Altogether now..they’re Creepy and they’re Kooky, Mysterious and Spooky, they’re altogether Ooky..its the Annabel’s family. Duh Duh Duh Dum CLICK CLICK
#MYLDNites special – David Byrne is Utopia
I know a singer who has the anagram WWDBD etched on a stickie on her computer to inspire her as she works and it stands for ‘What would David Byrne Do’ and last night I saw what David Byrne can do and its off the chain. His gig at the 02, part of his American Utopia tour, was one of the most relentlessly inventive and the most perfectly executed show I have probably ever seen. It was also in some ways the simplest as all you are looking at are the band members and the instruments they are holding. And nothing else. No speakers, no monitors, no cables. Nothing except for them.
It really takes a few songs to get your head around. As you watch the band and DB move all around the stage in synchronized movements as they play you have to keep reminding yourself what is so weird about what you are watching. Oh, yeah, there is no equipment on stage. At all. Its mindblowing and such a massive game changer and just one of the reasons that DB is always ahead of the game, always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and what’s established. They talk of pioneers but he truly is and always has been. In a world where everything has been trampled on so many times he is once again in unchartered territory.
And so you think, well, why doesn’t everyone do it like this? Its so much better. And there is no drop off at all, in terms of sound quality, to beam it remotely to the stacks hidden behind the stage. Not only is there no deterioration but the sound is exceptional. The band are incredible. It is studio clarity and so good in fact that you can’t help but think some of it must be a backing track. About half way in DB actually addresses this as he has obviously been asked this many times over the tour and he confirms that everything you are listening to is being performed by the musicians on stage. He then goes about proving this by introducing each band member and the part their instrument plays and one by one they literally build the layers of the track in front of you and its jaw dropping how they do it. I had goosepimples all over. And a dropped jaw.
Musical craftmanship, composition, arrangement, choreography, visuals..everything about this show is pitch point perfect and it just gets better and better as the show goes on. He mixes in old classics with songs from his latest album and for once, there is also no drop off with the new material, it is as good as everything he has ever done, you just don’t know it as well but I actually preferred to hear the newer tracks as were fresher to me which is virtually unheard of when you go to see an old timer live. You’re normally always waiting for the ones you know. Even the old tracks felt new as they had been vamped up and re-arranged for the show. Blind and Lazy and This must be the Place were outstanding.
And as good as the band sound, the visual aspects of the show are as equally dazzling. The simple visual concepts they use are so simple yet so clever and so effective – they do a silent break in the middle of one of the tracks and it makes your heart leap its so cool. The entire show is nothing short of mesmerising. the band all move in sync and do dance moves whilst they are playing their instruments and you wonder how they can do it all at once and excel at everything they are doing. And DB looks and sounds as good as he ever did. Same as he always was.
David Byrne is nothing short of a musical powerhouse, a sheer genius that was born to do this and makes everyone else look sloppy and staid by comparison. But we can’t all be David Byrne. Nor do we need to be. He is doing enough for all of us. And he is still cool as fuck and clearly a beautiful human being. Now that the other DB has left us (RIP DB1) Byrne is all we’ve got and to have seen him deliver such an incredible show will stay with me forever. I didn’t want it to end as he made me happier on a Monday night that I had probably ever been.
Here is a link to his set list on spotify if you want to have a listen:
https://open.spotify.com/user/chaninmusic/playlist/0Yv4rJcKiX11SNOMrvYiqC?si=v0LkMWeWRjWLl_MuEwZscQ
#MYLDN (1104) – THE THE
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london
I went to see The The last night at The Royal Albert Hall, a lifetime goal achieved and one which I thought would never happen as Matt Johnson has been dormant for over 20 years. There was a time when my whole world was The The (also the best name for a band ever). I listened to the ‘Infected’ album over and over again. Hard hitting political lyrics, the exploration of the darker recesses of the human mind and all delivered in killer fucking tunes…it spoke to me more than any other music at the time and it felt like his voice was my voice. One of the first things he said at the gig was that they described his output as music for “small bedrooms and spacious minds” and as I looked around the vast expanse of the RAH, full of thousands of people, I realised I wasn’t sure I had ever really listened to The The with anyone else before. It had always been a personal experience, an intimate relationship between myself and the music. A place where I could be guided through the conflict of my mind and my desires and sing my heart and soul out in the safety of my room. And now I was in a really big room with lots of other people who had had the same experience but never shared it. After the initial adjustment it turned out to be a blissful affair.
