The Strokes - Brighton Centre, Brighton - Friday 3rd February 2006

My second visit to see The Strokes in 2 weeks, this time a trip down to the Brighton Centre. Last time I went here for a gig was in 1994, to see Oasis round off an eventful year with a gig right at the end of December. Its strange to think that political party conferences also happen here, with Tony Blair on stage bleating about Education. Alternatively, we have cool New Yorkers on stage wailing about getting wasted - altogether much better. The gig had an "over 14s" age limit, which a large proportion of the audience only just sneaked past - most disturbing.

Support were the Shout Out Louds, as at Shepherds Bush, but as I'm also due to see them again later in the month, I elected to stay in the pub for their set. They are a decent enough band, but 3 times inside a month - well, I don't like them that much!!!

So, The Strokes. Playing many of the same songs they'd played in London, but in a much different order, they seemed to really enjoy this gig. Coming on stage to some funky music, and with their projection screen dramatically swinging into place, the ploughed straight into The Modern Age, which sent the crowd wild from the first minute.
The acoustics in the venue were fantastic, you really could hear absolutely everything very well (except for some of Julian's mumblings between songs). An hour and 20 minutes must have squeezed upwards of 20 songs from them, with one classic after another being pulled out of the bag. Again drawing heavily on the debut album, they played their favourite 8 or 9 tracks from that, especially delighting all those that were fans from the start.

When it all finished, we were released into Friday night Brighton town centre, at around 11pm. Not somewhere I'm keen to see again, as the stag parties and other assorted groups of brawlers rampaged around, with a heavier police presence down the main street than I see at a lot of Premiership football matches. You know you're in a place with problems if Friday night takes that much effort to police.

The Rakes - Astoria, London - Thursday 2nd February 2006

Back to the wonderful London Astoria to see The Rakes for the first time in a while. Last time I saw them, they were busy supporting all manner of big or soon-to-be-big bands last Spring - I saw them support Kaiser Chiefs, but they've toured with Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and others in the meantime. After all that supporting, good to see them headlining a show for once!! And, the Astoria, alongside the other venues on this tour, represents a step up that they will hopefully be able to build on, especially after the commercial success of 22 Grand Job.

Having not heard all that many Rakes songs, and certainly not knowing more than 3 or 4 very well at all, expectations were cautious for this gig - but the band completely exceeded them. When you watch a band without knowing the songs, but they sound as good as The Rakes sounded, you know you are watching a decent band. With a very hardcore and committed band of fans at the front, going mad throughout, the atmosphere was electric throughout.The singer had all the moves of a Jarvis Cocker-a-like, and the lead guitarist, when his guitar was turned up loud, was providing some riffs that cut right through you in a very good way. An excellent set all round, to a rapturous audience. My only slight complaint is that the band were clearly preaching to the converted tonight, everybody loved them, and not knowing too many of their songs, I didn't share the full enthusiasm. I'd love to see them again as a support band, but I'm not quite hardcore enough as a Rakes fan to see them headlining too much more.

Arsenal vs West Ham United - Highbury, London - Wednesday 1st February 2006

So, after three defeats in a week (despite actually winning the second game, we still got dumped out of a semi final in the last minute, so it counts as a defeat), we need to get the show back on the road at home - not for the first time this season.

West Ham are the visitors in a cheeky midweek round of Premiership games, and of course the added attraction here is our old friend Teddy Sheringham, without a doubt the footballer most despised by Arsenal fans over the last 10 years (no matter how much good progress Wayne Rooney is making). Teddy will be 40 in 2 months time, so really should have retired ages ago, the snivelling little bastard. Excitement therefore, because it could be our last chance to see him and say goodbye!!

Unfortunately, Alan Pardew scuppered the excitement a little by leaving Sheringham on the bench throughout - teasing us but without giving us what we wanted. West Ham also dampened the excitement for Arsenal fans by scoring 3 times and winning the game. So, an easy home victory and a chance to abuse Teddy one last time, was in fact nothing of the sort.

