other lives. live.

who: other lives

when: 30 october 2011

where: deaf institute, manchester, uk

support: air castles, young galaxy

how can you immediately tell if a band is british or american? exactly - when they say “cheers”, they´re probably british. so it was rather easy to tell that other lives are in fact american which is something i knew before but it was nice to hear them say “thank you very much” after attending four gigs by british bands.

it was the first time i went to the deaf institute in manchester. heard a lot of good things about it and they pretty much all proved to be right. the deaf institute is a nice little venue for small and intimate gigs. the only thing that had me worry a little was the fact that the music hall is situated above the restaurant instead of the basement. depending on the music on stage, i´m sure i´d feel a little queasy being upstairs.

london based trio air castles kicked off the night. formed by lead singer max mansson in 2008, they were invited to play the bbc introducing stage at glastonbury this year. mansson was joined by luke south on guitar and jonathan rogers on drums. their sound is usually described as indie-pop but i honestly think manssons voice kind of refutes this. the drums were too loud to hear him properly. from what i´ve heard though, i think their music is neither indie (mostly because of manssons voice which is too "soft" for indie) nor pop (the guitars sound too heavy). maybe it´s just the live impression though. i´m still having a hard time placing their music.

up next was canadian band young galaxy. dressed completely in white, except for lead singer catherine mccandless, they played a great 7 song set of some of the best dance-pop tunes i´ve heard in a long time. their music has a little indie edge to it but that makes their sound even more perfect for a club night out. originally from montreal, young galaxy consists of stephen ramsay, catherine mccandless, stephen kamp, matthew shapiro and andrea silver on drums. they already released two eps and three albums, the latest one called “shapeshifting”. their sound has something mesmerising that immediately gets you dancing. if you´re looking for some great music for your next house party,  make sure to get some young galaxy lps.

i should probably mention that this was not really an other lives gig with two support acts. the event was advertised as a double bill including young galaxy and other lives, but it certainly felt like the majority of people was there to see other lives. i was having a little paranoid moment when lots of people left the music hall after the young galaxy set but they probably just went outside for a smoke or something. by the time other lives finally came on stage, the venue was packed.

i first saw, or better heard, other lives in august when they played in the haldern pop bar as part of the 28^th haldern pop festival. we arrived too late, so we only got to peek through the open window. what i heard though absolutely impressed me, so it was no surprise that i bought their debut album after their acoustic gig. when i found out they´re coming to manchester, i got myself a ticket and could barely wait to “properly” see one of their gigs.

but what other lives presented last night was truly beyond what i expected. much to my surprise, they managed to fit all of their instruments on the rather small stage (which probably wasn´t that big a challenge for them since they played at the deaf institute before). all five members play several instruments, especially jonathon mooney who seemed to be some sort of multitasking expert playing piano, electric guitar, trumpet, glockenspiel and violin. but the other four certainly knew how to impress as well: josh onstott on bass, percussions and organ, jenny hsu on cello and violin, colby owens on drums and clarinet and lead-singer jesse tabish on acoustic guitar and piano.

their music has so many different sides to it that it´s hard to categorise them. it´s probably mostly folk but with a dark twist, so you can´t deny the alternative, country-rock edge it also has. it is definitely this mixture of many genres that makes them so special. stating the obvious, but jesse´s voice and the gorgeous backing vocals by jenny and josh certainly contribute to the uniqueness that forms the wonderful other lives sound.

other lives released their self-titled debut album back in 2009. coming from stillwater, oklahoma, they released their second album "tamer animals" in america in may this year and later on in august in the uk and europe as well. they played a stunning set of 11 songs (if i counted right) taken from both albums. the setlist included “dark horse”, “for 12”, “old statues”, “as i lay my head down” and many more. the audience´s favourite seemed to be the title track of the new album whereas my absolute highlight was jesse performing “black tables” on his own. haven´t seen his voice shine like this before – absolutely beautiful. however the crowd was really appreciative in every way, applauding and whistling loudly after each song.

if you ever have the chance to catch them live, be sure to buy tickets and see them, otherwise you´ll be sorry later for sure. i´ll be the first person to get a ticket as soon as they announce another show in manchester. thanks again to other lives for an absolutely amazing performance. last night was just one of the best ones so far and i can´t wait for another night like this. other lives might just be one of the best bands out there at this point – no doubt about that.

