*We have moved!

Hey Kids,

just to let you know we have now fully moved over to;

http://getglucky.com/

all new posts are going there and all of the old posts, yes every single one, are on that site too. We hope you like!

Glucky xo

*Update

Some of you savvy lot have already noticed but the blog is in a very exciting process of moving to a bigger and better looking place, we know it's not all about looks and that personality is important but we promise the only thing that is going to change is the look of the site. All the content is there and will remain the same as it is now.

The site is about one post behind at the moment but after the weekend should be in full working order...

http://getglucky.com/

It's all for you kids, so hope you enjoy it. We'll let you know when we're going to completely stop posting here and transfer 100% over to the .com address.

Enjoy your weekend

xo

*Need To Know - Jaymay (Artist)

Jaymay's album, 'Autumn Fallin' has been bubbling under the surface for a little while now and the bubbles have made their way over here. Initially, I will be honest, I was wary that she wouldn't stand out enough from the other female singer-songwriters around but Jaymay has a charm all her own. The record is full of New York inspired love songs and sweet anecdotal songs about everyday life. Lyrically she is a smart cookie. On 'Gray or Blue' she sweetly sings, 'I cant keep staring at your mouth without wondering how it tastes' and 'Don't second guess your feelings you were right from the start and I notice she's your lover, but she's nowhere near your heart'


If you don't like singer-songwriters then you probably won't like it, but if you do you will probably love it. Calming and hopeful, sometimes reminiscent of Regina Spektor but with less quirkiness, Jaymay should in some way... soothe your soul.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/d3sbuf - Ill-Willed Person

http://www.sendspace.com/file/v2nuxa - Blue Skies

http://www.sendspace.com/file/amau0i - Gray Or Blue

*Tegan & Sara - Tour Diary (Live)

The delightful (don’t I sound about 80 using the word delightful?) Tegan and Sara have now left our shores. But in these sad times kids, dry your eyes. We have a tour diary for you, complete with those new fangled digital images you all seem to enjoy so much AND as previously stated... a fabulous merchandise give-away to follow.

With special thanks to Tegan and Warner for hooking us up for the Brighton & London shows, we hopped, skipped and jumped our way to a selection of dates so we could produce a nice little tour diary for you.



Photos from all shows here:
http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/getglucky/ (download for personal use is A-ok but please ask permission before re-using them anywhere else)

Brighton:
The Concorde in Brighton was by far the smallest venue we saw T&S play during the tour, and while small usually = good for intimacy, the crowd was extremely over-excited and for the majority of the evening repeatedly directed their excitement in all the wrong ways.
I have no doubt Tegan and Sara are tough enough to handle most types of awkward/rude crowd situations but for the audience it just got annoying. From repeated shouting out of old song requests (we don't mean a few times, literally before and after every bit of banter or song, the same group were just shouting out for songs that they weren't going to play) to crude sexual remarks...we just felt awkward.

However, musically this did not phase the Quins one bit, playing through all of 'The Con' excluding 'Knife Going In' they gave a fantastic platform to an already fantastic album. Older songs like 'Monday, Monday, Monday' and the very early 'Divided' sounded completely refreshed sung by their now, far more experienced voices.

With the great banter they have come to be known for, their banter in Brighton did not disappoint; anecdotal gems about allergies, weird dreams, marriage;



and Sara Quin so accurately describing the loud/drunk group in the audience as 'Nancy' (that girl who from afar who looks like she's the life of the party but then when she's at a sleepover... she's the girl who gets her eyebrows shaved) It was pretty great.

They finished with the stunning 'Call It Off' but not before someone had to get a few final, shouted questions in. Tegan described a dream she had where her mom had written in the sky 'Life Is Hopeful'.

Fan: "I have a question"
Tegan: "You have a question, oh ok, what's your question?"
Fan: "Is life hopeful?"
Tegan: (Pause) "I like to think so, yes."

Even with the crowd being on the awkward side of rowdy, that's a pretty sweet way to end a gig. Shame the fan had to ruin her luck by wanting to ask more questions. But we'll just end it there.

Leeds:
By Leeds they had already revamped the set-list and brought in some new, old songs and taken out some of the previous set. 'Time Running' and 'Not Tonight' slotted in to the set perfectly with the former sounding louder and punkier than ever and the latter embracing the delicate and the melodic. Tegans electronic 'Are You Ten Years Ago' was probably an interesting and maybe challenging song to take from the recording to live, but it came off pretty flawlessly - with an addictively strong bassline and tightly sequenced vocals. Sara rounded off 'Walking With A Ghost' with a humorous explanation of trying to write an almost child-like song whilst carrying scarier undertones, in her own little strum-along sing song she explained to the kids, "Your mummy and daddy or daddy and daddy or mummy and mummy are getting a divvvooorce, but they still love youuu."

