Prior to Thursday night, the last time I caught a show at Merriweather Post Pavilion was back in 1998. I don’t really like the place all that much; after you’ve seen great shows in smaller, intimate clubs where you can have a connection with the band that’s performing, the lack of intimacy in an outdoor amphitheatre like Merriweather is startling. The crowds also tend to be very different than those you encounter at club shows – Columbia is quite a drive from Washington or Baltimore, so you will mostly run into older patrons and their spouses drinking beer or parents with their underage kids in tow. Pulling into the parking area, my friends and I looked at the pretty empty field and were worried that there wouldn’t be a good turnout. Thunderstorms had moved through the area earlier, making the walk around the grounds a soggy adventure. I might not go to Merriweather to see most bands, but I will make the exception for Keane.
The pavilion is pretty empty when the first opening act, Fran Healy, begins his one-man acoustic set. Frontmen are all going solo these days – Brandon Flowers of the Killers, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, and more recently, Paul Smith of Maximo Park. Healy is better known as the frontman for legendary Scottish alt-rock group Travis. He’s putting out his first solo album, Wreckorder, in October, so touring with Keane is a good way for Healy to preview tracks from his forthcoming release. He is very funny, at one point dedicating the 1999 Travis hit “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” to the unfortunate souls who have lawn seating, and at another point, saying that bugs were biting him and asking if Columbia had mosquitoes, saying, “back in Scotland, we call them ‘midges.‘” In his Scottish accent, it was adorable to say the least.
He also told the story about how he successfully invited Beatle bassist Paul McCartney to play on his solo song “As It Comes” and trying to come up with an appropriate way to thank the Cute Beatle, decided he and his family would go vegetarian in honor of him. (McCartney later mailed Healy three of his late wife’s vegetarian cookbooks in recognition of the gesture.) The older crowd is appreciative of the Travis numbers sprinkled in the set like “Why Does It…” and “Sing” as they are played alongside new songs like the set-ender, “Buttercup.”
The second opener was bespectacled indie pop/folk singer Ingrid Michaelson, backed by a full band. Most of the time Michaelson, dressed in a frilly, small black dress, sang while strumming a ukulele. I’m not really a fan of her music, but even I cannot escape the radio play of her songs “Maybe” and “The Way I Am.” She is obviously a talented singer/songwriter, so I think I would have been more impressed with her performance if she hadn’t played so many covers. Michaelson’s version of Radiohead‘s “Creep” – just her warbling voice and her playing ukulele – was odd to say the least. Perhaps the strangest moment of the night was her saying goodbye with her version of Britney Spears‘ “Toxic”, including a choreographed dance sequence that ended with Michaelson on the shoulders of her bandmates.
Ingrid Michaelson Set List
Soldier
Poker Face (Lady Gaga acoustic cover fragment)
Die Alone
Parachute
The Hat
Creep (Radiohead cover done as an acoustic solo)
Maybe
Locked Up
The Way I Am
The Chain
Toxic (Britney Spears cover)
Keane‘s incidental music before they came onstage was a winner, including Two Door Cinema Club, Everything Everything (the Manchester quartet who recently opened for them on their sold-out Forest Tour of the UK), and Florence and the Machine. It got me appropriately psyched up for what was a fabulously tight set of songs from the English trio. From their recently released EP Night Train, Keane rather smartly only played the best tracks from the r&b-leaning release, including “Clear Skies,” “Stop for a Minute,” and “Your Love.” The latter is now famous as the only song in Keane‘s pretty substantial back catalogue that pianist / principal songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley sings on, and it is a great showcase of Rice-Oxley’s voice. One can only hope that he will share more lead singing duties with Tom Chaplin in the future.
This is not to say Chaplin did not keep up his end of the bargain. As usual, Chaplin’s beautifully compelling voice soared on the Keane ballads we all know so well, including “Everybody’s Changing” and “Somewhere Only We Know,” while being inexhaustible for the more fun, up tempo numbers, like “You Haven’t Told Me Anything” and “Spiralling.” I am torn between Thursday night’s versions of “This is the Last Time” and “Perfect Symmetry” as to which gets my vote for best song of the show. Both are tear-inducing when you hear them live, just gorgeous pieces of piano-driven pop. Going to see Keane is an event. An event you don’t want to miss.
