Although the wait in the queue outside lasted about half an hour, we were soon inside the small-modest sized venue, heating up with the ever-growing crowd and singing along to Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).
The opening band, Sugar & The High Lows, were pretty good. They soon got the crowd revved up and ready for Kacey and band for their opener: Pageant Material.
Kacey and her band were spot on – one of the tightest performances I’ve heard live. And her voice was just as perfect as it sounds on her albums. The songs weren’t precisely the same as on the albums – and that’s a good thing. The band’s improvisations – and indeed the covers they did – were performed with style.
As a note to self I must rememeber to take plently of water and not wear my coat inside again – by the end of the night I was dripping. I look forward to seeing them again on the next tour.
A couple of weeks ago I went to see the one-night-only showing of Roger Waters’ The Wall at my local cinema. That performance rekindled my love for that album – indeed Pink Floyd in general.
Yesterday I revisted an older performance of the album, which was given at the Berlin wall at the time when it was being torn down.
Very apt.
This performance of The Wall is unique, in that many of the songs are performed by guest artists. My personal favorites of these perfomances are Bryan Adam’s “Young Lust”, Paul Carrack’s “Hey You” and Van Morrison’s “Comfortably Numb”.
For any fans of The Wall, this album is a milestone performance and must be experienced.
My very first album write up goes to Tove Styrke’s Kiddo. I had never heard of her before tonight – she was a recommendation by Google Play Music, based on my interest in ‘Say Lou Lou’.
As soon as the first song started, I was hooked. Hooked enough to take advantage of my Android 6.0 update’s new context awareness by demanding – “Google! Play me her first album”* – that one is also great.
The first song sounded to be very Prince-esque – purple rain Prince – which can only be a good thing. Then there were other songs that had the sort of catchy hooks and beats you can’t help but move your body to. I had been getting nowhere with what I was building tonight, which was annoying, but this album soon got me feeling on top of the world.
Stand out songs: Borderline, Even If I’m Loud It Doesn’t Mean I’m Talking To You, Walking a Line.
*I am since trying to rid my life of Google Inc. as much as I can.
A slow, winding blade of green weaves across the ever-growing familiar white brickwork from the left side of the stage. Then another from the right. They wind slowly across the length of the wall – both to the centre and up – until they blend seamlessly into one of the most iconic animations from The Wall – the flower scene over Empty Spaces.There are a few albums that have moved me in ways I can still feel: Radiohead’s The Bends, Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence. But the one that has had the greatest effect on me – and still continues to do so – is Pink Floyd’s The Wall.Tonight I went to see the one-off showing of the new film by Waters which was about 80% concert show and 20% pilgrimage by Waters to visit the resting places of his father and grandfather. The thing as a whole went together beautifully.One of the songs that continues to get me each time I hear it is Vera – and this time was no exception. I was suprised to hear, in the discussion that followed, that this was Waters’ favourite song off the album.The songs I were looking forward to the most were Comfortably Numb, The Trial and Empty Spaces. I love how the full version of Empty Spaces gets used when performed live.The usage of some of the animations from the 1980s film of the wall were a nice touch too.All in all it was a great performance of The Wall.
Today I rediscovered one of my all-time favourite albums — Roger Waters’ The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking.
Although known mostly for his work with British Rock band Pink Floyd, some of Roger’s best work — in my opinion — was in his solo albums. Though to be fair his Pink Floyd work is incredible.
The concept, as envisioned by Waters in 1977, rotated around a man’s scattered thoughts during a road trip through somewhere in Central Europe, focusing on his midlife crisis, and how he dreams of committing adultery with a hitchhiker he picks up along the way.
Along the way he also faces other fears and paranoia, with all of these things taking place in real time in the early morning hours of 4:30am to 5:12am on an unspecified day.
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking — This concept album was offered to the rest of Pink Floyd along with the early concept for The Wall. The band went on to do The Wall and Roger completed Pros and Cons in 1983 as a solo piece.
From Wikipedia.
It features great guitar work from none other than Eric Clapton as well as featuring Jack Palance, who takes on the role of the Hell’s Angel in the story.
To be honest you could do yourself a favour and listen to anything that Roger Waters has created.
On Friday 11th April my Girlfriend and I drove down to London for the weekend. It was a great weekend, with the nucleus of this trip was to see Chrysta Bell on her tour.
Who is Chrysta Bell?
Chrysta Bell is an artist in the truest sense of the word. Her voice is one of those that can both charm and haunt you. She commands the performance with such force that it is difficult to explain in mere words. You really need to experience it first hand.
She was touring on the back of an album produced and co-written by David Lynch. David Lynch is definitely present in both the album and on the night itself, but this isn’t just a case of “David Lynch produced it, therefore it’s awesome”. The album is awesome, believe me, but it is due to the equal talents of both David and Chrysta combined. Each on their own are unique and hugely talented, but together they produce something even more special.
I first heard Chrysta Bell in a song from David Lynch’s film Inland Empire. The song Polish Poem was used in the film to such a haunting effect. As soon as I found out about the Album they did together This Train, which Polish Poemfeatures on, I was immediately hooked on the music they were making together.
The Gig Itself
The gig itself was out of this world. Anyone who has seen Twin Peaks would be hard-pressed not to imagine themselves stood in the Road House, watching Chrysta in front of that red curtain. At least that’s how it was for me.
Her vocals were both soothing and haunting, with the melodies weaving throughout the crowd. Her band were great also. Chrysta, of course, was centre stage, but the band weren’t just a faceless few who played the music. The four of them as a whole played the songs with a firm understanding of each other’s rhythms and timing.
The performances that stood out for me were Swing with Me and a new song they played, the name of which I can’t remember. The only song that wasn’t performed that I would have loved to have heard live was Polish Poem. I can only imagine what that would have felt like. The venue did have a 10pm curfew, so maybe Polish Poem would have been performed without the time restriction.
After The Show
When the show was finished I was both happy and sad. Sad because a great show had come to an end, but happy because my Girlfriend and I got to meet Chrysta face to face. I had previously spoken to Chrysta over twitter and I arranged to buy her earlier album, Bitter Pills and Delicacies, directly from her. after the show.
From my own conversations with Chrysta, it is obvious that she cares deeply for her fans. I wasn’t surprised to see her mingling with the fans both before and after the show.
Any fans of the TV series Archer will know that — while the rest of the ex-ISIS agents are figuring out what to do with a literal tonne of cocaine — Cheryl/Carol has renamed herself to Cherlene and is on her way to becoming the star of outlaw country music.
Archer is one of my favourite shows on TV at the moment. As well as this I have been getting into listening to more country music thanks to this post by Andrew Clarke. So imagine my surprise when I found out that a full album of both original and cover songs sung by Cherlene herself had been recently released for digital purchase. Woooohoooo!
But this isn’t just a novelty TV series album filled with parody songs. This is actually a genuinely good country album. The songs are actually sang by country artist Jessy Lynn Martens, who is also classically trained on violin, mandolin and guitar.
The album also features a duet with none other than Kenny Loggins on a country version of Danger Zone — yes, it’s that good.
Cherlene Track Listing
Danger Zone feat. Kenny Loggins
Swing Shift
Midnight Blues
40 Miles of Mountain Road
Baby Please Don’t Go
Cherlene’s Broken Hearts and Auto Parts
I’ll Burn It Down
It’s All About Me
Eastbound and Down
Chattahoochee Coochie Man
Gypsy Woman
Straight To Hell
If you only listen to one song from this album, listen to Danger Zone. But I promise if you do, you’ll probably end up listening to the whole album.