Matt Johnson is a lovely lovely man who has been both derailed and inspired by tragedy. It was the death of his brother Andy ‘Dog’ who did all the artwork for his early albums who died young and suddenly which caused him to give up on music completely and then last year it was the death of his other brother which made him realise he had to return to music and on the day of the first comeback tour in Sweden, only a few days before the gig last night, his father died and there he was up on stage delivering an incredible show in the throws of grief. He told us this at the beginning of the gig and it was heartbreaking to know that after all this time he had to make his return riddled with grief. And yet, somehow he was able to translate this heaviness into a truly uplifting experience. I have no idea how he did it. He came across as a very sweet and sensitive soul but that is why I think his music connected so well, especially with every bloke in there, was that he had always been there to express the emotions we couldn’t. And as Brother Romero said, who was there with us, he was surprisingly amiable, easy going and jovial considering his music feels like the expression of a truly tortured soul.
He played tracks from throughout his career but had reworked a lot of the tracks into completely new arrangements to fit his new band. And rather than just regurgitate the hits he gave them all a fresh spin and they all sounded incredible and the band sounded so fucking good it was ridiculous. He was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more singing along at first, but a lot of that had to do with the fact that the songs had been so altered it was difficult to know when to come in. The RAH is also quite intimidating in some ways, and its majesty is both a help and sometimes a hindrance to the atmosphere as audiences are often on their best behaviour as they feel the venue demands it. There were a lot of old geezers in the crowd and they were definitely trying to be in-keeping with the environment although it was great to see people spontaneously leap up and start dancing. I wanted to rock out too but I was mesmerised and even though I knew every lyric of so many of the songs I was much more interested in hearing him sing than me. His voice sounded superb. Mine doesn’t. And so we all watched quite reverently for the most part but by the end we were all chanting out the words, pointing into the air and cheering like a footie crowd. To hear “This is the day” belted out by the audience was such an outstanding moment, a feeling of uplifting unity I will not forget, as the largely middle aged crowd sung like the young souls they had been and ultimately still were, just now on the inside rather than the outside.
The gig filled me with joy and I couldn’t quite get over I was actually seeing The The live. Kind of blown away. They finished the gig with a barnstorming version of Uncertain Smile and featured quite easily the greatest piano break I have ever heard live. I’m not in the habit of DPDAs (digital public displays of affection) but Mrs Romero swung it somehow to get us on the list for this gig (which had sold out in 3 minutes) and just wanted to say you’re a total fucking beauty for sorting it out. Bucket list entry signed sealed and delivered! I left as giddy as the teenager I once was when they had first permeated my mind. I even bought a knockoff band T shirt outside just as I would have done back then. They are at Brixton tonight and the Troxy tomorrow and I’m sure they will deliver two more incredible gigs. If you are thinking about it, it will easily be worth the tout ticket rates…
If you are not that aware of The The, please check em out on Spotify. Start with Soul Mining and Infected and then you won’t want to stop…
#MYLDN (1080)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london nights
A collection of nightlife shots bathed in deep red light this week. Nothing really to report other than I am relentlessly drawn to red and black and seek them out in almost all areas of my existence. It is something fundamental. The attraction is deep rooted. I do not really need to understand why. I am happy for it just to be that way but our personal gravitation towards certain colours is indefinable and also somewhat inescapable. It is as if we are already hard wired that way. For me, red is the colour that makes everything more appealing to my eyes. And it makes everything that little bit cooler too. Warmer but cooler. A winning combination. I am sure there is a biological explanation or a formative memory that instilled it in me but I don’t really want to know as it would take away the mystique which is what it brings in the first place. Sometimes knowledge can get in the way of primal feelings and we don’t need to understand why everything is the way it is. Sometime we need to just let things be. Mysteries are the gaps in our comprehension but it is the gaps I wish to live in, that is where the real substance of life is. In the things we do not know. Not the things we do…
#MYLDN(ites) (1079)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london nights
This is one of The Bumbys. They are hired for parties and give honest appraisals via typed out descriptions of any guests willing to be analysed by a masked stranger with an Olivetti. I was described as “andy kaufman meets a lost beatle. A man of his own creation, the Joker if he didn’t dive into supervillany.” I’ll take it, I’ve definitely had worse.
