This was an interesting gig. Pippa and I had booked this on the basis of what a strong whole line up it was, compensating for the pain of getting to the O2, the expense of the place and the ridiculous ticketing. You but through one agency but the tickets still have to go through the O2 app, not the Ticketmaster one that I bought them on. Made all the more annoying by the fact that all the reminders say "you chose" to have email tickets through "our partner" like there was any choice. I chose the only option I was given!
Anyway, what made the gig interesting was the progression up the bill. Sherlocks were up first and were excellent. Fairly short set, and very early on at 7:15. But for them a chance to play before a large audience. Although I like the fact that I can still see them in small venues! As I said to Pippa, my fear for them is that I don't really see them stepping up. Great for me to see them, but not for them if they want to make a good living out of the music business.
Now Kiaran Crook of the Sherlocks has a great rock voice, but Jon Fratelli of the Fratellis is even better. They played a long and storming set. Went down brilliantly. They are just such an entertaining band with so many infectious songs. Definitely have to be seen live!
In addition to their great original songs that had the crowd bouncing they did unlikely covers of Baccara's euro pop hit "Yes sir, I can Boogie"and the rock n roll classic "Runaround Sue". Honestly it was all just so good. True virtuoso performance from the whole band, including an excellent brass section and superb backing singers.
And finally the much anticipated reappearance of the Kaiser Chiefs. Clever set, with Ricky Wilson first appearing above the set against the background of the moon.
And then it all went wrong. From the moment he started singing.
Now Ricky's vocals have never been great. He is a shouty singer. More swagger than quality. But here he was truly AWFUL. Shouty but also often out of key. Made worse by having two such excellent vocalists before him.
And not just the bad vocals. He had some problem with his monitor. At one point I think he forgot a whole verse to one song. Pippa thought he must be drunk.
Now there is no doubt that the Chiefs have a fine back catalogue, but been diminishing returns after the first three albums. It doesn't help that in terms of live performance the band is Ricky. The rest are anonymous. And if he is off (and I mean sounding off, he bounded around just fine), well the act is off. Lots of great anthems, but you still have to perform them. The great irony is that he was a judge on the TV talent show The Voice. "Physician Heal Thyself" comes to mind. Pretty much anyone he judged would be better than him.
Not a bad gig by any means, but of the three acts the headliners were third best. By a big margin.
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