Hi there. Remember me?
I know, it’s been forever since I last published a blog, but in my defence I’ve actually been rather busy. Pretty much most of my Summer was spent in Spain with my family and since I’ve been back (3 weeks) everything seems to have been a bit of a blur.
In part this is because I’m having trouble settling back into a normal routine after so long spent doing other things and partially because there have been a spate of concerts to attend, beginning with the ever-wonderful Muse at Wembley Stadium and ending with a sublime and utterly perfect evening of wonder with I Am Kloot at the Union Chapel.
I do feel a little aggrieved that being away I missed the opportunity to crow wildly about I Am Kloot being nominated for this year’s Mercury Music Award for their latest album ‘Sky at Night’, so I’ll do it now instead. They didn’t win as they were far too talented and we don’t want them disappearing without trace as most previous prize winners have tended to do. However, it did rob me of the opportunity to remind everyone over and over again that I’ve been touting Kloot as the perfect band for years.
Last week saw Mrs H3 (whom I have missed as badly as if half my soul was missing) and I at two I Am Kloot concerts; the first at Komedia in Brighton, where we have previously seen them and then at the Union Chapel in London, a new and absolutely stunning venue.
Now obviously I always get a little over-excited when I get to see Kloot play live and Monday night was no exception, especially once I realised that they weren’t playing the new album accompanied with all the stringy stuff that Elbow added on as they had at Bush Hall and which we hadn’t particularly enjoyed, and this made my heart beat just that little bit faster.
Whilst I would agree that the new album is worthy of Mercury nomination, to my mind I’m just not sure that as an album it’s any better than any of their previous offerings. I think the reason for this is partially that Guy and his chums have over-influenced the album. Yes, it’s a lovely sounding thing, but Kloot are Kloot, not Elbow and I don’t want them sounding like Elbow. I am aware that Mrs H3’s feelings on this are the same as mine as she gave a huge sigh every time the strings appeared on Wednesday night.
Although the strings were missing on Monday, there was plenty of extra instrumentation around in the form of a huge saxophone, trumpet and, at one point, an accordion. There was a huge increase too, in the amount of people at the gig , due to the Mercury nomination and this was especially noticeable when old classics like “Same Deep Water” didn’t even get a cheer, whereas the new songs were riotously applauded. What was particularly nice was that the increased crowd didn’t result in increased talking through the songs as has been the problem at several of their previous concerts. A new-found respect for the band? I certainly hope so.
I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, although there were some issues with sound quality, at least where we were standing – noticeably at the end of “Same Deep Water” and especially during “Radiation”, when I actually moved to a different part of the room to see if it sounded any better.
Sound quality definitely wasn’t an issue at the Union Chapel. This place really is the perfect venue for a concert. Fully seated, although the pews weren’t hugely comfortable, especially after about 3 ½ hours, a kitchen selling tea – yep – cups of lovely steaming hot tea, and an ice cream vendor who came to us when we realised there was ice cream available. On top of that the acoustics were amazing and after watching Agnes Obel performing her beautiful ethereal music, I was even more excited than usual to be seeing I Am Kloot at work.
And I wasn’t disappointed. I think I can safely say it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to and certainly the best I Am Kloot concert. Never have they sounded better and Johnny was in fine form with his banter. Even Pete talked!
There was a slightly worrying moment part way through when people began clapping along to one of the songs – no, please don’t people, I’ve already said, Kloot aren’t Elbow – but fortunately that was short-lived and normal service was soon resumed. Until the end when Johnny ditched his guitar to grab the mike and drift around the stage Frank Sinatra-stylee (yep and I’ve got photos to prove it). It seemed to me that Johnny, at least, was as overwhelmed by this fabulous venue as I and many others were.
I think the evening can best be summed up in words from the boys themselves “everything we ever thought we'd ever want, me and you, it just came true” – everything definitely came true at the Union Chapel and I am so glad I was there to witness it!
Unfortunately, I was then reminded that we wouldn’t be seeing them again until January (just after my birthday) and that set off my post-IAK depression/addiction. Remembering that they still had the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham to play, I decided that I just HAD to go there (you’ll recall that this happened last time they played there too).
So, fortunately this is not the end of my current I Am Kloot journey. Tomorrow I get to experience one last moment of bliss, although in a completely different way.
If you want to check out my Youtube channel I’ve actually got round to uploading the songs I videoed from Union Chapel and Komedia, and I’ve also uploaded the footage from the Muse concert and a previous concert at the Jazz Cafe with Marc Almond...who says I’m not being productive?
