Category: Music

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Northern Soul Orchestrated

This week I’ve been to see the Northern Soul Orchestrated Tour at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

Northern Soul really is the bop that just won’t drop. It’s a subculture that developed in nightclubs across the North of England in the 1960s and 70s. DJs played mostly lesser known singles and B-sides by American soul musicians that had been put out by Motown, Chess, Vee-Jay and other independent labels.

It was uplifting music, with soulful lyrics that celebrated the joy and elation to be found in everyday experiences. It resonated with northern working class life, and tapped into the Mod scene that was also prominent at the time.

Clubs like the Blackpool Mecca, Manchester’s Twisted Wheel and the Wigan Casino soon assumed legendary status on the Northern Soul scene, staging all-nighters where afficionados could forget their cares by dancing Saturday night away into Sunday morning.

The scene has never really gone away since, with the music influencing numerous others over the years, from Dexy’s Midnight Runners to Amy Winehouse and Fatboy Slim, to name a few.

The current wave of popularity began last year, when the Proms Season at the Royal Albert Hall in London held a special Northern Soul event, bringing together some fabulously talented soul singers, a rhythm and blues band and the BBC Orchestra.

The performances celebrated and breathed new life into a roster of Northern Soul classics, with orchestral arrangements by Joe Duddell and Fiona Brice. Songs included Hold Back the Night (by The Trammps), Out on the Floor (Dobie Gray), and Tainted Love (Gloria Jones), amongst others. The event was so successful it has now been taken out on the road on the Northern Soul Orchestrated Tour.

Which is how Northern Soul came to be at the Royal Festival Hall. All the hits were here, with beautiful strings, euphoric trombones, booming, passion-filled vocals and sparkling xylophones. It’s the equivalent of taking those old scratchy vinyl 7-inches and B-sides you once loved playing on a mono turntable, and hearing them afresh, performed live and completely digitally remastered.

The Night, originally by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, was received rapturously by the audience, as was There’s a Ghost in My House (by R. Dean Taylor). Punters were invited to dance in the aisles, and plenty obliged, many sporting 60s fashions, Small Faces haircuts, Harrington jackets and Fred Perry T-shirts.

I liked hearing Sliced Tomatoes, an instrumental originally performed by Just Brothers, now instantly recognisable as the guitar track sampled by Fatboy Slim in Rockafeller Skank.

Host and curator, Stuart Maconie, from 6 Music, introduced the 3 before 8 – the 3 tracks that signalled the ending of the all-nighter at Wigan Casino back in the day as 8am approached. I have to say, as a sleepy head who values a good night’s kip, a dancing all-nighter would have been my worst nightmare. I once tried a horror film all-nighter, having to leave to go home to bed, practically falling asleep after only the second movie, and forgoing a 1960s Peter Cushing classic (which is saying something) in the process.

So the Wigan Casino all-nighter would not have been for me – I’d have been tucked up nice and toasty in bed, well before the first round of pep pills was being handed out.

Thankfully, this show finished on the right side of midnight, allowing ample time to get to nearby Waterloo Station and then home. There was a real buzz of elation as everyone filed out of the arena.

There are so many tracks I could choose to add to the ADK Playlist, but I will settle on this one, which opened the show and typifies the Northern Soul sound. This is The M.V.P.s with Turnin’ My Heartbeat Up.

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Blog Music

The 1975

As a massive music fan (the blog tag line here being Good Food, Great Music), I’m excited to say that this week’s live music experience (see The Lexicon of Love) has continued.

There I was in the ADK Kitchen, working on my next post about a nice vegetarian soup, when a friend called with the offer of a spare ticket to see The 1975 at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham. I hadn’t heard too much of their music, but am always game to see a new band play live, especially one as globally successful as The 1975. Apologies – that soup recipe will have to wait until this weekend, folks!

With my apron hung on its peg, and the spatula in the dishwasher, we headed off in my friend’s car towards the M40.

We weren’t disappointed – The 1975 were very good.

The stage was set extremely stylishly (see my photo above), all in white and, for the first part of the show, decked out like the cool interior of a chic apartment. Warmly illuminated in changing pastel shades, the coffee tables, lamps, armchairs and TV sets created a relaxed feel, against which the band played great music and their engaging frontman, Matty Healy, acted out his inner angst.

I am still not sure whether Matty really is the chainsmoking, hip flask swigging, tortured romantic soul that comes across on stage, or whether this is just a character portraying the emotional vulnerability that runs through the lyrics of so many of the band’s songs. The answer, I suspect, is somewhere in between.

Track after track of their brand of soulful pop rolled out across an adoring audience – some of their biggest songs, like Oh Caroline and I’m In Love With You, included.

They’re clearly a band that like their performance art, and this is stepped up in the middle part of the show. With the band off for a break, Matty, alone on the stage, sinks to his knees before a bank of TV sets, fizzling with snippets of newscasts reporting global issues of concern. I won’t say any more for fear of spoilers, but what happens next is fascinating.