 Other Lives

 Jenny Hsu

 josh onstott

 colby owens

 jesse tabish

 jonathon mooney

ash. live.

who: ash

when: 23 october 2011

where: hmv ritz, manchester, uk

support: the virginmarys, futures

when my friend jo asked me if i wanted to come along to the ash concert in manchester, i said yes without actually knowing what i had said yes to. i didn´t bother checking them out either because i thought i might as well let them surprise me instead. the only thing jo told me was that ash were big in the late 90s. i´ve heard of them before but wasn´t really familiar with their music. so yes, i had absolutely no idea what i agreed to and that night sure was not really what i thought it was going to be.

after an hour of queuing in the freezing cold outside of the hmv ritz, the doors finally opened around 7 pm. we went in and managed to get a front row spot pretty much right in front of the middle of the stage. everything seemed ok, except for the floors. it felt like our shoes were glued to the floor. someone please clean the floors before i´m back in february. sorry, but it had to be said.

up first were the virginmarys, a 3-piece rock band from macclesfield. despite the fact that the beatles is the favourite band of two band members, their sound certainly isn´t anything like that. the virginmarys have this irresistible 90s charme that only nirvana had. and in fact, their sound is similar to nirvana. especially bassist matt rose reminded me a lot of the grunge rock era of the early 90s and lead singer ally dickaty delivered the fitting guitar sounds. but drummer danny dolan impressed me the most. i don´t think i´ve ever seen anyone so full of energy while playing an instrument. what he delivered during their set was simply brilliant. hands down for that. there was quite a bit of singing going on in the audience as well, so i guess there were probably some people who were only there to see them. if you are a fan of nirvana or skin yard - do yourself a favour and check out the virginmarys.

 danny dolan (drums) and matt rose (bass) of the virginmarys

 matt dickaty of the virginmarys

the second support act was futures. originally a 4-piece indie-rock (if you ask me) band, they were temporarily joined by two more gentlemen on stage. admitting that their music was more the kind of thing that i usually listen to, they didn´t win me over. with some songs being more rock while others were more indie-pop, their set was certainly varied but that was about it. maybe it was just bad luck that they had to follow the virginmarys, i´m not quite sure. will have to check out more in order to make up my mind.

 lead singer of futures

by the time ash, including charlotte hatherley, finally came on stage, the nicest security guy ever already gave us the drumsticks from the virginmarys, my ears were basically already bleeding and i had a bad (or good?) feeling that this sure wasn´t it yet. a few minutes later, i was proved right.

the tour was basically called “´free all angels´ plus hits”, so as expected ash performed the entire number one album “free all angels”, while “burn baby burn” seemed to be everyone´s favourite. the moshing was still at a minimum at that point but of course it didn´t continue like this.

when people try to categorise ash and their music, people often describe them as a mix between indie-rock and punk, and i think i agree. again, their sound isn´t really the kind of thing you´d find on my ipod but i was positively surprised. after playing “free all angels” (which is a 13 track long album), they left the stage only to come back and perform an 8 (!) song encore. now that´s certainly something you don´t find every day. and as if this wasn´t enough, after leaving the stage a second time, they played another 2 song encore which brings their set to a whopping 23 songs.

people went absolutely crazy pretty much during the entire show. our front row spot was probably not the best one if you wanted to avoid the serious moshing (my arms still hurt almost a week later) and people actually yelling (not singing) the song lyrics in your ears, but i guess that was part of the charm of the night and definitely an experience.