I know, it’s been forever since I last published a blog, but in my defence I’ve actually been rather busy. Pretty much most of my Summer was spent in Spain with my family and since I’ve been back (3 weeks) everything seems to have been a bit of a blur.
In part this is because I’m having trouble settling back into a normal routine after so long spent doing other things and partially because there have been a spate of concerts to attend, beginning with the ever-wonderful Muse at Wembley Stadium and ending with a sublime and utterly perfect evening of wonder with I Am Kloot at the Union Chapel.
I do feel a little aggrieved that being away I missed the opportunity to crow wildly about I Am Kloot being nominated for this year’s Mercury Music Award for their latest album ‘Sky at Night’, so I’ll do it now instead. They didn’t win as they were far too talented and we don’t want them disappearing without trace as most previous prize winners have tended to do. However, it did rob me of the opportunity to remind everyone over and over again that I’ve been touting Kloot as the perfect band for years.
Last week saw Mrs H3 (whom I have missed as badly as if half my soul was missing) and I at two I Am Kloot concerts; the first at Komedia in Brighton, where we have previously seen them and then at the Union Chapel in London, a new and absolutely stunning venue.
Now obviously I always get a little over-excited when I get to see Kloot play live and Monday night was no exception, especially once I realised that they weren’t playing the new album accompanied with all the stringy stuff that Elbow added on as they had at Bush Hall and which we hadn’t particularly enjoyed, and this made my heart beat just that little bit faster.
Whilst I would agree that the new album is worthy of Mercury nomination, to my mind I’m just not sure that as an album it’s any better than any of their previous offerings. I think the reason for this is partially that Guy and his chums have over-influenced the album. Yes, it’s a lovely sounding thing, but Kloot are Kloot, not Elbow and I don’t want them sounding like Elbow. I am aware that Mrs H3’s feelings on this are the same as mine as she gave a huge sigh every time the strings appeared on Wednesday night.
Although the strings were missing on Monday, there was plenty of extra instrumentation around in the form of a huge saxophone, trumpet and, at one point, an accordion. There was a huge increase too, in the amount of people at the gig , due to the Mercury nomination and this was especially noticeable when old classics like “Same Deep Water” didn’t even get a cheer, whereas the new songs were riotously applauded. What was particularly nice was that the increased crowd didn’t result in increased talking through the songs as has been the problem at several of their previous concerts. A new-found respect for the band? I certainly hope so.
I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, although there were some issues with sound quality, at least where we were standing – noticeably at the end of “Same Deep Water” and especially during “Radiation”, when I actually moved to a different part of the room to see if it sounded any better.
Sound quality definitely wasn’t an issue at the Union Chapel. This place really is the perfect venue for a concert. Fully seated, although the pews weren’t hugely comfortable, especially after about 3 ½ hours, a kitchen selling tea – yep – cups of lovely steaming hot tea, and an ice cream vendor who came to us when we realised there was ice cream available. On top of that the acoustics were amazing and after watching Agnes Obel performing her beautiful ethereal music, I was even more excited than usual to be seeing I Am Kloot at work.
And I wasn’t disappointed. I think I can safely say it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to and certainly the best I Am Kloot concert. Never have they sounded better and Johnny was in fine form with his banter. Even Pete talked!
There was a slightly worrying moment part way through when people began clapping along to one of the songs – no, please don’t people, I’ve already said, Kloot aren’t Elbow – but fortunately that was short-lived and normal service was soon resumed. Until the end when Johnny ditched his guitar to grab the mike and drift around the stage Frank Sinatra-stylee (yep and I’ve got photos to prove it). It seemed to me that Johnny, at least, was as overwhelmed by this fabulous venue as I and many others were.
I think the evening can best be summed up in words from the boys themselves “everything we ever thought we'd ever want, me and you, it just came true” – everything definitely came true at the Union Chapel and I am so glad I was there to witness it!
Unfortunately, I was then reminded that we wouldn’t be seeing them again until January (just after my birthday) and that set off my post-IAK depression/addiction. Remembering that they still had the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham to play, I decided that I just HAD to go there (you’ll recall that this happened last time they played there too).
So, fortunately this is not the end of my current I Am Kloot journey. Tomorrow I get to experience one last moment of bliss, although in a completely different way.
If you want to check out my Youtube channel I’ve actually got round to uploading the songs I videoed from Union Chapel and Komedia, and I’ve also uploaded the footage from the Muse concert and a previous concert at the Jazz Cafe with Marc Almond...who says I’m not being productive?
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