BBC - Electric Proms
Despite the snobbish undertones, the BBC's recent Electric Proms can only be considered an oasis in a barren landscape. Hyped beyond reason, it dared to showcase real talent at venues where the attendees were more interested in drinking sparkling water (that was me) and lattés than London Pride.
It was also an attempt to prove that, freed from music industry shackles, artists can be eh, em ... artistic. Take for example Damon Albarn's hugely popular current project where the band includes former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, ex Verve member Simon Tong and drummer Tony Allen. I say "the band" because they haven't come up with a name yet. How terrifically post-modern? More uppetiness can be seen in their move to release a single "Herculean" today (October 30th) and delete it in the same day. You can download that single over here.
But what they did last Thursday night in Camden was good. You can see their performance of The Good, the Bad and the Queen for yourself by streaming the show (only available until next weekend). This sort of event at the Roundhouse really suited Albarn's experimental side. What he did with Gorillaz was new and the freshness of this new project is unmistakeable. Albarn versus Gallagher was never even a contest for me in the 90s anyway. Where was Noel Gallagher this week? It seems that Oasis are taking a break.
I went along to the said venue on Friday night to see if the Godfather of Soul really could shake those arthritis blues that one would expect to get at the age of 73. Max Beasley joined the stage to accompany Brown on piano for his rendition of Georgia. Unfortunately, he was more clapped out old rusty machine than Sex Machine. As expected, his biggest hit was the closer. It's more the pity that James Brown himself didn't even sing it.
The night didn't pass by without seeing one of my own favourite legends of music. Stood beside me on the footpath clutching his guitar case before the gig was the hurdy gurdy man himself,Donovan, fresh from playing a set in front of a small audience at one of the Roundhouse stages.
tags:[tagname]
Published by Colm.
It was also an attempt to prove that, freed from music industry shackles, artists can be eh, em ... artistic. Take for example Damon Albarn's hugely popular current project where the band includes former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, ex Verve member Simon Tong and drummer Tony Allen. I say "the band" because they haven't come up with a name yet. How terrifically post-modern? More uppetiness can be seen in their move to release a single "Herculean" today (October 30th) and delete it in the same day. You can download that single over here.
But what they did last Thursday night in Camden was good. You can see their performance of The Good, the Bad and the Queen for yourself by streaming the show (only available until next weekend). This sort of event at the Roundhouse really suited Albarn's experimental side. What he did with Gorillaz was new and the freshness of this new project is unmistakeable. Albarn versus Gallagher was never even a contest for me in the 90s anyway. Where was Noel Gallagher this week? It seems that Oasis are taking a break.
I went along to the said venue on Friday night to see if the Godfather of Soul really could shake those arthritis blues that one would expect to get at the age of 73. Max Beasley joined the stage to accompany Brown on piano for his rendition of Georgia. Unfortunately, he was more clapped out old rusty machine than Sex Machine. As expected, his biggest hit was the closer. It's more the pity that James Brown himself didn't even sing it.
The night didn't pass by without seeing one of my own favourite legends of music. Stood beside me on the footpath clutching his guitar case before the gig was the hurdy gurdy man himself,Donovan, fresh from playing a set in front of a small audience at one of the Roundhouse stages.
tags:[tagname]
Published by Colm.
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