A really enjoyable track from producer Khabs blends a number of different ideas together to great results. The second single from the project takes you on a journey through an enchanting sonic landscape which unfurls as the track progresses.
Dreamy guitar riffs giveaway to a celestial chorus embellished with reverb heavy harmonies, which further allow you to sink back into the track.
All of this powered by a pulsating beat which pierce out from the rest of the song’s dreamy surroundings.
If you’re a fan of bands such as Gorillaz, this is definitely a track for you, bringing gorgeous dreamy production perfect for unwinding.
Overall, I really enjoyed the single and am looking forward to where this project goes in the future.
The Boiler Shop was rocked on Saturday night as Shame brought their raucous live show to Newcastle.
Touring their new album, ‘Food For Worms’, which was released last week, Shame played a varying set which encompassed tracks from all three of their releases to date.
Recent singles ‘Fingers of Steel’, ‘Six Pack’ and ‘Adderall’ were all received well from the crowd, with ‘Adderall’ in particular a highlight quickly gaining fan favourite status.
As always, the band brought the energy, with frontman Charlie Steen doing an excellent job of working with the crowd, eventually joining them throughout a number of tracks.
‘Tasteless’, ‘Snow Day’ and ‘Orchid’ were personal highlights demonstrating the band’s versatility, as well as the quality of the band’s back catalogue, which has only been strengthened with the recent release of ‘Food For Worms’.
Steen even brought out his cousin Tom before the end of the show to introduce a track before engaging in some Newcastle related quips with the crowd.
‘One Rizla’ as expected set the crowds alight with mosh pits aplenty and proved worth the wait. The show was concluded with ‘Food For Worms’ closer, ‘All The People’ and ‘Gold Hole’, which ended the show fittingly with the crowd demanding more.
Support came from Florida based duo ‘They Hate Change’, who warmed the crowd up well with their electronic, hip hop fusion which gave a different flavour to the show bringing a welcome change from the usual support acts for an indie/post punk show.
Overall, this was a great time, watching a band, who are still pushing musically and reaching even greater heights both on record and in person.
The big story from the Newcastle leg of The 1975’s UK tour was the appearance of Lewis Capaldi, but that was just the beginning of the fun in their most ambitious stage show yet.
The 1975 are the ultimate marmite band, to some a pretentious pop band, to others a groundbreaking pop machine.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but one thing that no one can doubt is the ambition of frontman Matty Healy and co. Gone is the big visual lights show, which formed the basis of their ‘A Brief Inquiry /Notes on a Conditional Form’ Tour instead replaced by a house set, forming the core of the first half of the performance.
This section of the show draws from songs from their recently released fifth album, ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’ with the band committing themselves to an ambitious theatrical show.
The band inhabit a fully furnished house for the entire show, unveiled to the audience by each member of the group switching lights on, revealing sections of the stage.
The whole thing is all very reminiscent of a sitcom or drama with title cards and loose storyline, which is brought to life by Healy who starts proceedings with ‘The 1975 (BFIAFL)’. Flying through the first seven songs of the album, the group delivered an enthralling welcome to the world, with singles ‘Happiness’ and ‘I’m In Love With You’ gaining the best reaction from the Geordie crowd.
A first surprise was delivered early on during a performance of ‘All I Need To Hear’. Introduced by Matty Healy, the stage was plunged into darkness, revealing when the lights came up, that Tim Healy had replaced his son. The former ‘Benidorm’ star then proceeded to belt out the track to the delight of the fans.
Matty then returned on the roof of the house to perform a stripped back version of 2018’s ‘I Like America and America Likes Me’ which remains a highlight of the set.
Matty Healy Ascends
The first half was concluded with fan favourites ‘About You’ and album finisher ‘When We Are Together’.
When the track had finished, the performance art began with Healy assuming the role of a single man going through a breakdown.
Healy strips down to his bare chest to eat a piece of meat, as well as pretending to masturbate on a leather chair. This all occurs whilst images of world leaders and media personalities appear on the set’s TV. Healy then completes this section by crawling through the TV, ending quite a baffling bit of theatre, which is either pretentious or interesting depending on your perspective.
This led to an interval where the show’s biggest moment occurred. A ring of the doorbell signalled the arrival of the special guest, leading to mania in the crowd when the monitors flashed the name of Harry Styles. However, instead of the One Direction star, out stumbled Lewis Capaldi, which prompted more screams from the crowd.