All was made more annoying by the number of West Ham fans in the North Bank, and the complete failure of Arsenal stewards to do anything about their presence - even when they started openly celebrating goals. Increasingly the way of the world, and an effect of Arsenal's keenness to sell overpriced corporate packages - if away fans buy them, they won't throw them out having paid so much money. So as we all know, with money at Arsenal, you can buy your way anywhere, even places that you're really not supposed to be.

To be fair, despite losing this game, we created just as many chances as in the 7-0 destruction of Middlesbrough. We scored 2, and Anton Ferdinand and Shaka Hislop between them played fantastically well to ensure that the ball just wouldn't go in any more than that. Against Boro it went in (almost) every time. The real problem today was that we conceded 3, and from only 4 shots that West Ham managed to have. Campbell had a shocker, which is becoming too common, and we looked generally frail in defence.

It does seem that with Arsenal this season, if it isn't the defence going wrong, its the attack or the midfield; and we haven't really had a run all season where everything has actually been working properly! Never mind, nothing like an away trip to Birmingham, next up, to try to improve things!!

The Kooks, The Automatic - Forum, Tunbridge Wells - Saturday 28th January 2006

In the week of the Monkey, Brighton band The Kooks also released their long awaited and much acclaimed debut album. In fact, on my weekly trip to HMV this week, they appeared to have completely sold out of copies. I guess this was because lots of Arctic Monkey album buyers also picked up a copy of The Kooks, which was doubtless a lot more demand than the shops expected.

The Kooks are midway through a sold-out breakthrough UK tour to support their single and album, which stopped in at Tunbridge Wells Forum. Albeit, this is one of the smallest venues on their tour, and The Kooks are one of the better-known bands to play here - but even more of a treat for those reasons. A bargain at £6 to get in, and with bonus support from The Automatic, a band that have also been tipped for good things in 2006.

Arriving when the doors opened, it took around an hour to get inside, and people were still coming in when the Kooks got on stage - this in a venue that only holds 200 people!!   Anyway, when we did finally manage to get inside, it was just in time to see The Automatic. They sounded good, not great, but good. Their single, Recover was an obvious highlight, but they had little else that touched the same heights. A couple of catchy songs towards the end, it was a set that disappointed a little, especially given the good things that had been written about them.

I was really impressed by The Kooks. I had seen them very briefly about 6 months ago, in a tent at the V Festival. They sounded OK then, but I didn't really see enough to judge. Since then, I have got really hooked on some of their songs, in particular Eddie's Gun, but also a couple of other tracks from the album. The atmosphere inside the venue was electric, and the crowd seemed to have ensured a resounding victory before the band had even done anything.

Luckily, the band matched upto the anticipation, and spent 50 minutes ripping through the vast majority of their available material. After almost every song, they stopped to pay tribute to the crowd, who were enthusiastically stagediving and crowd surfing - classic TW Forum behaviour. They won't play somewhere this small again, and the crowd were determined to make the most of the intimacy whilst they could.

A true graduation gig, as this band rightly move up from the pub and club circuit. Their music suggests they could move up further still. This time last year, I saw Kaiser Chiefs open up a bill at Brixton. The Kooks were comparable, if maybe lacking a killer attraction like I Predict A Riot. They would do well to go as far as Kaiser Chiefs, but 2006 should be a good year for The Kooks.

The Strokes, Shout Out Louds - Shepherds Bush Empire, London - Tuesday 24th January 2006

2 days after the landmark Arctic Monkeys gig, their album is out, and they are officially the biggest phenomenon on the planet. Selling more copies of a debut album than anybody, ever (over 100,000 on the first day), they are being written about here, here, here, here, here, and here - basically everywhere then!

