Mumford And Sons, Alan Pownall - The Borderline, London - Monday 24th August 2009

After what seemed like a while waiting, the wonderful Mumford And Sons finally played a London headline gig, in the intimacy of the Borderline. I had first got into them a year ago, seen them play a short set at Pure Groove records back in December - but then fate had conspired to make me miss all of their London dates since. With their gig at The Scala next month sure to be a triumph, this was a great chance to see them somewhere smaller first - in front of what looked like an audience of family, friends, and diehards.

Support came in the shape of a short set from Alan Pownall, a long time friend of the band. I say "short", it probably lasted no longer than 20 minutes, to the extent that a trip to the bar accounted for most of it. He played quiet acoustic songs, to a mainly respectfully quiet audience. It all sounded good enough to me.

Mumford And Sons took the stage at 9:30pm sharp, to a wild reception. They kicked off with the title track from their forthcoming album, Sigh No More, immediately followed by lead single Little Lion Man - both of which got the crowd going nicely. Of course, many of their songs follow a similar format, starting quietly with vocal harmonies, then descending into a riot of loud vocals and instruments, before ending suddenly. However, this never seems to get boring in the slightest, such is the hard work that all four band members put in - switching instruments, and generally doing a number of different things on any one song.

At times, this gig reminded me of some of the early Magic Numbers gigs I went to - a very tight band, with vocal harmonies, songs that sound instantly familiar even on the first listen, and a feeling that the band is about to become pretty famous. I would certainly be surprised if Mumford And Sons aren't very well know in a year's time. Tunes like Roll Away Your Stone and Dust Bowl Dance show that as well as the folky stuff, the band can also provide the soundtrack to a party.

The best thing for me about this gig was hearing some of their songs for the first time - like Timshel, Thistle And Weeds, and encore Whispers In The Dark. The last of these was an unfinished new song, that showed what the incredible future for this band might be like. A true indie rock classic, it deserves to see them see significant success. I'm really looking forward to their Scala gig next month now, but was really pleased to see them at this gig - if there is any justice in the world, it will be one of their last in a venue this small.

England vs Australia (Day 2, 5th Test) - The Oval, London - Friday 21st August 2009

Lots of interesting side stories to set up this test nicely. Obviously it being the vital last test of the Ashes series, which England needed to win to secure the series, was interesting enough. Add in the fact that it was Flintoff's last ever test match, and may turn out to be Ricky Ponting's also, and there was a fair degree of interest in the game. On the way out of Oval station in the morning, I lost count of the number of people that thrust things into my hands - it seemed like everybody with something to advertise was there. Compared with the heights of the same game in the last Ashes series, and this game had a decent amount to live up to.

On the strength of this day's play, it most certainly did live up to the previous heights that the Ashes has provided. The initial session was standard enough, dull even - Australia removing the last 2 England batsmen for about 25 rune, with relatively little fuss - although Steve Harmison did provide some entertainment with a couple of boundaries. A brief rain shower prompted early lunch, then a 50 minute delay of the start of the afternoon session.

That afternoon session, when it did eventually get started, was possibly the most incredible couple of hours of Test cricket I think I've ever seen (certainly from inside the ground) - and will hopefully turn out to be the session where England won the match and the Ashes. Australia collapsed completely, going from 70-0, to 160 all out. Broad and Swann did all the damage from England's point of view, the Aussies were 8 down by tea, and finished off completely quite soon after. So, it was an excellent few hours in the sunshine, watching Australian wickets tumble at a very pleasing rate.

Whatever happened after that afternoon session, it was always going to be the story of the day. England lost a few wickets of their second innings, but finished the day with a lead of 230. On a wicket that seemed to be doing as much as it was, I don't hold out much hope for using my ticket for Monday - and if I were Australia, I really wouldn't be looking forward to batting last, whilst trying to save the series.

