Firstly, full marks to XFM for putting together such a great bill under the same roof, all in a good cause for Shelter. Much less than full marks to them for ruining all of the gaps between bands with a ridiculously annoying compere, and some of their very self important DJs, who none of the audience gave a toss about. And, most annoyingly of all, no marks for allowing the gig to overrun indefinitely, meaning that many people had to miss the Kaiser Chiefs in order to get the last Tube home.
Before the gig (the week before and the day before), it was billed as a 10:30 finish - fine for the Tube. Given that Hard Fi (second on the bill) didn't even come on stage until just after 10pm, that was clearly never going to happen. Maybe the organisers wanted all the gig goers to get really into the Shelter spirit, by all missing their last Tubes home and having to wander around all night, or perhaps get a dodgy minicab in the middle of Brixton. Thanks XFM!!
What allowed this to happen is probably due in some part to the new licensing laws, which previously would have forced the music to stop at 10:30. Now, with a 24-hour licence, there is no need to stop if they don't want to. I guess we could see more gigs like this in future, where the music overruns to past the time where transport stops - forcing people to either leave early or take their chances getting home. Most annoying.
Anyway, to the bands. Dead 60s were very much like the Coral, or in fact like a cross between the Coral and the Specials, 2 of my least favourite bands. They sounded OK, but I won't be going out of my way to see them again.
Editors, who I'd not seen before, were fantastic, sounding excellent, and their album will be high up on my Christmas list - one great song after another.
Maximo Park came on stage to a warm welcome, and announced that they were going to play their whole album, in order, for the first and probably the last time. I love the album, so was pleased with this. However, probably a mistake, because most of the best songs on the album are in the first half dozen tracks. This meant that the set started to flag halfway through, and by the end, many people that didn't know the album were starting to lose interest. I loved it though!
And then to Hard Fi. Having seen them 2 days previously and loved it, this was every bit as good. Playing to a less converted audience that were also there to see other bands, they really won everybody over with a very energetic, if shorter than normal, set.
At 10:45 when Hard Fi departed, so did I, along with dozens of others. I'm sure that the Kaiser Chiefs were good, but I'm also sure that there weren't that many people still there by the end of their set.
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