The Mysterines, Le Pop-Up du Label, 9/9/2022
SOV review.
Now I do have moments of absence or time I don’t double check when I should. So I ended up buying a second ticket by mistake having forgotten I’d already got one (drinks not involved). Offerred to Walter who was away then Ale who listened, liked it so cool. Different tickets problems on the way, inspectors wanted to fine me but I claimed my innocence explained all that happened. I went a bit ballistic to be honest, but I was so incensed at the idea of having to pay a fine for a crime I hadn’t committed.
Thankfully, the chief inspectress did see that I was not putting on a show as a lie and that I was genuine. She managed to find a practical way to check my claim, she was fair and I apologised for my anger.
Anway I joined Ale outside the bar (the venue is not just a gig room), the concert was a bit delayed, we had a beer or two outside and decided to go upstairs. That is when Ale noticed Nick and Steve from the Auld Alliance days, and we had a great chat and realised we had a lot of music tastes in common. So we got added to the music group. I was fairly drunk for the gig. It was ok though with a really shit view, this venue is not really good for busy gigs unless you are at the very front. We all went to a nice bar after, I had to leave to go home, needing google maps badly as I had no idea simply from orientation how to go back to GDL (or Bastille as I did in the end) as I’d blindly followed from the Pop-Up to that bar. There’s always a way, I often take the long route, physically and mentally, but I go on amazing journeys.
Kiwi Jr, La Boule Noire, 16/9/2002
I found a review!
First gig induced by Nick. He said they are worth it. I had a quick listen during the week, thought ‘Yeah, I can get onboard that, instant good vibes’. We met with Alexis from the music group beforehand, couple of craft beers in a lovely pub. And the gig was excellent. A very happy concert, some kind of unpretentious indie pop that brings sunshine into your life and certainly had me grinning all the way through.
Soccer Mommy, Petit Bain, 18/9/2022
No review, a setlist.
This is one gig I had booked early, turned out Nick and Alexis were in for that one too. In the pub for the Arsenal match, quick catch up in another pub with Nick for two thirds of the Roma match (I support Atalanta so had to stay quiet..), as Nick was cycling to the venue while I was on public transport/foot and on to Petit Bain for my first time there.. Good support Francis of Delirium and a pretty good gig too.
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Petit Bain 27/9/2022
Another no review, but setlist.
This started very late so I began to worry if it would be like a few times in years past when I wouldn’t be able to go home if i stayed the whole gig. As you will read further below, there’s always a way anyway if you use your feet. It’s about priorities.
Anyway for this one, in the end I needn’t have worried as it was a short set, however good. I guess these days all venues have a curfew too.
Support band Avalanche Party: while the music is Ok (and I got most of it after), I think it’s more that the energy of their live act was great. Tweeted them the next day (I don’t do that often) and they kindly tweeted back. Which is always an indication for small bands that they are not full of themselves but just enjoy playing their music. The ToD gig was relatively short, about 40 mins and maybe missing a few classics. Only one drummer this time, but a great show, still with some instrument swaps and the singer making a few forays into the crowd. That was a decent Sunday.
Lust For Youth, Supersonic 14/10/2022
No review, no photo, no setlist. Which is bordeline criminal and proves that the Internet really isn’t the greatest invention ever. Again, any input welcome.
Having missed out on them earlier in the year at Petit Bain due to a mix of work and lack of experience/confidence of gigs timings on my own in new places, I was truly thrilled to be able to catch up with them at Supersonic, incredibly for free. The two support bands were weird and not matching the style but I guess it’s Supersonic’s choice, not theirs. Had a couple of beers but these days I get instant drunk again, whether it’s the alcohol or some other energy in me I am not sure anymore. Might just be my regularly skipping lunch! Anyway I got there at the very front, they set up their gear, and I was absolutely buzzing. They started with Great Concerns and it was a magic evening. Amazing really and with a great new track or two I think (haven’t found the setlist online). Wish I’d got a chance to catch up with the musicians after but only got to shake hands and congratulate one when they were tidying up their gear. Caught up with Ale for a pint in Dr Feelgood after as he had been at Angel Olsen af Bataclan. Great evening. (The PM was shut, initially we were meant to meet there).
