You know when you come across a gem of a new band and you can’t stop listening to them or needing to go and see them? You don’t? Aye ye do! Well that’s me and the amazing Penelope Isles … you have to go see them too! Originally from the Isle of Man, but via Brighton, the band started by Jack and Lily Wolter have come a long way in a short time, especially since being picked up by Simon Raymonde of Bella Union records who knows something special when he sees it. Brilliant songs, complex but catchy, veering from sweet melodies and harmonies to wig-out post-rock noisy … they have got everything that pushes my musical buttons perfectly!
Since debut album ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ came out they have been working and travelling non-stop. Jack told me this was their 90 somethingth gig of the year and will be over 100 soon. That shows in the flawless performances in the 3 times in 3 weeks I’ve seen them since Iceland Airwaves, and the music sounds even better to me live than recorded as a result. I couldn’t make their show in Glasgow, so why not take the easy trip to the Toon?! Go see Penelope Isles too. Chat to these friendly people afterwards, and buy their CD. Now!
A packed Usher Hall and a great celebration atmosphere for the end of a European tour and Twilight Sad’s return to Edinburgh. Of course we came primarily to see Man Of Moon and we were not disappointed with another great performance in front of a big, appreciative home crowd. Well done guys! So excited to hear the new album asap in 2020.
I’m not that familiar with the music of The Twilight Sad, but they certainly smashed it in what was their biggest ever gig. Fans I know say they were at their best and they loved the whole show and very emotional occasion. At the back of the Upper Circle is not a great place for pics … but luckily Fleur Neale is a super photographer and kindly allowed me to remember the gig better from her brilliant shots. Check out her great work at her website, @fleurneale on Twitter, @melbourneflower on Insta or Melbourneflower Photography on FB.
I have been a ‘superfan’ of Björk for so many years, starting when I first heard ‘Birthday’ in 1987 and rushed out to buy it. I’ve seen her a number of times since and her music has been a big part of my life. I have to admit though that her last two albums have left me cold (though I tried), but I’m still supportive, so I had much tredipdation going to this ‘Cornucopia’ tour show after the relatively underwhelming occasion last time I saw her 3 years ago. Well I needn’t have worried since the show was very, very good and she reaffirmed some of my faith in her.
What an incredible visual spectacle. Huge multiple screens including in front of the stage, incredible digital movie projections, amazing set design and eye catching costumes. Also a massive 3D surround sound system, brilliantly immersive and effective (though sometimes boomy bass and overdone crunchy beats did my head in). All off the scale bigger and better than anything ever seen before. Simply stunning.
Great to hear so many older songs too including some of my all time favourites from her ‘Homogenic’, ‘Vespertine’ and ‘Medulla’ era. These songs re-imagined though were of course not quite as good as when originally performed (some a bit messy really), but thanks for doing them and I sang along blissfully! Some of the latest ‘Utopia’ album songs also worked better live and made a bit more sense to me. But I still think many are rambling and unsatisfying. Luckily the visuals, sound and performance were good distractions from my thinking that they don’t work so well as ‘songs’. The many musicians with flutes were cool, but for me the musical stars were the 16 strong Hamrahlíðarkórinn choir who opened the show and appeared throughout. Absolutely wonderful.
Björk’s ‘ Utopia’ concept has a big environmental message which was reinforced, not only by the music, lyrics and visuals, but by some projected narrative culminating in a special video message from Greta Thunberg. Quite brilliant. I hope many people took note and will act upon the crystal clear and compelling message (but probably not).
Overall, was I impressed? Most definitely. Was I moved? Not as much as I hoped for unfortunately. Just making everything bigger and more spectacular doesn’t create more engagement. Ultimately, I go for the music, and though this was pretty good, she has done much better on many occasions before. Still the queen of everything though!
Björk requested no pics or videos and I, like most people, politely complied, so pics above are from Björk’s Facebook and no live videos, so these will have to do just now! …
Natasha Khan is one of my favourite singer/songwriters, always puts on a different kind of show which is a brave choice. This time ‘stripped back’, as she said, just her with keys and vocal support from the talented Laura Groves. She has a beautiful voice and distinctive style, but I admit I’ve found her latest albums less interesting, a few good tracks but overall underwhelming. Live though, it was an intimate experience with a very warm appreciative audience. However she chose to keep all of the songs at a slowish pace, which though it suited most of her yearning type songs, after a while with limited instrumentation … it’s was all too samey and could have had a lot more variation and interest. Hope she has a full band next time! Still, a nice evening with nice people watching a very nice person play very nice music!
What an amazing group. I’ve followed Snarky Puppy for a while, loving their jazzy instrumental masterpieces. But even after many line-up changes it was still a treat to get so many key members this time including leader and bassist Michael League, Justin Stanton on keys and trumpet, Mike Maher on trumpet and flugelhorn, Shaun Martin on keys, Mark Lettieri on guitar, Bobby Sparks on keys and Chris Bullock on sax and woodwinds. Joined by new to me Zach Brock on violin, Keita Ogawa on percussion, Jason Thomas on Drums … you rarely get such a collection of stellar musicians on the same stage!
