Grassroots Festival. Jersey. Saturday July 31st 2010.
 
FLC were headlining the Grassroots Festival... a small festival (4000 capacity), the stage set up just in front of the massive dam wall holding back the reservoir in St. Ouen, Jersey. Surrounded by grassy hills, the sound quality through the day was great, with some gut-rumbling bass as the DJ's and live bands played and the sun shone on the festival-goers.
 
As the day progressed I eventually kicked off my shoes and walked on the mixture of grass and sand, and as the breeze blew and the people danced the area became a bit of a dust-bowl, and i'm sure I will still be washing off the sand for days to come!
 
One criticism I would offer about the festival itself was the absolutely ridiculous queue for beer! I can safely say that it was slightly poorly arranged to have one beer tent for the several thousand revellers! Some people had queued for almost an hour to get served, meaning that once they got there they stocked up with crates of lager and cider, their bulk-buying slowing the queue even further!
 
I placed myself down the front to watch the excellent Natty, followed by Bedouin Sound Clash... the daylight faded and FLC took to the stage just before half-past 9... beginning the set (as they now usually do!) with Jimi Choo. Even before they came to the stage, the crowd had been lively... singing along to the background music and chatting amongst each other... but as soon as the hand-claps started with the intro it was obvious that this crowd were clearly there to have a good time! Now, i've been in some great crowds over the years, but this lot were insane! The set continued - and by the time they reached Scooby Snacks the predominently young audience bounced and surged around with the enthusiasm and passion of FLC crowds of 10+ years ago.
 
The set was great as always, with a good mix of the old and the new:
Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Korean Bodega
Back On The Block
Loco
Mi Corazon
Up On The Hill
Swashbucklin' In Brooklyn
King of New York
Scooby Snacks
Dickholder
10th Street
Blues For Suckers
Mini Bar Blues
We, The 3
Love Unlimited
Big Night Out
Will I Be Ready?
 
Encore:
Live Have Love
All The Time In The World
Fun Lovin' Criminal
 
There were a few sound issues early on in the set, with lots of feedback distorting the sound - and this took a while to sort out - but it didn't hamper the spirits of the audience. The new tracks fitted in flawlessly, and Classic Fantastic is now growing on me as a particularly good live track. Other highlights for me personally, partly due to the wonderful surroundings, were Up On The Hill, Will I Be Ready and (We Have) All The Time In The World... with the crowd vocally joining in with the trumpet parts of the song!
 
FLC seemed genuinely pleased to be in Jersey, and repeatedly offered their gratitude to the crowd, as well as thanking the people who had arranged the festival. It's great to see the band supporting these smaller festivals, as well as playing the big ones like Oxegen and Glastonbury, as they have a much more intimate feel about them.
 
Huey was as chatty with the crowd as always - there was some talk of him getting 'into trouble' the night before and being rescued by Fast... but I guess with this sort of thing it's always best not to probe any further!
 
Overall, this was a really great gig, a good set, amazing surroundings, and made all the better by the audience, who really seemed to enjoy themselves. I've returned from Jersey much more battered and bruised than when i'd arrived, but had a bloody great time whilst I was there. The next FLC tour starts in September, and I can only hope that the crowds then have as much fun then as they did at Grassroots... and they should... what with FLC being on as great form as they are right now.

 

STRIKE! A bloomin' great night!
 
Firstly, what an amazing venue this place is - i've been there once before, but where else could you see two of the best bands around, bowl, eat pizza, sing in a karaoke booth and have a damn good time? It was crowded (and a bugger to get out of!), but that could only be a good thing when the FLC are around.
 
We started the evening in the 'King-Pin Suite' watching Cantaloop who played a fab set (as always!). Even though FLC were due on almost immediately after in another room (bad scheduling) the room was busy and everyone there seemed up for a bit of a dance, and enthusiastically supported Dannie and the guys. They were joined on stage after the first couple of songs by Frank, and even despite some technical issues (more on this later) they rocked the place for the 45 mins they were onstage!
 