If you want to hire them here is their fb page: https://www.facebook.com/TheBumbys
#MYLDN(ites) (1078)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london nights
#MYLDN(ites) (1077)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london nights
#MYLDN(ites) 1076
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london nights
#MerryMYLDNXmas!
Me and my camera wishing you all a very Merry Xmas and a happy New Year!
And so we come to the end of the year and all there is to say is..thank fuck that’s over! 2o17 started with such doom and gloom and it never really abated. The world went to the dark side and rarely emerged out of it. The future looked so unbright it made me switch to black and white photography. Everything just seemed greyer, no colour & no glimmer of hope. Black and white also felt like the perfect way to mirror the stark polarisation of societies around the world as everyone got into their own respective and opposing camps. Everything went very black and white with the disappearance of the middle ground in favour of major lunges towards hostile extremities.
The misery inducing forces of Brexit and Trump and the sense of global meltdown driven by the refugee crisis and the continued and worsening climate chaos got so bad it actually made me switch off the news completely for the first time in my adult life. Consequently I didn’t look at a single piece of news anywhere for the first six months of this year as it felt over-powering and this combined with a feeling of utter powerlessness made it too much to bear.
The only reason I got dragged back was Maybot calling the snap election and then it felt impossible to ignore the relentless self-destruction of this country. And so it continued. Hope gave way to horror and common sense got annihilated by populist opinion riddled with bullshit and lies. The fact this year gave birth to the concept of fake news shows just how far from the truth we have strayed. And we had also clearly veered off the path of morality and decency into an uncaring world where the plight of the needy and the desperate, both abroad and at home, were no longer a concern for western democracies.
And yet, having said all that, I’m kinda done dwelling on the shite. Regardless of what is happening we still have a choice what we choose to focus on which is why this week I have shown a series of photographs all taken during the last few days showing people having a good time, united by music and showing that humans can be brilliant together, full of love and togetherness and joy. And all in colour! I had a great time at lots of different nights out with lots of different groups of people but what they all had in common was a demonstration that hate and division is definitely NOT a requisite of human interaction. It can be so very very different. Enjoying life might not seem very productive in the scheme of things but it is way more constructive than being destructive. We can all sit at home and bemoan the plight of the planet and its population or we can just go out and rinse existence for all its worth…
The last few weeks has been a fairly non-stop party fest for me and it really showed me that even when everything goes to crap and things look grimmer than they ever have the human spirit cannot be extinguished. We forge on no matter what always in the hope that things will improve. And hope might be a misguided delusional notion but its all we have and it might just be enough. So let’s leave the shit to the shits and the rest of us can do what humans do best – hang out, be good to each other and have fun…all in favour..raise your hands!
See you in 2018!
