With the release of his latest EP ‘Curate Calm, Create Chaos’, Sean McGowan came over to Bristol as part of his 12 stop tour, showing off a range of old songs and new throughout the night.

The evening was opened by the amazing Kate Stapley, who played a few of her songs, some of which were titled and from various Eps or Two Sides, others with no name. One song, about a pigeon being hit with a bicycle, was described by Stapley as “Yellow taxi meets Parklife”, and I felt it fitted perfectly. Kate’s set lasted a little over half-hour, and we were delightfully informed both her and Seán are the first acts to play all three rooms of the Exchange, a pretty good achievement.

And then, at just after 9:30, Seán took to the spotlight of the small, but brilliant, basement stage. He opened with a spoken word piece, a traditional folk show beginning, drawing everyone’s attention in, before diving into the instant sing-along ‘Cuppa Tea’.

Seán then delighted in telling us with how the tour was going so far. The previous night had been in Bideford, to a crowd of 12 people, three of which left early to catch a train. There is no train station in Bideford. The crowd made sure to remind Seán of this throughout the night.

The mood of the evening was already established with the first song, and was further helped by ‘Romance Ain’t Dead’, an uplifting song that Seán delightfully informed us was about a girl, who is now engaged to a rich guy. Nice way to set the tone for the evening.

This was followed by the first song lifted from “Curate Calm, Create Chaos”, ‘Money’. A song which was described as about being fucking broke, and one that touches on money, hope and dreams in an optimistic way.

‘£5.25’ was next, another crowd mover, with the next two songs from “Curate Calm, Create Chaos” following on. ‘I’m OK’, a song about being in a rough place, but accepting it (and even helping to get better…), and then ‘heartbreaker’, a fingerpicked, softly spoken song about love and romance, came next, before we were told a story as an explanation for a song.

‘Springhill’ is a song about Seán’s best friend’s mother, who passed away the day after his 18^th. Sadly something most of us can relate to, the song delves into the emotional side of grief, something no one is ever prepared for, and touched a lot of hearts.

We were then told “things are going to get proper fucking emo”, as Seán was about to play ‘Unstuck’, but first we were told about the small, up and coming artist who featured on the record – Frank Turner. We were told some stories about the “lanky stream of piss” that is Mr Turner, but it was all in good humour as Seán got into the song, another hard hitting emotional song.

This was proceeded by ‘Neverland’ and ‘Costa Del Solution’, two high energy songs about some not-so-happy topics regarding life as we know it. Throughout the rest of the set, Seán truly did become the “king of awkwardness”, with his almost trademark longer-than-need-be pauses and overly exaggerated notes.

The whole audience then joined in with singing Dan a happy Birthday, before another singalong was played. ‘Off the rails’ was met with enthusiasm from everyone in the room. A high energy song about friendship and life, and real crowd pleaser, it managed to lift the already heightened spirits of the room.

‘Queen of the West’ was followed, after a short story from Seán, about his Grandmother and all she has done, and what an amazing woman she is. Another soft, fingerpicked song with a raw, strummed acoustic mid-section, the song captivated Margret’s amazingness and was a real tribute to the Queen of the west.

After realising the show was going to run over, Seán expressed a political message, that was, in short, “Get those fucking Tories out”, before the penultimate show of the evening, ‘Millbrook Road’. Another crowd sing-along about hopeless love and romance, before we were treated to the big finale.

“No Show”, conveniently closed the show for us, with most of the crowd singing, or even shouting, the words back to the front man. This was met with thundering rounds of applause and cheers at the end, and although there was no fancy lighting or special effects, it was an amazing gig, demonstrating the true colours of good music with good people.

Seán was even kind enough to stick around to have a chat and take photos.

And with that, a massive thanks goes to Seán and Kate, for being incredible performers, and to the exchange crew, for hosting yet another good show.

The Exchange is an independent venue that relies on people coming to shows in order to stay in business. If you would like to check out a show click here.

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I spoke to Southampton’s Seán McGowan ahead of the second leg of his UK tour…

There’s no doubt about it, SUEDE were one of THE biggest rock bands to be born of the 90s, leaders in a genre flippantly referred to as ‘Britpop’ sharing the limelight alongside others such as BLUR, OASIS and SUPERGRASS.

Sunday 21st April saw SUEDE play a sell-out show at the O2 Academy Bristol which was part of their April 2019 tour, promoting their latest album The Blue Hour.

The show was opened by the amazingly eccentric BC CAMPLIGHT who were bold and brash to say the least. The front man, Brian Christinzio, took to the stage with a full bottle of wine in his hand, which he consumed throughout the set, and at one point, even used the bottle to play the piano. Brian politely informed us that their drummer was suffering with a bout of food poisoning and warned us he may run off unexpectedly.

