Saturday 12 March 2022

Saturday 12 March 2022. BLUE OCTOBER + DAYTIME TV live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Blue October is an American alternative rock band originally from Houston, Texas. Since 1998 they have released ten studio albums and five live albums. The official video for their track "Hate Me" has had 92 million views on YouTube. Support band DAYTIME TV will be promoting their debut album. ------------------- Level 3 is closed as unsold tonight, but all the other levels look full. DAYTIME TV arrived on stage at 8pm for their 30 mins set. Would do you think of their band name? A catchy easy to remember name or just totally naff? Daytime Tv played some good solid tunes from their debut album They signed CDs and posed for photos by the merch stand after their set, and after the headliners set, which was very popular, as they got whole set of new fans this way. BLUE OCTOBER arrived on stage at 9.05pm for their 1 hour 45 mins set. The band play a great set of alt-rock/art-rock songs from their career. Singer Justin Furstenfeld certainly knows how to get the audience in the palm of his hands. He really connects well with the audience, as he delivers the songs with full conviction. Justin Furstenfeld is a mental health and clean living advocate. Mid-way through the band's set he stopped to tell part of his recovery story, Justin is closing in on 10 years of sobriety. Themes of his past including his subsequent recovery are clear throughout the band's discography. He also talked about his relationship with his dad and his daughter. The top notch sounding band included a second guitarist also played electric violin and keyboards. The bands biggest singles, "Hate Me" and "Into the Ocean" were played back to back, as the crowd sang all the lyrics loudly, followed shortly by a fan fave "Fear." The band's encore featured a more stripped back five song run featuring mandolin and slide/acoustic guitar. A really good show. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday 11 March 2022. THE CRIBS + THE BLINDERS live at The Roundhouse. The Cribs are touring the UK to promote their eighth album "Night Network". A few of their albums have made the Top 10 chart in the UK. A decade ago NME loved them ,and they headlined The 02 Arena. In 2012, the band's 10th anniversary year, they were honoured with the Spirit of Independence award at the annual Q Awards. Several months later, they received the Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the annual NME Awards. In 2007 I saw all five SEX PISTOLS shows at Brixton Academy and The Cribs were the support act on four of those shows. Support comes from THE BLINDERS who have released two albums. They are to release a four track EP on 13 May 2022. ---------------- Tonight is not sold out ,as there is space at the back of the stalls and the circle is half empty. Support band THE BLINDERS played a good 45 mins set of alt-rock from 7.45pm to 8.30pm. THE CRIBS arrived on stage at 9pm and play for 90 mins. The band have some disco glitter-balls dotted around the floor of the stage. The Cribs heyday was when NME loved supporting any guitar bands with attitude. So bands like The Libertines, The Strokes and The Cribs got plenty of support and coverage. Tonight we have the Friday night indie-rock drinking crowd, so plenty of stalls dancing along with over a dozen crowd surfers into the pit, and pints being thrown in the air constantly. Indeed, despite a quarter of the band’s set being their most recent album, tracks such as "Running Into You" and "Never Thought I’d Feel Again" , fit effortlessly in beside much more established offerings like "I’m A Realist" or " We Share the Same Skies" , the lyrics belted back with equal fervour, as if they’d been in the set for years. Of course," Hey Scenesters! " gets an airing – a staple of the band’s live shows for years, its timeless hook not having aged a day since its 2007 release. Elsewhere "Mirror Kissers" and "Men’s Needs" both get a late airing. The latter seeing a beer-soaked crowd erupt once more, whilst "Pink Snow "closes out the band’s set. Great to see that the three Jarman brothers are still rockin".

Posted 12th March 2022