2012年 01月 8日 日曜日 14:00
In 2011 I went to 16 gigs, the lowest number since I moved to London four years ago. Am I getting more picky or just not going out as much? I like to think the former as the overall standard of what I saw last year was pretty high. Then again, organising two weddings earlier in the year plus a honyemoon might have had something to do with it too. Here there the highlights. All venues are in London, UK.
Black Star, De La Soul and Rakim @ The Hammersmith Apollo
(Tuesday 10 May 2011)
It took a while for a good gig to come along to kick the year off, but this was it. I arrived a bit late so only got to see Rakim's last track which was a shame as he's been billed many times of late but the gigs have all been cancelled. I've seen De La quite a few times in the past but they always put on a dope show and they didn't disappoint. Seeing Talib and Mos Def together on stage was a rare treat and they dropped classic Black Star numbers as well as loads of their solo joints, very nice.
Amon Tobin @ The Roundhouse
(Friday 17 June 2011)
I hadn't planned go to this as I'd seen Amon a few times in the past and I'd enjoyed it, but I thought this would be more of the same. How wrong I was. The day of the gig started off with the land line phone ringing while I was having breakfast and a bizarre computer generated voice saying "are. you. going. to. Amon. Tobin. tonight?" Freaky. It turned out that a friend had sent a text to my land line instead of my mobile by mistake but it got me thinking. Then I got to work and people were talking about this amazing audio visual stage set up and I started desperately trawling around for spare tickets. Luckily I landed one and got to see what was without a doubt *the* gig of the year and one of the best gigs I have ever been to. The syncing of the sound with visuals projected onto an incredible stage design was some next level shit. The trailer below gives one an inkling (but just an inkling) of how amazing this was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrt7-kIgIM
Hugh Masekela, Vusi Mahlasela, Lira and Thandiswa @ Hackney Empire
(Sunday 10 July 2011)
This performance, which was a tribute to Miriam Makeba, brought together some of South Africa's established artists with some up and coming musicians and was a great combination of talents and sounds, new and old. We used a Vusi Mahlesela song for our wedding earlier in the year so seeing him live was a nice touch. Mama Afrika's music lives on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uA5BT5g5Y
ATP I’ll Be Your Mirror curated by Portishead @ Alexandra Palace
(Saturday 23 July 2011)
I've avoided previous ATP festivals because, even though I really like the concept of having a band curate the sounds, films and other media, up until now they all been a bit too rocky and singer-songer dominated for my liking. Having Portishead curate a festival within walking distance of home was another matter entirely. We started off watching the Charles Morris Jazz Band perform outside in the Rose Garden which was very civilised. After this Black Roots dropped some reggae and then The Books were surprisingly good with some great supporting visuals. Company Flow together on stage for the first time in a while were dope while MF Doom was pretty average and Portishead themselves rounded things off with a great performance.
The Stepkids @ Cargo
(Wednesday 3 August 2011)
This was my surprise gig of the year as I decided to go literally an hour or so before it started, not knowing much about the Stepkids at all. There were a few small technical hitches but the music was great and you could see they were enjoying having an appreciative audience. The projected visuals were simple but really good too. Lovely.
Alpha-ville Festival 2011 @ XOYO
(Friday 23 September 2011)
I went to the second night of this London festival which had its moments, not all good. There was a fair amount of boring house and techno being DJed in between the live performances but this was compensated for by two great performances. Illium Sphere put together an expertly mixed and eclectic set that included hardcore stomping techno and Hip-Hop with no less than 3 projectors delivering visuals onto a translucent screen in between him and the audience. Jon Hopkins smacked it and got the crowd hot and sweaty with some heavy electronic beats.
Another Honest Jon’s Chop Up! @ The Barbican
(Saturday 29 October 2011)
This was the second Honest Jon's Chop Up I've been to and it did not disappoint with the range of performers that were on stage. The gig was put on by Honest Jon's (a record label and store in near Portobello road) and featured a number of artists signed to or affiliated with the label in some way. This included Damon Albarn, Tony Allen, Theo Parrish, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Flea, Fatoumata Diawara, Cheick Tidiane Seck, M.anifest, Shangaan Electro, Phil Cohran and Rocketjuice and the Moon. All these musicians are talented in their own field (be it drumming, MC'ing singing etc.) and having them perform together in what amounted to a massive, professional, live jam session was pretty unique.
Nitin Sawhney @ The Union Chapel
(Thursday 3 November 2011)
I'd seen Nitin Sawhney before a few years ago and unfortunately it was one of those gigs where the audience stands around talking loudly instead of actually listening to the music and that totally ruined it for me. This time around it was much better with the Union Chapel being the perfect venue for seated, silent contemplation of Nitin and the extremely talented people he brings together to make music with. The three female singers were all very different but all had beautiful voices and the other featured artists on tabla, drums, guitars and other instruments were no less of a joy to watch and listen to. Top stuff.