Best of 2023 – Top 10 live acts
Electronic and rock, new or old, we got it covered
1
The Art Of Noise/Revision/VJ – 5th January, The Jazz Cafe
Under normal circumstances, the very mention of a heritage act – electronic or otherwise – returning for a gratitous lap of honour will see us rapidly heading for the nearest bin making, at the very best, loud and repeated retching noises. But when the act in question is The Art Of Noise, we make an exception. Why? Well, firstly, they’re second only to Kraftwerk in their seminal influence on the rest of electronic music. Secondly. the amount of live performances they played at their height could be counted on one hand, dismissing any accusations that this current incarnation featuring the undersung talents of JJ Jeczalik and Gary Langan were in any way ‘milking it’. And thirdly, of course, they put on a fantastic show. They have plenty of massive hits to throw in – we’re thinking ‘Close To To The Edit’, ‘Peter Gunn’, ‘Kiss’ and ‘Moments In Love’ for starters. For a band that changed the course of history, they do a great job of joining the dots between disparate musics too, from Malcolm McClaren’s ‘Buffalo Girls’ to ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’ by Yes, two records they helped create. JJ Jeczalik proves himself a dry but gently vicious wit with his in between songs patter, and the VJ element of the show – as improvised and spontaneous as the music itself – is truly dazzling. A night in the presence of legends, no less, it would be criminal if they don’t do more of these.
2
Rich Ruth – 3rd May, The Lexington
“It should be available on the NHS,” this writer remarked in his thank you note to Rich Ruth’s PR, noting the Nashville musican’s ability to chill his listeners out, even those who’ve just stepped off the manic streets of London. There might well be a reason for that. Rich Ruth, or Michael Ruth to use his real name, is a seasoned session musician who turned to making his meditational, deeply emotional but chilled out music as personal therapy after being held up at gunpoint and carjacked otuside his house. He’d already done two shows in London, appearing totally solo and using guitar and keyboards to fantastic effect. But the Lexington show saw him venturing out with a full band, borrowed from headliner Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection, one of many bands that Ruth plays with. The results were enthralling, at times like hearing Miles Davis jamming with Spirtualized, at others an indescribably luxurious mix of underplayed jazz elements and bubbling electronics. Most amazing of all, having charmed and drawn in the arriving Lexington audience, thoroughly winning them over, he ends up by thanking the ensemble and announcing that before stepping on stage they had not even rehearsed or even played together. What the actual fuck?! Achieving such expression, delicacy and precision completely off the top of their heads is testament to skills that go way,way beyond the ordinary. Check his second album I Survived, It’s Over for further proof, and the next time he’s in the UK.
3
Phoxjaw – 3rd July, The Black Heart
Bristol based alternative rock act Phoxjaw have become a major outlier of almost every scene, due to their expansive marrying of frenetic riffage, catchy hooks and absurd lyricism with elements of noise-rock, sludge metal and almost any other genre that benefits from distortion and loud volume. Closing out their UK summer headline tour in promotion of their stellar sophomore effort notverynicecream in Camden’s Black Heart (directly across from our offices), proved to be an endurance trial of blistering noise, cascading bodies and anthemic singalongs akin to football hooligans let loose inside of a hardcore show. Complete with sequencers, samplers, synths and arpeggiators, providing chaotic loops around the band’s crushing tones, and frontman Daniel Garland answering the question once and for all whether an artist can truly crowd-surf in such an intimate venue, Phoxjaw delivered an arena-sized dose of energy and noise to a small upstairs room of diehard fans and innocent bystanders.
4
Chocolate Hills – 8th August, Rough Trade East
While The Orb edged into slightly more mainstream territory with their album Prism, the most interesting and experimental action on their Orbscure label this year was undoubtedly Yarns From The Chocolate Triangle, the second album from Chocolate Hills aka Paul Conboy and Alex Paterson. The pair are headed out on a thorough UK tour in 2024 and if this show, announced on a very last minute basis through social media, is anything to go by, it’ll be absolutely umissable. Paterson mans the decks, very much as you’d expect, throwing in samples and trademark dub-style echoes, while Conboy directs the music, from melodica to vocals, mixing the organic with the synthetic and making this a unique listening experience with plenty of structure and plenty of improvisation. Just the right balance to keep these two sonic sailors afloat and sounding shipshape – if they’re floating anywhere near you then stick them in the diary pronto, would be our advice.
