Marc Almond...

Last Friday night Paul, Simon and I went to see Marc Almond at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London's not so glitzy Shepherd's Bush.

The show was the final night of his The Velvet Trail promotional tour and it was a real wow. Showcasing much of his recent top album (his best in 10 years?) Marc also treated us to a gambol through his weighty back catalogue.

The guy is a amazing, has got the hits and has still got the power to command the stage. The show was haunting, tuneful and joyous. That man is a star, boys, that man is a star.

The Tyburn Tree...

On Sunday night Stuart and I went to see Marc Almond and John Harle perform The Tyburn Tree at the Barbican Concert Hall. It was a grand project. A concept album brought to life. It was hypnotic, complex, lyrical, dark, sinister and joyful.

Made-up ashen white and preaching from the pulpit Marc sang songs, recited nursery rhymes, told tales of Gothic horror, screamed and howled, got us to sing along to tales of hanging, and then pranced around the stage like a diabolical jester.

The songs were great, the neurotic prog-rock blended perfectly with Marc's voice and the night got a well deserved standing ovation.

The critics didn't like it, but as they say... "Critics? Cretins!"

Marc Almond...

On Sunday night Darren, Mark, Denz and I went to see the fabulous Marc Almond perform at the Union Chapel.

The man has a back catalogue to die for, can literally call the tunes and can put together a great show. And a great show it was. There were loads of old favourites to revel in. No Soft Cell stuff but the entire Motherfist and Her Five Daughters album end to end. A few nice Lou Reed songs too.

Marc seemed full of energy - some of it nervous energy I'm guessing - as he had a lot of songs to remember. He performed with loads of gusto though and commanded the whole stage. A few anecdotes about David Bowie, Antony Hegarty and Lou Reed and a few comic asides peppered the show.

The only slight downside was perhaps the sound in the venue. The vocals were muffled and overwhelmed by the band. It meant that casual fans who perhaps hadn't heard say Mr Sad or The Hustler before were deprived of the lyrics.

Stand out song for me was In My Room that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

Set list included:-

I Have Lived
Burn Bright
The Dancing Marquis
The Last Tasmanian Tiger
Child Star
I Who Never
Catch A Fallen Star
Storks
Sandboy
The Little White Cloud That Cried
In My Room
Caroline Says
The Bed
Pale Blue Eyes
Mother Fist
There Is a Bed
Saint Judy
The Room Below
Angel in Her Kiss
The Hustler
Melancholy Rose
Mr Sad
The Sea Says
The Champ
Ruby Red
The River

Encore:
Always

Sleaze / Walk on the Wild Side

John Grant...

Last night Stu, Mark, Denz, PJ and I went to see John Grant perform at the Jazz Cafe in London's less than glitzy Camden Town.

This particular Q Award nominee is hot right now. And as if to increase the Zeitgeisty feel of the evening even more he mentioned attending the Attitude Awards two nights earlier (where he picked up Man Of The Year) and got to meet his gay heroes Marc Almond and Holly Johnson. Bless him. He knows his roots that boy.

Beardy Mr Grant specialises in a line gravel-voiced miserablism that hits a chord with today's ennui generation and which taps into the celebrity-ladened media's obsession with 'self' perfectly. Only John Grant doesn't need to make up his angst like so many pop stars do each day for the entertainment pages. He is the real deal. He has genuine angst - in buckets.

His exploration of his own psyche - the defensiveness, the occasional self-hatred but utter self-awareness - shows an amazing depth of feeling and passion that simply spews out into his lyrics. And he certainly has the history to draw on - alcohol and drug addiction, coming to terms with being gay and HIV-positive, problems in his youth and trouble with a former boyfriend are topics all keenly and wittily observed. It was at times painful to hear such naked emotion expressed vocally but his songs tell a truth that clearly taps into the collective consciousness of the surprisingly diverse audience at the venue last night. More often than not he had us in the palm of his hand.

Musically John Grant is truly gifted too. There is no other expression for it. Perfectly crafted songs that simmer and then soar into the air like the Icelandic volcanoes he once lived so near. His sound sits somewhere between Sigur Ros and a late 70s prog rock band – beautiful atmospheric songs with the occasional six minute synth-fuelled epic which demonstrate his obvious fandom of bands like the Cocteau Twins.

Stand out songs of the night were I Hate This Town, Vietnam, Pale Green Ghosts, the single GMF and encore-ending / crowd-favourite Queen of Denmark. 

Sadly the much hoped for appearance of backing-singer Sinéad O'Connor swinging naked across the stage on a wrecking ball never materialised. Not so much as a twerk.

Roll on John Grant's next London appearance at the Roundhouse next March.

Marc Almond at Shepherd's Bush Empire...

Last Monday was Marc Almond's 55th birthday and Dave had bought me a ticket to go and see him in concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London's glitzy West London.

Along with Dave we were joined by Darren, Paul and Simon - oh and 2000 other devotees.

It was a tremendous gig. Marc was in good voice and obviously very happy to be there. The crowd loved it too - well, except Darren who hated it as did Simon (who left halfway through). One for the fans maybe? But that's who was there! Lots of self-penned work, a Northern Soul section and pleasingly few 'hits'.

