Video: Josh Ritter @ the Music Box in Hollywood, 6/23

Josh Ritter’s “Lillith, Egypt” from devon maloney on Vimeo.

by Devon Maloney

JOSH RITTER performed at—nay, transformed—the Henry Fonda Music Box in Hollywood last night. Supported by the sensationally talented bluegrass/roots trio theCarolina Chocolate Drops, Ritter captivated the audience with his near-constant grinning and his two-hour set of narrative foot-stompers and simple lullabies. His performance was punctuated with short anecdotes that “[had] nothing to do with this next song,” and then, toward the end of the night, Ritter asked for all the lights in the entire house to be turned off. He stepped away from the microphone, unplugged his acoustic guitar, and played “In the Dark,” while the entire crowd sang along, some even adding harmonies. By the end of the night, it would have been impossible for him to get away with NOT playing the three-song encore his fans demanded.

Here, he and his five-piece band of snappy-suited gentlemen play “Lillian, Egypt.” It’s clear by both the movement of the cameraperson (me) and the animation of the artist himself that this was not a show at which one was encouraged to stand still.

Be sure to check out Josh Ritter (and the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who are simply not to be missed!) when he comes to your town!

“Tales of the Unexpected” at Proud Camden in London!

By Levina Duivesteijn

Whether day or night, Stables Market in Camden is always buzzing. A huge selection of stalls with original arts and crafts, funky clothes, and delicious food at daylight; a vibrant place for live music and quirky bars after sunset - of which most housed in restored industrial buildings from the canal and steam train ages. Last weekend I went to check out the new series of Friday night events “Tales of the Unexpected: The Forbidden Forest” at one of those quirky places, Proud Camden.

Located at what used to be a Horse Hospital, formerly used to care for horses injured pulling canal barges, the venue itself is already a unique place which has a great, alternative vibe. The old stalls of the Horse Hospital are retained and everywhere around the building you can find features of its previous life. A great place to go out, with two dance floors, an outdoor chill-out area, and sweet live music in between DJ’ing. Playing last Friday was The Collectable Few, a 4-piece band from London itself whom will be releasing their debut EP coming month. A young band with a lot of energy, singer Tarek Al-Shammaa was jumping all over the stage, and so did the audience on the dance floor. Somewhat unexpectedly perhaps, as their MySpace so far doesn’t impress too much - with only two songs featured on their profile. Guess we’ll have to wait for the release of their EP, as they did play a nice set of a mix of some of their own uplifting songs together with some covers, including The Cure’s “In Between Days” which will also appear on their debut EP. In the meantime, listen to that cover and their song “Promises” on MySpace, and have a look at the video below for some footage of the band performing at Proud Camden last Friday.

Feel for checking out Proud Camden yourself now? We’re giving away a pair of tickets this week for coming Friday night, when London-band My Tiger, My Timing and Rob The Rich from Brighton will be playing! All you have to do is follow @BandsinLondon and @ProudCamden on Twitter and tweet “@BandsinLondon ticket giveaway #ProudCamden” - sweet!

Live: The Spill Canvas in Chicago

photo and review by Christopher Taylor

There are times when, at a concert, a band simply strikes through the hearts and bodies of an audience. You can’t help but be drawn in by the music. You lose control of yourself. You enter a state of euphoria that is completely healthy, and feels completely real. After May 22^nd, 2010 at Chicago’s hallowed Metro, you can add two bands to that list.

On the last leg of their tour, The Spill Canvas headlined a show at Metro with AM Taxi, Tyler Hilton, and The New Politics. Nothing against the latter two acts, they certainly carried the show well; however AM Taxi and The Spill Canvas brought a unique euphoria that very few bands can match. Chicago’s own AM Taxi again proved why they are one of the premier bands to emerge from Chicago in a long time. Seemingly a reflection on the style of their new album, they played a different set than we have seen from them in the past. Even though they were playing as a full band, it felt as though they played unplugged. That’s how raw and real the set became. From their first EP Runaway Songs to their latest release We Don’t Stand A Chance, the band has evolved significantly. They were for a long time one of the top bands in Chicago, and they’re quickly becoming one of the top bands in the nation.