They played a wonderful set, the first song ‘Fire in England’ was dedicated to Theresa May. The song itself was an interesting one, with Brian’s big American voice booming through the PA system. The next track was supposedly written last time he was in Bristol, entitled ‘I’m in a weird place now’, which started off with shouting the song title before playing what was a surprisingly good song. ‘Deportation Blues’ followed before finishing off with ‘I’m Desperate’, another track that opened with Brian shouting the track title. You can buy their latest album Deportation Blues HERE

After much running around by the stage crew and the top-notch security who were kept busy handing the front few rows cups of water, the stage was filled with smoke and the lights dimmed, and SUEDE were welcomed onto the stage.

Up first was ‘As One’, lifted from The Blue Hour, which, in my opinion, was a great choice for the opening song, it saw Brett stood on a slightly raised platform at the front of the stage, before joining the crowd at the barrier to exchange high fives and hold hands with the fans.

Up next was the tantalisingly beautiful ‘To The Birds’, which again saw Brett down at both corners of the stage to sing and interact with the capacity audience, making everyone feel like they were a part of the show. This was followed by ‘Outsiders’, another crowd favourite which went down very well indeed.

‘We Are The Pigs’ was sublime, this was closely followed by the unmistakeable opening tones of ‘So Young’, where Brett proceeded to swing his microphone around his head, whilst amusing at first, it soon became an issue when it narrowly missed some people in the crowd.

Richard Oaks and Mat Osman did a tremendous job of laying down the guitar/bass parts for ‘Metal Mickey’, a track that I hold dear in my heart as this was from the early days of their career and still sends shivers up my spine when I hear the opening lines . At some point during the set, Brett’s shirt became ripped, much to the amusement and joy of a few of his admirers.

After an acoustic version of ‘Saturday Night’ with just Brett and Richard, the whole band returned to the stage, for ‘The Drowners’, with Brett riding the barrier once again before jumping in with the crowd, held aloft like a sacrificial offering, this was followed by ‘It Starts and Ends With You’, which, near the end of the guitar solo, Brett temporarily lost his microphone after he had put it down on the stage (somewhere).

‘He’s Dead’ and ‘Sabotage’ were performed before the introduction of the first biggest song of the night, ‘Trash’. This saw Brett busting some incredible ‘dad-dancing’ moves across the stage, and the audience singing at the top of their voices throughout. ‘Animal Nitrate’ had Brett rolling around on the floor of the stage as he sung, and crawling around like a wild animal that had just been shot.

The band left the stage, with just Brett returning with an acoustic guitar. The crowd went silent so that he could sing ‘The Big Time’ and ‘The Wild Ones’, without the aid of the PA system. This was one of those special moments at a gig where it didn’t feel like it was a band and an audience, but more that the man on the stage was leading the whole room in song, and was not just a performance artist.

With the band back on stage, they launched into the final furlong with ‘Sometimes I feel I’ll Float Away’ and ‘The Invisibles’ this was followed by the (first) big finish of the night, ‘Flytipping’, which saw an immense reaction from the capacity crowd.

Thank you’s and goodbyes were said by Brett, all then left the stage, and we thought they had started packing up. It turns out it was just a replacement of guitars, before the encore. Brett then returned to the stage with the rest of his band, and loudly shouted that ‘If you don’t know the words to the next song what the fuck are you doing here?’, before belting out one of Suede’s biggest hits, ‘Beautiful Ones’.

Alas, it was time for the last song of the night, and Brett dedicated this one to his son. ‘Life is Golden’ went down a storm, and for one last time Brett was on the barrier, joining hands with the crowd to finish off the show.

After an amazing performance, I would like to thank the staff and security at the O2 Academy Bristol, for their hard work, making it a night to remember.

Brett’s comment that Suede will carry on doing what they love and that they envisage being around for a while yet was perhaps a teaser for new material in the near future? if tonight’s show was anything to go by, I bloody well hope so!

Originally posted to musomuso.co.uk Original post here

Tonight saw Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls play at the Motorpoint Arena in the heart of Cardiff, being the penultimate night of his UK leg of the Be More Kind world tour, we were expecting big things from Frank et al and we can safely say that the audience didn’t go home feeling short changed!

Be More Kind has been a change for Frank Turner, gaining mixed reviews from both the hardcore fans and the new kids on the block. Some of the songs have been better received than others, and this lead to mixed feelings from Turner fans when the tickets were released for the arena tour, clocking in at around the £40 mark. Saying that, if you’ve ever seen Frank live before, you really do get your money’s worth so it was with a medley of excitement and interest that we stood waiting for the great man to take to the stage in Cardiff.

The introduction was mesmerising, everyone went silent and waited in awe and anticipation as to  what would happen next…..and then, on came Frank Turner, with an unusual, but nevertheless amazing, way of beginning with ‘Out of Breath’. Everyone was on their toes, dancing and singing. A circle pit come mosh pit erupted in the front centre of the crowd and, although a short song, it was met with huge cheers at the end. Frank was showcasing a new lighting and effects engineer on the tour and boy, did it show, the effects were amazing, with lights bouncing everywhere and fire shooting up from behind the band. ‘Photosythesis’ followed, a slight change in the setlist order from the end-of-the-show-song that we are all so used to. As always, Ben Lloyd had an excellent guitar solo that made everyone cheer and brought a smile to many faces.

