LIVE: My week in gigs... Khamsina, Sofar Sounds, Bastille and Lucy Leave (Sep 2016)

I moved back to uni a week ago today and I've already managed a stretch of four gigs in 6 days. First up on Sunday was a Tigmus show, with local band Khamsina launching their album Everything I Am. I hadn't listened to them before the show but was pretty impressed and it was a lovely evening of folk music to ease myself back into the local scene! I took photos on the evening, a few of which are on the blog Facebook page!

Next up on Tuesday evening was my first Sofar Sounds Oxford since March - I can't believe quite how it's been so long but it's always lovely to see the crew, a really nice bunch of people! When I got the email saying where the show would be (as they're secret venues, announced a couple of days before) I could've cried out with joy as it was in the local independent cinema up the road from me. A gig in a cinema! Definitely as cool as it sounds... 

As we were squeezed in after the early evening film, we had less bands than normal, as there can sometimes be up to five acts, but the three that played, though very different in terms of genre, were received incredibly well. First up was Laurel, an acoustic singer-songwriter originally from Southampton and now based in London. She's got almost twenty thousand likes on Facebook so is clearly doing something right and we were lucky to catch her in this intimate environment. Next up were electro-visual duo Enno and Shalti who made use of the cinema screen, showing visuals alongside their set (which I think they were producing at the time using a programme they'd created.... I can't say I understand in the slightest but it was cool!) Last up were local band The Shapes, a 7-piece band who were glad to be asked to play as they reckon it's hard to get gigs if you're not an 18 year-old hipster. They might have a point. Photos from that night are up on the page here.

On Thursday night I ventured a little further to Kingston, to catch the Bastille album launch show, with Tom Speight supporting. I've been wanting to catch them live for a while and, travel stress aside (don't get me started... who's idea is it to finish shows at half 11 when we're a half hour train out of central London?!), it was a brilliant night! I went along with a friend who lives locally who'd mentioned she'd love to go to another show there so it was a great opportunity when I noticed the ticket and CD bundles on sale. As it was a show for the new album (which just got its second week at number one... no big deal) Dan was quick to say that they'd be trying to play as much of it as possible, and they premiered a lot of the tracks (setlist.fm tells me they played 6 debuts!) so that was pretty special to see, but of course it was also great for them to finish off with just a couple of tracks from the first record (Things We Lost In The Fire and Pompeii), they definitely left the crowd wanting more! Below is a little video of Power being played for the first time.

Last up this week I ran the door for the last night and homecoming show of the Lucy Leave Tigmus tour on Friday night at The Cellar, with three other locals bands on the line-up, Slate Hearts, Holy Moments and Kancho, all of whom were lovely and it made for a grungy, rock-y evening loved by all who came (as displayed by the crazy head banging and dancing.) Of course they had to end on the title track of their recent Fighter Pilot EP, but they squeezed in Carry just before (video below), inviting the Slate Hearts lads to play with them, as they'd toured with them as main support for all dates. It was especially lovely seeing how much fun they were all having up there, and seeing the various bands watching each other's sets throughout the night!

A very busy (but fantastic) week and while I haven't currently got anything planned next week, October is looking very busy which should make up for that (also uni starts up this week so that should probably take some priority...)

LIVE: Neverlnd launch gig at JDP Music Building (22/4/16)

I had a great time last night at my fourth gig of the week, seeing local lads Neverlnd play the stunning (and pretty well hidden) Jacqueline du Pré Music Building in the grounds of St Hilda's College. The show was to relaunch the band, who recently renamed themselves (they used to be Balloon Ascents) and the setlist was awash with their well loved tunes, their two recently released tracks Where Do I Start and We Don't Talk Like We Used To, and a few completely new tracks.

Neverlnd brought their new 'Dot Dot Dot' theme to JDP... 

Support for the show came from Lewis & Leigh, a duo I saw open for Dreaming Spires back in January (and thought that they stole the show, to be honest!) Their stunning harmonies had the crowd mesmerised, and a particular highlight for me was their track Devil's In The Detail, which you can listen to in their Missing Years EP below. 

After a short break, out came Neverlnd. Every time I see these guys play, they impress me more and more, and the experience always feels really communal, with a lot of the band's family, friends, and the Oxford Sofar crew attending the shows. The band continue to get more and more polished with each performance, and the new tracks match the calibre of the old stuff. Judging by what people were saying afterwards, everyone really enjoyed their performance of Aberration, and Cutout remains a favourite of mine (that bass!!) - and No was pretty beautiful, as always (check out a performance of the track at a Sofar Sounds in Reading here.) Also a special shoutout has to go to Ben, who joined the guys onstage playing keys, and did a pretty splendid job.