Kasabian - Brixton Academy, London - Thursday 16th July 2009

Five days after seeing Kasabian blow away a packed Wembley Stadium in support of Oasis, it was time to see them play a headline show of their own, in a much smaller venue. In London, this was one of what seems like increasingly rare opportunities to see them in venues as small as Brixton Academy, as they are stepping up to arenas now. So, a chance not to be missed. On what was an absolutely baking hot summer day, the humidity levels had crept up to an almost unbearable level, even before getting into the venue.

Once inside, it was hotter and even more humid - definitely the hottest gig of the year for me, and rivalling the hottest gig I've been to. One of those where you go to the bar intending to get a beer, then decide that a Coke might be more useful, and you actually end up getting a Coke and a pint of water. I know, lightweight. Not for the first time at a Kasabian show, I was offered pills on several occasions, by scally twats in tracksuit bottoms - maybe showing that the band are the natural successors to the Stone Roses as well as Oasis!

So the set itself - it was pretty similar (although obviously longer) than the set they played in support of Oasis, starting off with an incredible version of Underdog, the bass of which ripped through your stomach. Shoot The Runner and Processed Beats provided the old stuff in the early part of the set, but much of it was of course about showcasing the songs from the new album.

The best of those songs, judging by the 2 sets I've seen this week, is undoubtedly Fire. A real crowd singalong favourite, and a song that works excellently both in the recorded and live versions, it is one of those that has people singing the riff long after the gig is over. Like LSF in that respect, but different, more complex, and possibly better. All in all, an excellent set from an excellent band, who are getting huge before our eyes.

Oasis, Kasabian, Reverend & The Makers - Wembley Stadium, London - Saturday 11th July 2009

Occasionally, Oasis decide to do a series of absolutely massive gigs, and 2009 was decided to be the time for the latest set. With Kasabian and The Enemy supporting on every date (in theory), and 500,000 tickets selling out in a few hours, they really do still know how to do these things on a ridiculous scale, and to shift an awful lot of concert tickets. In the UK, there are still few that can match them.

Obviously, one thing about Oasis gigs, especially big ones, is that they can tend to be full of complete tossers in the audience. A Saturday at Wembley Stadium was always likely to live up to your worst expectations on this particular score. That, coupled with a light but determined drizzle, could have made this something of an annoying day. So, it was all the more fantastic to get into the Golden Circle at the front of the standing area - offering protection from the worst of the rain, and from the most idiotic of the crowd, piss throwing and all.

Reverend & The Makers were the first band of the day, a band who I'd seen once before, on home turf a few years ago. I wasn't very impressed with them then, have been largely unimpressed with their recorded output since, and was not terribly enamoured with them tonight either. They do have a couple of decent songs, Heavyweight Champion of the World being the obvious standout - and their live show definitely seems to add something to the songs as they would be on CD. That said, what they do still doesn't really grab me - I can see how they would be entertaining at a festival, but can't ever really see them attracting huge crowds to their own gigs - their songs just don't seem good enough for that.

Next up were The Enemy. Oh, hold on, The Enemy pulled out of a gig, AGAIN. They are starting to look like the Pete Doherty of the modern era, pulling out of shows all over the place - this being the second on the Oasis support tour alone. Now fair enough, people occasionally get ill and can't play gigs - although when you look as pasty as The Enemy, eating some fruit and veg might be advisable to avoid getting ill quite so often. But when you hear that they played a great set at Somerset House the previous night, then hit the aftershow party, and were fine to support Oasis on the Sunday at Wembley - that just sounds like a hangover, which is not really being very respectful to anybody. Not to the fans that paid good money to see The Enemy play, and not to Oasis who gave them a great opportunity to increase their fanbase. Quite what they were playing at, crying off probably the biggest gig they've ever played, I'm not sure. Poor show, and if I were Oasis, I might not invite them back in a hurry. Such a shame, because when they do show up, they are really good!

