Chapel Club @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire 18/10/11

Confession time. I only really know the one Chapel Club song – All The Eastern Girls. This will be important later on.

So – Elephant. Two guys and a girl. One of the guys had a fascinating jumper & Mr T-style gold chain combo going on, which was a tad distracting. The other guy… he kept disappearing. No idea why. The girl had an elephant pendant on a really long chain. Other than that, and that one of the songs had purring in it… I can’t remember their music at all. Sorry guys.

Other Lives on the other hand were amazing. Everyone in the band appeared to be a multi-instrumentalist. Their music is pretty epic (possibly in part to the breadth of variety of instruments available – kind of sweeping and layered and generally rockin’. I’d definitely see them again.

The main event of course was Chapel Club. I’ve already admitted that I only really know the one song (though I do own it on vinyl and took the trouble to record a mp3 of it for ease of listening), so it’s no surprise that I was a bit wary of the musical plan for the evening – there was a first set of entirely new music and a second set of old music. The new stuff was less guitary than the Chapel Club I’m used to, but ok. The old stuff (if music probably at most 2 years old can be called old) was pretty much what I was expecting. Chapel Club have a sort of warm languid sound – something like being tucked up in a warm bed on a cold day. I left after All The Eastern Girls, even though I think there was probably another song left at least…mostly because I was tired and wanted to buy Other Lives’ album.

All in all, it was pretty ok.

The Revival Tour @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire 15/10/11

OMG. The Revival Tour was amazeface. I love Alkaline Trio and the Gaslight Anthem, and I saw Chuck Ragan when he was supporting Gaslight Anthem last year so I HAD to go. HAD TO.  I think looking back at the gigs I’ve been to so far this year and the ones that are yet to come… the Revival Tour was the best gig of the year. For reals.

Over on tumblr I sad that it was  like an epic bromance folkpunk musical, and I think Brian Fallon mentioned it on the night too. Throughout the performance I really got a sense that these guys hang out together and are real proper friends (as opposed to just acquaintances or ships passing in the night or something). It was lovely. Rather shamefully when I don’t know who it was played a cover of a song by Tom Gabel, my immediate reaction was “Oh, he’s the husband of Heather who designed a lot of Alkaline Trio’s artwork and stuff” rather than um, the frontman of Against Me!. Oops. I did see Against Me! when I figured that I should get over to the stage that Alkaline Trio were playing at last years Slamdunk festival and definitely enjoyed what I managed to catch of their set and it seems that they’re supporting Frank Turner later in the year. So I’ll try to see about sitting down one day and actually listening. I know my friend Shaun <3ed them before.

But back to the Revival Tour. The guys did a few songs together, then Dave Hause did his thing (with various folks wandering in and out for songs), then Helen Chambers and Sam Russo and this other guy who sadly, I can’t remember the  name of did a song each, then Chuck Ragan was his adorable self, and Dan Andriano (who when Brian came on stage to do Crawl with him, ad-libbed a fun little ditty about the guy somewhere over to my right who kept shouting “I LOVE YOU BRIAN”) did a few numbers and then Brian Fallon did some songs annnnd then they all came back on stage for the epic finale.

I think the highlight of the evening for me was when Brian was rambling for a bit (as he does, it’s nice) and then went down to the front row and pulled this girl out and got her up on stage to sing. She was a little out of her mind with omgomgomgomg but she was totally ace. The guy behind me said that she’d come with her friend all the way from Germany for the gig.

I maintain that Dave Grohl has a serious contender for his nicest man in rock crown. But they’d probably be so nice about it to each other that they’d just both be the nicest men in rock together or something.

Stuff I tumbld about the Revival Tour: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

Youtube playlist of some of the video from the nightÂ