LIVE - Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip @ O2 Academy 2, Liverpool - 19.03.2010

It's fairly safe to say I was one of only two people wearing a shirt and tie at this gig (the other being Pip himself) and I was certainly the only person to be wearing a cardigan. They're not exactly hip hop clobber, unless you're involved at the rather nerdy end of the rap spectrum. Instead, tracksuits and trainers are the preferred uniform, as opening act Sound Of Rum adhere to. Frontwoman Kate looks as if she'd be more at home mugging you for lunch money than rapping on a stage. It's refreshing to hear live instrumentation (actual drums, guitar and bass) in hip-hop than simply relying on laptops etc. Although this means SOR occasionally veer close to rap-rock, it's never too much of a concern and they provide a lot of fun for a support act.

Arriving on stage in what appears to be a Chinese Alan Partridge mask, with a beard to rival Pip's and a bulk to rival Giant Haystacks, B. Dolan has a pretty immediate stage presence. His first bit of banter; "It's my first time here and I only know one thing about Liverpool. That thing is.... the women are loose". Whilst I won't comment on that (for fear of having to deal with the backlash from female friends), Dolan's set was incredible and set the bar high for Dan and Pip: "The Reptilian Agenda", a call-and-response song revolving around the line "The Queen of England is a Lizard"; "a party jam about agoraphobia"; "Joan Of Arc" (dedicated to "Sarah Palin; my muse, my sexual chocolate") whose chorus goes "Joan of Arc had a dildo named Jesus/made of wood from the cross of its namesake/she considered the splinters atonement/and when she came it would fill her with light!" and a bit of audience participation in the form of Dolan stipping down to an Evil Kenivel suit and jumping over the first person to climb the barrier. You don't get this with Kings Of Leon.

Personally, I never thought of Dan and Pip being the most popular of bands. Sure, they obviously have many, many fans, that goes without saying, but selling out the Academy to a rather varied crowd wasn't something I expected. An intense, loud and sweaty gig was par for the course. Whilst I had all the movement space of a dwarf in a pillowcase, I tried my best to obey Pip and get dancing. Songs both old and new were met with near-Beatlemania shouting. Clearly Dan & Scroob fans are quick learners when it comes to lyrics. Cynics usually criticise the duo for being over-earnest, but in the live arena it's clear to see that whilst sincere, they never take themselves too seriously. With both Dan and Pip on fine form, the closing hattrick of "Thou Shalt Always Kill", "Get Better" and "Letter From God To Man" is the perfect ending that any fan could hope for.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Either Dan's mid-gig biscuit craving (someone actually brought a pack with them...) or "N Dubz, get better; Chipmunk, get better; Tinchy Stryder, get better; Scroobius Pip, get better..."

LIVE - Wild Beasts @ O2 Academy 2, Liverpool - 18.03.2010

Wild Beasts are one of a number of contemporary bands who, had they existed 20 to 25 years ago, would have been one of the biggest bands in the country a la The Smiths. There's certainly a similarity between Morrissey, Marr, Rourke & Joyce and the Kendal-via-Leeds band. Sharp, fluid guitar lines, acrobatic vocals and often laugh-out-loud lyrical imagery are part and parcel of Wild Beasts; all three are brought to the fore during their live show.

First support act Lone Wolf certainly lives up to his name. Playing guitar and keyboard solo (the live band "couldn't make the tour") and looking a little lupine, he plays a bewitching set, reminiscent of Bon Iver, just without the overplayed backstory and haunting falsetto. The highlight of the set is forthcoming single "Keep Your Eyes On The Road", which never sounds the same for more than thirty seconds. On the basis of this set, debut album "The Devil And I" should be pretty special.

Erland & The Carnival are up next, and sound like a menagerie of a number of different bands. There are elements of tonight's headline act, the funk of Egyptian Hip Hop, the folksiness of Beirut, the strut of second album Franz Ferdinand (not a bad thing, despite popular opinion) and even the experimentalness of late Blur. This last comparison should come as no surprise when Simon Tong (of The Verve, Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen) is one of the core members of the band. Tong's guitar, along with the relentless drumming of David Nock drive the band's performance. With the current folk rock revival (hello Mumford & Sons, Noah & The Whale, Laura Marling), 2010 could very well see Erland & The Carnival propelled into the spotlight.

