Kings Of Convenience

14th October, Barbican. Yes, there goes a chronological order but to make things clear, I almost forgot to go.

Importantly, Taxi Taxi were opening.

Grass House, Loverman, Dead Kids

On 13th November 2009 in Cargo. I completely forgot to grace you with photos.

Unknown band

Loverman

6th November, The Macbeth.

The Twilight Sad

29th October, Scala.

Airship

29th October, Scala.

Loverman

Again, 22nd October, Queen of Hoxton.

Leah Mason

Queen of Hoxton, 22nd October.

Wild Beasts

They are a lot of fun. Dearest readers, as soon as I get broadband, you will reclaim my humblest self.

Blue Roses

I still think about Joan as Police Woman, but I will review this one as well. I promise.

Loverman

Great band, review to follow.

Joan as Police Woman

I know what you are thinking, dearest readers, supposedly I am not blessed by broadband and yet I post - long story - to cut it short, I will refrain from elaborating on this. Another thing, my dearest readers must be thinking, oh dear, she is back to square one with her pathetic camera phone, oh why. There is only one answer to the last question, my camera's memory card was full and I was in a hurry and so I missed the unique chance of capturing the magic of Joan Wasser in London Union Chapel on 4th October 2009, what a shame, as she is the most beautiful lady of music and I cannot express the joy of seeing her live and experiencing the most starstruck moments of my not so short and getting annoyingly too long life.

Let me explain, London Union Chapel, as some of you may well know, is a little church. Coming from a land where having imposed religion on myself in my youth I would go to church every day for the joy of it, staring at tainted glass and medieval pictures of the suffering son of god hoping to be the chosen one, I did shudder sitting in the wooden benches. So real. And then, after a supporting act which was not bad or good but my excitement did not let me record anything of it, she came. She came on stage. It was Joan as Police Woman with Timo Ellis performing songs from the new album 'COVER' and original material. For some reason, I had somehow, stupidly, thought that she sometimes was struggling to sing. Not at all, her Start of the Heart live was breathtaking - up and down down and up, a captivating creature with a magnificent voice. And yes, dearest readers, I was crying, it was so beautful. Once again, I wish I was a proper reporter, to give you details of the cover versions and original material that were presented, but, inadvertedly, I simply flew away.

Needless to say, Joan as Police Woman is comprised of both utter sadness and goofiness. She is constantly joking and goofing about, which makes you want to hug her and never let go, but at the same time you get the feeling that she is totally overwhelmed by the human condition, which brings back memories of a Human Condition song, a new one, very sad, oh, and now I remember another song Flash - which, she reported, a slightly tipsy Italian fan had requested saying play Flesh - very much like me, non-English. I find het utterly but utterly charming and some of my readers may think I am praising her too much. Maybe I am, but Joan Wasser replaced the Kate Bush daily slot and it means a lot.

Which brings me to my final anectode. Some readers may ask what brings me to the final anectode and I must admit - the Italian boy. Imagine this, I decided to get myself a souvenir on my way back so I ended up scanning the products on a desk display and concluded I could only afford two postcards. Everyone was buying the COVERS CD, which I could not afford, so I was a bit ashamed and still being under the spell of the gig I did not have the confidence and will to fight for my turn at the proverbial till. Proverbial? Some may raise their eyebrows at my choice of phrases. Anyway, suddenly, Joan came and stood right in front of me with a couple of markers ready to sign the album, ticket or whatever. I was star-struck - she smelled of old attic clothes, which I assumed was her vintage attire, very sexy I must add. She is a true beauty, I was looking at her lovely face and still trying to get the postcards, for the first time I had thought that she was his girlfriend, which should never cross anyone's mind as she is the real jewel and definitely does not need any post or pre-mortem endorsement. When I got the postcards I was stupidly pushing them towards her and after millions of light years of my staring at her and thinking that she was tall and beautiful and that I could not speak English and I would never ever parrot this plain 'Joan, can you sign it?'. In such distress was I that she finally asked 'do you want me to sign it?' - and I said 'yes, please'. That was the most embarrassing moment of my life. But then I started complimenting her and I like to think she realised I was not English and could not properly ask. No dignity.

