The Northern Chords - Best of 2016 - Part 4 - #10-#6

Following on from the three previous installments, here is the penultimate part of The Northern Chords' Best of 2016 countdown for live shows, including two performances from this year's Glastonbury Festival. Almost at the end now!

10.

James

Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, 24.06.16.

A few acts may play across the Thursday evening at Glastonbury, but the first spot on the Other Stage on Friday has become a coveted position, third only to headliner and the Legends Slot. In Madchester icons James, riding a revival of fortunes behind new record Girl at the End of the World, the festival found a match made in heaven. From the brass-drenched feelgood anthemics of Nothing But Love, to the baggy throwback of Laid, through the soaring alt-rock balladry of Tomorrow, Tim Booth and company helped blow through the drizzle and referendum hangover with a chirpy, feel-good performance. Altogether now; come home, come home….

Tim Booth of James performing live in Manchester in 2016.
(Credit to Sean Hansford.)

9.

The Cure

Manchester Arena, Manchester, 29.11.16.

Goth-pop legends The Cure’s first UK show in almost two years – and first arena show at least three times that length – may have been a breeze compared to recent slogs at a mere two hours; but Robert Smith and co packed it so full of hits and fan favourites that it was difficult to feel short-changed. Backed by five vertical screens and a wild, often trippy light show, the band played a career-spanning set, from the juddering post-punk thrill of A Forest to the charged jangle-rock of The Hungry Ghost, and found space to throw in the joyously bouncy trio of Just Like Heaven, In Between Days and Friday I’m In Love. The Cure are back again – and even all these years later, smudged kohl and lipstick has never felt so giddily fun. Stellar stuff.

The Cure performing live at Bestival 2016.
(Credit to Red Bull.)

8.

Adele

Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, 25.06.16.

Beige. Uninspired. Music for grannies. Boring. Not Glastonbury enough. These were just some of the insults thrown around regarding the booking of soul pop singer Adele Adkins, the biggest artist on the planet. Yet from the opening notes of mega-ballad Hello to the closing piano chimes of Someone Like You, the Tottenham-born superstar won over her audience with a tight, superb performance of her biggest hits, punctured with potty-mouth rambles and fez-sporting sidetracks. With modern classics such as Skyfall, Set Fire to the Rain and Rolling in the Deep dispatched with flair and panache, Adele proved soft pop had a place on the Pyramid and wrote herself into history once more doing so.

Adele performing live at Glastonbury Festival 2016.
(Credit to BBC.)

7.

Suede

O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, 14.02.16.

It was fitting perhaps, that on a grey Valentine’s Day, Suede turned up to the O2 Academy Leeds to play a new album based around the concept of a relationship disintegrating in tragic circumstances. Their presentation of latest record Night Thoughts – played entirely behind a screen onto which an accompanying short film was played – was a nature, challenging, cinematic thrill; and when they unloaded the hits in a second act, curtain raised, the band were even more compelling. From Brett Anderson’s snake-hip thrust on the deliciously dirty Animal Nitrate to the wretched-scuzz riffs of Trash, Suede reaffirmed themselves as a vital live act, unafraid to take a gamble here and there.

Suede performing live in Manchester in 2016.
(Credit to Manchester Evening News.)

6.

Biffy Clyro

First Direct Arena, Leeds, 04.12.16.

The Scottish power trio’s return to arenas may have been down on attendance figures compared to their 2013 jaunt; but the Ayrshire rockers gave no less an incendiary performance than they did three years ago. From the pummelling fretwork of Wolves of Winter to the euphoric lighters-aloft balladry of Biblical, to the stoner-sprint of Bubbles, Simon Neil and brothers Ben and James Johnston roared – minus their tops of course – through a 130-minute extravaganza, on a stage bedecked by four separate halogen lighting rigs that gave the impression of an optical illusion. They arguably peaked with the iconic, sky-high singalong of Many of Horror – but Neil showcased his showmanship best when accompanied only by an acoustic guitar for a beautiful Machines. Mon the Biff indeed! 