tim wheeler´s energetic vocals, mark hamilton´s unique bass play and charlotte hatherley´s stunning backing vocals and amazing guitar sounds mixed with rick mcmurray´s simply astonishing drums, made this night an extremely loud one. nevertheless the high volume of their music did not overshadow the well-structured compositions. they certainly have my respect for putting on one hell of a show, especially the rhythm section – they absolutely killed it.

i came with no expectations and left with a valuable lesson learned: never judge too quickly, even if you think the music might not be something you´d like.

 charlotte hatherley

mark hamilton

tim wheeler

*photos of ash and futures were taken in manchester,  

photos of the virginmarys were taken in bristol (thanks to jo)*

ahab. live.

who: ahab

where: band on the wall, manchester, uk

when: 21 october 2011

about four months ago, i first stumbled across songs from the shed. the list of bands/musicians jon can show off by now, is more than spectacular. after spending endless hours looking through pretty much all the shed sessions, i came across ahab. they were so impressive that i knew i had to see them live. so once i knew for sure that i´d be leaving germany for good and move to manchester, i got myself a ticket to see ahab at band on the wall.

it was not only the first time i´ve seen ahab live, but also the first time i´ve been to band on the wall. if you´ve ever been to the kesselhaus kulturbrauerei in berlin, just imagine that venue about three or four times smaller and you´ve got band on the wall. it´s a great venue for such small and intimate gigs and the friendly staff sure made it even nicer.

it was a night of firsts – not only for me but also for the band as this was the first gig they´ve played in central manchester. quite a few people in the audience have seen ahab before though which is why i got the impression that this gig was some sort of insider tip. 

 ahab

ahab delivered a wonderful 14 track long set (+ a one song encore), including “lightning bug”, “like roses”, “joanna”, my personal favourite “run me down” and lots more. in contrast to their shed session where it was basically just two guitars, a mandolin and a bass, they were joined by a fifth gentleman on drums for this gig. a lot of instrument swapping was going on nevertheless which just proved that they certainly are a very talented bunch of musicians with everyone playing several instruments. perhaps even a ben howard could still learn something from these guys.

every time i listen to ahab, i feel like i´m back in america. once you´ve lived there for quite a while, you definitely had to deal with country music at some point. so did i of course but up until today i think you have to find the thin line between folk and country music, because they´re simply not the same (even though a lot of people think that). especially when you think about the difference between those two, it´s hard to place ahab somewhere in there. i would simply put them pretty much right between folk and country, leaning a little more towards folk. why? country only because of the sound, folk because of the sound, the lyrics and the stunning vocals.

because in the end it´s not necessarily just the instruments that make their music special, it´s their voices. their songs are great on record, i´m absolutely in love with their shed session but what they delivered here in manchester was simply beyond amazing. i didn´t expect them to top the stuff i already knew, somehow they managed to do that though. the wonderful two-, three- and four-part harmonies are incredible and no offence to some of other bands i saw live who are doing the same thing (like stornoway or dry the river), but there is no way they can compare to ahab.

you know the feeling when you´re attending a concert and this strong feeling of pure joy is building up inside of you that you just can´t stop smiling and are close to tears, just because you´re so happy right there in this moment? i really have no words to describe this and i don´t remember the last time i felt this way at a concert (except for stornoway in july perhaps). bands like ahab make me leave their gigs with the urge to pick up my guitar and get playing as soon as i´m back home.

lots of swearing was going on during the gig (only in a good way of course), more or less drunk girls were dancing (surprisingly able to stand up on their heels) when everyone else was too shy to dance and i even had to sit down for a moment but there was no way i could deny a nice lady a good picture of dave. she walked up to the side of the room where i was standing and tried to take a picture when dave was playing the keyboard, but i was standing in her way. when she smiled at me and whispered “i have a thing for dave!”, there was simply no way i could say no, so of course i sat down and gave her the chance to take a decent photo (i just hope she really got a good pic).

