Celebrating the release of his ninth album, We Will Always Be The Way We Were, Jack Savoretti takes the stage at Circuit with a guitar, along with his buddy, Danish pianist Nikolaj Torp Larsen.
In such an intimate venue, Jack is quite chatty and tells the story behind each of the songs, as well as answering questions from the audience and performing snippets of some of the songs they request.
He starts off with a story about songwriting and how a friend commented that Jack had rediscovered “his sound”. Describing it as a “fuck you” song, he kicks off with album opener The Making of You.
Sharing the grief of losing his father a few years ago, Jack explains that this next song was his outlet to capture the feelings. “How I wish I could call you now,” he croons during Can Hurt Sometimes. It’s an emotional tune with a profound meaning but doesn’t feel too heavy.
We are serenaded with more new songs from the album, including the title track We Will Always Be The Way We Were, interspersed with more stories.
He describes Miles Kane as a “brother from another mother” who he met a few years ago at an awards ceremony. He said they were both in the “afternoon of life”, in other words, mid-life crisis. They wrote Bada Bing, Bada Boom together on Jack’s Italian album, and collaborated on the new album. He relates a conversation that they had. “Why do we do it?” pondered Jack. “We do it for love,” replied Miles. This leads into their co-written epic Do It For Love.
A fan in the front row asks about his last gig in Kingston which was amazing and the microphone broke (we’re not sure how these things are related) but Jack laughs and says he uses them everyday but has no idea how they work! Someone else asks Jack if he is looking forward to playing the Royal Albert Hall the following week. “So much,” he affirms. He talks about what an honour it is to play there.
As someone who didn’t know much about Jack Savoretti before this show, I have become a fan. I love the new album, he is a great songwriter with an enchanting voice, and seems to be very personable. Also intrigued by Nikolaj who is also an excellent musician and has played on some big hits. It was a fantastic show!
Bouncing onstage, frontman Roy Stride, was full of energy and enthusiasm. He tells us upfront what to expect, one old song, and then one brand new song from Scouting for Girls brand new album These Are The Good Days. Also on stage are bassist Greg Churchouse, drummer Peter Ellard and guitarist Connor McDonald (who strongly resembles Alan Cumming from where I was standing). We are told that we, the audience, are the fifth member of Scouting For Girls for the evening.
Scouting For Girls
The band kick off with the super catchy Heartbeat (“every time that we meet, I skip a heartbeat”). True to their word, they follow this with the first track and title track from their new album, These Are The Good Days. A groovy, upbeat, optimistic number (“we’ll look back and say they were golden days”).
An old, novelty song I Wish I Was James Bond is played next. Roy moves from keyboards to the piano onstage, and later also picks up a guitar. His energy is infectious. Another new song, Don’t You Go Solo, track number five from the new album, did they mention that they had a new album out?
The classic This Ain’t A Love Song, is followed by track three from the new album Waiting For Your Love. A frenetic, heavy number.
Scouting For Girls
Roy recalls that before a previous tour they asked people to vote for which song they wanted to hear, and the song that got more votes that the rest put together was Posh Girls. There’s a bit of banter about turning to your friend and deciding which of you is the posh one! Then it’s track two of the new album (did they mention that they had a new album These Are The Good Days?!), Get What You Give. This is a lively pop tune and sounds perfect for a road trip on a hot day.
The band take a moment to film live footage for social media, and have us, the fifth band member, cheering away.
Here we all are!
Another old one, Elvis Ain’t Dead merges into an Elvis classic Can’t Help Falling In Love. The band break from the old-new formula that they set out, and play another old one, Michaela Strachan. The grand finale is the iconic She’s So Lovely.
Scouting For Girls
This is the first time I’ve seen Scouting For Girls after nearly 20 years but they have so much energy and are so cheerful, I left the venue feeling uplifted and having had so much fun.
The Feeling are celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Twelve Stops and Home. I get the feeling that they are surprised by the size of the stage at the Limelight (compared to other venues on the tour, its much smaller than Shepherds Bush Empire anyway) as frontman Dan Gillespie-Sells refers to the drummer, Paul Stewart, being ‘halfway up his arse’ like in the days of their earliest shows. Also on the stage are bassist Richard Jones, guitarist Kevin Jeremiah, and keyboardist Ciaran Jeremiah.
The Feeling
As an album anniversary show, the set list is wonderfully predictable. Arriving on stage to a recording of what sounds like a glowing review, it reminds us of the wonderful songs that await us. The Feeling are one of those bands where you definitely know more songs than you think you do.