Please, do go and see her live.

Apologies

Dearest Readers

I have yet to post a lot of mind blowing reviews but the problem is getting old and lazy but, above all, primarily, waiting for godot of broadband. Please be patient and you shall be rewarded.

Radiohead

Review to follow.

The review is still to follow, my dearest readers, as I was busy holidaying and then hosting my dearest auntie and visiting Oxford, which I hope is more than to the point in this post.

I know there is plenty of the three of you waiting for my review of the memorable Radiohead gig in Poland on 25th August 2009 in Poznan in my most favourite Cytadela Park. Before I reveal that afterwards OK Computer brought tears to my eyes, again, long-lost feeling of freshness of this album flooded my oh so Radiohead loving heart back in the day, I would like to tell you the background story - the story of my 5 years of graft in the city to become an educated member of the society. Yes, I was studying in the city of Poznan, getting drunk at the weekends, studying, working and having walks in Cytadela Park and, sometimes, rarely, travelling to Berlin or Dublin to see Radiohead live. Once, in Berlin, one of the Polish weirdo Radiohead fan friends of mine threw a red and white bear with a note 'come to Poland', and yes, the bear proudly reached Thom's piano, if I was in Poland, I would post a photo of the bear. Anyway, I do not think they ever bothered to read the message. After all, it took them years to finally arrive in Poland.

As mentioned above, I have seen Radiohead a few times. Not too many, not too few. The first one was on nine eleven, the day of the big collapse. So every year I am reminded of my private anniversary, of how 'let's go down the waterfalls' brought tears to my eyes while my friends were texting me - come back to Poland, it's safer, unaware of what they meant. Yes, we, people in the first rows did not have a clue about the tragedy, unlike the band who felt unhappy to play. And since then, whenever I saw them, I found them quite unhappy to play. Which made it difficult for me to enjoy. But I am boring you.

So this time, Radiohead were full of beans, playful, with an audience full of unspoiled music fans for whom seeing Radiohead live was a miracle and the happiest moment of their lives. You cannot imagine a crowd more pleasing and responsive. Moreover, it was a beautiful summer day in a lovely city filled in with music fans. Last but not least, the park which used to be a citadel is a magic place with Magda Abakanowicz's sculpture and 2WW tanks and planes on exhibition. And I was a bit drunk.

So they came on stage after unappealing Moderat. Do not get me wrong, my dearest readers, I like Moderat, I spent long nights dancing to Kompakt dj's in the nearby SQ club. I simply cannot imagine why this dance act should be appealing when you're watching the sunset and not sunrise in an old citadel park. And I have seen some sunrises there dancing to Booka Shade, quite memorably, a sunrise the night right after my post-graduation, but it is a different story. And I think I missed the first rays of sun anyway.

Dearest readers forgive my sentimentality, but I hope it partly explains why I was so smitten. A beautiful performance it was, perfect, no mistakes, such positive energy. And oh my, Thom could even take a mickey faking Borat's accent and no one realised. They played the new song 'These are my Twisted Words' and they played 'Creep'. I had my a bit fast tempo 'let's go down the waterfalls' to for the third time in this review so already famously bring the tears to my eyes. And the bit with tuning into a random radio station - when I heard a Polish voice, I fully realised the impact of this idea. The band seemed so relaxed and happy to play and dance - it was a joy to see. And there is proof, out there, on youtube. Go and see for yourselves, dearest readers. And may 'let's go down the waterfalls' bring tears to your eyes.

The Twilight Sad

On 5th August, Wednesday, I had the utmost pleasure of reuniting with my old friend Ama to see The Twilight Sad in Lexington and getting him to make the most of my enemy of a camera. The above pictures are the child of their cooperation, for which I am grateful, as I could focus completely on the gig. I secured my first row position, as close to the guitarist as possible, to watch in amazement the flow of movements that produce the amazing sound of The Twilight Sad. With apparent confidence, Andy MacFarlane is not only on guitar, this would be underestimation, I would call his guitar vocals, yes, dearest readers, I am not exaggerating. James Graham, the traditional vocals, is frighteningly charismatic, but, for some reason, at gigs, his vocals are not as accentuated as on the records, and perhaps rightly so, as the audience can appreciate the instrumental aspect of The Twilight Sad. Needless to say, Mark Devine on drums is fantastic, as usual. Yes, dearest readers, they are one of my favourite bands and I am looking forward to their new album. In many ways, this gig was much better than the one in ICA, mostly because The Lexington is more of an intimate venue and packed for the occasion, which made me happy, as I would love to see The Twilight Sad grow.