Some people in white coats swarmed on to the stage. No, not to take Matty away – it was the stage crew, who proceeded to rearrange the set for the second half of the show while the band played on. It reminded me of how the road crew build Talking Heads’ set from the floor up, track by track, during the great concert movie, Stop Making Sense.

The final hour of the set was a joyous celebration of the band’s best music, including Tootime, The Sound, Love It If We Made It, and People. It brings pleasure to the whole of a packed arena. Heck, it even brings a smile to Matty’s face.

All in all, a thoughtful, considered, ever changing, engaging and very entertaining performance. I now consider myself a fan!

Here’s one of my favourite tracks that they performed live. The 1975 with It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You).

I’ll be back at the weekend with, er, some soup.

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Blog Music

The Lexicon of Love

The Lexicon of Love by ABC had been playing for several days in the ADK Kitchen, in anticipation of this long-awaited live rendition that I attended this week.

2022 was the 40th anniversary of the iconic album, no less. Where did that time go? The occasion has prompted band leader, Martin Fry, to go on the road on a UK concert tour, performing the work in full. He’s ably supported by the current members of ABC and the Southbank Sinfonia, an orchestra with full strings and percussion sections, conducted by Anne Dudley. Anne was responsible for the orchestral backing arrangements on the original album. She is also known for being part of experimental 80s band, The Art of Noise, along with the album’s producer, Trevor Horn.

To justify such an extravagant tour, an album really needs to hold a special place both in pop heritage, and in the hearts of its audience. That certainly apples here, with a full house of now, somewhat more mature fans still able to sing along, word perfectly, with every track.

Martin takes the audience through the album’s running order, track by track. He reminds us of the days when music was experienced by removing a vinyl disc from a cardboard sleeve, and putting it on a turntable. You placed an arm with a needle on the outside rim and let it run for about 15 mins of joyous sound, until it reached the label in the middle. Then, you flipped it over and did the whole thing again with Side 2. Concepts like streaming, mobile phones and online playlists with shuffle option, were still the stuff of science fiction.

Consequently, the band started with the opening track on Side 1, Show Me, and played the album in its proper running order, right through to the final track on Side 2, the instrumental reprise of The Look of Love. Along the way, every track, including the hit singles Poison Arrow, Tears Are Not Enough, The Look of Love Pt. 1 and All of My Heart received a rapturous welcome.

I was one of the many who played the original (on my little stereo turntable – what else?) more or less on repeat for quite some time when it was first released. It was a time when the New Romantics and Bowie Kids were emerging from the underground nightclubs and beginning to take over what, in those days, were popularly referred to as ‘The Charts’.

The Human League were showing us that electronic pop music was the future, with the Dare album. Spandau Ballet were sporting silk shirts and tartan cummerbunds, later becoming soul boys, embracing funk. Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Visage, Ultravox and others would join them for what became known as the Second British Pop Invasion of the US (the first being the era of The Beatles and The Stones), providing a fresh, colourful and youthful soundtrack for the newly emerging world of 24/7 music television, MTV.

ABC’s masterpiece held a special place in the hearts of this generation.

A trip down memory lane, for sure, but the music still sounds as great as ever, brought to life here on the stage with a great band and the perfectly performed orchestral backing. Martin Fry’s voice holds up fine, and the intricate wordplay of his lyrics still sounds clever and witty. A performance that leaves a warm glow in the heart.

In a nice closing touch, Martin dedicated the performance to both the New Romantics and the Old Romantics in the audience.

Here’s ABC with The Look of Love Pt. 1.

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Blog Music

Piano Man

This weekend I went to see Billy Joel play live at the British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park, London.

Early on in the set, he announced that he had good news and bad news. The bad news was that he had no new songs to play. The good news was that this meant he would play all his greatest hits. Cue a loud cheer from the festival crowd.

And what an impressive roster of hits he has. I associated him most with easy listening, FM station-friendly ballads like Just the Way You Are and She’s Always a Woman. His set showed, however, a very much wider range of musical influences.

He’s in piano jazz territory with New York State of Mind, gospel in River of Dreams, and a capella with a hint of doo wop on The Longest Time.

His rock n roll side is there to see on We Didn’t Start the Fire and It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me. Then there are simply great pop songs like An Innocent Man, My Life, Tell Her About It and Movin’ Out.

It was clear that his backing band are very able musicians, and I liked the fact that, unselfishly, he gave over space to them to showcase their talents. This was unexpected and helped keep the set fresh. In the middle section of River of Dreams, the percussionist took centre stage for some powerful lead vocals as they segued into River Deep, Mountain High, Later in the set, the guitarist sang Nessun Dorma, with Billy accompanying him on the piano. The encore included a rousing version of A Hard Day’s Night.