I took my camera along to the show but, rather amusingly, there was somewhat of a small crowd of photographers hovering in front of the stage, so after some lens issues, I gave in after a while and watched. While a big proportion of my photos are a blurry mess, I've salvaged some and put them in an album on my Flickr here.

Frontman Thomas right at home on the piano

If you're in Oxford, you can catch Neverlnd at the upcoming BBC Introducing 'Uprising' show at O2 Academy Oxford on 20th May (Jonny Payne & The Thunder are also on the line-up!). Information about that show and tickets for it here.

LIVE: Bel Esprit at The Bullingdon (28/2/16)

Enjoyed another gig at Oxford's The Bullingdon last night - but firstly, I want to extend a massive thanks to anyone reading this (particularly if you read my posts regularly, the idea of which is pretty insane), I just reached 200 likes on the Facebook page for the blog (find it here) which you can like to stay up to date when I write a post. Last night was my 15th gig of the year, with Southampton lads Bel Esprit playing a headline gig with support from Elixir, homeplanetearth and Haze.

First up were Haze, who might need some pointers in choosing a setlist to fit 30 minutes as half way through, they noted that they'd played most of their set. They had quite a nice vibe to open the show with, and, noting down some thoughts on my phone during the set to feel like a proper music-journo, I look back now to find little more than 'dancy', which, while it isn't really a word and doesn't help me in writing about their set - does provide a nice summary of their music and the audience's response. Adding in a track to fill up the extra time, which I'm sure was called Bent, I felt a real Arctic Monkeys sound coming through - you can listen to some of their tunes here on Soundcloud, and catch them supporting ALXNDR at the O2 in Oxford on 16th April with the second support from last night, homeplanetearth.

Haze

Having been introduced to homeplanetearth through my placement at Tigmus, who they've played shows for, I was really keen to see them play live. I'd only heard the track Phat Phil (which I love and wrote about here) so I didn't really know what to expect from the set but any expectations I did have were totally surpassed, with Josephine singing some stunning lead vocals (usually takes a lot for female artists to impress me so that's probably quite a compliment!) Following on the trend Haze had set with slowing down time, they also found some extra time in their set for Josephine's brother Thomas to surprise the rest of the band with a track they hadn't planned to play. The track was a chance to hear Thomas's vocals more clearly as it opened with just his guitar and vocals, before the rest of the band joined later, and featured some beautiful harmonies with Josephine (his sister). The show's crowd were mostly friends of the four bands, and there was definitely a lot of love for homeplanetearth during their set! 

homeplanetearth

homeplanetearth

The third support set came from Elixir, who kicked off their set as they meant to go on - loudly. It was interspersed with some nice guitar solos and while the style wasn't really for me, I can't knock the confidence that was oozing off stage! 

 

Last up, and headlining the show, were Bel Esprit. I'd seen them before at one of the first shows I went to after starting university, when I was on the door for a venue at Oxjam Festival in Oxford at the end of 2014. Since then I've been to over 80 shows so couldn't really remember what the band's sound were like (and didn't get a chance to listen to them before the show) but I really enjoyed their set! Their performance was pretty tight and the crowd were loving it, singing back the choruses to tracks such as Island, Detox and Nowhere (available to listen to through Spotify on the Lose My Mind EP.) Compared to the shows I attended at the same venue last week, the crowd was pretty small, but this didn't phase the band who performed, in my opinion, just as they might to a sold out crowd - and the audience were loving every minute, dancing in the way I usually dance in my room but couldn't bring myself to do in public. They definitely brought some fun to Oxford on a school night - a great night of music!

Bel Esprit

Bel Esprit

If you like the shots I've embedded within the post, there's some more from the evening on my Flickr here.

LIVE: Roberto y Juan EP launch at Art Jericho (5/2/16)

Since coming back to Oxford I've already been to some great gigs and last night was no exception. Roberto y Juan (side project of Robin and Jonny of Balloon Ascents) have just released a new EP entitled Monster Love, which you can listen to above and buy digitally through their Bandcamp here for a mere £3 - last night they played a launch show at Art Jericho in Oxford, with Stornoway's Oli Steadman supporting under the moniker of Count Drachma. I'd really been looking forward to seeing Oli perform as Count Drachma, a band which usually consists of his brother too; born and raised in South Africa, they play traditional South African music as well as other tracks translated into Zulu, bringing a refreshing and new style of music to an English audience (you can listen to some of their demos here.)