Later in the night, The Spill Canvas brought the lumber, if you will, with a headlining set already at a level that we come to expect from them. The brutal honesty of “Self-Conclusion” and the sexually-charged, almost arousing lyrics of “Connect the Dots” threw the crowd into frenzy, while crowd favorites “Battles”, “All Over You”, and “The Tide” kept everyone moving and shaking constantly. Standing initially in the photo pit and then, after the third song, stage-right, I could hear the screaming and singing carrying through the entire venue. There aren’t many bands that can bring out a level of euphoria from a sold-out crowd, but The Spill Canvas has certainly become one of them.

Be sure to catch The Spill Canvas when they return to Chicago July 20^th (my birthday!) with Goo Goo Dolls at Charter One Pavilion. Also, please check out the band’s new EP Realities, featuring “Our Song” and “Dust Storm”, available now. Lastly, AM Taxi’s new LP We Don’t Stand A Chance is currently available on iTunes and will be available in stores June 8^th. Be sure to catch AM Taxi as they play Rolling Stones in Chicago June 8^th, as well as Warped Tour in its entirety this summer. 

Live: Rox in Amsterdam!

By Stephan Huijboom

The 10th of May was a very special day for Rox. It was this day that her very first proper show had been sold out, and it was nowhere else than Amsterdam’s pop temple Paradiso that hosted this brilliant show.

Before reading any further, be sure you’re quick to buy tickets for one of Rox’s upcoming shows, that is, before they’re all sold out. Who exactly, you ask? Roxanne Tataei, the 21 year-old half Jamaican, half Iranian singer with a voice just as powerful as Amy Winehouse, but lacking the needles and raw booze that her predecessor took for granted when performing. You may not have heard the name Rox before, but her smash hit-single “My Baby Left Me” has been given a lot of airplay throughout various European countries, so chances are you’ve heard it already.

A wise move then to open the setlist with this laid back R&B ballad with strong hooks and powerful vocals. Better yet to follow up with ‘No Going Back’, which is arguably the leading candidate for her best song yet. “How are you doing everybody?” she warmly asks after performing her first two magnificent songs. Loud applaud and cheering from the whole audience. Rox tells her audience that she’s happy to be here, and she seems to really mean it. Her dark eyes and big smile are visible during most of the performance, making her show look like a natural act, performed from the deepest corners of her soul. It certainly helps that she has a very talented pair of backup vocalists and an excellent band. Rox goes on to perform most songs off her new album “The Memoirs”, which will be out June 7th. The album features a wide range of beautiful ballads, including “Sad Eyes” and the magnificent “Precious Moments”. She asks if we like reggae. A few enthusiastic fans loudly cheer. “Well, the next song has been soaked with reggae influences. If you like reggae, that’s great. If you don’t, now’s a good time to start liking it!” The track “Rocksteady” indeed makes the audience dance their feet off on irresistibly danceable reggae beats. As Rox says goodbye to the audience, most people start to chant that they really “want more, want more..!”

The encore featured the album track “Breakfast In Bed”, and a beautiful cover of Seal’s “Crazy”. If Alanis Morissette ever turned you off with her interpretation of this classic, then find your cure by going to one of Rox´s live shows. That is, if they’re not sold out already.

Rox will be playing in London on the 17th of this month, and at four different festivals in the UK in July. Wanna check out where and when? Have a look on Bandsintown and track her to stay updated about upcoming tour dates!

Photo by David Emery via Rox’s website

Video: “La Gloria” by Gotan Project of their new album “Tango 3.0”

Gotan Project live in Berlin - It’s the detail that makes the difference!

By Josta van Bockxmeer

Last Saturday, on the 22th of May, Gotan Project played in Berlin as part of their Tango 3.0-tour. A classy concert full of details, an incredible rhythm and the irresistible melancholy of the big city.

As soon as we went into the Tempodrom, we were taken away from the daily reality of Berlin and entered the elegant world of tango with dimmed lights, suits and evening dresses. The staff was unusually friendly and guided us into the hall. The concert was sold out, but the atmosphere was calm and friendly - nobody was pushing from the back and everybody had plenty of space to stand. 

Even before the concert started it was clear that it was the detail that counted. The set-up on stage was simple and stylish, with the letters t-a-n-g-o (Gotan is an anagram of tango) formed out of human bodies, on five drums in front of the instruments. Philippe Cohen Solal, Eduardo  Makaroff and Christoph H. Müller were wearing suits and hats and also the rest of the band was dressed in evening robes. Behind the stage there was beautiful video-artwork shown with all of the songs. 

