Naomi

Last night's performance by Camille was nothing short of extraordinary, even non-Camille fans would have found it difficult to not be seduced by her spirit and energy. The concert took place at Koko in Camden which is a lovely small venue I had never been to before. She first appeared wearing an orange floaty dress with matching orange socks and danced around on the stage, when she finally made it to the mic she explained that she was buying time until her friend arrived in the audience, who was late. There were many French people in the audience and some of them began yelling, "Allez, Camille, allez!" Either her friend arrived or she decided she couldn't stall any longer so she kicked off with Canards Sauvages from her new album, Music Hole. Immediately her a cappella vocal skills were obvious and she sounded even more gorgeous in person, especially when she sang in French as she did for La Jeune Fille aux Cheveux Blancs. Her fellow French and Brazilian performers, including collaborator MaJiKer, were also incredibly skilled in their backing vocals and beatboxing; they were all clearly very close and enjoyed what they were doing, she often stepped away from the mic in order to let them solo. The body percussions really came into its own on the stomping and chest beating to represent a heartbeat on Home is Where it Hurts, which was one of the best songs of the evening. She sang a slightly altered version of one of my favourite songs of hers, Baby Carni Bird, which was incredible. As the show progressed Camille lost her socks and then stripped out of her floaty dress to reveal another short orange dress, like the one she wears on the cover of Music Hole. She interacted with the audience a lot throughout the evening and getting everyone to participate which really upped the energy of the room; at one point she picked up a newspaper and began walking in circles while reading out headlines and one of her French backing singers said, "Camille, I have a much more interesting question to ask than what is in that newspaper -- why did London people vote for Boris Johnston as mayor?" to which everyone cheered and some began shouting, "Boris out, Camille for mayor!" Camille looked puzzled and said, "Camille for mère? You want me for your mother!?" After dancing herself into a frenzy she sang a Camillified version of Too Drunk to Fuck by the Dead Kennedys, then a few more songs from her new album and Au Port which received a positive response. The encore came all too fast and I was concerned that she hadn't played the one song I really wanted to hear that night, Pâle Septembre. That was put right as she came back out for the encore and headed straight for the piano and performed an astounding version of Pâle Septembre which slowly transformed into Winter's Child, complete with thunder. She bowed and went off stage which everyone thought was the end, but the audience kept cheering hopeful for more. Camille returned wearing a long black satin dress and with the group sang Ta Douleur which everyone went crazy for and Money Note in which she took the piss out of Mariah Carey where she whispers "rich bitch" and (‘’If Dolly Parton wrote it / And Whitney Houston stole it / If Celine Dion could reach it / I’ll hit the money note.”) She then turned her back to the audience to reveal that the dress had a cut-out down the back revealing half of her ass which made everyone laugh and cry out in appreciation.
Each of her group did amusing solo bits during Money Note and then then bowed with Camille to the loud cheering and applause from the crowd and left the stage, but the crowd wouldn't die down and began stomping and cheering for more. They all returned for a third encore and sang Sanges Sweet and then they all huddled together around the mic to have a sing-along of Paris, complete with an a capella trumpet. Then people started shouting requests, one of them being for Les Ex which is well known in France. Camille obliged and said, "Only the French are asking for Les Ex so the rest of you English can leave!" This was the first major concert Camille had performed since the release of her new album and her and the group all seemed amazed by the responsive crowd and overwhelmingly positive response Londoners gave them which shows how popular her music is becoming here. She seemed reluctant to leave the stage and I got the impression that she wanted to keep singing for us and would have continued through the night if she had been allowed to. I was on a high from the performance myself, she was everything that I had hoped for and more.. engaging, energetic, passionate, funny, and talented. The group gave the final bows and goodbyes and left the stage to deafening cheers, Camille exiting last with her half-moon disappearing into the haze. How French.







Camille's entrance and segments of Canards Sauvages and Home is Where it Hurts,
the only video I managed to get.



Janine I
"No Boris Johnston, Camille for mayor!" (biaaaatch.)



Money Note with the "half-moon" dress. ;) "I just wanna beat Mariaahhhhhh!"