As soon as they'd finished we hurried downstairs and somehow (REALLY still not sure how) we managed to get to the front of the heaving crowd that were waiting for Huey, Fast and Frank to take to the stage. After a very short wait the intro to Jimi Choo kicked in and FLC were welcomed with a huge cheer. It has to be said that the sound was not great - not only as my ears are still ringing - but the mic quality was fuzzy to say the least (Huey describing it as Fast sounding like he was on AM radio!), but the important thing was that no-one in the crowd seemed to care about this. I think the term we could safely use to describe the audience was 'mental'! Very shortly after Huey telling the security behind the barrier that he 'didn't think he needed to worry about 3 girls causing any problems' the poor security chaps were having to forcibly push the barrier back against the surging crowds (almost like Huey had invited the challenge!). I think I have some video of this, so i'll try and get that up this week. I don't know whether this was the issue, but it has to be said that Huey didn't seem to be enjoying the occasion as much as he has some of the other gigs, at least to begin with. All three of the guys were on form musically, but there was some mention in the lyrics of Classic Fantastic to something along the lines of 'red-top motherfuckers' and a joke about a Bar mitzvah which also seemed to have a touch of spite about it... A few songs in he was smiling though, and he played a blinder on 10th Street and Passive Aggressive in particular.
 
Setlist:
Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Korean Bodega
The Preacher
Bombin The L
10th Street
Bums
Passive Aggressive
Scooby Snacks
Dickholder
Blues For Suckers
We, The 3
Big Nite Out
Fun Lovin' Criminal

VIDEO FROM BLOOMSBURY

PHOTOS FROM BLOOMSBURY
 
All the songs went down well with the crowd... We, The 3 seemed to be a fave of the night for all concerned. We were particularly impressed with the synchronised hand waving that spontaneously occured during the song. By this point i'd climbed out of the crowd onto a seated area to get a birds-eye view and it looked great from where I was standing! After each of the band's vocals there was a huge cheer (something which seems to be happening every time they play the song) and it was the song that probably got the biggest crowd reaction. I LOVE THIS TUNE!
 
As with the gig at The Donkey, I think FLC did incredibly well dealing with the size and limited resources, as well as the poor sound system in the venue... as we were leaving it seemed as though everyone at the Bloomsbury Lanes had had a great time. I hope that more of these smaller venue gigs are to come as they have a unique quality about them.
 
Thanks to Sara and Mark for putting up with our company on the night... hope you both enjoyed it as much as Alex and I did!
Pictures and vid to follow...
 
 
As always, FLC didn't disappoint... I only have one more gig left on the tour... Nooooooo!

 

The new Fun Lovin' Criminals' tour is now well under way. The crowds have been fantastic (no pun intended), and Huey, Fast and Frank are playing their hearts out every night. The setlists are constantly changing, with apparently over 50 songs rehearsed these dates are a glorious mix of old tunes from the previous albums and the new tunes fitting in so well it's as though they've always been there.

There's a definite freshness to each performance, and there have been plenty of comments that it seems as though the FLC are enjoying these gigs as much as their audiences. www.flcnyc.co.uk roving reporters have been along to many of the dates so far, and so here's the setlists and videos from several of the nights to give you a flavour of what bin had happened...

Setlists:

LEICESTER - SECRET GIG (WARM-UP) - 5TH MARCH 2010

Jimmy Choo
Classic Fantastic
Korean Bodega
The Preacher
Big Night Out
We The Three
Run Daddy Run
Dick Holder
Where The Bums Go
Blues For Suckers
Scooby Snacks
I Can't Get With That
My Style
 
Encore:
Fun Lovin' Criminal
10th Street
We Have All The Time In The World

VIDEO FROM LEICESTER - CLICK HERE

MANCHESTER - 02 ACADEMY - 6TH MARCH 2010

Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Too Hot
Swashbucklin In Brooklyn
All For Self
Loco
Mi Corazon
Mars
Grave and the Constant
El Malo
Mister Sun
King Of New York
City Boy
Scooby Snacks
We, The Three
Bump
Dickholder
Coney Island Girl
Sing At The Sun
View Belongs To Everyone
How Low
Love Unlimited
 
Encore:
(Little acting bit that i'm not gonna spoil for people before they see them live)
Live Have Love
Fun Lovin' Criminal

VIDEO FROM MANCHESTER - CLICK HERE

LEEDS - 02 ACADEMY - 7TH MARCH 2010

Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Too Hot
The Biz
Loco
Mi Corazon
Bombin' The L
El Malo
Mister Sun
King Of New York
Mars
Get Your Coat
Scooby Snacks
We, The 3
Bump
Dickholder
Southside (Best frikkin song of the night in this girl's opinion!)
Love Unlimited
Sing At THe Sun
Big Night Out
Will I Be Ready (great way to end the main set - irie!)
 