Still, every cloud has a silver lining, and in this case, the silver lining was that Kasabian got to play a longer set to fill the time. So, we headed into the Golden Circle, and before too long, the opening riffs of the amazing Underdog started booming from the speakers. This kept going for a good couple of minutes, building the excitement nicely before the band came on stage and launched into the song proper. A fantastic opening song it is too, and of course it was immediately followed by the likes of Shoot The Runner to build the crowd up more.

As the set went on, you were reminded of just how many decent singles Kasabian have made across their 3 albums. Their latest album of course provided most of the album tracks to fill out the set, but these were all pretty decent, the highlight being a raucous version of Fast Fuse. But it was the singles you had almost forgotten about, that provided the most excitement when they appeared - songs like Empire, latest single Fire (which sounds absolutely incredible live), not to mention Club Foot and LSF. All in all, this was a fantastic set, probably one of the best support sets it is possible to see, and it would have eclipsed most headliners.

Oasis, however, are not like most headliners. When they are on form as they were tonight, they are one of the best live bands it is possible to see. I guess it helps that I liked them from the start, and that I was at University during the 2 years when they were the biggest band in the world, but still nobody can do it quite like them. Songs like Roll With It and Live Forever made welcome returns to their setlist this time, and My Big Mouth was being played live for the first tour in a while. It was a largely brilliant setlist, there were always songs that could have been added, but what they played sounded great.

Noel Gallagher thought it was a good night also, writing later:

"Saturday was altogether a different kettle of fish. What a night. One of THOSE nights. What an atmosphere! It pissed down but that only added to it. Easily one of the best nights ever. There was some moments, let me tell you. If you were in that crowd, and if I wore a hat I'd doff it in your general direction. I wouldn't go as far as Mr Bruno saying, "You're the best fans in the world". As Arsene Wenger once said, "Everybody thinks they have the most beautiful wife", or even more ludicrously (is that a word? ..it is now!!), "You're the best human beings in the world!"?? Nonsense! My kids are the best human beings in the world. Fact. BUT the version of "Don't Look Back In Anger" was very special indeed."

This was a fantastic show from a great live band, made all the better for me by that magic Golden Circle wristband. This made the show like being in a 2,000 capacity venue to see Oasis, which is a rare treat. The fact that there was a stadium of 80,000 people behind you, just made the stage show and sound even bigger for the benefit of those at the front. The performance of the band, and my experience on the day, mean that I'll remember this one for a long time. One of the better stadium gig experiences you could wish for, that's for sure.

Setlist: Rock 'N' Roll Star / Lyla / The Shock Of The Lightning / Cigarettes And Alcohol / Roll With It / To Be Where There's Life / Waiting For The Rapture / The Masterplan / Songbird / Slide Away / Morning Glory / My Big Mouth / The Importance of Being Idle / Half The World Away / I'm Outta Time / Wonderwall / Supersonic / Live Forever. Don't Look Back In Anger / Falling Down / Champagne Supernova / I Am The Walrus.

Trip to Haute Vienne, France - 1st to 8th July 2009

A week's holiday, and I went to stay with my Aunt in France. She lives in a tiny village in Haute Vienne, a rural département in the region of Limousin, slap bang in the middle of France. So, a week of doing very little, in the middle of nowhere was on the cards. We arrived in France on a shuttle at about half past midnight, and planned to drive through the night whilst the roads were quiet. One lesson from doing this is that France is big! Even if you average 80mph, which is quite possible on the excellent motorways, it takes ages to get anywhere - a good 2 1/2 hours to Paris, a couple more hours to Orleans, and a few more to where we were going. There is no real way to do it much quicker, you just have to bite the bullet and accept that it will take an age. Starting the trek at midnight was probably not the best idea ever - by the time we arrived at 8am, we were beyond tired, and wishing we had started the journey those few hours earlier.

When we eventually reached our destination, it was the classic small, remote French village. The photo here is of a petrol station that had obviously closed down a while ago, but was still there (albeit a bit tatty) - with pumps pricing their petrol in Francs. The village had a couple of bakers, a cake shop, a few bars, and a couple of general shops - so all you could need for a few days relaxation away from much going on. The village was very close to Lac Vassiviere, and also had its own small lake as part of a big village green - really beautiful, and a nice place to spend a lazy week.

