Photograph © Martyn Leung
Victoria Legrand of Beach House, photograph taken at London’s Village Underground, May 2012.
Pretty much all of my London-based music friends were queuing up super early to see Beach House perform last week. To be honest, I’m not a die hard fan of Beach House and I didn’t love the gig as much as my friends… yet I ended up getting a copy of the setlist. However, I am lookin forward to seeing them later in the year at London’s Roundhouse.
Photograph © Martyn Leung
St Vincent, photograph taken at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, February 2012. Brilliant, just brilliant. Go and see Annie Clark next time she’s on tour.
Photograph © Martyn Leung
Sharon van Etten, photograph taken at London’s Scala, May 2012.
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Photograph © Martyn Leung
Johnny Flynn, photograph taken on Record Store Day at Rough Trade East, April 2012.
Photograph © Martyn Leung
Matthew Whitehouse of The Heartbreaks, photograph taken on Record Store Day at Rough Trade East, April 2012.
Photograph © Martyn Leung
Grimes, the musical project of Claire Boucher. Photograph taken at Madame JoJos, February 2012.
2012 is turning out to be a remarkable year for the Canadian. This time last year I saw Grimes for the first time in London, and now the music press is saturated with articles and interviews of her.
I’m not going to say I love everything she does - some of the material on her albums to date just aren’t for me - but I’ve seen Grimes live on four occasions (most recently last week) and really enjoyed her live shows.
Grimes is at Field Day on 2nd June, and I think a lot of people will be cramming into whichever tent she’s performing in, trying to get a glimpse of one of 2012’s hottest properties.
Quantic and Alice Russell with the Combo , photograph taken at Koko, May 2012.
Photograph © Martyn Leung
Just got home from seeing Alice Russell performing alongside music maestro Quantic. I’ve raved about the talents of the lovely and super-friendly Alice on numerous occasions, but tonight’s collaboration with her friend Quantic and the Combo Bárbaro was a real treat for the sell-out crowd at Koko. They’re on tour in Europe throughout May, go and buy a ticket now, and buy their recently released album, Look Around The Corner.
Photograph © Martyn Leung
Soap and Skin, photo taken April 2012 at Scala, London.
A few months ago I described Anja Plaschg’s Union Chapel concert of October 2010 as dark, emotional, raw, verging on disturbing and unsettling, but utterly compelling. Her performance at Scala was no different, I’d even say that it was even more intense as I was stood right at the front, almost eye to eye with Anja.
Photograph © Martyn Leung
Pulp, photograph taken at Royal Albert Hall, March 2012.
A majestic performance from Jarvis Cocker et al, leaving me to ask myself two questions. 1) Why had I not seen them before, and 2) why didn’t I get a ticket to be closer to the stage? Nevermind.
I’ve been to around 250 gigs, and this certainly ranks in the top five, possibly in the top three that I’ve experienced. Being part of around 5000 people singing and dancing along to Disco 2000 and Common People is something I won’t forget in a while.
And Jarvis Cocker is a class act.
Photograph © Martyn Leung
Gemma Hill of Robots in Disguise, photograph taken at The Lexington, February 2012.
This is the lovely Gemma Hill, a talented drummer/percussionist who I’ve gotten to know over the last few months. She has worked extensively with leading artists such as Cee Lo Green, Robyn and Cyndi Lauper, and has appeared live on the X-Factor.
As well as her musical talents, she also interviews drummers for www.mikedolbear.com, and teaches percussion privately.
