The Temper Trap – Melkweg, 16 September 2012

If Boy & Bear are the band that I should love and don’t, then The Temper Trap are the band I shouldn’t but kinda’ do. Maybe it’s patriotism, maybe it’s lower expectation but there is just something about this indie-pop band that keeps surprising me.

Of Monster and Men – Melkweg, 4 September, 2012

Indie might change, but the beer will remain the same.

When did I develop this love for indie folk pop? Moreover, when did the rest of the world do the same? It feels like every time I am reading about music at the moment there is a reference to Of Monsters and Men, or Mumford and Sons, or even Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. The world is in love with this particular genre right now and I for one have jumped on board this catchy little band wagon.

Leonard Cohen - 5 lessons from the master

Olympisch Stadion, 21 August 2012

Leonard Cohen is one of the greats. In a career that spans 45 years the man has done it all, and I’m pretty sure he has won enough awards and accolades that he doesn’t need me or this blog to tell him just how good he is. So instead, here are the 5 things that I learnt from the master at his show in Amsterdam last week:

Snoop Dogg, Paradiso, 17 August, 2012

Imagine my surprise, and twinge of disappointment, when the artist formally known as Snoop Dogg announced that he was through with his gangster lifestyle? That he was embracing the Rastafarian way of life, that he had recorded a reggae album and was that he was now going by the name of Snoop Lion?

All this when I had a moderately expensive ticket in my hand that clearly said Snoop Dogg @ Paradiso!

Shearwater – Sugar factory, 6 July 2012

Sugar factory, 6 July 2012

It was a Friday night and I had a ticket to a gig, in a new venue (for me - The Sugar Factory) for a band with reasonable amounts of music industry hype surrounding them and furthermore they had no schedule to return to my European shores in quite a while. What more could you ask for?

Ramona Falls - New York City

The Mercury Lounge, 14 June 2012 

Recently when I was in New York I headed with some friends to the Mercury Lounge to see a band called Ramona Falls.

Boy & Bear - Paradiso, 20 August 2012

I really, really want to love Boy & Bear.

They have all the pieces of something that I should love. What is there not to love about 5 extremely talented musicians, with great harmonies and from my home town? My sister first got me He Will Have His Way for Christmas in 2010 and I, like everyone else, fell in love with their version of Fall at Your Feet. And I bought Moonfire, their first full length album, as soon as it was released.