Anyway, although in danger of being overshadowed by some Monkeys, it is the first night of The Strokes' UK tour today. Their album came out 3 weeks ago (we are only 24 days into the year and already 2 amazing albums have been released), and hit number 1 in the UK, the first time they'd been number one with an album, anywhere in the world. Still adored by NME, still making great songs, and still blindingly cool, they waltzed back into the UK.


Support band were the Shout Out Louds, who I'd seen about 9 months ago, supporting the Magic Numbers. Back then, I'd only heard 2 songs, and was really impressed with their show - so impressed in fact that I went and got hold of their album straight away. Having heard that, they were pretty good tonight, but I was nowhere near as impressed as I was the first time I saw them.

After a 45 minute wait, The Strokes appeared, and launched straight into Heart In A Cage, followed immediately by The Modern Age, which sent everybody wild. Looking extremely cool, with some funky multi-coloured lights, and with the drumkit on a special podium at the back of the stage, the stage set was minimalist but excellent. They played for almost an hour and 3/4, during which many of the highlights of the new album got an airing; as well as a (pleasantly) surprising number of songs from the debut album - in fact, only about 2 or 3 songs from that album weren't played during the set. Finishing up with a blistering encore of half a dozen older classics, the band brought the house down, and finally left the stage just before 11pm. They seem to be on top form as a band - they have always had great songs and been excellent live, so good to see that normal service has resumed!!

Arctic Monkeys, Reverend & The Makers, Milburn, Harrisons - Leadmill, Sheffield - Sunday 22nd January 2006

Arctic Monkeys just went big. Five minutes before the doors for this gig opened, their second single went straight to Number One in the charts. Half an hour after they come off stage, their first album is released, which is tipped to beat Definitely Maybe as the fastest selling debut album ever in the UK. They are on the cover of NME, and tomorrow, they start on a 4-week long NME tour which sold out in record time all across the country, purely because they are on the bill.

So, a hometown gig in front of 900 people was always going to be special. The ticketless far outnumbered the lucky ones, and with 3 other Sheffield bands on the bill, it was a true celebration of a vibrant scene. The Harrisons appeared first, and played a solid set, which was "OK", but in reality it rarely got better than being just "OK".

Next up were Milburn, who were excellent - they supported Arctic Monkeys when I saw them at the Astoria, and they sounded a whole lot better this time - a good half dozen really promising songs, from a band that looked just like Arctic Monkeys' younger brothers. Definitely one I'll be looking out to see in London soon. The crowd in Sheffield loved them, they were the first hometown heroes of the night.
After Milburn, we were "treated" to the dubious pleasure of Reverend and The Makers. Sounding like a bad version of baggy gone wrong, but without some of the good songs that made baggy bands acceptable, they were totally out of tune with the rest of the evening, and with what all of the audience wanted. They weren't actually completely terrible, but they were pretty average, and didn't fit the occasion at all.

So, eventually, they buggered off, and we waited for Arctic Monkeys. The atmosphere was electric for the whole changeover, the crowd even erupted when a techie brought out the Arctic Monkeys' bass drum. After what seemed like ages to wait, and to the sound of Warren G's Regulate, the band took to the stage, with Alex holding up one finger to indicate who was Number One. When the crowd eventually died down, Alex uttered the five words that sent everybody wild again - Said who's that girl there... - he didn't need to sing another word for a while!

The band have previously been willing to "throw away" some of their banker songs early in the set, and this was no different, as the current Number One was followed directly by the previous effort. By the end of this, the gig was well and truly underway. Despite covering Girls Aloud's Love Machine on the radio during the week, they steadfastly refused to repeat the trick, and instead ploughed into the new album - one wild reaction after another. In the gaps between songs, Alex was constantly spotting his mates in the crowd, and the crowd itself took to singing about Sheffield - there was hardly a quiet moment at all.