One thing about places like this in France and Spain is the number of other English people there. Some nice ones have worked hard all their lives, and are retiring to enjoy the weather. Others seem to have screwed up their lives in the UK, and burnt all of their bridges with other people - so are running away to start afresh. Because of this, there are quite a few English people around who don't exactly do the country proud - who are busy repeating all of the mistakes that made them leave the UK in the first place. Something that is strange to see, and that makes you feel somewhat sorry for the locals who have to put up with some of them.

Surrey vs Middlesex - The Oval, London - Saturday 27th June 2009

After watching Kent beat Surrey just a few days previously, I was back at The Oval on a glorious Saturday afternoon for the dead rubber of the Southern T20 group. The game between the two most useless teams in the group, who couldn't seem to win a thing this season - and that despite Middlesex being reigning T20 champions. I was on a stag do, where not many of the participants were especially interested in goings on in the middle of the pitch - more of an excuse to drink beer in the sunshine. But with a game this irrelevant, it was hard to care too much about what was happening.

Surrey batted first and scored 160, a total that turned out not to be good enough. Brown stayed in for pretty much the whole innings, scoring 77 but probably taking too many balls with which to do it. It was strange not to see Mark Ramprakash batting, but then he was probably being saved for matters more important. The Middlesex run chase looked pretty easy from the moment Owais Shah came in and started to run the show - his unbeaten 61 saw Middlesex home with 10 balls to spare, which is a decent margin in this form of the game. So, a nice day out in the baking sunshine (although 15 minutes after the game, the heavens opened all over London, and there were hailstones to be had), to watch a game that will not be remembered for very long at all.

The Killers, The Kooks, Howling Bells, Passion Pit, Air Traffic - Hyde Park, London - Friday 26th June 2009

With a 4 month old baby, Glastonbury is obviously out of the question for this year at least. So, to get a safe, clean, nearby and non time consuming festival "experience", I headed for Hyde Park, for one day of Hard Rock Calling. Having already announced Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen as headliners (following in the vein of their usual super oldies like Aerosmith, The Police, and The Who), it was slightly surprising to see a third day announced, with The Killers and The Kooks headlining. A "full supporting bill" was also promised, which then disappointed as a few uninspiring bands were grudgingly announced about a fortnight before the show. In any case, it was a gloriously hot day, so a decent opportunity to sit in the park.

I arrived just in time to see Air Traffic's set on the second stage. They have obviously been writing a few new songs in the last couple of years, which sounded like they were very much in the same vein as their debut album. The set was a good mix of new and old - whilst they worked the crowd very well, and sounded OK, they didn't really inspire me. I have compared them to Keane before (with the improvement of adding a guitarist and some guitar based songs), and I would completely stick by that assessment on this showing. Interesting to watch, sounded nice, would fit really well on Radio 2, but no more exciting than that. Maybe my general disappointment when I see Air Traffic is mostly my fault for expecting something more "rock and roll".

After Air Traffic, I moved back into the sunshine of the main stage, where Passion Pit were playing. I had heard good things about them, and was interested to see what they were like. Overall, I was impressed - they reminded me of an interesting cross between Black Kids and MGMT - playing songs that combined indie rock with an element of a dance beat. All in all, they had a fair few decent songs, and sounded like a band that are perfect for festivals. Hopefully many people will walk past their sets this summer, and be suitably impressed. As well as that, I also thought they would probably sound incredible in a small indoor venue, their gigs are probably real party events.

An excellent Passion Pit set over, the next support band were Howling Bells. I have heard some (but not all that much) of their stuff, and was interested to see them live. Generally, I was reasonably impressed, but not much more enthused than that - I would certainly not be walking over broken glass to get to a Howling Bells gig any time soon. They were fine, they passed the time, the odd song stood out as being better than the rest - but they just didn't really grab me any more than that.