Biffy Clyro performing live at Reading Festival in 2016.
(Credit to Emma Swan.)

The Northern Chords - Best of 2016 - Part 3 - #15-#11

The Christmas countdown of our best of 2016 continues here at The Northern Chords, with numbers #15 through #11 today. Ho ho ho!

15.

Muse

Manchester Arena, Manchester, 08.04.16.

Muse’s seventh record Drones was another album full of Wagnerian bluster, pompous riffs and tetchy progtronica – so it was only right that their UK tour should see them exceed Spinal Tap levels of overblown spectacle by flying numerous drones around Britain’s biggest arena, lit up like kaleidoscopic mines and portable suns. Such theatrics would be a distraction if not for the quality of the band below. Though their new material could be stodgy, classic new glam-anthems like Uprising and Knights of Cydonia allowed Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme to flex their peerless musical muscles in another toud-de-force performance. The band headline Reading and Leeds next year – a show sure to be another captivating notch in their belt.

Muse performing live in Manchester in 2016.
(Credit to Joel Goodman.)

14.

Cigarettes After Sex

Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 22.11.16.

Cigarettes After Sex – the Texan ambient collective led by the softly-spoken Greg Gonzalez – have been making waves for a reason. Their brand of androgynous, witchy music, eerily reminiscent of the Cocteau Twins, is disarmingly hypnotic and whilst their show at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds was rather short on quantity, it was easily eclipsed by quality. From their latest single K, through a cover of REO Speedwagon’s Keep on Loving You, to the superbly executed Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby, Gonzalez and company kept their crowd hooked in a dreamlike state of haunted ecstasy. The group return to these shores for a trio of shows next Spring – a must see for any fan of ethereal pop.

Cigarettes after Sex performing live in New York in 2015.
(Credit to brechtbug.)

13.

Hurts

Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, 25.06.16.

Few people would have the balls to were a pristine white suit in the torrential mud of Glastonbury 2016, but Theo Hutchcraft is not one of them. Like a sexually-charged angel stalking the slate grey skies and stage, his boundless energy and impeccable vocals helped make Hurts’ set one of the weekend’s stand-out highlights. From the throbbing bass of Some Kind of Heaven to the emphatic disco-dance of Sunday, to the stunning ballad Stay that closed their brief, hour-long set, Hutchcraft and musical partner Adam Anderson kept up an arch vein of witty synthpop that served as a wonderful tonic to the drizzle over Pilton. Hurts are classy party-starters – and they showed why they remain a massive live draw across the continent with their excellent showmanship.

Hurts performing live at Glastonbury Festival 2016.
(Credit to BBC.)

12.

Weezer

Manchester Academy, Manchester, 03.04.16.

It’s a rare treat when power-pop icons Weezer makes the journey across to the UK. With no full tour over here in well over a decade, and their appearances reduced to sporadic London and festival shows, their stop in Manchester behind their four self-titled record was long overdue. The Californian legends justified the wait and the hype too, with a blistering career-spanning set including college-staple tracks such as Say It Ain’t So, Buddy Holly and Troublemaker, the latter complete with a snippet of Oasis’ Champagne Supernova. Weezer are perhaps the perfect crowd-pleasing live band, tight and catchy; but let’s hope they don’t make Britain wait another ten years for a proper visit.

Weezer performing live in Manchester in 2016.
(Credit to thefourohfive.com)

11.

Neil Young and Promise of the Real

First Direct Arena, Leeds, 10.06.16.

Canadian folk legend Neil Young’s first visit to Europe with his new backing group, Californian jam band Promise of the Real, was as thrilling as its billing suggested. Opening with a solo acoustic set featuring classic cuts such as Heart of Gold and Comes a Time, Young steered the show through his musical evolution, from his hippie days to his place as the godfather of grunge, through twenty-minute renditions of Cowgirl in the Sand and Down by the River, all stuttering staccato guitar licks. When he screamed “Fuck Donald Trump!” at the beginning of a messy yet visceral Rockin’ in the Free World, his rage at the state of the West was palpable. A genuine icon, Young remains a compelling live performer, even as his septuagenarian years roll on.

