Lana Del Rey - Reading Festival, 24th August 2024
Lana Del Rey - Credit Unknown
RIP Elizabeth Woolridge Grant. Born 1985 – Died 2024 .
At least, if you were watching the screens on the Main Stage at Reading Festival on Saturday night, you could be forgiven for thinking Lana Del Rey had passed away. For the entirety of her set, the screens were filled with little else but her visage, a 75-minute montage of the singer’s life and times.
It must be nice to have such bullet-proof self-confidence, but to arrive 15 minutes late meant that Del Rey was already on the back foot. Not that she seemed remotely bothered, stating that she intended to sing two more songs after closer ‘Video Games’ before the organisers pulled the plug. Even her end-of-show fireworks were late.
https://www.clashmusic.com/live/lana-del-rey-headlines-reading-festival/
Fontaines D.C. - Reading Festival, 24th August 2024
Image by Simon Wheatley
Pros of announcing your festival lineup way six months before the event? Anticipation is allowed to ratchet up, punters have time to digest and make their decision, and a longer lead time to sell tickets.
Cons? Organisers run the risk of putting the hottest act in the world at 5pm on a Saturday afternoon.
Fontaines D.C. were announced as fourth down on the Main Stage back in February, a placing which always looked dubious. Now, post-’Starburster’, post-‘Favourite’ and in the thralls of rave reviews for fourth album Romance, the world is Grian and co’s for the taking. Only two days old, much of the material is box-fresh and ripe, and it shows. If ever it was a band’s time, late August 2024 belongs to this quintet. The only question mark is over how the band will going to condense their now hefty back catalogue into a preposterous tight 45 minute set.
https://www.clashmusic.com/live/fontaines-d-c-supply-reading-festival-with-a-defining-moment/
The Prodigy - Reading Festival, 23rd August 2024
The Prodigy - Credit Unknown
Much has been made of the new stage at this year’s festivals. Dubbed ‘The Chevron,’ organisers boast that it features ‘bespoke creative visuals, cutting-edge tech and a world-class sound system.’ Taking all that into account, Melvin Benn and company have chosen the perfect inaugural act on a clear late summer’s night.
Since the passing of Keith Flint five years ago, The Prodigy have been slowly but surely reclaiming their status as giants on the live stage. Essentially, their maxim (ho-ho) has been to continue doing what they do in Keith’s name, but harder. The void left onstage still exists, but Maxim has taken on the extra responsibility respectfully, judging which vocal gaps to fill tastefully while delivering his own lines with customary venom.
https://www.clashmusic.com/live/reading-festival-the-prodigy-stun-chevron-stage/
Pet Shop Boys - Their 15 Best Songs
Pet Shop Boys - Credit Unknown
Suburbia
One for those who lived in the towns based tantalisingly close to the bright lights of the cool city, but just that bit too far away. The samba percussion, keyboard-generated barks and brooding thud threaten one song before it explodes into something else altogether, gliding into the sky with a heavenly, sumptuous hook. Musically, ‘Suburbia’ makes town life seem exciting, yet the lyrics tell the truth. The frantic middle-eight, ‘I only wanted something else to do but hang around,’ says it all.
What Have I Done To Deserve This?
Possibly one of Neil Tennant’s most emotive vocals, with his delivery needy for the verse but downtrodden in the chorus. He must have realised he needed to up his game when they somehow convinced Dusty Springfield to participate, who sprinkles majesty and glamour on to an already sparkling piece of music. The frail, insecure keyboard riff works well against the confident percussion, with each section adding something new to the mix. It could only be created in the 1980s, yet it’s timeless.
Full article: https://www.clashmusic.com/features/pet-shop-boys-their-15-best-songs/
Kneecap - Reading Festival, 23rd August 2024
Kneecap - Credit Unknown
Despite the beautiful weather, there is undeniably a sense of fatigue around Richfield Avenue. With many having been onsite for 48 hours already, Reading Festival is struggling to wake up.
American country pop star Dasha does her best to raise the mood as she opens the Main Stage, but her singalong anthems – as pleasant as they are – merely keep a fatigued but crowd awake. Seb Lowe follows, receiving a similarly muted response, despite his best efforts.