Count Drachma (Oli Steadman)

Roberto y Juan

The audience was pretty mesmerised for Oli's set, and by the time Robin and Jonny (joined by George of Homeplanetearth, whose single I recently posted about) took to the stage, the room was packed - there was a really nice communal atmosphere with members of various Oxford bands, family and friends waiting in anticipation, a few who I knew already (predominantly through Sofar Sounds Oxford shows), and others who I met for the first time and were all lovely folk! The guys played a fantastic set to showcase their new EP Monster Love, which I am enjoying an awful lot - it is some of the best new music I've heard so far this year! Below is a video of them performing I Used To Relax, from which I've had the "Where did you go?" "I don't know.." refrain stuck in my head for days.

I took my camera along to the show, take a look at more of my photos here.

LIVE: Sofar Sounds Oxford at The Hatch (16/11/15)

With exams and the Christmas break approaching, I went to my last Sofar Sounds show in Oxford for a couple of months last night. It was at a quirky space run by 3Space, a converted Barclays bank which is now used as office space for charities, start-ups etc. The line-up this time included three local acts I'd previously seen: Esther Joy Lane, Liu Bei (Richard Walters solo set) and Little Brother Eli, alongside London based Lowpines. 

Jo has made a handy playlist below with a track from each of the acts who all played brilliant sets. One of my favourite things about Sofar shows is how they can bring together music fans who have come with no idea what they're going to hear, and the line-ups can be pretty varied in terms of genre, but they always seem to come together really well. A particular favourite for me was Liu Bei's Richard Walters, who performed a beautiful solo set and had a great, comical rapport with the audience. Little Brother Eli, who I recently saw play alongside Esther Joy Lane, supporting local band Balloon Ascents, played a more stripped back set, down two members, but frontman Alex retained his charisma and energy, with the band also showcasing some pretty nice harmonies. Esther Joy Lane is creating somewhat of a buzz in the local music scene, with a recent two page feature in Nightshift, Oxford's music magazine. Playing her fairly unique electronic music, in theory, her set should've stuck out like a sore thumb among three acoustic sets, but it worked! Her music isn't what I'd usually listen to, but having seen her twice now, I've enjoyed both sets - take a listen to her track Travelling Light in the playlist below. Opening the night was Lowpines, playing fully unplugged - an idea which he admitted had sounded pretty daunting as he'd miss reverb... but reverb-less guitar aside,  and the fact that it was so quiet I felt guilty taking photos, I loved his set, and definitely approved of the cassettes he was selling at the merch stall - very retro.

It is weird to think it's been a year since I first contacted the Sofar Oxford guys and started taking photos at the shows, I've seen some great live music in really interesting venues and met a bunch of lovely guys - here's to getting along to more shows in 2016! I'm really happy with the shots I got at the show last night, here are a few of them, and a couple more are up on my Flickr here.

Lowpines

Esther Joy Lane

Liu Bei (Richard Walters solo)

Little Brother Eli

LIVE: The Hoosiers at Huntingdon Hall, Worcester (14/11/15)

Saturday night saw me go to my 57th gig of the year (crikey), seeing my favourite band, The Hoosiers, for the 10th time, at Huntingdon Hall in Worcester. The show was particularly special as it was an acoustic gig, with a really respectful, quiet crowd, meaning the sound of the performance carried so well around the venue. I've been wanting to see the guys play an acoustic show for years now, and I saw about it a few months back and noted it was close to Oxford, where I'm at university, and recently decided fairly spontaneously to book a hotel and train tickets (which turned out to be a pretty great decision!)

As the venue was like a theatre, they had a no phones/photos rule, but the band had told the venue that I was coming to take photos, and I was told I could go in the balcony by myself (rather than lingering near the front, as if people saw me taking photos that would encourage them to take photos too). Sadly, I didn't have a lens that was cut out for shooting at that distance but got a few decent, if a tad unclear, photos - I've put some of the best up on my Flickr here.

As the seat I'd been allocated originally was 13 rows back, I was grateful for the superb and clear view that I got of the guys from the balcony, as well as the fact I was up there by myself for most of the set and could sing along to my heart's content! The set itself was stunning, it was certainly worth the wait to see them play acoustically, with them performing a 15 track set including all the hits alongside a few tracks from their latest album, The Secret Service, which they released independently just over a month ago. 

