Gig Review... The Maccabbes @ Alexandra Palace, London, 8th June 2012

The Maccabees played their biggest solo gig last Friday at London’s Alexandra Palace. It may have the largest standing capacity in the capital but with the success of their third album the boys had no problem filling the venue with a mass of hyped up, chic dressed fans. ‘Given to the Wild’ has been dubbed as the bands ‘most accomplished work to date,’ the record got to number 4 in the UK album charts and there’s no doubt The Maccebees will continue to sell out their shows now they have secured their place in the Indie cosmos.

Ally Pally was still in daylight at the start of the gig with dusk immersing in through the windowed roof but the band kicked off the night with the stage saturated in a glowing royal blue light to the intro of the new album. Moving onto the gorgeous Child and Feel to Follow, I did wonder if the band were just making their way through Given to the Wild, until they then performed Wall of Arms from the same titled second album.



My favourite moment was the back-to-back performances of First Love and X-Ray, two of my best-loved songs from the band. Throughout the night the guys played a balanced mix of all three albums. This was the first time I had seen The Maccabees live, I have always heard great comments from their shows and I was not disappointed. The 5-piece were obviously overwhelmed by the energerised 10,000 strong crowd and Alexandra Palace was a perfect venue to accommodate The Maccabees sound.



During the gig lead Singer, Orlando Weeks announced that this wasn’t a song they played very often, but to much of the crowds enjoyment they preformed the cute Toothpaste Kisses from the band’s first album ‘Colour It In’. Followed by an amazing mix of Latchmere together with a slowed down version of About Your Dress.

The band ended the set with crowd favourites Love You Better and Pelican. Of course that wasn’t going to be the end. After a pause the band returned for an encore with more songs of the new album accompanied with a laser show to end the sell out gig. The show was a fantastic start to a summer of festivals for the band, if you’re lucky enough to catch The Maccabees over the summer. Let me know how they were!

Written by - Krystelle Kubicki



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Gig Review... Friendly Fires @ 02 Brixton Academy, London, 25th November 2011

This has been an incredible year for the St. Albans trio. 'Pala' is one of the top albums of the year and the band have had sell out shows across most of their UK tour. I have been lucky enough to catch the boys 3 times this year. Some call me obsessed but they have been 3 of my favourite moments of 2011. The combination of the atmosphere in the crowd, the eye candy, the hypnotic bright lights and fantastically engineered Indie-Pop music. Front man Ed has a unique presence on stage and you couldn’t miss the magnetizing shapes he pulls from a mile away.

Due to popular demand Friendly Fires occupied Brixton Academy for 3 whole nights. I bagged tickets for the first announced gig on Friday 25thNovember. Brixton is the largest venue I have experienced Friendly Fires, and even with only 2 albums under their stylish belts the guys and their accompanying brass band had no problem igniting up the Academy by performing banger after banger.

Opening the show with 'Lovesick', you would never have thought that just over a week before Brixton Friendly Fires had to cancel a string of shows due to Ed's health. The front man sent it, belting out the chorus at once with moves to match. Keeping with the first album, the next track was my personal Friendly Fires fave 'Jump In The Pool'. Jack's amazing drum work really stood out for me in this rendition. Then a conga of jewelled ladies donning tails of feathers evocative of the Pala parrot came out for a Samba remix to the end of the song.


Image (c) Krystelle Kubicki

Friendly Fires introduced Brixton to the latest album 'Pala' with the big songs 'Running Away' and 'Blue Cassette'. I have to give props to Diz-Co Lighting Design for the incredible visuals for the shows. The suited disco light set for the funky 'True Love' put an edge to the song that made me fall in love with it all over again.

The guys then played between the two albums, both being equally received by the audience with shaking hips, arms in the air and mass sing-alongs, or was that just me? For the infectious 'On board' Jack comes away from drums for some cowbell banging while the Balearic 'Chimes' gives you a taste of Ed's vocal range. It's no surprise that 'Skeleton boy' always gets a huge reaction from the crowd, with its electro-funk and poppy lyrics. Then Energy came down for 'Show me Lights', 'In the Hospital' and 'Pala', then came straight back in our faces for the first release off Pala, 'Live Those Days Tonight'.

One of my most memorable moments from the gig was during the enchanting 'Hurting', where Ed stood on a disco lit box with smoke blasting up from it, showing off his signature moves to the max, all very Marilyn Monroe-esque. Friendly Fires ended the main set with the gorgeous 'Paris' and 'Pull me back to Earth'.

For the encore the guys quickly returned blasting out ‘woooop woooop woooop durrrr-um ping’ through the Academy. Which some may recognise as the intro to Hawaiian Air. If you followed Friendly Fires throughout the festival season, live or on the telly box, you were probably expecting a string of beautiful Hawaiian costumed ladies to appear on stage. And right so, because that is exactly what we got at Brixton too. Then the cowbells came back out for 'Kiss of Life' to draw a close on the monumental night.

Gig Review written by - Krystelle Kubicki

Friendly Fires - Hurting (Dezlin Rework) by DEZLIN

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Gig Review... Bombay Bicycle Club @ Brixton Academy, London, 19th October 2011

The Brixton leg of the tour was the last stop of the A Different Kind of Fix UK tour. This was my forth Bombay Bicycle Club gig, the first being at KOKO back in 2009, then twice in 2010.

Opening with Shuffle and Your Eyes, two of the biggest songs off the new album, was obviously a winning choice as it got the crowd buzzing and dancing straight away. The 'rock out' on the last 30 seconds of 'Your Eyes' was a massive crowd pleaser and set up the next tracks nicely, the Indie tunes, 'Dust on the Ground' from 'I Had the Blues' and 'Bad Timing'.

I (along with the majority of the crowd) was happily surprised the boys played 'Open House' from 'The Boy I Used to Be' EP. Then Lucy Rose appeared and helped play a few slower placed songs from the new album and 'Flaws'. After swaying along to 'Ivy and Gold', the mood got an injection of energy with a personal favourite 'Evening/Morning' and then 'Beggars'.



The guys then played between the 'Blues' and 'Fix' albums, the 'I Had the Blues' songs were better received, such as 'Cancel On Me' and then the Academy moved as soon as that first note of 'Always Like This' played. Accompanied by a trumpet, Always was the highlight of the gig, seeing the boys faces light up when the crowd is singing away the chorus themselves, you can feel how overwhelmed they are. BBC ended the main set with an incredible 'Giantess'/ 'Emergency Contraception Blues' merger.

For the encore Jack come on alone to play a beautiful version of 'Still' on a piano. Then the rest of the group returned on stage for a brilliant ending to the night with 'What If'.

A 'Flaws'-less gig by the guys, it is amazing how far these they have come in the last 3 years. Bombay Bicycle Club put on a truly fantastic, perfect show every time, which keeps me coming back every year. Their hard work doesn’t seem to stop as they are announcing their next tour dates very soon.

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Gig Review written by - Krystelle Kubicki