Moon Safari

[Dodie]

Hi RacingHippo! Yes, I'll be at Maltby this Saturday - and this time I'm bringing my son with me!
Looking forward to seeing you again!
By the way, I didn't see any Frosties say so already, but the new Moon Safari album Himlabacken Vol. 1 is gorgeous, clever and damn catchy.

[RacingHippo]

I'll probably have a car, namely my brother's, as I'll be staying overnight at his place out in sunny Ashford (of the Surrey variety). So for four of us at least (it's not a big car), we'll be fine ... 

As it 'appens, my gig buddy is thinking of driving. It's just a question of parking: what's the parking like near El Peel?

Yes, I'll be at Maltby this Saturday - and this time I'm bringing my son with me!

Excellent!
And yes, Himlabacken is a corker!

[Trapezium Artist]

Jolly jolly excellent they were last night: an absolute pleasure. As LFE said later on as we stood drenched in a kebab shop in central Kingston (the only thing we could find open after midnight), it's gigs like that that remind you why you're a prog fan in the first place, and I thoroughly concur.

There was a moment in the middle of the instrumental "Moonwalk" from Blomljud (RH: that was the one I tasked you with finding the name of, but I just cut out the middleman and asked Sebastian Åkesson ) where I was just grinning ear to ear: it was spectacular, as good a live performance of anything I've heard in ages.

I won't go into further set details, if only because I was just letting it wash over me and can't really remember, but there was a lot of great stuff, old and new, lots of Lover's End (including Part III), and including an additional almost-curfew-busting double encore, ending in the traditional but ever lovely a capella "Constant Bloom" to end.

But it all confirmed for me just how ridiculously good a live outfit Moon Safari are. Even though I've been to gigs at The Peel when it was much more crowded (as have many of you  ), I don't think I've ever heard such an overwhelming response to a band there, particularly after "A Kid Called Panic". The noise was incredible and thoroughly deserved. Their roadie chap backed me up on that: he said that they only gig where they've had a bigger reaction than last night was when they played in Japan.

Which says quite something about a small pub in west London, the regular crowd of prognoscenti, Twang for promoting (great job yet again, man), and mostly about Moon Safari. Who were also very generous with their time and interaction post-gig: I'll be interested to see whether they follow-up on my idea to get in touch with the Swedish folk a capella girl group, Kraja http://www.kraja.nu/, and bring them on tour as support 

Yes, I liked the gig. A lot 

(And of course it was great to see Messrs Hippo, Forever, L33VEY, Mouse, Ramsay, and Mlle Philadelphia, among others 

p.s. The one downer was The Peel's dreadful lighting, which made taking pictures a real challenge; so much so that I stopped bothering at some point, despite toting a few thousand Euros worth of Nikon's best with me. Any chance we could have some better spots, please? Pretty please?

If I have anything worthwhile at all, I'll post them, but otherwise refer back to my pictures from Zoetermeer last year: same band, same gurning from Petter (albeit I wasn't sure about his new cap-clutching moves  ), although Simon has had a haircut and was wearing a very fetching all-red outfit ... 

[L33VEY]

In the cold light of a damp morning, that must be in my Top 10 gigs of all time and they didn't even get round to Diamonds and Sugar Band.
Crossing the Rubicon passed me by on the CD, but live it was like the rest of them - sublime.

If you have a chance to get to Rotherham or Wolverhampton, then go.

[Mikey]

I went to see the Kaiser Chiefs last night......

At this point it, all I will say is that the sex pistols are due a return.

[LivingForever]

I've just had one of the most amazing weekends ever.

Moon Safari at the Peel completely blew me away, I expected to enjoy them but not that much. They've singlehandedly restored my faith that there might still be something worth saying in the retro-prog genre. The albums are now on repeat... and the glowing feeling of happiness coming off the stage refuses to go away, despite...

Roger Waters at Wembley Stadium. Dark, gloomy, touching, thought provoking- that's The Wall. But it's also turned into the finest spectacle that money can buy. Tim and I had prime seats right at the back, face on to the stage, and to take in the whole thing from back there was a wonderful counterpoint to the close-up view I had two years ago at the O2. Everything about this show is just immense- the projections, the pyro, the wall, the sheer theatre of it all. And Roger having the time of his life, machine-gunning the crowd. The music was alright, too.

Added to that, there were all the lovely people to see at The Peel, with a delicious kebab wrap to warm up the hardy, damp souls at the end of the night. Plus there was a gigantic fry-up breakfast in Surbiton with Tim and Rob (who seemed slightly disappointed with how un-greasy the spoons were...!)

Then there was Series 1 of "Look Around You" to guffaw at for the first time, a gigantic shopping spree in Fopp like the huge capitalist pig that I am, AND the weekend finished with a Blu-ray screening of that well known piece of arthouse cinema called "Con Air".

Next weekend has got its work cut out, is all I can say!

[Trapezium Artist]

Just to follow-up, I've broken my YouTube virginity (ooer, missus) and posted a video of "Constant Bloom" from the end of the fabulous gig last Friday at The Peel:

http://youtu.be/MtZgkTFCC-g

No bleeping DSLR's, clicking, or nose blowing here, but a somewhat buzzy PA and some weird background music (from the neighbouring strip joint, as suggested by L33VEY?  ) at the start, and a slightly tentative start from the band. But it picks up very nicely and provides a nice reminder of a brilliant ggi, albeit without the spot-on, tight-as-a-drum instrumental side of the band which was a marvel to behold. If anyone has a video or even audio of Moonwalk, please let me know!

[RacingHippo]

..."Moonwalk" from Blomljud (RH: that was the one I tasked you with finding the name of, but I just cut out the middleman and asked Sebastian Åkesson )

Sheesh!
I went all the way to Rotherham to see them again JUST so that I could remember what that choon was!
On the up-side, I took Pygmy Hippo along (and we met Pedro & Mrs and Catherine, which was lovely) and he sat on the floor at my feet and sang his heart out. One Happy Kid

For the Peel gig, I took a friend with me who never goes to rock/pop gigs, only classical concerts. She's a singer in a couple of London choirs (one of which tours globally)  and is well versed in all matters choral, so I thought if there's ever a band that she'd like, it'd be Our Moonies.
At several points during the gig, she turned and looked at me, grinning ear-to-ear, with an expression of sheer astonishment.

Afterwards she said she'd spotted influences from loads of classical stuff, including Italian madrigals!
And Moonwalk was a highlight for her, too - the realisation that it was possible for a "rock band" to play something that was, basically, a symphony, was something of an eye-opener 

TA - really sorry we couldn't stay for nosh. I had an early train to catch and Clare had a 9am meeting to chair! Sounds like we only missed a kebab anyway