Being in the balcony also meant I could film some of the set - but of course I made an effort to look beyond my phone and enjoy the performance in the moment, simply filming so I'd have the footage to watch back as tokens of the night. The set was actually fairly emotional, with me really happy to finally be seeing the guys play acoustic coupled with the fact I was surprised with a few tracks I hadn't expected to hear, a few of which made me cry quite a bit... but happy tears! The setlist was a little different to usual shows, with the band playing some tracks that they barely get to in the full band, electric set up. A highlight of the new tracks, for me, was (Don't Make) Eye Contact, the first ever live performance of this acoustic track. This was performed just after first album track, A Sadness Runs Through Him, the first time I've seen them perform this track live, and once again - worth the wait entirely. 

A little later in the set, they played another first album track which rarely makes it onto the setlist, Money To Be Made, with Irwin unplugging his guitar and stepping in front of the microphone - a truly live, acoustic, and stunning performance. Returning to the stage following a foot stomping demand for an encore from the audience, Irwin took to the stage alone and began to play my favourite song of the band's, Everything Goes Dark. I'd heard the track a couple of years ago performed electrically, then last month on the band's tour, performed acoustic (but naturally there's a difference between a show of this sort and a show where the crowd are rowdy and anxious for the band to play Goodbye Mr A...) With Sam and Al each joining Irwin on stage separately, the performance gradually built up and was, in short, as superb as I could've hoped for.

Overall (if you haven't guessed so far!) I had such a brilliant night and I'm feeling really lucky to have been there for this really special evening. As always it was lovely to chat to the guys afterwards, they're genuinely some of the nicest guys I know and I can't encourage you enough to go and take a listen of the latest record, and then buy it, of course, to support independent music. And for the record - it wasn't all doom and gloom with me weeping in the balcony... here's a snippet of the outro to Unlikely Hero, with the audience all clapping along, a lot of fun!

For more info on the latest album, The Secret Service, and to purchase it on various formats, look at The Hoosiers official website here. 

LIVE: Jack Savoretti at O2 Academy Oxford (21/10/15)

Last night I went to my 50th show of the year, seeing the absolutely phenomenal Jack Savoretti and his equally talented band (Pedro Vito on guitar, Jesper Lind on drums, John Bird Jr. on bass and Henry Bowers-Broadbent on piano) down the road at Oxford's O2 Academy. The set showcased much of Jack's record Written In Scars, which was released earlier in the year (check out my post about his brilliant instore at HMV Oxford St back in Feb), alongside tracks from his third album, Before The Storm and a few other tracks, including new songs from the re-release of his latest record - the heartbreaking Catapult and incredibly catchy Back Where I Belong.

Though not necessarily playing a set to 'warm up' the crowd, support Max Jury showcased his talent and set the tone of the evening, with his chilling vocals and carefully crafted lyrics. Considering how disrespectful the crowd were (typical of this kind of gig and venue) talking over him, I think he played a great set!

Playing for around 90 minutes, Jack and his band blew my socks off - it was the first time I'd seen him play a proper show and my hopes were well and truly surpassed! Highlights of the set for me were one of my favourite tracks of his, The Other Side Of Love (video above), and a solo performance of his stunning cover of a relatively unknown Bob Dylan track, Nobody 'Cept You. After perusing the merch stand (and parting with some of my student loan... shh) I decided to wait outside to try and meet Jack, and when he came out, he was such a gent, remembering me from when we'd met before and saying how great it was to see me again. I'm not lying when I say he's one of the most talented people I've had the pleasure of seeing live - if you get the chance to see him live (sadly his UK tour finished tonight), definitely take it up, but for now take a listen to the re-released version of his latest record, Written In Scars.

LIVE: My week in gigs (5th - 11th October)

Last week saw my gig tally for the year reach 45 as I took in three shows, first Oxford Sofar Sounds, then Festifeel, and Everything Everything at Under The Bridge.

Always a pleasure to attend and to photograph, this month's Sofar Sounds show in Oxford was a wonderful evening of live music and brilliant company. Held in a primary school hall just out of central Oxford that the team managed to make feel really special - we had Lail Arad, Hattie Briggs and Òkina, alongside Adam Barnes (the first act I've seen at a Sofar show that I've been a fan of beforehand - really loved getting to see him play again, he and his band are incredible artists) and Chris Ayer, who has been playing alongside Adam on his UK tour. Some of my shots from the evening are in the Flickr album below - take a look!

