Man Man - Cargo - 13th May 2008

It's disconcerting seeing the gear of a band like Man Man being set up right in front of your eyes as you stand in the front row. With as much gear as they have it seems that the amount of space they have to move on this small stage is diminishing so rapidly that you wonder if by the end they will be able to fit themselves on! It's not solely musical instruments that are set up on the stage but about half the time setting up is spent adornng the stage with various random objects such as random bicycle bells, toy rabbits or miniature furbies. The odd plastic snake can be spotted in various places too. If this doesn't immediately strike you as different then I don't know what will. There's something else strangely familiar about their roadies as well...

Of course they are their own roadies, but it's not until they retake to the stage in their all white stage outfits and have decorated their faces with war paint that they become Honus Honus, Pow Pow, Sergei Sogay, Chang Wang and Critter Crat.



The next hour or so that they play turns out to be one of the most ridiculous shows that I have ever seen. It's hard for me to describe exactly what goes on, but a recipe for a Man Man gig would definitely include one part rock show, one part religious sermon and one part tribal ceremony. Mix them all together with a whole lot of energy and sweat and you're getting close.

They run through a whole host of songs, mainly from their last two albums 'Rabbit Habits' and 'Six Demon Bag'. They don't stop for a second between songs to even get out a single "hello" lest the momentum falter.


Throughout the show lead singer Honus Honus cannot keep still, either rocking backwards and forwards violently on his "stool" (merely a box) whilst singing or jumping up and down all over said stool causing mayhem. None of the other members are any less enthusiastic in their performance, drummer Pow Pow, who unusually for a drummer is at the front of the stage, hits the drums with definite style and vigour throughout the night keeping the band members in time and the audience members highly entertained.

Most of their more energetic songs from their back catalogue are played and the range of musical instruments used by the other members of the band span from saxophones to xylophones in order to achieve a carnival-like atmosphere.


The most entertaining parts come when all five band members join together for one purpose and one purpose only: to make noise. This is sometimes in the form of joining together to chant or scream powerful vocals, another time they all pull out plastic toy horns and blow into them as hard as possible, but more often than not their method of noise making will include hitting something, anything to make a racket. Every member has access to drumsticks and is more than ready to play some sort of percussion when the time is right. Various kitchen pans around the stage are smashed adding to the din of noise, Pow Pow isn't satisfied with the drum kit in front of him or the random objects all around so often reaches into his box of tricks set on stage beside him to hit somthing in there. Honus Honus whacks the legs of his Rhodes piano so hard it's a wonder that it doesn't collapse. By the encore Critter Crat has no skin left on his personal drum because he has progressively gone about piercing it and then ripping it out, so is forced to just bash the rim in order to make noise for the final few songs. Even the crowd, including myself, gets to join in during the build up to 'The Ballad of Butter Beans'. Pow Pow offers us the opportunity to play with some of his toys and make as much noise as we can, great fun.

Despite all of this madness going on they don't just produce random noise, there is always a rhythm and a purpose for what they're doing and they know where they're going with it. Eye contact is important between members throughout the show which is probably why Honus Honus and Pow Pow sit facing each other at the front of the stage. This is the definition of controlled chaos, though at times that control seems equatable to that which a ten year old might have over a stampeding rhinoceros.



The only downside to all of this fun is that the lead vocals struggle to overcome the noise normally making them indecipherable and the high pitched backing vocals are more often than not drowned out completely.

However this is what makes the slower songs work well. There may not be as much energy, but for songs such as 'Gold Teeth' or the finale of 'Van Helsing Boombox' it's the words and melody that do the talking and now that we can actually hear them they can make these songs just as powerful as any of the others. Not that there isn't any percussion, standing right next to Pow Pow it is obvious that during these quieter moments that he is itching to hit something and will make noise by any means possible including shaking something, scraping something else or rolling around his sticks on the cymbals, as long as it doesn't intrude on the songs. For the most part these unorthodox methods of percussion add very nicely to the atmosphere.

The gig seems to go by in a flash, but by the end the whole crowd is worn out, but surely not as much as the band members who have put on an extremely entertaining show.

"Unique" is a word that is used to describe a lot of bands nowadays but when it comes to describing the works of Man Man and even more so their live act, it is has rarely been more justified. From the brilliant showmanship to the onstage freakouts, you will never see anything else quite like it.

Rating: 9.0/10
Best Part: The plethora of random instruments used

To see more of my photos from the gig click HERE

If you don't know any songs by Man Man (which is probably the vast majority of you) here are some of my favourites for you to download and check out:

The Ballad of Butter Beans (from 'Rabbit Habits')
Easy Eats or Dirty Doctor Galapagos (from 'Rabbit Habits')
Top Drawer (from 'Rabbit Habits')
Tunneling Through The Guy (from 'Six Demon Bag')
Van Helsing Boombox (from 'Six Demon Bag')
Black Mission Goggles (from 'Six Demon Bag')
Gold Teeth (from 'The Man In A Blue Turban With A Face')

Death Cab For Cutie - Electric Ballroom - 6th May 2008

Seattle's Death Cab for Cutie first came to the attention of the general public around the release of 2003's Transatlanticism. Several of the tracks from this album were used in many popular American TV programs, namely The OC, within which Seth Cohen, one of the main characters was a self-confessed Death Cab superfan. They also appeared on the show in season two. From there they signed to Atlantic Records and released their first major label album Plans in 2005.

