like: organised chaos. Tambourines flying around, random screams, band members exchanging instruments after each song, two drums, no drums, just drums... I like it. As opposed to Swanton Bombs who, apart from the jazz riff the guitarist produces whilst sound checking, are not able to leave a good impression.
Los Campesinos!, well, what can I say about them that I haven't said on one of the four times that I've seen them before? I'm kind of having an 'odi et amo' feeling about this performance (and isn't it at least just a bit ironic that Catullus, most of whose texts are centred around either cocks or werewolves, gets world famous for the one love poem he happens to have written?). Odi as it's in Koko: worst sound ever, and it allows for too big a crowd in relation to a band as LC! (I've never been as bruised as I am at this very moment), and the guitarists of the band, Neil and Tom, happen to own my two dream guitars: an off-white Fender Jazzmaster and a cherry red Gibson SG. As I'm increasingly starting (well starting...) to miss my guitars, watching those two on stage was rather challenging for me. Luckily, as always, LC! were brilliant, which is why I love them. And they finished their set with my favourite song: 'This is how you spell: "HAHAHA, we've destroyed the hopes and the dreams of a generation of faux-romantics".'. I may have scared a few people when screaming along to some of the songs (particularly the "But what do you expect!" part in 'The sea is a good place to think about the future' at which point I even surprised myself with the volume of my voice). As true groupies (remember my mug?) Ilse and I waited outside for about an hour, but didn't get to see our favourite panda bear look-a-like (the animal, not the band. Gareth >>> Noah Lennox). Probably since he was signing things indoors, as that is what LC! members tend to do: stand near the merchandise, as normal people would.
I'm not going to write too much about this gig, as I plan to write a full review on it. All I can say is that is was the best gig I've seen this year, which prompted me to purchase a shirt which proclaims my love for both Xiu Xiu and cats. Awesome.
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