Steve Cropper & The Animals – Islington Assembly Hall 26th January 2013

The version of The Animals onstage is effectively a tribute band, albeit an extremely good one. Early in their set, drummer John Steel walks to the front of the stage in order to justify why indeed his band are calling themselves The Animals. Basically, he tells us that it’s because he is the original drummer, and keyboard ace Mickey Gallagher was in the band for about five minutes between Alan Price leaving and his replacement Dave Rowberry joining. Ho-hum. The real reason is that John Steel owns the rights to the name. No matter – they treat us to a rollicking romp through some of The Animals’ finest moments.

There is however no doubting the authenticity of Steve Cropper when he walks on stage. Opening with Soul Limbo, he comments “you guys are so cool I don’t even have to tell you what that song is!”  What follows is essentially a parade of classic songs, many of which Cropper had a compositional hand in, including In The Midnight Hour, (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay, 634-5789, Hip-Hug-Her, Knock On Wood and (naturally) Green Onions. Throughout, The Animals provide a backing that the MGs would have been proud of. Not only is Crop’s guitar playing excellent, his vocals are really good too. I hadn’t even thought of him as a singer!

The Animals return for We Gotta Get Out Of This Place and House Of The Rising Sun before Crop joins them for a final run through Soul Man. This is a night of unashamed nostalgia, but The Animals and Steve Cropper treat their respective back catalogues with respect and play with a vigour which very much brings the material to life. A truly magic evening!   

Blood Red Shoes – Shepherds Bush Empire – 22nd January 2013

Blood Red Shoes celebrate the end of their busiest year and also the release of their Water EP by playing their biggest headline show to date.

Support comes from two bands from Sheffield, neither of whom are Pulp, or are indeed anything like Pulp. First up are Wet Nuns, a duo consisting of a guitarist and drummer who share vocals. The first song features the drummer on screamed heavy heavy metal vocals, remiscent of Napalm Death. When the guitarist sings he sounds like a cross between John Fogerty and Lemmy.

That this is a band who don’t take themselves altogether seriously is apparent when at the end of the first song the drummer stands up on his stool holding his sticks in the shape of an upside-down cross. The guitarist then tells a tragi-comic story concerning a duck. Wet Nuns have by far the funniest onstage banter that I’ve ever heard!

The music is pretty good too, with a whole load of influences apparent including Black Sabbath and ZZ Top. There is also a lot of musical pissing about though, running the risk of appearing like an in-joke to which the audience aren’t party.

I’d been looking forward to seeing Rolo Tomassi for some time and was wondering how their ‘math rock’ would translate live. The answer to that question is: very well. The music retains its complexity and power. The band are very tight. However, there is a problem with Eva Spence’s vocals. Whereas on record she sounds positively Satanic, live her vocals resemble a dog barking. Her brother James’ vocals are similarly hobbled. During the quiet passages Eve sings like an angel, but as soon as she returns to the ‘devil’ mic, the barking returns. I don’t know whether the sound man was having a bad night, but if not it’s an area that needs to be looked at as the lyrics were rendered unintelligible. Very disappointing. 

It’s immediately apparent that disappointment is something that Blood Red Shoes won’t be dishing up as they crash straight into Heartsink, followed by It’s Getting Boring By The Sea and Don’t Ask. They tell us that the Empire is the biggest headlining show that they’ve played and we all cheer. There’s a definite ‘end of term’ feel to proceedings (the band are apparently going on ‘hiatus’ after these Shepherds Bush gigs).

Tellingly, having been touring their In Time To Voices all year, there are only four songs played from that album tonight. In contrast we get seven each from Box Of Secrets and Fire Like this. However, the most interesting song played tonight are the two (Black Distractions and Red River) from their new Water EP. For each of these riff-driven beauties Laura-Mary carter straps on a Gibson SG, the songs benefiting agreeably from the Gibson ‘crunch’. If this is the direction they will be moving in for their next album then it’s very much a cause for rejoicing.

Colours Fade from Fire Like This is the final song of the main set, and for encores we get Red River (from the aforementioned EP), I Wish I Was Someone Better from Box Of Secrets and Je Me Perds from In Time To Voices. This is introduced as a ‘punk song’ and comes close to blistering the paint on the walls. To say it rocks is an understatement.

If Blood Red Shoes are going on hiatus hopefully it won’t be for long. Bands as vital and inventive as them are few and far between.   

Paul Weller + Emeli Sande + Miles Kane + Ben Elton: Crisis Benefit Concert – Hammersmith Apollo – 19th December 2012

A timely concert in aid of a very good cause. Ben Elton marches onstage and does a very good job of bigging up the charity before announcing the first act: The Crisis Skylight Band. They start off with some acoustically strummed Christmas songs and carols, before doing two songs which I think are their own: Marley and Take Away The Pain. They are only performing a short set and finish with I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. These are not professional musicians. Indeed, they are all former homeless people who have benefited from the Charity. However, they put in a pretty good performance and give a collective face to those whom the Charity helps.

