LIVE music photography

Regular readers of my blog will know that I predicted back in December of last year that two singers most likely to succeed in 2010 are Ellie Goulding and Daisy Dares You.  The New to Q showcase gigs which were run over a week at the Tabernacle in Notting Hill featured the best of new talent (according to Q) most likely to succeed, or in other words would probably get support from the magazine over the following months.
The bands and artists who performed over the week included Delphic, Marina and the Diamonds along with Ellie Goulding and Daisy Dares You, who performed to a sold out audience on the Saturday night.

Daisy Coburn who at 16 was by the far the youngest to appear over the week opened the gig with her mix of catchy guitar pop mixed in with a splattering of grundge influenced by the likes of Allison Mosshart and Courtney Love. Daisy who has recently been signed to the revived Sony owned Jive label in the UK was signed at 14 and has been penning her own songs since she was 12. Performing live Daisy was very confident and despite a few problems with her top she oozed confidence.

Next up was Ellie Goulding who according to the Brits judges is most likely to succeed in 2010 after winning the Critics Choice Award, previously won by Adele and Florence & the Machine. The 23 year old from Hereford put on an impressive performance which was akin to a dancy Laura Marling and Beth Orton. Ellie’s songs are strong and it’s evident that she has real depth as a performer and will ride the hype which has surrounded her the past few months.  She is being overseen by Ferdy Unger Hamilton  at Polydor who is one of the best A&R men in the country so I am sure that she will be managed well.

Written by John Rahim

2009 certainly was an interesting year for Feeder.  After 14 year of being with Echo Records the label decided to part company with the band and their drummer Mark Richardson who had been with them for a number of years decided to leave to rejoin is former band Skunk Anasie . Also rather oddly the band changed their name to Renegades last December only to change it back again to Feeder!

The last time I saw Feeder live was in November 2008 when they had sold out the Brixton Academy so I was expecting tonight’s gig at the Water Rats to be a lively affair. The venue which barely holds 200 people was absolutely rammed and off course there was no photo pit, the bain of my life! Thankfully I managed to get some shots by holding the camera above my head only to be told by the guy videoing the show to piss off! Anyhow by that time I had got what I had come for so was happy to enjoy the rest of the show in the sweat box.

The band’s new album which is out later in the year on their own label Big Teeth Records sounded pretty good and back on form.  Feeder are just one of those bands who will go on forever and thankfully they have a strong enough fan base to see them through some difficult times.

Written by John Rahim

In many respects Brett Anderson has never really managed to get rid of his Brit pop mantle and as all Suede fans know a reunion is happening later in the year which may not help things in this department. Whilst it will be wonderful to see Suede play again Brett Anderson has written some of his best music, all solo material, this decade.

Anderson has just released his third album “Slow Attack” which interestingly enough has been co-written by Leo Abrahams,  Anderson’s first main song writing collaboration since working with Bernard Butler in the late 90’s. “Slow Attack” has also been more positively received in the press than his past two solo efforts “Brett Anderson” and “Wilderness” both of which were wonderful unique and evocative records.

In his MySpace page Anderson cites the Argentinean film score composer Gustavo Santaolalla and British folk legend Bert Jansch as influences, his new album which is more abstract than his two previous albums has an ethereal and cinematic feel to it.  Despite being more electric than his previous album “Wilderness”  “Slow Attack” uses woodwind in a manner not heard on his previous albums.

Tonight’s gig at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire was absolutely packed and it would appear that since Suede Anderson has attracted an entirely new audience base who are more interested in avant-garde songs rather than the guitar driven pop songs which he is best known for. That said fans of “Dog Man Star” will enjoy “Slow Attack” which bears many similarities.

As ever Anderson put on a passionate performance which included tracks from all three solo albums along with a smattering of Suede numbers.

Written by John Rahim

Tonight’s gig certainly was important for the Guillemots front man Fyfe Dangerfield. His debut album “Fly Yellow Moon” has just been released to critical acclaim and his single “She needs me” has received a lot of radio play on XFM and BBC Six Music. Also it would appear that Fyfe has cleaned up his act, dressed in a smart suit, tie and combed hair he’s almost unrecognisable from when I saw him six months ago.

However the gig got off to a bad start. Visibly nervous Fyfe forgets the lyrics half way through  his first song. This is made worse by the sampler not working on the second song which requires him to start and stop the song 10 times before he finally get it right. Despite support from the audience he never fully recovers from his ordeal and he looks like a nervous wreck for the rest of the set.

Dangerfield’s does however have a great voice which is full of melancholy and passion. His solo material is full of crescendos and blues and despite only being supported by two violinists he puts on a good performance even though he needs to rely on tardy technology which woefully lets him down.

The encore is an acoustic version of the Guillemots song “Made-up Lovesong #43” which involves a low tech ukulele. By this point in the set Dangerfield looks totally at ease.

Written by John Rahim