2 posts tagged “kate nash”
I found out MySpace isn't all that bad. I popped of a message to Fiction Plane on it with a link to the pictures I took and promptly got a reply from Joe. He really seemed to like them and asked me whether he could put them on their site. I decided to be cheeky for a change and say "Sure! Can you fix me up with tickets for the Antwerp show?". Then he said "Sure!", so I may be going to see the Police again. How cool. I'm quite thrilled.
Even cooler is it to see the comments people leave on my pic on Fiction Plane's MySpace site. A nice little ego boost :-]
Other than that, there's miserably little going on in life at the moment. I did fuck all this weekend, slumming around the house doing the standby duty for work (which basically means doing fuck all all weekend and making 300 bucks doing it). Did some minor shopping in preparation of Halloween this weekend. Found some really nice fabric swatches in a local shop, which will do me just fine. Some dark blue velvet, bright red cotton and some white fabric, which has a plasticy layer, which will do great for varnishing and making it shiny. The idea is to make a Union Jack coat, and go with a bit of a Dr. Who theme. Maybe a Seven of Nine-like eyepiece and a mini Dalek to follow me around. We'll see how it works out. I'm looking for a second hand sewing machine at the moment, which is faintly amusing as I have never learned how to use one :-P I'm a wee bit late this year starting preparations, and the cats aren't helping. But we'll see how it goes.
I managed to find a ticket for the London Calling festival on Marktplaats. There aren't a lot of bands playing that I now, but it usually ends up being a lot of fun regardless, and 6 months later, half of the bands have had their breakthrough. Such as Kate Nash, whose picture I took at the March edition of the festival earlier this year. Sadly enough, I failed to get me a ticket to her show at the Melkweg november 29. Shucks.
Last night I went to the London Calling Festival, a festival which is turning into a bit of a hype over here. This was the first time in history it was completely sold out before even a single band name was announced to be playing. The concept is pretty simple, take young, promising Brit bands, put them all together and let people go nuts. Some of the bands that it helped break over in The Netherlands and maybe even Europe: Placebo, Blur, Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand, the Kaiser Chiefs and more.
Over the years the festival has turned into a bi-annual two day event and it's still growing. The last time I saw them The Pigeon Detectives were the big breakers. This time around I was a little slow getting tickets, until Keith told me his nephew's band My Luminaries would be playing too. Of course, by then it was sold out and all the scalpers were putting 200% on the original ticketprices, so I just kind of gave up. Thanks to the internet however, I had absolutely no chance finding myself a last minute ticket, so off I went, camera in tow.
The line up for this evening was: Our Lunar Activities, The Wombats, Kate Nash, The Twang, My Luminaries, The Long Blondes, We Are The Physics, Pigeon Detectives and a few more, but I bowed out after that one.
Our Lunar Activities had the difficult task of being the first band to start off in the little upstairs room. Not everyone had arrived yet, so it was a little quiet audience wise. I thought they were an alright band, not very convincing, but it's possible they'll grow in future.
The Wombats started up with a little itty ditty a capella clap along, which hit off a storm. Not a bad feat when your slot starts at 8 pm when everyone is just starting to trickle in from having dinner. After that it was very happy and loud, which really got the (very young) audience going. Nice little band; I don't think this will be the last we hear of them. They seem to be hardworking and enjoying themselves, which for me are the most important things to make a band. I suppose having catchy tunes helps, and The Wombats certainly did.
Next up, Kate Nash. She didn't quite fit into the rest of the lineup, which mostly invites pogoing and stage diving. Her repertoire is more voice heavy and less beat, drums, guitars and noise and explores the more alternative side. She's got that very cute girl next door kind of appearance, including bright red hair. I was well surprised by her and think she could be a great performer. Strong vocals with an alternaive edge to it. I will probably check her out again if she plays in the area.
Then The Twang. What a bunch of losers. Their music didn't appeal to me at all and came across on me as very white boys trying to be hip hoppy cool. Or maybe I just didn't stick around long enough to really listen. No sex appeal, no charm, no catchy tunes, gouchers. 'Nuff said.
Then the surprise of the evening, the one band that no one expected anything off and completely blew everyone away We Are The Physics from Glasgow. A high energy band, with speedy catchy songs, band members with a sense of style and the ability to completely turn the audience to their hand. In no time the audience took over the stage and the crowdsurfing began in earnest, along with people dancing on the stage. The lead singer egged them on and the guitar player joined right in. London Calling being London Calling, filled with promotors and people trying to find the next best thing to sliced bread, this is one band we'll undoubtedly be hearing more from in the near future. They blew me away! Check out their site for samples of their work. They have to be seen live though.
Last band I saw were the Pigeon Detectives. They played the previous edition of the festival as well and were then the big breakthrough. If I remember correctly they also supported the Kaiser Chiefs at the Melkweg earlier this year. It's undeniable, they're a fun band. With a singer that has a lot of charisma and doesn't mind joining the masses in stagediving and crowdsurfing he appeals to a lot of the members in the audience. I think I may have cracked a few ribs in the chaos that ensued, but their performance was a very nice ending of the evening. Not a bad night at all for a mere 20 euros.
Of course, I just missed the last regular bus home, so I had to wait for the night bus, which took forever to get there. All in all I ended up in bed at 3 am, which wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been for my buddy storm jumping right on top of me at 7:30 am going HELLO! IT'S A BRAND NEW MORNING! WAKE UP AND PLAY WITH ME! MEOW! He's a very persistent little bugger :)
I had a hard time waking up and came along slowly while editing some pictures when I got a call from the saddle fitter at 10:20 am, to ask me if I was at the yard yet. Uhm, not exactly, I was sitll in my sleeping gear, heh. So I had to rush to the yard to meet him and fit Solon's new saddle. So I now have a saddle that was almost more expensive than what I paid for the horse in the first place... Typical. It seems to have really improved a few things though, so I'm touching wood here and hoping that this will mean the end of some of the troubles I have had with him.
Tomorrow I'll be going to the beach with Solon and two friends. The weather is supposed to be brilliant and I'm really excited about going. Not a great thing to do to a brand new fitted saddle, expose it to salty water, but what gives?