There were some great great reviews, notably The Arts Desk and The Guardian.

As Marc himself said on Twitter:-

@MarcAlmond: To those that enjoyed and appreciated the show thank you, you get it and understand.thank you for your cards and gifts.
@MarcAlmond: To the disgruntled in the usual moaning areas, time to go away and follow someone else. You'll never be happy, I CAN'T BE WHAT YOU WANT,
@MarcAlmond: All I all in my top 3 Me shows. Atmosphere,crowd, musicianship,songs,vocals,brass and BV's,sound,glitter canon,emotion,4 me gig perfection.

And here's the setlist:-

The Stars We Are
These My Dreams Are Yours
Redeem me
I Who Never
Under Your Wing
There Is a Bed
The River
Waifs and Strays
The Sea Still Sings
Trials of Eyeliner
Sandboy
Tale of a Tart (Hell)
Vanity, Poverty, Revenge
Your Aura
Nijinsky Heart
You Have
Always
This Beautiful Day
Night Owl
Love's Gone Bad
This Love Starved Heart of Mine
After Laughter (Comes Tears)
Run Like the Devil
The Night
Tainted Love
What
I'll Be Gone

Encore:
'Happy birthday Marc'
Jacky
Hot love

Songs For SurvivorsUK...

Last night Darren treated me and Mark to a fundraising night out at Cadogan Hall in London's glitzy Sloane Square. We went to see Lesley Garrett, David McAlmont, Ian Shaw, Meow Meow and Hannah Waddingham joined the London Gay Men’s Chorus in an evening of song celebrating SurvivorsUK and their clients – men who have been sexually violated.

"The Songs For SurvivorsUK concert marks the 25th anniversary of this pioneering organisation that provides a national helpline and London based counselling services to men who have experienced sexual violation at any time in their lives. The charity also assists the partners and carers of these men and provides links and signposting to services around the country."

Sadly Marc Almond and Lea DeLaria had cancelled but stand out act of the night was Meow Meow. Her brittle, jokey persona had us in stitches.

Good cause too.

Lovebox 2011...

The Lovebox 2011 line-up looks really good. SUNDAY A-Z: 2 Many DJs (Closing Main Stage set) // Azari & III // Black Devil Disco Club // Blondie // Dr Noki NHS // Feral AKA MC Kinky // Hard Ton // Horse Meat Disco featuring: Tensnake, The Shit Robot Show Live, Severino, Luke Howard, James Hillard, Jim Stanton // Jodie Harsh's Circus // Jonny Woo // Kelis // Marc Almond // MEN // Planningtorock // Robyn // Scissor Sisters // MANY MORE TBA

Marc Almond @ De La Warr Pavilion...

Last Saturday Paul and I went down to stay with the lovely Charlie in St Leonard's. He put on a lovely meal before we headed off, along with Charlie's friend Brendan, to see Marc Almond at the glitzy De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-On-Sea.
La Almond put on a great show covering his thirty years in the biz. We sang and danced the night away to favourites such as Tainted Love, Tears Run Rings, Jacky, The Days Of Pearly Spencer, Bedsitter, Say Hello Wave Goodbye, Black Heart, What Makes A Man A Man, My Hand Over My Heart, Memorabilia, A Lover Spurned, Something's Gotta Hold Of My Heart, Adored And Explored, The Idol, Child Star and I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten.
Even more ecstatic was our reaction more rarely performed gems such as Stories Of Johnny, What, Where The Heart Is, Waifs And Strays, Melancholy Rose, A Woman's Story, Entertain Me and You Have.
A show for fans old and new. It was a brilliant, brilliant night.

Marc Almond tells Pop Idol losers to f**k off...
Marc Almond thinks the public should not have to put up with the Pop Idol losers releasing records. He believes Will Young should be the only pop star to emerge from the series. The Soft Cell star says the other finalists can get lost.

He said: "It's very easy to be famous nowadays, but it's also a lot easier to disposed of. "Why do we have to put up with the Pop Idol losers and runners-up releasing records? It's all very Saturday night karaoke. There's room for Will Young because he won the competition, but the rest can f**k off.

Soft Cell have a new album scheduled for release in September. Almond thinks the duo's new material will appeal to established fans and the upcoming generation of music lovers.

"I'm nearly 45, so I'm going through a kind of midlife crisis. That will be reflected in the album. But I think we've managed to keep our mystique. At the first set of Soft Cell reunion gigs there were older people mixed in with a lot of teenagers who've just discovered us."

Almond says he hasn't heard Marilyn Manson's cover version of Tainted Love, which is currently in the UK Top Ten. "I like Marilyn Manson and people have asked me about it, but I haven't heard it yet," he said.

"I'm much more interested in completely different versions of songs like David Gray's cover of Say Hello, Wave Goodbye. Of course, we wrote that song so we get royalties from that one - maybe there's a mercenary element to my attitude somewhere."

A Greatest Hits album has just been released, which includes two new Soft Cell compositions.