July 20, 2014 by beatsthatsetmypulse

Little Green Cars: “It’s easy to give it to, When there’s more people out there to love…Than people who love you”

Little Green Cars– Sebright Arms, London
(August 22, 2013)

After first being blown away by this Dublin-based indie/folk quintet (Little Green Cars) at The Great Escape back in May (see pics below), I HAD to see them again when they were playing at one of my favorite tiny venue (Sebright Arms) in London. Even though the gig happened to be the night before I needed to head out early on a bus up to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival, I still put on the champion face and powered through (not at all packed, exhausted from lab). It ended up being SO WORTH the diehard effort because this year’s best. Not only was I able to grab a spot RIGHT in front of Faye and feel the energy of her freaking INCREDIBLE PIPES first hand, but I was able to get a good chat in with her afterwards. That night, she told me that she notices EVERY ONE IN THE ROOM– the wide-eyed, bobblehead (me) in the front mouthing along to the vocals, the asshole in back talking to his friend during the song, etc. She said that she SEES EVERYONE in that audience, and that the vibe from the fans really influence their performance and can make/break the gig. She was also telling me that they were exhausted from a recent tour in the states (including festivals like SXSW, Coachella, Bonnaroo), and that they would be heading back there again soon for another round. They are signed to an American label called Glassnote Records (Temper Trap, Mumford & Sons, Two Door Cinema Club, Vampire Weekend) and thus they have a larger fanbase in the states because their debut album (Absolute Zero) was released their firt. I gave and Chris (the keyboardist) some suggestions about San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest, and in exchange they gave me some tips about Ireland. Faye told me I needed to visit again and needed to go back for the ‘Other Voices‘ music event in Dingle in June. Little Green Cars played there for the 2012-2013 series, along with Daughter, Laura Marling, John Grant, Villagers, Neil Hannon, Savages, and Beth Orton.

Kicking off the set with Harper Lee, Little Green Cars then moved on to Angel Owl, one of my favorites from the album. “Only at night, does my angel sing…Ooooh…Oooooh.” Such a siiiick vocal arrangement for this one. Please is another make you plead for more of Faye’s vocals (maybe it’s not a coincidence that it’s called ‘Please’): “Please believe my lies…At least I know you gave it your best try.”

They then shocked the audience with a cover of Bruce Springsteen‘s ‘I’m on Fire’, for which the vocal arrangement was so awesome. It really captured the breadth of Faye’s pipes, and I think Bruce would approve. Not only did they cover one of my favorite songs (“I’m on fire”) by THE BOSS, but they covered a song about my hometown (‘Philadelphia‘) written by the legend non other than Sir Neil Young (he might as well be music royalty). Crazy odds!

Next up came ‘My Love Took Me Down to the River to Silence Me, and Faye’s voice SOARS on this one. Such powerful pipes for her lil’ frame! I’m so glad I was parked right in front of her for this one, cause the power of those pipes COULD BE FELT!

Even though this gig was specifically set to be an “acoustic set,” Stevie stripped it down EVEN MORE by going into the crowd with his guitar unamped and leading the rest to follow with no mice. The band ended the intimate, acoustic set by playing The John Wayne in the center of the crowd and encouraging everyone to sing alone. A very heartfelt encore (see video below):

“It’s easy to fall in love
It’s easy to be alone
It’s easy to hate yourself
when all your love is inside someone else
It’s easy to take it all
It’s easy to give it to
when there’s more people out there to love
than people who love you.” (TRUTH.)

That was a hard night of music to top, and I look forward to more unexpected treats like this. ❤

VIDEOS:

Harper Lee:

Angel Owl:

Please:

I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover):

Philadelphia (Bruce Springsteen cover):

My Love Took Me Down to the River to Silence Me:

The John Wayne:

PICTURES:

Little Green Cars– The Great Escape, Brighton
(May 16, 2013)

PICTURES:

July 17, 2014 by beatsthatsetmypulse

Catfish and the Bottlemen- “I want to endorse you…I want you to EXHAUST ME.”

Catfish and the Bottlemen– The Barfly, London (July 23, 2013)