The set was full of newer ‘pieces’ ( I only really knew two) but so good you really don’t mind. But less jazzy and much more funk … one long groove from start to finish, everyone dancing along all night! Getting the audience to clap along in different times and rhythms says as much about the crowd as the band. Impressive and memorable.
We were so excited to be going back to our favourite city for the very special Iceland Airwaves festival. Not just for the music but for a nice holiday in our favourite place with such nice people, locals and festival goers … so blog posts here are separate or combination multi-gig reviews and holiday travelogues! Iceland Airwaves is a bit different from most music festivals in that multiple venues are used around the city centre and other smaller bars run many ‘off-venue’ performances during the day so you can see lots of acts all day ’til early morning, running between them! Also, a well curated roster of artists gives a huge range of styles, either established and well loved acts or up and coming from Iceland and many different countries.
I had high hopes but was not really blown away by any acts on this first evening. I was looking forward to Kaelan Mikla and they were the most interesting of the night … gothy, synthy, screamy, a bit samey but still good. AYia, I thought were very forgettable. There was a lot of buzz in advance about Orville Peck, the Canadian new country singer with the mysterious fringe mask. Though I liked the few songs I had heard before, I felt his deep baritone singing was a bit forced and artificial, so didn’t enjoy as much as I expected, though still good music. All of these were at the Art Museum, but for light relief later we went ‘Off Venue’ to Hressingarskálinn and caught some nice pop from Konfekt and Tomas Welding before calling it a long and tiring day!
Attended by George & Karen – playlist with multiple relevant videos below!
A busy morning and afternoon sightseeing before gigging … Café Paris for breakfast, then a long walk all along Laugavegur and back window shopping, then all the way west to see the ‘Whales of Iceland’ museum. What an amazing exhibition. Life size models of all the main species of Whales and Dolphins. Really impressive with lots of other information and insight … ‘meet us, don’t eat us!’. Highly recommended. Also highly recommended, in fact mandatory, is a visit to our favourite Saegreifinn restaurant for our now traditional lobster soup lunch. Nom! Less fun was a customer next us tucking into some Minke Whale. If it’s mainly a gimmick for tourists, and more and more Icelanders are against it, why not ban hunting whales in Iceland NOW. Short walk then to Slipbarrin for first Off-Venue show of the day from Soley.
Fisrt Soley at Slipbarrin and lucky to get there early for a ringside bar stool as the place was packed. I’ve liked Soley for a fair while and saw her play a lovely show in Hull, but not sure if the new material being tried out is for me. Atmospheric, but a bit sombre and depressing! After the best pizza ever in Pizzeria Italia in the evening we took advantage of our Airwaves Plus wristbands to access the upstairs ’VIP’ area for 4 acts in Gamla Bio theatre.
Glass Museum are a keyboards and drums instrumental duo from Belgium, and had some interesting tunes. I came along mainly to see JFDR and Shame, with JFDR on next. The band project of Jófríður Ákadóttir had some nice songs but not as good for me as her previous band Samaris. Next up was Emmsje Gauti (MC, geddit, I think!?). Rappy hip hop is not my cup of tea but seems he is a big thing in Iceland with lots of fans singing along. Who knew?
Finally Shame, who were just brilliant as always. They seem to have been playing the same songs on tour for years since I saw them in Sneaky Pete’s (only a few really) but who cares when they are all such punky bangers and they are now masters at working a crowd into a frenzy. Not quite as frenzied though as bassist Josh who leaps around like a loon, his soon broken strap required constant re-taping up each time he broke it again. A great day gigging had to end of course with a few pints in our new local ‘The Drunk Rabbit’. What a great place (if you can ignore the ridiculous price of a pint!).
Attended by George & Karen – playlist with multiple relevant videos below!
Day 3 in the Airwaves house started with breakfast in Joe & The Juice to prepare us for a freezing walk down to the beautiful Sólfar sculpture we visit every time. What a wonderful sight and the cold and the snow covered hills only emphasise it’s beauty. A quick visit to KEX hostel (nothing on unfortunately) and a bit more Laugavegur wandering led us to get out of the cold with a couple of pints of Bastard beer in the tremendously named ‘Bastard’ bar. A few more in the comfy Drunk Rabbit before a siesta in prep for an evening visit to our favourite fancy restaurant Humarhúsið (disappointingly now labelled ‘Lobsterhouse’ in English). Always lovely food, always langoustines for me (both of us this time), always eye-wateringly expensive, but a special treat. We took a quick look in Fríkirkjan, scene of shows we might go to.
George Glen 