Sorry, Pop-Up du Label, 15/10/2022
Back in luck, SOV review.
This one with Nick and his crew (a few new faces for me), I might not have gone on my own, but I actually had a re-listen to the new album and it was a grower. My end of year music recap and intense listening put that on my personal top 5 on a year that felt extremeley rich in good music I connected a lot with.
The drinks and new people and to a lesser extent the venue itself meant I didn’t completely pay enough attention to the music, but thankfully I can remedy this already in February 2023 in Petit Bain.
Just Mustard, Le Hasard Ludique 21/10/2022
SOV review.
Yet another new venue but bit of a pain to get to. Not certain I’d have done that one without Nick’s push. Superb venue with the tables by the railtrack. Couple of drinks, venue itself small and well set up. Bit of a mesmerising concert, though I am not sure I really am a huge fan all things told. Went home a very long way just following Nick to L14 not such a sensible journey as we walked a fair bit but there is no easy way from there.
I Like Trains, FGO Barbara, 29/10/2022
SOV review.
And again a new venue, well placed and great bar and great room set up. Highly anticipated by me, especially after a chat with Ally (who I was also meeting next day for Arsenal v Forest). Should have been my first concert back in 2021 but it got postponed for the best as far as I am concerned, given the long way I’ve come. Opening band were French, called Sure and were right up my street, absolutely great kind of dark synth wave. iLT were tremendous, one of my favourites concerts of the year. The favourite at thar time. Incredible. I was at the front. Didn’t shake Dave’s hand as a little shy but got one of the Truth leaflet. Ace, truly an incredible gig.
renforshort, Les Étoiles 7/11/2022
No review, no photo, no setlist.
After Aurora, I thought that was another one where my age would show, but actually the crowds were mixed. Support act (well second, but I missed the first), young chanteuse called Valencia Grace, was ok, though I did noy totally get into the music). Spent most of the gig behind Patrick from work, so greeted him cheekily at the end. He seemed to have enjoyed the concert. Unsurprisingly as I suspected, he was just accompanying his daughter there. Very good gig, decent crowd interaction (not naturally my thing this, to be fair) and I completed my discography with her first EP the next day.
Arab Strap, Le Trabendo 9/11/2022
SOV review.
Went with Ben for this one. I didn’t know them that well, but it truly was a great gig. One moment chatting with Ben I told him how much better I felt these days and he told me it showed and that was really nice. Got a few more from the discography. Opening was Naima Bock. Not my thing I am afraid, but the Arab Strap performance was one of my favourites of the year in the end. Enjoyed both the concert and the occasion.
TV Priest, Nation of Language, Porridge Radio, Gaïté Lyrique 15/11/2022
SOV review (does not include NoL).
Nation of Language setlist.
Treble bill and I wanted to see them all. Another nice new venue. Would probably have spent it all at the front but bumped into Sophie and Luc and another one of their friends. TV Priest mostly at the back. Think I expected a little more, relative disappointment though glad they finished with Decoration. I think the sound wasn’t quite right. Nation of Language were good, decent show, got a bit closer. Then even closer not far from the front for Porridge Radio. Short bit of conversation wiith Laure who asked if I played an instrument so I mentioned my music and that I can’t sing and she said I could learn. Yes, perhaps but it’s too much of a sideline and I am just restarting now anyway with more than half a year of procrastinating on that score. To be honest, if I ever did things seriously, I think I’d rather have someone else sing, even if personal lyrics would make it weird. Porridge Radio setlist for me was not as great as La Boule Noire but good gig. Dana Margolin even went into the crowd at some point.
Widowspeak, Petit Bain, 27/11/2022
Miracle, a review.