P.s This photograph was taken at the Soulwax gig at the roundhouse at the weekend. If you want to see the full gallery please click here
#Myldnites – XOYO
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london nights…
A blue light shines down on Charlotte during her performance at XOYO on saturday. #nofilteriswear
#MYLDNites – The Elephant’s Head
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london nights…
This couple were rocking out at the Elephants Head in Camden on Sunday night and thought they looked so great, individually and as a couple and told them so too. They were full of beans and were up dancing to everything from human league to the sex pistols to rock ‘n’ roll. It was a good ole fashioned knees up and there were lots of great characters in there too and even though Camden has changed so much over the last few years it was great to see some of the old spirit and style still surviving…
p.s bit tardy today as festive season is affecting my time keeping…normal service might be disrupted…
MYLDNites Special – The Loft Party
I did a post recently on the demise of london nightlife so I am actually pleased to be able to completely contradict what I said by using the Loft Party I went to last Sunday as a wonderful beacon of hope to show there will always be cool shit to go to in this city. The Loft Party has been going a long time but it has just taken me an awful long time to get there. It was started by the legend David Mancuso who is now sadly gone to the great disco in the sky but he has left an amazing legacy that continues on in his absence and the fact that it exists without him with the same essence and crowd is such a great testimony to what he set out to create.
This event is all about good vibes and uplifting knock your socks off disco tunes. I don’t think I have ever been in a club environment in London where there has been such a friendly and laid back attitude. This was possiby because it wasn’t in a club at all, but in a very unassuming community centre on a quiet residential street in Dalston. Like all great parties you would never have known it was there unless you knew about it.
Walking in they gave you free sweeties, there was a free cloakroom, free soft drinks and a free buffet. It was like walking into someone’s home and you were made to feel like a most welcome guest. No searches. No excessive doorman bullshit. Up till 7pm (started at 5pm) even kids were allowed in and were bouncing around to the tunes & playing with balloons. I wouldn’t have normally chosen to have the underage in this type of scenario but it just made it feel relaxed and homely. In any case they soon disappeared and the floor filled and the dancing began and it never stopped from that point on.
The Dj, Colleen Cosmo Murphy was a protege of Mancuso and he taught her the ways of the force and she now carries on his good work delivering amazing records to a joyful and highly receptive audience. Like he did before him, she does not mix, she allows each record to play till the end and the crowd normally applaud at the end of each song, which, weird at first, feels very normal by the end. You are showing your appreciation for the music rather than praising the dj. It feels in keeping with the positive vibes emanating from all sides. There was nothing but happiness all around and everyone bust their moves till the very end which was at midnight.
And the sound system is phenomenal. Like in the tradition of the great disco parties of the 70s like the Paradise Garage sound quality is everything and it was crystal clear and heavenly to the ears. Like Despacio it was power without distortion and you could chat next to speakers and not have to shout. They had apparently spent a couple of days to set up correctly and it was pretty bang on perfect. The warmth of the system and the vinyl filled the room and super smiley faces all around showed it had all been worth it.
I was talking to a guy at the end and we were both raving about it and he said he never been before to which I responded ”me neither” and I then said I was never going to miss one again to which he replied “me neither!”. Its a total no brainer. Best night I have been to in a long time and proof that the nightlife in this city cannot and will not die. The venues might close, the areas might change, the demographics might alter but there was always be life in London. No matter how hard they make it.
P.s I thought after my negative tirade on friday it was maybe important to show a positive experience that had happened amidst the doom and gloom. Life is truly mostly drudgery with occasional fleeting moments of beauty and this was definitely one of them..
#MYLDN (1018)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london
This week’s photographs all feature glimpses of London nightlife which I have been moaning about a lot recently in person so thought I might as well do it here too. You possibly might have noticed I haven’t been saying much recently about this city because I try to follow the basic rule of thumb that if you don’t have anything good to say don’t say anything at all. However it is quite hard for me to keep schtum indefinitely so here goes…
London nightlife has perceptively diminished over the last few of years losing pubs, bars, clubs and music venues across the board. But more importantly it has lost people. There just aren’t as many around as there used to be. The places that are still open all feel a bit quiet and these days you kinda have to chase the party. This was never the case in central London. The party was everywhere. You just had to walk out your door and you would find it. Whole areas such as Camden, Soho, Notting Hill, even Shoreditch are pale comparisons of their former selves. But no people, no party. And the people have disappeared in their droves never to return.
