2015-08 Special 2015
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LIVE
Hole
Reading Festival
August 26, 1994
PHOTO: KEVIN CUMMINS
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Just four months after the
►death of her husband, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain,
Courtney Love made her first UK appearance with Hole. It was a troubled experience for the fans as well as the bereaved frontwoman. “Hole were never quite a great band, but this dark, shabby mess is still some kind of tragedy all its own,” wrote John Mulvey of the Main Stage set. “Guitars grind numbly and Courtney slurs and croaks where she used to scream, a mere shadow… Parts of this are defiant and, yes, brave. Right at the end she strums and raves about not leaving, about sticking it out, then slings her guitar across the stage in a rare burst of energy. Mostly, though, it’s a cathartic torture for us and them.”
Foo
Fighters
Reading Festival
August 26, 1995
PHOTO: STEVE DOUBLE
“Let’s face facts: Foo Fighters ►headlining the second stage
was a stupid fucking idea,” wrote Mark Sutherland of the packed-out tent gig that Dave Grohl found himself attempting to appease at 1995’s Reading Festival. “Whoever thought you could book one of the world’s hottest ‘new’ acts – let alone one whose frontman was in the decade’s most important American band – without half of Berkshire turning up to watch was surely kidding themselves. And whoever, when faced with the opportunity to switch to the larger stage [the Foos were reportedly offered a swap with Tricky] decided it was more punk rock to play under canvas, must have been away with the sodding fairies.”
LIVE
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The Strokes
The Monarch, London
February 7, 2001
PHOTO: ALESSIO PIZZICANNELLA
“Someday there’ll be volumes ►of breathless prose written on
Julian Casablancas’ tumescent pout or the way he grips his leather jacket when he sings,” wrote Stevie Chick of The Strokes’ first London headline show. “They swoon with the pure romance and passion of punk rock NYC, swaggering street-poets who thrash out towering pop songs awash with love and hate and lust and
the switchblade-agony of misunderstanding, all the frustrations of young adulthood writ in Technicolor widescreen with casual profundity by photogenic Bowery bands.”
1 AUGUST 2015 | NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
The Libertines
112a Teesdale Street, London
March 21, 2003
PHOTO: ROGER SARGENT
The Libertines’ plan to stage
►a show in their east London home was foiled after riot police raided
the premises and closed down the gig after only a handful of songs. The band, who charged fans £10 for entry, managed to get through ‘Up The Bracket’, ‘Boys In The Band’, ‘I Get Along’ and new track ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ before the party was shut down. “Police bundled people out into the Bethnal Green streets with a defiant Carl Barât making sure
he shook hands and kissed every fan as they left,” read the NME news report. “As bucketloads of booze flowed and with the bathroom plumbing not working, Carl was overheard to remark to someone who had ventured into the toilets: ‘I can’t believe you did that…
LIVE
Arctic Monkeys
Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester
July 28, 2007
PHOTO: ANDY WILLSHER
Touted as their Event Gig akin ►to The Stone Roses at Spike
Island, Arctic Monkeys’ show at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in
Manchester was blighted by PA failures, allowing the band to snatch victory from the wobbly electric connection
of defeat. “The fans, already worked into a frenzy, are teetering on the brink of a riot,” wrote Alex Miller of the awkward moment the PA cut out during ‘Balaclava’. But then: “‘RAUUARGH!!’ Alex Turner’s guitar leaps back into life, disemboweling whatever ghosts dared stray into his machine. By the time ‘This House Is A Circus’’ manic skat-rap is bursting from Turner’s lips, there are bouncers peeling the Old Trafford crowd from the clouds.”
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NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS | 1 AUGUST 2015
LIVE
Amy
Winehouse
Dublin Castle, London
April 19, 2007
PHOTO: TOM OXLEY
She didn’t turn up on time and she
►spent much of the show pouring pints of beer over the front rows
of the packed-out venue while winking at Blake Fielder-Civil, who was to become her husband the following month, but Amy was still the best thing we saw at 2007’s Camden Crawl. “The first night’s closing gig sees the longest queue of the whole event for Amy Winehouse, who shuffles onstage half an hour late. ‘I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting,’ she growls sincerely – tits’n’tats on proud display – before jumping into
her cover of The Zutons’ ‘Valerie’, kickstarting a glorious soul-splattered homecoming, which leaves no doubt as to whom the queen of this castle is,” read Leonie Cooper’s review.
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1 AUGUST 2015 | NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
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Rage Against
The Machine
Finsbury Park, London
June 6, 2010
PHOTO: RICHARD JOHNSON
After an anti-X Factor fan ►campaign saw Rage Against The
Machine’s super sweary 1992 single ‘Killing In The Name’ named 2009’s Christmas Number One, the band played a free show in the UK to say thanks to the British public. “The mood at ‘The Rage Factor’ is one of hope and pride and heroic moshing – and a renewed faith in the power of the human spirit, and music’s influence over it,” wrote Dan Martin of the incendiary show, which was attended by 40,000 punters. The band accepted a cheque for £162,713.03 – the royalties earned from the festive sales of the single
– on behalf of homelessness charity Shelter onstage at the gig.
NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS | 1 AUGUST 2015
LIVE
Florence
+ The Machine
Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury
June 26, 2015
PHOTO: ED MILES
The first British female- ►fronted Glastonbury headliner
since Skunk Anansie in 1999, Florence + The Machine stepped in at the last minute to replace Foo Fighters, after Dave Grohl broke his leg. “Even if it was made under duress, Florence Welch’s promotion is symbolically important,” wrote Barry Nicolson. “From the moment she takes to the stage, barefoot and restless, banging a tambourine throughout ‘What The Water Gave Me’, she seems eager to please: indeed, you often get the sense that you’re watching someone who knows they’re playing the biggest, most important gig of their life, and is determined not to disappoint. Sure, Foo Fighters would have killed it. But tonight, Florence + The Machine prove that they’re here on merit, and not just necessity.”
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