Possibly the greatest reception came for Piano Man, his song about the hopes and fears of a set of characters in a New York bar, told from the view of the resident pianist. The whole of Hyde Park joined in the singalong chorus. Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers came on to help sing Uptown Girl, which must be a contender for the perfect pop song (and which I am adding to the ADK Playlist).

On one of the hottest days of the year, Billy Joel played all these hits and more, carrying on for 2 hours as the sun slowly set over London. Now in his mid-70s, I do not know if he will perform on these shores again, but if not, this was a special and memorable way to bow out.

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Blog Music

When the Sun Goes Down

I spent a great evening this week, in the company of 45,000 other music fans, witnessing the arrival of the Arctic Monkeys in Southampton, on the UK leg of their 2023 world tour.

They were in great form, performing tracks from across their back catalogue, as well as some from their most recent album, The Car.

It is now around 17 years since they made a big splash on the music scene, with their cleverly written cameos of northern life set over brash and urgent guitars. Alex Turner’s lyrics, were, and have remained, consistently witty and well-crafted.

Like many others present for the show, I have liked their music since those early days, so the decision to open their set with a rousing version of Brianstorm got the evening off to a terrific start.

Anyone listening to their most recent album will know that, these days, their influences seem to be as much Burt Bacharach as The Strokes, with the gentle melodies, crooning vocals, acoustics and string arrangements that fill out The Car. A number of those featured here, namely Body Paint, Perfect Sense and There’d Better Be A Mirrorball. For the latter, the Monkeys’ very own mirrorball descended from the rafters, glistening and illuminating the vast stage as it rotated.

In total, the set lasted 1 hr 45 mins, culminating with an encore of I Wanna Be Yours, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, and R U Mine.

Funniest part of the evening came during a set from the support act, Swedish rockers The Hives (who were terrific). Singer and frontman Pelle Almqvist had said to the audience on a number of occasions how pleased they were to be in Southampton, and then decided to ask some fans in the front row to introduce themselves. Where are you from? he asked the first young man. Portsmouth came the reply.

Anyone who has experience of fierce rivalry between neighbouring cities will understand how a small chorus of boos then emerged from around the mosh pit. I got the impression the significance was rather lost a bit on Pelle, however.

I will definitely be adding the Hives soon to the ADK Playlist, so watch this space.

My favourite tracks in the show were probably a very upbeat and rocky 505, and the extended version of Body Paint, which looks to have become something of an anthem performed live. For that reason I’m adding it to the ADK Playlist, so that when I hear it back now, it will remind me of a great concert.

The Arctic Monkeys are due to headline at the Glastonbury Festival next weekend. I believe it is being televised by the BBC, so it will be a real treat for any music fan. I will take the opportunity to watch it all again.

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Blog Music

Eat Sleep Blog Repeat

It’s been a hectic few days since my last post, getting away from the kitchen for a few great meals and trips out with friends and family. More about this in future posts!

However, the highlight, that I will focus on in this post, has been attending a great concert by Fatboy Slim (alias DJ Norman Cook) on the final night of his UK Tour.

I used to be wary of big arena shows by so-called superstar DJs, tending to think it isn’t live music, but just someone standing on a stage playing their records. My perception changed a few years ago, however, the first time I went to see Fatboy Slim live.

This weekend’s performance also did not disappoint. He puts on a great show – a true feast for both the eyes and the ears, with crazy and inventive big screen videos, sync-ed to an everchanging mash-up mix, comprising snippets from his own best tracks and samples taken from a whole range of musical genres. The result is quite unique, to be experienced to be believed.

His most famous tracks feature in some shape or form. However, they are never performed straight as fans might recognise them from the records. Part of the fun is spotting a bassline, a beat, a lyric, a chorus etc from his impressive back catalogue, that is being interwoven with other samples, to produce something entirely new and fresh.

The words from Praise You featured twice, though never with the familar, catchy piano line from the record. The Rockafeller Skank is mixed over some Chubby Checker and the guitar riff from the Stones’ Satisfaction, yet still finds the crowd singing along with the Right About Now, Funk Soul Brother chorus. Macy Gray’s chorus is transmitted as giant subtitles during Demons.

Weapon of Choice is accompanied by a big screen excerpt from the famous video shot in a hotel elevator lobby. This time, however, Hollywood actor Christopher Walken is flanked by two skeletal avatars, dancing in co-ordination with his every step.

One track is founded on the isolated, thumping beat of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax, as the walls of the arena are being pounded by laser beams.

You never quite know who is going to turn up next on the big screen, often for their spoken words to be integrated into a track – examples here included Bill Murray and Barack Obama.

I have included a few of the photos I took, and hope I have conveyed what a fun, varied, high energy and inventive show this was.

I’ll settle on one track for the ADK Spotify Playlist. For this one, Norm mouthed the spoken word introduction up close to the camera, relayed on the big screen framed by the outline of an old-fashioned TV set.

A Wonderful Night!

If you get the chance to see Fatboy Slim live, I can’t recommend it enough.