Live Reviews | MTTM - More Than The Music

Jul 13, 2010

12/07/2010 | Suzanne Vega – O2 Academy, Oxfo...

The cynic might ponder Suzanne’s motives. Back with a collection of old songs rerecorded, on paper it sounds like little more than a money making stint. Suzanne herself even suggests after tonight’s opener, Marlene On The Wall, that ‘journalists might like to argue with me and say it’s not a love song, it’s an angst song’ which makes it’s addition to Close Up Volume...

Jul 12, 2010

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09/07/2010 | Rickie Lee Jones – Union Chapel, Is...

Despite a career spanning three decades and becoming infamous for that Rolling Stone cover picture, Rickie walks on to the Union Chapel stage with an air of vulnerability. She smiles before starting a low key, acoustic rendition of Altar Boy, which is transformed by a discerning violin accompaniment. Then she begins to take the audience through her extensive back catalogue, with...

Jul 9, 2010

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08/07/2010 | David Ford – Koko, Camden

David Ford is perhaps best understood in context of his mid set banter. ‘Some people believe in God’ he says ‘but he doesn’t return my calls, so I stopped calling him’. It’s this outspoken wit, mixed with cynicism that marks David apart from his contemporaries. Ex-Easyworld front man is not afraid to speak his mind, nor mix it up with some unabashed humour, which allows...

Jun 25, 2010

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23/06/2010 | Alan Pownall – Bush Hall, London

Despite admitting to picking up a guitar for the first time only a few years ago, Alan Pownall has still managed to position himself as one of the big names to watch out for this year. Although it always helps to count the likes of Noah And The Whale and Mumford And Sons as friends, in truth you still need a discernable amount of talent to get the kind of guest appearances he has...

Jun 19, 2010

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17/06/2010 | Rox – Scala, London

The comparisons are already coming thick and fast for Rox, from Adele to Amy Winehouse she’s been given big shoes to fill. When tonight’s gig is started by ten minutes of deliberation before Rox finally takes to the stage, it begins to feel like it’s make or break. Her album Memoirs has been out just a week and having witnessed a shaky appearance at Dot To Dot Festival,...

Jun 18, 2010

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15/06/2010 | Local Natives – Shepherd’s Bush E...

Have you been made aware of iTunes’ ‘Record of the week’? I owe my attendance at this gig to it. Every week, usually on a Tuesday, iTunes chooses a song to be made available to download for free, usually from a new up-and-coming artist as a bit of extra publicity. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but sometimes you get lucky and find a real gem. It was when iTunes chose to release...

Jun 15, 2010

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14/06/2010 | City And Colour – HMV Forum, London

Tackling two distinct genres that to most seem poles apart is a pretty risky proposition. Afterall, there are literally thousands of artists and musicians who struggle to get a proper grip on just the one. However for Dallas Green, who first made his fame with the Canadian post-hardcore group Alexisonfire, it seems that there are no such issues. Tonight at the HMV Forum he performs...

Jun 10, 2010

Posted by Catherine May | 0 comments

09/06/2010 | Amy MacDonald – Hard Rock Cafe, May...

This was to be my third time seeing Amy Macdonald. In fact, it was only in April when I last saw her, but this gig was something different. The intimacy of The Hard Rock Café won the whole crowd over; there couldn’t have been more than one hundred people in the bar area. As Amy and her four male band members opened with An Ordinary Life I remembered the quality of live...

Jun 3, 2010

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01/06/2010 | The Unthanks – Union Chapel, Isling...

They may joke that the only reason people come to their shows is for the clog dancing, but judging by the reaction of a fascinated London crowd this evening they might not be that far off the mark. So popular has it been that they have even had to work more into the set says Rachel, which is great news for an ensemble who are as much about keeping old traditions alive as making...

May 27, 2010

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25/05/2010 | Imelda May – The Anvil, Basingstoke

Dublin born Imelda May looks every part the 1950’s rockabilly star as she struts her way onto the stage in Basingstoke tonight, but all is not as it first appears. On closer inspection it’s clear that whilst musically she’s rooted firmly in the earliest rock and roll, lyrically she has moved the genre resolutely into the 21st century. Tracks such as Watcha Gonna Do, in which...