Its weird because sometimes I feel like I am going mad because I remember it being so different, with the streets teeming with nighttime revellers and every pub rammed most nights of the week and there was just more of a buzz everywhere but that world is no longer visible and no-one is talking about the change, no-one appears to be acknowledging the difference so you start to think…did I imagine it? Was it really like that? Maybe I’m remembering it wrong? But deep down I know everyone feels the same way but just aren’t possibly admitting it for the simple reason that no-one wants to highlight the fact they are living in a worse version of where they used to live. And maybe nightlife just isn’t as important to them as it is to me. For me that is what makes a city.
Now, please assume this is an overall feeling and includes sweeping generalisations obviously there is still tons to do in London at night and some places are packed out all the time (especially at the poncy posh end) but it does not feel like the city it was to me. It has lost its buzz. Its edge. Its coolness. The era of Cool Britannia is most definitely over and its post-brexit replacement does not have the kudos or the coolness to compete. If anything it is the polar opposite. Brexit Britain ain’t cool, its cold.
This city has been victim to the ravages of gentrification as we all know and I have spouted on about many times but the bustling nightlife has been greatly reduced by a multi-whammy effect. High rents pushed everyone out so they literally weren’t living in the city anymore which naturally curtailed their city socialising. The ones that stayed had less money so they went out less. The developers bought and tore down so many of the nightlife venues which meant that people who did want to go out had nowhere to go and all this happened just as they introduced the night tube which they completed just in time for everything to close.
Its not just property investment that has reduced the vibe of this city. People’s habits have also massively changed. The drinking culture that dominated the 20th century has been gradually subsiding and this new generation are the first to drink less than previous ones as they do not feel getting wasted is quite as cool as former gens have considered it and would rather be connected digitally than plastered in person. They also don’t really have a lot of disposable income so they don’t really have the cash to go out even if they wanted. This combination of factors has had a huge effect in reducing the numbers of 20 somethings out and about at night who were always previously the dominant age demographic.
These days people are more likely to meet people in cafes and gyms than nightlife venues. People used to queue to get into clubs and now they queue for restaurants. Or they skip the reality middle man altogether and meet on tinder or other dating sites and apps. Is this worse or just different? I don’t think getting twatted and trying to pull in a club was the pinnacle of human civilisation, far from it but it was at least more exciting than sitting on your own swiping. If online becomes the only avenue we are going to feel very isolated very quickly.
I am a nightlife lover. Always have been. Ever since I heard the song ‘Nite Klub‘ by The Specials. All I wanted to do after that was hang out in clubs and go dancing and hear loud music and hang out with people dressed up for the occasion. I find clubs exciting and fascinating and a ton of fun and it never got old for me but I am from a different era and my world is crumbling around me and a new one is being born. I really don’t want to be the guy saying it was better in my day. Its way too much of a cliche but if I am honest that is how I feel. I can’t help the feeling that the party here is a little bit over. Every dog has its day and London’s might be done. There will always be fun to be had here, you just might have to try a little harder to find it.
Epilogue: I was once in a queue waiting to get into a club night at the Coronet in Elephant & Castle which has a notoriously slow security check and we waited outside for nearly an hour to get in. Obviously I had a bit (well a lot) of a gripe about it as we waited (there was nothing else to do) and once we were inside this girl came up to me and said..”oh, you’re the disgruntled queue guy” like I was the problem for bringing it up rather than it being a problem in itself. And this is how I feel when I bemoan the issues of London nightlife these days. Scorned for flagging it up. But it actually kills me the most because I was this city’s biggest fan and it brings me no joy to highlight its failings. So I guess maybe she was right…I am the disgruntled queue guy. I might get T-shirts printed. Or at least business cards: Babycakes Romero. Disgruntled Queue Guy. Kinda catchy don’t you think?
#MYLDN (1017)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london
#MYLDN (1016)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london
Lost in London – the ultimate movie one off.
