LIVE music photography

Occasionally I cover a gig which i think is going to be really dull and uninteresting and leave totally converted with a smile on my face. I arrived at Shepherd’s Bush Empire and hour early in horrendous rain and had parked miles away from the venue. I had just covered the Nell Bryden showcase in the West End and rather than grabbing some dinner decided to head  straight down to Shepherd’s Bush which was a big mistake.

In less than a couple of days The Westway, Europe’s biggest shopping mall opens in Shepherd’s Bush and I am anticipating that West London’s traffic is about to get a lot worse. God knows where I will park when I go to Shepherd’s Bush Empire, the venue which employs the most miserable bouncers and security guards known to mankind!

As I arrived uncharacteristically early I managed to watch some of the support band who were very good. A kitsch rock/pop outfit from Ghent in Belgium called Das Pop who at best could be described as a mix between Franz Ferdinand and the Scissor Sisters. Their debut album has been produced by Soulwax and their single “Underground” is a perfect slice of pop. Unforutantely I did’nt manage to get any pictures of them as I had arrived after their third number, however I will probably check them out when they perform at Koko later in November or at the ICA in February.

Alphabeat certainly had a hard act to follow however did did not disappoint. They really are one of the most ridiculously camp bands but for some reason everything fits together very well. The dual boy/girl vocals give them a somewhat more dynamic sound. There must be something in the Nordic waters that produces pop bands like Alphabeat who on the surface sound like throwaway pop however they do write some very good songs. I guess they are one of these bands that you love ot hate however it’s difficult to hate anything quite as harmless as Alphabeat!

Written by John Rahim

Although the last few years have generated some really interesting female singer songwriters in the UK, America has lagged behind in producing breakthrough female artists with the broad appeal of Duffy, Amy Winehouse or KT Tunstall.  Hopefully Nell Bryden can buck that trend, a sassy New Yorker whose new album “Second Time Around” is beginning to cause waves on both sides of the Atlantic. I was invited down to watch the showcase and take a couple of PR pictures for Gibson Guitars and was impressed by Nell and her bands performance. Musically Nell is difficult to pin down, the influences range from jazz, blues and modern dixie however you can imagine many of the songs on her CD being sung by Emmylou Harris.

Nell and her band are in the UK and Ireland for the month and will be doing shows across England, Scotland and Ireland. No doubt they will find this more amenable than their recent trip to Iraq where she and her band entertained American troops in Baghdad.  For further information on her album and live dates visit her website http://www.nellbryden.com/

Written by John Rahim

So earlier in the week I saw Keane at Koko and tonight I had the pleasure of watching even a bigger band in the intimate surroundings of the Bloomsbury theater, a 500 seated venue in London’s Euston area. Snow Patrol who have released their fifth studio album this week “A Hundred Million Sums”,  and have just completed a 5 date mini tour which included small club shows in Edinburgh, Dublin and London. All of the tickets for the shows were sold to die hard Snow Patrol fans via their web site and fan club.

I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of the band and although I own three of their albums I find the heavy rotation of their music on the radio quite tiresome. That said they put on an excellent show with a set that was perfectly balanced with new songs along with the hits from their last two albums. Gary Peabody connected well with the fans ans seemed genuinely pleased to be playing such a small environment and encouraged a fair amount of audience participation, which they were only to willing to give. The new material sounded slightly mellower than the last album and the set started with a solo acoustic number. I am sure that this album will be just as big as their previous efforts and no doubt will be a big seller over the Christmas season.

Written by John Rahim

The BBC Electric Proms which is now in it’s third year seems to be going from strength to strength. It certainly has become a firm fixture in live music calendar during the autumn season which is traditionally a quiet time. As with last year the BBC has lined up some of the most interesting and eclectic artists around these include The Streets, Africa Express, Glasvegas, Oasis, veteran songwriter Burt Bacharach who has just celebrated his 80’s birthday, and Keane whose third album has entered the album charts at No.1, their third No.1 album knocking their rivals Oasis off the pole position.

I have never been a big fan of Keane whose piano rock has become increasingly popular with an over 30 MOR audience who enjoy nice songs performed by clean cut boys. That said Tom Chaplin has had his fair share of “issues” however thankfully he seemed to have recovered from his demons which plagued him last year. Tonight’s gig at Camden’s Koko certainly was an intimate gig for a band who now are more used to playing arenas nevertheless they put on an excellent show to an audience delighted to see them in a very small venue.

The songs which I heard from their new album “Perfect Symmetry” very much followed the formula of their two previous albums with anthemic choruses however they seemed to feature more guitar although their trademark piano riffs are still very prominent. Overall it was a fairly enjoyable gig however I am amazed how popular they have become. Good wholesome boys playing unoffensive pop music however its not really for me.

Written by John Rahim

Watching the Brand New Heavies last night at the swish O2 Indigo venue felt really strange. In the past I have had a long relationship with the band however I had not seen them or had seen them live for almost a decade. In 1993 when I was a talent scout for Sony Publishing I signed  Simon and Andrew from the band. They were just about to release their debut album on London Records which had been released earlier in the year by the London based indie label Acid Jazz and Delicious Vinyl in the US. The album was a huge success and sold well over platinum in the UK alone.  Back in 92/93 I must have seen them perform some 25 times in venues ranging from famous Olympia Theater in Paris, which is still one my best nights out ever, to Wembley Stadium supporting Simply Red.

The band have had their ups and downs over the last few years however after a string of singers including Carleen Anderson they are back with N’Dea Davenport who was featured on their first two albums. The performance tonight was excellent and probably ranks as one of their best shows that I have seen. The band were incredibly tight and played just the right mix of their back catalogue as well as songs from their new album. Although the venue was not sold out it was very busy and they actually had more paying punters that Dirty Pretty Things a couple of nights earlier.

The band are playing over 30 dates between now and Christmas which includes shows in the UK, Europe and Japan. Details of their gigs can be found at their MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/thebrandnewheavies

Written by John Rahim