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REVIEW - EDITORS
Barfly by Dean Matthewson
HAVING done the Camden venue trawl last year, Editors had a great
summer in the charts and at the festivals and are now back on tour.
Now established, lead singer Tom Smith has a celeb girlfriend (Radio
One DJ Edith Bowman, who wriggled her way to the front despite arriving
late…honestly), while Barfly, not what you’d call a large
venue admittedly, was so rammed it was crazy.
Even if you were sporting a pair of Cuban heels and could reach
the lofty heights of 5’9”, you had to spend most of your
night on tiptoes.
They were ably supported by Kubicheki! – a Geordie band Editors
picked out for the tour – and the refreshing sounds of The
Kooks, who look like they should still be sitting their GCSEs rather
than bouncing around a stage with big hair, great reggae-infused
tunes and no small amount of presence.
Editors jumped to their positions with no great fanfare and let
their music do the talking: their sound is even better live.
Not restricted by the confines of a home speaker their set fills
the corners of the room, generating an outbreak of communal foot-tapping
and head bobbing.
Reeling off the singles Bullets, Munich and Blood, their efforts
were rewarded by the enthusiastic crowd. The band seem to have quite
a love for single word titles as Sparks and Lights play feverishly
to the audience. Woe betide anyone who calls them ‘The Editors’.
Song titles that are punchy and to the point are much like the band’s
finely crafted tunes, which are layered with catchy riffs, thumping
bass and marauding beats. The highlight of the evening is the track
Camera, which starts with a Joy Division-inspired bleakness, before
building around Tom Smith’s passionate lead vocals to reach
a heart-rousing finale.
As the audience left, one man was heard to mutter: “I can’t
help smiling. I haven’t smiled at a gig in years.”
Impressive considering their amp and guitar broke after one song
and the band were apparently in a foul mood after the gig. Editors
are one to watch.
Dressed-down show reveals Natalie’s
flaws
REVIEW - NATALIE IMBRUGLIA
Shepperd's Bush Empire by Richrad Osley
WAS I imagining things or did 2,000 people really fill the Shepherd’s
Bush Empire just to hear Natalie Imbruglia sing Torn?
Spare the drooling men in the front row, the capacity crowd were
restless, fidgety and fiddling with mobile phones, until she burst
into the only song she has done that anybody really remembers.
And curiously – given she has been dining out on it for the
best part of a decade – it’s not even that great a song.
Do the maths and that’s £22.50 plus booking fees to hear
an average singer sing an average song.
Throw in a few drinks and your bus pass to the Bush and there must
have been some folk leaving the Empire feeling a little short-changed.
The rest of the show was forgettable, at times sinking into a tired
Alanis Morissette impression amounting to little more than flailing
arms and misfiring vocals.
Imbruglia isn’t helped by a lifeless band. The worst culprit
was a clunky keys man whose lack of subtlety doomed every song before
her first line.
Fair play to Imbruglia for not trying to sell records in a skimpy
skirt.
Tonight she was in black jeans and a shapeless T-shirt, and sending
out a pointed message that she wants us to like her for her music
rather than her good bone structure. But the trouble is, there isn’t
enough substance behind the casual wear.
Half-remembered singles like Shiver, Smoke and Big Mistake have
some worth but the new material founders and quite why she thought
a cover of Crowded House’s Pineapple Head would be a clever
idea will always be a mystery.
It seems a long time ago since Imbruglia was worth running home
from school to watch Neighbours for.
It’s also been a long time since she struck it lucky with Torn.
She should have come up with something better by now.
Quirky Guillemots flutter in to show
off unusual act
PREVIEW - THE GUILLEMOTS
The Borderline
FRESH new band The Guillemots are emerging talents and there’s
a last chance to see them play live this year.
Fronted by the charming and excitingly-named Fyfe Dangerfield, the
London four-piece have been creating a stir with their quirky sound,
using a second hand £5 keyboard and a bizarre whirling pipe.
Lauded by the likes of influential Radio One DJs Jo Whiley –
they were her Record of the Week – and Steve Lamacq, they have
been MTV favourites and their limited edition EP I Saw Such Things
In My Sleep sold out. You can now only get it on eBay, where it
is being touted at preposterous prices.
Having supported The Magic Numbers, they are currently on tour with
Rufus Wainwright. Their latest offering Trains To Brazil is released
this week.
• The Guillemots, play The Borderline, in Manette Street, W1,
020 7734 2095, on Tuesday, December 13. Tickets are £6.
CLICK HERE FOR LISTINGS |
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Paris is still No.1 in the wine world
PARIS, sera toujours Paris, sang the French singer and Hollywood star
of the 1940s Maurice Chevalier.
FULL STORY
Give our school kids a sporting
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DON’T know about you but I hated sport at school. It was all that
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