Woody Harrelson in my home town, my capital city, my london
Last night between the hours of 2am and 3.40am Woody Harrelson pulled off a seemingly impossible feat of simultaneously shooting a feature film and beaming it live directly into cinemas as a single unbroken 100 minute take. Don’t believe it? He did it. I watched it last night and have the bags to prove it. People bang on about the elaborate single take tracking shots in films such as Goodfellahs and The Player but neither of them even hit 10 minutes in duration. This was 10 times the length, entirely shot by one camera by one cameraman and he negotiated 14 location changes, car rides, 300 odd extras and multiple interactions without fucking up once. So much could and probably should have gone wrong but it didn’t. An incredible achievement in itself by the cast and crew but what was even more of an achievement is that it was completely engaging and you managed to forget for huge chunks of it that you were actually watching something whilst it was being acted and recorded.
I was lucky enough to have got tickets and be in the audience at the Picturehouse cinema in the West End as it was the only cinema in Britain to show it. It was also beamed to 500 cinemas in America at the slightly more sociable hour of 6pm. Even though we had to stay up all night for it, it was well worth it and knowing it was happening in the immediate vicinity of where we were sat watching it made it even more exciting. Its also very funny, especially the scenes with Owen Wilson and also tense & emotional in all the right places.
Harrelson must have been slightly nuts to have done it, and he must have balls of steel…especially as it was the first film he had ever directed. He not only got away with it, he delivered an entertaining story (based on real life events that happened to him) and wasn’t just worth seeing for its technical gimmick. The movie wasn’t perfect and you had to adjust as maybe a different viewing experience but in my mind, did a way better job than Birdman at running a plot through continuous action. And that wasn’t live either.
Although a single take single camera movie had already been done (Victoria – German film) it had not been live streamed in the process. It is essentially a new form of art fusing elements of both cinema and the theatre to create….cinetre? thenema?? (ok, we can work on the name in due course) and it will be interesting to see if creates its own genre of movie or will it just exist as this random one off? Who knows..it was just great to be a part of the ride and be present for this new cinematic experience.
Hats off to you Mr Harrelson – spectacular job.
#MYLDN (861)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london
happy new year! Some Nye shots this week to keep the celebratory mood going in a desperate attempt to fight off the January blues…
#MYLDN (860)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london
#MYLDN (859)
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london
#MYLDNites (44) – Lea Anderson at the V&A
Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london nights
this photograph and yesterdays (election special one) were both taken at choreographer Lea Anderson’s recent performance/exhibition at the V&A which showcased a selection of her previous work in conjunction with costume designer Sandy powell and Steve blake who composed the music. Featuring short bursts of productions through the years they were all unified by a unique & arresting vision. Funny, grotesque, surreal, twisted, brilliant and truly beautiful, each one created its own little world of inspired insanity, exploring the vagueness of gender and the demented nature of desire (well, that was my interpretation and I’m running with it)
Performance dance is a little out of my jurisdiction normally but was utterly captivated by these bizarre creations, played by final year students from the london school of contemporary dance. They moved amongst the crowd with unnerving proximity and transported you into an alice in wonderland alternate reality. We, the audience had to shuffle around the space following each performance which erupted spontaneously at different parts of the room. 2 hours went past in the blink of a spotlight.
It was truly mesmerising and it was free and a perfect example of what is great about this city. After yesterday, I wanted to leave this week on a more positive note. I feel very passionately about this city which is why I get riled up. I’ve been watching Daredevil recently and he’s always going on about his city and what it means to him and I kinda feel the same way, although I don’t go out at night and beat up bad guys to a pulp to prove that point. Maybe if I had his super sense skills and his billy club maybe I would, although the costume looks like it might chafe a bit and so I daredevil digress….
However there is something about being part of a giant metropolis that makes you feel you want to defend it. It gets its teeth into you and you feel inextricably bound to it. You feel like it defines you somehow which is why I want London to remain a positive place where everyone, no matter who you are or where you are from, can live here and survive.
I love being part of this giant multicultural ant colony but the worker ants need to be able to live in the colony and not have to commute to the colony. Its just not the same. Have I ended on a more positive note? Hmmm, not sure.