Note: There are no live photos in this review because there were absolutely no cameras allowed at the gig, sorry!

Reading my gig reviews, you could easily make the assumption that I say that every gig is one of the best I’ve ever seen, but I promise you, this has just been a spectacularly good year for gigs! Sunday night I had the pleasure of seeing everyone’s favorite pocket-sized jazz musician, Jamie Cullum, and opener Imelda May at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. I went into this sold out gig worrying that there was no way it’d live up to my expectations – I’ve been trying and failing to see Jamie Cullum live for about 5 years now, and I wanted it to be something extra special to make up for the fact that I had to miss watching the Oscars to see it. Basically, if it was anywhere short of Jamie’s amazing performance in his ‘Live at Blenheim Palace’ DVD, then I was going to be thoroughly disappointed. Fortunately, both Jamie and Imelda completely blew me away!

Dublin rockabilly songstress Imelda May played a powerful, vibrant 40-minute set to a nearly packed venue, and had everyone dancing along. She has a deep, raspy, soulful voice that captivated the audience, and she seemed to be having a lot of fun up on stage. She played more than 10 songs,  including ‘Johnny Got A Boom Boom,’ ‘Big Bad Handsome Man,’ and ‘How High the Moon.’ One of the best parts of her set was her wonderfully cheeky lyrics, like “Count my fingers, one and two / one of them is just for you / Count my fingers, one, two, three / the one in the middle’s to you, from me.” With the backing of her band, including a drummer, electric and acoustic guitarists, and a double bass player, Imelda thoroughly warmed up the crowd for Jamie.

Jamie Cullum is an absolutely fascinating and captivating performer. The energy with which he throws himself completely into his performance is just mesmerizing. He can switch from slow, brooding intensity to manic and impossibly intricate piano solos in the blink of an eye. At the end of his packed 2-hour set, I was amazed that he could still stand, he’d put so much energy into his performance.

As if his music wasn’t captivating enough, he was also hilariously entertaining between songs. In the first non-sung words out of his mouth, he said “Hello, my name is Justin Bieber.” Later he quipped, “Just picture me as Johnny Depp, I’m sure it’s not the 1st time…why are you laughing?” At one point he described the double bass player, Chris Hill, as a monster and said “That man has a fist full of sausages!” – I’m just going to  assume that’s a good thing in Jamie’s world.

But back to the music: not one of the songs got away without a generous helping of improv – I mean, come on, he is a jazz musician, after all. During crowd favorite ‘Frontin’,’ Jamie used the piano as one giant percussion instrument while beatboxing and singing. Even the slower songs like ‘What A Difference A Day Made’ were a big hit with the crowd. We all tried (and failed) to sing along, prompting Cullum to say “It’s hard trying to sing along with a jazz singer, isn’t it?” He had the crowd completely in the palm of his hand, whether he was making them scat along during ‘Wind Cries Mary,’ sing along and jump up and down to ‘Mixtape,’ or listen in complete silence to ‘Gran Torino.’ During the encore, he even convinced the crowd to sing the entire second verse of ‘All At Sea,’ and it sounded gorgeous.

But the indisputable highlight of the show was also its most unexpected. Toward the end of his set, Jamie had the band bring all of their instruments to the front of the stage, and instructed the crowd to part down the middle. The band then launched into Justin Timberlake’s ‘Cry Me A River,’ and the crowd went mental. Over top of that, Jamie sang the jazz standard ‘Cry Me A River’ off-mic, and then jumped down off the stage with his horn players, and proceeded to sing a capella from the middle of the crowd – simply amazing and completely unexpected. There’s really nobody like Jamie Cullum for genre-bending, mad scientist-type brilliance. This gig will be hard to top!

After the cut: Jamie Cullum Set List!

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Set list and photos courtesy of Mary Chang, USA Editor and gigmate extraordinaire.

Somehow, after years of loving British music, neither member of the D.C. branch of TGTF had ever been to a Muse gig, so when they announced they were coming to the Patriot Center, we knew we had to go. Having miraculously managed to get two general admission floor tickets (it sold out within 2 hours of the tickets going on sale), we headed down to the venue nice and early and staked out a spot on the left side of the stage just one row back.

Stood in front of what looked like three skyscrapers, opener Silversun Pickups went on right on time and played a solid 45-minute set, including ‘Substitution’ and ‘Panic Switch’. They weren’t quite my style but they sounded good and they thoroughly entertained the crowd as they filed into the 10,000-seat arena. The best part of their set, for me, was lead singer and guitarist Brian Aubert’s quips between songs, like “this is our second show on this tour – the band, not you guys – you don’t remember last night? You were reeeaaalllly drunk.” Plus, they get bonus points for having a female bassist and being unfazed by such a huge crowd.