For Leeds videos: http://youtube.com/results?search_query=tegan+and+sara+leeds&search_sort=video_date_uploaded

Manchester:
Out went 'Floorplan' and 'Not Tonight' from the set-list, while 'Time Running' still made the cut. People threw glow sticks. People continued to shout 'Get Your Tits Out' (at these moments, embarrassed to be British? Check.) Sara quickly responded by pondering over when the live performance changed, it used to be rock stars in leather pants with girls on their boyfriends shoulders taking their tops off and now... the band get heckled to take their clothes off. Something went wrong somewhere.

London:



the particularly epic sounding 'Living Room'



After sharing how the 8 minutes alone in the womb without Tegan were the most calm and peaceful of Sara's life, and Tegan expressing their gratitude that each time they come back to the UK they are selling out bigger and bigger venues, the ladies took their bows and left us for European shores. We'll miss you two little Canadian wonders, do come back soon.

*Laura Marling/Johnny Flynn/Mumford & Sons @ Union Chapel, London (Live)

Union Chapel is by far, as specialist gig venues go, one of the most beautiful places around. I mean yes you are sitting in pews, and there is no alcohol allowed in those pews but that kind of enhances things. Instead of drunk people, you have nice quiet people, and for nice quiet music it's very fitting.


Mumford and Sons were up first, definitely one of the most exciting unsigned bands in London at the moment. We’re already big fans, Marcus has a truly beautiful voice, the other boys in the band manage to harmonize with him flawlessly and the way Winston plays the banjo with that signature swaying/humping motion is always...captivating. In short, they are charming, very British, and provide you with a healthy dose of heartbreak and hope.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/92g6s2 - White Blank Page
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ipn4sl - Roll Away Your Stone
http://www.sendspace.com/file/8wyqmr - Feel The Tide Turning

Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit were second, energetically mixing anti-folk with country, again embracing beautiful harmonies - especially between Johnny and his sister Lilly. Their vocals particularly stood out when their instruments stopped and they sang a three part harmony acapella, a pretty brave choice, it only showed the strength of their pipes.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/faimd9 - The Box

Laura Marling was of course, the headlining act who everyone was there to see. With the recent release of her debut, 'Alas, I Cannot Swim' people were excited in that way that fans of new artists always are. She played almost the whole record (apart from two of our favourite songs; 'Failure' and 'Captain & The Hourglass' but we'll forgive her). She has chosen to add a string section for the gig which always manages to enhance the dramatic qualities of songs. Laura's voice blended beautifully with Marcus, and while at first talking to the audience seemed like a bit of a challenge she warmed and became more confident as the show went on. One of the most charming things about the evening? She encored with Kimya Dawson cover of ‘Be Mine’, clearly known by the band but not necessarily practiced, the whole band collapsed into laughter at the end of the song. It's always good to know people don't take themselves too seriously...

*Uh Huh Her @ Shepherd's Bush Empire, London (Live)

Perhaps somewhat predictably, the queue outside Shepherd's Bush Empire was nearing 100% female, the few men lingering next to their girlfriends or wives looked thoroughly confused as to where they were.

The support act, if one could call them an act, were two ladies dressed in some kind of military outfit swaying awkwardly behind a set of decks. The term DJ sure means different things these days... not sure if I saw them touch the decks or the mixer once?

On a side note, it was also the first gig I have ever seen where the bar was empty and the queue to the ladies toilet was about 4 miles long. Seriously, a 45 minute wait to pee is not fun.

Uh Huh Her had a challenging task in front of them, although the audience was clearly going to be supportive whatever they did, they were playing mostly from a record that hasn't come out yet and therefore most have not heard.
They looked great, they were clearly happy to be there but straight out of the gate there was something a little lackluster about the performance. Granted they haven't played live on numerous tours in the way that most other bands who would have arrived at the empire have, but even others I spoke to were expecting more. The vocals were in tune but very quiet, the body language was nervous and the overall sound shrank into the corners. Most of the songs drifted in between indie and electro and while perfectly pleasant to listen to, there was never a moment in the set where things felt really electric or exciting.

I really wanted them to be great, I was impressed by their previous EP with tracks like; Say So, Mystery Lights and Explode, but the new material just did not grasp the imagination in the same way. There is nothing to say that with more shows and more experience interacting with an audience, Uh Huh Her could improve remarkably but for the moment the show never really rose above average.

*Update

Hey Kids,
coming up for you lovely people by the end of the week:

*Northern State Interview (it's taking a minute and a half, one can only type so much between going to shows but it will be here by the weekend)

*Uh Huh Her Live Review

*Tegan and Sara Tour Diary with.. fabulous merch give aways (get excited, we have GOODIES think tees, hoodies, cds...)

*Laura Marling @ Union Chapel Live Review

We know what you're thinking, it's like Christmas/whatever holiday you celebrate come early. Stop, you're making us blush.

xo