Gig Going Thread.

[QualityChimp]

Bought a day ticket for Friday Download to see Queens of the Stone Age and Royal Blood. The latter I've been particularly enjoying of late and that two-man lineup is fascinating.

If QotSA don't play "Song for the Deaf", I could always head to the other stage to watch *checks notes* Busted.
Snootiness aside, I reckon there are plenty of younger rockers who started out listening to Busted and their tastes went on to heavier stuff their (especially Charlie's other band), and they'll have an amazing time.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Saw Odie play at The Courtyard Theatre (Hoxton, East London) last night. Hadn't heard of him before but a listen of a few of his tracks on Spotify got me curious.

Alt-R&B/Soul. Young-ish audience. Was alright but probably wouldn't go out of the way to see him again.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Went to see Chuck Strangers play a short and free set @ Rough Trade East last night, his first-ever UK show to launch his new LP.

Impromptu, unplugged vibes to it but generally smooth easy-going rap music. Decent.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Went to see Ibibio Sound Machine @ KOKO (Camden) last night, despite feeling under the weather - last-minute ticket buy.

Glad I did in the end. Highly enjoyable electronic afro-funk. Very danceable! Mix of older stuff and newest stuff from their latest LP.

[QualityChimp]

I went to see The Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer at the Birmingham Utilita Arena.
Two of my fave bands as a kid. I rinsed the Blue Album so much on my Walkman whilst doing my paper round that I can tell you that you turn over between "Undone - Te Sweater Song" and "Surfwax America".
I love how resilient the band have been with band members disappearing and Rivers Cuomo going to get a degree and almost disappearing, then returning to bang out loads of new albums. Not all are classics, but each one has at least one amazing singalong anthem.

My relationship with The Pumpkins is even deeper, they were my first live bands and one of the first albums I bought - it just clicked when I heard them on Noisy Mothers and they showed the videos to Cherub Rock and others. Siamese Dream is a timeless album to me and I'll always jump at the opportunity to see them live.

I started about 8 back from the front, but when "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" came on, the crown went nuts, with a massive circle pit opened up.
I forgot I'm not a teenager and dashed through the gap when the chorus kicked in and ended up about 4 from the front with a great view, but full of regrets as I got crushed and shoved about!

Brilliant set, with some songs they haven't played for yeeeears ("Through The Eyes of Ruby").
The sound was awesome and the new guitarist, Kiki Wong was great, although I'm not sure why they needed so many guitars.
There were some real laughs as well as they tried to do Ozzy impressions.

There were some weaker moments like a "Zoostation" cover and some of the more recent songs, but Corgan refuses to do just the hits, which means as a fan you get deeper cuts that might mean something to other fans.

Then on Saturday, I drove to London to the 02 Arena to see The Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer!
Look, I told you they're two of my favourite bands!

I probably enjoyed Weezer more this time as they snuck in some extra tracks like "Burndt Jamb" and "Surfwax America" and the crowd was more into it.
Their sound was monstrous - Rivers' guitar distortion sounded amazing. I loved "All My Favourite Songs" and ended up a bit hoarse from 2 days of singing!

Pumpkins were great too, with Corgan enjoying the show even more.
Personally the crowd were less enthusiastic than Brum with no real pits or moshing, but that meant I had a good spot all night as we got there as the doors opened.
Those low points in the set dragged more the second time, but that's a minor gripe when they have so many massive songs.

The teen QC is well and truly buzzing!