tauiwi

Well I guess it's about time I reviewed the show I saw a couple of weeks back. Of course, the boys were over here at the end of their Plastic Beach tour and Melbourne was the first city show in Australia EVER for the band! (This night was a couple before Grace's show). WHAT A SHOW! My December included concerts like U2 and Muse, plus I had seen over 30 concerts this year but this was hands down the most unique, imaginative and fun musical experience I've had all year! I loved every minute of it. We didn't line up, arrived about an hour after doors closed but still managed to get a standing spot in the front middle portion of the crowd. Plus this was my first time standing at an arena show, which of course, shits on having a seat!! Although the great thing about this crowd was that Damon had pretty much everyone out of their seats and dancing, nothing I have seen before at that venue. Even Coldplay couldn't get that from a crowd at the same venue. There was a great mixture of people there too, plenty of 'older' Blur fans keen to see Damon but also young kids who loved Gorillaz. The set up of this tour is incredible. It's like a cinematic experience with an entire orchestra bringing the music and video to life. The band got rapturous applause (well deserved considering we'd been waiting 9 years for a tour) and it never ceased. The video of the cartoon band locked in their dressing room was clever, and the video of Snoop pretty much 'introducing' the show with Welcome to the world of the plastic beach was easily a highlight that had everyone rocking. Last living souls and 19/2000 were enjoyed but it seemed obvious that a large contingent of the crowd were popular fans of the more recent Gorillaz material, and also, the hit singles from 'Plastic Beach'. Damon is in his element on this tour. You can tell, controlling an orchestra of performers, reserving himself at times behind keys and piano before exploding back onto center stage for a mad sing-a-long with the crowd in what appear to be his favourite hits. Stylo received an incredible appreciation from the crowd. It's such a great song, and the addition of Bobby Womack in the verses really let this song shine in the live setting. Probably up there with one of my favourite live renditions of any studio track this year. On meloncholy hill sounded a bit flat, but this didn't stop me from enthusiastically singing along to what is one of my favourite tracks of the year. Other favourite and popular Plastic Beach tracks Rhinestone eyes and Superfast jellyfish sounded great brought to life on stage and really enforced Alban's new material as both boundary-pushing but also incredibly entertaining. Having De La Soul controlling a crowd was an amazing experience. Empire ants slowed things up a bit before the electronic kicker came in halfway through the song and sent the crowd into a frenzy. Damon introduced the Arabic orchestra (forgotten the full name) and we were treated to their performance which the crowd lapped up before tearing into Broken (which was evident Damon really liked off the new record, singing with gusto). Little Dragon was brought back out after an early support slot performance for Empire Ants but also the delicate duet To Binge which had everyone swooning. Old favourites El Manana and Dirty Harry gave the crowd time reminisce about the brilliance of 'Demon Days' but also to enjoy the impressive visuals Hewlett had made to accompany these tracks on the giant screen. White Flag gave Damon more opportunity to act like a crazed nut (which we love), running around stage with, of course, a giant white flag. My mate and I just looked at each other and shook our heads in amazement because we both know whatever this guy does, however different it is from mainstream, it is well loved, and hands-down brilliant. This was exhibited later in the main-set closer Plastic Beach which had Damon running to all corners of the stage like a madman. It was an immense highlight. An obvious crowd highlight was the epic DARE - of which it was crea a large proportion of the crowd were just HANGING out for. The place erupted. This was the place to be. The encore break gave us both more time to appreciate the visuals on the big screen but also voice our appreciation for what was turning out to be the best live show I had seen this year. Bobby Womack (bless his soul) came back out for the angelic Cloud of unknowing, exclaiming that he'd sung a lot of songs in his time but this was hands-down his "favourite of them all". Right on queue the mood changed rapidly with none other than Feel Good Inc. Place sent into hysterics. And of course that continued with Clint Eastwood. NOW nobody was going home unhappy or anything short of amazed. Damon brought Jamie Hewlett out on stage before he ducked backstage again, giving him the opportunity to thank him for his input before Hewlett headed back to London the next day. It was a brief appearance but we voiced our appreciation! Unusually the night closed with the two album closers from 'Demon Days' - Don't Get Lost In Heaven and Demon Days. I'm pretty sure everyone still would have left amazed if the night had ended with Clint Eastwood. Seriously, I left amazed. They had put on a better show than I had seen at U2 last week. I think it's because we had waited 9 years for the band to tour and it was definitely worth the wait. It was special to experience something so unique and fun but also to witness Damon in his craft was just magical. Definitely an experience I will never forget. If anything I would have loved to see Doncamatic played live with Daley but also Kids With Guns wasn't played! One of my favourite tracks too! I got a couple of pics with my iPhone... they turned out ok: Setlist: Orchestral Intro Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach Last Living Souls 19/2000 (with Rosie Wilson) Stylo (with Bobby Womack) On Melancholy Hill Rhinestone Eyes Superfast Jellyfish (with De La Soul) Tomorrow Comes Today Empire Ants (with Little Dragon) Broken Dirty Harry (with Bootie Brown) El Mañana White Flag (with Bashy and Kano) To Binge (with Little Dragon) DARE (with Rosie Wilson) Glitter Freeze Punk Plastic Beach Encore: Cloud of Unknowing (with Bobby Womack) Feel Good Inc. (with De La Soul) Clint Eastwood (with Bashy and Kano) Don't Get Lost In Heaven Demon Days

True. From the previews, it sounded like the material was even more beetles-inspired than the normal oasis stuff.