Gotan Project is famous for their mix of classical tango with electronic music. This could also be seen in the choice of instruments: they had a dj set, but also used a guitar, piano, trumpet, (electronic) violin and, most notably, a Bandoneon to revive the classical glory of tango music. Some jazz influences came from the piano, with lots of improvisations, and towards the middle of the concert a moment of intense creativity was achieved, when all improvised together. This improvisation coming out of the strict rhythm and somewhat distant way of playing sent shivers down my spine. 

This mixture of classical tango and electronic music was also what many of the other visitors, asked after the concert, valued highly about the music. Moritz: ”It is still tango, but it has got more rhythm.” This rhythm is one of the essential characteristics of tango and Gotan Project makes it even stronger. Though Ola said that for her the essence of tango lies somewhere else: ”The most important is the eroticism between man and woman. I missed that feeling during this concert”. She was right: the music was beautiful, but a deep feeling of affection, between the musicians themselves as well as between the band and the audience, was lacking. 

Before the concert started I expected to see at least some people to dance the tango, but that did not happen. Ola: “From the balcony I saw some people dance, but it didn’t look much like tango.” The reason for that was not that the people cannot dance it: almost all of the people asked outside said that they were dancing tango regularly. There is a large number of tango dancing-events around the city, including the Tango Festival this very same weekend. Gotan Project seems to be the motor behind a new trend. 

Apart from the mixture of styles and the rhythm it’s the urban atmosphere that gives Gotan Project’s music a very special character. Songs like “Desillusion” (about Buenos Aires) and “Inmigrante” express perfectly the busy, impersonated and sometimes even desolate feeling of a big city. The constant rhythm is the pulse of the metropool. This music can only have been made by people who live in the city, in this case, they are from Paris and Buenos Aires. Gotan Project have played concerts in fantastic locations, one of them being the beach of San Sebastian, but the special thing about seeing them in Berlin is being able to walk home after the concert through broad and dark streets, carried by the rhythm and still dreaming of the sound.

Track Gotan Project on Bandsintown.com - they are touring all over Europe the coming few months, so have a look when they are playing in your city!

Live: Valravn in Berlin!

By Josta van Bockxmeer

The Danish band Valravn played in Arena Glashaus, Berlin last Sunday. An interview with Martin Seeberg and a review of a concert full of power, stories and encounters.

In the Middle Ages the Danish village Lysabild, which means light in the apple tree, got hit by a pest epidemic. One girl survived and climbed in an apple tree, hoping that somebody would see her. A man found her and together they raised new descendants. “And that is why I can stand here today!” Martin Seeberg from Valravn feels strongly connected to his roots and the energy he gets from that can be strongly felt in the music. The band started 13 years ago in the medieval music scene, and three years ago, during the production of their first album, Christopher Juul first started using electronic sounds. It was the start of a new development in Valravn’s music, which resulted in a brilliant and very original combination of instruments and sounds. A violin, flutes, hurdy gurdies and mandola mix with the electronic sounds and different percussion instruments and Anne-Kathrin’s distinctive voice. The music is medieval, but very modern at the same time, with a lot of improvisation and artistic expression.

Valravn’s music is about stories and tradition. During the concert they tell the story of almost every song, including a good ending. Most, if not to say all, stories from the middle ages have bad endings, they tell us about diseases, poverty and starvation. Sometimes the band members wrote an extra verse in order to let it end well. Martin: “What we like about it is the positive energy.” Things were not so easy back then, for example people did not have good medicine, which gives a special power to the stories. Many of them tell us about problems which are still present today, like the man who kills his brother because he slept with his wife, in “Svend i Rosengaard” from the first album “Valravn”. We live in a different legal system now, but there are still people who kill each other for this reason and we still need to deal with the question how to live on after this event. The band’s aim was to offer an alternative to all the bands who just make normal rock music. Their are proud of  their tradition, like the strong culture of storytelling on the Faroe Islands, where Anne-Kathrin is from. There is a lot of power in these melodies, they are full of expression and poetry, which they don’t want to get lost in the Americanisation of the world.

The high energy level is one of the most distinctive things about the concert. It is only half-full, but everybody is dancing and the energy level in the room is so high that nobody notices. This is due to the large number of improvisation during the concert, most notably the great drum solo by Juan. The framework of songs is always the same, but the band adds things by improvising, what happens depends on the audience. It can be a very quiet and poetic night, or it can be very wild. Asked what kind of concert tonight was, Martin says that today’s concert was pretty wild, “The people really felt the music.”