Field Day - Big Pink, Malcolm Middleton

As mentioned below, 1st August in London was a rainy day and it was only getting more and more miserable. I just caught a glimpse of Big Pink who are moving to realms of darkness, sadly, unimpressive, then a quick look at Malcolm Middleton whose gig was plagued by technical difficulties. I felt there was not much to look forward to and I had my own health to take care of. Dreaming about a cup of tea with tea with rum, I left and never experienced the famous Mogwai or Fennesz. I also managed to miss Drums of Death but that is mainly because I failed to track down the right tent. Had it been sunny, I would have stayed. I wish!

Field Day - Wild Beasts

My dearest readers must have noticed the change in quality of my still poor photos, yes, my biggest enemy camera has proved to be much better than my good old camera phone. So on the 1st August in Victoria Park, I proceeded to the below mentioned tent to see Wild Beasts of an unconvincing band name. I was not disappointed, they were creative, imaginative, hilarious and talented - my dearest readers must be astonished at the variety of adjectives employed, exceptionally generous of me, I realise. However, what struck me most, was their honesty, they were sincere and genuinely surprised at the warm welcome and cheers throughout the gig. It would be impossible to pinpoint what exactly made them special but I was impressed by their vocal skills, melodies, bass and drums - a most refreshing mixture.

Field Day - The Horrors

It was a rainy festival day, mud instead of hay, slips instead of egg and spoon races. Fooled by a temporary sunshine, pressurized by my dearest readers, I got my ticket on the door, desperate to have fun. First, The Horrors - album of the year, attitude of a lifetime. It started raining and, being not quite impressed by their latest production, I was not carried away. But I will not be moaning as I proceeded to tent number three of four to see what I was hoping to be my highlight.

Tour Announcement - Joan as Police Woman

Yes, yes, Joan Wasser is coming to London - 4th October at Union Chapel. I was so excited when I found out that I decided to post the above still from the most unimaginative video for the most imaginative and beautiful woman. See you there, my dearest readers!

Leszek Kolakowski

Leszek Kolakowski - a great man who spoke about philosophy in such a way that my teenage mind could grasp it - died today at the age of 81 in Oxford. The end of an era.

Fever Ray

What can I say other than once again the citizens of London were subjected to the beauty of a spectacle courtesy of Fever Ray. This time at a venue much less flattering as regards the sound quality but much more intimate and appropriate for the mysteries of Fever Ray. So Shepherds Bush Empire on 16th July turned into a place of wonder. What else can I, a lifelong worshiper of anything The Knife, say this time? Apart from stating the obvious - in terms of Fever Ray experience, the venue worked well as far as ambiance is concerned, less well in terms of sound but we shall forgive. For Fever Ray delivered a magnificent show, with laser lights, mist, orange lampshades, shaman costumes, minimalistic hand gestures and, last but not least, music of the forgotten but advanced tribes. My dearest readers will be surprised at the quality of the above picture, as this time, I employed my life-long enemy, a compact camera unable to deliver in spite of its isos and pixels and what not. Compact, useless. Anyway, no words or poor pictures can express the beauty of the show and its utter uniqueness, including bringing torrential rains to London. Fever Ray, the rainmakers.

As much as I would like to share with you my thoughts about the non-album songs they played or what songs they actually played, as some readers, I fear, accuse me of being non-specific in my reviews, I cannot. I simply forget myself and will never become this girl who was standing next to me at Dan Deacon gig typing in her Blackberry 'green skull, meditation about death and friendship, frenzy' - she probably created a true to life review. As a matter of fact, the only matter of fact in my review, I will never be like her.