I've listened to the preview a few times as well. I'm genuinely excited about this album, it sounds like if it was Oasis it would fit nicely amongst their other albums. I am hoping it leaks early as I just can't wait!! Liam's tune 'The Roller' has great hooks and could be a massive single for them. I definitely think there is a big enough oasis fan base interested in this release to make it debut at #1 in the UK, I guess it also depends what other CDs get released that week.

Oh, and this means Man of Misery and Sons Of The Stage will be bonus tracks!

HOLY SHIT THIS ALBUM SOUNDS EPIC!

ok

BRILLIANT mixtape tracklist!! Don't feel bad you have awesome taste!

AH, RIGHT. My bad. But you don't want to make a tape someone won't like, surely. To quote IVET's first post of the thread:

This is more like it.

MY REVIEW: Track 1 – Cool, creepy opening to the mixtape. The augmented vocals work well with the beat although the track doesn’t really go anywhere. It kind of gets a bit repetitive after a while but it’s quite an original sound. Track 2 – Starts off with a groove and beat similar to Coldplay’s ‘Lost’. Got me intrigued already. The track has a bit of ‘edginess’ to it which sounds almost haunting. Great female vocals soar over the beat, making this quite an epic track. If anything, it’s a bit long. Track 3 – A folky song that actually sounds like my Bandmate’s girlfriend. Freakishly. I like how the song grows. Female vocals again – a trait of this mixtape? A heart-warming song. Track 4 – NICE. Now we’re talking. Riff’s got me already – I love that sound in songs. The track has a great energy about it – this is my favourite so far! Real funky afro-pop beats! Track 5 – Hahaha, what a change-up. This sounds like some hard core girl gang shit! Sorry, it’s almost unlistenable. Track 6 – Hip-hop continues from the last track. This one has a cool beat but this is one of the only genres of music I genuinely don’t like. Track 7 – A long, electro-rock track that is purely instrumental. The sound gets so weird that it’s unlistenable. Track 8 – Really like this track. It almost sounds a bit like new Aussie band “Miami Horror” but I know it isn’t. One of my favourite tracks from the mixtape so far. I hear a French vocal excerpt so it could be French music with English vocals! Nice! Track 9 – Back to Chris-Brown-esque Hip-Hop. Thumbs down. Track 10 – Smooth indie. Stripped back compared to the other tracks, this is a nice arrangement. Almost dreamy in fact. A great inclusion. Reminds me of summer! Like! Freakishly similar to COLDPLAY lol it’s way too similar to Strawberry Swing don’t you think? Track 11 – Really cool original instrumentation introduces the track but the vocals conflict with it too much. Track 12 – Dancey. Sounds like a remix. Of a club song. *shudders* Track 13 – Girl band. Not a great one. YOU MUST BE A GIRL. So many female vocals on this mixtape, this one isn’t that great. Track 14 – Arcade-fire esque. Mixed with The Boxer Rebellion. The sound is great, could easily be played in a stadium. Interested to find out more! Track 15 – Soft piano instrumental to end. Was this home recorded? Overall I was disappointed with this mixtape. The maker obviously didn’t do their research to find out similar music that I would like matched with my interests (last.fm link?!?!?) Or they were spot on in introducing music I would never listen to normally. I seriously have NO idea who made this. Some of the tracks are great, I’d love to know a bit more about Track 4.

Yeah it was hilarious when she told me I was making one for her. I totally thought it was fixed cos she forced me to participate this time! :D And yep put some Aussie stuff on there as always!

I think its legitimate to download music to discover new artists but the best way to support bands and the industry is to go and see local live music. Support up and coming bands who need the finances and support the most so that they work up international exposure and create a position for themselves where they aren't harmed by illegal downloading.

How you coming with your review, Ivet? :P

I'm gonna write my review today for my mixtape maker :)

Ah, thanks! Yeah I guess there's an inherent British style amongst a lot of the music I listen to. Even the Australian albums on the list have that British indie sound!

Alright I have pretty much finalised my list for 2010! (1-10) 9.8 The National - "High Violet" 9.3 Gorillaz - "Plastic Beach" 9.3 Two Door Cinema Club - "Tourist History" 9.2 Klaxons - "Surfing The Void" 9.0 Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs" 8.9 The Drums - "The Drums" 8.8 Vampire Weekend - "Contra" 8.8 Teenage Fanclub - "Shadows" 8.7 Tame Impala - "Innerspeaker" 8.6 Surfer Blood - "Astro Coast" (11-20) 8.5 Miami Horror - "Illumination" 8.3 Foals - "Total Life Forever" 8.2 MGMT - "Congratulations" 8.0 The Holidays - "Post Paradise" 8.0 Cloud Control - "Bliss Release" 7.8 Mystery Jets - "Seratonin" 7.5 Kanye West - "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" 7.5 Deerhunter - "Halycon Digest" 7.3 Delphic - "Acolyte" 7.3 Tokyo Police Club - "Champ"

REUNION!!!!!!!!!! come on

Make it Pre-2005.

Well they ARE Americans...

They were at Rod Laver Arena, and played 9-11pm so it wasn't that early. Such an awesome experience!

Don't say the setlist! I have Muse on tues!! Just coming home from gorillaz. Wow, what a show. Definitely the most amazing and unique musical experience I have ever been to!

UPLOADED! :D My mixtape once again has a fun, summer theme. Helpful for those in WINTER lol to cheer up

Yeah, they were sold out before the lawn. So I missed out on under cover although the people there still got wet cos of the direction of the rain! Suckers....

Yep JJ was in melbourne last night. Got DRENCHED. No kidding. I wore two ponchos and still got wet. Magical show, though! Jack played for 2hrs. This is how bad it was pre-show:

My mate wore thongs (flip flops, jandals) to U2. NEVER DO THAT