What he likes most about playing their music are the people they meet and everything they experience through that. The special thing about Valravn’s music is that the people who come to their concerts want some adventure and mystiscism. They don’t need to get in the mood, but start dancing right away. After a view times they know many people and become friends with them. As a musician you don’t get rich, but it is about meeting the people. For everybody who didn’t do so yet: go and meet Valravn!

Valravn is:

Anna Katrin Egilstrød (Faroe Islands): voice, percussion, hammered dulcimer, sansula, samples 
 
Martin Seeberg (Denmark): viola, flutes, lyre, jews’harps, vocals 
 
Søren Hammerlund (Denmark): mandola, hurdy gurdies, nyckelharpa, samples 
 
Juan Pino(Switzerland/Ecuador): davul, frame drums, cajon, hammered dulcimer, percussion, samples, vocals 
 
Christopher Juul (Denmark): production, keys, beats and live electronics 

Guest musicians: Maria Franz (Norway) vocals (on Kelling and live), Anja Lillemæhlum (Denmark/Norway) cello (on Marsk)  

Valravn’s upcoming concerts in Germany: 

23/04 Kuhlhaus, Folkbaltica, together with Zywiolak. Flensburg. 

30/04 Schlachthof (Weltmusikfestival), Kassel. 

01/05 Spectaculum Mundi, Munich. 

21/05 Brotfabrik, Frankfurt Am Mein. 

24/05 Wave Gotik Treffen, Leipzig. 

Live: The Editors in London!

By Levina Duivesteijn

“An End Has A Start” - The Editors know it. Previously known as “Pilot”, “The Pride” and “Snowfield”, along with a change in the line-up, they changed it to “The Editors” when signing up with record label Kitchenware Records in September 2004. A few months later, at the end of January 2005, they released their debut single “Bullets” - a song they wrote when studying Music Technology at Stafford University. “Bullets” earned the honour of “Single of the Week” on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show, and the limited edition of 1000 copies sold out on the day of release. Their following single-releases of “Munich”and “Blood” were very well received and debut album “The Black Room”, released in July 2005, went platinum after reaching #2 in the UK album charts. The rest, you know. They are a big hit at festivals and attract people from all over the world for their quickly sold out concerts - including us. So when they played (twice!) in London-town last week, we were there of course!

First of all, on a side-note, big cheers for the Editors for asking everyone on the guestlist to donate 5 pounds to charity Action Against Hunger. Unfortunately not everyone is so keen to hear their request though; and it’s pretty funny, yet sad, to see how some people of big music organizations -I won’t call names- come up with obvious made up stories why this particular request doesn’t apply to them. “Liar!” the guy of security says while shaking his head after they made their way inside. Indeed, I secretly think.

By the time the supporting bands TSDole and Cold Cave have finished, the O2 Brixton Academy is fully packed – another sold out concert for The Editors of course. Standing at the front, it was a case of one hand in the air, the other holding on to your bag -or any other small possessions- as best as you possibly can, and jumping on the songs non-stop. A fantastic atmosphere, and tracks like “Bones”, ”Bullets”, ”Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors“ and ”Munich“ were received with great excitement - with everyone singing along “People are fragile things, you should know by now… Be careful what you put them through.” Ah, such great lines.

Tom Smith’s voice is live just as incredible and clear as on the records, and lead guitarist and synthesizer player Chris Urbanowicz played fantastic on his right, Ed Lay impressive on drums, and bass guitarist Russell Leetch on his left came to the edge of the stage several times, performing even a few jumps in the air while playing.

“We like to add a dancefloor element to what we do,” says Chris Urbanowicz in an interview with the BBC. “Get a bit of a house beat going and see what it sounds like. We like to move people - whether it be emotionally or physically - and if we could make them do both that would be great.” 

They seem to succeed: a 50-something-year-old man standing next to me gets so into their music that he takes off his t-shirt and decides the band must be collecting sweat-stinking shirts of their fans -especially the older ones-, as he throws it on stage to show his appreciation. The band itself couldn’t care less about the t-shirt I imagine, but the guy is greatly amused and feels a need to point it out to me at various times during the concert, along with several sessions of high-fives and hugs. Remembering the ecstatic mood he was in, I still sometimes wonder if he made it home safe that night. 