After a 45-minute break, during which Mary and I were treated to what I shall refer to as a “smoke machine facial,” the light’s dimmed to thunderous applause from the now-packed arena. In quite possibly the best gig opening I have ever witnessed (and I’ve been to a LOT of gigs), they dropped the building-looking cloths to reveal each of the 3 band members in the middle of their own massive column with video screens on all sides, at least 6 metres up from the stage. With that, they launched straight into ‘Uprising,’ whipping the crowd into a chanting, fist-pumping frenzy. Throughout the show, they raised and lowered the bottom half of these columns, allowing the band to either seem to float above the crowd or to walk around the massive oblong stage.

These video columns were the biggest part of the set, but every aspect of the setup was spectacular: there were spotlights, lasers, a piano with a see-through lid and a rotating drum kit (not to mention Matt’s bedazzled leather jacket and trousers). But the real highlight for me was during the amazing ‘Time is Running Out,’ when they released giant balloons into the crowd that looked like eyeballs. When the balloons popped, they showered the crowd with red confetti. It was so much fun trying to hit the balloons that I nearly knocked off Mary’s glasses in a fit of joy.

They played all the crowd favorites, like ‘Supermassive Black Hole,’ ‘Resistance’ and ‘Starlight,’ plus ‘Knights of Cydonia’ in the encore, and in every song Matt, Chris and Dom played insanely well while acting like it was nothing – they’re just that badass. Their playing on ‘New Born’ was particularly spectacular, and Matt Bellamy has a surprisingly versatile and powerful voice live. In one of my favorite moments, Matt brought out his keytar and strutted about the stage playing the incredibly sexy ‘Undisclosed Desires’ (however, Mary argues that ‘Plug in Baby’ is far sexier). And Muse’s show is undeniably sexy: it’s the result of what happens when you successfully straddle that fine line between confidence and arrogance. They are extravagant and over-the-top, but they don’t take themselves too seriously, and because of that, the show is so much fun for the audience. It’s impossible to come out of a show that fun and not be entirely smitten with the band, so if you have not seen Muse live yet, then by all means, GO!

After the cut: set list and more photos!

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Located in a slightly run down industrial area of Brooklyn, there’s not much about the Bell House from the outside to recommend it. Once you get inside, however, the venue is fabulous. There’s a cozy bar with very friendly servers open from 5pm, which is convenient if you’re mental like me and like to show up hours early for gigs. Inside the performance space, which is built in a converted 1920s warehouse, there are “25-foot wooden arched ceilings, a 450-square foot stage, and unobstructed views from any part of the room.” Three large chandeliers light the room between acts, and their playlist was fantastic (Phoenix, Yeasayer, Field Music, Fleet Foxes, the Beatles and Travis, to name a few). Although this was my first visit to the Bell House, I’m fairly sure that it would be impossible to have a bad gig experience there, and that was certainly true of the phenomenal Field Music show on Saturday night.

The first of two openers, the Mugs, are a local band who according to the barman play at Bell House so often they’re practically the house band. Featuring great harmonies and driving beats, this four-piece was very energetic, dancing around on stage through most of their songs, and had the crowd moving with them as well. A couple of highlights for me were the guitar breakdown in their third song and the song later in their set where the singer brought out a megaphone. Although the venue wasn’t packed yet and the crowd mostly hung back from the stage, they seemed to have a strong local following.  By the end of their short 30-minute set the crowd was yelling for an encore. While they sound much better live than they do in recordings, the Mugs are definitely worth a listen.

Second opener, the Spinto Band, came all the way from Wilmington, Delaware, for this gig, their first of the year. The band’s six members contributed to their rich, full sound. In all, they boast 3 guitarists (1 acoustic, 2 electric), a bassist, a drummer and a keyboardist. Their set was full of energy from start to finish, and their music was very dance-y.  While they definitely sounded like a modern indie band, something about their sound, most likely their harmonies combined with “oohs” and “aahs” and hand claps, reminded me of an earlier era. They made their set even more fun with the addition of the ukulele and the kazoo on a couple of songs. The only minor complaint I can make about their set is that it was sometimes hard to hear the vocals above the music, but overall they were a great opener, and they got the crowd energized before Field Music took the stage.

But of course the real highlight of the night was Sunderland band Field Music. They were originally scheduled to perform here in late November, but they had to reschedule because David came down with flu-like symptoms in the middle of the swine flu pandemic. They flew all the way from England (and returned the next day!) for this one-off gig because they felt they owed it to the fans and to Skippy, the venue’s booker, on whose birthday they were supposed to play in November.