The day before The Cure. Mehdi had told me he would go to that, I had a quick listen and thought yeah, they sound good enough and I wanted to take any opportunity to socialise and get out of my comfort zone anyway. Can’t quite remember the support, think they were ok, but didn’t linger in my memory. Mehdi and is crew arrived just before the set, which was great. Another one where it was pissing down. Good music really, a quietly enjoyable gig, very americana, they didn’t sound like a New York band.
The Cure, Bercy (yeah it’s Accor Arena these days) 28/11/2022
Random first review that pops up in a search.
Anyway, it’s THE CURE, you shouldn’t need me or anyone to convince you to go if they are playing anywhere near you….or further away.
Lots of people going and to meet. Had tickets for Ben and Walter. Mark and Jenny were travelling from London. Nick was going (Sophie and Luc too but sitting and I didn’t have their numbers) and meeting Loïc a few days before in the pub for the first time in years, turns out he was going too. Gave him my number but he still communicated only via FB Messenger and in the end we didn’t catch up despite trying to give our location as precisely as possible.
Meal and drinks with Jenny and Mark great (place recommended by Ben). Ben had a medical appointment for the kids so got delayed but still joined for a drink and Walter reached us, just as we were about to leave. Mehdi and crew much later but manage to catch them in the venue.
Setlist, new songs. Wow. I had somehow managed to avoid checking setlists for this tour until then, and that was the right thing for me. At this stage I had tickets for two Wembley nights but really was trying to be reasonable and arrange for only one night. Mehdi told me tickets were back on sale and I thought ‘fuck it I’ll do the third night, I love them so much’. Walter left early badly hangover and I think as the setlist was rather dark until the third encore, he was not motivated enough.
Bumped into Jenny and Mark (who had been in seats) again aftet the gig by luck as I decided to go for a drink with Nick after (Ben very kindly accompanied me and helped not getting lost). And we also caught Mehdi near randomly so had an arseblog photo. Amazing. Yeah, I know, I didn’t comment on the concert itself. It’s The Cure. They were fantastic, amd me going for the three nights at Wembley after that concert tells you all you need to know.
Glad I had taken the next day off: we had that beer with Nick and I ended up walking 12km home. Silly. Was fucked for a couple of days and could barely breathe at football the next day.
Desperate Journalist, Supersonic 3/12/2022
Another ‘fail’ on the internet for both reviews and setlist, but fear not, I took a picture of the setlist.
Yeah another free one I was really looking forward to. Walter and Ale were watching the world cup Argentina match (I managed not to watch a single minute, goal or highlight of that tournament, though it’s the Russian one I wish I’d made that statement for the most), so again on my own by the front. Three bands though not the order I thought. Light By the Sea were excellent. The venue is a bit different as there is no stage access from a backstage or door, the artists come into the stage from the crowd. As the band had started playing, I saw a woman on the stairs and thought ‘yeah that woman has star quality’, I didn’t even realise she was the singer about to join her bandmates onstage. Great gig, I liked their music a lot.
Next band were French, (name i need to find again). They probabpy weren’t that bad but I felt the sound or mix was atrocious as you could barely hear the singer.
Then Desperate Journalist came on and were suitably superb. Ale and Walter joined me for one drink upstairs, to conclude a great evening. Interestingly in direct and indirect ways all the end of year gigs had a link to The Cure.
The Cure, Wembley (well…OVO) Arena 11/12/2022
Good old NME with the review.
Very cold, small hints of snow before the gig. Waited for Jim who was coming to this with his wife and father-in-law who is a huge Cure fan from the early days.
Unfortunately they were running late, so realising that getting frozen and damaging my wealth waiting for people who didn’t ask me to wait for them (I think one of the trouble sometimes is I forget people don’t know me, so they’d expect me to act like they would, i.e. sensibly less selfless – and that is not selfish as I have re-learnt since), I decided to get in eventually.
I caught only the end of The Twilight Sad (who seem to be the permanent Cure support since 2016) from my seats, then Jim and family arrived, were super kind to come to near where I was so we had the briefest of chats in the concourse before The Cure, and it was a good start.
