Kula Shaker Manchester 02 Ritz 16.02.2016
Well,Well look who's back anyone who remembers the 90's will remember a band from London, with frontman male guitarist vocalist 'Crispian Mills' who's related to actress 'Hayley Mills' he's her son and his grandfather was the late 'Sir John Mills' I'm talking of course of 'Kula Shaker'.
Bursting onto the scene in 1996 with debut single 'Grateful When You're Dead' and the much more indian flavoured influence of 'Tattva' they hit the charts with Debut album 'K'following it up later with a second album "Peasants Pigs and Astronauts" after that they went relatively quiet whilst 'Crispian' formed 'The Jeevas' in the mid 2000's era.
So I'm expecting big things tonight perhaps the odd 'Sitar' player on stage, support tonight is from 'Black Casino & The Ghost' I think they are from Eastern Europe, a female fronted band the singer of keyboards has bright orange/red hair they sound 90s influenced indie pop but with more than a nod to 'Florence & The Machine' in vocal style, the age range of the audience is the most varied I've seen at a gig no kids in sight at least no 14 year olds no crowdsurfers yet, but this is a different style of music so I'm not expecting that type of fan tonight, theres no one barging in as the support act leave the stage in fact its all pretty relaxed, 4 sticks of incense are put either side of the stage to add to the atmosphere, perhaps a bit too much that I'm almost suffocaited by the strongly scented waft of smoke under my nose.
The band walk onto the stage and kick things of with the anthem 'Sound Of Drums', 'Crispians' energy from the start is overwhelming he's like a teenager in his first band and you can feel his energy, he's Jumping about Crouching and waving his guitar aloft , the crowd are pogoing about already,and punching the air, they play b side 'Gokula' from 'Govinda', then a step back in time with the debut 'Grateful When You're Dead' which then goes into 'Jerry Was Here' a cracking album track that trails on with 'Karma' and sounds of 'Indian Infusion' as is their sound on K' very Indian influenced based around the culture.and then onto another K' track 'Temple Of Everlasting Light'.
Of course the Tour is not just a celebration of K' its also about their new album 'K20' and so there were a few songs I didn't know as I'd not yet heard the new material, Pre- encore was a bit special we got a roaring Hammond stormer version of 'Hush' there was a nod to 'Manchester in ther set in the form of 'Hallelujah' by the 'Happy Mondays' the latter 'Hush' of course which was originally done by 'Deep Purple', next treat was 'Hey Dude' they finally played my fav ever song though at the end 'Govinda' it was an extended version of the original even better live, so there were no sitars on stage but it didn't matter it was awesome it was great to finally see them play live as I'd double booked in March 2008 and went to see 'Linkin Park' instead on their 'Minutes To Midnight Tour' which was absolutely the right decision at the time as it was spectacular.
Finally getting to see 'Kula Shaker' was great for me because after 20 years of first buying K' it was as expected Pure Class!!!
Peace & Out Music Lovers
LMi
xoxo
Hurts Manchester Academy 12.02.2016
Its 3 years since I seen this band play live in Manchester last, they spent much of their time continuing their success in Poland, Germany Eastern Europe and more recently Russia after becoming magazine fashion models and doing various moody fashion shoots.
Hurts new album 'Surrender' had only moderate success here compared to 'Happiness',they still have a large variety fan base, and new fans have picked up on their less edgey more classic pop sound through new songs showcased both last year and this year consecutively.
So what can we expect tonight....well tonight support comes from London band 'Spector',last time I seen them it wasn't very chilled out like tonight's atmosphere it was at 'YNotFestival' in Derbyshire in 2014 very squashed with a bunch of drunk kids on watered down vodka and it was absolutely Pxxxing down all day/night.
So the 'Spector' tonight look more polished and tidy dress wise, in suits instead of scruffy casuals ...well the singer at least lol,his newly short hair and his trademark black framed glasses, they are what I'd like to call the Businessmans answer to 'The Vaccines' #SafePunk !! they kick things off nicely in their own way and featured tracks here are 'Bad Boyfriend' and 'Never Fade Away' but I was really hoping for my fav 'Chevy Thunder' from the previous album the best song to close the set that would really of woke the crowd up,and it never came unfortunately still a great start to the show boys!!.
Lights down ready for 'Hurts' to begin, a huge sheet in front of us covering the whole stage, nothing is visable apart from projected words 'SURRENDER' and 'Massive Attack's Angel brooding in the darkness and then down comes the sheet to reveal a top deck of female singers and musicians that back up the band on tour , kicking off with 'Surrender ' Theo' and 'Adam' walk on stage in front of us to shrieks of applause, wearing Black Shirts and Trousers, and no suits again, 'Adam' is Also Wearing Black tonight and he is wearing a long coat onstage #Avant Garde and he has freshly grown beard!!
3 songs in and then the glorious tones of 'Miracle' gets the crowd going theres not really any pushing behind me but some annoying elbowers speaking in European accents seem to be upsetting a few fans behind me I guess they must of pushed forward,no time to intervene, the next song 'Blood Tears And Gold' introduced as one of the first songs they'd written , Tonight I'm with a friend I met on their first headline tour in 2011 which was at 'The Ritz', 'Theo' voluntarily throws a White long Stemmed Rose in our direction, my friend caught 1 for me as she caught one last time on the previous tour..besides I'm crap at catching flying flowers lol!!! Quite a few songs on tonights setlist are from 'Happiness' notabley 'Illuminated' and 'Exile' 'Somebody To Die For' which is great as I do prefer the contrast of the 2 compared to 'Surrender', my fav songs from that are 'Lights' and 'Wings' they do come to life on stage and sound better live than on audio.
On the top of the platforms the backdrop has an installation of neon lights coloured Orange,Pink and Blue very Art Nouveaux, finally they decide to play my fav song 'Sunday' and then the crowd participation "Wave your arms In the air like you just don't care" moment for 'Sandman'.. we all join in , 'Theo' looks overwhelmed tonights show is a sellout the crowd are mad for them, as 'Adam' takes to the piano on the right and 'Wonderful Life' begins,such is the power and delivery of this song it can reduce you to tears (Kylie Minogue actually covered this on Radio Live Lounge and Hurts Returned the Favour by recording 'Confide In Me' on the B side 'Stay') , this is being followed by the ferocity of 'Better Than Love' this was the song that got my attention all those years ago, still phenominal Live !! They end tonights show with 'Stay' which is another of my personal faves, for me and my friend its like re-living the early shows, it was a thrill to see them again back on top in their hometown , I also forgetten how many times I've seen them play this is my Fourth show!!! and I thought it was much better than the 'Manchester Apollo' show they played in 2013, hope they don't leave it too long to return this time,tonights show was Pure Pop Perfection !!!
LMi xo
