Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros – Roseland Ballroom, May 8th 2012
The first thing you will notice about the Magnetic Zeros is that there are absolutely loads of them, and by god do they know how to make a lot of noise. They are a real quirky outfit, who in many ways produce a quirky sound and show to match. At times they are like a Rockabilly family performing on stage, they seem to genuinely have a good time playing their stuff together. Their sound is obviously influenced by country music, but they carry a much a much wider appeal by mixing it up with other musical styles. I would almost equate them to a country influenced Arcade Fire, with huge epic songs like ‘Carries On’ and ‘Home’ in their locker, both of which were performed superbly on the night. They blooded a lot of new songs throughout the show, some of which had a very country sound, a couple of epic huge sounding tracks and even a few with an almost Hawaiian hula sound. Signs are positive for their upcoming new album. They were supported by the band Fools Gold who offered quirky surfer style rock, and were obviously not influenced (as I had hoped) by the English band who created the song with which they share their name.. Overall this was a great performance and an excellent gig from a band who are worth watching regardless of your musical taste.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Spiritualized
– Terminal 5, May 7th 2012
Although Spiritualized have been around for
years, my only previous experience of seeing them live came at a festival in
Canada in 2009. This show got off to a pretty low key start, nothing too
raucous at all, with a sound I would categorise as epic chill out. The entire
gig was a pretty mellow affair, at times they threaten to break out into
heavier rock but it never really happens. Their vast array of musical variation
was on full display with them going through their repertoire of space age rock,
gospel, soulful rock and even a little poppy indie from the new album. They played
a long set, and while you could never say they are a massively entertaining band
to watch there can be no argument about the quality of the sound produced. I
would summarise Spiritualized for the neutral as a great band to see at a
festival, a great sound when you are not particularly paying attention, ideally
lying on the grass with a pear cider in hand.
RECOMMENDED