Neil Young performing live in Glasgow in 2016.
(Credit to The Guardian.)

The Northern Chords - Best of 2016 - Part 2 - #20-#16

Following on from yesterday's first part, The Northern Chords presents the second installment of their review of 2016's best live shows, with the countdown featuring #20 through #16. Happy holidays!

20.

Coheed and Cambria

O2 Ritz, Manchester, 01.02.16.

The NY-area progressive metallers have famously put out seven conceptual records over a decade that all tied into a sprawling science-fiction storyline and comic book series, The Amory Wars, written by frontman Claudio Sanchez. Freed off these creative constraints, Coheed and Cambria’s eighth album, The Color Before the Sun, instead delivered superb lashings of pop rock, showcased brilliantly in a career-spanning Manchester show. New tracks such as Island and You’ve Got Spirit, Kid were bona-fide singalong anthems – and their line in older material, such as the crushingly heavy Welcome Home kept the purists entertained too. Visceral, stirring stuff.

Coheed and Cambria performing live in Portland in 2015.
(Credit to Vortex Music Magazine.)

19.

Foals

First Direct Arena, Leeds, 20.02.16.

Arena level shows were arguably overdue for Foals, Oxford’s biggest musical export since Radiohead. Purveyors of tropical indie pop, and renown for the chaotic, sweaty live shows, they impressively carried over that energy into concrete monoliths in February, ahead of their major festival headline debut at Reading. In part, their success lied with frantic, heavy new material such as the pummelling What Went Down and the groove-laden Snake Oil – but it was the dance-funk of My Number and the ethereal Spanish Sahara that justly captivated Leeds, Yannis Philippakis scaling sound towers and inciting mosh pits aplenty. Hectic and thrilling, Foals remain a premier live act even at this level.

Foals performing live in London in 2016. (Credit
to DIY Magazine.)

18.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Manchester Arena, Manchester, 14.12.16

On their winter UK arena tour, there was a sense that the Red Hot Chili Peppers had something to prove. The band had played a run of lacklustre festival headline shows in the summer, including T in the Park and Reading and Leeds Festivals, and questions were asked about their quality as a live act. Doubts were firmly banished at the first night of two in Manchester, with rhythm section Flea and Chad Smith as elastic as ever on hard funk classics Higher Ground, Give It Away and Californication. Frontman Anthony Kiedis shined on the melodically sweet Snow ((Hey Oh)) and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer shined on newer cuts The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie and Dark Necessities, all accompanied by a jaw-dropping lighting rig. Fortune faded? Not quite yet.

Red Hot Chili Peppers performing live in Birmingham in
2016. (Credit to Birmingham Mail.)

17.

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes

Albert Hall, Manchester, 18.02.16.

Second down on this year’s Kerrang! Tour bill, former Gallows and Pure Love frontman Frank Carter’s set was the undisputed highlight, blowing out comeback headliners Sum 41 in emphatic fashion. Backed by his group The Rattlesnakes, he blew threw a tight set of hardcore punk at Manchester’s Albert Hall that saw him stand atop the crowd itself, in the middle of an extraordinary circle pit during a visceral Jackals. By the venomous, destructive I Hate You, Carter had truly stole the show, crowning himself rightfully as one of the most exhilarating live acts in the modern British rock scene.

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes performing live in London
in 2015. (Credit to Daniel Quesada.)

16.

Tame Impala

Manchester Arena, Manchester, 11.02.16.

