Ellen & The Escapades – The Railway, Winchester 09-11-11

Support: Matt Isaac, Vikram Singh and Stuart Blakeledge

Reading back through this, it turns out I’ve written a good 2 or three paragraphs of crap before getting to the important bit. Probably best if you skip that and start just somewhere around paragraph 6.

The fact I am writing again after a bit of a hiatus will probably tell you that I have something particularly worth writing about. You won’t have noticed that I’ve been on hiatus, which I why I’ve just said it, and you probably don’t care, but the point is, something either amazing or awful has crossed my path in recent times.

This was not the band I was planning to see on Wednesday night. In fact, I didn’t really know who I was seeing, or even if I’d be in Winchester.

I came down to see a friend of my girlfriend’s house-mate (When these connections bring you to places you wouldn’t otherwise have been they seem to become that much more significant) play at The Railway, a venue which has changed quite a bit since my friends used to play there during my college days.

Ellen & the Escapades hail from Leeds and a little bit of the research I have done since suggests they aren’t as obscure as I had previously believed (purely on the basis that none of us had heard of them, I will eventually stop inflating the worth of my own opinion/knowledge… one day!). In fact they have played at the Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds festivals and have been spotted by BBC Radio 1 , so there has certainly been some exposure and they are currently on a tour of the UK.

Anyway, that stuff is pretty irrelevant to the actual gig…

I don’t know if you have ever been to a gig or concert where you haven’t heard of the artists playing, or without even knowing the style of music? The bands playing were all generally folk biased and although the quality was there, it’s not normally my scene, so it was one of those evenings where I was appreciating what I was hearing without ever finding myself particularly involved. I didn’t really expect much to change when Ellen and some Escapades took to the stage, with some vague suggestion of wondering back home being floated amongst the group of us. Then…

The music started and Ellen simultaneously opened her mouth; my jaw dropped and I felt myself suddenly transfixed. She has one of those ridiculously amazing voices that just completely doesn’t belong on a mortal human. The kind of voice that made the likes Sinaed O’Connor or Stevie Nicks so special and so incredibly timeless, not that they offer a perfect comparison. When you read posters and reviews, the reviewers cleverly manage to throw in a few words and phrases to allow a snipped to be added to subsequent publicity. I’m not capable of that and my reviews would not look particularly impressive on publicity anyway, but I do kindof have one of those sentences for you, because for once, it’s appropriate… ‘Ellen and The Escapades offer a welcome change of pace from today’s pop music. Ellen, with a beautiful, haunting, effortless and almost visceral voice is enough to melt the coldest of hearts is ably supported by the rest of the band.’

The opening song, if memory serves (I don’t know many of them!) Was ‘Yours To Keep’ and of the 4 on their EP is my personal favourite. Musically there is a hint of Damien Rice and vocally, well, what else can I say really, it was this song that had me immediately hooked. It’s a more mellow number, which was followed up by a well mixed set of more bouncy and upbeat numbers, together with some of the slower numbers that burrow into you, tear out your emotions and smear them all over your face for the whole world to see.

With clear pop, folk and rock influences, Ellen & the Escapades are the type of band you would assume could easily slip into the public consciousness and help to bring music back from a dubstep induced implosion.

I have just learned that they will be playing in Guildford (my home-town) on 23rd November, right in the middle of my trip to Vegas. I am genuinely upset I won’t get to see them. But you can be pretty certain that the next time they are down south, you’ll find me there, probably stood in a mesmerized stupor (maybe even leaning against someone and dribbling) until they leave me, once again, pining.

5/5

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Find them here and listen, lots: –

www.ellenandtheescapades.com
www.myspace.com/ellenandtheescapades
www.facebook.com/ellenandtheescapades
www.twitter.com/ellenescapades

You Me At Six – Brixton Academy 15-10-11

Support: Lower Than Atlantis and Deaf Havana

I don’t really know how to review a gig, because I tend to come out with a strong emotion but very little in the way of coherent thought. For example, when I stepped out of Camden Roundhouse this year having seen Taking Back Sunday (one of the few bands on my ‘I need to see them immediately-right-now-yesterday-thank-you-please’  list) I had a strong feeling of disappointment over what was ultimately a very average show in a largely unsuitable venue. Conversely, when I stepped out of Incubus (a band I have seen more than any other, by some margin) at Kentish Town Forum more recently this year, I stepped out with a sense of absolute happiness, with them having played plenty of my old favourites at an unusually small venue.