But Kneecap won’t be denied. They may about to become movie stars, but the music still comes first and they take the stage – amid a tangible sense of anticipation – for the first BIG set of the day. As they have done so far all throughout 2024, the Irish trio rise to the challenge without even breaking sweat.
https://www.clashmusic.com/live/kneecap-just-tore-reading-festival-a-new-one/
Six New Bands To Check Out At Reading Festival 2024
Early it may be this year, but the August Bank Holiday can only mean one thing: Reading & Leeds Festival. For the last 30 years, the event has evolved from its rock roots to span the genres, and this year is no different.
While the 2024 edition includes some heavyweight headliners (Blink-182, Fred Again.. and Liam Gallagher), there is excellence to be found across the bill all the way down to mid-day on the BBC Introducing, as is tradition.
After much deliberation – countless other names could have been featured – CLASH has put together a list of six unmissable new artists across what will undoubtedly be another epic weekend.
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/six-must-see-new-bands-at-reading-leeds-festival-2024/
Interview - Earl Slick
Image by DiMazio
In rock music, stage left is a curious position. On the one hand, they are the person who stands to the side of the main attraction, the foundation that allows them to fly but rarely offers them a chance in the spotlight. On the other, they have the accolade of playing on some of rock’s most revered recordings, and alongside some true giants.
Earl Slick knows this better than most. The legendary guitarist has played alongside David Bowie, John Lennon, and Carl Perkins. Keith Richards features in one of his songs, while Mick Jagger, Robert Smith, and George Harrison have all crossed paths with the New Yorker. The list goes on.
Slick’s is a unique tale, which he and lauded rock journalist Jeff Slate have compiled for a new autobiography, the elegantly titled Guitar. Ruthlessly edited, the book reveals a small slice of some of the tales Slick can tell across his 50-year music career. Recently, CLASH caught up with the virtuoso to discuss that career, the book, and his experiences working with some of rock music’s most innovative characters.
After earning his stripes as a guitarist on the New York scene in the early 1970s, Slick was brought in during Bowie’s Diamond Dogs tour in 1974. Infamously, the tour completely changed midway through, as Bowie eschewed the theatrical elements of the show to embrace a more soulful sound, which would culminate in Young Americans. “It was weird,” Slick explains, somewhat understatedly. “Because we had a lot of success with the Diamond Dogs show in the States, the big set and all that stuff. Then we took a break, and when we came back it was a whole other thing. It was pretty much a new band and the direction was new. I wasn’t very fond of it. I can do change, I get that but… it was a strange one.”
10 Years On: Sleaford Mods - Divide And Exit
Ten years ago, the UK was in – what was presumed – a poor state of health. The repercussions of the 2008 financial crisis were in full swing, with the coalition government of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats four years into their austerity programme of cutting public services in a bid to rebalance the books.
Of course, little did we know. Compared to what followed, 2014 could be considered halcyon days. The only referendum in sight was a matter for the Scottish people of independence from the UK. Boris Johnson was Mayor of London, still riding high on the 2012 Olympics-enabled boost to his profile, while Liz Truss was working her way up the Tory’s greasy pole. Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer had no public profile, the former making his millions in California while the latter was pre-politics and pre-knighthood, having just received the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, whatever the hell that is.
Yet there was an unmistakable air of a country and people undergoing hardship, only two years after the false dawn of the Olympics. The music industry was still struggling to come to terms with the streaming explosion and – in addition to belts being tightened – the money was rapidly moving elsewhere. Between movements, the album charts were laden with familiar names: Kasabian, Paulo Nutini, Lily Allen, Coldplay, while Ed Sheeran was eating the planet with his second album X. Meanwhile, on 19 May 2014, Sleaford Mods released a new album: Divide And Exit.
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/sleaford-mods-divide-and-exit-ten-years-on/
Soft Play - Heavy Jelly
Life is cruel.
As touring commitments concluded for the artists formerly known as Slaves back in 2019, the two-man band were falling apart, barely able to even speak to one another despite playing to their largest-ever audiences.
It was agreed that a break was required, before real life intervened.
As well as the pandemic, Isaac Holman was thrown into a mental health crisis (suffering from two separate forms of OCD), while the mother of Laurie Vincent’s children sadly passed away after a cancer diagnosis.
Both needed time to heal and pursued solo projects: Holman channelled his vulnerabilities into two fragile albums under the moniker Baby Dave, while Vincent expanded his sonic palette via the Larry Pink The Human project.
