1. The Cardigans 2. Ben Folds Five 3. Kiss 4. World Party 5. The Dandy Warhols Subject: The Cardigans, Shepherd's Bush Empire, Wednesday 20/11/96 Date: Thursday, November 21, 1996 9:31AM Swedish band The Cardigans' sophisticated blend of Jazz and Indiepop attracts an equally sophisticated crowd to London's Shepherd's Bush Empire tonight, therefore the pre-show ambience is not the usual impatient restlessness but instead one of excited hubbub combined with the expectation of what is to come. Support band Popsicle (also Swedish) must be the most warmly received "warm up" band in history, their blend of Oasis and REM captivating all present so that by the dramatic end of their half hour set, arms are waved aloft and excitement levels are high. The Cardigans' set itself is preceded by a tape recorded intro. - but this disappointing development is over thankfully soon, and the band enter to roars from the audience, singer Nina Perrson (slinky in black leather trousers and black vest) receiving the most approval. The Cardigans have been compared to the Beatles for their cheery simplicity but this is to miss the point. Live, the sound is soulful yet sinister. The first number from their most recent album "First Band on the Moon" to receive an outing tonight is "Step on Me" which seems to borrow more from Genesis than anywhere else, but this is only a temporary aberration! As the set progresses, the music takes an uplifting turn but never loses its sinister depth. Song reproduction is incredibly close to studio recorded versions particularly when rendering the single "Love Fool" ("a song about love and foolishness" - no less!), which inspires the most ecstatic response of the evening- clearly a high point! Tonight's show is being recorded for subsequent broadcast and possible video release ("You might be on TV!" Nina tells us. The temptation for one fan to jump onstage in an attempt to claim 15 seconds of fame suddenly to great, he jumps, waves, and appears to say something like, "Hello, Mum!" before he is lead quietly away.) Supposedly closing after 1 hour 40 minutes with "Lovefool", the band return almost instantly for a 20 minute "encore" featuring "Rise and Shine" , "The Great Divide" and "Happy Meal II". The real encore follows another almost non-existent absence from stage and holds us in thrall for a further 10 minutes. At times serious, at times funky and at times jazzy, the Cardigans are never short of surprises, and having recorded more songs than they have released in the UK are never short of material either. At present they enjoy something of a cult following, but with their danceable accessibility, are set to storm the mainstream. See them now at an intimate venue like Shepherd's Bush, before you find that you can only squint at them from the back of a stadium. And check out Popsicle too. BEN FOLDS FIVE, London Astoria, Friday 8 March 1997 As Ben Folds Five played to a packed Astoria last Friday night, this reviewer, noting down his impressions song by song, found himself filling line after line with, "sounds like Billy Joel/Supertramp," for it was impossible to disengage one's mind from what are clearly the main ingredients of BFF's 70s based sound. Joel references are particularly applicable to pianist and lead singer Ben Folds himself, most notably for his almost Joelistic abuse of the piano keyboard, playing it at times with his elbows, at one time with a stool thrown from a distance, but at no time with his feet, though he did walk on the piano top. At one point he committed the ultimate abuse as, ignoring the keyboard altogether, he pushed back said piano top, and manually worked the mechanisms, hitting the strings with the little hammers and plucking said strings, providing us with the closest thing to a guitar solo to be had all evening, for there are only two other members to BFF, Robert Sledge (bass) and Darren Jessee (drums). Most of the material from the first two albums was covered during the course of the hour and a half long set, with the mix biased (happily!!) toward the latter of the two, the recently released Whatever and Ever Amen. As they performed the singles Battle of who Could care less (from Whatever.) and Underground (from the first album, Ben Folds Five) with intense ferocity, it became clear just how much commercial success in the UK means to the band, but to assembled devotees, Philosophy (from the first album) was the designated point at which to "lose it". Elsewhere in the running order, a short segment of Oasis' Champagne Supernova eased us into the hard hitting (and deceptively named) Song for the Dumped, while Brick and Steven's last night in town indicated the extent to which BFF are capable of diversifying musically, identifying them as definitely "one to watch". 5 July 1997 Kaos in the Park "L7, available for opening any festivals and barmitzvahs!" That was how L7 lead singer [insert name here] kicked off "Kaos in the Park", marketed as "London's (and 1997's) only rock festival", but essentially Kiss live at Finsbury Park plus special guests, before offering explanation as to why the band supposedly "suck" tonight: "We just got in from Portugal" she says "but give us one or two songs, OK?" Those two songs just happened to come from the band's latest LP, "The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum". During one of those songs, the amazing "Drama", interest in what was going on on-stage suddenly surged, and a corresponding surge of bodies to the stage-front resulted. There was not much that L7 could do wrong from that point onwards (except "suck" maybe!), and what followed was a half hour set (almost climaxing with the enigmatic, one minute long "The Beauty Process" before actually climaxing with a frantic rendition of "Lorenza, Giada, Alessandra") which set the standard for the next few hours at least, such that a couple of bands who might have otherwise considered themselves fortunate to have been given higher billing were not very well received. The relatively new "3 Colours Red" were more "indie" than "rock" and were received with almost complete disinterest, competing for attention with some spectacular 200ft