I rather like Brixton Academy. With The Astoria gone, it’s one of the few traditional mid-sized venues left and it’s got a big sloping floor, so no matter where you stand you can usually find a good view.

So, precursor done, perhaps the most honest thing I can say about this is that when I left this concert I was as happy as I’ve been in a long time (that’s not to say I’m a sad person, far from it) and I was absolutely gagging for more.

You Me At Six are one of those bands I just want to do well, probably because I love their music, but they seem so genuine, hard working and talented that they just deserve any success that comes their way. They are also from Weybridge, a town I lived in for a while and not the sort of place you’d immediately expect a rock band to come from! The support from Deaf Havana was also really good although I don’t know their music really, it was obviously ideal for You Me At Six, I didn’t really hear Lower Than Atlantis because I was queuing and buying a t-shirt! (Support your favourite rock bands by buying their shit!)

Set List

• The Consequence
• Jaws On The Floor
• Safer To Hate Her
• Save It For The Bedroom
• Liquid Confidence
• Trophy Eyes
• Contagious Chemistry
• Bite My Tongue
• Playing The Blame Game
• Fireworks
• Little Death
• Tigers And Sharks

Encore

• Loverboy
• Stay With Me
• Underdog

All in all a good set with some bouncy tunes, a great performance and a good atmosphere. Despite having one foot in the commercial music side of things (You’ll notice how their music has changed if you find ‘Noises’ on You Tube, a cracking song which could happily be given some more live outings) You Me At Six put on a proper rock music show. Which is a testament to their general appeal really, because the crowd is largely Female (and probably teenaged, justifying previous comments thrown at me that I listen to teenage girl music). But that really isn’t true. There was a hint of screamo during the show and you’ll find some more on the new album.

So yeah, you can probably see that there is a decent mix and not too many songs from the new album, although that was a bit of a shame for me because I’ve been listening to it almost non-stop since it came out. They also played Tigers & Sharks, which is a personal favourite, so that kept me happy!

What else can I tell you? Well, I can tell you that although you’ve missed out, because this was the last show of the tour before they fly out to America, You Me At Six, have today announced a new tour next year, the dates being as follows: –

March

17th  Leicester, O2 Academy
18th  Nottingham, Rock City
20th  Bournemouth, O2 Academy
21st  Yeovil, Westland Centre
23rd  Cardiff, The Great Hall
24th  Liverpool, University
25th  Newcastle, Academy
27th  Glasgow, SECC Hall 3
28th  Manchester, O2 Apollo 3

April

1st  Birmingham, Ballroom
2nd  London, O2 Brixton Academy

Josh mentioned last night that they’d be doing 2 shows at Brixton, so expect a second date to be announced when sales for the first go well. This tour is a full tour in support of the new album Sinners Never Sleep, so you can probably expect a few more songs of that album in the set, which also means you need to buy it and listen to it immediately!

4.5/5

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Paramore ‘Monster’

Paramore - Monster

I rather like it.

That is all.

Ok, smart arse, it’s not all. I wanted it to be all, when I posted it, it was all, but then I wanted to say more, I had opinions, not clever well formed ones, just little ones, that needed to come out…

1. I think Hayley looks hot in this video, even if the tattoo on her thigh is a bit silly.
2. I thought Paramore might turn rubbish when the Farro brothers left, but it seems they have almost stepped back to the really good days, before they went all commercial on our asses. Good times.
3. The video is a bit boring, I don’t understand the water, but Hayley is hot, so maybe it is to cool her down?
4. Where are the drum noises coming from? There is no drummer! :-p
5. I still don’t think I can see them live again now their fans are all little screaming girls.
6. Do you think Hayley Williams would consider having my babies?
7. If all of their next record is as good as this song my Paramore love might just come back a little bit. 4/5