Odd to be sitting but a different experience ,not bad. Apart from generational aggro in front of me as a couple of girls were standing and dancing, thus obstructing the view of a few people sitting behind, leading to angry words. Not something I like to see (story of my life, I can’t stand anger and quarrels, just witnessing them makes me despair of humans).
Anyway the setlist was similar to Paris, apart from The Hanging Garden replacing The Figurehead in the main set, no Charlotte Sometimes, but the big addition of 100 years in the first encore. At the end of it, I was glad and excited to have two more nights, at least one more was definitely the right choice. Going outside was surreal, heavy-ish snow had fallen down, so I went back towards the station in and on the snow. I was staying at Finsbury Park that night (force of habit, and price). Tube all the way to King’s Cross was fine but then trouble. Victoria Line said next train in 35 min. Tried the Piccadilly, it said ‘this train will only got to Caledonian Road then stop’. Decided to go back to the Victoria line and patiently wait. The time indication progressed….until someone came to say the line would not actually run. Back to the Piccadilly, also announcing no more trains. So yeah, back to walking or bus. Decided to try and be reasonable and take the bus. I have to add that the snow cover was a lot thicker in North London than in Wembley. Went to a bus stop on Pentonville Road. Studied the possibilities, and found that the buses direct to Finsbury Park were starting from entirely somewhere else. Got there, there seemed to be a bus announced in five minutes. Counter went down…until it disappeared completely from the screen, with no bus in sight (other lines still displayed). So….yeah, I ended up walking to the hotel, about 5 or 6km I think in the thick snow, going by the Arsenal Stadium in the process. My card didn’t work back at the hotel (for some reason, as I paid attention to not have it in same pockets as mobile phone), thankfully a porter opened….and their machines were a bit fucked up so he had to actually open my room as they couldn’t reactivate cards. Anyway, it meant a shorter night, and the feeling of a curse with long walks after Cure gigs this year (well The Walk was played…😬). I was happy that I was staying near Wembley next two nights, and also that after hesitation I chose the hotel that was a lot closer to the venue despite another ‘Wembley’ one being cheaper!
The Cure, Wembley Arena, 12/12/2022
Came across this review a few days ago, and found it particularly pertinent.
This is turning into more of a blog than gig reviews, but that is also because it was an adventure and I have less distance to these gigs than the ones earlier in the year.
Oh yeah I managed the exploit of booking three tickets together for an Arsenal match with Jez and Lee. I had brought my laptop with me purely for that purpose (but forgot the mains adapter), then the time they went on sale was a complete fuck-up from Arsenal so they decided to postpone the sale until the afternoon. Having to check out of the hotel before that time and check in to the new one after meant I had to change plans. While there was no guarantee I could get three together, I wanted to put all the chances on my side so change of plan, go directly to Wembley, pay for early check-in at the new hotel and go for it. I do not like to fail on commitments, at least try, so being successful there was huge.
I initially was meant to meet Vojislav (ex- colleague I hadn’t seen in well over ten years) before this one. Timing was a bit impossible as he was working until about 5pm (I’d resolved to get near the front for the next night only), I started my journey on the bus, but the traffic was ridiculous due to works and I had to give up. At least I tried, but maybe it is part of the process of me having to stop making my own life so difficult. I wish he could have freed himself for lunch the next day but that part isn’t mine, so no problem). [Edit as I am at last proofreading all these pages over a year ago: we finally managed to catch up late December a year later before an Arsenal match, through more local transport issues! It was a great occasion, also turned out he had become a Gooner a few years earlier!]. So I took the bus back towards Wembley half-way through. I had plenty of time to spare and this had been a stressful day so I went for a pint in the pub opposite the venue before queuing for entrance, thinking I’d use this as a test of timing/position for the next night. I got in the queue at about 5.45pm, it didn’t seem so long, doors opened at 6pm and when I got in I was surprised at how close to the stage I was.
The concert itself was amazing again, great to enjoy. I should mention the Twilight Sad, very good, but while I have all their stuff now, there’s something that doesn’t always completely work for me live despite the singer’s intense stage presence.