IDLES - Cardiff Castle, 12th July 2024
Image by Tom Ham
It’s getting a bit silly now. Why aren’t IDLES headlining every festival this summer?
Yes OK, the Bristol-based band were atop the Other Stage a fortnight ago, a huge step up from their afternoon set on the same stage two years earlier.
Yet their 2024 performance was a tour de force; well-judged in execution, pace and emotion, as they’ve been doing for years. They are ready. Their time is very much now.
Equally, their headline set in Cardiff was a masterclass. Rather than hit the ground running (a pace otherwise relentlessly maintained throughout the rest of the set) the pensive ‘IDEA 01’, with subtle bass and – yes – Kid A anxiety is a mood setter.
As are the first three minutes of ‘Colossus’, slowly ratcheting up the anticipation and excitement before an explosion of rock music in its second half, like a shaken-up bottle of Coke which must – needs – to relieve its pressure.
Glastonbury 2024
Everyone’s Glastonbury experience is different. An important thing to bear in mind.
Much of the fallout from this year’s edition has surrounded the sheer volume of people and therefore overcrowding at the festival.
In certain cases it’s valid; the ongoing popularity of Sugababes (especially with the reformation of the original lineup), should have seen them on the Pyramid Stage rather than West Holts, which had to be shut down because of the size of the audience.
Similarly, after the main stages close, virtually everyone (being worse for wear) is looking for something else to do or watch, with only a handful of destinations to head to – if one isn’t particularly familiar with electronic music, logically they will head to a household name like Fatboy Slim or Hot Chip.
Perhaps it’s time for Emily Eavis to take a leaf from European festivals and consider extending the main stages to run beyond midnight, although the restrictions on licensing presumably prevent this.
Kasabian - Happenings
There’s a school of thought from their fans and observers that Kasabian have ‘lost it’ since the departure of singer Tom Meighan (dismissed from the band owing to personal issues in 2020).
It’s an easy but inaccurate line of attack: for all his virtues as a frontman, Meighan was, barring a couple of songs, just that.
The music was created (from album two onwards) by Sergio Pizzorno, and their power as a live act comes from the ferocity of the musicianship.
More pertinently, it ignores a fundamental rule: after a peak (in the form of psychedelic masterpiece West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum 15 years ago), returns were always going to diminish.
Anyone who caught Kasabian’s afternoon set at Glastonbury will know that Pizzorno has confidently and comfortably stepped into the role of frontman with aplomb. As long as they are active, they will always rock a stage to its foundations, with a stack of anthems in their back pocket. But what of this new album?
Interview - Been Stellar
Image by Gabe Long
After what seems like an eternity, New Yorkers Been Stellar finally unleash their debut album Scream From New York, NY. It’s a wildly ambitious body of work, wide in both scale and sound which should make any comparisons to other acts from the city redundant.
Clash recently spoke to vocality Sam Slocum, guitarist Skyler Knapp and drummer Laila about those unwelcome comparisons, the album, the history of the band and much more.
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/scream-if-you-want-to-go-faster-been-stellar-interviewed/
Liam Gallagher - Cardiff Utilita Arena, 3rd June 2024
Since his wildly successful comeback in 2017, Liam Gallagher has made no bones about his mantra: give the people what they want.
Despite releasing four number 1 studio albums in that period, largely what the people want from him is nostalgia.
Whether it’s performing stone-cold Oasis classics alongside some deep cuts from day one, or headlining Knebworth to recapture some of the magic from the 1990s, the younger Gallagher mines his past shrewdly. Now he takes the logical next step: a whole Definitely Maybe, dedicated solely to performing songs released 30 years ago.
The only concession to the 21st century is first support act Villanelle, who showcase a diverse set of songs that bear little resemblance to contemporary indie. Some drive, some are widescreen, and one track (‘Lazy’) owes a debt to garage rock.
Interview - Richard Hawley
Image by Dean Chalkey
“We need to get together to affect change. We mustn’t be afraid. They use all the power they have to make us afraid. They make us doubt ourselves, they demonise young people and people who want to make a change to the way we think. The album is a reaction against all that.”
Richard Hawley is not known as a political songwriter. Across a musical career spanning over three decades, the Sheffield singer has turned his hand to many things: film scores and soundtracks, countless collaborations including with Manic Street Preachers and Arctic Monkeys (he even played the guitar on All Saints’ cover of ‘Under The Bridge’) and, most recently, a theatre production inspired by his landmark 2012 album Standing At The Sky’s Edge’.