Starting with I Want You Now, swiftly followed by the wonderful Never Be Lonely and the catchy Fill My Little World, the band sound incredible. So optimistic! It’s definitely a glass half full kinda day.
The Feeling
There’s a lot of swapping in guitars through the set and there is a shout out from the crowd for guitar tech Gary. “Guitar tech Gary is a legend,” agrees Dan. “As is our other guitar tech Josh.” He then thanks them, along with sound engineers Duncan and Rhys, who’ve been with them on this tour, celebrating this final night. Dan also quips that when the band started out, the roadies were older, cynical, heavy drug users and the band were young eager whippersnappers bouncing around like bunnies, but these days the roles are reversed as the band are on drugs (for bad backs) and the roadies are the bouncy whippersnappers.
Next up, Kettle’s On, leading into Sewn. I could sing along with every word. This is followed by Anyone and Strange. I start to wonder if the entire album was released as singles, or at least if album tracks had radio airplay, as they are all so familiar.
The band do actually bounce like bunnies for the intro to Love It When You Call. It’s a little more chilled for Rosé (no pun intended), and picks up again for Same Old Stuff, Helicopter and Blue Piccadilly.
The band look like they are going to leave the stage but rearrange themselves on the tiny stage so Dan is behind the keyboards and he does a solo of the final song on the album, Miss You.
Dan’s solo
Given the backstage door seems to go outside (to their tour bus) rather than to a backstage area, we are told to imagine that they have left the stage and returned for the encore.
The aptly named I Thought It Was Over was followed by the even more appropriately titled Still You Want More, from The Feeling’s second and third albums respectively.
They follow this with a fun and chirpy cover version of Video Killed The Radio Star. The finale was Join With Us. The band take a bow and the show is over.
The Feeling
The Feeling were so much fun! So full of energy and refreshing. I’d forgotten what a great debut album they had, and it still sounds incredible aged 20 years.
While The Feeling are celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Twelve Stops and Home, Sandi Thom has joined them on tour also celebrating the twentieth anniversary of her debut, number one single, I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair).
Wearing a kilt, starting the set with a harmonica and onstage with guitarist Ben, someone in the crowd asks Sandie if she’s Scottish. “I am,” she says, bemused.
I don’t know many of her songs but she has a powerful, strong voice and I enjoyed her set immensely. She has stage presence, getting the crowd to sing along with Boulder. Another highlight was a stripped back, acoustic version of Guns n Roses classic, November Rain. It’s a really lovely, gentle song, without any drama (the music video of an epic wedding was on music channels frequently in my childhood so I associate it with high drama and heavy guitar solos).
The finale was her best known song, I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair). She explains that it’s as relevant now than it was then – I didn’t know quite what she meant until I heard the words about disillusionment with modern life. The world has gone a bit batshit again.
Supporting The Feeling in Belfast, McGrath is a musician from Donegal with a guitar. He has songs about the mica property scandal and Rotha Mór an tSaoil, which he explains means big wheel of life, and Rotha is an imminent release. There was a cover of The Waterboys and, I think, The Fontaines (well I’m assuming that was why he asked if we like The Fontaines).
Great to have some local sounds to warm up the crowd, and McGrath warmed us up well.
This is the first night of the tour: “A celebration of Britpop, brought to life by Blur’s Alex James, a full orchestra and special guests.”
Chris Moyles’ DJ Set at Britpop Classical
With a heavy dose of nostalgia right from the start, warming up the crowd with a DJ set was Chris Moyles. He stuck to the 90s vibe (arguably a bit wider than Britpop, in my humble opinion), but alluded to avoiding playing anything that was actually in the live set. If Britpop classics by the likes of Dodgy, The Bluetones and Paul Weller, didn’t make it into the Britpop Classical set, I’m sure it must be full of bangers. Chris Moyles played some great tunes to get everyone in the mood, too many to mention. Biggest singalongs were Stereophonics’ Dakota and Weezer’s Buddy Holly. Everyone is now thoroughly warmed up for the main act.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra are onstage, along with the band, including Alex James on bass.
The live set opens with an onscreen montage of the British bands that influenced the Britpop era – The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, and more. The band and orchestra kick off with a medley, from Help to My Generation via Waterloo Sunset and Get It On. While this whole event is a blast from the past, this is a lovely nod to Britpop origins in influential British classics.
The band, the orchestra and Simon Fowler
The first guest joins the stage and it’s Simon Fowler from Ocean Colour Scene with a nostalgic rendition of The Riverboat Song.
The second guest joins the stage and it’s Saffron from Republica with a powerful version of Ready To Go. The screen at the back of the stage shows the video, with a younger Saffron belting it out on screen while real-life Saffron matched the energy of the Britpop days.