Capaldi, to his credit, did what he does best for the next ten minutes. He delivered laughs, in addition to a rendition of The 1975’s ‘Antichrist’, and a rousing version of Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’, whilst he mocked Healy’s previous acting attempts on the big screen, completing an enjoyable interlude.
The band then began their ‘At Their Best’ section of the show, smashing through hit after hit after remerging to a sax rendition of ‘Local Hero’ complete with Newcastle shirts for the saxophonist and a Newcy Brown for Healy.
It’s at these moments, you realise that The 1975 are still amongst the finest in the pop world, delivering both excellent tunes and phenomenal show, which can rival any of their contemporaries.
Finishing on 2018’s ‘Give Yourself A Try,’ the group excelled themselves on this tour, producing one of the most ambitious shows I’ve ever seen. This makes the show well worth a watch if you get the chance.
Liverpool outfit Courting made a big splash as they celebrated the release of their new album “Guitar Music” at The Cluny 2 on Friday evening.
Performing songs from their new LP, as well as songs from the rest of the back catalogue, the band impressed fans with an energetic performance.
This is of course a trademark of the band who have gained a reputation for their exciting live shows. Courting have in the past launched tennis balls at their shows such as at the Reading Festival, and the chaotic nature of that show was replicated in this performance.
Throughout, there were multiple impromptu covers featuring such classics as “The Boys are Back in Town”, “Common People” and “Starships”.
The set begun however with their critically acclaimed single “Tennis”, which inspired said tennis ball incident warming up the crowd who quickly got on board with the band’s blend of electronic and guitar based music.
The group went through hits old and new with airings of recent single “Jumper” as well as performances of older songs such as “Grand National” and “Popshop!”
This was all intersected with enjoyable stage chat in addition to audience participation via the medium of a cowbell which was embraced fully by the audience to mixed results.
The evening ended with a stage invasion by adoring fans, rounding out an enjoyable night, watching one of the UK’s most exciting up and coming bands.
Make sure to check out Courting’s new album “Guitar Music” and follow them on Twitter at @courtingband to find their upcoming tour dates supporting the album.
At around quarter past 3 on Tuesday afternoon, the Sports Team bandwagon (in the form of a spray -painted Piaggio Porter) rolled into Newcastle to play an exclusive show at RPM Music.
The promo show forms part of their ongoing UK tour for their upcoming sophomore album GULP! which hits stores on Friday.
The venue of RPM Music made it an interesting evening, as around 40 spectators piled into the tight confines of the cosy record store.
To say that the venue was intimate would be an understatement however this only increased the special feel of the gig which brought a different vibe to the standard Academy fayre.
The band posed with fans for pictures before and after the gig adding to the friendly, intimate atmosphere which radiated around the Old George Yard throughout the evening.
The setlist was formed of songs from their new record, “GULP!” with new singles “The Drop” and “Dig” performed to an audience of those who had pre-ordered the LP and those lucky enough to squeeze in.
Throughout the performance, more and more latecomers arrived perhaps demonstrating the challenging nature of the start time of 17:30 which is perhaps more forgivable for a smaller record store date.
Those who did make it down in time were treated to an excellent show filled with the usual high energy antics expected from a Sports Team performance conducted within smaller confines.
The band began with their latest four singles, which open their new LP, before throwing themselves into a rendition of “Unstuck”, the first unheard of number of the evening which saw frontman Alex Rice take advantage of the novelty of a wireless mic seeing him serenade the streets of Newcastle and the punters of the nearby Old George pub.
Alex Rice unchained
The band’s trademark sound was not compromised even in the tight surroundings leading to a number of vinyl and eventually a shelf falling on drummer Alex Greenwood who managed to play on throughout the vicious attack by boxsets from The Doors and The Who.
New tracks “Getting Better” and “Light Industry” were firmly dispatched with songwriter Rob Knaggs taking vocal duties on the former following on from vocal performances on 2020’s “Long Hot Summer” and “Lander”.
The evening was rounded out by a rendition of “M5” from their 2019 EP “Keep Walking” which beat out “Here’s the Thing” in a fan vote.
Fans were then treated to an album signing session as well as a chance to chat with the band and buy merch from the “GULP!” branded van, which is transporting the band around the country. This rounded off a really fun night which highlighted what makes Sports Team so special in comparison to other artists around today.
A ‘Different Kind of Heartbreak’ is the debut single by local Americana band Matt Dunbar & The Autonomous Collective.