Yet, as he explains to CLASH, Hawley remains characteristically aware of his limitations and acknowledges that – while explicitly political songwriting is beyond him (so he says) – the state of society pervades most of his work: “I’m not a very good political writer. I’ve tried to do it, but I’m not as eloquent as people like Billy Bragg, who I love. His work and him as a man, he’s a great guy. I always end up taking the side of the people who have to deal with the fucking fallout. Which I was, and still am. That’s the point of the record.”
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/its-chaos-innit-richard-hawley-interviewed/
Richard Hawley - In This City They Call You Love
In a forthcoming interview with CLASH, Richard Hawley describes this, his tenth solo effort, as “odd because it doesn’t have a tempo-related flow”. It’s the right of the artist to critique his own work in such a way but, as is typical of the Sheffield songsmith, he does both himself and the work a disservice. Indeed, the very unpredictability of this fine effort is its strength.
The dichotomy lies in the album’s inspiration: once again, the Steel City informs his writing process. For every new slice of gentrification in any UK city, the people and outlook remain stoic. As such, for every ‘Have Love’, a boisterous, simple but effective R&B shuffle with splintered, almost church-bell guitar and an earnest-yet-required message, there’s a ‘Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow’. Surely a result of his performance with John Grant at last year’s Patsy Cline tribute, it’s a sweetly sad country ballad which feels out of its time.
The gunslinging ‘Two For His Heels’ is grizzly and saturnine, all twanging guitar and echoing drumsticks, but the title comes from a term in the game Cribbage, overheard by Hawley in the working men’s club next to his house.
https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/richard-hawley-in-this-city-they-call-you-love/
Paul Weller - 66
Remarkably, the three years between Paul Weller’s last record (Fat Pop Vol.1) and this seventeenth solo outing is one of the longest breaks the iconic musician has taken between studio albums.
Of course, being Paul Weller in that time he has released a B-sides compilation, some one-off singles and toured both that and the previous album On Sunset (released in mid-2020), more than most other acts of the same generation can muster in their busiest periods.
Yet in promotional interviews, Weller has indicated that it may be time to start slowing down, a suggestion that the title of this record (his age at the time of release) and some of the lyrics included seem to corroborate.
Of course, ‘slowing down’ is relative, so we can probably expect his eighteenth album by Christmas 2025, but there is an undeniably reflective tone to 66, even if Weller has outsourced much of his lyric writing.
Interview - Frank Turner
Image by Lukas Rauch
Interesting fact: the world record for most gigs in different cities in one day is currently held by American singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes, who travelled across the state of New England on May 10th 2014 to hit the milestone over 24 hours.
As you may have read in the press this week, next month our very own Frank Turner is going to attempt to smash that record, with 15 shows across England on May 4th to 5th (fortunately, for him and the punters, the next Bank Holiday). When speaking to CLASH last week, it’s fair to say the musician has mixed feelings about the prospect.
“It’s going to be an horrendous fucking nightmare, but it was my idea and therefore it’s my fault, goddammit.”
“It’s worth noting I did 24 shows n 24 hours once, but that was all in London and the current record is 10 shows in different cities,” he explains. “Free Now – the cab company – are helping out and providing transport which is very good of them. They do a lot of work for the Music Venue Trust as well, which is great.”
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/still-undefeated-clash-meets-frank-turner/
Interview - John Robb
Image by John Middleham
Last year, author, journalist, musician and all round polymath John Robb released a book of select interviews accumulated over 40+ years working in (or more specially, around) the music business.
Its title? Do You Believe In The Power Of Rock & Roll?.
A matter of minutes in his company provides a comprehensive affirmative. A human encyclopedia, Robb doesn’t so much know about Rock & Roll, but is steeped in it.
We meet at Bristol Folk House, approximately midway through an extensive tour in support of Do You Believe In The Power Of Rock & Roll?, yet it’s a tour with a twist: the first half features John Robb rattling through how punk rock ‘ruined’ his life, while the second comprises an interview with a local creative artist.
The first hour flies past, Robb barely drawing for breath as he regales the audience with tales of his early dalliances with glam rock, how punk rock informed his outlook on life, through to encounters with Nirvana and Oasis.