I first stumbled upon Catfish and the Bottlemen at a Communion event held at one of my favorite Camden venues, the Barfly. Other acts in the Communion lineup were Sam Fender and Nick Mulvey, both very talented singer/songwriters. I was extremely impressed with what I heard, and predicted a HUGE FUTURE for these Welsh lads. I met Billy and Van that night and told them all about the killer festivals in the states that I could see them doing. Van has killer frontman personality (HILARIOUS) that is perfect for engaging crowds and getting them on your side. As a loyal fan and buddy of this group from their early beginnings, I went on to see them a total of SIX TIMES in London (Barfly, KOKO, O2 Islington Academy, the Macbeth, Sebright Arms, The Borderline). CRAZY, I know. They were always so immensely appreciative and humbled by my support, and it feels good when Rob (aka “Dr Bob”) asks you your opinion about the new songs as feedback for the debut album. I always told them that Pacifer, Homesick, and Sidewinder (especially) were my favorite of their early setlists, and that Rango and A.S.A. would be their next big hits. Sidewinder’s pulsating riffs and infectious energy stir up all sorts of madness, and some of the lines (“I want to endorse you, I want you to EXHAUST ME”) are pretty hot. Turns out my prediction was spot on, cause Zane Lowe of Radio 1 deemed these songs (Kathleen) some of the “hottest record in the world”, and soon reached the top of the charts (as well as playlists for the epic footballers of Manchester United!…Also, my wish for them to tour the states came true, cause they got the opportunity to do the Governor’s Ball and Bonnaroo this year, as well as a few other additional fests! Re-VANped (pun intended) by their American glory, they came back the the UK fired up for a whole slew of summer festivals: Ibiza Rocks, Wakestock, T in the Park, Somersault, Tramlines, Kendal Calling, Belladrum, Boardmasters, Read and Leeds, Bestival…All BEFORE RELEASING THEIR DEBUT ALBUM. Mental! They also just SOLD OUT a headline show at KOKO in November, but I’ll be gone from London by then and I won’t get to be HOMESICK with them one last time. The energy and charisma of this indie rock quintet is pretty rare, and their chemistry is hard to find; the all grew up together in small-town Wales, and it SHOWS! Glad I was at least able to catch those CATFISH before others CAUGHT ON! 😛

VIDEOS:

Homesick:

Sidewinder:

Tyrants:

PICTURES:

Catfish and the Bottlemen– The Macbeth, London (Aug 29, 2013)

VIDEOS:

Rango:

PICTURES:

Catfish and the Bottlemen– Sebright Arms (Sep 16, 2013)

Rango:

Kathleen:

Pacifier:

Heartbreaker:

Sidewinder:

PICTURES:

Catfish and the Bottlemen– O2 Islington Academy, London (Oct 25, 2013)

VIDEOS:

A.S.A.:

PICTURES:

Catfish and the Bottlemen– The Borderline, London (Feb 24, 2013)

PICTURES:

July 13, 2014 by beatsthatsetmypulse

Lucy Rose: “And if we could back time, could we learn to live right?…”

Lucy Rose– Sebright Arms, London

(June 26, 2104)

I first saw/met Lucy Rose when opening for Bombay Bicycle club at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco back in Feb 2012 (see pics and videos below). I’ll never forget that she tapped me on the shoulder to get up onto the stage! My jaw dropped then, and later dropped even further when I first heard her hauntingly beautiful ‘Night Bus‘ ballad (video below). Her voice pierced me right away, bringing tears to my eyes (sounds dramatic but it was true). I remember saying hi after the show and being so lucky enough to snag a pic with the scarlet beauty (see below). I also remember her distinctly being shocked/surprised that anyone in the states even followed her music and knew who she was. WHAAAAAT?! (of course we did!)

Almost 3 years later, I see Lucy Rose again at a tiny, intimate (150 people, sold out in 4 min) pre-Glastonbury gig (she was picked to play the same stage as Metallica!) at the Sebright Arms in London. Talk about FULL CIRCLE. Now with a backing band and a much bigger/intense sound, her music has come SUCH a long way from those solo acoustic days which we all know and love. I was getting all emotional that night as she embraced her fans and teared up watching us enjoy the new tracks. Even with over 100,000 likes on Facebook, she’s still one of the most humble, down-to-earth, ADORABLE female artists I know. She makes EVERY FAN feel like they count, and that’s HARD TO DO. Not only did SHE REMEMBER ME from that San Francisco gig 3 years ago, but she told me that I couldn’t leave to go back and that I had to stay in London for the music scene. Difficult choice, girl! I do love the MUSIC MECCA that I London but one’s things for certain: I definitely “left my heart in San Francisco…” ❤

On the topic of traveling and living in different cities, I was teasing her when I mentioned that most of her new, unreleased songs (Sheffield, Koln) were named after different cities (see set list below). She laughed and in response was like, “Well, we travel ALOT! Haha.” This is very true, as they had been touring around the world for almost a year before stopping in Manilla (the Philippines) to play some gigs and take a bit of a band holiday. I told her that I loved the new songs, especially the one (‘Cover Up‘) that she recently posted online as a free download; I didn’t exactly take to it the first time I heard it recorded, but when I saw it live (TRIPLE DRUMS, maracas), and saw how much Lucy was embracing this ROCK OUT style, I couldn’t help but smile and rock out too. You could tell she was a bit nervous about how her fans would receive the new songs, so she really appreciated this postiive feedback. I also made sure to tell her she was she was very impressive on the keyboard (check out the video of ‘I Tried‘ below) even though she said it was an insturemnt she was only just learning. Maybe she got some private lessons from her good buddy, Rae Morris (who knew?!), another female artist I really enjoy..(Rae’s brother is Lucy’s manager!)…The music scene really is a SMALL WORLD when you think about how all the artists/bands are all linked! xx

VIDEOS:

Red Face: