Making the two hour trek from Bristol from London has to be worth it on the whole, so when MTV gave us the chance to check out three of 2010’s hottest bands we jumped at the chance, and happily embarked on the trek to Dingwalls in Camden last night.

Opening up was London’s very own Death Metal Disco Scene, a sort of Yeah Yeah Yeahs lite. Having already achieved some pretty impressive official remixes for the likes of Bat for Lashes, Lily Allen and Kylie Minogue, we had high hopes for what was one of the band’s first live shows. Sporting some questionable Jeggings, lead singer Scorch Shepherd is like Karen O if she was a bit calmer and not quite as derranged. A pretty amazing cover of Whitney Houston’s “Wanna dance with Somebody” was a highlight of the set midway through, all stripped back and xx like, before they amped it back up to finish with futuristic dancefloor filler 21st Century. Good, strong songs for an opening band – definately ones I’ll be watching closely in 2010 as they grow.

Next up was The Drums (interview here, pictured right), currently making a stir in most people’s “ones to watch in 2010″ lists, they claimed in this week’s NME that they only make music with themselves in mind, not anyone else. However tonight they quite happily pleased the small but sold out crowd with their Beach Boys / Cure combination of sounds. Reminiscent of stellastarr* fronted by Kenneth from 30 Rock, they may have peaked a bit too early with a frantic, tambourine infused “All End in Tears” which resulted in the demolition of much of their drums’ mikes. The rest of the set was solid, fun, summery stuff that will have girls swooning and guys smiling.

Finally, after a stage set-up that would make most Health and Safety inspectors weep with the number of cables lying around, Delphic ambled on stage at 10:30, launching into an accomplished set. I first caught them last October in Southampton, and since then things have got pretty massive for the Manchester quartet (they topped our poll of bands to watch in 2010 – interview here). Chattier than Southampton, they coped surprisingly well when their mixer fell off the stage at the start of Submission, leading to jokes about “you won’t catch this on MTV!”. Polished, well rehearsed and owners of some pretty great songs for 2010, the only downside was that they were perhaps a bit too polished and perfect, a bit sterile. However, that didn’t stop us enjoying the light show (thankfully toned down a bit from the blinding Southampton set), and a band clearly at the top of their game. Urgent, pleading for your attention many of their songs fit perfectly into the uncertain 2010 landscape, and judging by the two shows of theirs that I’ve caught they are clearly a force to be reckoned with, and undoubtably one of 2010’s brightest stars.

MP3: Death Metal Disco Scene – 21

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: The Drums – Let’s Go Surfing

MP3: Delphic – Counterpoint

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: Delphic – This Momentary (Golden Bug remix)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“So, erm, this is a song about death!” mumbled Richard Frenneaux, lead singer of Red Light Company when introducing “With lights Out” last night at London’s Camden Barfly. Let’s be honest – as you may be able to tell from that little quote, they’re not a light hearted, fun band like the Hoosiers or We Are Scientists. However, what they lack in fun they more than make up for in depth and darkness, as they showed the packed Barfly.

Earlier in the evening A Silent Film had brought a hint of Keane and awful Dad dancing to the stage for the first support slot. Movie-esque music, layered and gorgeous, but ultimately nothing that Keane, Coldplay and Longview haven’t tried before. However, the one thing that Keane and others haven’t tried was their interesting cover of Underworld’s Born Slippy, which suddenly had a dreamy feel to it… interesting, thought it’d take a few more listens to get us really convinced that they can pull it off.

They were followed by the awful Holy Ghost Revival who seemed to just want to cause trouble with their “seen-it-all-before” 70’s rock rip-offs. Halfway through their set a waterfight broke out between crowd and band, leaving their keyboard temporarily broken and a 5 minute interlude, before they unfortunately resumed their noise. The only good thing was the fact that lead singer Mikko Freeman responded to hecklers: “Yes, we’re gay stoner cowboys! Finally, London gets us!” he remarked. Yes, and we wish you’d just go with the other cowboys.

At this point, our faith in the London music scene was diminishing rapidly, and an early night was on the cards. However, when Red Light Company finally took to the stage at 10pm, we were immediately enthralled. To describe their music as a mixture of Black-Market Music era Placebo, Interpol and Hot Fuss era Killers would be doing them an injustice – they’re more than the sum of their parts, darker and catchier than many bands out there.

Frenneaux appeared distant throughout the set not really interacting at all, seemingly pre-occupied with other things, but managed to fill the stage with his gaunt frame. Surely he’s got to be a shoe-in for Brian Molko’s replacement for confused teenagers across the UK now that Molko has gone all disco-dance on us? Time will tell.

Previous single “Scheme Eugene” was thrown in early in the set, giving Frenneaux and bassist Shawn Day a chance to show off their vocal skills, and a chance for an early rock-out. Current single “Meccano” went down a treat mid-set, having everyone singing along and really going for it, following on from airplay with Jo Whiley and Zane Lowe on Radio 1. Closing out their set, there were no theatrics, just a simple thank you and off they trundled to their next gig.

If they work on connecting with their audience a bit more, then surely mega-fame is just around the corner for Red Light Company.

Photos and stuff to follow.