Turner’s next song was ‘1933’, the first of the evening lifted from Be More Kind  which also saw him bring out the electric guitar. It was during this song that I began to notice some feedback from the music system, and Turner’s voice sounding an octave higher than normal through the speaker system. Nevertheless, the song went down a storm.

‘Recovery’ was next, followed by ‘If Ever I Stray’, with Turner back on the acoustic guitar, and the crowd still singing and dancing. A quick change then to the next song of the new album – ‘Blackout’. Turner started out guitar-less, performing his trademark dance moves, before coming down to the barrier to sing and exchange ‘high-fives’ with the front row. Then, during another excellent Ben Lloyd guitar solo, Turner dashes offstage, leaving us all slightly confused, before coming back on with his electric guitar and playing some excellent riffs. In yet another change from the expected, the electric guitar stayed out for ‘Polaroid Picture’. The song brought a couple of tears to people’s eyes, but were soon flicked away by the jumping around during the chorus.

Up next was ‘Brave Face’, another lifted from  Be More Kind. The artwork visual was displayed behind Turner for this. The audience played the part of the gospel choir, as, in Turner’s words – “it was too expensive to bring them along”. I couldn’t see a single person not singing back, and yet again another incredible song. There were still a few audio issues here and there, mainly with feedback and a slightly high-pitched Turner, but it didn’t put a dampener on the mood.

First up from the ‘out of the ordinary bag of songs’ was ‘Mittens’. I’ve always heard mixed reviews of this song, finding it to be a real Marmite offering which divides the Frank Turner fanbase. Saying that, I didn’t hear or see anyone complaining, and I find its one of the ‘better live than studio’ songs of his. Either way, it was met with raucous cheers and applause at the end.

Cahir O’Docherty was welcomed onto the stage next. Some of the older fans might remember Cahir from Frank’s 2013 tour, when Frank injured his back and Cahir stepped in to play guitar. After a short introduction and thanks to the stage crew, Frank did a brilliant cover of ‘Eulogy’ in Welsh. It was safe to say that was the only song where there was few, if any, people singing along, but nevertheless it was great all along!

Then we had the next new song from Be More Kind, ‘Little Changes’, accompanied behind the screen with the infamous dance routine. Lots of people danced and sang along, and although we didn’t have Benny (the choreographer for the video) there, which some of the other arena shows did, it was still wonderful to watch.

‘The Road’, ‘I Am Disappeared’ and ‘Don’t Worry’ all followed, complete with great vocals, dancing and playing from the stage, and a great atmosphere from the crowd. The Sleeping Souls left the stage and suddenly, we just had the main man himself. Frank went into story mode, and told us all about how he had a request for the next song. He confessed he had to Google and re-learn the lyrics, and it was one he had played once in 10 years, one about his hometown. ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The One Of Me’ was played superbly, and although it was mainly the established fans who that were singing along, it was still a great song enjoyed by all.

This was followed by a solo, acoustic version of ‘Glorious You’, the singing picked up, with cigarette lighters and mobile phone torches held aloft and arms swaying side to side amongst the crowd. It was a really well performed version, and helped calm the atmosphere down, even bringing a few more tears to people’s eyes. After this, ‘The Ballad of Me and My Friends’ was given an airing,and featured by far, the loudest audience singing of the whole show. It was almost as if Frank didn’t need a mic for this song.

‘I Knew Prufrock’ was up next, with arms up in the air and singing along, The Sleeping Souls were welcomed back onto the stage. This was also sung by almost everyone, and was met with great cheers and cries at the end. This was followed by ‘The Next Storm’ and ‘Try This At Home’, where there was plenty of singing and dancing, good times all round!

For the (first) big finale, ‘I Still Believe’ was played, with the ‘Hear Ye’s’ displayed behind them, so everyone could sing along, before the call-and-response of ‘I Still Believe’. It ended spectacularly, with more fire and lights.

That was it for the main show, and ‘Be More Kind’ was the first song of the encore. It created a sea of phone lights and swaying arms, and people joined arm in arm in singing and spreading the message of kindness to one another. This was followed by ‘The Way I Tend To Be,’ embellished with a Matt Nasir mandolin solo, then ‘Get Better’ made an appearance before the PROPER big finish.

‘Four Simple Words’ started slowly, with Frank waltzing across the stage and standing up on his platforms, before the main part of the song where he did the classic crowd surfing. After the loop around the room, he cleared a space near the front. In a change from the norm, a lucky gentleman was picked to dance with Frank. It might have been the white-shirt black-tie combo that made it, but it surely was worth the watch. A final mosh pit ensued, before Frank was hoisted back onto the stage, for the closing section with sparks, flames and a cloud of pink confetti to end what truly was an amazing evening.

Until next time my friends, until next time!

A special thanks to all the staff for being helpful and approachable and to all of the crew for making it such a memorable show! I mentioned earlier about the £40 ticket cost, scrub that, it was worth every penny and more!

Originally posted to musomuso.co.uk Original post here