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/