Matt Dunbar & the Autonomous Collective
The single shows the band reacting to the allegations surrounding Ryan Adams and the loss of trust in idols.
That is immediately clear in the vocals which are delivered in a passion filled strain which goes a long way to selling the song.
Lyrically, the song is punchy whilst perhaps not the most unique, the simplistic tone works with the subject matter demanding a raw response.
The narrative of the song is one which many people can relate to, the idea of someone you respect and idolize disappointing you and this is conveyed well within the track.
However, the lyrics do become weaker as the track progresses as the song title is repeated and repeated.
Whilst this plays into the catchyness of the single, it does get repetitive after hearing the same phrase repeated 15 times in a three minute track.
Despite this, the track delivers well on it’s message and keeps focus throughout.
From a musical standpoint the track is extremely well produced, the rich lead guitar line underneath the verse deliver dreamy distorted riffs which really add to ambiance of the track.
The punch of the band exploding to life at the start of the chorus also works well delivering big country vibes of which the lyrics also appear to have taken influence from.
The track as a whole is well put together and sounds easy on the ear and is definitely worth checking out especially if you’re into country and folk.
Different Kind of Heartbreak is out on Friday 19th June 2020 on Spotify, Amazon and Bandcamp.
“I’ve learnt new skills in that sense so we should have a bigger audience when we get back.”
“We’ve only been a band since October so it made sense to get an Instagram, I’ve had it since December however didn’t properly start working on it until January, we hit a thousand followers in 90 days.”
The Instagram has seen everything from excellent covers to online tutorials as well as baking however, ultimately this is not what the band want to do.
“It’s definitely stunted the band in terms of progression, it is impossible to get ahold of Rich if you don’t go in person so if you don’t use a phone call then he’s useless.” Edd exclaimed with a chuckle.
“The two of us getting together has just stopped due to the lockdown.”
“I feel for us we’re back to square one.”
The band before the lockdown were beginning to work on finding their sound.
“We’re still in a demoy phase, when we release something it will be electric because I prefer electric (Edd has some amazing custom made guitars) however we start out on acoustics as if it sounds good acoustic it will sound good electric.”
However, there are range of artists which have influenced the band despite the two members coming from varying musical backgrounds.
“We want to take classic pop for example pre Sgt.Pepper’s Beatles for example when they were churning out classic tunes with a lot of vocal harmony stuff really comes from there.”
“Then we really split, Rich is really into Motown and more abstract music whilst I love big band acts like Nat King Cole as well as post hardcore stuff,” Edd laughed.
“So I suppose we meet in the middle with bands like Arctic Monkeys and Foo Fighters.”
A Rendition of Sophia’s Mundane Munday – Credit to Shy Bairns YouTube
In terms of life after COVID it appears that Shy Bairns have plans to make up for lost time.
“We want to get back together, I’ve been writing some song ideas and been keeping people interested on Instagram and Rich has been building a little studio room.”
“We’d like to get a little 3 track EP out, we’re already registered with Spotify we wanna release something solid so people know what we’re about and look maybe to support and steal people’s fans, we’d be very happy with that” he exclaimed, letting out a chuckle.
Prior to the lockdown, the band had done an open mic night which has given them a taste for even more.
“Ultimately, we try to live by the name of our band, Shy Bairns, which obviously stands for Shy Bairns get nowt so we’re gonna try and push and push to see how far we can go.”
“Hopefully we can get on local radio or even a festival we really want to shove it in people’s faces, Instagram has been really important in that sense.”
“It would have been nice to do more open mics during the summer with me being off but at the end of the day Shy Bairns is fine because it hasn’t really started yet.”
When everything reopens make sure to catch Shy Bairns and in the meantime make sure to catch them on their socials:
black midi are an interesting beast, a mix of post punk, experimental rock and math rock. The band had an extremely successful 2019 breaking into the Top 40 in the album charts as well as releasing a critically acclaimed album which featured in many of the end of the year lists.
The album is filled with fast-paced, high energy tunes which translates well into the chaotic live show which midi present.
This energy was transported to the room which was packed to the point of it being almost uncomfortable.
However, this worked in black midi’s favour, with the crowd serving up some of the biggest mosh pits I’ve seen.
Consistently, people were dredging over to the small bar at the side of the venue for water dripping in sweat looking as though they’d been dropped into the Tyne.
