It maybe morning after euphoria, but I don’t think so – last night saw me at The Dears gig at the Astoria in London (rescheduled from May) – regular readers will know that I’m a huge fan, and I went to see them back in february, and while I enjoyed the gig it certainly wasn’t the best.
Last night – was the best - they played a great venue, big enough to show that the critics have got it right -but small enough for us to see the sweat on Murray Lightburns brow. What an excellent set – they opened up with some jaunty thank you music and then an excellent ‘Gang of Losers’, this really set the tone for the whole set, superb versions of ‘We can have it’ and ‘22:Death of all the romance’ were key moments for me, before a new track ‘Mountains’ which was really good, and maybe a little more accessible (and commercial?) than the stuff from the last album. Then my favourite tune ‘The Second Now’ – which last night was truly mindblowing. There was a one song encore – ‘Heartless Romantic’ which sent us home with smiles on our faces. I managed to snag a setlist at the end – its here to view.
Oh – and if you are the 2 irritating bitches that stood in front of us, getting drunk and jabbering all the way through the gig, a small message : "Next time…go to the pub, or better still stay at home and talk all night, you’ll save £12 and let music fans enjoy the gig a bit more, k…thx…bye"
[...] Mew – And the glass handed kites : 2 years after their debut album – Frengers – I read a review of this in one of the Sundays, it was all talk of Sonic Youth, Sigur Ros and Mars Volta – which is enough of a mixture to put most people off, but I persevered and go myself a copy, intrigued by what this could sound like. I think I can understand the references…although I’d include maybe the Dears, and the Leaves in there – this is as grandiose, well constructed and well thought out as those albums from favourites of mine. There are some roaring, jangling guitars – and huge soaring vocals, coupled with clever lyrics and subtle production which makes the album sit just nicely – there are a few intrumental fillers – but tracks like Zookeepers Boy, Apocalypso and the mighty (and beautiful) ballad White Lips Kissed more than make up for the interludes. Excellent album – hunt this down and take care of it. [...]