Fickle Friends
Insert your coins and swing on the handle, Getintothis‘ David Hall fires up the one-armed bandit of gigs for another week of pot luck; will it be a jackpot?
We’re not gonna lie to you, putting this guide together takes work. Pouring over gig listings, scrolling through Facebook. Have we heard of these guys? If not, is there a reason, or are they the next big thing? Is anybody going to be interested in seeing them? Is this gig too niche? Too mainstream? What the fuck man, what the fuck.
It can take a lot of guessing, and second guessing, and deciding which gigs to highlight and which to shove across the table in your general direction. Don’t get us wrong, such decisions rarely keep us up at night, and we’d rather this than being on a building site. But it’s work, folks. Graft.
Then again sometimes, friends, this guide simply writes itself. We’re pleased to tell you this is just such a week, and it speaks volumes of the quality on offer across the Merseyside gig circuit in the coming week. No struggle club for you or us this week, no sir, nope ma’am.
Belle & Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian: Philharmonic Hall, Monday March 19
Aye, it’s finally here! Glaswegian indie-pop royalty (and we don’t use that word lightly) Belle and Sebastian in the magnificent Philharmonic Hall.
With their latest album Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance now three years hence, the band last year dropped surprise single We Were Beautiful and are in the midst of releasing a trio of EPs titled How to Solve Our Human Problems. Bona fide festival headliners in the Phil? Don’t mind if we do.
Fickle Friends
Fickle Friends: O2 Academy, Wednesday March 21
Brighton indie-poppers and friends of the city – the five piece’s vocalist Natassja Shiner and drummer Sam Morris met studying at LIPA – Fickle Friends are laid on by Evol for a whopper of an O2 show midweek.
Following a hatful of singles and two much loved EPs, the band just dropped their full length debut on Friday in the form of You Are Someone Else. What better way to celebrate that achievement than with a UK tour?
Field Music
Field Music: Arts Club, Thursday March 22
The Tyne and Wear critical darlings and indie mainstays Field Music swing by for what should be a thoroughly excellent Arts Club showing this week.
Sunderland two piece the Brewis brothers (why didn’t they just stick with that as a name?) have plenty to feel swell about, with a new album in Open Here released just last month on of course their perennial home label Memphis Industries marking their seventh record and highest-ever chart showing.
Blancmange’s Neil Arthur
Blancmange: Arts Club, Saturday March 24
Nothing short of new wave progenitors, Blancmange back in the day were often mentioned in the same sentence as the likes of Depeche Mode and Soft Cell, after being featured on the Some Bizarre Compilation sampler, which launched the careers of those two bands as well as The The.
Since then, Blancmange have broken up, reformed, and lost a founder member. So now it’s just original vocalist Neil Arthur who will be banging out the synth pop tunes down the Arts Club this Saturday.
Gary Numan
Gary Numan: O2 Academy, Saturday March 24
It seems like only recently that the former Tubeway Army man thrilled Merseyside Numanoids with a boss Exhibition Centre showing, but Gary Numan returns to Liverpool this week.
It’s all because it’s the same tour as last time, wheeling back for another round, as Numan continues his late career renaissance in promoting new album Savage (Songs from a Broken World).
Zuzu
Empty the last of your change into the gig fruity and don’t listen to that fella by the bar – he’s never jackied this thing in his life – it’s Getintothis‘ Gigbites:
- Paloma Faith: Echo Arena, Tuesday March 20
- Milestones: Sound Food And Drink, Wednesday March 21
- The Fratellis: Olympia, Thursday March 22
- The Wholls: EBGBs, Thursday March 22
- Esme Bridie, Elijah James And The Nightmares, Ellie Rose Smith: Studio 2, Thursday March 22
- Yes: Philharmonic Hall, Friday March 23
- The Magic Roundabout #2 – Maddy Storm, Beija Flo: Sound Food and Drink, Friday March 23
- The Bido Lito! Social – Zuzu, Pizzagirl: Constellations, Friday March 23
- Denim & Leather, Heavy Sentence, Polluted Brain: DumBulls, Friday March 23
- False Heads, Fuss, Eyesore & The Jinx, Feral Family: Sound Food and Drink, Saturday March 24
- Beth Nielsen Chapman: Philharmonic Hall, Saturday March 24
- Perc, Under Black Helmet, Xavier: Invisible Wind Factory, Saturday March 24
- The Turbans: Invisible Wind Factory, Saturday March 24
- Alex Lahey: Studio 2, Saturday March 24
- Sarah Darling: Studio 2, Sunday March 25
Bahamas (photo credit: Emmett Malloy)
Bahamas: Leaf On Bold Street, Thursday April 5
Recently announced as sifting venues across town – with all original tickets still honoured – Canadian born Afie Jurvanen, better known by his stage name Bahamas, is due to hit Leaf soon.
With his new album Earthtones released in 2018 and enjoying greater success than ever, it seems only right that Bahamas brings another talented solo artist with him. Of The Valley is on support duties, who recently dropped his new single Quiet And Curious, and joins Bahamas on all UK and European tour dates. It’s gonna be a special one.
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