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Last night's live performance by Portishead was phenomenal. It took place in the Hammersmith Apollo, which is one of my favourite venues in London with its beautiful art deco style and good acoustics. We had seating tickets which wasn't preferable, but I feel lucky to have gotten any at all. The moment they went on sale Macsen had two phones and the ticket site on the go and they were selling out so fast that as soon as he'd select them and push "buy" they'd be gone. In the end I was glad for the seats with a clear view as the previous night we saw DeVotchKa with friends at the tiny Scala and while it was fun, I could barely see the stage at all (just the top of the tuba bobbing up and down). A Hawk and a Hacksaw was the opening band which was enjoyable, like DeVotchKa and Beirut they're heavily influenced by Balkan orchestras.



There was a vibe and excitement to the audience unlike any I had witnessed before, anticipation had built up so much that by the time Beth, Adrian, Geoff, and crew took to the stage the crowd exploded with cheers and shouts of, "We love you, Beth!" The P3 album cover appeared on the screen behind them and they kicked it off with "Silence" which, just as it does on the album, ends abruptly. Second up was "Hunter" which I love, but the P3 songs were new to most of the audience so there wasn't much initial excitement; you could tell the ones who already had the album as, like me, they were quietly singing along. Once they finished their "unveiling" of two fresh songs the crowd cheered in appreciation. Then the stage went blue as the first notes and record scratches of the familiar "Mysterons" were played and everyone went crazy. Beth's voice was unchanged and as heartbreaking as ever, she filled the room with her presence. After "Mysterons" they had some technical difficulties with the decks, which Beth explained and apologized for in her sweet Bristol accent, so they took 5 minutes to fix the problem and then started up one of their saddest songs "The Rip" which was accompanied by an interesting animated film -- the synth crescendo sounded great live. By the time "Glory Box" and "Numb" were playing I have to admit, I had a few tears. Beth went soft and breathy in all the right places on "Glory Box", it was my favourite song performed that night. The drums kicked in for another new song "Magic Doors" and everyone took it in, there was a good response to it when it finished. Next the stage went dark and Beth sat in a chair under a spotlight for a more acoustic version of "Wandering Star" which was beautifully done. "Machine Gun" was a highlight as it sounded amazing live, so much better than on the album. I wouldn't be surprised if they wrote it simply because they knew it would be mindblowing live, with the drum beats reverberating through bodies and Beth's high piercing vocals. I feel sad that I may not feel the intensity of that song being performed again, but I am grateful for the chance. There were a lot of stunned people after "Machine Gun" followed by cheers. Again when the familiar opening guitar chords for "Over" began people got very excited, same for the "Sour Times" and "Only You" which were passionately performed, but they were not album replicas which made me happy, I don't like live performances to be too "perfect". Another new song "Nylon Smile" also received a positive response, followed by "Cowboys" which Beth executed superbly in the same almost nasal and clipped voice as on the record with plenty of satisfying record scratches. There they stopped and left the stage for a brief pause before being called back out with roaring and stomping calls for an encore. When they retook to the stage the welcome notes of "Threads" started up, the booming guitar at the end didn't go on long enough for my liking but despite that it was still one of the best songs for me and it received a great response. One of the most anticipated songs of the night was the soulful "Roads" which many people seemed unable to stop singing along to at the start; Beth sung it with aching accuracy in the trembling timber of her voice, it floored everyone into rapt silence. The band capped off the evening with the stomping Silver Apples tribute "We Carry On" which was a perfect ending and as the song finished Beth jumped into the audience and began hugging people. I am intensely envious of the ones who were able to hug her, but it's incredibly awesome that she did it at all, it showed her real love and appreciation for the support and it made the crowd go into a frenzy as the band and Beth bowed and said goodbye.




Beth: "thank you so much for being patient, we were a bit dodgy, but you know it's really live!"


They monitored video taking closely so I was only able to get a short clip of "Roads"
and the end of "We Carry On" with Beth hugging audience members. Please pardon
the shaky camerawork, it's not easy keeping it steady at 12x zoom. In the
comments I have provided links to the best live videos I could find, I knew youtube
wouldn't let me down.