bungee jumping occuring at the other end of the park: one of the many "alternative" activities that were on offer. The relatively old "Thunder" fared slightly better, but after 45 minutes of their perfect blend of accoustic and electric, you begin to suss the formula and it becomes time to move on. "Skunk Anansie" bashed any apathy problems on the head with their (not so) secret weapon, the lead singer formerly known as "Skin" (but increasingly known as "Skunk Anansie"!), as they bashed through a selection of their now classic rap/rock numbers. They hit us hard with the opening number "Yes it's ******* Political" and continued to hit us with "Selling Jesus". They SHOCKED us with "Little Baby Swastikka", then rewarded our strife with the more ear-friendly "All I Want", "Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)", "Twisted (Every Day Hurts)" and "Brazen (Weep)". It was impossible not to be awestruck by Skin's high energy athleticism as she bounded from one end of the stage to another, and somehow she spoke volumes to each and every one of us, even though she really only "spoke" to introduce songs. "Rage Against The Machine" continued the same musical, political, and physical themes but were more "Hip Hop" even though they thundered through "Fistful of Steel", "Bullet in the Head", "Bulls on Parade", and even a radical re-interpretation of Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad". If KISS had any message at all, then it was "You have made us the greatest band in the world", the words of lead singer/guitarist Paul Stanley during a two-hour "feel-good" set packed, not only with the distinctive "rawwwk" of KISS (including the "outrageous" costumes and customary white and black face paint), but with lights (including a huge illuminated KISS logo hanging over the stage), fireworks (on- and off-stage, some set off by lead guitarist Ace Frehley via his "specially adapted pyro guitar") and stunts (including long tongued bassist Gene Simmons and drummer Peter Criss being "blasted" 50ft into the air, and Paul Stanley being carried on a wire 100ft into the audience). Amidst such modernity the old rock'n'roll traditions are not hung out to dry: Ace gets to do one extended guitar solo; Peter gets to do a three minute drum solo; Gene gets to extend the batwings that he is wearing, and to exercise his tongue. But most important, Paul gets to tell us how much we the listeners mean to the band, thanking us for our support in their ascent from the commercial doldrums. It is a message that is delivered with surprising sincerity, given the surroundings in which it is delivered. Odd, too, that KISS are not completely full of themselves. They gave their all during a stunning two hours in which almost everthing EXCEPT "Crazy Crazy Nights" was covered. Then they slipped away almost inconspicously - humbled by their parting gift to us - a massive firework display that must have been visible for miles around. That was how KISS said "Goodnight London, Wherever You Are. We Love You." Subject: World Party, Shepherds Bush Empire, Thursday 10 July Date: 11 July 1997 10:26 World Party band leader Karl Wallinger seemed an unlikely star as, minus the trademark long hair and sporting an open-necked shirt, he took his place at the mic on a stage set decked out with the icons of EGYPTOLOGY - most notably three larger than life mock-mummies, which shared the stage with the band. EGYPTOLOGY, the latest album, also provided the opening number, IT IS TIME, but by no means dominated an evening which gave us the obligatory (and very welcome) IS IT LIKE TODAY, PUT THE MESSAGE IN THE BOX and SHIP OF FOOLS, although the recent single BEAUTIFUL DREAM, and the ballad-like SHE'S THE ONE certainly stood up well against these classics. Live, WORLD PARTY ............ dare I say it? ............ "rock" a lot more than on record, being a two guitar, bass, drums and keyboard outfit, and despite the prescence of an acoustic guitar, clever percussion, and Karl's occasional take-up of piano duties, everything had much more of an "electric" edge to it. Playing piano or guitar while singing, however, requires the performer to be at a stationary mic. World Party compensated for their lack of movement last night by packing the songs tightly in, so that they followed closely on from one another without time for more than a "how ya doin?" from Karl to the assembled devotees, finalising with THE BALLAD OF THE LITTLE MAN which these days is performed solo by Karl with electric guitar - a fitting end to what was, after all, Karl's show. THE DANDY WARHOLS, London Shepherd's Bush Empire, Friday 4 September 1998 It was easy to forget, sounding and looking as they do, like the best of British cool, that the band on stage hailed from Portland, Oregon. Songwriter and charismatic lead singer Courtney Taylor graced the stage with a band which included new drummer Brent DeBoer, whose vocal harmonies contributed a great deal to the overall sound. Particularly on I Love You and Genius was it clear why this new band member has been well received by audiences at home in the North West of the U.S.A. The acid test was really whether they could cut a track like Every Day Should be a Holiday live on stage. Perfect studio creations can be a killer even for the best live acts. But cut it they did, and really well too. As with the other singles that were performed last Friday night, the rendition was more downbeat, more gloomy or gritty if you like, an approach which particularly suited Last Junkie, which with its sarcastic edge removed, extended its narrative beyond the whinge of a so-called friend who doesn't really care. In contrast with support act Six By Seven (tension and intensity in equal measures - like Radiohead doing Metallica), The Dandy Warhols presented a pretence of melancholia. Ride, Boys Better and TV Theme Song all drifted by in similar style, but our T-shirted heroes were perfectly capable of perking up for power-packed, strobe-lit moments of pure energy such as Every Day. and Nothin' To Do, before settling back down again to make the Jagger/Richards classic The Last Time their own. andyparker@graffiti.net