Saffron from Republica
A strong start, but it would be too much to ask to have all the original vocalists for the entire set. There are various singers brought out for different songs. We heard quintessential Britpop classic Supergrass’ Alright, and then some inspired mashups – Elastica’s Connection with EMF’s Unbelievable; Blur’s Song 2 with Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit (“woo hoo”).
The next segment is introduced by Alex James as homage to a city that is the home of many great British bands, and the screen flashed up a road sign to… Manchester. It wouldn’t be Britpop without reference to the Blur vs Oasis battle of 95, of course.
Rock and Roll Star was followed by Happy Mondays’ Step On, The Charlatans’ The Only One I Know, The Stone Roses’ I Wanna Be Adored (with beautiful bass line) and Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. I’m not sure that these really fall under the label of Britpop, technically, but they are fantastic songs and great to sing along.
Swerving back to upbeat jaunty Britpop, with Blur’s Country House. As a song about excess, Alex James told us that it was about someone at their record label.
Gary Stringer from Reef
Another guest singer joins the stage and it’s Gary from Reef for Place Your Hands. The screen also showing the music video of a younger Reef in an orange box.
This is followed by much-loved indie anthem, You and Me Song (I learnt more than I wanted to about Swedish band, the Wannadies, from Louise Wener’s biography Just For One Day recently).
Parklife with Phil Daniels
More Blur needed: Girls and Boys is followed by a short blast of Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping before turning to Parklife, with Phil Daniels on guest vocals.
For the next song, the orchestra is in the spotlight, and the strings for The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony are just sublime, with a stunning light show at the same time. Alex James swapped his bass guitar for a double bass. This is the pinnacle of Britpop Classical.
Bittersweet Symphony
A piano leads the next song, Creep by Radiohead, a hauntingly beautiful piece.
Alex James quips, in a mockney accent, “Let’sblow the bloody doors off!” this home of British music.
Next is The La’s The She Goes, a Pulp double of Disco 2000 and Common People, and an Oasis double of Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back In Anger. A strange choice for a Blur man to end the show on an Oasis song, surely? But of course, there’s more!
The encore sees Alex James pick up the conductor’s baton and lead the orchestra with I Vow To Thee My Country, with a slide show of Great British institutions, including this very venue. Very patriotic.
Conductor Alex James
All the guests return to stage for the grande finale of Blur’s The Universal. Another song where the strings are prominent and it sounds lush with the full orchestra. Streamers are released and everyone celebrates in a wonderful first night of the tour.
All the guests
The set list was magnificent, every song was a singalong favourite, and heavy on the nostalgia. I would have liked the orchestra turned up a bit. The guest vocalists singing their own songs was superb and while having different singers was necessary as it would haven been impossible to get all the original vocalists, it felt a bit like listening to a covers band, at times.
Overall, it was a clever idea, well executed, but the best songs were those that featured orchestra parts anyway – Bittersweet Symphony and The Universal – so I feel like the orchestra could have been more prominent. More classical in the Britpop Classical please!
I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve have seen Ash live but I remember the first time vividly- it was during their residency at the London Astoria, or ‘Ashtoria’ as it was briefly renamed. My first ever indoor indie gig, in March 1997. They had an incredible energy, and my overriding memory is of the sea of teenage crowdsurfers, getting bruised from the jostling and loving every minute, even though my delicate ears rang for days afterwards. I’m remembering all of this as I’m front row once again to see Ash.
Drummer Rick McMurray is on stage first and opens the show with beats to space age opening track Zarathrusta, then Tim Wheeler and Mark Hamilton arrive on stage, pick up their guitar and bass respectively, and add the melody and groove. It’s a fun start to the show at the London Scala, the first night of their February tour.
More songs from the new album Ad Astra follow. Fun People is played without Graham Coxon who appears on the record and joined the Scala gigs in September, although Tim later opens his denim shirt to reveal he is wearing a stripy T-shirt in honour of the Blur guitarist. New single Keep Dreaming, title track Ad Astra and Hallion are great, energetic new songs. Jump In The Line adds some funky Calypso to the evening.
Ash
While this is a showcase of their fabulous new songs, it’s also an opportunity to play their much loved career spanning hits. Fans love to hear the early material. 1977 was an exceptionally brilliant debut, an essential 90s album by teenagers for teenagers, and the hit songs sound fantastic live and have everyone singing along. I couldn’t help thinking that Goldfinger reflected the inclement conditions of the evening (the rain is lashing down tonight).
Oh Yeah was a highlight of the set for me. It’s so nostalgic, I think I spent an entire summer just listening to that song.
