iTunes Festival - The XX / Wildbeasts

So, I am the biggest blagger going - but even I couldn't manage to blag myself a pair of tickets to The XX's iTunes gig OR Somerset House gig. I tried everything but these guys have got SO big recently it was impossible. So I paid for tickets that everyone else was getting for free - stupid maybe, but I think I got a pretty good deal considering what some idiots were asking for on Ebay!!

Anyway... having only heard of The XX just two short months ago, I was rather excited about this gig. This was nothing compared to the friend who accompanied me (the person who told me about the band in the first place - I definitely owed him one!) who said he hadn't been as excited since Christmas 1993 when he got his Mr Frosty!

First on were The Wildbeasts - who I hadn't heard of before but I had an open mind and was looking forward to a little dance before the main act. Within a song and a half I was bored. Don't get me wrong, I was tapping my foot - I like a good beat - but the songs were terribly same-y and the singers kept using that annoying falsetto voice I'm not a huge fan of. About 5 songs in I went to the toilet and apparently missed the best 3 songs of the set - oh well.

Finally it was time for the band we'd all been waiting for and iTunes did a great build up on the big screens - counting down from 3 minutes before the band were on stage with clips of bands at the iTunes festival from the previous year. Definitely built the excitement and by the time we heard the opening bars of 'Intro' (the only

song they could have started with really!) we were screaming and clapping away.

Having only known about these guys for such a short time I didn't know all the songs by heart, but I could belt out a chorus or 6 and they put on an awesome show. The 2 singers were amazing live singers and even if you discount the lyrics of the songs - the music itself is incredible. Really, if you haven't heard of these guys - they only have 1 album out and it is SO worth a listen.

They played pretty much all the songs

from the album, along with a few I hadn't heard before (and I couldn't tell you what they were called I'm afraid) but I believe at least one was a funky house cover and kept the crowd going for the whole set to the point that they had barely left the stage before everyone was chanting for more. It was also refreshing to see a band who were so happy to be there - they said the last time they performed at the Roundhouse it was in the basement and they were genuinely thrilled to be on the main stage this time.

Highlights were VCR, Infinity (last song of set) and Stars (encore) but overall a fantastic and quite intimate gig - watch out for these guys, they're going to be huge!!

Welcome One and All...

Hello you lovely people! Or person... Or just me... Hi me!!

I have started this blog to write my views on the lovely world of Television, Celebrities and various gigs that I go to - just basically to get them off my chest. You may agree with my views or disagree with them, I don't mind either way but please do comment and tell me your opinion - I would love to hear from you guys!

So last night I went to a comedy gig which was basically a material 'try out' for a new Channel 4 show. We paid £3 for the privilege of seeing such names as Patrick Kielty - who was compering , Kevin Bridges, Rich Hall, Jack Whitehall and Tom Stade - as well as a girl called Andi Osho whom I hadn't heard of before and Australian - Brendan Burns. It was held on a boat in Embankment which I thought was a really interesting setting for a comedy night and certainly different. The crowd was small and it was a nice intimate gig - no stage, the comedians were right in front of us (literally as we had 2nd row seats!!)

- The night started off not too bad, Kielty seemed a bit rusty and unsure of the calibre of the audiences humour but once he got a few bad jokes out of the way he soon got comfortable and introduced the first act.

- Jack Whitehall was covering Celebs and all things Heat magazine related - now considering I've seen Whitehall perform before I was not a huge fan, I find his poshness a bit much - like he's trying too hard to be cool and edgy but not quite succeeding - but here he seemed much more comfortable. Maybe he's not a good one at reading from scripts and prefers improvising a bit more, I'm not sure, but he gelled well with the audience and yes some of his jokes bombed, but others were great and he always had a smile on his face.

- Next on was Kevin Bridges discussing the World Cup - I kind of switched off a little bit as I'm not a huge football fan and lets face it when you've heard one joke about Vuvuzelas you've heard them all, and I think a lot of the audience felt the same. Quite a lot of his jokes didn't go down too well and his set was probably the shortest of the night - which was a shame as I saw him on tour and he was great.

- Andi Osho was last before the interval and started off with a slave auction joke - which everyone loved (yes we all had a pretty dark sense of humour in that room!). She had the room eating out of her hands almost straight away and did really well, but didn't seem to know how to finish her set and rambled for a minute or two before exiting.

- After a short break, Kielty had a bit more banter with the audience, singling my friend and I out as the 2 single girls which prompted a bit of Beyonce booty shaking from our host! He then kept eyeballing us throughout the show - it was highly amusing!

- Tom Stade...what can I say? His set consisted of him playing an agony uncle 'Uncle Tom' and to say it was controversial is a rather large understatement! Within seconds half the audience were sat mouths open, eyes agog not believing some of the things this guy was coming out with and yet there was quite a few in absolute hysterics!

- Rich Hall was rather random and talked about politics a bit too much for me and I switched off for most of his act unfortunately

- Brendan Burns was also controversial but in a less creepy way than 'Uncle Tom' and much more easily enjoyable - despite the subject of his act being paedophilia!

Overall a fab night, for a bargain price. As much as the stopping and starting and bits of scrap paper floating around sometimes put me off try out gigs - it does feel a bit more like you have a bit of a say, in which material makes it and you feel much more involved. So next time your see one of these gigs - whether you've heard of the comedians or not - give it a go, you might just bag yourself a fab night out on the cheap! And if its rubbish, who cares - it cost you next to nothing!