5
clipping. – 22nd August, Here At Outernet
As industrial-tinged, harsh noise-hip-hop trio clipping. continue to rise in popularity, so does the star of MC and frontman Daveed Diggs, who has achieved mass exposure in the last few years thanks to a Tony award-winning lead performance in the musical Hamilton as well as acting roles in numerous projects from Velvet Buzzsaw to Blindspotting (which Diggs also wrote/produced). This expansive success has resulted in the touring schedule of the rapper’s primary artistic outlet becoming increasingly sporadic and disjointed, with the fanbase now tuned in to the fact that each stop the trio make in your city could be the last for some time. Marking their biggest London show to date at the newly opened Here at Outernet, with support coming from London based noise artist Container and Rugby post-metal behemoths Conjurer, the eclectic line-up draws in fans of musical extremity from differing sides of the portal, while the headliners deliver a simultaneously chaotic yet expertly timed set. Mixing in real time, the tracks sway into one another like any hip-hop DJ should manoeuvre effortlessly, but when thinking in harsh noise terms with industrial breakbeats and absurd time signatures triggered every few seconds, as well as MC Diggs ability to stay constantly on beat whilst jumping around like a hardcore frontman, it’s a deeply impressive display. Elevated by elaborate and ever-shifting screen patterns providing hypnotic and unsettling visual aesthetics, Diggs admits they’re a trick they’ve not been able to make work in a live setting since 2017, adding to the sense that tonight’s show is unlike any clipping. performance that’s graced the capital to this point.
6
Chat Pile – 14th August, The Dome
The breakout success of Oklahoma noise-rock/sludge merchants Chat Pile has proved testament to the mass of listeners who still tune in to truly depraved, hideous and challenging metal of the most extreme variety. Following the major success of their 2022 debut full-length God’s Country, tonight marked the first of two sold out headline London dates, while also serving as the band’s first time ever visiting Britain. To jump the que of support slogs and arrive to a sell-out headliner status should already speak volumes to the group’s sudden surge in popularity, while their set delivered a caustic hour of industrial percussive power, heaving tonal bedlam and a truly bizarre performance from frontman Raygun Busch; a genuine cinephile who spent his time between songs shouting out films shot in the city and encouraging the crowd to lob back suggestions. A special mention was even given to the house from Spaced, located just down the road from the Tufnell Park Dome. When not discussing British cinema, he paced to and fro, barefoot in nothing more than a pair of grey shorts whilst shrieking, howling and stoically delivering spoken word passages detailing cycles of abuse, violence, poverty and drug addiction. A despicable collection of art packaged within an aura of positive camaraderie (a succinct description of Chat Pile as an entity, not just one specific live performance).
7
Saetia – 15th August, The Underworld
Late 90s underground screamo legends Saetia reunited in 2022 for a string of comeback shows that saw the worldwide fan base rejoice, although little to no expectation was placed on the band ever touring further afield. It then came as mass surprise when it was revealed that two nights in Camden, one in the Underworld and the other in the Assembly, would serve as the only non-US dates for their surprise reunion. With a sea of bodies packed into a swampy basement, with numerous languages spoken and many a lobbed word regarding hotels, it was evident that many in attendance traversed much farther than the city limits of the capital to witness the all-time greats offer up such a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. To see a group of musicians well into their collective forties, with wives and children watching side-stage, rediscover the power of material crafted and initially misunderstood during their adolescence, and delivering it to cross-generational ears that never imagined hearing genre staples such as ‘One Dying Wish’ or ‘Venus & Bacchus’ live, tonight proves testament to the staying power of punk, live music and the generational hurdles that any avid listener can leap with a little gumption.
8
Blink-182 – 11th October, The O2
Over a year after initial announcement, pop-punk legends Blink-182 finally returned to the UK with original vocalist/guitarist Tom DeLonge, following a near decade of interpersonal squabbles, the addition and departure of Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba, and vocalist/bassist Mark Hoppus’ battle with lymphoma. Assuring their devout fanbase that they just needed “one more time” to get it right, the first of two instantly sold-out nights at the 02 showcased both a prevalent batch of new material as well as a plethora of the timeless, genre-defining anthems that have made their long-awaited reunion such a pipe-dream amongst fans. From ‘Dammit’ to ‘All The Small Things’ to the first UK live performance of the melancholic ‘Adam’s Song’ since 2009, embellished by fireworks, pyrotechnics and an impassioned support slot from The Story So Far, tonight was the night pop-punk Mecca came to London.
9
Daniel Blumerg – 23rd May, ICA
Most acts, from metal to techno, rely on sheer firepower to create impact in the live arena. It takes real bravery to perform alone using a tiny pallete of sounds – bass harmonica, Steinberger electric bass, drum machine and synthesiser – and punctuate said performance with silences that proved louder than any beats or guitars could ever hope to be. “Unflinching emotional directness” is what the flyer promised, and Blumberg – presenting his latest album GUT – delivered it in spades, with an extra helping of drama thrown in. An unforgettable experience.
10
City & Colour – 3rd November, Shepherd’s Bush Empire
The last time City & Colour (Dallas Green of post-hardcore heroes Alexisonfire) performed in London, it was shortly after the untimely passing of engineer and longtime friend Karl “Horse” Bareham and saw Green venture out on the road alone in order to process his grief the only way he truly knew how. Returning with full band in tow to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire to promote this year’s cathartic masterwork The Love Still Held Me Near, the evening saw a lengthy two-hour set, plumbing the depths of the new record as well as a career-spanning highlight reel, including fan favourites such as ‘Waiting’, ‘Save Your Scissors’ and ‘The Girl’; witnessing in real time the heavily-tatted, soft-spoken bearded mystery mature from emo-folk songsmith to alt-country auteur.
Compiled by Zach Buggy and Ben Willmott – all venues in London