We even got a new song towards the end, Leave Before The Lights Come On, which sounded just as good as anything on the album. After this song, Alex noticed that the doors had been thrown open, and that there were literally dozens of people watching/listening to the gig from the street outside - madness. Finishing up with Mardy Bum, Fake Tales of San Francisco, and A Certain Romance, the band topped off the set by throwing everything they had into the crowd - drumsticks, set lists, plectrums, the lot. Alex then went one better and dived into the crowd himself, sparking a near riot as everybody surged to the front to get a piece of him.

The set was only about 50 minutes long, but for 50 minutes of sheer pandemonium, you'd have to go a very long way to beat that. Being the last hometown show before this band becomes truly massive, and in such a small venue, this really was one of those "I Was There" gigs. But then, every gig Arctic Monkeys play at the moment seems like that - they really have no equal in terms of energy, buzz and tunes right now.

Everton vs Arsenal - Goodison Park, Liverpool - Saturday 21st January 2006

Always a pleasure to visit Liverpool, with its bright purple wheelie bins outside all the houses. An early kickoff for Sky TV meant an early start for this one. After getting up whilst it was still dark, we arrived in Liverpool in good time, and parked up near Anfield, on the other side of Stanley Park from Goodison. To kill time until the pub opened, a quick wander around Anfield was an effective move, and allowed us to see some of the local urban regeneration that's been happening - Liverpool is truly on the up!!
To the game, and it was an unfortunately now customary Arsenal away performance. Especially in the (grim up) north, where there are lots of teams with commitment, prepared to run about, tackle, battle, and generally not allow Arsenal to play, we don't seem to be able to cope. This was a physical game, Everton fans howled for every 50-50 decision, and a weak referee generally gave it to them. But, Arsenal again had no answer to the physical approach, and were knocked out of their stride all too easily.

It does puzzle me that this is much the same team that has gone unbeaten away from home all season in the League, not once but twice in the last 4 years - 2 of the only 3 times that its ever been done!! 3 years ago, the same team scored in over 50 consecutive league matches, another all-time record - this season we have already failed to score 9 times in 22 games. True, we have lost match winners like Vieira, and seen other key players like Pires and Ljungberg fade to a shadow of their former selves. But it is still very hard to understand how a team that so regularly swept all before them away from home, now struggles so much. Something very important for Arsene Wenger to do some thinking about.

As is now the norm after an away defeat, only 2 players came across to the away fans, to applaud and thank us for our 500-mile round trip to support them. So, hats off to Freddie Ljungberg and Sol Campbell, no thanks at all to the rest of the ungrateful bastards. Maybe they all wanted to hurry down the tunnel to start discussing how we can put our away form right - that discussion certainly needs to take place, because it isn't good enough at the moment. With Bolton away next week in the FA Cup, and in-form Birmingham away the following week, I fear this may get worse before it gets better.

Bromheads Jacket - Buffalo Bar, London - Tuesday 17th January 2006

This gig was part of a series promoted by Artrocker magazine, all happening at the Buffalo Bar, a tiny venue just down the road from me by Highbury & Islington tube station. When I say tiny, I mean really small - the place cannot hold more than 150 people, and with pillars in the way everywhere, it makes for a really tight gig experience.

Bromheads Jacket were the headline act, a band from Sheffield that seem to be part of the same music scene up there that Arctic Monkeys have graduated from. Their single, What If's and Maybes has been one of the early highlights of the year, and the tunes available to download from their website seem to reveal a band with punky music, but intelligent, real-life, quickfire lyrics, in between Arctic Monkeys and The Streets. Strange that, because I'm 99% sure I saw Mike Skinner there watching.