If you're interested in attending a Sofar Sounds show in Oxford (or closer to you - they're held in around 160 cities) get more information and sign up to be informed of shows here, they're really special nights and I'd definitely recommend it!

The second gig of the weekend was Festifeel, a festival curated by Fearne Cotton and in aid of CoppaFeel! (info), a breast cancer awareness charity which has a focus upon encouraging young girls to check their breasts regularly, promoting early detection of the cancer. The festival was held at House Of Vans in London, where I spent a fairly chilled out afternoon with one of my flatmates watching a documentary about the charity's founder, Kris, who discovered she had breast cancer too late and set up the charity to promote awareness - seeing her around on the day was pretty inspiring. We also saw some live comedy and watched some other festival attendees learning to skate, before getting into the midst of the crowd and catching sets from Lucy Rose, Slaves and Everything Everything. Whilst the crowd was quite the opposite of the seated and captive audience of Thursday's Sofar show, and minutes in I was soaked with beer, and being shoved around during Slaves set (hadn't listened to them before but was impressed and knew to expect a rough crowd..) it was a fun evening and Everything Everything blew me away, cue some terrible quality phone photos..

Lucy Rose

Slaves

Everything Everything

On Sunday evening I was lucky enough to see Everything Everything again at an intimate and free show for Q Awards at Under The Bridge, a really lovely venue with great sound snuck away under  Chelsea's Stamford Bridge. Playing a slightly longer set than Saturday night's festival set, and even coming out for an unplanned encore of first album track My Kz, Ur Bf - it was clear that the band were having as great a time as the audience, all beaming with pride to hear the audience singing back tracks from all three of their albums (no mean feat as their lyrics are inherently difficult to grasp.) I've been listening to them for a couple of years now and loved their second record, Arc, but I believe their latest record Get To Heaven is probably one of the top five albums I've ever heard. You can vote for it in the Q Awards category for best album here. 

Up close and personal with Everything Everything last night.

Overall a really fun week of shows, looking forward to seeing The Hoosiers twice this week as well as (as long as I don't get inundated with university work..) Little Mammoths, Frances and Oxjam in Reading or Oxford on Saturday!

LIVE: Adam Barnes at Arts at the Old Fire Station (1/10/15)

Yesterday I went to my 41st (!) gig of the year, Adam Barnes at Arts at the Old Fire Station in Oxford, a hometown, sold out show to mark the start of his UK tour with American soloist Chris Ayer supporting. The tour is to promote Adam's recently released EP One Day We'll Be Fine, which I recently wrote a post on - read that here and you can listen to the EP via iTunes, Spotfiy etc as well as physical CD's on Adam's website.

Adam Barnes at The Old Fire Station

The show last night, in a theatre setting, was a really cosy evening of beautiful live music, set up perfectly by Chris Ayer's support set, which was extended as the local support had to pull out of the show. Setting the tone for the evening, Chris' tracks were mostly pretty emotional - but who doesn't enjoy a bit of depressing acoustic music? 

A particular highlight of the show (for many, probably) was the crowd, who were really respectful and quiet throughout both sets, getting to sing along to Adam's cover of Britney Spears' Hit Me Baby One More Time. Video, complete with cheesy lighting and high pitched singing-along here. The video below is the lead single of the new EP, I Can't Love You Anymore. What was great about the performance was that it sounded really true to the EP, which is so well produced as to keep Adam's vocals as the main focus - which, in an intimate theatre venue with a quiet crowd, was the case for the performance. Overall a night of wonderful company, beautiful harmonies from Adam and his band, and some really talented artists.

Adam plays Norwich tonight - the rest of the UK tour dates and ticket links for the shows, including a show at London's The Social on Wednesday (which unfortunately clashes with the Bake Off final!) are here. 

LIVE: Fred Abbott at The Borderline and The Sea & I at 100 Club (31/7/15)

Fred Abbott at The Borderline.

On Friday I went to London again to see Noah & The Whale guitarist and keyboard player Fred Abbott play his album launch show at The Borderline. During the day I realised that one of my favourite new bands, The Sea & I, were playing a support set at another venue a short walk away. A couple of tweets later and Irwin had put me onto the list for the sold out show as I was sure I could fit both sets in.

Though a bit of a rush between the two venues I'm really glad I caught both sets and seeing The Sea & I last minute was a great surprise. They put in as great an effort in this support set as in their residency headline shows at The Islington that I attended in June. A talented bunch of individuals, they blend together to make a really big, beautiful and unique sound. At recent shows they've been playing some new tracks (those not on their two EPs, one self titled and The Great I Am), and I'm particularly enjoying this track, Harpies. 

