Tuesday 27 April 2010

London Calling Something To Enjoy For All



Spring is in the air, the sun is shining, the festival season is warming up so it's time for a new edition of London Calling. What bands will suprise us this time, who will be big in a few years and who won't we ever see back? Time to head to Paradiso and find out!

London Calling #1 at Paradiso, April 24 2010

A beautiful day, a good meal at Wagamama's, cold beer and good company. This night was off to a good start. We arrived early at Paradiso so it was relatively quiet and no line (although the bouncer directed me to where the queue was supposed to be). Time for the first band!

Emanuel And The Fear(Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
Remarkable about this band is the addition of cello, violin and flute. This makes me sceptical as well since it may be remarkable but will it add anything? Unfortunately it doesn't and I find it actually more disturbing. With the only exception of singer Emanuel Ayvas the band looks pretty bored. And that's exactly how I feel after a while.

Joe Worricker (Ronald Says 5 out of 10)
I usually don't like singer-songwriters and this performance was certainly no exception. This young artist absolutely did his best and he may be a very talented singer but it just didn't stick. Only a few people in front of the stage seemed to enjoy it. I guess it wasn't his time yet.

Chapel Club (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Boy these guys can make a lot of noise. Their Editors inspired sound is pretty convincing. Too bad that their set is still a bit unbalanced with good and bad songs. Next time a few more good songs and these guys may get pretty far.



Esben and the Witch (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
Although playing a pretty creative and varied set this Danish band is trying too hard to make arty music. I'm sure there's an audience for their music but this is just not my cup of tea.

Errors (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
Lots of electronics with these guys. Their songs are well played but something is missing. After a while you kind of get the idea and it's time to move on.

General Fiasco (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
I was expecting more from this band. Their single 'Ever So Shy' is pretty catchy but turns out to be one of only two good songs. All the rest sounds alike and everything seems to be in the same tempo. Singer Owen Strathern isn't a great vocalist and the accoustic song he plays cannot save their performance.

Everything Everything (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
Less can be more but telling from their band name this doesn't apply to these artists. Their songs are complex, tight and well played but it's all a bit too much. Complexitity shouldn't be the goal of a song since you will end up with music without a true soul. That's kind of what their songs sounded like. Maybe this festival wasn't the right place for them.

Hudson Mohawke (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Time to dance! This guy doesn't hesitate and from the start throws his heavy beats out there. The crowd finally can go wild and most people do. Still it could have been better. It seems he was hesitating to really light the fuse and tear the place down where he could. And please get rid of that annoying MC.

We Have Band (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Catchy New Order like tunes by this threesome with lots of beats and percussion. Nothing really that sticks out but a lively and satisfying performance. A good act for that time of the night when our good friend Mr Heineken (hello) is starting to take over as usual.



Fools Gold (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
Another perfect timed act closes the live acts on the main stage. Swinging music with lots of percussion so just my kind of music! And they stay a lot closer to the African roots than hip and famous Vampire Weekend (nope, not a fan).

Great ending to an interesting evening with lots of variety. Some good, some bad but compliments to the programmer for serving this tasty dish. Unfortunately this is where Mr Heineken was asking most of our attention so we forgot about two more acts on the small stage. Too bad because appearently we missed one of the best acts of the weekend And So I Watch You From Afar. Hopefully I can catch them some time to make up.

2 comments:

  1. I agree on your view on Hudson Mohawke. At first everyone was a bit flabbergasted, cause the act didnt really fit in the "mellow" London Calling as it was at that point. But when he started pumping the beats, people literally lossened up and even *gasp* srted dancing. I must say that i was surprised (in a good way) with the show he gave us.

    Nice phat beats that sometimes touched the Drum-and-Bass level.. I liked it.

    But ... as you said, loose the MC ...
    Its no addon for the music OR the show ..

    Wonderfull edition of London calling all together. See you all in oktober/november :D

    ReplyDelete