Keane Set List House Lights (instrumental)
Again and Again
Bend and Break
Everybody’s Changing
Nothing in My Way
Clear Skies
This is the Last Time
Stop for a Minute
Try Again
You Haven’t Told Me Anything
Spiralling
Bad Dream
Is It Any Wonder?
Your Love
Perfect Symmetry
Somewhere Only We Know
Bedshaped
//
My Shadow
Crystal Ball
Tour Dates
Aug 07 – Mann Center / Philadelphia
Aug 10 – Riverside Theatre / Milwaukee
Aug 11 – 1st Ave. / Minneapolis
Aug 13 – Fox Theatre / Boulder
Aug 14 – Mile High Festival / Denver
Fans of the dancefloor, rejoice: Kele‘s The Boxer is officially in stores. This is the debut solo ablum from Kele Okereke, whom you may already be familiar with for his work as the frontman for Bloc Party. Kele took some time to speak with PopWreckoning about the new release and upcoming tour. See the full interview below.
Bethany, PopWreckoning: Your solo album, The Boxer, drops June 21/22, what can people expect from it? Kele Okereke: What to expect? Well, it’s a bit more joyful than other things I’ve done.
PW: Is there an overall album theme or inspiration? I know in the past there have been overarching inspirations. KO: Yeah, I kind of wanted to avoid that on this record. I kind of just made the record. I just did this for myself and didn’t think of a theme so much. I was just trying something new.
PW: Is there any significance with the title, The Boxer? KO: It’s an image that I’ve always found inspiring; the idea that the boxer doesn’t rely on anyone but himself. There’s also that walkout that the boxer does and then when he gets knocked down, he gets back up. I like that image.
PW: You’ve already release the first singe, “Tenderoni,” and first off, what is a tenderoni? KO: It’s just an affectionate term of endearment for a young love.
PW: I love the video that goes with the song. There is some great play on lights and it remains me a lot of still frame photography with the angles and shots. I know you’re somewhat into photography, how involved were you with the video concept? KO: With Bloc Party, I never really got into it, so I abstained from having any influence, but with this, I did want input. I’m not a filmmaker, but I did have some influence in how I would look. The director listened to my ideas and came back with some really great things. I was more involved and I was happy.
PW: In addition to “Tenderoni,” there are a few other tunes you’ve already release off the album. Is there a song in particular that you’re excited to get out there and have people hear? KO: I’m excited about people hearing the whole record, but I’m excited about people hearing “Yesterday’s Gone.”
PW: Let’s talk about guest vocals, I know on “Rise,” I heard some female vocals. Are there others that you worked with on this? KO: Yeah, there are two girls, Bobbie Gordon and JodieBerry, and they’re really amazing girls with great voices that helped me out. PW: And they sing on more than just “Rise”? KO: Yeah, they sing on a few like “All the Things I Could Never Say” and more.
PW: Do you find that your writing process for a solo album is different than with a full band? KO: Yeah, well the difficult part is that half the songs for a solo record take what a full band takes. The other half, I did where a me and a producer worked on them together. It wasn’t exactly hard or too different.
PW: And fans of your previous work, will still be into this or this completely directed at a new audience? KO: I hope so, but I am hoping it reaches new people. That’s part of making a new record or a working a new genre, you do hope it reaches new people as well.
PW: Ok. Coming up in July, you’re coming over to North America to do a tour. What can people expect from your live show? I know you mentioned the guest singers, but will you be joined by them or is it just you? KO: There will be a band. A couple of other people are coming over with me so we can be sure to do the songs live.
PW: Great, and talking about tours, if you could do a dream tour and bring anybody out with you, who would you bring out? KO: I’d love to tour with the Talking Heads. I think they’re probably the best band in the world.