Having made their name with neo-psychedelic jams straight from the suburbs of Australia, Kevin Parker’s Tame Impala made a sidestep into disco with their latest record Currents, a stylistic shift ably showcased at their UK arena headline debut. Backed by swirls of neon colour and heady smoke, the rock outfit unfurled shimmering gems such as the infectious Let It Happen and the stoner-thump of Elephant. By the time they close with the slow, sensual New Person, Same Old Mistakes, Tame Impala had emphatically justified their step up into large venues – and with such an ability to hypnotise audiences, the sky is truly their limit.

Tame Impala performing live in Dublin in 2016.
(Credit to No More Workhorse.)

The Northern Chords - Best of 2016 - Part 1 - #25-#21

2016 was not just another year. It was the year where the world turned itself upside down, perhaps no more so in the music world. We sadly learnt that Bowie was not immortal, nor Prince, nor Cohen. These illustrious greats, these wordsmiths, these musicians who formed the very tapestry of modern music were suddenly no longer among us, all too human, gone too soon. It was a sobering year, and many more didn’t make it to the end.

But 2016 also delivered some of the finest live music experiences going. Numerous musicians made their first visit to UK shores for some years, several stepped up on the festival bills and at Glastonbury, the referendum result was cast aside in a celebration of unity and togetherness. Thenorthernchords was lucky to attend some superb events once more this year, with over a hundred different artists seen. In a year of tragedy, music could still remind us of triumph.

So, without further ado, may we present our Top #25 Performances of 2016

25.

Brand New

First Direct Arena, Leeds, 04.12.16.

A veil of uncertainty clouds the future of New York emo stalwarts Brand New. With their end signalled to be within the next twenty-four months, the band’s support slots for Biffy Clyro were perhaps the first notes of an extended swansong. If so, they couldn’t have started it in a better way, bringing out soaring, angst-ridden renditions of Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t and Jesus. Under flashes of chaotic light, Jesse Lacey and co reminded those present of the legacy they will leave behind – but here’s to hoping that they might delay retirement a little longer.

Brand New performing live in Michigan in 2016.
(Credit to Scott Legato.)

24.

Shinedown

First Direct Arena, Leeds, 05.02.16.

Generally, a support act isn’t meant to overshadow the main attraction. But after Shinedown’s performance on the Carnival of Madness Tour before Black Stone Cherry, it was always going to be a difficult act for the latter to follow. The Jacksonville hard rockers turned out a consummately professional performance that was no less enjoyable for its adherence to convention, with highlights including their stunning staple cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man and a punchy, chunky Sound of Madness. But perhaps the highlight is their power-ballad Second Chance, all superb riffs and cheesy air-punching. They return to the UK next May in support of Iron Maiden too; a must-see for rock fans in need of a good time.

Shinedown performing live in Leeds in 2016..
(Credit to Katy Blackwood.)

23.

Mark Morriss

The Fulford Arms, York, 16.10.16.

Few gigs came more intimate than Bluetones frontman Mark Morriss’ show in an old pub. Yet it suited the singer and guitarist down to a tee, allowing him to mine his natural skill as a raconteur and a filthy sense of humour alongside some excellently rendered gritty acoustic pop. What stood out best though were his oddball cover choices – his left-field picks of Elton John’s Daniel and the new-wave sex-stomp of Rio were truly magnificent. Morriss often cut close to the bone with his jokes but his waggish geniality allowed him to easily break down the barriers between performer and audience for an friendly show that never lost the personal touch.

Mark Morriss performing live in Frankfurt in 2014.
(Credit to regioactive.de)

22.

Babymetal

Manchester Arena, Manchester, 14.12.16.

When it was announced that the Red Hot Chili Peppers would bring Japanese teenage outfit Babymetal to the UK as their support act, more than a few eyebrows were raised. But their match is more logical than doubters assume; both play their music with a keen sense of theatrical humour, both fuse melodic pop with heavy riffs and both are known for ridiculous fashion choices. As such, Babymetal – Su-metal, Yuimetal, Moametal and the Kami Band – were absolutely brilliant, from the J-pop metalcore of Megitsune to the groove-laden, anthemic Karate. Some may dismiss Babymetal as a joke, a one-trick pony; but in Manchester, they ably staked a claim as a credible live artist.

