Ms Mr live at Electric Ballroom

It's hard to believe that this band didn't know each other two and a half years ago. They owned the stage tonight at Electric Ballroom in Camden.

MS MR, Electric ballroom Camden

The New York duo comprised of Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow have been building momentum over the past few months following the release of their debut album Secondhand Rapture - an electro pop rock hipster sound reminiscent of Florence and the Machine and No Doubt. Recent gigs have included Glastonbury - not too shabby for a relatively new artist.

Opening with Bones, the band launched on to the stage and sang their way through three songs before addressing the crowd. It felt like we were witnessing something special as wide eyed and touchingly they continually thanked everyone for being there at their biggest headline gig to date and when they said how much it meant to them it was totally believable.

Lizzy Plapinger of MS MR

New single Think of You, all about being with someone who doesn't treat you very nicely, was the first opportunity to see the crowd unleashed as they sang along, word perfectly to this break up song. Either that or there were a lot of heartbroken angry gig goers in the room.


The live version of Ash tree lane showed off the bands credentials and their talents as performers as they mixed in LCD soundsystems 'dance yourself clean' towards the end and what a cover that was! It always nice to know a band can do more than just run through their album as it sounds on the cd.

The most touching moment came during the last song, first single Hurricane, when lead singer Lizzy looked choked up and disbelieving that this London audience knew all the words to her song.

The band were genuinely humbled by the sell out crowd

And that was it. No encore. They weren't lying when they said it was their last one and after an hour on stage and to rapturous applause they left with the crowd gagging for more.

They don't need be surprised that their gig sold out or that a packed out ballroom was singing along to their music. If this is what they have to offer after one album then they have a very bright future ahead and they'll be selling out bigger venues than this. For that reason I will treasure tonight and always be grateful I was there.



Check out the video for new single Think of You:

Hammersmith, you little lovely

Just a quick post to alert you to summer in Hammersmith. Rows of deck chairs, a giant screen showing Wimbledon and a cracking way to spend your lunch break. Nice one Hammersmith.

Xbox Live - Music Room

Tonight I found myself in the audience of Music Room - an Xbox live programme exclusively available to Xbox aficionados. I was there as the plus one of a competition winner and purely to see my new favourite band MS MR. I had no idea I was about to be thrown in to a live TV experience - cameras in my face, the chance a microphone might be thrust at me at any point and three pretty famous music acts performing merely feet away from me.

Miles Kane

The line up was MS MR. Tom Odell and Miles Kane - three songs each with some interviews and standard TV links in between songs. It opened with Miles Kane - not my usual choice but live he was brilliant. Dapperly dressed in a skinny suit and with the arrogance and swagger of a Gallagher brother he owned the stage and the audience were beside themselves.

MS MR

However I was only interested in MS MR and conveniently we were stood front and centre of their set. They opened with Fantasy and being stood right in front of the lead singer meant I could hear every perfectly pitched note. The New York based duo are achingly hipster but not in a cringey East London way - they were just as happy dancing along to the other acts as they were singing their own songs. Their second song of the night 'Think of You' is the perfect break up song for anyone who wants to defiantly yell at their ex (but it is a surprisingly upbeat tune). The best moment for me though was their final song 'Hurricane' - the opening track of their debut album 'Secondhand Rapture' and my favourite. Awkwardly stood in front of the singer meant that I had to fight the urge to sing along. I couldn't. My evening was made though when she sang directly at me at the best point of my favourite song. What a brilliant Tuesday night.

Tom Odell

Geeky fandom aside, the other highlight of the evening was the incredible Tom Odell. 22 years of age and so talented. Most of the audience appeared to be there to see him and it's not surprising. The winner of the BBCs sound of 2013 it's clear that he's not going anywhere in a hurry.

The xbox music room show was one of the slickest live TV experiences I have encountered. We were in and out in two hours, there were no mistakes, the set was seamless and the music was brilliant. For an hour at least I was tempted to buy an Xbox, purely just to see myself on TV though, obvs.