PW: For a final question, is there anything else that you want people to know about this record or just something to get out there about this release? KO: You’ll enjoy it. It’s fun and joyful, and I hope people see that and enjoy it.
Below, we’ve posted two new tracks from Kele Okereke‘s new album The Boxer. You may already be familiar with Kele from his work as Bloc Party‘s frontman.
I recently had a chat with guitarist Sam Halliday of up-and-coming Irish indie rock/pop band Two Door Cinema Club. The band was in New York City to do requisite press before getting ready for two shows in the city. Sam tells me about how much they enjoyed Austin (and their tasty food in large quantities) and the music festival experience, and we talk about their debut album Tourist History and their promo videos. Read on.
Mary Chang, PopWreckoning: Hello Sam. So how are you guys, where are you guys at the moment? And what are you doing? Sam Halliday, Two Door Cinema Club: Yeah, we’re good. We’re presently in New York City at our hotel in Manhattan. We have a bit of promo today, then we have a show in Brooklyn tomorrow and at the Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday. MC: So how are you enjoying New York? Is it your first time there? SH: No, it’s my third time. But the other guys [guitarist/lead singer Alex Trimble and bassist Kev Baird], it’s their first time. We arrived at about 2 a.m… MC: Oh wow…! SH: Yeah, and we went straight out to, sort of, go see Times Square. They’d never been here before so… MC: Excellent. So I guess you’re the globetrotter of the group then? SH: Yes, I guess, yeah! (laughs)
MC: So let’s talk about your debut album, Tourist History. I’ve been playing it a lot since it came out. It’s really fantastic. If you had to explain what you sounded like to an American who’d never hear any of your songs, how would you describe it? SH: Um, I think it’s not quite rock music; it’s not quite indie music; it’s not quite electro music. I think if you’re open to any type of music I think you might like it. It’s very accessible. You know, it’s a lot of upbeat [sound]. And you know, I mean, we love it, we think it’s a great album. We think it’s for everybody. We loved bands likeDeath Cab for Cutie,Modest Mouse and Bloc Party; they’re kind of the bands that we agreed on early. We love all types of music but those were the bands we bond over most.
MC: So your name…back in February I sat in on an interactive chat with the Gigwise folks the three of you did in London… SH: Yes! MC: …during which you replied to an English fan that it came from the Tudor Cinema near where you lived in Ireland. SH: Yes… MC: I’m sure everyone’s asking you about the band name on this tour and where it comes from. (Sam laughs) Have you been back since to tell the proprietor of the Tudor Cinema that his theatre is now famous? SH: We went back [to Ireland] before we kinda became a bit big, we went back and recorded like a music video, for “Something Good Can Work.” This was a couple years ago. Just a friend did it with us recorded it over there. We moved off to doing different things and we can’t see him anymore, sadly. And then we kind of did the official one. Yeah, we haven’t been back as a band. Yeah, it would be good to go back, I think.
MC: The three of you are from Bangor, in Northern Ireland, right? SH: Yes. MC: But I’ve heard that you now call London home. SH: Ohhh…I wouldn’t personally call London home. MC: Okay, so it’s a temporary home then? SH: It’s more of a base. I call it a base. We have a band flat there. You know, it’s great because it’s easy to get flights from Heathrow [Airport] and things, it’s just very handy that way. And honestly, we have our management there, and there’s lots of press people in London. So it’s a good place to have a base. But you go home and have friends and family in Bangor. MC: What has been your family and friends’ reaction to all that’s happened to you guys so far? SH: They’re very supportive and very happy, yeah. In my experience, my mum would always be on our Facebook page and our Twitter page, paying attention and telling me before I read it what people are saying on things, read reviews. It’s very exciting [for her] I think.