Encore
'Skit'
Me And You
My Style
Fun Lovin' Criminal

VIDEO FROM LEEDS - CLICK HERE

BRISTOL - 02 ACADEMY - 11TH MARCH 2010

Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Too Hot
City Boy
Loco
Mars
Smoke 'Em
Swashbucklin' In Brooklyn (respect to the guy dressed as a pirate in the crowd!)
Mister Sun
King Of New York
Korean Bodega
Scooby Snacks
Dickholder
Coney Island Girl
10th Street
I Can't Get With That (sorry Alex!)
We, The 3
Southside (ooooh yeah!)
Sing At The Sun
Love Unlimited
Will I Be Ready
 
Encore:
The bit I don't talk about!
Live Have Love
Fun Lovin' Criminal

VIDEO FROM BRISTOL - CLICK HERE

LEAMINGTON - ASSEMBLY - 14TH MARCH 2010

Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Korean Bodega
Too Hot
Passive/Aggressive
All For Self
Loco
Mi Corazon
Mars
Up On The Hill
Mister Sun
King Of New York
Scooby Snacks
Dickholder
Coney Island Girl
Blues For Suckers
We, The 3
Sing At The Sun
Love Unlimited
 
Encore
Skit...
Live Have Love
My Style
Fun Lovin Criminal

VIDEO FROM LEAMINGTON - CLICK HERE

NOTTINGHAM - ROCK CITY - 15TH MARCH 2010

Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Korean Bodega
Loco
Mi Corazon
El Malo
Mister Sun
King Of New York
Mars
Scooby Snacks
Dickholder
10th Street
Baby
We The Three
Up On The Hill
She Sings at the Sun
Love Unlimited
Big Night Out
Get Your Coat
 
Encore:

Skit
Live Have Love
Come Find Yourself
FLC

VIDEO FROM ROCK CITY - CLICK HERE

LONDON - KOKO - 16TH MARCH 2010
Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Korean Bodega
Too Hot
Loco
Mi Corazon
Grave And The Constant
Swashbucklin' in Brooklyn
Mister Sun
King Of New York
Mars
Scooby Snacks
Where The Bums Go
Dickholder
Coney Island Girl
We, The 3
Southside
Sing At The Sun
Love Unlimited
Will I Be Ready

Encore:
Keep On Yellin' w/ Roots Manuva!
Skit
Me And You
Fun Lovin' Criminal
We Have All The Time In The World

VIDEO FROM KOKO - CLICK HERE

AMSTERDAM - PARADISO - 22ND MARCH 2010

Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Korean Bodega
Up On The Hill
Loco
Mi Corazon
City Boy
Swashbucklin' In Brooklyn
Mister Sun
Mars
King Of New York
Scooby Snacks
Dickholder
10th Street
We The 3
Southside
Sing At The Sun
Love Unlimited
Will I Be Ready

Encore:
Skit
Live Have Love
Mini Bar Blues
My Style
Fun Lovin' Criminal

VIDEO FROM PARADISO - CLICK HERE

DUBLIN - THE ACADEMY - 4TH APRIL 2010

Jimi Choo
Classic Fantastic
Korean Bodega
Loco
Mi Corazon
Passive Aggressive
Swashbucklin' In Brooklyn
Mister Sun
King Of New York
Mars
Scooby Snacks
Dickholder
10th Street
Beautiful (my highlight of the night!)
We, The 3
Southside
She Sings At The Sun
Love Unlimited
Will I Be Ready
 
Encore:
Live Have Love
We Have All The Time In The World
Fun Lovin' Criminal

 

It was a real pleasure to be at this gig. Possibly the smallest gig that FLC have played in years, on a tiny stage in London's Hard Rock Cafe, and for the good cause of raising money for the Caron Keating Foundation as part of the Hard Rock's 'Pinktober' breast cancer awareness events.

The intimate venue was also our first chance to hear two more new tracks from the album 'Classic Fantastic' due out early next year. Kicking off the set with 'Thinking Of You' a chilled yet funky track with an easily memorable chorus, the crowded venue seemed to enjoy it. Later on in the set we heard what I think is the stand out track so far, 'We, The 3' – a track that gives (perhaps inevitably) all 3 of the band a chance on the vocals. It's so nice to see Fast with a bit more freedom, not tied to the bass or the keyboards – although the song still calls for some deft mic/trumpet manipulation! They also put the new track 'Mars' into the set – and all 3 tracks were well-received by the audience. It's impressive how flawlessly all the new tracks fit into the set alongside the old favourites.