By the time Wild Beasts arrive on the stage, the audience are at fever pitch. According to singer Hayden Thorpe, the last time the band headlined a Liverpool gig, there were roughly six people there. There's at least seventy-five times that amount in attendance this time round; "very humbling", in the words of Thorpe. With two stellar albums to pick a setlist from, it's no wonder Wild Beasts turn in a stellar performance. Even though on record, lyrics are occasionally indecipherable thanks to Thorpe's unusual voice, nearly every word is sung back to the band. On this showing, Wild Beasts certainly have the fanbase to reach the level of mainstream adoration that The Maccabees and The Horrors did last year. But should they fail to be picked up by the fickle fifteen year-old "indies", they'll be the biggest and best cult band in the country, which is no bad thing at all.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Either the short, bald guy next to me dancing like it was the Happy Mondays on stage or "We've Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues"

BIG BANG
>>>LIVE!>>>Sound Of Guns>>>23.05.09
If there was any doubt about the future of Liverpool's musical legacy, then allow Sound Of Guns to lay it to rest. Arriving on stage to a fairly eerie spoken word track and looking like a Kasabian tribute band, S.O.G's music belies the leather jackets and shaggy hair. "Alcatraz" owes a fair amount to early U2 with it's chiming guitar and stadium-sized chorus. Add to this the Bono-esque stage presence of lead singer Andy Metcalfe and it's clear to see that SOG are set for the top. The band have ample talent and definitely know their way around a good melody, with the dramatic driving rock of "Backs Of Butterflies" and the latter-day Manics sounds of "Magnesium". Rattling throughout their set at a breakneck speed, Sound Of Guns' energy and confidence points towards a future on the main stages of major festivals across Britain. Should fantastic new single and set opener "Architects" gets the right amount of hype from SOGs high-profile admirers (ranging from Huw Stevens to Steve Lamacq) then those festival slots will come much quicker than anticipated.

"I want this to be an orgy of love and violence!"
NME Awards Tour 2009
Glasvegas, Friendly Fires, White Lies, Florence & The Machine @ Liverpool Uni

So said Florence Welch before playing (arguably) her biggest hit "Kiss With A Fist" to the baying crowd, full of checked shirts (including myself), tight jeans and Florence-a-likes, on the opening night of this year's NME tour. I wouldn't say it was an orgy, and there wasn't much violence, but in the words of Shakespeare/Hamlet "forty thousand brothers could not quantify" the love given to the acts on stage.

Florence was her usual kooky self, chucking flowers, crowdsurfing and finally running off past the front barrier, never to be seen again...at least for the remainder of the gig. The covers which have become a staple of her gigs were replaced by tracks from the upcoming album, which sounds as if it will be more on the "Dog Days Are Over" side of things instead of "Kiss With A Fist". Certainly one to look forward to in the next few months.

Recent chart-toppers White Lies were delayed in Berlin, thus delaying the entire gig by almost an hour, but it was certainly worth it. Striding triumphantly on stage, wearing a very flash pair of Nikes (obviously souvenirs from a trip to Liverpool One), Harry McVeigh and the rest of the band ensured that, whilst an air of gloom fell over the venue, it was one that had every word sung back, even when the lyrics concern electric shock therapy and kidnappings gone wrong. An epic gig if there ever was one.

A definite change of pace came with the arrival of Friendly Fires. A shoegaze/dance band from St Albans may not seem like a likely proposition, but it's real and it has the power to make even the most awkward indie kid (e.g. moi) want to flail about like a lunatic. Ed MacFarlane is a extremely energetic frontman, like a mix between Mick Jagger and Jarvis Cocker with a sprinkling of Morrissey. He can but can't dance if that makes much sense. Their set kept on building towards a climactic "Jump In The Pool", complete with extended samba ending. If you want a party in the near future to be a success with everyone dancing, just stick their album on and watch everyone start to boogie.

And thus we arrive at Glasvegas, one of the biggest hype bands of the last few years and boy, do they deserve it. Walking on to a darkened stage covered in dry ice will make you cool, even if you're Scouting For Girls or N-Dubz...well maybe not them but you get the picture. James Allan has got to be a long lost relative of Joe Strummer somehow, dressed all in black with sunglasses and a perfect quiff, effortlessly cool. The band's usual wall of sound was amplified to the max with the mountain of speakers at either side of the stage (resulting in me being a bit deaf in my right ear at the moment) and the songs were twice as epic as White Lies before them. The set was peppered with hits and slightly lesser known tracks (such as "Fuck You, It's Over" and S.A.D Light, preformed magically with just James, Rab and their two guitars). But the real highlights came from an improvised cover of Echo & The Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" (with Ian McCulloch in the crowd), a spellbinding version of "Ice Cream Van", during which I'm pretty sure the heavens opened and "Go Square Go", which is bound to be a terrace anthem in a year or so.

All in all, it was the best gig I've ever seen. You won't hear a bad word from me about any of the bands and they all surpassed their high standards, which are pretty damn high. Roll on next year's tour, and may it be just as amazing as this year.

CREDIT TO kavita41 FOR THE PHOTOS.