all in all, i had a perfect night out and i´m sure everyone else who was there would agree. i met some nice people, got to talk to the band afterwards (very nice lads), attended one of the best gigs i´ve been to in the last few years (maybe even the (!) best) and by the end of it, simply enjoyed myself and the incredible live performance by ahab. see you again at the academy next month, guys!

 luke [left] and dave [right]

callum [left] and steven [right]

ahab

find ahab on facebook, twitter or simply visit their website for the latest news.

ben howard. live.

who: ben howard

when: 20 october 2011

where: the ruby lounge, manchester, uk

support: lucy rose 

with pretty much every single uk date of his current “every kingdom” tour being sold out, ben howard stopped in manchester last friday to play at the ruby lounge. after seeing him at the haldern pop festival in august, i knew we were in for a treat.

up first was lucy rose. she was accompanied by a young man on electric guitar, herself playing the acoustic guitar. lucy just finished off a tour with bombay bicycle club (bbc) the night before. lucky me as i got to see her two weeks ago at the o2 apollo with bbc. most of the time her voice was drowned out by the sound at the bbc gig, so i was eager to see her again.

i wasn´t familiar with her music at all but she delivered a beautiful 7-track long set that left me impressed. lucy´s fragile voice goes perfectly with the clear guitar sound. the audience didn´t seem to appreciate her as much though as a lot of people kept talking throughout her entire set which makes me wonder if she was being ironic when she said: “thanks for listening. that´s really nice.”either way, her set included songs like “shiver” and her new single “scar”. by the end, lucy certainly got the crowd screaming as a part of her last song. all in all, well done.

 lucy rose

when ben howard and his band mates, chris bond and india bourne, finally entered the stage, every person in the room suddenly seemed to realize that this is in fact a concert which means that the audience generally focuses on the act up on stage instead of talking.

usually bands start with a more or less fast song to “wake up” the crowd, ben howard however began his set with the wonderful “depth over distance”. judging by the fact that a lot of people knew the lyrics, i reckon quite a few people in there saw him perform before or at least have known his music a lot longer than me.

the sing-along continued as ben played all-time favourites “old pine”, “keep your head up”, “the fear” and of course his crowd pleaser number one “the wolves”. the energy that the audience, and of course ben and his band, put into these songs, was impressive.

as previously mentioned in the “every kingdom” album review, some songs are just made for the stage while other ones sound better on record – simply because of the instruments they use on stage. they already have a lot more instruments than people on stage but it´s just not possible to catch the energy of a song like “the fear” live. this song is so intense in the way the instruments build up this growing tension towards the end, that it just doesn´t work as good on stage. i have to admit though that “the fear” probably is pretty much the only exception. other songs like “gracious” sound wonderful live which really surprised me because i´m not so keen on the album version. and of course “black flies” – there are no words to describe how wonderful this song is, especially live.

not to forget ben´s amazing band, chris bond on bass, double bass and drums and india bourne on cello and bass. sometimes i think a ben howard song would sound only half as good if it weren´t for their backing vocals. not sure what it is about them but they give ben´s music the last twist on the way to perfection.

the concert ended with a 2-track encore – “bones” and what seemed like the audience´s favourite “move like you want” (a song that has basically no meaning according to ben). there was definitely some serious singing going on during the last track.

the show basically included almost everything you would expect from a (good) concert: a bunch of talented musicians on stage who certainly knew how to make their instruments sound good, a range of beautiful voices, at least one phone going off during a slow song (which was “bones” in this case), several marriage proposals during the show (for india and ben), seriously interested people who needed to shush other people who would just not shut up, slightly drunk girls in the front row who were piling their 6 empty glasses up on stage and of course a main act who seemed to be truly thankful for all the support. see you in february, ben!

setlist from the gig at the ruby lounge:

- depth over distance

- diamonds

- old pine

- under the same sun

- further away

- gracious

- the fear

- black flies

- keep your head up

- the wolves

encore

- bones 

- move like you want

ben howard

chris bond

 india bourne

 ben howard