Waiting For Godot

On 14th July I was most kindly invited to go to see Waiting for Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket - splendid interiors and most uncomfortable seats. Dearest readers will be disappointed to find out that it has been a good few years since I last graced a theatre with my presence. Music halls, comedies galore. But a classic - not a single one in ages. I have read the play in question a few times, it is one of my favourites so, needless to say, I was anxious to see it. I was not disappointed, it is a great performance. But this is not my interpretation - I understand it was subtitled a tragicomedy in two acts but for me it is a tragedy and a tragedy only. And each time I have read it and, hopefully, will - it will remain a sad and hopeless story for me. That is just the way I am. Drama-savvy.

TV On The Radio

There was something lacking on 13th July in Brixton Academy, in the evening. It was the big TV On The Radio supported by The Noisettes night. And all I can say it was okay, but I did not like it. Blame it on the flu I brought with me to the admired by many venue. The Noisettes is not my cup of tea but TV On The Radio could have done better than that. So what was lacking? Definitely, interaction. Less definitely, sincerity. They seemed so fake and inconsistent. I do not know, maybe I do not really like TV On The Radio that much so I will leave this analysis before my dearest readers write me off as an ignorant.

The Twilight Sad

Oh joy, The Twilight Sad in ICA on 9th July. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I could not go to 93 Feet East last time. So ICA would have been my fourth and not merely third time, dearest readers forgive me my boastful attitude. But if there is one band I would recommend, that would be The Twilight Sad. Not. But by making such statements, my only intention is to hype and overhype them so that you, my dearest readers, could discover the beauty of their music. First of all, their image changed dramatically, I am bad with names and faces but the visual transformation of two members was stunning and impossible to ignore. Luckily, the drummer is still skilfully same and the bass guitarist takes off his shoes for the duration of the gig. And the singer is as insane looking as before. But the apparent changes, the guitarist - no hair but beard and lead singer no hair but same crazy eyes. So now my dearest readers may think I focus too much on the looks or that I am a modern groupie though I am not, or I wish I was not. In the front row, as always, amazed at the size of the audience and mesmerized, endlessly mesmerized. Needless to say, or as above mentioned, they have a great drummer. Also, the guitarist responsible for the unique sound with his cool detached attitude and unmatching trainers is as great as the drummer. And then, last but not least, the singer, who is as great as the drummer and the guitarist, with his crazy eyes and playing with the mic stand which once resulted in him breaking one and promising to pay it off with his christmas money. Apologies if I fail to say anything sensible about the bassist or the member-non-member as they were located too far and I focused too much on the above mentioned triangle of musicians.

But, seriously, The Twilight Sad previewed some of the new songs so now I am looking forward to the new album. Apart from that, they seem to be more mature and conscious of the sound.

To sum up, I am proud to be their fan. Even though they were loud and I recklessly did not protect my ears. Friday in a jar glass courtesy of The Twilight Sad. You love, you forgive.

We Were Promised Jetpacks

As I always wanted to use the phrase I will use it now, even though I realise it is not quite appropriate but you will forgive me, much hyped We Were Promised Jetpacks sailed all the way to London to open for Twilight Sad in ICA on 9th July 2009. And the phrase in question is, obviously, much hyped in case of doubts. They are good and interact with the audience, cracking hokes, the singer has a voice of a giant singing in a well, so strong. As much as I wanted to enjoy this gig, I could not as I was anxiously awaiting my dearest The Twilight Sad. So dearest readers forgive me if I overlooked We Were Promised Jetpacks or could not report what they joked about as, being a foreigner, I find Scottish English cute but difficult to understand. But they were friendly. Friendly fishermen.

Nice

Apologies, my dearest readers, I was busy being a host and then holidaying in Nice. But, for the time being, I am back. And I managed to miss St Vincent, naughty naughty.