Babymetal performing live in London in 2016.
(Credit to TeamRock.)

21.

Massive Attack

O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, 27.01.16.

Bristol’s politically-charged godfathers of trip-hop may have headlined Hyde Park with Patti Smith this year, but it was their intimate show at the O2 Academy in Leeds that really set pulses racing. Eschewing some of their biggest hits, they instead rolled out new material including a riveting Voodoo in My Blood, with guest vocals from support act Young Fathers and the eerie Ritual Spirt. If the music was great, the visuals were even better – all rendered in the style of old Ceefax pages, with real-time news headlines painting a violent image of early 2016, dire warnings that have become spookily prophetic in hindsight. Hits? Who needs the hits when it’s this good?

Massive Attack performing live in London in 2016.
(Credit to The Telegraph.)

Status Quo - Three-Chord Stalwarts Sign Off With a Wallop - First Direct Arena, Leeds, 17.12.16.

Four songs in, and Francis Rossi, the sharply dressed frontman of Status Quo, is already removing his waistcoat, wiping firstly his brow and then his crotch with the garment in question. He looks at it for a moment, then shrugs and throws it over his shoulder. “I’ve got that feeling of going too far,” he quips. When a member of the audience heckles him, his response is succinct and good-natured: “Shut yer gob!”

Status Quo performing live in London in December
2016. (Credit to Andrew Fosker.)

Succinct and good-natured is a pretty good way to describe the Quo. The three-chord stalwarts have made a half-century long career out of music that is direct and to the point; no-nonsense, in-your-face, chunky rock-and-roll, with all the fat shaved off. Thirty-two albums in, and they show no sign of stopping, though ostensibly, they are slowing down. Their show at the First Direct Arena in Leeds is part of what is being billed as an electric full-band farewell tour, with Rossi having announced that the group will switch to acoustic shows only. Indeed, with Rossi the only original member left following Rick Parfitt’s retirement after a heart attack in the summer, the question lingers whether Quo have a future beyond their immediate slate of dates.

Rossi obviously hasn’t got the memo about signing off quietly; from the ferocious Caroline to the driving, pounding Something ‘Bout You Baby I Like, Quo’s lead guitarist delivers brusque, taut riffs that shake the foundations around him. His voice remains in excellent shape, fifty years on – and in Parfitt’s absence, long-term bassist John “Rhino” Edwards and keyboard player Andy Brown ably fill his vocal cues. Indeed, Rossi does not even mention his founding partner all night; and touring replacement Richie Malone, referred to as “Paddy” by the frontman, ably fills the big guitar licks required on songs such as The Wanderer and Rain.

Their staging is spartan and their lighting old-school; a sharp contrast to the modern arena spectacle on offer. And when all five, including drummer Leon Cave – with a “cocktail kit” as Rossi terms it – decamp to the front for a cheeky Gerdundula, there’s a wonderfully intimate feel to proceedings. But it’s the thunderous rock and roll they serve that truly captures attention, from the roaring Beginning of the End to the snappy Roll Over Lay Down. They even roll five or six of their hits up into a fast-paced medley; though the snapshot nature does feel somewhat lacking.

Status Quo performing live in Nottingham in December
2016. (Credit to Kevin Cooper.)

But the hits do keep coming; a burbling In the Army Now, the bouncy Whatever You Want, the booming, singalong Rockin’ All Over the World that bursts with anthemic passion. When they return, after a brief break, for the encore, they turn out fan favourite and latter-day hit Burning Bridges (On and Off and On Again), famously the basis for a football chant and hit single by Manchester United. As they wrap up with Chuck Berry’s Rock and Roll Music, Rossi sketches a quick bow. Status Quo may be going out – but they’re rolling home with a wallop, not a whisper.