MC: So it sounds like you’ve barely been able to take a breath with all the relentless touring. You’ve been around Europe and then America with Phoenix, and now are in the middle of your first headlining tour of North America. From what I hear, your shows have been going down great with the locals and you’re selling out most everywhere, so congratulations on that. SH: Thanks. MC: What’s been your most memorable show so far this year? SH: (whistles) Well, it was only last week, but I think one of the real highlights was when we played in L.A. last week. You know, the Troubadour show? It’s just crazy, because it’s kind of our first headline show of America. Having been from somewhere small and having never played here, and we’ve never come here before. It’s crazy that how well we were received! It’s just amazing, feeling like we’ve “gone” somewhere! It was cool. Other than that, since the album has been released, all the shows, you know, have kind of stepped up in attendance and it’s really been amazing, because people know more of the songs and they sing a bit more, because they enjoy the album. The [album] launches were great in Belfast, in London, and in Paris.
MC: Great. Do you have a worst moment? Or any funny tour stories you care to share? SH: Ooh…um… (laughs) oh boy…you know, everything’s been great, really. It really has. Touring with Phoenix was a great experience, they’re lovely, lovely guys. It was so great to tour with a band that was much better and more experienced. You learn so much, in terms how they act, how they play their sets. I can’t think of any stories off the top of my head…I dunno! (laughs)
MC: Before coming over to North America, how did you prepare for your first-ever shows on this side of the pond? SH: Oh, I dunno, I guess we’ve been so busy! Over the past year touring all over Europe. So we were really excited to go somewhere new. It’s always really great to go somewhere new. It’s great to go to places you’ve played before, but it’s somewhere new. It’s just real exciting. I think we’ve been playing together for long enough that we’re confident in our live show – well, I am. So we weren’t too nervous about the show, we were more excited to play to new people. MC: I think it was Fearne Cotton’s Radio1programme in February when you guys did a set and a short interview…she asked you what you were looking forward to, and this was far, far in advance of you guys coming over here. And one of you said visiting Texas. I know you guys have been to Texas now, and you were in Austin. I read on your Twitter that when you were in Austin, Kev got a tattoo and you bought a guitar…? SH: Haha, yeah, that’s right. MC: So what did you think of Texas? Did it live up to everything you thought it was going to be? SH: Yeah, it was brilliant. It’s just so different. Everywhere in America is so different between cities and states. But Texas was really cool. We got to spend a couple days in Austin in particular. Great weather, being able to sit in our dressing room, outside, in the late hours of the night. Just kind of laid-back atmosphere sort of a city. Yeah, um, obviously Kevin got a tattoo…(I laugh)…of the cat’s eyes from our album [cover]. And then we went to a pawn shop. We wanted to do a kind of typical American thing and so we would go around to pawn shops and picked around. And we went and found this amazing old guitar. I really wanted to get a guitar from this tour, to kind of have something to remember it by, so it was a great find. MC: That’s cool. SH: And we had some great Texas barbecue. MC: How does it compare to the food at home? SH: Oh, there’s a lot more of it here! MC: (laughs) That’s what most people [from outside America] tell me! SH: The portions are, very, uh, large. MC: Yeah, sometimes they last for days, usually. SH: Yeah! We actually have a competition, it’s quite sad. We have a competition, because we knew your American food was very tasty and very big. So we have a competition to see…we’ve documented each other’s weights, so we’re having a competition to see who put on the most [weight from the tour]. Whoever puts on the most has to take the person who puts on the least out to dinner. MC: Oh, okay. SH: I know, not very rock ‘n’ roll. (both laugh)
MC: So I’ve had a look at your very busy summer schedule. You’ve confirmed festival appearances at Glasto[nbury] (England), Hove (Norway), Benicassim (Spain), Summersonic (Japan), and Reading/Leeds (England) among many others. You played Glastonbury for the first time last year…what are your feelings on the summer festival circuit? SH: Ah, they’re so much fun, it’s kind of great, because you see so many bands. Like, being on tour all the time, you don’t get to see that many, unless you they ask you to tour with them. But being at festivals is amazing because…especially at Glastonbury, we’re spending the whole weekend there, so we’ll get to see loads of bands, which will be cool. We’re real excited to be doing all the European ones this year, and Australia and Japan, because you know, last year we only did one outside the UK. It was amazing, it was our favorite last year. It’s called Riga in Latvia. It’s a totally different kind of vibe than the European ones. So it’ll be great to experience all those.