The opening bars to A Life Less Ordinary take me back to the 90s and the glamorous music video with Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor.
Orpheus, with its fast and heavy beats, was another reminder of how many great and varied songs they have.
Shining Light, which recently celebrated the 25th anniversary, sounded stunning. It was one great song after another.
Tim’s guitar has a hidden message
The energy in the room is high. Occasionally Tim bounces on stage Britpop style, avoiding getting tangled in the guitar wires, and Mark leaps around the stage from one impossibly wide stance to another. I am trying, but failing, to read Mark’s Sex Pistols style T-shirt from across the room: Never mind the…? I’d rather be in Mike The Pies (it’s a live music venue in Ireland).
The set ends with a frenetic rendition of Kung Fu (though not as frenzied as the first gig, full of teenagers, that I mentioned).
Boy From Mars
A short break and Tim returns for the encore alone for an acoustic version of My Favourite Ghost. Mark and Rick join for Girl From Mars. Rick is sporting a Boy From Mars T-shirt, I’m guessing a popular item as there were none at the merch stall after the show. I think we are done, I’ve heard everything that I want to hear, but no, there is one more! The night finishes on a high with Burn Baby Burn!
Ash were as good as they always are. This was a fun gig with great songs and they are a band I love to see live whenever I can.
Ash Scala set list
But before the night is over, I bump into Mark at the merch stall, and get my album signed by the band.
Supporting Ash at the Scala and for part of the tour are Norwich five-piece band Bag of Cans. Appearing on stage in matching orange boiler suits, some rolled up at the legs or down at the waist, the band are, fittingly, holding cans of Kronenburg 1664. Presumably the cans were in a bag at some point.
I’m not sure how seriously to take this band. Starting with Favourite Shirt – which is about a shirt that you really like, we are told – the band announce that the next one is about laundry, and there’s a ripple of laughter – although the next song is actually called Spin Cycle so it wasn’t a joke.
Bag of Cans
Their debut album is called We Are A Band. There are two singers, both called George, one also plays guitar and the other has a trumpet. The trumpet adds an extra layer to the sound. There’s something Parklife-esque about some of the songs sung by guitarist George. There’s also guitarist Tom, bassist Sam and drummer Joe.
Bag of Cans
There’s a bit of audience banter about the Fat Cat pub in Norwich (but which one, there are three) and Guinea-Bissau’s primary export (cashew nuts – I don’t think it’s a running gag that I’ve spoiled as that story got shut down pretty quickly).
The rest of the set contains songs about hangovers, milkmen delivering extras and checking carbon monoxide detectors (that one has a special dance) and other irreverent themes.
Great, fun set by Bag of Cans, and perfect warm-up to Ash on a rainy Tuesday night in London.
Rescheduled from last November due to illness, this is an acoustic set with Q&A and the first of two intimate shows this evening. There are only 4 members of the band on stage (rather than the usual 85, they joke) – Tim, Jim, Saul and Mike.
The evening starts a somber tone. The first song is Broken by the Hurt, a poignant and empathetic ballad, which is dedicated to a mother that had contacted the band after losing her 18 year old son to drugs. This is followed by a moving rendition of The Shining.
On a lighter note, the Q&A prompts a story about how Sit Down caused everyone to actually sit down at the Locomotive club in Paris, which was Tim said was beautiful due to its spontaneity, despite club floors in the 90s being sticky with spilt beer and cigarette butts, and not particularly nice to sit down on! Additional detail, insults and “comic relief” was provided by guitarist and violinist Saul.
Technical issues meant that the band hadn’t sound-checked or rehearsed that day, however they played a beautiful, acoustic version of Say Something, which had a big singalong during the chorus.
This tour was originally timed with the release of James’ new album Nothing But Love, The Definitive Best Of… in November and they were asked about how they’d chosen the tracks for the triple album. Jim explained that it originally started out as a singles album, but they realised that there were many songs that were important to the band or the fans, that weren’t on the list because they weren’t singles. So Jim and Tim decided what to put on, from their back catalogue of over 400 songs, and swapping tracks in and out.
Q&A with Tim
10 year old Ellen, who was seeing James for the third time, asked Tim what inspired him to become a singer?
He replied, “I came from a house where we didn’t even have a record player, and so music was a quite barren culture, and in my day, there were like 2 TV channels, and there wasn’t a bit much entertainment. And so when you did get hit by something, you got hit big. It was like if you did see something, it was magical.”
He goes on to tell us about the night at boarding school when he found out that his father was very ill and dying, but couldn’t show any emotion. Until he sneaked down and listened to a cassette of music, which contained “Birdland” by Patti Smith, about a boy losing his father and this song unleashed his emotions. This inspired him becoming a singer:
“It was the idea that somebody on the other side of the world could write something for you that was the perfect thing for you in that moment that could save your life”.