It’s always nice when a band play a venue a lot smaller to those they’ve grown accustomed too, which was exactly what happened this afternoon when Southampton foursome Delays graced the miniscule stage of Camden’s Lock Tavern for Clash magazine.

Spending the best part of an hour wowing the assembled fans, media and curious regulars they ripped through a selection of B-sides, covers and old favourites. Everything was stripped back to the core, and whilst the electric bass and guitars were kept, Aaron’s synths were kept well away, leaving him to look a bit lost with a tambourine.

Thrown in halfway through the set was a brilliant cover of James’ ‘Laid’, however as lead-singer Greg commented “hopefully you all know it well enough to cover up the bits we don’t know”. Quickly followed by some birthday wishes for some lucky fans, “…and the lucky bingo numbers!” joked Greg, clearly enjoying doing a more stripped down, laid back set.

A quick jog down memory lane with ‘Nearer than Heaven’ and time is rapidly running out, so Panic Attacks from their recent ‘Love Made Visible’ EP is given a complete makeover, becoming a sensational crowd sing-along, raising the roof of the tiny pub, even getting a few of the smokers outside on the patio looking in. Closing out was a cover of Neil Diamond’s ‘Cherry Cherry’, which they recently played on Dermot O’Leary’s Radio 2 show.

All too soon their set was over, leaving the Long Blondes to DJ out the night at the Lock Tavern. However, for those of us lucky enough to be there will testify: if they can bring down the Lock Tavern in such style we’d hate to think what they can do to Koko in May.

After the jump: More photos

Read the rest of this entry »

Turin Brakes have announced that they’ll be playing a one off free gig at Camden’s Lock Tavern this Sunday (5th August).

Turin Brakes will be joined by Adele, the hotly tipped Londener garnering lots of publicity recently via the likes of NME and blogs. Stateless, The Concretes, Bobby Cook and Lisa Moorish will all be DJing as well (whoever they may be…).

Doors open at 1pm, with Turin Brakes on shortly before 10pm. What better way to enjoy your Sunday after the Innocent Festival than an evening in the pub with Turin Brakes? Precisly, I thought you’d agree, there isn’t a better way.

The awesome Irish indie rock band Ash will will warm up for their set at Isle of Wight Festival with a performance at the Year Zero club night at Camden’s Proud Gallery.

They’ll be supported by The Films and Goldspot.

Tickets are available to their myspace fans, competition winners on XFM and Radio 1, and also to those who queue up (though I’d probably start about 5pm tomorrow – its sure to be a big one!)

All the information is available here.

Photo of Tim Wheeler of Ash is taken from Justin Kent’s flickr stream.

This week it seems lots of bands are on tour, but not many BIG bands, which gives you lots of choice. If I’ve missed anything out, or anyone has any spare tickets for anything in London on Tuesday night let me know and we can sort something out!

First up, Bloc Party continue their week long tour of the UK that they began last night in Cambridge, moving on to play Wolverhampton tonight, Plymouth Pavillions on Monday, Blackpool Empress Ballroom on Wednesday, and finally London’s Brixton Academy on Thursday and Friday. Tickets available from See Tickets for some dates, as well as some of the venue box offices.

On some dates Bloc Party will be supported by Biffy Clyro, who also play a date at Stoke Sugarmill on Tuesday as a warm up for their Bloc Party warm up dates and their May tour. Tickets on sale here.

The 2007 Camden Crawl takes place on Thursday and Friday in London, including all the best up and coming talent from accross London at some of the best Camden venues.

Zane Lowe favourites Cold War Kids embark on the start of their tour on Wednesday in Bristol, before moving on to Nottingham and Manchester. They then tour the rest of the country in the following two weeks. Tickets available from See Tickets again.

Teenage girl favourites Hanson embark on a short UK tour covering Newcastle, Birmingham and Manchester this week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday respectively. They also play Koko in London on Sunday. Tickets from here and venue box offices.

Jamie T embarks on a full UK tour in Southampton next Saturday, before Norwich on Sunday and the rest of the UK in the coming two weeks. Tickets from here.

Kings of Leon embark on a full UK tour tonight in Plymouth, covering just about everywhere. Tickets from here.

Lostprophets UK Arena tour kicks off this week, covering Manchester, Birmingham and London’s Wembley Arena this week. Tickets from here.

Crazily moustached Luke Toms embarks on his own tour on Wednesday in Liverpool. He’s been the support band of choice for a fair few bands in recent months: Keane, Thirteen Senses and The Feeling. Tickets here.

Paulo Nutini starts his UK tour of larger theatres on Tuesday, playing just about everywhere, including a four night home town stand in early May. Tickets here.

Other Zane Lowe favourites The Enemy continue their UK tour on Monday night, taking in most mid-sized venues in the UK. Tickets here.

I was hoping to be able to see Switches at London’s 100 Club on Tuesday, however tickets have now sold out, so I won’t be. Tickets for their UK tour here.

Dundee favourites The View play a variety of venues out and about this week, mostly sold out, however there are still a few tickets for the Forum date in London next Saturday. Tickets here.

Last but not least, girl band The Pipettes play their largest tour to date, all over the UK playing mid-size venues. Tickets here.