MC: So you have signed to the French label Kitsune Maison for your European releases and Glassnote Records here in America. How did the Kitsune people find you? SH: They were trying to put another one of their parties in Paris, and they were trying to find an up-and-coming UK band to bring over. And so a promoter in France told them about us, and then whenever they listened to us, I think they liked us a lot more than they thought they would, and [they] wanted to put out our single. And then our relationship just grew from there. And then they released our single and finally our album. It’s great. It all felt really natural. MC: What is it like being Irish on a French label? Did it seem weird that a British label didn’t come to you first, or another European one? SH: I mean, yeah, maybe it sounds a little weird. But for us, being from Bangor, we weren’t really connected to the London music scene all that much. We’d only played in London a couple times before we signed the record deal, and it’s just…it’s don’t really have a connection with that sort of scene. For us, we feel apart from that, just as much as we feel part from the Paris music scene. And they seemed like the right label for us, we didn’t want to go with a major label, and they were really passionate about working with us. MC: Have you been able to hang out with the other UK bands they’ve signed likeDelphic and La Roux? SH: Well, we got a chance to tour with Delphic back in October in the UK. Yeah, we really hit it off with them, they were really great guys, into the same, similar stuff. So we formed a little friendship with them. We’ve seen them a few times since, they’re fun. Can’t really think of any other people…Kitsune is really good with DJs and things, some great people have remixed our stuff through Kitsune. That sort of thing.
MC: Going back to your debut album, Tourist History, is definitely one of my fave releases of 2010 so far, I really love the album. Loads of fun, poppy, peppy, and brilliant. How long did it take to record everything and put together? SH: The one thing we do, once we write a song, we would demo it ourselves, and kind of get it to the point where it’s not the best recording, but we know where all the parts are, of what we’d want to be in the song. So we had this whole album demoed ourselves, and then it was about getting to a studio and doing it professionally, you know, getting a producer’s point of view and things, and trying different things like. So then we went to the end of June then we finished tracking by the end of July, and it took a month to mix the album. Once that was finished, we had some further mixing done with Philippe Zadr [the producer of Phoenix's albums United and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and a member of French house duo Cassius] in his studio in Paris, and for the songs that might be singles. It was great getting people’s different perspectives on our music and we respect their work, so it was amazing.
MC: Your promo videos. The “I Can Talk” video was actually the first videos of yours I ever saw. It was so frenetic, Alex’s head was coming off, clothes were flying around…whose idea was that? SH: That was a French team called Megaforce, that was from a suggestion of Kitsune’s. They came out with that. MC: It’s a real cool-looking video! SH: Yeah, it was the first proper video. And we shot it in a really crammed chateau in Paris. MC: Yeah, I was wondering about that. Because it has a very old-fashioned dollhouse kind of feeling, almost. SH: Yeah, you don’t really see a lot of it in the video.
MC: A while ago you guys released a newish video for “Something Good Can Work” [watch video here]. In this new one, you guys are at a fancy resort, the forest, the desert, an amusement park. Where did you go to film all the scenes for it? SH: We got to go to Gran Canaria [the second most populous island of the Canary Islands], and everything was shot there. Yeah, they’ve got a little different kind of scenes there, they have forest, and mountains, and nice beaches and sand dunes and things. MC: Hopefully you got some vacation time in then? SH: No, unfortunately we were only there for 2 days. MC: Only 2 days? Golly. Well I hope you get to spend some time there in the future, because it looked so beautiful on screen. When I first saw it in March, I was thinking, “this is the perfect summer song.” SH: We wanted to capture that kind of sunshine, the summery feel with it.
MC: I have Steve Lamacq to thank for playing “Something Good Can Work,” a long while ago it feels like, on his 6music programme. I have my own strong opinion on the subject, but what are your thoughts on the BBC’s proposed closure of 6music? [In early March, Director General Mark Thompson of the BBC Trust announced that BBC 6music, along with the Asian Network, may be closed due to budget cuts.] SH: Oh yeah, it’s awful. I mean, especially because Radio1 is kind of being taken over by r&b and just bland pop tunes. There’s really not a lot of room for up-and-coming or not commercially appealing bands. So yeah, and especially because we got our first airplay on 6music, and without it we wouldn’t have gotten so much attention.