In an industry that’s rife with gimmicks and auto-tuning, it was very refreshing to see the real thing: four men sitting down at their instruments to play their own distinctive style of pop music. Saying “we’re not very good at jokes,” they let the music do the talking, with just a short “thank you very much, indeed!” between songs.

Their set was a mix of about half “classic” Field Music songs from before their hiatus in 2007 and half tracks from their new album, ‘Field Music (Measure),’ due out in the UK on 15th February and in the US on 16th February. While the two live-only members, Kev and Ian, stayed on the guitar, keyboard and bass throughout the show, David and Peter Brewis rotated every couple of songs between drums, guitar and keyboards, with David even coming up front for a few songs from his side project, School of Language. The Brewises  later admitted to me in an interview that they’re terrified of playing the new songs live and are more comfortable with the others, but they seemed to have a great time playing them and they sounded fantastic. It’s a testament to both their performance abilities and the brilliance of their new material that the audience was just as into the new songs as they were their old favorites. The band’s signature complicated rhythms and intricate sound were somehow even better live than they are on the albums. For two men who have a very clear vision for their sound and control every step of the recording process themselves, it’s great that they’ve been able to find two men to play in their live band that can both fulfill their vision of the songs and add a little something special on top.

This was one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been to quite a few, so I’m begging you, if you get the chance to see Field Music, then by all means, take it!

After the jump: set list and photos.

For more Field Music goodness, keep your eyes on TGTF over the next couple of weeks. We’ll have an interview with David and Peter Brewis, as well as a review of the new double album, ‘Field Music (Measure)’.

Field Music will be embarking on a three-week tour of the UK and Ireland starting on 15 February 2010 in London. Visit their myspace page to see if they’re playing near you.

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A lot has changed for the Cribs since their last visit to Washington, DC, on 19 March 2008. They’ve got a new album and a new band member, and the band are now playing a larger venue. That gig in March 2008 was my first time seeing the Cribs, and I was blown away, so I fully expected Tuesday night’s show to be something spectacular, and I’m happy to say that the boys from Wakefield (and now Manchester, Portland, and London) did not disappoint!

The night started off inauspiciously when the band that was supposed to play first, the Dead Trees, was unable to play in their scheduled 8 PM slot due to having car trouble on the way down from Boston. Rather than delay the entire show by hours, they decided to share the stage with the other support act, Adam Green, essentially acting as his backing band. While the Dead Trees sounded great, it was Adam Green who stole the stage. He was incredibly drunk throughout the performance and climbed off the stage to attempt to crowd surf during nearly every song. While his behavior caused some unpleasant moments like nearly getting kicked in the face and having my head used for support on Adam’s subsequent trips around the crowd, it also created some very funny moments, as when Green declared that he’d never gotten to order a veggie burger like he’d been promised, asking, “can we just place an order at the Food Food?” (The sign over the venue’s snack bar says “food” on it twice.) Adam’s on-stage antics may not have added much to the music, but they made his set seem to fly by rather than seeming to drag on for ages like support acts’ sets often do. Even the Jarmans were amused by his performance: Gary sat on the guest balcony and drummed on his legs while Ryan came out to watch from time to time.

Although you may have been fooled by the surprisingly large number of people, many of them English who were shouting repeatedly for Johnny Marr, the night was all about the Cribs.  Their set was long at 17 songs and spanned all of their albums, but it certainly didn’t feel long. They played with their trademark high level of energy, throwing themselves fully into the performance. I had thought they couldn’t top their last gig in DC, but with the addition of Johnny Marr on guitar, there was an added richness to all the songs that really took them up a level. A personal highlight for me was ‘Hari Kari,’ my favorite song from the new album, ‘Ignore the Ignorant.’ Seeing Johnny, Ryan and Gary lined up at the front of the stage singing “it’s your mind / it’s your voice / it’s your body / it’s your choice” in unison while Ross pounded away behind them on the drums was a truly powerful moment. Ending their set with ‘City of Bugs’ off the new album and not coming back for an encore was unexpected, but seeing as how they’d already played all the crowd favourites, I can’t see a better way for them to have ended the show than with this amazing rendition, culminating in dueling guitars, fog and flashing lights. All in all, a truly fantastic evening.

After the jump: set list and photos.

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The Prodigy have announced a string of dates for December. Tickets are going on sale next Thursday, 21st August at 10am.