Tonight sees them in the middle of a short tour to promote the release of their second major label album Narrow Stairs, due out next week. The capacity of tonight's venue is a mere 1000, much smaller than they're used to (they return in July to play the 5000 capacity Brixton Academy) so it's only the real hard core fans who have grabbed tickets for this one, ensuring that the atmosphere will be amazing.

They arrive on stage promptly at 9pm and with nothing but a cheerful 'Hi' they get straight to business. The opening double salvo of the undulating 'Bixby Canyon Bridge' and the anthemic 'The New Year' is a powerful one. It might seem out of place for 1000 people to be yelling 'So this is the new year!' at the beginning of May, but tonight it seems natural. This is Death Cab's world and we're all being sucked into it.

The band are in full swing from the off, lead singer Ben Gibbard never seems to stop hopping from foot to foot as if he's standing on hot coals whilst they bust out several their loveable indie tunes from their now sizeable back catalogue. They even find time to throw in non-album track 'Photobooth' for the fans. Several tracks from the forthcoming album are dropped in along the way and all go down very well, the only slight downer is the mellow 'Talking Bird' which works nicely in the context of the album but seems rather boring onstage. It's not a problem, we all needed a moment to catch our collective breath anyway.



The tempo is upped to a new high when Death Cab jump into a frenetic rendition of 'Soul Meets Body' which has Gibbard hopping more madly than before and the crowd are enjoying every second of it. This is immediately followed by the mid-set highlight; a double header of 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark' and 'I Will Possess Your Heart'. The former sees Gibbard on his own in a spellbinding singalong that is evidence of the power that one man and and an acoustic guitar can create when everything is done right (see video). The latter is an eight-minute epic and also happens to be the lead-off single from the new album. The fact that Death Cab would even write a song expanding beyond the eight minute mark let alone release it as a single is testament to how they have grown greatly in confidence and as a band over the years. This confidence is clearly well founded tonight and it oozes out of them onstage. Seeing these two songs juxtaposed mid set is a great snapshot of the two extremes that Death Cab's songs can reach, and they manage to hit just about every single peak in between.

Video: 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark'

'We Laugh Indoors' is an extremely enjoyable surprise towards the end of the main set, and at this point it couldn't be clearer that the band is having the time of their lives. Guitarist Chris Walla mouths along all the words while he plays as if he is just another die-hard fan in the crowd, whilst Nicholas Harmer thrashes around at centre stage, the heavily bearded bassist is seemingly lost amid the euphoria.

When the band leaves the stage its hard for me to see them go, and it seems the same for everyone else in the crowd. Each and every person is kicking, stamping, clapping and bursting lungs in cheering to get them back on to the stage. This is not a request, this is an order.



They return to the stage to bring an encore of the finest quality, starting off with my personal favourite 'Title & Registration', which is another great singalong moment. The best of tonight's new songs, 'Cath...' is saved for the encore too and they rock it out harder than on the album, a great performance.

Finally comes the ending couplet of 'Your Heart is an Empty Room' followed by the magnificent 'Transatlanticism'. The emotional verve of 'Empty Room' comes and goes in three and a half minutes of pure bliss and leads off perfectly for the ultimate closer. 'Transatlanticism' is the crescendo of all crescendos, starting off slowly and gradually building into a tumultuous cacophony of beautiful noise that sees all four band members pouring all of their strength into the final few bars, particularly drummer Jason McGerr who is hitting his kit so hard it's a wonder that nothing breaks. Then suddenly it cuts out perfectly, leaving just Gibbard and his voice to sing out the last few notes over the heady applause from the crowd. This by far the best ending to a gig that I have ever seen.

Before the band leaves the stage Gibbard has one last message; "Thanks you guys, this has been the best show we have played for a long time" and you know he is being sincere. The feeling is mutual, and I absolutely cannot wait to see them again at Latitude Festival in July.

Rating: 9.5/10
Best Part: The final repeated chorus of "Come ooooooooon!" at the end of 'Transatlanticism'

If you don't know Death Cab here are 5 of my favourite songs for you to check out (click to download):

I Will Follow You into The Dark (from Plans)
Title and Registration (from Transatlanticism)
Transatlanticism (From Transatlanticism)
Grapevine Fires (From Narrow Stairs)
A Movie Script Ending (From The Photo Album)

The rest of my photos are avaliable here <----click

Video: 'Your Heart is an Empty Room'