Artist of the week 24 June 2013 - MS MR

New York duo MS MR released their debut album 'Secondhand rapture' in May. If you like moody female vocals, ethereal songs and hipster beats then this is the band for you. Personally I love, love, love them and I get to see them live tomorrow night so in honour of that here is 'Hurricane'




Read about them: http://www.msmrsounds.com/

Songs of the week 20/2/2013

This week I have mostly been listening to...

Rihanna - Stay

And still she keeps on churning out song after song. This one is actually quite good:




My favourite band of 2012, Of Monsters and Men, currently getting a lot of air play for this:

Of Monsters and Men - King and Lionheart



Still loving this from Scotland's Frightened Rabbit:

Frightened Rabbit - The Woodpile




And finally a little gem from Canadian indie band Rah Rah:



ENJOY!!

Artist of the week: Emily and the Woods

I'm not ready to talk about how I had tickets to see this band recently in a teeny tiny venue in Kings Cross. How I spent two hours waiting for them to come on stage, listening to below par support acts outstay their welcome but powering on through waiting for the main act because it would be so worth it to hear this lovely voice in a tiny space. How, when the trio finally came on stage I heard one song before having to admit defeat to illness and go home.  Not bitter, not at all....Still, the one song I did get to hear was magical and Emily Woods and her band fit nicely in to my obsession with the brooding girly genre of music that I do so love. So here she is singing 'Arrows' in a living room. Enjoy...



Find out more: https://soundcloud.com/emilyandthewoods

The Harlots, Two Years On...

The Harlots, debut gig, February 2011

I was flicking through an old diary the other day and discovered that it is very nearly two years to the day since London based band The Harlots played their debut gig at a little pub in Cricklewood, North London. On February 17th 2011 original members Kike and Sherwin played an acoustic set to a privileged few, otherwise known as their mates, in the back of the Crowne Pub.  Most of us had trekked there from the depths of South London and we acted like a bunch of over excited groupies as we wolf whistled the boys through their small set of songs. They did us proud and certainly held their own despite the small audience. However, fast forward two years and I recently found myself standing near the stage at the Mother Bar in Shoreditch, surrounded by people I didn't recognise, dancing along and listening to a polished 4 piece band loudly rock their way through a tight and professional set. Along with a distinct skinny jeans dress style, Kike and Sherwin have found themselves a mysterious heart throb drummer and an easy on the eye talented French bassist to complete the line up and The Harlots have begun to make a real name for themselves on the London music scene. In 2012 they toured Europe, made a music video, filmed a session for Loaded TV, recorded a single, mastered a record at Abbey Road and played over 40 gigs. 2013 looks set to be even bigger with plans for an EP, a gig at the infamous Koko in Camden and maybe even that coveted record deal if they play their cards right. All a far cry from the back of an empty pub in the middle of Cricklewood merely two years ago...

The Harlots, Mother Live February 2013

Back to February 2 2012 and the Mother Bar, or 'The Harlots very own cavern', as band member Kike described it - the boys put on a strong set. They have built up a superb list of songs and new number 'Gimme Love' is definitely a favourite among the female fan base with an element of Coldplay/Keane to it. 'Be Mine', 'The Thief and Me' and new song 'Do I, Do I' are all well written anthemic rock songs reminiscent of early Oasis and the Stone Roses. The band are definitely establishing themselves as a modern rock and roll band and with Radio 1 boss Andy Roberts, recently declaring that guitar music is set for a major comeback they couldn't have chosen a better time to make their mark. The Shoreditch venue is small and intimate and has become a regular haunt of the band since they signed with Feed Your Head management last year. However their brand of guitar driven music needs to be turned up loud and I am very excited to hear them play Koko on 29 March. This will be a gig not to be missed, for sure...!

Watch:

Follow: Facebook Twitter

Read: www.theharlotsmusic.com 

The Blog is Back

It's definitely time to start blogging again...