After a brief interlude featuring more campaigning from Ben Elton, Miles Kane and his band take the stage. Miles and his band are dressed in immaculate threads, but there is a sneaking suspicion that this may be a case of style over substance. Kane’s 60s-inflected pop is perfectly serviceable, but it does seem to lack depth. Indeed, there doesn’t seem to be a world of difference between some of his material and the likes of McFly.

About four or five songs into the set, Kane announces a new song called You’re Gonna Get It which is a co-write with Paul Weller, and is duly joined by the man himself! There is more energy in this song than in all of those which preceded it put together! Kane seems energised by Weller’s guest spot and proceeds to grab the next song by the scruff of it’s neck and give it a good kicking. Kane’s final song starts well with feedback and a slow heavy riff which speeds up, and then turns into a rather formulaic Small Faces style stomp. Hmmmmm.

Miles Kane is lucky in that by dint of some deft changing of horses in mid-stream he has been able to develop his art by releasing three albums on different labels with The Rascals, The Last Shadow Puppets, and now solo. Many artists are dropped if they don’t make it big with their first album. However, Kane is now at the point in his career where he needs to decide whether he wants to be a serious artist or whether he just wants girls to scream at him. Maybe the Modfather can give him some hints…..

Next up we have Emeli Sande, who seems to have been the victim of gross mis-billing. If this was a charity gig with an eclectic bill her presence would be fine. However, she doesn’t really stand a chance in front of an audience of beered-up blokes chanting WELLAH! WELLAH! WELLAH! The audience reaction isn’t hostile as such, it’s just disinterested and mute. Not surprisingly this impacts on Sande’s performance as she sounds timid rather than soulful. However, by halfway through her set she has regained her mojo and declaims as if she’s standing behind a pulpit somewhere in the deep south.

The moment most people here have been waiting for arrives as Paul Weller takes the stage and rips into an adrenalized From The Floorboards Up from his As Is Now album. Weller is joined by his son Natt for Come On / Let’s Go from the same album before dipping into The Jam’s back catalogue for the first time tonight for Start! Subsequent highlights include That Dangerous Age from Sonic Kicks and Carnation from The Jam’s The Gift album (which celebrated its 30^th anniversary this year!).

Emeli Sande returns to guest on People Get Ready, and Weller reminds us of his current Krautrock leanings with Kling I Klang. Weller doesn’t ignore his past with The Style Council and treats us to My Ever Changing Moods. However, the place erupts when Weller plays Strange Town – causing me to seriously worry for my safety!

The set closes with Echoes Round The Sun, which sees the return of Miles Kane, and Steve Cradock showing off his keyboard skills. Weller and his cohorts leave the stage for only a short while, and return with Bradley Wiggins who rather worringly is wearing a cherry red Gibson 335 around his neck. The band quickly break into That’s Entertainment, and Wiggo shows that he can actually play his 335. It’s probably best not to listen too closely to his rather interesting backing vocals though.

All in all this was a great night. Not just entertainment-wise either. All of the artists donated their fees to Crisis by playing for free. Lovely!     

The Black Keys + The Maccabees - London O2 Arena - 12th December 2012

Tonight’s gig would seem to be a co-headliner in all but name. The Maccabees take to the stage to Given To The Wild (Intro), with Orlando Weeks pricking the track’s pomp with a cheery ‘hello!’.

Half of tonight’s set is taken from their last album Given To The Wild, whilst five songs come from Wall Of Arms. Only X-Ray is performed from Colour It In. However, the highlight for me is No Kind Words from Wall Of Arms, which is an excellent song.

The Maccabees are not in the least bit fazed by the size of this venue, and could easily headline here. Presumably the only thing that prevents them from doing so is that perhaps promoters feel that their album sales are not sufficient to warrant them selling the venue out.

Lack of album sales is not an issue that will concern The Black Keys unduly, as over the last two or three years their career path has become positively stratospheric. Tonight they are joined by two auxiliary musicians, presumably in order to provide a little more punch. However, for the most part these guys are largely inaudible, and when they briefly leave the stage mid-set to Auerbach and Carney their absence is barely noticeable.

Most of the set tonight is split between the last two albums (El Camino and Brothers) with three songs from Attack And Release, and one each from Thickfreakness, Rubber Factory and Magic Potion. The Black Keys are not the most flamboyant of performers, but for sheer enthusiasm and the quality of their playing they’re difficult to beat as a live band.

They were by no means blown offstage by The Maccabees, but they were certainly given a run for their money. In terms of value for money we were treated to great performances by two very good bands.