After their set I dashed around the corner and got to The Borderline with time to spare before Fred's set. True to the album it was the launch show for, the set was pure rock and roll music at its best, rammed full of guitar solos. I was intrigued to see how Fred would take to the role of frontman, and he seemed incredibly comfortable in front of the packed out hometown crowd. Fred jokingly  said that he doesn't "condone the schoolboy humour" of his backing band's chosen name, The Windbreakers, but their performance was anything but a joke - each helping to bring the album tracks to life to a great (and loud!) degree. Considering it was their first show together under this moniker, and in the absence of Fred's Noah bandmates who played on the record, the band played a really fun set which left the crowd wanting more.

I recorded this video of one of my favourite tracks from the record, Awake, and also took some photos at the show, which I have uploaded to my Flickr here.

You can get Fred's record Serious Poke in most music shops and online now - read my review of the record here.

LIVE: King Charles at Bush Hall (29/7/15)

Yesterday I ventured to London for my first gig in just over a month - and what a gig, seeing one of my favourite artists King Charles play an intimate show at Bush Hall. With a setlist spanning the hits such as Bam Bam, Loveblood, Lady Percy interspersed with tracks from the upcoming second record, and a great crowd singing at the top of their lungs, the show was superb. Then add the fact that producer of the second album, Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons, and Tom Hobden of Noah & The Whale played alongside the band for the whole set, and you've got a pretty epic show. Support came from Londoners Hidden Charms, whose music I hadn't had chance to listen to before the show but I was really impressed by their energy (and scared the stage might break) and found elements of The Black Keys in their live sound. 

A couple of weeks ago I had actually tweeted saying I hoped that Marcus and Tom would perform at the show (called it!), and these additions, as well as how much the band and crowd were enjoying the show, made it my favourite King Charles show and one of the best gigs I've been to. A particular highlight was the closing track, Lady Of The River. A 'new' song, the track really has it roots back when Charles was touring the US with Mumford, and seeing them perform it together was a great experience. 

A new version of old track Tomorrow's Fool was another highlight of the show for me, as well as a beautiful Charles and Marcus duet of Beating Hearts, performing the slower version of the track that features in some Youtube sessions (such as this) compared to the more upbeat album version. I had heard all but one of the new tracks on his recent 28 show February tour, and they were as great as I remember, with Bright Thing certainly standing out. The calibre of the new material is really high and with Marcus producing the record I only have high hopes and can't wait for it to be released, most likely some time at the beginning of next year. 

Overall the gig was fantastic and it was great to see everyone again, with Charles' band and team being some of the most welcoming people I know - and also to meet a lot of his fans who I know through social media. Always love chatting to Charles, and especially lovely meeting Marcus Mumford to top off a great evening!

LIVE: Matt Owens & The DVP at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen (18/6/15)

On Thursday I went to London for the day with my mum (for my birthday which was yesterday), mostly to see the superb Matt Owens and his band The Delusional Vanity Project. The show was the launch of Matt's solo record, Songs For An Empty Room, a slight departure from his work as a  founding member of Noah & The Whale, but brilliant in its own right - read my review of the record here.

The show was at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen and after walking in the opposite direction to the venue for a while we were lucky to get there just in time for opening act Tom Figgins, who played solo and also plays as part of Matt's band. Playing to a fairly small offering of people, most of whom made up Matt's band, Tom put in a lively performance regardless, and really won me over with his solo tracks. Check out this performance of his track Let Your Roots Grow.

The second support set was from Stratford-upon-Avon band My Grey Horse. I had taken a listen to their latest EP online before the show and had enjoyed it. Whilst I can't remember much about the set apart from that there was a lot of clapping, it was great and I certainly remember liking it enough to take a punt on the band's album I Still Don't Understand at the merch stall. Having since listened to it a couple of times I'm loving the record and would recommend it (sadly no idea what to compare it to!) You can order physical copies of the album here on the band's store.

The bar's gig room having filled up, it was time for Matt's set. As with the other times I've seen the band play lately, the performance was highly fuelled and a showcase of the talents of the individual members of the ensemble. For instance, the band features Matt's Noah bandmate Fred Abbott on keys, who is also working on a solo record, Serious Poke, out late July. Above is a video I got of the band performing one of my favourite tracks of the record, Jack Does Hollywood, which is a sort of rough rock track about channelling Jack the Ripper and going on a killing spree in Hollywood... It was a really fun evening, by the end of the set a mass of the crowd had broke into dance, which culminated in this vine!