Telefon Tel Aviv

Rainy afternoon with Telefon Tel Aviv Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen filled with men and devotion or devotion of men in the evening. Failed to mention it was 16th June 2009. Honestly, I do not think the first row was deserved, myself being nothing like a fan, more a curious music explorer. Flattering myself. So, as previously mentioned, audience of masculinity with Grave with no Name and Banjo or Freakout to introduce the audience to the world of music, to prevent the primal scream of being exposed to the main act. As a rule. Yes, dearest readers, I still feel the idea of a supporting act is, to some extent, difficult to grasp. Although I realise it is inevitable. So Grave with No Name shall remain so, this is where ready-made music goes. Banjo or Freakout, quite a pleasurable act, give me drums and rhythm and I am biased, so, forgive me, but I enjoyed. Back to the main act, electronic - solid. Vocals straight from 'I have heard it before' shelf, which does not make them unwelcome, quite the contrary, they were greeted with awe. But somehow not missed in instrumental, oh irony, instrumental pieces. With Bruce Sprinsteen's cover Telefon Tel Aviv finished the gig, most probably hoping to be able to offer more, but electronic music is a moody queen, slave to pre-programming. Applause. Applause.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Curious about last year's revelation I went to Madame Jojo's in the darkest heart of Soho on Tuesday 9th June. It was the beginning of the famous tube strike so I went there a little bit reluctantly, not quite certain how, but most importantly, what time I am going to get home on a Tuesday night. But, firstly, Pocket Books and Betty and the Werewolves, both extremely pleasurable. Especially the guitarist of the latter, a long-haired, talented girl. Last but not least, Pains of Being Pure at Heart - a good band but the gig was significantly lacking momentum, steady, low impact. Quite the opposite of the quite recent Dan Deacon. Lovely, but I left early, recommending still.

Dan Deacon

I realise that it was an exceptional performance. Euphoric London was raving, following the rules, hands in the air, forming a circle with Dan Deacon - a contemporary Moses parting the sea of crowd, bringing out the tribal and communal in the people of London. Who attended the gig and who, in all probability, were under the influence of alcohol as well. Due to unforeseen circumstances, on 5th June 2009 in ULU I could not intoxicate myself with beer or any other alcoholic drink, preferably vodka with redbull. Nil, zero, sober. Looking longingly at the longest beer queue ever I could not enter the mind-numbing and thoughtless shaking, rubbing against fellow sweaty music lovers and leave with one thought in my mind 'the best gig ever!', as many of you, dearest readers, did. I was excluded, but also wondering if alcohol would have helped. For, my dearest readers, bitter heart, rebellious soul, 1001 masses in catholic churches and all night raves in the underground dodginess of Polish venues made me absolutely immune to any form of crowd manipulation. Even tongue in cheek, as in the case of Dan Deacon. Not even an equipped with a flashing green skull shaman who seemed to control the seemingly untamed London audience can conquer me these days, which I am not proud of as I like to consider it a sign of aging.

To sum up, a highly recommended live performance.

Future Islands

After Teeth Mountain on 5th June came Future Islands. The venue was already teeming with anticipation of the main act, but Future Islands, a mere three piece, caught the attention of the audience. I was particularly fascinated by the lead singer's gestures and, under normal circumstances, derided signing and singing. So the gentleman of Future Islands was like an actor who puts his heart and soul into each and every line, painful to see, mainly because exaggerated. Strangely enough, my heart sank, forgetting all my bitterness, I let myself follow his jerky movements and amazing voice without questioning the obvious pathos of such a bit too heartfelt performance.

Teeth Mountain

It takes a lot of courage to come on stage, play music from the laptop and play the keyboard from time to time, with one hand. I would imagine it is some form of djing. So 5th June at ULU found me well, giving me hope that with enough confidence I will make it on stage with software and my tiny little keyboard. Just like Teeth Mountain. Yes, dearest readers, I do have ambitions.

Gang Gang Dance

One could write a novel about misfortunes of a gang of gang dance covering last year, but let us concentrate on the night of 1st June 2009 in Dingwalls of below mentioned Camden canals locks and taverns. When they started playing, I had tears in my eyes, which does not happen to a hardened soul owner as myself, they touched me right on the spot, at the very beginning. I immediately forgot about the inevitable facts that Dingwalls was packed, no air con, after a sunny day, people were sweaty and, for reasons known to the band or it could be a metaphor relating to some of the mishaps, the gig featured artificial smoke. Swearing to myself, did we really need artificial smoke that night? And then it all came together, the smoke, Gang Gang Dance, the trance, the place. They were absolutely magnificent in their entirety. Needless to say, Liz Bougatsos is mesmerising and I would have spent all night watching her dance and sing if it was not for some technical difficulties experienced by Brian Degraw whose keyboard broke and then the amp. He was so angry, his anger was immense, dominating over my fascination with the lady. Despite the difficulties and temperature and a member or fan or friend or lover dancing on stage, Gang Gang Dance made people rave and applaud. You do not get this in London. And Alexis of below mentioned chit of jip helped with the keyboard and random drumming so Gang Gang Dance finished with style. I am writing this in my private mine of empathy, dearest readers, and you thought it was long caved-in.

