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The Gigs / Concerts Review

Flight of The Conchords at Town Hall, NY

Flight of The Conchords

Live from Town Hall, NY, 6 May 2008. On HBO’s series "Flight of the Conchords," there are never fans shouting out requests. Or ladies offering themselves up, the way they do to Bret Michaels on "Rock of Love." And the Conchords' songs themselves are purposefully absurd in a way that celebrates rock cliches as well as the duo’s day-to-day struggles, namely finding an identity that suits them. In real life, the Conchords -- Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie -- now have to deal with their new found fame: Girls do throw themselves at the pair and choruses of requests echo loudly through the duration of their sets.

The Raconteurs at Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater

The Raconteurs

Live from Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater, Austin, TX, 2,3 May 2008. Jack White, the mastermind behind the Raconteurs, has a golden touch. His infrequent performances in the Austin area notoriously sell out, be it with the White Stripes or the heavier rocking Raconteurs. Not surprisingly, the group's recent two-night stint at Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater was the city's music highlight of the weekend, although only the Saturday night performance sold out. That evening, with a clear sky and a near capacity crowd, White and company turned in a solid rock performance.

Radiohead in West Palm Beach, FL

Radiohead

Live from West Palm Beach, FL, 5 May 2008. Radiohead, electronic-rock masters and DIY-music-marketing heroes, kicked off their US headlining tour Monday night (5/5) with a healthy mix of material and a mesmerizing light-show spectacle. For hardcore fans as well as casual listeners, this was one of the most-anticipated concert events of the year, and Radiohead did not disappoint. The band began their roughly two-hour set with "All I Need" from their famous 2007 release, "In Rainbows." In his usual sarcastic tone, lead man Thom Yorke announced that the band recently released an album that we may have heard about. Jokes aside, two Tibetan flags covered the group's monitors as Yorke explained that Radiohead supports human rights.

The Kooks at Brixton Academy, London

The Kooks

Live from Brixton Academy, London, 1 May 2008. Maybe there's some inverted snobbery about their public school/music college background. Maybe because they make it look too easy to write slick, breezy songs with catchy hooks and singalong choruses they must be 'lightweight'. Or maybe they're just too popular for an 'indie' band (though they're on a major record label). Whatever. They will never have the street cred of Arctic Monkeys, but The Kooks produce some of the best pop-rock around. Luke Pritchard is a fine songwriter and a decent singer, Hugh Harris is a sharp guitarist and the band stay tight while evidently enjoying themselves playing live.

Kanye West at Nokia Theater, LA

Kanye West

Live from Nokia Theater, Los Angeles 21 April 2008. Early reviews of Kanye West's current "Glow in the Dark" tour have ranged from glowing to the less flattering headline found in the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer: "Kanye was feeling the love -- for himself." But there was no denying West's talent, stamina and obsession for giving the audience his all as he strutted, knelt and jumped through song after song during his sold-out, hour-plus set at the Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre on April 21.

New York Dolls in Argentina

New York Dolls

Live from Argentina, 17 April 2008. "Hey Buenos Aires, aquí están sus primas: ¡The New York Dolls!".("Hey Buenos Aires, here are your cousins:The New York Dolls!"). With Spanish as broken as it was endearing, David Johansen came onstage in the first of the band’s two presentations in Argentina, intent on conquering the public that had been awaiting them for so long.

"Thirty years isn’t too much or too little," yelled the leader of the group that got the glam and punk rock party started in the ’70s with lipstick, long hair, extravagant clothes and scenic cross-dressing.

Blonde Redhead at Shepherd's Bush Empire

Blonde Redhead

Live from Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 21 April 2008. The amps are to 11 for the support act Devastations' sombre, atmospheric tidal wave of sound. But lyrics get in the way of the monumental earsplitting noise; and while their music is pitched somewhere between Massive Attack and Joy Division, the live set is not half as good as that could be, coming across more like Editors. The highlight of the support set, perhaps for the wrong reasons, is when the lead singer, lost in his own creative swell, starts simulating grinding hips with his bass. Although politely received, it is clear no-one actually came to see them.

James at Shepherd's Bush Empire

James

Live from Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 17 April 2008. After a few gigs last year, in which they performed new material, the band is now doing a fully fledged tour to promote Hey Ma, their first studio album for seven years, released to critical acclaim earlier this month. The album does feel like a new start, not just a re-hash of their previous output, proving the band is still dynamic and moving in a different direction. And on stage, this seven-strong 'definitive line-up' proudly play all of the new stuff as well as some crowd-pleasing old favourites.

Björk at Hammersmith Apollo, London

Björk

Live from Hammersmith Apollo, London, 14 April 2008. Straddling these two universes, a besuited, bespectacled gentleman sits stage left, ready to render a celeste and a harpsichord useful. Björk, of course, is the only force on Earth capable of uniting such disparate elements of orga and mecha, of past and future, of outlandish and practical. As if to say so, she's dressed in a foil-like outfit of equal parts pink and silver. Atop her head is a confection of brightly coloured pom-poms. Tribal beats begin. "We are the Earth Intruders," she informs the denizens of Hammersmith. As she hop-skips across the stage, her tiny frame instantly owning it, streamers burst from her hands to add yet another visual element to the already richly decorated set. TV screens allow sight of the band's electronic wizardry in action, while around the horn section shifting light colours, smoke and ensigns mix, match and fade.

Eddie Vedder at Wiltern Theatre, LA

Eddie Vedder

Live from Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, 13 April 2008. With the opportunity to embark on his first ever solo tour now upon him, largely thanks to the positive commercial and critical response from his recent "Into the Wild" soundtrack, the man has officially done his homework. From song selection, set list pacing, stage banter and even set decoration, Vedder has come prepared for this 10-date West Coast jaunt, arming himself with the knowledge of what makes intimate shows like this work best. Accordingly, he has crafted a type of performance that some among the devoted Pearl Jam fan base might not normally go for, but will likely leave them fully satisfied nevertheless.