The familiar tracks were there - 'Korean Bodega', 'Loco', '10th Street' and 'Big Night Out', (complete with a few lyrical slips from Huey), and obviously 'Scooby Snacks' and 'Fun Lovin' Criminal' went down the best with everyone. Huey was chatty – some may say perhaps a little rambling at times – and there was the return of an old gig feature - a joke from Huey – greeted with the traditional groans from the crowd!

FLC seemed keen to promote the cause they were supporting, Frank mentioned that friends and family of the band had suffered from cancer in the past, and obviously that explained why they were there on the night.

The encore saw a welcome return of the beautiful 'We Have All The Time In The World' and 'Rock n Roll'. It's safe to say that the night was a great success and was enjoyed by all of those who made the effort to buy tickets for a worthy cause. As usual, FLC seemed to enjoy the set as much as the crowd.

 

 

I have to say that I had my reservations about FLC playing this gig - when turning up outside The Coronet Theatre to see a mixture of punks and heavy metal rockers waiting to get in - but in the end this was just another example of how easily the Fun Lovin' Criminals win over a crowd, no matter who they are!

FLC were playing as part of The Great Wreck 'n' Roll Circus, a sort-of indoor festival, with a variety of bands playing over 3 floors. (The venue itself is bizarre - as the name suggests, an old theatre, but inside the layout is like a labyrinth - making it easy to get lost!). We started out on the top floor to see These Furrows play a fantastic mix of tuneful emotionally-charged songs and ear-splitting sound - before heading 2 floors down to the Main Stage for FLC.

As the road crew set up (amusingly around the bizarre 70's folk act that were still playing!), I began to worry a little. The large area around the stage was roughly two-thirds empty, several of the people who were waiting seemed so intoxicated that they were struggling to speak, let alone listen to a band - and there was certainly no rush to the front. Were all the punks checking out 'Short Bus Window Lickers' (real band name I swear!) upstairs? However, literally minutes before FLC took to the stage the Main Stage crowd began to filter in, and by the time Huey, Fast and Frank took to the stage there was a crowd-full to greet them!

After a somewhat confused start to their set (i'm not quite sure what happened, although it seemed like perhaps 2 songs were being attempted at the same time!), the gig began to liven up the crowd. I'd say certain heavier tracks went down better than some of the others, 'Bombin' The L' and 'Where The Bum's Go' for example - and then came the real test - the new track, 'Mars'. As I have previously seen this year, this song seemed to go down well with the crowd, being greeted with exactly the same applause and cheering as all the other songs in the set... it's so damn catchy that it's like it's been there all the time!

There were a couple more 'lyrical hiccups' along the way, but to be honest I don't think anyone but a nutter who goes to three gigs a month would have noticed! At this point I usually 'big-up' Huey and his guitar skills, but i'm gonna give a mention to Frank this time, who seemed to be drumming his heart out on the night.

Although FLC weren't listed as the headline act for The Great Wreck 'n' Roll Circus, I would say judging by the crowd and their reaction that that's what they were. People chatting in the smoking area outside seemed to have really enjoyed the gig, and several were talking about trying to see them again.

I'd like to mention some of flcnyc.co.uk family who came along to the gig - Liz for travelling all the way down from Oop North and leaving with a healthy dose of swine flu, Sarita for finally finding us outside the Tube and our competition winner u2bawooly for tracking us down on the balcony! It was a great night and now i'm really looking forward to The Hard Rock Cafe on the 14th!

 

PHOTOS ONLINE HERE.

 

As with FLC's last trip to Ireland, there was the opportunity for double the goodness.. if you were prepared to work for it!

After flying into Dublin on Thursday our first treat was to see Frank's brother Boy Kid Cloud / Jo Soap playing a storming DJ set at Eamonn Dorans in the Temple Bar area of the city. Despite the night beginning rather quietly the venue soon filled up, and his mix of House and Dub-Step was very well received by the crowd. Playing for over 2 hours - seemingly enjoying the whole experience - and with his brother perched at the side of the stage, Jo Soap demonstrated that he has a serious talent for remixing, as well as manipulating a dancefloor.