About

So we went up north, to Camden of locks and taverns and Dingwalls on 1st June 2009 to experience what I hoped to be moving, pure and true. But before that, a band featuring the star of hip and chop, Alexis Taylor with his high-pitch vocals but most of all, a great band. Extremely pleasurable and soaked with talented musicians. And readers will know by now that there is nothing I value more than honesty and skills and talent and sincerity and what not. Demanding I am. About were an act of jamming, modern, nothing like jazz whose charm I never understood. Blind to jazz I am. Dear readers will forgive me. Anyway, there were concerns which I did not share that About would overshadow Gang Gang Dance.

Baddies

So on the most beautiful first day of June 2009, first we went to Pure Groove to see a random band which turned out to be Baddies. I understand they may be appealing. Not for me, dear readers, and not in the light of the event about to happen exactly the same day, only later and darker.

Alfred Tarski

Logician. Mathematician. Genius.

Cage the Elephant

Cage the Elephant is one of the bands I do not listen to in my spare time but for some reasons I have already seen live three times. First, by accident, after work in Pure Groove surrounded by a sea of overexcited teenagers, waiting for the main, a bit ashamed to find out they were the main act. A young man jumping on the speakers, jumping in the crowd, girls painting his face neon orange and green. Needless to say, the two of us, after work, we felt old. Then I saw them in Scala, nearly crashed to death because the singer decided to jump into the crowd right above were I was standing where I had thought I was safe. Naive. Now we arrive at 22nd May in Koko, an early show preceded by horrendous Joy Formidable as annoying as can be. I did not expect much of Cage the Elephant but somehow, driven by my instincts, I was pushing my way towards the stage. Smartly, at the side. Smartly, the flying plastic glasses luckily spared me, and so did the craziness of the youth. But Cage the Elephant were a joy to see, the lead singer does have a stage persona proper, he is jumping jumping and jumping. You get tired merely watching him. As expected, he jumped into the crowd, this time from a speaker, at which point a guy standing before me turned to say that he had seen him jump in Scala and it was much higher and dangerous, we did not want to ruin the moment for him and just looked with disbelief. Had he known that we were in the eye of the storm that night! So much for the frolics on stage, let us, dearest readers, focus on the sound now. They sounded a lot better than last time, well rehearsed, still not my music, but I appreciated their efforts.

And so the night, seemingly, ended. I was ready to head home when, suddenly, Paulina decided to join me and we danced all night. We had to move to Proud Galleries where I caught a pickpocket red-handed and searched him, in vain, for my wallet, demanding the wallet to be returned ensuring that there was no cash in it. And the said pickpocket just looked at me saying 'I do not know what you are talking about'. Having searched him, I decided he had already given my wallet to an accomplice so it was gone forever, my cherished wallet. But a minute later the pickpocket came up to me holding my wallet so I said 'Thanks' and took it. It felt weird but I was grateful.

Crystal Antlers

They are currently on tour, Crystal Antlers, so, certainly, Pure Groove on 19th May 2009 was a small venue for a band like of an upcoming profile, with a potential to become famous. And why famous my dearest readers might ask. Simply, catchy tunes, a bit of reggae, a bit of techno. The lead singer with an attitude and a man without a face with a talent. On top of that, they were quite funny and distanced to what they were doing. They still need a bit of Dutch courage before a gig, lovely to see. So armed with my elderflower green bottle treasure purchased beforehand and which is being consumed at present, before your eyes so to speak, not the bottle of course; I was enjoying and wishing all the best but was more than glad that it was just an instore gig and that I could get back home and revel in Gang Gang Dance. It will remain a mystery why the quality is so low as I was really close and my hand was not shaking. But perhaps Crystal Antlers were.