Next up were The Kooks, who predictably prompted lots of screaming from the zillions of teenage girls that had by now entered the venue. Putting The Kooks and The Killers on the same bill is always going to attract that particular demographic I suppose - this was generally a very safe, very middle of the road gig. That said, I was surprised how good I thought The Kooks were, they seemed to be well fired up for playing the gig, and they all bounced along merrily throughout. The set never really seemed to dip for the whole hour, and that length was just about right to not need to include any of their weaker songs. The girlies loved them it seemed, and I thought they sounded good also. They are now a band where you think "where do they go from here" - they are pretty big, but not likely to be selling out a gig like this as headliners, and with the added risk that people will just get bored of a third album of the same kind of music. We will see.

Finally, The Killers - it wasn't even dark properly when they came on stage, which meant that the show definitely improved in atmosphere as it went on and got darker. They started with Human, which seemed to go down a treat - one of the songs from their third album with which I'm not really very familiar. The set overall seemed to play most of that album (I could tell when a song started that I didn't know, that we were listening to something from the new album), so most of it got an airing. As well as that though, there was plenty of room for the stuff I went to see - basically their first album! The set seemed to abruptly switch after about an hour, when the band totally stopped playing any new songs, and turned instead to single after single from their first two albums. Almost like 2 sets - a "new album" set, and a "greatest hits" set. I preferred the second, of course, but the first wasn't half bad either.

Surrey vs Kent - The Oval, London - Wednesday 24th June 2009

A sunny Wednesday afternoon, and an excellent opportunity to bunk off work a bit early, and head to The Oval for a Twenty20 game. The T20 World Cup just having finished, everybody had been impressed by the quality of the 2 week tournament - so an excellent time to resume the domestic tournament. Kent had been having a decent season so far, despite being robbed by floodlight failure in Sussex in a recent T20 game. Surrey on the other hand were doing terribly in their T20 group - with little to nothing to play for by this stage.

After getting into The Oval, sadly it was my turn to get a beer. With a sellout crowd (including lots of people there on corporate jollies - times must be tough if the Lords test matches have been abandoned for £12 T20 games), you would have thought that Surrey might have opened a couple of bars. Unfortunately not, so I spent half of the Kent innings waiting to pick up a few drinks. Surrey don't seem to employ the brightest people in their food and drink outlets, which I suspect was the cause of the lengthy wait. Poor - they like the money people spend, but aren't willing to employ enough staff to give those people a decent experience.

I arrived in my seat just in time to see Martin van Jaarsveld reach his half century, then get dismissed shortly afterwards, with Darren Stevens and Rob Key following him back to the pavilion soon afterwards. After a couple of slow patches, followed by a decent bout of scoring, Kent got to a total of 168, from which you really thought the game could go either way - you could see Kent defending that, but you could also see Surrey making it.

Surrey's run chase did not start well, they lost Newman and Ramprakash very early on, and things were looking great for Kent. But then, a decent stand including Afzaal getting a half century, got them right back into the game. Like any good Twenty 20 game, it swung both ways right until the end, and at the end of the 19th over, Surrey needed 14 to win, and Kent looked to be in a decent position.

At that point, the umpires intervened - giving Kent a 6 run penalty for a slow over rate, and reducing the requirement to 8 from the final over - very achievable. I must confess I don't quite understand how the time allowed to bowl your overs can be just a flat 75 minutes - if you take 9 wickets, that is a very different ask, compared to taking none. Anyway, 8 runs needed from the final over - which made it all the more incredible that Surrey failed to do it, especially as they got themselves to needing 3 runs from the last 4 balls. An excellent Kent run out cost Surrey their final wicket, and won Kent the game - a fantastic finish, and a great T20 game all in all.