The ability to produce this reaction within a crowd is testament to midi’s live show after what seemed an eternity of omnious, choral singing which transported the venue into some sort of bizarre gothic cathedral before the band appeared.
What perhaps is unique about black midi is their approach to playing live not simply wanting to reproduce their album to an audience and instead trying to make something new and fresh.
black midi @ The Riverside – 21/02/2020 – Joseph Jordan
This is highlighted in their set which only featured six songs from their debut LP amongst a twelve song set.
These six songs went down well with a mosh pit forming which went all the way back to the entrance.
The band sound spectacular live, the guitar work was particularly impressive with complex riffs completed with aplomb in a beautiful way displaying the group’s talent.
A particular highlight was a cover of The Police’s ‘Message in a Bottle’ which was unexpected to say the least.
However, this further displays the band’s talent of taking songs from artists, such as FONTAINES DC in the past, and making them their own which was almost certainly the case with this cover.
If you get the chance to see black midi take it up they are like nothing you’ll ever see.
In terms of spectacle I have never seen anything like The 1975’s live show a combination of clever visuals and impressive imagery the performance is all encompassing and can only truly be appreciated live.
The show is very much an extension of the band, progressive and showy and ultimately the pretty visuals match the pretty synth-pop which the band have perfected since the release of debut EP, Facedown in 2012.
However, to dismiss The 1975 as being simply one thing would be to do them a discredit which was proven through their opening track, People which shows the bands confidence and competence in making music.
Love Me – Joseph Jordan
The song opened the live show in raucous fashion with the lyrics from the band’s frontman, Matty Healyreflecting the feelings of many young people regarding the state of the world and the music encompassing those feelings.
The aggressive, distorted guitars did not get lost within the echoey arena with the yellow visuals and the sirens reflecting the warnings which are made within the songs lyrics.
This combined well with one of the band’s biggest hits ‘Sex’ which always goes down well live with the band dipping into indie rock and finishing the song with a big finish splashing the words ‘Rock and Roll is Dead God Bless The 1975’ across their jumbo screens, a huge statement in which to open a show
The rock energy of ‘Sex’ contrasted greatly with their third track ‘TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME’ from the band’s critically acclaimed third album which acts as a celebration of pop music with the catchy hook of the song and pulsating pianos which would not be out of place on a top 10 hit.
The track went down well in the arena with the band using the visuals of their set to their advantage with a crawling Star Wars-esic title crawl to the song blending perfectly with the opening of the single.
The 1975 then progressed to their most recent single the ‘Me and You Together Song’ which sees the band dip into their past to provide a cute love song which sounds a bit like early noughties pop punk band Busted in all the right ways.
The 1975 @ Utilita Arena – 16/02/2020
The introduction of front-man Matty Healy’s now famous treadmill and hat combo during ‘Sincerity is Scary’ went down with screams from adoring fans with the forementioned treadmill providing some excellent visuals in front of the moving street from the video.
Through it did cause an uncomfortable/funny moment when the hat was thrown back from the crowd which was quite bizarre.
The next song ‘It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)’ is the best song the eighties never got. You get the feeling if the single had came out in 1985 it could have been a number one with the perfect pop hook to go with an amazing riff which combines reverb, chorus and distortion to create that typical eighties guitar sound.
The song always goes down well live especially with the Jaiy twins providing an amazing onstage performance to compliment the song’s danceable quality.
This progressed into new unreleased song ‘If You’re Too Shy Let Me Know’ which had an amazing operatic beginning to the track which I hope will be included in the album version. The track begins with some very 1975ey (I know it’s not a word) guitars in the intro. Ironically this song sounds like it could be a sequel to ‘It’s Not Living’.
Credit to Andy Luckers – If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) – The 1975
The chorus of the song sounds like the eighties exploding however could not come from any other band than The 1975 who have perfected their craft in making addictive pop songs. Overall, the song went down well with the crowd despite it not having been released with the band adding another set of cool visual in the shape of old timey TV’s which littered the back screen.
The band continued with 2015’s ‘Love Me’ which still sounds great today featuring some of the band’s best lyrics revolving around narcissism and fame.
The group took it down a notch with ‘I Couldn’t Be More In Love’ sparking lighters and phone lights to go up around the arena to the Michael Jackson-esic track.
The band then played another new song ‘Guys’ which was written about the group by frontman Matty. The song comes off as a love-note not just to the group but to the band’s fans as well who are amongst the most loyal in music.