MC: Speaking of the UK, have you been following the general election while you have been in America? SH: Yes, we have been, just on the BBC News website. I’m not really too involved in our politics. MC: Any of you endorsing any particular political party? SH: I think this is the problem, I don’t think anyone wants to be in government. Completely. I think that’s the problem here. I dunno, I don’t really know too much about it. MC: Neither do I, but it was interesting watching everything unfold real time on the website. SH: Yeah.
SH: I’m being told I need to move on… MC: Okay, so one final question. Based on the crazy reception for your first tour of America, so when are you guys coming back here? SH: We’re going to come back in October. MC: Great. SH: Yeah, very soon. MC: Well, thank you so much Sam, I appreciate it, I know you’re very busy doing a lot of press. So enjoy New York and I will see you guys on Thursday [in Philadelphia]. SH: Brilliant, can’t wait! MC: Take care. SH: Thanks.
Two Door Cinema Club‘s debut album Tourist History is available now from Glassnote Records. The band has several more dates in North America before their first headlining tour of our continent ends May 17 in Toronto.
Tour Dates
May 11 – Bell House / Brooklyn
May 12 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
May 13 – Johnny Brenda’s / Philadelphia
May 15 – Great Scott / Boston
May 16 – Salla Rossa / Montreal
May 17 – Wrongbar / Toronto
Fatal error: Call to a member function itemLookup() on a non-object in /home/nickrdavisps/popwreckoning.com/wp-content/plugins/amazonsimpleadmin/AsaCore.php on line 1681
Prior to Thursday night, the last time I caught a show at Merriweather Post Pavilion was back in 1998. I don’t really like the place all that much; after you’ve seen great shows in smaller, intimate clubs where you can have a connection with the band that’s performing, the lack of intimacy in an outdoor amphitheatre like Merriweather is startling. The crowds also tend to be very different than those you encounter at club shows – Columbia is quite a drive from Washington or Baltimore, so you will mostly run into older patrons and their spouses drinking beer or parents with their underage kids in tow. Pulling into the parking area, my friends and I looked at the pretty empty field and were worried that there wouldn’t be a good turnout. Thunderstorms had moved through the area earlier, making the walk around the grounds a soggy adventure. I might not go to Merriweather to see most bands, but I will make the exception for Keane.
Keane‘s incidental music before they came onstage was a winner, including Two Door Cinema Club, Everything Everything (the Manchester quartet who recently opened for them on their sold-out Forest Tour of the UK), and Florence and the Machine. It got me appropriately psyched up for what was a fabulously tight set of songs from the English trio. From their recently released EP Night Train, Keane rather smartly only played the best tracks from the r&b-leaning release, including “Clear Skies,” “Stop for a Minute,” and “Your Love.” The latter is now famous as the only song in Keane‘s pretty substantial back catalogue that pianist / principal songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley sings on, and it is a great showcase of Rice-Oxley’s voice. One can only hope that he will share more lead singing duties with Tom Chaplin in the future.
This is not to say Chaplin did not keep up his end of the bargain. As usual, Chaplin’s beautifully compelling voice soared on the Keane ballads we all know so well, including “Everybody’s Changing” and “Somewhere Only We Know,” while being inexhaustible for the more fun, up tempo numbers, like “You Haven’t Told Me Anything” and “Spiralling.” I am torn between Thursday night’s versions of “This is the Last Time” and “Perfect Symmetry” as to which gets my vote for best song of the show. Both are tear-inducing when you hear them live, just gorgeous pieces of piano-driven pop. Going to see Keane is an event. An event you don’t want to miss.
MC: Before coming over to North America, how did you prepare for your first-ever shows on this side of the pond?
MC: I have Steve Lamacq to thank for playing “Something Good Can Work,” a long while ago it feels like, on his 