London calling - Spring 2009

London calling (see previous posts) is arguably a place to look at the future of british pop music. I went the last two days (out of three) this time, and enjoyed very much the bill of the first day (Friday), but was rather disappointed on the second (Saturday). It is a natural thing for a festival in which by definition most of the bands are pretty unknown. The motto on the t-shirts this year was "I saw them first, at London Calling", which means you must be prepared for everything...

I liked the Flashguns very much. Grampall Jookabox was fun, and it is a good concept that sounds good at times. Marina and the Diamonds has a nice and refreshing cabaret style powerful enough to stick very quickly...

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I was told she sounds a lot like Amanda Palmer.....The guys with the unpronounceable name, Dananananaykroyd, are very good entertainers, but won't buy. And the best band of the night was Fanfarlo, a bookish crowd from London, with nerdy song titles like "Harold T Wilkins, or how to wait for very long time"....lovely gang (already bought the cd).

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and I'm in love with Cathy the violin player from fanfarlo....I'll pass on Saturday. Here's my flickr set.