The song is very meta and could come across as a little wanky to those who aren’t as invested in the band however the song is cute and personal if any band can get away with it, it’s The 1975.
‘Robbers’ followed which is a fan’s favourite evident due to the reaction in the arena.
The song is perhaps too over-dramatic but in the heighten emotional landscape which is an arena gig this works for the song.
This beautifully faded into ‘fallingforyou’ a beautifully constructed love song which packed just as big a punch as ‘Robbers’ did.
Milk – The 1975 – Joseph Jordan
The mood was lifted as the band went into ‘Milk’ which shows the band can do indie if they wanted to. The track is a short burst of energy which was much needed after a slow section of the show.
‘Lostmyhead’ on paper seems a baffling choice to do live when band don’t play ‘She’s American’, ‘Girls’ or ‘Settle Down’ some of the groups most popular cuts.
However, once you see it live you realize how wrong you were. The song featured some of the best visuals of the night featuring Matty Healy melting into the jumbo screens. It is the most impressive thing I’ve seen at a gig from a technological standpoint.
October’s ‘Frail State of Mind’ followed, an excellent song showing how the band can mix genres with ease with garage beat adding to the night time aesthetic to the song.
The song tackles social anxiety in an amazing way in the lyrics showing just how the band can tackle issues in society. The song translated well live with the frantic visuals on the jumbo screens reflecting chaotic nature of the song.
The social commentary continued with ‘I Like America & America Likes Me’ confronting gun culture in the United States as well as the state of the modern world with the band bringing the energy to the arena as the screens projected various images onto the backdrop creating a powerful moment.
The pink box then descended for perhaps the band’s most famous song ‘Somebody Else’ which went down well with the crowd.
The band then finished for the encore with ‘I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)’ which sees the band dipping their toes into Britpop with a dramatic cinematic feel to the track, making this the perfect ending.
During the encore, the group played their collaboration with Greta Thunberg in full which provided a thought provoking moment despite many in crowd playing up which is to be expected at an arena show.
The Greta Moment – Joseph Jordan
This went perfectly into ‘Love It If We Made It’ which carried on many of those themes.
The 1975 then swapped out ‘Paris’ for ‘Medicine’ in a slot which looks like it will change nightly. The song worked incredibly well and I didn’t mind the swap despite me not being a fan of different setlists every night.
However, for those who are attending multiple dates this will reward them for their loyalty which I suppose is nice for them.
The crowd went to new levels for ‘Chocolate’ where I was in the middle of standing overall I felt the atmosphere where I was seemed lacking at periods however it did pick up for the encore.
‘Give Yourself A Try’ and ‘The Sound’ really did go off and it was an amazing feeling to see the entire arena bouncing.
The 1975 continue to prove themselves as innovators pushing the boundaries of what is possible for a band to do at a concert as well as providing a stellar setlist.
Glastonbury couldn’t do much better than to get them as their third headliner.
Rock heavy-hitters Royal Blood have been announced as the Friday headliner at Newcastle festival, This is Tomorrow.
The band will be joined on the lineup by Stockport’s finest Blossoms as well as the excellent Fontaines D.C. at the city festival which takes place in May.
Royal Blood will join North Shields’ rising star Sam Fender and Gerry Cinnamon at the top of the bill over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.
Tickets for the event will go on sale on Friday with weekend tickets already on sale.
Royal Blood are a rising rock act, having had two number one albums and are gearing up to release their third album expected soon.
The Brighton rock outfit have had success with hits such as ‘How Did It Get So Dark?‘ and ‘Figure It Out’ with a distinctive sound centered around the band’s pounding bass riffs which have seen the band widely praised.
Tom Ogden of Blossoms – 2018 – Joseph Jordan
They will be joined on the Friday by Blossoms, who have also had chart success with their previous two albums.
Recently the band announced their third album, ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’ which has teased an evolution in their sound in their new singles ‘Your Girlfriend’ as well as new cut ‘If You Think This Is Real Life’.
As well as this Irish Punks, Fontaines D.C. have also been announced after recently selling out the O2 Academy.
Fontaines D.C. @O2 Academy Newcastle – 10.01.20 – Joseph Jordan
Their amazing debut album ‘Dogrel’ has put them on the map leading them to critical acclaim as well as various album of the year nominations narrowly missing out on the Mercury Prize last year.
They are also joined on the lineup by Inhaler and The Lathums, two bands who have been gaining traction on the Indie circuit recently.
Humbug North East 