Seth Lakeman

Simple stage and lighting + unpretencious band/audience + music at an undeafening level = great gig? Maybe too mellow - one lady was heard asking the security for a chair half way through the night. Check out http://www.sethlakeman.co.uk/

'Stiff Little Fingers'

"My name is Psycho, my name is Psycho, my name is Psycho, yeah-oh! My name is Psycho, my name is Psycho, my name is Psycho, yeah-oh!"

Punk. You gotta love it....

The Levellers

I hate to use an Americanism - but ‘They Rocked!’ And while I’m at it....‘Awesome!’ The Levellers have been playing together for almost 20 years and built up quite a fan base. The audience were completely in tune with the band - jumping and singing along, all the way to the back of the hall. I felt left out when everyone knew when to shout the appropriate yell or raise an arm in unison. Next time I’ll be prepared.... Oi!

You're busted!

Having to endure three mediocre support acts, only to be thrown out of the photography pit during the headline acts first song, I don't feel like saying anything positive about 'Fightstar'.

The atmosphere at The Met was buzzing as usual and the expectations were high. Ex-public schoolboy Charles Simpson (lead singer, formerly of manufactured boy band 'Busted') has claimed that he used to get depressed with the bands hit singles and the army of adoring female fans (oh, the horror). His true love had always been 'Heavy Metal' and he desired a maturer audience to appreciate his 'musical talent'. Well he's succeeded - the innocent 10 year old girls have been replaced by spotty 15 year old boys (the queue for chips was longer than the queue for the bar and an 'I am over 18' stamp was being given out on entry). As for his music, well it's more like a stage of adolescence; noisy and rebellious, shouting 'Fuck!' a lot and making 'devil's horns' with your fingers. The ironic thing is that without the fame of Busted, I doubt Fightstar would have filled one of the local pubs never mind 'The Leeds Met'. Whilst he has certainly moved on, Charlie still has a lot of growing up to do.

Experienced?

After spending all last week listening to The Stone Roses and re-living the favourites as 'Fools Gold', 'Waterfall' and 'Sally Cinnamon', the long awaited 'Stone Roses Experience' gig at Leeds Met had a lot to live up to. The audience were jumping and singing along to all the classics but even with the band's energy and enthusiasm, hearing 'Ian Brown' with a broad Scottish accent simply didn't work! The Stone Roses were all about the 'Madchester' music scene of the late '80's/early '90's and their tribute band were about as Mancunian as Haggis, Neeps and Tatties.