Keeping up with concerts: Band of Horses + Iron & Wine

I’ll do everything I can to give this baby a decent taste in music. As you know you have to start early, and part of my cunning plan is to bring it to as many concerts as possible “in utero”.

So far he’s been to a Deftones, Interpol and an Arcade Fire concert.

Lately I’ve noticed something: my taste in music has mellowed a bit and become, more folky. And I seem to love the songs coming out of the mouths of very bearded men.

I think this started a couple of years back, when I attended a brilliant concert with Fleet Foxes at the Roskilde Festival (they’re 10 times better live than on record).

So earlier this month we continued baby’s music education and went to see the always charming Band of Horses at Brixton Academy.

Here’s a few videos for those of you not familiar with Band of Horses. In the first one they’re performing my favourite song from their debut album, live at Grand Central Station in NY:

In the second video they unexpectedly turned up to perform Marry Song at a Norwegian wedding after the groom wrote to the band, explaining how he had proposed during a BOH concert:

Here they are performing another of my favourites at the amazing Amoeba record store in LA:

And next month we’re going to see the multi-talented Sam Beam of Iron & Wine when he’s performing at the Roundhouse. This reclusive, soft-voiced songwriter writes the most beautiful lyrics and is supposed to be great live.

Here’s a few videos with my favourite Iron & Wine songs. The last one, Flightless Bird, American Mouth, is by far the most famous, as it featured on the Twilight soundtrack *shudder*.

My favourite London “rock pub”: The Ship in Wardour Street (plus a few words on Danish bars)

Sometimes all you want is to sip your beer while headbanging to Pearl Jam’s Jeremy….or move your lips to some other awesome rock song by Tool, Nirvana, Faith No More, NIN, The Smiths, Rage or The Cure. Or what about some punk in the shape of Dead Kennedys?

In Copenhagen it’s seriously difficult to track down places with proper rock/indie music. My favourite place used to be alternative Nørrebro-based music venue/club Stengade 30, but most of their clientele are now half my age and I don’t feel like being mistaken for a mum who has arrived to pick up her daughter.

So for the last few years I’ve been hanging out at Riesen Bar on Vesterbro when in DK. Brilliant place with a great vibe and decent music, but thanks to the ridiculous partial Danish smoking ban you often have to cut your way through the smoke.

But back to the UK where we head straight for The Ship in Wardour Street for some  rock & punk action. The pub is conveniently located just opposite Sam’s work and also serves as watering hole for many of his colleagues.

The interior is kind of tacky-ugly with red ceiling and beer towels and the world’s dirtiest carpet. But hey, the music is amazing, the bartenders tattooed, pierced and laid-back and it’s clientele and vibe as non-pretentious and non-trendy as can be.

People are simply here to have fun and enjoy a few beers with their mates. Gotta love the British pub culture!

And this is what it looks like when it’s dressed up for Pirate Night/Halloween:

Brixton Academy – London’s best concert venue

Londons absolut bedste koncertsted ligger i Brixton. Brixton Academy var teater og Astoria biograf tilbage i 1920’erne og lukkede dørene i 1972. Der var planer om at rive den gamle bygning ned, men det blev heldigvis ikke til noget, og i starten af 80’erne genåbnede den som spillested.

Der er mange grunde til at elske Brixton Academy: først og fremmest det skrånende gulv, der gør at undermålere som mig ikke behøver hoppe op og ned for at stjæle et glimt af performernes hårtoppe. Størrelsen er helt perfekt (rummer 4700) og så er der noget magisk over art deco indretningen. Rundt om scenen har man nemlig bevaret den oprindelige proscenium dekoration, der skulle give folk indtryk af at stå i tusmørket i en søjleindrammet italiensk have.

Brixton Academy er kendt for rockkoncerter. Vi var der i sidste uge for at se Placebo, og så har vi heldigvis lommerne fyldt med billetter til fremtidige koncerter sammesteds, bl.a. til The National, Deftones og Band of Horses. Hvis du skal købe billet, så husk at det skal være til “stalls standing” ikke til “unreserved circle” da du så kommer til at sidde oppe på balkonen (og det er altså for kedeligt + lyden er dårlig).

Her er et par billeder:

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My absolute favourite concert venue in London is Brixton Academy. It was built as a theatre/Astoria cinema back in the 1920s and it closed its doors in 1972. Plans were made to demolish the building but luckily they were scrapped and instead the building reopened its doors as a rock venue in the 80s.

There are a number of reasons for loving Brixton Academy. First of all the sloping floors that make all us undersized people able to see more than the top of the hair of the band members without having to jump up and down or stand on the tip of our toes for two hours. The size (around 4700 people) is perfect, the art deco interior is lovely and best of all is the old proscenium piece designed to give the cinema audience the impression of sitting in a moonlit italian garden, surrounded by white pillars and vine-clad buildings.

Last week we went to see Placebo and enjoyed every moment of it. Luckily we’ve secured tickets for quite a few upcoming concerts, including The National, Deftones and Band of Horses. Remember always to buy tickets for “stalls standing” not “unreserved circle” as you end up sitting grand-ma style upstairs on the balcony where the sound is beyond crappy.

Here’s a few pics:

Rock, beer & sunshine

Photo: Mette Bassett

Vi skal ikke på Roskilde Festival i år, men vi fik alligevel en lille smagsprøve på festivallivet i går, hvor vi tog vi i Hyde Park for at se Pearl Jam optræde på Hard Rock Calling-festivalen.

Og det var fantastisk. Vejret kunne ikke være bedre, øllene var kolde og Pearl Jam var fabelagtige (og Eddie Vedder er altså stadig temmelig pæn). Og så fik jeg lige muligheden for at iføre mig min Borbonese bæltetaske igen. Har vist sig at være den perfekte koncerttaske!

English: Yesterday I got to revive my teenage crush on Eddie Vedder as we headed for the great concert intitative in Hyde Park, Hard Rock Calling. Neither of us are going to the Roskilde Festival this year, so this was the short and sweet alternative.

The weather was amazing, the beers cold and Pearl Jam were amazing. And I even got to wear my Borbonese Bum bag again. It’s the perfect concert bag!

Photo: Sam Bassett

Photo: Mette Bassett

Yup, they had Danish beer. Photo: Mette Bassett

Photo: Mette Bassett

Photo: Mette Bassett