After some fairly ropey, experimental artrock support acts, Bromheads Jacket came on stage just before 11pm. After a few opening songs that sounded promising enough, punctuated with lengthy chats with the crowd, they changed guitars and stepped it all up a gear, with one frenzied song after another, delivered like punk rock. The single was an obvious highlight, but there were many other highlights, such were the number of good songs that they seem to have. The singer, despite being from Sheffield, is a nice Southern boy, and seemed to have lots of his semi-posh schoolmates there.
The set overall lasted probably half an hour at most, definitely leaving all wanting more. We had a mini stage invasion, the band in the crowd, and the gig ended with the singer jumping into the crowd to chat with some of the people down at the front. Punk rock meets hip hop, and one to watch.

Arsenal vs Middlesbrough - Highbury, London - Saturday 14th January 2006

A very tight game, which saw Arsenal just about edge their opponents to claim the 3 points.

In reality, this was a game where Arsenal seemed to go mad, and run completely riot. And, despite the 7-0 scoreline, Arsenal could actually have scored double that, such were the number and quality of chances that were missed on top of the goals.

This was Thierry Henry's first game since he signalled his intention to stay with Arsenal, and it looked like making that decision had lifted a weight off his shoulders. He seemed 100% up for the game again (which hasn't fully been the case recently), and in a very mischevous mood all afternoon. Most likely, the fact that Arsenal tied up the signing of 2 solid players yesterday, also seemed to lift the whole team.

(Unfortunately), it isn't every day that you see a 7-0 victory, so the game will be memorable for that alone. It was also notable for being Ashley Cole's long awaited return from injury - he came on as a first half subsitiute for an injured Cygan, to much relief from the crowd. We have needed him for a while, so to have him back was long overdue.

And what of Middlesbrough? Well, they had a lot of young players on show today, who may be promising, but were simply not good enough for the game. Many teams wuld struggle against Arsenal in that mood, but a young side just got swept away. With them in terrible recent form, and dropping down the league like a stone, they need to be careful not to be sucked into relegation worries.

No such worries for Arsenal, a fantastic win to restore much confidence around the Club. Now, an away win at Everton next week would really get us back on the right track for the rest of the season.

Stephen Fretwell, Morning Runner - Shepherds Bush Empire, London - Friday 13th January 2006

This was a free gig (for me), courtesy of Carling Live, whose competition for tickets I entered. In reality, it seemed that Carling Live were doing a great job of getting rid of the many unsold tickets that remained for the show. So, free tickets on the 3rd (top) floor of Shepherds Bush Empire - a new one for me, as I usually avoid gigs if the seats in the heavens are all that's left. A surprisingly good view from Level 3 though, as the seats ramp up fairly steeply, so you can see well from pretty much anywhere - if you can get over the fact that you're about 3 miles from the stage.

Mara Carlyle was first on, a woman that I'd walk over hot coals to run away from if I ever see her on the bill at a gig in future. She was awful, and so incredibly self important as to totally turn me off before she'd even got through 2 songs. Nice singing voice, but she really seemed to think she was a whole lot better (and especially funnier) than she really is.

The undoubted highlight of this gig for me was Morning Runner - a band that I'd managed to avoid for the latter half of last year, completely unintentionally. In fact, they played so many support gigs, it was amazing I didn't bump into them eventually, so it was good to finally do so today. Hailing from my old haunt of Reading, they seem to have the knack of writing some very good songs, and are a very engaging prospect as a live band. It was extremely easy to see how they managed to bag slots supporting Coldplay and Embrace - they sound like the bastard child of the two, but with significantly less whining, and more guitars instead. I will definitely be looking out to see them again soon.

After Morning Runner, Stephen Fretwell appeared to a surprisingly rapturous reception - I'd not heard all that much about him before, but it appears that at least 1,000 other people had done! With David Gray around, who would have thought that the world needed any more male singer/songwriters? But here was another!! For a male singer/songwriter, he wasn't half bad - clearly not as good as Willy Mason, but far closer to that end of the scale than to David Gray. His lyrics are clever and ring true to many of us, and he is a good musician with a good band behind him.
Not 100% my cup of tea, but well worth seeing, and worth getting to the venue early for if he's supporting somebody else.