Stephanie Phillips's Profile Page

Peggy Sue + Sons of Noel and Adrian + Mechanical Bride + Lulu & The Lampshades @ ICA 6/11/09

My evening started out with me in a distressed and panicked state lost in central London, yes that’s right I am so dense that I can get lost in central London, right next to Trafalgar square.

Anyway let’s skip to me actually at the ICA. The venue as a whole is pretty impressive and caters to every type of alternative music. I’m actually signed up to their, well I don’t know what it is but they send me press releases of their upcoming events hoping that I will promote them on my site or go and review them. They have confused me with a blog that can actually influence people.

Anyway I digress. The Peggy Sue gig was held in the theatre space which is basically a medium sized room with no character whatsoever. I was late and missed Lulu & the Lampshades which is a shame because I really wanted to see what they are like live.

Before I start my review properly I have to confess that I do not really like the acoustic, folk, “I’m bringing back the ukulele ‘cause it was always so cool” thing that’s going on right now. I am sorry. I never have liked it. I’m used to the more guttural, angsty sounds of the guitar, anything less just sounds pathetic.

But I am willing to change and both L&TL and Peggy Sue could be the bands to have me drooling over a ukulele or even a violin.

The first band on were Mechanical Bride. Their songs mainly comprised of ghostly harmonies, slow moving bass lines and haunting accordions. I enjoyed what I heard and the lead singer has a beautiful voice but it’s something I need to look into before I make my mind up about them. The best place for music like this is not necessarily a gig. They would probably be more at home as the soundtrack to a seance.

The next band on were Sons of Neil who were a ten string gang made up of numerous guitarists’ violinists and drummers of all shapes and sizes. They had a little bit of stamping along with the bass drum while playing. This got annoying after the lead singer did it for three songs in a row. I didn't like this band. I didn’t like the numbers, the folky tones, the beards nothing.

But it doesn’t matter because here comes Peggy Sue, formerly known as Peggy Sue and the Pirates I never found out why they changed their name. Rosa and Katy both seem shocked that the gig is packed out and repeatedly thank the audience for coming. They were joined by newish recruit Olly on the drums who helped pound in the Peggy Sue rhythms into our skulls.

It is easy to get carried away by a band like Peggy Sue. With their soulful voices, pounding drum beats and simple riffs it's no wonder they have a hoarde of guys and girls eating up their every riff.

I loved the new song 'Yo Mama' which includes the "My mama she gave me these lungs/ my papa he gave me this tongue". 'The Sea The Sea' was a big hit with the crowd and had everyone bopping up and down to the girls’ soulful rhythms.

When all was said and done I can honestly say I still don't like acoustic folk music. I like good, moving emotional music. Sometimes it will crossover and include some music that may contain an acoustic guitar, such as Peggy Sue and L&TL, but very rarely.

If you are intrigued by this post Peggy Sue head up north at the end of November.

For more information: www.myspace.com/peggywho

Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Brixton Academy- 30/11/09

It’s fair to say that Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of my favourite bands of all time. I’ve wanted to see them live since I was a wee girl in Wolverhampton and now I’m a wee woman who has put all her hopes and dreams into the band standing before her.

Basically YYYs had a lot to live up to when I went to see them for the first time. A decade long build up is a hard thing to live up to but they did obviously. It’s the Yeah Yeah Yeahs what else would they do.

Everything was there, ready, in place for this girl to go crazy. Brian was keeping the beat going with his hard hitting drumming style frantically battling against a drum machine, Nick was stalking the corner of the stage looking cool and Karen was yelping and throwing herself around the stage like the old days.

Either the guys knew a lot of their older fans would be attendance or they just loved playing their rare songs ‘cause both the 10x10 and the even rarer Shake It made it onto the setlist.

The band had spared no expense on special effects so glitter fell from the ceiling and giant eyeballs careered through the crowd. It was great at first but got a little distracting after a while. The band has come to a place in their career where they shouldn’t have to rely on cheap effects to get the crowd going.

The highlight of the night had to be Karen’s ritual dedication of Maps to the audience. The band eased their way into a slowed down, sparse version of the well known classic that caused couples throughout the crowd, including one right in front of me, to lock lips for no reason. Well, no reason except for love that is.

Peaches @ KOKO- 13/12/09

I'm still a bit of a gig newbie to be honest. I've always been the sitting in my bedroom listening to my favourite band on repeat but not too loud so my parents don't hear kind of girl, so the rules of the gig world are still quite new to me.

Let me say one thing Peaches fans are amazing. I've never seen such a diverse crowd. There were electro kids, hipsters, punk rockers, indie boys, black, white, brown you name it they were there. Another thing to remember about Peaches fans is that they are crazy. They will drag you to the ground and step on your head just to get closer to her. I learnt this fact the hard way.

Peaches was of course amazing and she had at least five costume changes, or more I stopped counting half way through, one of which looked like a giant ball of hair.

The spectacular of her live show was everything I thought it would be including the hairy girls from the 'Talk to Me' video, pussy LED's, extravagant costumes, walking on the crowd and lots and lots of lasers.

The tunes were there too and after four albums Peaches had a lot to choose from and she chose well. The setlist included 'Boys Wanna Be Her', 'Fuck The Pain Away', 'Billionanire' with Shunda K rapping on a projector screen for Peaches to duet with and the rousing 'Set it Off'. I love how this song has evolved over time.

Below is Peaches singing 'Set it Off' in LA, I couldn't find any at KOKO and anyway she's singing with an inflatable motorbike and strap-on cleavage here.