What a gig by Alvvays on Friday. I think I’m liking them much more now. Lots of energy, brilliant songs and they all seemed friendly and humble (no, I didn’t interact with them, but that was the impression I got anyways). Definitely would have been nice to talk about music and stuff, I’m quite curious about their Hummingbirds fandom for example. They played once again “Alimony” to end the concert and dedicated the song to Simon. Or about Dolly Mixture which I read they just got into (I think, if my memory is not playing me tricks). In any case I had such a good time watching them.
Sadly I was unhappy with the venue and the public. Some moron pushed me asking me to put my phone down when I was recording “Archie, Marry Me”. Sure it can be annoying sometimes, but just move. Or just have some manners and ask nicely. I don’t understand these people that think they own the world and things have to be done their way. I sure don’t see them in small indiepop gigs, where people are more intelligent. At bigger gigs you can encounter stupid people more easily. Just a matter of demographics.
At the end of the gig I approached the stage to get a setlist. There was a sort of barrier that separated the stage from the floor so you couldn’t reach the setlists. There were also bouncers there. This was at Warsaw Concerts, a really cool place that I haven’t been in the past. I liked the place, it was spacious, nice bar, even a place to sit down and enjoy kielbasa and pierogies, all in the heart of Greenpoint. Well, first the bouncers wouldnt just grab the setlist and give them to me (or any of the fans that wanted them). Then the bouncers, being brainless and all having no sense of anything, ask the people that were putting putting away the cables, instruments, on stage if they could get the setlists. These people were even meaner. There were like 6 or so setlists on stage but with such a bad attitude gave two to the bouncers which in turn were given to a few fans. But there were more and I asked nicely to one of these people to hand me one and he said he couldn’t touch them or give them away. Why? He wouldn’t say. Just mean. These papers are going to end up in a trash bin. What does it matter to them? That ruins the experience for the fan. These sort of people that don’t understand gigs or music shouldn’t be allowed.
Again, Alvvays were fantastic, and they don’t have any responsibility about the things I’m complaining. What a good band. Now I understand why they could be so popular, among people that wouldn’t care about indiepop. Then Hatchie was a nice surprise, it was short but sweet. Not strictly indiepop, but it was good pop music, with catchy melodies and all. The one band that I didn’t like was Snail Mail. They did seem to have a big following, people knowing the lyrics and buying their records afterwards. But I couldn’t stand how the vocals were delivered, with all that growling. That’s not for me.
It was a great night in the end. I think even though I didn’t like some stuff out of it, Alvvays being that good could make it all worth it.
Oh and here are some good finds I made this weekend:
The Catherines: Let’s start this week listening to the latest by the Hamburg bedroom pop band that seems to be featured all the time on the blog. Well, they are pretty prolific so doesn’t leave me much space to keep saying check them out every time there’s a new song. This time they have put on on Bandcamp yet another song with a good title, “She has a knack for seeing other people’s faults” and it does sound brilliant.
The Wedding Present/Cinerama: well the 7″ is sold out now, and I missed it. This is the last 7″ of the 7777777 series that the London based label WIAWYA has been putting out and that has included so many great names. For this latest one each of the David Gedge bands, Wedding Present and Cinerama have contributed a song. The Wedding Present has the song “White Riot” and Cinerama “The Name of the Game”. At this point only the latter one is available to stream on the label’s Bandcamp.
Saint Etienne: and the previous 7″ in this series was by the superb London trio that I just saw in New York a few weeks back. Sadly this one is also sold out. I wonder how they do it! So fast. I think I read about these releases like a week ago. And me being slow only during the weekend I can sit down and check the music out. Maybe I should start buying things blindly like I did 10, 12 years ago. Anyways, you can stream one of the songs included in the 7″ which is called “Little Chef” which is instrumental (so I’m not crazy about it) but the 7″ included another one called “Camel Coat (Browning version)” which I hope has Sarah’s vocals.
Yukla Down: upbeat and energetic noisy pop from this Tokyo band I just discovered. Their debut work is the 3 song EP “In Demonstration” that is available to listen on their Bandcamp, the songs being “Torture Me (With your Kiss)”, “If You Only Knew” and “Borealis”. Don’t know much about them, but I can tell you that they are formed by Bun (vocals/guitar/tambourine clown), Kenny (guitar/interstellar noise), Ouji (guitar/box-to-box midfielder), Victor (bass/Russian poetry) and Sam (drums/jingle bells).
Les Big Byrd: “Iran Iraq IKEA” is the new album by this cool sounding psychedelic guitar pop band from Stockholm, Sweden. It is coming out on October 12 on the PNKSLM label and will include 9 tracks, including their previous single “A Little More Numb”. The band is formed by Jocke Åhlund, Nino Keller, Frans Johansson and Martin “Konie” Ehrencrona, and previously have released a couple of 7″s and the 2014 album “The Worshipped Cats”.