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My final thoughts are that this was a concert of a lifetime. I have been to shows that are hard to top, but this has managed to partly down to sheer emotional intensity. Even the technical difficulties was hardly a blip on an otherwise incredible evening. The only downside was the typical London crowds being hyperactive and talking too much (why do they seem completely incapable of sitting still for more than 10 minutes? I wish the venue would spike their pints with ritalin. ;) The new songs all fit in and worked well in the set and yes, they're different from their older material, but they are amazing in their own right and work even better live. whorlpool I wish you could have been there. I'm left with the feeling that I have to see them live again, but I don't know if I will ever get the opportunity. I've already checked out the rest of their European dates for tickets but unsurprisingly they're all sold out, so I think I will just have to be satisfied that I saw them at all. If they make it to North America you must pounce on those tickets as soon as they appear. You will not regret it. :)


The Setlist:


01 Silence
02 Hunter
03 Mysterons
04 The Rip
05 Glory Box
06 Numb
07 Magic Doors
08 Wandering Star
09 Machine Gun
10 Over
11 Sour Times
12 Only You
13 Nylon Smile
14 Cowboys
(encore)
15 Threads
16 Roads
17 We Carry On

This post has taken awhile to get out as I've been battling off the German über-flu ever since we returned. I wasn't sure what to expect from Germany, but I ended up enjoying it even more than I thought. As an American it still never fails to amuse me how many countries I can pass through here in the same distance it takes to drive between states. We took the cross-channel ferry and spent four hours driving through France, Belgium, and a grand total of 14 minutes in Holland before crossing the German border (there is no border control between most EU countries anymore so we didn't have to stop). We even considered dipping into Luxembourg for a laugh, but decided we'd prefer to arrive in Cologne during daylight. Our hotel room had a view over the rooftops, Cologne is a city still under constant reconstruction which was evident by the many cranes dotting the skyline.

Germany feels masculine and serious at first, but once you crack the exterior there is honesty, humour, and a laidback straightforwardness to the people which I found refreshing. It was bitterly cold and even snowed, but I was okay with that as I prefer Northern European cities in winter over summer. I like bundling up and taking refuge in cafés where I get to people watch and meet the locals. Macsen remembers most of his school German which made getting by much easier and if they didn't know any English we could fall back on French. I picked up some German, mainly, "Ein kölsch, bitte." which is an important one. ;) I was surprised as to how much I could understand thanks to the German music I've been listening to. I believe Germany is experiencing a remarkable swell of artistic and musical talent right now; while we were waiting for our friends to arrive in Nürburg I listened to my mp3 player and I realized that nearly 50% of the music on it was German. This was unintentional, but it did make me think about how much good stuff is emerging out of that country currently and I felt happy to finally have a better understanding of where it was coming from.

Kölner Dom





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the controversial "pixel window", which was designed by a computer.


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the light.


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Früh Am Dom near the cathedral is probably the best known brauhaus in the city, it was destroyed by the bombings and rebuilt unlike the Päffgen which has remained virtually unchanged since the 19th century. The brauhauses are known for being loud and boisterous, but it was relatively sedate while we were there; however, it was after the Kölner Karneval (they say "if you were at the carnival and saw the carnival, you weren't at the carnival.") so perhaps everyone was still recovering. ;) The local beer in Cologne is kölsch which they serve to you in 200ml glasses called reagenzglas "test tubes" and keep serving them until you beg for mercy or collapse. The chap pictured below quietly knocked them back roughly every 5 minutes. For scientific purposes we tasted kölsch from several different breweries and we both preferred the Früh as it had a smoother taste than the others. The menu was entirely in German and as we struggled to decipher it a mustachioed man there with his daughter sat back with his arms crossed and chuckled at us, finally taking pity on us in broken English he offered his assistance. We asked him what the sauerbraten was like and he replied, "The opposite of sweet."




Früh Am Dom


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another space invader to add to my ever-growing collection!


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Belgian Quarter


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I loved the kolumba church more than the dom, the romanesque churches, or any cathedral built to impress. It was almost destroyed completely by the allied bombings, but on top of the ruins they built a modern structure and continued using it as a church. This fusion of gothic ruin and contemporary architecture gives it a unique appearance, but what I liked the most was the interior. It wasn't full of violent imagery unlike most European cathedrals, the artwork and stained glass were peaceful and there was a quiet stillness that instantly took you away from the noisy city outside.






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On our way to the Nürburgring we took a slight detour.



Berg Eltz