A great show already, but the real highlight was saved for last: just after Papillon’s lines “It kicks like a sleep twitch!”a sudden incredible warmth hits my face as high flames at each side of the stage blast out - making it a spectacular night, which was only even more complimented by the enormous amount of red glitter tape blown in the air after the encore. The Editors surely know how to leave an outstanding impression.

But perhaps the most beautiful moment of the evening for me was when everyone slowly got out of the venue, looked around with their hot sweaty faces, red glitter tape still on their hair and clothes, and gave those they made eye-contact with that smile of “Damn, wasn’t that a GREAT show?!” Oh yes, it was.

The Editors will be touring several cities in Europe in April and May, and will be back in the UK in June to play at the Isle of Wight Festival. Track them on Bandsintown to see when they are playing in your city!

Live: WHY? in Paris!

Review by Devon Maloney - Photos by Devon Maloney and Andrew McFarland

There are few pleasures in this world like a musical performance that makes one feel good about oneself and continues to do so for days after the concert has ended. And that’s just the kind of show the hip-hop/experimental band WHY? brought to Paris’ La Maroquinerie Thursday night.  

The crowd was warmed up by a truly compelling set from WHY? drummer Josiah Wolf’s new side project, followed by a questionably chosen British electropop band, Popular Damage. Though the music wasn’t bad, the group’s correlation with the other two was fuzzy, and the performance itself was boring and awkward. The crowd undoubtedly felt equal discomfort as the guitarist searched for something to do as their computer looped the same beat all by itself, with next to no need for any on-stage effort at all (he settled on taking half-hearted swigs of his beer every thirty seconds). Popular Damage’s saving grace? A combination of the lead singer’s stage charm and vocal likeness to Karen O, the drummer’s impressive talent faced with a computer, and an okay remix of a song by Londoners the xx. Josiah’s project, at least, is worth looking into; his self-released EP is out now. 

Though the Berkeley-native WHY? hasn’t released a new album since Eskimo Snow in the fall of 2009, that didn’t detract from the fresh breath of talent and cool energy brought to the crowd by the sensationally talented keyboardist Doug McDiarmid, guitarist Andrew Broder, bassist Mark Erikson, and of course, drummer Josiah and his younger brother and frontman, Yoni. 

At first, Yoni’s awkward swaying and dancing on stage seems…well, awkward; but after about two minutes, it gets so good that it feels natural, to the point where you may even find yourself smiling just watching the guy, even as he lets lyrics loose like “mortaring your ear holes shut with wet coke/in a Starbucks bathroom with the door closed” with so much ease.  

He and the rest of the band further made cool look easy, when a technical difficulty hardly fazed them and they promptly commenced a five-minute bluegrass/Americana improvisation, ending in Yoni’s sipping from a mug and shrugging, “I’m drinking psychedelic mushroom tea; I don’t even care. Shit.” Another between-song interval brought the crowd a thirty second rap about his suspiciously vehement love for his Spaulding tennis shoes, concluding by rubbing his fingers together and remarking, “Ten thousand dollars. That’s how easy it is.” 

Knocking off crowd favorite after crowd favorite (“Gnashville” and “Good Friday”among the best), the band concluded with a two-song encore, including one of their best-known, “Fatalist Palmistry,” and “A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under,” cleanly wrapping up a performance of what has obviously become a rare gem in the gamut of modern indie music: top-notch musicians, an eloquent lyricist, and an absolutely stellar knack for balancing uniqueness and likeability. This is a band you really should not miss. Ever. Think of it as an investment in your prolonged mental health.

Live: The Album Leaf in London!

By Levina Duivesteijn - Photos by Sebastien Dehesdin

Just before they’re off to Asia and the States for more concerts, The Album Leaf played their last gig of their European tour in the London Bush Hall last Tuesday. Thankfully, because we wouldn’t have wanted to miss this gig! Their album A Chorus of Storytellers got released about a month ago and is their first album that is recorded with a full band - Jimmy LaValle had previously, almost always, provided the studio instrumentation himself. The change is refreshing. There are still the ambient, dreamy tones and melancholic structures, but also more uplifting tunes with a strong backbeat and the vocals more prominent than on previous albums. The mix of violins, guitar, synths and percussion makes it a beautiful album, and their sold-out gig was no less.

They played at the London Bush Hall, a venue that completely suited their music. A beautiful room with high ceilings and chandeliers, not too big, which gives it that intimate feel – exactly what you need with The Album Leaf. 