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Carlow is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, 84 km from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The county of Carlow has a population of 56,932. The River Barrow flows through the town, and forms the historic boundary between counties Laois and Carlow. The settlement of Carlow is thousands of years old and pre-dates written Irish history. The town has played a major role in Irish history, serving as the capital of the country in the 14th century. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish Ceatharlach. Historically, it was anglicised as Caherlagh, Caterlagh and Catherlagh, which are closer to the Irish spelling.
It is the first time I’m featuring a band from Carlow in Ireland. I needed some background information. Try to transport myself geographically. Hopefully one day I visit the town physically. I read a comment on Youtube saying that Carlow during the 80s was sort of an epicenter of all things rock. I wonder what other bands were part of that scene.
I know the one, Azure Days, which I first heard on Youtube, on the Stoneeyedkiller channel. But I have realized today that I don’t know much about them. It is hard to keep track. So many brilliant bands, right? I feel in the end this blog is kind of the way I’m tracking the bands I like and follow. So I’m adding Azure Blue to that collection.
The Irish band released two singles. One was a 7″ the other a CD single. The first one was a 7″ and included two songs, “Blew My Clouds Away” 0n the A side and “My Mexican” on the B side. It was released by Mystery Records (MRS 15) in 1987. This label is unknown to me but I do notice that most of their releases were of the artist Mary Caughlan.
The band was originally formed by Liam O’Brien on guitar, Gala Hutton on bass and a vocalist called Joe Downey. Then Hutton left the band to attend college and was replaced on bass by Ray Lowry. That must have been 1985 or so. I say that because it is in 1986, towards the end of that year, that Gala Hutton returns to the band as a vocalist replacing Joe. Gerry Farrell on drums completed the lineup.
The band got to be finalists of the Carling/Hot Press Band of the Year competition in 1986 and won this prize in June 1987. That same year the band relocated to Dublin and released their first single, the aforementioned “Blew My Clouds Away”.
That single was produced by Leo Kelly and David Donahue. It was engineered by Catherine Considine and recorded and mixed at Lansdowne Studios, between the 26 and the 30th of September of 1987. The photos of the back members on the back of the sleeve are credited to Michael J Quinn. I hope one day I can find a copy of this record for myself!
The band was to record four Fanning Sessions. I need to find the tracklist for these. On Irishrock.org they mention that one of the songs on these sessions was called “Pale Green Visions”. They also mention an unreleased demo called “Sweetest Chain”.
The band then moved to London, trying to make a career. But it didn’t work out. Liam O’Brien would leave the band now and the Azure Days became a trio. Without success the band decided to return to Ireland in 1991 and split up.
Before that happened the band had released their 1991 CD single in the UK. The four songs on it were “Anything For You”, “Azure Daze”, “White Horses” and “Black Down to Justice”. It was released by the label Grapes (GRAPESCD6).
But that wasn’t all. There are two compilation appearances at least for the band.
The first dates from 1987, the LP compilation “Comet LP Two” released by Comet Records (COME 2 TP). On it the band contributed the song “The Old Tradition”.
The second is from 1992, when the band was no more I think. It was a CD compilation released by A2Z Music Services called “Music From Ireland (Breaking Sound Barriers)” (BSBCD1). The band contributed the song “Anything For You” that had appeared on their CD single.
We also know that after the band split Ray Lowry and Gerry Farrell went to play in the band The Floors while Gala Hutton was part of 79Cortinaz, The Trains and Sugar Factory.
The great Fanning Sessions blog has a post about them as well where you can stream the songs “The Old Tradition” and “Blew My Clouds Away”. Then another, a second post, with the song “She Won’t Come Again“. There are a few more interesting details here too. For example we know that Gerry Farrell was to be in the band Skindive.
Other interesting details are that Leo O’Kelley who produced the first single and was part of the band Tír na NÓg, recorded a cover of “Blew My Clouds Away” in 2002, and that according to Wikipedia the drummer Robbie Robinson was part of the recordings of the first 7″ and was in the band The Practical Householders.
But that’s not all. I was to find a super live performance of the band playing “Back Down to Justice” at the RTE TV programme “Visual Eyes” in 1986. Someone there commented that this is the “original” lineup of the band with Joe Downey on vocals, Ger Downey on 2nd guitar, Liam “Tweedy” O’Brien, Gerry Farrell and Ray Lowry.
That is not all the live footage on the web. There’s another track, “Written in the Sky“, being played at the RTE TV show “Live on the Waterfront” in 1992.
I keep looking. Then I find about a gig at the Sir Henry’s Grand Parade in Cork where Azure Days played alongside Therapy, Lir, The Sultans of Ping and Toasted Heritic on Sunday June 2nd 1991. The previous day, as part of the festival, The Cranberries had played. Indeed, these were different times.
That’s what there is written about them. I hope to interview them and find out more about the Azure Days. About the Fanning Sessions, what songs were included in each session. If they had more unreleased tracks. Why so many lineup changes? How was their move to Dublin first, and to London second. How were those experiences? There are many questions I’d love to ask. Who remembers them?
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