We get to do millions of great things and get to meet some amazing artists.  But few come along that make us willing to do anything to get the opportunity to get to spend a little bit of time with them and chat about how their new UK tour is going.  Well thanks to many people we are going to do just that and have been given the opportunity to interview Little Boots when she plays her SOLD OUT show at Concorde 2 on Thursday 22nd.

Many things have happened to Little Boots since the release of her album and single this year and it seems like things are going to go even more wild and off the radar in 2010.  Later this year Rolling Stone have said she is ‘an artist to watch’ and great praise has come from the BBC, Guardian, and NME.

Of her 2009 debut album ‘Hands’ Michael Cragg had this to say:

Hands is an album best avoided by those labouring under the misconception that pop is somehow a dirty word. Rather then shy away behind tricksy, overtly difficult melodies or instrumentation, Little Boots has created a pop record in the truest sense of the word; not only does it fizz by in no time at all, it also doesn’t alienate or discriminate. For a debut album created in the most part under the scrutiny of hype morphing into the beginnings of an unnecessary backlash, Hands is a brilliant album and a benchmark for the other 2009 debuts.

Best things about shows, the only good thing about shows, is being surprised, blown away, and left feeling pretty bloody sure of yourself for having such great musical taste.  Sounds high and mighty but nothing at all prepared me for Thursday nights show featuring Ella Edmondson.  As am sure your all well aware she is the daughter of Adrian Edmondson (seminal 1980s actor and comic) and Jennifer Saunders (also the same).

Pre-show am in a muddle as I think am running late.  But I get to Concorde 2 and see the two queues (one for tickets and one for picking up, am in the latter and was helped into said queue by Arron, he was too helpful).  But  as more people join the confusing lines I see a couple snogging, grosse, and litter which I find odd as he’s resting on a bin as he throws his can of Stongbrow across the road.

Getting in am ready, not sure about Ella yet but some rather nice Americans (correction Dutch) are stood to my left and are from her fan club throughout the night these girls cheer, dance, and enjoy themselves which put us all to shame.

Coming on stage Ella already looks professional and not just a ‘singer who’s dads in a pretty big band’. She walks towards the mikes, says hello to the rather rowdy crowd.  On stage she’s joined by a drummer Si Paull and vocals/base Mr Buddy Valentine, one of the best names in the world.  And she starts.  Almost instantly you get an insight into the type of person she is and how she producers her music.  There is solid folk, alt-country, 90s fem-rock elements to her music and that’s all good.  What makes her stand out is her voice, which is deep but not dark, it’s pissed but not angry.

One of the only issue I have at this stage of the show is I want to hear her, no bassist, no drums,  no harmonies (which are some of the best you could imagine between her and Buddy).  I just want hear her sing, though the early songs and some of the harmonies you feel as though she is holding back on the vocals slightly, you get a hint of some beautiful vibrato.  And I get what I want when she performers a song that has no title, never really been performed in public and she’s wasn’t sure it it was already a song…all that said she starts the no name song.

It’s hard to explain how great this song is and how amazing her voice is.  It is stong, hurt, meaningful and it has maturity, respect, love, and purity.  I have a small video of this on my phone and am listening to it now, this should be released and it would go massive and is the type of song you hear once and it sticks with you, you hear it over and over again and it becomes your own personal anthem.  Whatever she did here she should never share, one incredible track.

Most of her musc was themed, relationships, friends, family, advice and it made her come across like the traditional I think she is, someone who can talk to anyone and relate a song to it, take the experience, advice, pain, and laughter and place it in a song.  This gift makes her music come across slightly Americana-ish, bluegrass mountain music sang and written in the Smokey Mountains surrounded by the people who form the basis of her music.

There isn’t really only like Ella on the music scene.  You have your Dido, and well that’s all I can think of, but you don’t have Ella Edmondson, give her stuff a listen and if your not taken aback, suprised, smile, and tell you best friend, then I don’t know what’s wrong with you!