Joined by a string quartet, The Album Leaf enters the stage after the Belgian band The Go Find enjoyed us with their songs Everybody Knows It’s Gonna Happen Only Not Tonight and Dictionary, among others.

The stage is packed with equipment –multiple synthesizers and amps are all over the place- and the musicians keep on moving around to change instruments and add more sound. They excellently perform songs from the new album such as There Is A Wind and Blank Pages, but also some of the older ones like Red Eye and Shine.

The audience is appreciative and seems to be greatly enjoying the show, although what quiet at first - a silence follows when LaValle asks how everyone is [doing]. “Quiet, I guess” he jokes. But that might have been because we were all taken away by the beautiful sound, the moving images at the wall, and the various light sticks on the stage which made it such a wonderful show to watch – have a look at the video below to get an idea. After a fantastic encore of four tracks, with Tied Knots their final song, we leave the venue completely enchanted by the music and wonder when they’ll be back in London again.

In short, if you have the chance to see The Album Leaf live, definitely go check them out: their fine, complex compositions aren’t only a delight to the ear – visually, their concerts are quite an experience too. Track them on Bandsintown to stay updated about their upcoming gigs!

The Album Leaf at London Bush Hall from Levina on Vimeo.

Many thanks to The Album Leaf and Goldstar PR.

Live: Blood Red Shoes in Berlin!

By Josta van Bockxmeer

Last Sunday the Blood Red Shoes played in Berlin as part of the tour for their new album, Fire Like This. Laura-Mary Carters and Steven Ansells Indie-punk/rock sounded on the shores of the Spree, where they played for an (almost) sold-out Maria am Ostbahnhof.

The first thing that strikes you when listening to the Blood Red Shoes is that they seem to be technically flawless. Playing such powerful and straight-forward songs with a setup of only two requires highly skilled musicians. This setup in combination with the sound they produce gives the band an authentic appearance, which does remind you of the White Stripes, but is totally different in style.

A backside of this could be the slight lack of originality. The duo plays the songs the way they are supposed to be, but the number of variations and improvisations is very low. Also the interaction with the audience stays limited to “we think Berlin is very cool!” and a single “this one is for the guy dressed in pink.” Carter once explaines her somewhat static appearance: “I wish I could jump like that in this dress.” A more dynamic performance would have supported the music even more, but the setup with just drums, guitar and both of them singing largely makes up for this, not to mention that the dress is indeed beautiful. The quality of both the songs and the way in which they where played is very high, and, not to forget, a concert is about the music.

So let’s return to that music. Apart from their hit “I wish I was someone better” Carter and Ansell play songs from the new album and also, towards the end of the concert, a few older songs. Whereas the newer songs go in the direction of indie-rock, the older onces have more of the authentic kick-your-ass punkrock attitude, for which the Blood Red Shoes became well-known. A few ballad-like pieces provide a welcome change. All in all the concert is a nice mixture of high-quality punk/rock and indie played by an authentic duo. If you get the chance, go see them! 

Track the Blood Red Shoes on Bandsintown, and check them out on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and visit their website. 

And if you want to stay updated about more gigs in Berlin, follow @BandsinBerlin on Twitter of course!

Photo top of Blood Red Shoes by Kate Greswell

Live in Boston, Copeland Says Farewell

By Ashely Maceli

On the chilly Saturday night of March 6th Copeland played a sold out show at The Middle East for their Farewell Tour. The members of Copeland have decided that the band has run its course and they have agreed to end their journey on a good note with one outstanding final tour. Copeland did speak of possibly recording one last album in the future but this tour is unfortunately most definitely their last.

Deas Vail, a soft-rock alternative band with a sound similar to a mixture of Mae and Sheerwood, opened up the show in the downstairs area of the Middle East Club. There could not have been a better choice for this tour. Deas Vail had a very relaxed and chill feeling, a lot like the other bands to follow, but yet they still were able to rock out and give a great performance to get the audience ready for the rest of the lineup.

Person L , consisting of Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line, then took the stage. Vasoli’s high pitched voice was the absolute best part of the band. His voice is crisp and just gives you chills as he hits those impressive high notes.

Ace Ender’s solo project, I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business , really got the audience warmed up for Copeland. Ace Ender’s of The Early November has been making his own way through solo projects like this one as well as Ace Ender’s and a Million Different People. Ace was in full mode at the show and his performances were spot on such as when he wrapped up his set with “Whispering Actually”.