A Fragile Thing didn’t get played (oddly, I can see how it’s not easy to sing live but I like it a lot for its rhythm and sounds), classic main set (Charlotte and Figurehead as in Paris), but the highlight was the Disintegration-themed first encore with Plainsong, Prayers for Rain and Disintegration. Happy appearance of Let’s Go to Bed in the final encore. I was very pleased to have not stopped at the first night and now looking forward to the third. Would it surprise? Would it disappoint (not as a performance but as a setlist)? Hadn’t posted anything on social media at that stage as I just wanted to enjoy the whole experience to myself before sharing if I felt like.
The Cure, Wembley Arena, 13/12/2022
I am now tiring, and I can’t immediately find a review of that third night, despite it being the best. By now you might be tired of reading Cure concert reviews, so…just the setlist.
The final night of the tour. The story is, initially one concert was planned which I booked, then a second was added very shortly, which I booked too, then not long after a third which made me go ‘where does this end?’ So I stalled. I waited for Bercy to decide how I felt and the rest is written in the Paris gig review. Luckily there were still standing tickets left for that night. Morality: always go for your dreams when they are accessible. I have been stopping myself short too often.
Anyway, back to the events of the day. After a walk in the snow and English breakfast in a pub and trying to rest and relax (the only downside of these days is I was mentally and physically drained, didn’t take them easy enough), I joined the queue a little earlier maybe around 5pm. Once relaxed though still freezing, managed to socialise a small bit. Note that at Wembley there are two queues for the standing (as I then learnt), so despite maybe only a dozen or two people ahead of me, there was no guarantee of being totally at the front depending on the time the other end would open. In the end, getting in, I was closer than on the Monday, but more third row of people rather than front front, which wasn’t perfect. (Physically was a struggle at times, I thought my heart was about to explode during Endsong and 100 years, but I settled and relaxed again in the end). Anyway, I had hopes to hear songs I knew they’d rarely played in this tour and that I hadn’t heard yet (after Paris I felt I could now have a look at setlists again). And amazingly they played all the ones I had in mind: Cold, M, Trust in the main set; Three Imaginary Boys and Primary in the first encore; Doing The Unstuck in the second. Utter joy. And then something I was vaguely hoping for despite absolutely no hint, they didn’t stop with Boys Don’t Cry but played the classic finale of 10.15 and Killing an Arab for the only time this tour.
Wow! What a concert, what a band, this one going straight to my top 3 Cure experiences with Paris Fête de la Musique 1990 and the Teenage Cancer Trust concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 2014.
This also led to me more or less deciding to go and see them in 2023 with Mehdi if they play in San Francisco (or somewhere else in the States where he would go).
Ride, Elysée-Montmartre 18/12/2022
SOV review:
Last concert of the year, and, while I would have come across them naturally, there is a link with The Cure when in 1992 in an interview Robert Smith mentioned them, Lush and Banco de Gaïa as artists he liked.
Anyway, World Cup final, still not watched, Steve, Nick and I planned to meet inside the venue. As I was early I decided to take the long route via Line 4 (while people were watching extra time on their phone) then walk from GdN. It was pissing down. At one point I turned my head and there was a telly and I thought I saw Messi celebrating. Turned out it was the third Argentinian goal. Then despite the headphones I heard some huge double cheers. Wondered if France could really have scored twice in such a short time, but I worked that out later as the award then transformation of a penalty.
Queue under the rain, got into the venue to the news of France having lost on penalties. Nick arrived later, we stayed near the bar, prime spot by the banister if you are not at the front. Support was French. Bryan’s Magic Tears, not bad at all. Something of MBV/ Lush maybe? Then Ride came on. It was the Nowhere anniversary tour. So they played the album in order. More or less. With the different versions I wasn’t sure what the end would be. They didn’t play Here and Now, but as they played Unfamiliar (which only a few days earlier I had nominated as my favourite Ride song), while I have no idea why, I felt well and truly blessed! It had been an amazing week (including dinner at friends’ on the Friday). Some more recent songs and a few from Going Blank Again nicely completed the set.