Four gigs to expand the mind
We love both performing and watching live music, especially in small venues. Although not always possible, there's nothing like the atmosphere of a great band up close and personal.
Live music is in my blood.
Back in the ‘70s, I saw hundreds of bands, fitting them in when I wasn’t playing myself and honestly don’t know how I managed to fit it all in!
I saw almost every band that was dear to me, except for Led Zeppelin who is probably my favourite of all time.
Anyway, let’s not dwell on the past but wind forward to 2024 and see what’s on our agenda for the next few months.
The Smile // August 28, 2024
You are probably sick of me rabbiting on about this fabulous band, but if it’s your first delve into our musical world, I will bring you up to date.
The Smile consists of Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood with the superb Tom Skinner on drums and we have featured them in several previous posts and podcasts.
Today is the birthday of my wife and musical collaborator Suzy Starlite and two years ago to the day, we saw them perform at the Coliseu dos Recreios de Lisboa.
Unlike me, she had never been a Radiohead fan and we listened to A Light for Attracting Attention a fair few times before the gig but the live set blew us away. It was their first tour together and were on fire.
It was a blisteringly hot night in Lisboa and the gig was packed, adding to the sweat factor.
Whenever visiting the city we like to make a night of it and before the gig dined at the excellent New Himalaia Indian Restaurant, which is located close to the gig.
When The Smile announced the 2024 tour we looked at their dates and found that they were playing a festival in Lisboa and also their own gig in our old home town of Valencia, Spain.
Festivals are great, but the set is always time-limited and we know they love to improvise - eloquently demonstrated in writing their latest studio album Wall of Eyes, which was largely written whilst jamming before and during gigs - so a trip to Valencia was on the cards.
We mentioned the concert to our eldest son James who, along with his fiancée Sarah, decided to fly over and join us.
The gig was originally to be held in the Túria (the old riverbed) which runs through the heart of Valencia but moved, probably due to high demand, to Marina Norte which is adjacent to Cabanyal, a fishing district and until recently a cheap place to live for musicians and artists but sadly now becoming gentrified.
Travelling usually requires us to book our girls into our favourite ‘Pet Hotel’ - Hotel Camino da Quinta de Santa Maria - but this time we have decided to take all four of them with us and have subsequently booked accommodation for the eight of us.
We are really looking forward to the gig and spending some time with our son and future daughter-in-law who are getting married two weeks later in a fabulous London Crypt on Friday 13th. Fucking cool.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds // October 27, 2024
I have been a fan of Cave since listening to The Boatman’s Call in 1997: Into My Arms and People Ain't No Good are just killer tunes. Since then I have been a regular buyer of his music, both solo and with the Bad Seeds.
Reading the hype and watching his live performances, it looks to me that attending a Nick Cave gig is almost a religious experience.
His opinions make him a controversial figure, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.
I love him and a particular fan of his blog The Red Hand Files where he answers questions from his fans. It’s a great read and I enjoy his thinking, eloquent turn of phrase and outlook on this fragile thing we call life.
We watched the documentary One More Time With Feeling with James a few years ago - it brought us all to tears.
Little did we know that James and Sarah had booked to see them in Amsterdam a couple of weeks before.
We much prefer small venues but to see someone like this, the arena is the only option. The concert will take place at the MEO Arena (former Altice Arena) conveniently in our home city of Lisboa and am sure we will be making our now customary visit to the New Himalaia!
Here are a couple of videos which give a great overview of the making of his latest Bad Seeds record Wild God.
Owned by Brad Pitt & Damien Quintard, Miraval Studios looks delicious and it’s based in France, almost guaranteeing the dining will be sensational which is so important in a residential studio.
Fontaines DC // November 1, 2024
Alongside my regular consulting of the music press, I regularly ask friends on social media for recommendations on what new bands I should be listening to and following a foray on Facebook a few years ago, Fontaines DC’s name came up.
I started following them, loved the music, production and songwriting and subsequently featured tracks on our podcast, the Supertone Show.
Suzy fell in love with In ár gCroíthe go deo and one night played it on repeat for a fair few hours accompanied by a delicious bottle of Portuguese red. The album is great and when the tour was announced it was a no-brainer - we bought tickets.
“The singer, Grian Chatten, was born in Barrow in Furness to an English mother and Irish father moving to the Republic of Ireland when he was only a month old.
He moved to Dublin and attended The British and Irish Modern Music Institute, where he met guitarists Conor Curley and Carlos O’Connell, bass player Conor Deegan, and drummer Tom Coll. Along with a passion for music, the group held a shared interest in poetry, and published three pamphlets together. After graduating, they formed the band Fontaines D.C. in 2017.
Chatten drew comparisons with post-punk frontmen Ian Curtis and Mark E. Smith for both his intensity and lyrics.” - Wikipedia
They are certainly on the ascendency but having seen them perform via the BBC iPlayer at Glastonbury I didn’t quite believe him. Maybe it was nerves as I would be shitting myself on that stage with all the hype and media attention.
In any event, we have tickets for the show at Campo Pequeno, a medium-sized arena, again conveniently located in Lisboa, where we saw our friend Pedro Abrunhosa a couple of years ago.
Their new album Romance is being released on August 23rd and we have naturally preordered the vinyl.
Kim Gordon // November 11, 2024
I have always listened to new music and my tastes have gradually changed over the years, as surely they should do, rather like a maturing cheese or a great bottle of wine.
Even though I have always been a huge fan of Art/Alternative Rock, Sonic Youth were never on the agenda.
When the band split up in 2013, Kim Gordon embarked on a solo career and has released three albums to date.
She played both bass and guitar and In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked Gordon the 39th greatest bassist of all time and a 2016 review from Pitchfork noted her voice as "one of the great instruments in post-punk history, though she doesn't always get credit for the variety of her technique.” - Wikipedia
We saw Gordon’s captivating performance at Glastonbury and subsequently listened to her latest album The Collective which is fantastic. Noise, beats, cool guitar. A must-buy.
Not as if it matters, but Gordon is now 71 years old and here she is, along with her kickass band, which includes her sister on guitar, performing the album’s lead single BYE BYE.
We found she was undertaking a massive tour and playing at the Cineteatro Capitólio in Lisboa where we held a photo shoot with ace photographer Paul Husband a couple of years ago. Serendipity.
And finally…
We will certainly report back on the gigs as they happen and I am very keen to learn what bands you are seeing over the coming months. Let me know in the comments section below…
See you next time
Much love
Simon