Catch them at:

Sunday 7th December – Liverpool Carling Academy
Monday 8th December – Glasgow Carling Academy
Tuesday 9th December – Birmingham Carling Academy
Thursday 11th December - Sheffield Carling Academy
Friday 12th December – London Brixton Carling Academy
Saturday 13th December – London Brixton Carling Academy

Death Cab For Cutie have announced four UK tour dates for November around the UK, including their biggest headlining show to date.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow (15th August) at 9am.

Friday 14th November – Edinburgh Corn Exchange
Saturday 15th November – Nottingham Rock City
Sunday 16th November – Bristol Colston Hall
Monday 17th November – Sheffield Academy
Wednesday 19th November – London Alexandra Palace

Those lovely Welsh chaps, Feeder, have announced a sizeable UK tour for October and November stopping off at just about every major town and city (and some not-so major).

EDIT: Feeder have announced a string of 7 new dates at the end of the tour. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning (15th August) at 9am.

Tickets will be available from here from Wednesday (25th June) and on general sale on Friday (27th June) at 9am.

Monday 20th October – Stoke-on-Trent Victoria Hall
Tuesday 21st October – Manchester Apollo
Thursday 23rd October – Newcastle Academy
Friday 24th October – Glasgow Barrowlands
Sunday 26th October – Lincoln Engine Shed
Monday 27th October – Nottingham Rock City
Wednesday 29th October – Liverpool University
Thursday 30th October – Sheffield University
Saturday 1st November – Loughborough University
Sunday 2nd November – Newport Centre
Tuesday 4th November – Birmingham Academy
Wednesday 5th November – Llandudno Arena
Friday 7th November – Leeds Academy
Saturday 8th November – Bristol Colston Hall
Monday 10th November – Cambridge Corn Exchange
Tuesday 11th November – Brighton Dome
Friday 14th November – Exeter University
Saturday 15th November – Southampton Guildhall
Sunday 17th November – London Brixton Academy

New Dates:
Sunday 23rd November – Inverness Iron Works
Tuesday 25th November – Aberdeen Music Hall
Wednesday 26th November – Edinburgh Picture House
Friday 28th November – Peterborough Cresset
Saturday 29th November – Gloucester GL1
Monday 1st December – Norwich UEA
Tuesday 2nd December – Portsmouth Pyramid.

Florence and the Machine have announced a string of 9 UK tour dates for late October and early November.

I saw Florence and co at Ben and Jerry’s Summer Sundae and was less than impressed, however the new single is quite something!

Tickets are on sale now, priced somewhere between £6 and £9.50, dependent on which date you want to go to!

Catch Florence and the Machine at:

Wednesday 29th October – Brighton Digital
Thursday 30th October – London Bush Hall
Sunday 2nd November – Lancaster Library
Monday 3rd November – Newcastle Digital
Tuesday 4th November – Glasgow King Tut’s
Wednesday 5th November – Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire
Monday 10th November – Bristol Louisiana
Tuesday 11th November – Nottingham Bodega
Thursday 13th November – Sheffield University

Los Campesinos! have announced that they’ll be hitting the road in October with LA based No Age and Ohio’s Times New Viking. They’re calling it the “Shred Yr Face tour”, and it’s taking place in association with the Coalition / Rough Trade Shops and Drowned in Sound.

Los Campesinos! have also given members of their mailing list a free MP3 of a track which didn’t quite make their debut album:
MP3: Los Campesinos! – How I Taught Myself To Scream

Tickets are on sale now, priced between £10 and £12 for each date.

Tuesday 14th October – Brighton Komedia
Wednesday 15th October – Liverpool Carling Academy 2
Thursday 16th October – Leeds Irish Centre
Friday 17th October – Dublin Whelans
Saturday 18th October – Glasgow School of Arts
Monday 20th October – London Electric Ballroom
Tuesday 21st October – Bristol Fleece
Wednesday 22nd October – Manchester Academy 3

Go:Audio have announced a string of tour dates for November around the UK.

Tickets are on sale now, and I think they have been for a while (yes, I’m slow to come around to the genius of Go:Audio!)

Tuesday 11th November – Norwich Waterfront
Wednesday 12th November – Birmingham Barfly
Thursday 13th November – Sheffield Carling Academy 2
Friday 14th November – Nottingham Rock City
Sunday 16th November – Newcastle Academy 2
Monday 17th November – Aberdeen Tunnels
Tuesday 18th November – Glasgow Garage
Thursday 20th November – Wrexham Central Station
Friday 21st November – London Islington Academy
Saturday 22nd November – Brighton Concorde 2
Monday 24th November – Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Tuesday 25th November – Manchester Club Academy
Thursday 27th November – Liverpool Carling Academy 2
Friday 28th November – Yeovil Orange Box