It was such a personal story, and felt like he was confiding in us, baring his soul to the thousand fans in the room.
To lighten the mood again, Saul declares that in as a strange segue, this next song is Patty Smith. They then played PS (although Tim said isn’t really about Patti Smith).
The next question from the audience was preceded by a solemn tale from a lady who saw James live last year, followed them around the country, learnt the lyrics and credits them with saving her life. It’s a heavy story, but the question itself was a cheeky marriage proposal to Saul!
The conversation then turns to a discussion of their favourite venues given they have played everywhere from arenas to little gigs like this. The Albert Hall is mentioned, along with some other places, but an annoying Aussie voice chimes from the back demanding to know their favourite.
Tim explains that it’s not just the venue, the audience play their part in the chemistry. He uses an analogy: “You don’t you don’t say to somebody, which is your favourite bed for making love on? You say which was the time you had the most amazing lovemaking experience, and it kind of depends on the 2 people.”
“I know it seems really cheesy, but this is one of the best venues I’ve ever played,” remarked Saul. “It’s amazing. It’s also because of you lot”. Big cheers.
Saul and Tim
The band started playing Hallelujah Anyhow, but Tim declares “I can’t remember the words to this one, I’m really thrown.” He asked the audience if anyone remembers the opening lines. A few people chipped in with the words and the proposal lady grabbed a mic and sang “Hold me, see, hold me”.
“You have triggered it, so thank you. As Chloe isn’t here, that isn’t the bit I’m going to sing,” laughed Tim. A very moving version of Hallelujah Anyhow followed.
Questions about venues aren’t finished – “James are a very intimate act, and a venue like this is perfect. Why are you playing O2?”
Saul quips, “Well, it was either play the O2, one night, or 223 nights here. And we can’t afford the hotels.”
Tim add, “We love playing the big venues as much as the small ones. So you get a different show, you know, that’s the thing. Can you make an arena intimate? And I think generally on a good day, we can, and you can, but on a good day, it is harder work, it’s a different experience, but it’s a great challenge.”
James had mentioned in advance that they wanted to do a jam/improvised session tonight, but given they were flying by the seat of their pants without a sound check, they decided to do two final songs instead.
An emotional Just Like Fred Astaire followed. The final song, Laid, takes me back to my university years when it was a staple in Manchester’s indie clubs at the end of the 90s. The audience are singing and dancing along with great energy.
Hands in the air for James
My experience of Q&As is that fans want to declare their undying love for the band, and tonight was no different, but I felt that I got to know James much better in this intimate setting with the personal stories that they shared.
I hadn’t realised that James inspired such a loyal fandom. Many of the fans had travelled some distance and a lucky few also had tickets to the later show this evening. (I’m told that the songs were the same but in a different order, and that ribbing from the earlier proposal continued for Saul.)
I also hadn’t realised how great they are live. Though a short set of only seven songs (from their back catalogue of over 400!), it was an excellent selection to showcase the bands range.
Cast! Another blast from the past! Reformed and with new material, Cast are promoting their 8th studio album Yeah Yeah Yeah in Kingston.
The last time that they were in Kingston two years ago, they did three sold out instore gigs at Banquet Records but said they were looking at the ‘big’ artists that played in this venue. (It was Rod Stewart and Jools Holland that night, I was there). And now, here they are!
Their debut album All Change is another of my most played tapes in 1995. The current formation of the band is vocalist and guitarist John Power, lead guitarist Liam ‘Skin’ Tyson and drummer Keith O’Neill.
John Power – Music is Power
Starting with album opener Poison Vine, the band play a bunch of their new songs. They sound great but feel like I need more time to listen and get to know them. The new single Free Love was catchy and I particularly like Devil and the Deep, which John Power described as a folk song.
Cast
After the new material, it was also great to hear some old songs. Live The Dream is on second album Mother Nature Calls but I would swear I’ve heard it for the first time today, I just don’t remember it. It sounds so groovy. I love it. There a bit of an audience singalong, before John Power took over the vocals. (I do remember Guiding Star from the same album which was sadly removed from tonight’s set list, so I’m perplexed by the mind blank!)
The set continued with a magnificent trio of All Change favourites – Walkaway, Finetime and Alright. Lots of arms in the air and singing along. The audience shouted requests for Sandstorm, which would have been brilliant, but the show ended on a massive high with Alright sounding epic!
Cast are in fine form, performing great songs old and new, and fantastic live.
Blue Roses Fanzine 2.0 