To gain more experience shooting gigs I took my camera along, I got the below shot when trying out  the settings from the crowd, and you can view some more of my photos of Matt's set here.

Playing a UK tour of sorts and constantly booking new shows to promote the record, you can catch Matt at various shows in London, as well as in Leeds, Manchester and Brighton. All dates and ticket/RSVP info on his website here.

LIVE: The Sea & I at The Islington (11/6/15)

On Thursday evening I saw The Sea & I live at The Islington in London... after spending the day in London with a friend from home being complete tourists and walking around far too much. Arriving at the venue fashionably early it was nice to hear a snippet of the bands sound-checking, and to grab a quick chat with Irwin and Paul from the band, before waiting around for doors to open.

The first support was a guy going by the name Privacy, who played a cracking set that reminded me of Fryars. Standing on stage with his keyboard and prone-to-rebooting-halfway-through-a-song MacBook, his stage banter made the set a great open to the evening. This glitchy, slow-paced set was followed by the loud rock tunes of Harry Mundy & The Mules, who oozed energy throughout their set. 

As expected, the headliners, The Sea & I, were superb. Having seen them previously at the same venue backed up by London Contemporary Voices and London Chamber Brass, you might expect the sound to feel small in comparison; the truth is anything but. It's honestly such an honour to see them playing live, being one of my favourite bands at the minute, making some of the best (in my opinion) music around currently. Their two EPs (find them on iTunes/soundcloud or buy them both on a CD through the band's store here) contain some of my favourite tracks, and retain their charm and brilliance when performed live. It's particularly nice to see that Stephanie O'Brien is performing violin with the band, as the strings on the EPs are certainly a highlight for me. 

I took some photos at the show, but my camera struggled to cope with the low/red lighting of the venue, so they all turned out quite blurry, but I've salvaged a few and put them on my Flickr here. 

I also recorded the band performing the title track from their latest EP, The Great I Am, which they recently released an official video for. Aside from train delays after a frantic rush to the station after the gig, it was all in all a superb evening and I highly recommend getting along to the band's next gig at The Islington on 25th June (tickets here.) 

LIVE: The Hoosiers at MK11 (4/6/15)

A few days ago I went to my first gig since being home from university - and who better than my favourite band, The Hoosiers, in a bar seemingly in the middle of nowhere just outside the centre of Milton Keynes. If you're not familiar with the band's new music then you'll probably know of their hits Goodbye Mr A, Cops & Robbers and Worried About Ray. They've been my favourite band for a while now, and they were my first proper gig just over 4 years ago. I've been thinking lately about how much the band has had an impact on my life, it's pretty cliché but true.. I've made a lot of friends and connections through the band, and at that first gig of theirs that I went to, Sam Beeton was supporting, through whom I've had many great experiences and met a bunch of great people. As the first band that I was ever really passionate about, they've probably had an effect on my aspirations to work in music too, which is pretty cool to think about. 

One member down, the band put on a great performance regardless, with the keys player Sam Swallow playing the bass parts through his keyboard. Naturally the dynamic of the band felt lacking to an extent as Irwin Sparkes (lead vocals and guitar) and Martin Skarendahl (bass) often play and bounce off one another, but the performance certainly wasn't lacking in energy, with Irwin getting into the crowd for the end of track Made To Measure (video.) Being just over a year since I'd last saw the band, when they were touring their latest, self-released record, The News From Nowhere, it was interesting to see how some of the newer tracks had developed live. Sadly though, the set was incredibly short and thus mostly featured the hit tracks from the band's first record. Nevertheless it was a great night and it was fantastic to chat to the band afterwards, and with a new album supposedly in the pipeline for later in the year, hopefully it won't be too long before I get to see the band again - and to post about new music on here!

As I'm getting into photography again and trying to gain experience taking photos at gigs, I snapped up the opportunity to take my camera along to the gig and shoot my favourite band, a couple of the shots, including one of the support band, The Sons, are below, with some more on my Flickr account here. 

