Okay, I’m tired, dealing with a dose of man-flu and have to be up in about 5 hours to go back to uni, so this may well be a shorter review than many are used to.

Joshua Radin. He’s a genius, basically. I went to Shepherds Bush tonight knowing one song only of his (Star Mile – I know, I know, joining the club), and came away thinking that he could well be up there with Ben Folds in the “US singer / entertainer”. Instead of the usual ploughing through tracks with little explanation, he explained the story behind many of his songs, with some incredibly amusing tales to boot. By the end of his 80 minutes on stage, I felt like I knew him really well, from his ex-girlfriends (two ex-girlfriends, two records…) to his taste in women (bookish, with an eco-conscience if possible). Basically, everything came down to love for him which had all the girls swooning and the few guys nodding in agreement.

Being American, he proclaimed Shepherds Bush Empire to be one of the most beautiful venues he’d ever played (having clearly not played Union Chapel), and gave the acoustics a go by doing two tunes completely unplugged, sounding sublime.

Supporting was Maria Taylor, a name that many won’t be familiar with, but one you should be. Cute, amusing and lighthearted, she won some brownie points from me by having the spontaneity to have a guy who was at the Birmingham gig sing backing vocals “‘cos life is spontaneous, right?”.

Hmm, maybe that review isn’t so short afterall, just not the best quality. Were you there last night? What did you think of Josh Radin and Maria Taylor? Leave a comment below.

Pictures after the jump.

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Just about every muso will be drooling, begging and stealing over these shows. The legendary Island Records are celebrating their 50th birthday this year, and to celebrate they’re holding a week long series of shows at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, each night playing host to some of their most famous artists, past and present.

Tickets for all the shows below go on sale on Friday morning (13th March) at 9am.

Tuesday 26th May 2009 – Sly & Robbie & the Compass Point All Stars
Wednesday 27th May 2009 – The Fratellis
Thursday 28th May 2009 – Cat Stevens / Yusuf
Friday 29th May 2009 – Paul Weller (pictured top)
Saturday 30th May 2009 – Keane / Tom Tom Club
Sunday 31st May 2009 – Amy Winehouse (pictured top right)

To find tickets, we suggest you try using Needtickets. Needtickets.com offers you the most comprehensive ticket service in the UK. With one click you can search every nationwide online ticket agent and as a result you can find tickets for any live music event that can be booked online. Every ticket is 100% guaranteed as Needtickets.com only offers links to official agents.

The sensational Shockwaves NME Awards shows have been announced for next January and February to start off a 2009 in great style. The likes of Franz Ferdinand, The Wombats and Simian Mobile Disco are among this year’s great gigs, with more to be announced shortly.

Franz Ferdinand’s frontman Alex Kapranos said of their opening night honour: “We’re going to play the gig to celebrate ‘Ulysess’ coming out and Heaven is the best place to go and celebrate. The new songs are the type that should be heard in clubs so we liked the idea of playing a show in one. We want people close to us who are dancing and sweating, that’s the vibe that we want. We definitely don’t want polite theatre shows for this record- we want some excitement!”

Tickets are available exclusively at NME from 9am on Wednesday, 26th November and then go on general sale on Monday 1st December.

UPDATE: More gigs added today (2nd December 2008) – full details below.

Catch the full details of the gigs below:

Tuesday 20th January 2009 – Franz Ferdinand @ London Heaven
Sunday 8th February 2009 – The Gaslight Anthems, Frank Turner and The Polar Bear Club @ London Shepherds Bush Empire
Monday 9th February 2009 – Howling Bells @ London Islington Academy
Tuesday 10th February 2009 – The View @ London Koko
Wednesday 11th February 2009 – Ida Maria @ London Koko
Thursday 12th February 2009 – Ida Maria @ Manchester Club Academy
Thursday 12th February 2009 – Simian Mobile Disco and Chrome Hoof @ London Koko
Friday 13th February 2009 – Ida Maria @ Glasgow Garage
Friday 13th February 2009 – Mystery Jets and Little Boots @ London Shepherds Bush Empire
Sunday 15th February 2009 – Black Lips and Vivian Girls @ London Islington Academy
Monday 16th February 2009 – Secret Machines @ London Islington Academy
Tuesday 17th February 2009 – Iglu and Hartley @ London Islington Academy
Wednesday 18th February 2009 – Black Kids, Boy Crisis, Passion Pit @ London Koko
Wednesday 18th February 2009 – Tricky @ Manchester Club Academy
Wednesday 18th February 2009 – Iglu and Hartley @ Manchester Academy 3
Thursday 19th February 2009 – Tricky @ Glasgow Arches
Thursday 19th February 2009 – Iglu and Hartley @ Glasgow QMU
Thursday 19th February 2009 – Roots Manuva @ London Koko
Friday 20th February 2009 – Tricky @ London Shepherds Bush Empire
Monday 23rd February 2009 – Wombats @ London Shepherds Bush Empire
Tuesday 24th February 2009 – Metronomy @ London Koko
Tuesday 24th February 2009 – Wombats @ Manchester Academy
Thursday 26th February 2009 – Wombats @ Glasgow Barrowlands

Last night saw the first evening of The Feeling’s three night stand in London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, and the culmination of a year’s explosive growth for the typically British lads.

Opening for the evening was Luke Toms, a rather vibrant guy with an interesting support band that looks something like Napolean Dynamite wannabes. His (rather scary) ‘tash reminded us of a fair ground entertainer in the mid 1920’s, but on the whole were quite a melodic bunch, if a bunch of outcasts. They sounded quite similar to the Feeling, but a bit more extravagant, and had a hint of Magic Numbers around them. Could be one to watch next year!

Then a few minutes past nine the whole stage went dark and the intro tape kicked in, for The Feeling to bound on stage to “I want You Now”, and the crowd erupted. Dan Gillespie Sells was clearly on top form, and wouldn’t stop proclaiming his love for being back in London, after spending months touring the USA and Canada. He introduced us to his mum up on the balcony, who was having a very good time, giving most of us younger people a run for her money with her dancing and screaming skills.

They ripped through their set, going at breakneck speed through their album, playing Sewn very early and spacing the hits a nice distance apart. Strange was introduced by referring to the band as a bunch of oddballs, and was a great rendition. Before “Rose” Dan explained that “some people think this song is about confused sexuality, some people think this is a song about red wine… I’ll let you decide what it’s about”, which was quite amusing, and made us realise the several different interpretations of a song there might be. Throughout the set they were always polite, and very British: looking after the audience, following the corporate line: they almost seemed like a boyband, indeed much of what they did could be said to be very similar to McFly.

After Rose came a bit of a surprise: a cover of “Video killed the Radio star” by the Buggles, which was very camp but very enjoyable. “Fill my little world right up” took several attempts to get right for Dan, deciding that it was his guitar that didn’t sound right, before getting off to a stonking start, that could have closed the set. Instead, they played on and rounded off with “Love it when you call,” their new single. At first we thought that would be it, with no encore, but Dan crept round the front of the stage to come up, hidden from most of the audience’s sight and do the album closer “Blue Picadilly”, which was pretty awesome, and very melodic.

Overall they put on a very entertaining evening, though very corporate line-toeing, but good family friendly entertainment: their songs are ace, easy listening stuff, but aren’t going to be setting the world on fire with controversy or genius lyrics.