Finally Copeland took the stage playing their final show in Boston. Copeland played favorite’s such as “Good Morning Fire Eater”, “Pin Your Wings”, “No One Really Wins” and “The Day I Lost My Voice”. It was clear that Copeland was giving their all on their final tour and it is tough to say goodbye to such a great band that truly puts on a great live show.

The line-up of bands was ideal and the overall relaxed feel of the show was the best way for Boston to say goodbye to the wonderful band, Copeland. Hopefully we will be able to hear a new record from them in the future though.

Live: Polar Bear in London!

By Levina Duivesteijn

The London-based experimental post-jazz band Polar Bear celebrated the release of their fourth album, Peepers, last week at the Relentless Garage and thanks to the Leaf Label we could join the party! With their music being called “dream jazz” by music critic Paul Morley, having been nominated for “Best Band” at the BBC Jazz Awards 2004 and their album Held on the Tips of Fingers nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2005, not to mention another BBC Jazz award in 2006, it promised to be a fantastic night. With Mark Lockheart and Pete Wareham on the saxophone, Tom Herbert on double bass, electronics-wizard Leafcutter John, and of course Seb Rochard -the founder of the band- on the drums, their music constantly looks up the unpredictable: always experimenting with different styles and moving between various moods.

Polar Bear - Peepers by theleaflabel

You can listen to the title-track of their new album above, which is available as a free download for a limited time or can be enjoyed on their MySpace, and watch some video footage of the gig below to see how they experiment all together on stage! But more importantly, look them up if you have the chance to – their next gig is on the 27th of March at the Firestation in Windsor and they will be playing on several festivals in the spring/summer months, including the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the Mostly Jazz Festival in Birmingham. Or simply track them on Bandsintown.com to stay updated of course!

Polar Bear - Album ‘Peepers’ Release Gig from Levina on Vimeo.

Live! Pete & The Pirates in London

Photo and Review by Levina Duivesteijn

One of the great aspects of this job is that I get to know so many great bands which I (sadly?) didn’t know before. Pete & The Pirates is a great example of this and has definitely become one of my favourites. Formed in 2005, hailing from Reading, this five-piece band makes fantastic, rousing British indie pop which is hard not to dig. Their music is sweet, quirky, uplifting, sometimes somber, raw, and even quite humorous at times.  Example: ‘don’t sell the car, just rob a bank or the corner shop / you’ll get some excitement, in the papers, in the car with the cops’ – She Doesn’t Belong to Me.

Apart from working on a new album, the band has been busy touring the last few months – Belgium, Holland (check out this awesome Amsterdam Acoustics video of them btw), Luxembourg, even crossing the Atlantic to play in New York City, and recently they have been to Germany, Switzerland and Austria. More reason to be happy they’re playing in the UK again of course, and no wonder their gig of last Friday at the Lexington was sold out so quickly.

Although the audience was already warmed up by some fine music of Lucy Rose and Airship, it’s clear that the majority of people came to see the Pirates - the audience instantly starts cheering and singing along enthusiastically when they hit it off with their track Knots.

The band, consisting of Thomas Sanders (vocals), Peter Hefferan (vocals and guitar), David Thorpe (guitar), Peter Cattermoul (bass) and Jonny Sanders (drums), are awesome live and absolutely great to watch. The band seems to be enjoying the gig just as much as we do, despite even admitting that they’re never too sure about playing in London, “but you seem nice” they tell us. We couldn’t be more happy to hear so of course. Thomas jumps off stage into the crowd during one of the last tracks, greatly pleasing all of us who managed to get to the front, and every song they play -old and new- is warmly welcomed by the fans.

The fourty-five minutes in which they play seems to fly away and it’s one of those shows of which we wish it could continue all night. Definitely to be recommended to go see them if you’ve got the chance - I absolutely had a great night, of which the only minus of the evening was that I failed to get a T-shirt of the band. Yes, I turned into a total fan now! Even more after I read on their blog that they actually make the T-shirts all themselves (!). The fact that they are hand-made by the band got me even more keen to have one obviously, but no T-shirt with human touch for me this time. Shame! Ah well, hopefully they do sell them next time: I definitely will be checking them out in the future!

Visit their MySpace for some sweet tracks. Also, check out some video footage of this gig and don’t forget to track them on Bandsintown to stay updated about their future ones!