Source: Megan Seekings

Source: Megan Seekings

LIVE: Matt Owens & The Delusional Vanity Project at Notting Hill Arts Club (20/5/15)

I'd apologise for the large outburst of Matt Owens related posts lately... but he's one of my best recent musical discoveries and I'm pretty excited about sharing his music with you. A few days ago I had my final exam of the semester and finished my first year of uni, so I decided to spend my last evening before moving home in London seeing Matt and his band The Delusional Vanity Project again. I love Matt's record Songs For An Empty Room (which I recently reviewed here) for its diversity in style, brilliant lyrics and true to live sound, as it was recorded over a couple of days - and this all comes across in their live shows, where the fact that the band is comprised of incredibly experienced musicians is also prevalent. Being a relatively new project and having played a limited number of gigs as TDVP, the band are tight and sounding brilliant. Having seen them four times in a month in various different venues around London, with a slightly different line-up each time, I can reliably say that this post-Noah & The Whale project is superb and I can't urge you enough to go along to one of the upcoming shows, with various London and Ireland dates (many of which are free - what excuse do you need?!) on Matt's site here.

The set on Wednesday evening felt slightly stripped back as a four piece band, but it remained energetic and comprised of tracks from the album, including particular favourites of mine, The Harbour In Kinsale (live video from another gig) and Get Me Back To Austin, and was ended with an encore cover of the The Band track, The Weight, which I recorded below.

I took my camera along to the show to get more experience of shooting in a small venue, and got the shot below which I'm pretty chuffed with. My other shots from the evening are in an album on Flickr here.

Source: Megan Seekings

LIVE: Matt Owens & The Delusional Vanity Project at Effra Social (14/5/15)

I went along to see Matt Owens and his band The Delusional Vanity Project again last night at Effra Social in Brixton. Took my camera along but as both the above video and one of my shots from the evening below show, the lighting was pretty dreadful so I quit whilst I was ahead. But who needs to see anything when it sounds as good as this? After travel delays I was glad to arrive in time for Tom Figgins' impressive solo support set, after which he joined the rest of the band shortly after for a set comprising of tracks from Matt's solo record, before turning to impromptu covers including a pretty fun performance of Johnny B. Goode. The guys are some of the nicest people I've had the pleasure of meeting and was lovely to see them again and get to chat - certainly recommend getting along to a gig as they continue to play London shows, and an Irish tour at the end of May (dates: http://www.mattowensmusic.com/tour-dates/).

See my review of Matt's solo record, Songs For An Empty Room, here.

Source: Megan Seekings

WATCH: Balloon Ascents - 'Cutout'

Check out this new video from Balloon Ascents for their track Cutout. It's a pretty nice track with a really brilliant bassline, from the talented local band who are causing quite a stir already in both the local and national music scenes, with the Oxford Times labelling them as 'terrifyingly talented'. I saw them play at a Sofar Sounds gig earlier in the year, as well as an impressive stripped back set at Truck Store recently. Last week I saw them play a set at the O2 Academy Oxford on May Day, where I had my first ever photo pass for a 'proper' gig. The lighting at the gig wasn't that helpful, but I managed to salvage some shots and put a few up on my Flickr here. 

The band's self-titled four track EP released earlier this year is available on iTunes and features Cutout as well as a personal favourite, The Only One. 

LIVE: Sofar Sounds at 3Space Oxford (17/4/15)

Source: Megan Seekings

Very cool to have had my photos from the last Sofar Sounds show shared by the venue which hosted us on their blog here: http://3spaceoxford.tumblr.com/post/11717895981. We had a brilliant evening of live music from Rex Domino, Bellatrix, Dizraeli and The Slow Show.

LIVE: Communion New Faces tour (24/4/15)

Source: Megan Seekings

I’ve recently rediscovered my love for photography, and have been taking photos at the local Sofar Sounds shows. I am keen to gain more experience with gig photography so I took my camera along to the Communion New Faces show in Oxford on Friday evening. It was a brilliant evening seeing a range of new talent in the form of Frances, Tenterhook, Charlotte OC and Freddie Dickson - an indicator of the calibre of these nights is that the last tour had Amber Run, Kimberly Anne, Fyfe and Pixel Fix on the bill, who are all now going from strength to strength with tours, albums and the like. I’m pretty chuffed with how my shots from the evening turned out, and you can see them all in an album on my Flickr here.

LISTEN: Sam Beeton - 'Belong'

The “incredible” Sam Beeton got the first radio play of his new track Belong on his local BBC Introducing earlier. Take a listen here at just after 12 minutes. His debut album, In The Yard, is out on the 23rd of this month digitally, and a week later on the 30th on CD and vinyl!

Love this shot I got of Sam on a photoshoot we had together a couple of years ago for a coursework project I was completing at the time. Hoping to get an opportunity to shoot with Sam again soon!