Its indicative of how few venues there are really in this country that a band like Ham Sandwich have to play two gigs in a day in one place in order to just get out there and play. Its indicative of how indifferent the country is to its own music scene that fuck all people turn up to the afternoon show. This could be down to a couple of reasons not least of which is the fact that most people are probably hungover to fuck still or more likely they might as well wait until the evening show because then they can stay out drinking afterwards. Come to think of it I probably should have done the same thing.

Emergency in Transit look like the type of band who either saved up all their pocket money very hard to pay for their equipment or have rich daddy's. Their sound is very tight but perhaps a little suspiciously tight for their age, which is about 16 (pun intended). Most of their songs have an opening riff that completely rips of "Helicopters" by Bloc Party which baffles me completely how nobodies pointed that out to them yet. Still they're not the worst thing I've ever seen and once they gain a few years and realise that their haircuts look fucking retarded then they might have something.

Ham Sandwich have quietly made a totally decent name for themselves over the last three years since the first time I saw them at HWCH in 2005. In fact they've gone and released one of my albums of the year in "Carry the Meek". They're stage banter is loose and their sound is full even when playing to only about 30-40 people like at this gig (most of them well underage including a couple or 2-5 year olds who run around wearing day-glo earmuffs). I start to wish, about 4 songs in that I had gone to the evening show instead as a crowd is clearly what they need although all the underages knacker drinking in the small crowd do get into it.

Their stage dynamic is impressive and now that Niamh has popped out the sprog she's got her frame into a more waif-like physique (with nice boobs). And of course one of the recurring questions that one must ask when attending a Ham Sandwich gig is "What outfit will Podge wear?" Clearly something stolen from his older sisters wardrobe in this case but of course he pulls it off.

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Keepsake

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The steaming pile that is Nickelback have announced that they are to play the RDS, Simmonscourt. The show isn't til September 13th, so there's still a good chance they might split up by then, thus saving residents of the Ballsbridge area from the brain damage that would inevitably result from hearing Nickelback live.

Tickets cost a comical 54.80, so we can expect the show to be downsized to a more 'intimate' venue at some point pre-september. How the hell are they still booking arena shows? How the hell are they still on a major record label?? Bewildering.

Check the readmore my using this opportunity to take some swipes at Chad Kruger & Co.

Click here for a true internet jem- an exposé (as if it needed exposing) of Nickelback as a- quote: "lazy, talentless bunch of wankers"

Hilarious? Or depressing? A bit of both, sir, a bit of both.


More Nickelhilarity (click image to enlarge):




Boy do I have a dislike for this band..

It's good to vent these things every once in a while.

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When Eels played at Oxegen in 2006, the audience was presented with thrashy versions of delicate pop songs, and a security guard performing dance & kung-fu moves on stage for the duration of the show. My disbelief was summed up perfectly at the time by Bob: "I've never seen a band perform with such contempt for their own fans".

In an eerie foreshadowing of things to come, Eels 'Beautiful Freak' was playing over the PA when I arrived at Whelans last night to watch Islands. While their performance did not reach the lows of Eels Oxegen set, it was clear from the beginning who Islands were out to please- themselves.

Continues after the jump..

After a prolonged delay in taking the stage, the band finally appeared and started off with a slow, quiet number which had much of the (fairly substantial) crowd heading to the bar. This unknown quiet opener was followed by an instrumental track, and then a new song. It was an uphill struggle for the band. They needed to start winning over the crowd- but with tracks such as Rough Gem & Where There's a Will, There's a Whalebone in their repertoire, this should not have been a problem.

When the horn playing started (I think it was a bass clarinet), things started looking up. The band cracked out a sort of rag-time number that did something towards getting the crowd behind them. Finally, five or six songs in we hear a song from their album, Return to the Sea (their only record, might I add. The new album isn't out til April). It's one that could be considered filler, but at least we're on the right track. Then, rather than build on this momentum, one gets the feeling of 'that should hold em for a while' as the band lash in to another run of new and obscure material.

Some of the crowd are visibly disappointed, the bulk of the revelers being more mopey than jumpy. The band are clearly saving all their crowd-pleasers for the end of the show. The entire performance must be building towards an inspired crescendo.

Then singer, Nick Diamonds announces that the next song will be the band's last.

What??

I, like others, am not impressed. Diamonds notices this. "You know we'll really be playing more, right", he offers. "You'd want to be..", the crowd collectively mumbles. "Play Whalebone!", begs one punter. Diamonds' response: "Yeh... maybe".

Sensing the discontent, Islands play Don't call me Whitney, Bobby, one of the album's more popular offerings, raising some hopes for the encore- but after their minute or two offstage, the band return with another unheard track- so quiet that Diamonds takes it upon himself to shush the crowd. They finish with Return to the Sea's nine-and-a-half-minute opener, Swans, but they've already lost me.

What's the problem with giving the people what they want? I'm reminded of Radiohead's brief stint of refusing to play Creep, but (a) I sincerely doubt Islands have had as many requests for their popular songs, and (b) Radiohead had a huge back-catalog of material to chose from- Islands have one album.

I left the show with a bitter taste in my mouth. When I first heard Return to the Sea in 2006, I was resigned to the fact that I'd more than likely never see these amazing songs live. Unfortunately, even after seeing the band play.. that still seems to be the case.

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Pro: Smashing Pumpkins are fucking brilliant and Siamese Dream is my favourite album of all time.

Con: Adore is an awful awful album. Machina is better but not by a lot. Zeitgeist is better than both but still nothing compared to their olders stuff.


Pro: Unlike every band in the world, they play for a total of 2 hours and 35 minutes. No. You did not misread that.

Con: The last half hour before the encore consists of extended feedback and wanking sessions.

Pro: With a mighty back catalogue we get treated to Drown, Porcelina of the vast ocean, Lily my one and only, Mayonnaise, Stand Inside your Love, 1979, Perfect, Ava Adore, The Nightmare rides on, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, Tonight Tonight, Try Try Try and then ending with a savage rendition of Cherub Rock. Goosebumps still abound.

Con: The aforementioned half hour of noodling.

Pro: The fact that they played at all (can't think of a pro for the next con)

Con: The venue. The RDS Simmonscourt is a fucking barn. While it might be acceptable to host Funderland there for a rock gig its nothing short of sinful and proof once again that "The Organisers" don't give a fuck about sound quality when they can have their fat little hands stuffed greedily into big wads of cash.

Pro: A bit of a good old mosh to something like Tarantuala or Bullet is just what a young man needs in this day and age.

Con: The security guards prove once more that they have seemingly been recruited by "The Organisers" from prisons, by being more violent than the actual crowd themselves. Somebody should sit these thugs down and give them a lesson in crowd mentality.

Pro: Um..the fact that there is beer.

Con: Horrible piss and overpriced as usual.

So all in all respect to Corgan and co for playing what is one of the longest sets I have ever seen a band play and for throwing out a bunch of classics to boot but no respect whatsoever to "The Organisers" for being a bunch of money-grubbing fucks yet again.

Here's a reminder of just how awesome the Pumpkins were and can still be. Not the best video they ever did but a great song:

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