Upcoming Shows:

21 Oct 2009 20:00 Guildhall Arts Centre Grantham
22 Oct 2009 20:00 The Palace Bridgewater
23 Oct 2009 20:00 The 12 Bar Swindon
24 Oct 2009 20:00 Gloucester Guildhall Gloucester
25 Oct 2009 20:00 Pocklington Arts Centre Pocklington, Yorkshire
28 Oct 2009 20:00 Baby Blue Liverpool
29 Oct 2009 20:00 Cox’s Yard Stratford on Avon
30 Oct 2009 20:00 Robin 2 Bilston
31 Oct 2009 20:00 The Brook Southampton
1 Nov 2009 20:00 The Glee Club Birmingham
1 Nov 2009 23:00 TOUR WITH BAD SHEPHERDS ENDS! U.K
11 Dec 2009 20:00 Colston Hall: Hall 2. Supporting The Shee Bristol
12 Dec 2009 20:00 Phoenix voodoo lounge supporting The Shee Exeter

We got to see Skin from Skunk Anansie at V Festival during the early afternoon where she surfed the crowd, we have a picture somewhere, and so we know what you are in for when the iconic band come to Concorde 2 on Tuesday. *Please note this event is sold out everywhere but on some rare occasions some returns may become available so try your luck and contact the venue box offices directly.

In 2001 the band broke up and brought to an end one of the most inspiring and respected bands of the late 1990s.  Having formed in 1994 the band quickly established themselves within the ‘Brit-pop movement that was happening at the time.  In a short space of time Skunk Anansie became a band to recon with, with 8 massive hit singles, three albums totalling over 4 million sales world wide, and the immortal brilliance of Skin’s hard but sweet personality, Skunk Anansie provided British music with a much need boost of femininity, political-ism, and musical brilliance.

The band now have a Best Of compilation titled ‘Smashes and Trashes’ on November 2nd.  In September they released the single ‘Because of You’.  ‘Slander’ and ‘Tear the Place Up’  have also been announced as news songs that are going to be featured on the Best Of album.

This is going to be a rare chance to see a band that help part-define a generation of music.  Their fully SOLD OUT UK tour suggests that people know this and is fast proving to becoming one of the best shows of 2009.

For those of you with tickets for Skunk Anansie’s Concorde 2 show in Brighton the doors open at 19.30-23.00.

What would you think a venue would have to do in order to maintain a Number 1 position for 21 years?  I wasn’t sure either till I went to Concrode 2 which is Brighton’s Number 1 Venue and it shows.  This is what they say:

Concorde 2 has been Brighton’s Number 1 Music Venue and Nightclub for 21 years, bringing you an electric atmosphere with innovative music and hosting some of the greatest bands in the world.

And at last nights Chase & Status I got to see why this is.  They venue seems to know what to put on and what people would be interesting in coming to see, the only issue is many of their shows sell out and last night was no different.  Their line up is diverse and that’s what people want, from world musicians like Tinariwen (who are playing on the 28th October) and Amadou & Mariam, both these guys played Glastonbury’s pryamid stage and blew us away.

And this is what Alexis Petridis of The Guardian had to say about Amadou & Mariam when they played Concorde 2 in Febuary this year:

The core elements are fabulous: Mariam’s voice, at its most vulnerable and affecting on Sabali; the cyclical riffs of Artistya and Magossa, sounding somehow inventive, fresh and oddly familiar at the same time. On Masiteladi, Amadou peels off spectacular guitar solos, fluid, gutsy and effortless. On stage, the duo are insouciantly cool: both blind, they stand virtually motionless, huddled together, while their tough, insanely funky music bounces off the walls. During romantic numbers, Mariam strokes the arm of her husband, whose between-song announcements are in French. The audience invariably respond with: “Yeeeeah!”…

Here is just a few of the highlights for October 2009, for more information and to buy tickets visit their website HERE :

2nd Tinchy Stryder (Sold Out) – 4th Marillion (Sold Out) -  6th Skunk Anansie (yeah sold out) – 7th Noah & the Whale - 9th Funeral For A Friend + Skream & Benga - 15th Adrian Edmondson - 17th Scratch Perverts - 22nd Little Boots (Sold Out).

Previous shows have been as diverse and genius as it comes from The Magic Numbers, The Wild Hearts, Natalie Imbruglia and Balzin’ Squad (who’s new single released a few months ago was actually quite good) to Sister Sledge, Elliot Minor, Florence and the Machine. During November 2009 some highlights we recommend will be Glastonbury act VV Brown (she was really awesome), Just Jack, and the newly reformed Brand New Heavies.

We are really excited about being part of what Concorde 2 have on offer over the new few months and we are going to be bringing you all the news, views, and reviews from Brighton’s No. 1 Venue (we might even get do an interview or two).