The BnB gig/music review thread!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 09 Mar 2006, 09:55

Hey,

The Bootleg Beatles - 5/5

Wow - I thought this group were good (you don't get to be the most famous tribute band to one of the greatest groups ever without being any good) but I didnt realise just how good. The songs were bang on (really sound like the CDs I have) from the early stuff like She Loves You, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, to I Feel Fine to All You Need Is Love and beyond.
In the 1st half the audience (which was sold out) was probably nervous

We all sat down and "listened" - "Paul" did a superb job on Blackbird and Yesterday. But by the 2nd half everyone joined in

The 2nd half opened with a costumed Sergeant Pepper (like Live 8 ) which was fun, and then moved on to Yellow Submarine, which IMO is naff and is widely recognised as one of the Beatles worst songs BUT it's a good singalong song and is really for children.

They followed that up with Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool on The Hill and Get Back (which we got up for), Here Comes The Sun, and of course Hey Jude - in some ways perfect for a live show because of the singalong na-na-na happy-clappy bit.
Interestingly when Get Back was being played I was reminded of the parody "Get Up and Go" from the film All You Need Is Cash, which is both a spot on parody and a loving tribute.
The banter was good too - in the 2nd half for no reason the band launched into "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees then said "Oops sorry.. wrong band!"

Maybe you had to be there.

Another moment was when "John" started to play "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" - "So this is Christmas.... wait a minute its' March or something isnt it?"

Then "John" came out and did an encore of "Imagine" after "Hey Jude".
I loved it - what a fantastic show

Awesome fun.

Mordib · Post by **Mordib** » 09 Mar 2006, 10:06

very nice. so where did this take place??

EDIT (and yes I have just totally changed the post title

)

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 09 Mar 2006, 10:17

No worries.
It was in a small theatre venue called The Alban Arena in my home town of St. Albans

Mordib · Post by **Mordib** » 09 Mar 2006, 11:23

so a sit down gig??

and my input -

The Dresden Dolls have been one of my favorite bands for sometime, but their playlist time was in the past been distinctly lacking, due in part to the low production values on their first album making repetitive listening a bit of a chore.

Their new album 'Yes, Virginia' whilst still retaining the originality and flair of their earlier stuff adds a whole new layer smoothness, i've had the entire album on loop now for a couple of days with no signs of boredom setting in.

Bonobo was another new addition to my collectin this week, real chill out stuff perfect for winding down to after a hard days work.Similar to Sigur Rós in feel with the occasional creepiness found in some of the more main stream Aphex Twin

Finally there has been the new album from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 'show your bones' which as with the Dresdon Dolls album is showing much higher production than their previous efforts without losing any of the appeal. Not quite as high re-listen value as the other two simply because Karen O's singing style is a bit caustic but still an A+ effort.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 09 Mar 2006, 11:45

Yeah, really a sit down affair but everyone was encouraged to get up, sing along, clap etc

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 17 Mar 2006, 14:22

Not really music but...

Joseph - The Alban Arena, 16 March 2006

Went to see a production of Joseph (And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) last night in St. Albans. Not sure if was a London production but the quality was very good and it was certainly professional.
Loved the show, the songs are great - from the singalong classic Any Dream Will Do, and the atmospheric Caanan Days, to the powerful Close Every Door.

I felt the guy playing Joseph could have been better though, he didnt have the most pleasant voice when singing quietly but was better when singing loudly (Close Every Door demonstrated this). Thats not to say he was a "bad" singer, far from it, he just had "something" about him.
I loved the Elvis-like Pharoah character - brilliant!

Was there an Elvis when the show was originally performed? I ask because the song he did was "Elvis-like" but of course not real Elvis, maybe it infringed copyright (after all, when Joseph was first performed in 1968, Elvis was still alive).
The dancing was good, I liked the fun props like the "talking" Sphinx too

What a great show - fantastic fun

4.5/5

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:23

Bjorn Again - Taking The Piste tour - 4.25/5 - 4.5/5

Very famous ABBA ribute act (from Oz)

Awesome fun, and very good.

They mostly played the "hit" songs but there were a few I didn't know (Last Summer, When I Kissed The Teacher etc), there was even time to include a Police riff (the ending of "Message In A Bottle" was stuck on the end of SOS) and a singalong of 3 chord Quo classic Rickin' All Over The World

Ripe for audience participation so some of the sadder, more heartfelt pieces weren't there but the happier ones (Dancing Queen etc) were all there.

Great fun

Agnetha (the blonde one) was gorgeous in her day.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 02 Dec 2006, 02:52

I saw a band once.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Dec 2006, 08:50

What band?

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 02 Dec 2006, 14:14

Elastic.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Dec 2006, 17:00

I have heard of Elastica, but not Elastic.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 02 Dec 2006, 17:45

Haha I was just being silly. I've seen countless bands, but the best ones I've seen are Don Caballero, Battles, Melt-Banana (which Khanate were supporting... awful), Rolo Tomassi, Playing Enemy (ex-Botch), Dartz!, Detwiije, Malkovich, Eiger. I don't go to festivals or anything like commerical concerts etc so most of you probably haven't even heard of these bands.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Dec 2006, 17:53

You're right I havent heard of any of those bands

Glad you enjoyed them

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 02 Dec 2006, 17:54

DARTZ! are getting pretty big in this country now, so I reckon you might hear them sometime next year.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 03 Dec 2006, 00:14

grim_tales wrote:I have heard of Elastica, but not Elastic.

Think about it.