The Hours / Vagner Love

@ Manchester Ruby Lounge

Everyone is at the bar when Vagner Love (not the footballer) takes to the stage, but this soon changes as they commence with their first track. They sound far better live than their MySpace demos suggested they would do, with a strong similarity to The Lemonheads and other such bands of that era. Their lead singer, Hasam Naeem, has a voice which is comfortably familiar, and their sound is melodic and catchy, with 'This Is Not a War' standing out from their short set as being particularly radio friendly. Hasam's small talk between songs isn't met with much response from the largely male crowd, but their music speaks for them loud and clear.

I felt genuinely honoured to be watching The Hours. They confidently started their set with 'Ali in the Jungle', arguably their most well known song, yet their performance continued to become increasingly more mesmerising until the end of the encore. Their mass ensemble crams itself onto the small stage to play through the majority of their debut album, 'Narcissus Road', and provide a preview of new material, including 'See the Light', from the new E.P. which this gig promotes. Their front man, Antony Genn, is modest and grateful for the enthusiasm of the audience tonight, rewarding them by singing with genuine passion which is raw and from the heart. This emotion is demonstrated best on the finale to their main set, 'Murder or Suicide', with its hyperbolic lyrics depicting the reality of personal tragedy. Perhaps most impressively, they write unpretentious songs about the human condition in a way which any listener can relate to. The Hours do not miss a single note all evening; there is not one moment of boredom.

words and pic by Stuart Holmes

Hawkwind

@ Nottingham Rock City

It's hard to enjoy anything with the faint aroma of trump in the air. However, after missing the support band due to a very early start, I was still more than happy to be entertained by post rockers Hawkwind, and entertained I was. It's been 8 years since last seeing them, and although Mr Brock has to now take several sit downs, it was great to see a full blown performance with strobe lights which contained the power of the sun, and strangely enough, two performers dressed as doctor doom and playmobil characters. I'm still unsure if they were supposed to be there, the band certainly didn't seem to know who they were, but some of their amateur dramatics were quite entertaining.

The band seemed to have a much more relaxed attitude, which came across in their far more "poppy" set. While still playing some of their more "space rock" anthems such as "masters of the universe", I felt a real sense of fun driving behind them in a big orange clown car all the time. Even Dave took a few moments to have a chuckle at Dibbs' monologue about the apparent end of the sun. Set in the future obviously.

As with any Hawkwind concert, it is a case of "can you name that song?" I was happy to rack up a score of five while my far more informed guest scored an impressive 11. But with a back catalogue the size of Littlewoods, it just doesn't matter. The lights and music together form such an impressive all out assault on the senses that it becomes so easy to just lose yourself in a place where song names just don't matter, or exist. This means we can all enjoy them in our own way. Lovely stuff.

Rob Fairs

Black Angels / The Vipers

@ Manchester Ruby Lounge

What better place than a gentlemen's burlesque club to witness the return of psychedelic-infected rock band the The Black Angels to Manchester.

The evening kicked off with support from The Vipers. Sporting dual bass guitars these guys produce a raw and energetic sound. The band seems to have created their own musical niche, whilst a multitude of influences can still be picked from the rock and roll carcass that they leave in their wake. Don't try to put these guys into a genre because they will smash it to tiny little pieces with their rock, punk, metal, grunge laden bullets fired from both bass guitars.

The first of only three shows on these shores for the Angels European leg of their tour promoting the latest album Directions To See a Ghost. With the vocals soaked deeply in reverb and the band producing a swirling 60's sound, somewhat reminiscent of collaboration between the Velvet Underground and The Doors, you would be forgiven in thinking that you were in the Whiskey a Go Go in L.A. circa 1969. The crowd were treated to a mix of songs from both albums with the band members graciously switching instruments throughout. You would have been forgiven in thinking that the night was in fact a musician's workshop compared by a bunch of well mannered Americans. Instead, the night was a master class in psychedelic rock and roll.

The Black Angels remain one of Texas' best kept secrets, so don't tell your friends or we may not get to see this great band in such an intimate venue again...

Paul "Pablo" Roffey

The Bluetones

@ Sheffield Leadmill

'Where did you go,' asked The Bluetones, on their almost-chart-topper 'Slight Return' in 1996, 'when things went wrong for you?' Now in a position to be asked that very question themeselves, the Hounslow four-piece have returned to the live circuit after a relatively quiet 2008. It's two years since their last album, The Bluetones, was released, subsequently failing to infiltrate the Top 75; their previous effort, Luxembourg, debuted at Number 49 before disappearing without a trace; their last Top 20 single, 'Autophilia,' was eight years ago.

So where do you go, after years of indifference from the record-buying public? Revisiting the album that made them stars in the first place - their debut, Expecting To Fly - probably wasn't a difficult decision, but would it still be capable cutting live? Would they be able to replicate its standout moments convincingly, make great its weaker tracks?

Two songs in, after a storming 'Bluetonic', it looks promising. Now, playing an album, in order, in its entirety, could be a tedious affair – but thankfully Expecting To Fly was one of Britpop's glistening moments – jangling with a very British, Kinksian sound, it delivered perfect pop ('Slight Return'), acoustic wonders ('The Fountainhead') to prog-y wig-outs ('Things Change').

And although there's a couple of tracks on side two that don't quite match the heights of the first five songs, such is The Bluetones' pristine live sound, these moments can be forgiven – especially when, following the run-through of the album and a number of Britpop-period tales from singer Mark Morriss, we're treated to an encore that includes 'Are You Blue Or Are You Blind' and the peerless 'Marblehead Johnson'.

"We'll have a new album out next year", promises Morriss – but if the The Bluetones never release another album, they'll always be one of the most consistent live draws the Britpop boom produced. Catch them while they're still around.

David Smith
Pic by Jamie Boynton

[Sub]Nova / Kiwi

@ Doncaster Vintage Rockbar

Now. This is the second time I've seen [Sub]Nova live, the last time was a few months ago at Sheffield Casbah – and to be honest, I'd forgotten just what a great band they are! Although sounding very similar to Audio Slave, it doesn't take anything away from their immense talent. They are the tightest band I've seen in a while and the singer's voice is absolutely amazing, it's so powerful and completes their songs perfectly. Of course, with Vintage Rockbar being a small bar you get the loud, intense baselines pumping through your body throughout every song and literally blowing you away with their performance. You can clearly see that they take themselves quite seriously and get very wrapped up in their music, which is all well and good but maybe they could've acknowledged the audience a bit more.

Humorously named, Kiwi, was the next band up this evening and they certainly drew the biggest crowd. I can only assume that everyone was either already massive fans of theirs or completely plastered because I didn't see anything that particularly wowed me about this band. Their pop-rock edge made their songs easy to dance to and some tunes were pretty well written, but there was nothing original in there – just the same old same old, with a load of indie kids stood at the front cheering them on. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of potential there, the singer doesn't have a bad voice and they all seem capable of writing a song – so why not put that to better use instead of following along with a trend of music? We already have enough of this type of music for any of the bands to stand out. 'What ever happened to originality?' is a question I've been asking for a while...

Amy Baker

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