Kings Of Leon, Glasvegas - O2 Arena, London - Tuesday 16th June 2009

With a free evening on the horizon, I headed to Scarlet Mist, to see what if any gig I could pick up a late ticket for. I was very excited to see a Kings Of Leon show, with Glasvegas supporting them - but less happy that tickets seemed to be like gold dust. Nothing on Scarlet Mist over the week or so I was checking, and tickets being touted for silly prices on eBay. So, I was rejoicing when, having almost given up hope of getting a ticket, one popped up. A couple of quick emails and texts later, and it was mine. All good stuff.

Before the gig, I headed down to the O2 early, to have a bit of a better look around - last time I'd been there, I'd been whisked in and out, and not really had much chance to nose around. The venue is like a little piece of America, with seats like a big multiplex cinema, and lots of identikit eating and drinking places. Nando's, check. Frankie And Benny's, check. More than one Starbucks, check. A minimum of Four English Pounds for a beer, check. The American owners must be very proud, they have created the ultimate corporate venue, in the richest market in the world for that kind of thing.

Anyway, with the £4 beers, I got settled into my (very comfortable) seat for the show. Glasvegas were on first, and although they played an excellent set, it got lost a bit in the hugeness of the venue. There seemed to be a few people up at the front who were getting into what they were doing, but for everybody else, it looked like something vaguely exciting that was happening a long, long way away. The lights were up a bit too high (maybe to help thousands of people find their way to their seats), the air conditioning was on full blast, and the sound was echoing around the venue. If you didn't already know and love Glasvegas, you wouldn't have been converted by seeing them here (and through no fault of theirs). Even for a convert, it was a struggle to enjoy their set from half a mile away.

Kings Of Leon, on the other hand, were altogether much easier to enjoy. The venue filled up by the end of their first song, and although there were a lot of what you can only describe as "new fans" (you know, the kind that had heard Sex On Fire on Capital Radio, and decided to come along), the atmosphere was pretty decent. They opened with Closer and Crawl, before throwing in a load of songs from their first 2 albums. California Waiting, which had been missing from the previous night's set, made a most welcome appearance as well.

Generally, when you watch Kings Of Leon playing live, the thing that strikes you is how damn good they are. A few years ago, they were a well kept secret - now, with 3 sold out nights at the O2, and festival headline slots, they seem to have accidentally become one of the biggest bands "in the UK", (at least for UK audiences), and have attracted a crowd who seem to hang on every word from all four of their albums. They have undoubtedly courted the mass market recently, and it seems to have responded, in a big way. Sex On Fire is the biggest selling download track ever, and that is a huge achievement for a guitar band - KoL are a real mainstream band now.

Anyway, this was a very accomplished gig as expected, from a band that are now well and truly in the big league. Apparently their home country is also starting to realize what a great band they are now, so they will be busy in the Autumn, touring US arenas. We can only hope that they remember how well their UK fans have treated them, and helped them on their rise - we hope to see them back soon.

Trip to Valencia, Spain - 11th to 13th June 2009

After being there not very long ago, I returned to Valencia for a wedding (congratulations to Matt and Diana!). Again flying via Madrid, I found the weather a damn sight better this time - when I landed at lunchtime, it had just hit 30 degrees for the day, and there it stayed for the rest of the trip. No rain in sight this time, which was a bonus.

The night before the wedding, a group of us headed for the wonderful El Tornillo bar, scene of some good nights in the past. This being a Thursday night, there was not much going on there (especially as early as we were around), but despite the general lack of people and slightly strange music policy, we did manage to hear a few decent tunes. The following day was wedding day - because of the heat in Spain, these things don't kick off until about 8pm, so we had the day to go to the beach. In the early evening, everybody gathered at a country house, where the short formalities happened. Because the house wasn't licenced to actually do the legal marriage, our friends had got "legally" married a couple of days earlier. The short ceremony was therefore to confirm this, and to kick the party off.

This being a Spanish wedding, party was the order of the day (or night) - drinks, food, dinner at midnight, then a free bar until 4am - it was rather a heavy evening and night. Nobody really moved before midday the next day, the English contingent made the most of a late night, putting the Spanish tendency to stay up late to shame! When I fell onto the plane home, it was a most welcome chance to sleep!