Friday saw us moving onto Naas for the Oxegen Festival. The weather was 'iffy', but we still managed to get the tent up and take a stroll around the festival site before the Fun Lovin' criminals took to the stage. Playing on the 02 stage (second only to the Main Stage) FLC walked out early on Friday evening to face the pre-muddy fields and to a huge welcoming cheer from the crowd.

FLC have taken a bit of a break from live gigs recently, and there had been the promise of new material - so perhaps understandably I was a little more excited about this gig than usual. There have been demands from old school fans to hear something new from the Fun Lovin' Criminals - and these people (myself included) have been kept waiting for some time. This did however also leave me with some apprehension - wondering how a new tune would be accepted by the thousands of Irish fans who had gathered to see FLC... and perhaps somewhat selfishly - importantly would I like it?

Huey and Frank rather bravely opted for white suits - leading Fast to tell the crowd that he was waiting for someone to throw mud at Huey (fortunately no-one took the challenge!). Most of the old faves were there in the set - Love Unlimited, Bombin' The L, Scooby Snacks, Fun Lovin' Criminal etc. and as Huey, Fast and Frank played these two things were clear. Firstly, the crowd were loving having the band there - singing along and often performing the music itself as well as the lyrics (vocalised trumpets during Fun Lovin' Criminal and plenty of 'der-der-ders' during Scooby Snacks for example). Secondly - it seemed from my spot on the front row that all of FLC were having a good time. The smiles on their faces gave the game away - I suspect that it's good to be back!

Roughly halfway through the set the time had come. Huey announced that they were going to play a new tune - a song about a club in New York called 'Mars'.

You know how usually a band will say 'here's a new song' - followed by the crowd looking somewhat bewildered/bored as they don't know what the song is doing or where it's going - and then everyone breathes a sigh of relief as the band get back on track with something everyone has heard from a previous album? Well the first performance of this new tune could not have been any more different! 'Mars' fits flawlessly into the set - like it's been there since the beginning, and yet it's stunningly different. With thumping bass to make your guts rumble and an upbeat dance-track sound it instantly got the crowd moving, and I was particularly amazed when everyone around me started singing along to the chorus! I have to be careful, because of my clear bias towards the band - but I think if the rest of 'Classic Fantastic' is in anyway similar to this track, then FLC have a monster of a piece of work in their hands!

The feedback I got from chatting to people after the gig was fantastic - lots of people asking about the new album and when FLC would be playing again - answers which obviously I didn't have - but it was good that there was such positivity, and that everyone seemed to rate the Fun Lovin' criminals as a highlight of the weekend.

After the gig it was time to hop in the car and head back to Dublin, for an FLC DJ set at Eamonn Dorans. Taking to the decks just after 1am Fast and Frank played a great set for a couple of hours, helped again by Boy Kid Cloud/Jo Soap who finished off the evening. There was the usual mix of hip-hop, rap, reggae, soul and cheesy tunes - but with an added highlight of a new tune from Radio Riddler (Fast and Frank's side project) - a reggae cover version of Prince's 'Purple Rain' - which sounded smooth and mellow like the finest smoking vegetation man can buy! Think Easy Star All-Stars... but much much better! Frank was generously pouring out the Jack Daniels into the mouths of the dancing crowd, and it seemed that everyone in Eamonn Dorans that night had a damn good time!

The weekend enjoying FLC was over in the early hours of Saturday morning, but we headed back to Oxegen for the rest of the weekend for more dancing, drinking and watching great bands - but it wouldn't have been the same without the double-scoop of FLC music!

Thanks to all the guys in the band (and the FLC extended family!) for providing such a great weekend - but especially a big thanks to Huey for giving us a helping hand when it was needed. Off to Nottingham next weekend for another gig... can't wait to hear 'Mars' again!

 

We were treated to a double-helping of FLC this weekend over in Dublin.

On Friday night the Fun Lovin' Criminals were playing at The Academy as part of 'Inspirations' - an event for the Barretstown charity which was originally founded by legendary actor Paul Newman. Then on Saturday FLC were scheduled to play a DJ set at Eamonn Dorans on Temple Bar.
 
FRIDAY:
 
The whole concept of this night was a brilliant idea for a worthy cause - with 10 bands playing a song of their own, and then covers of their choosing, it made for a great night - and the backstage crew did an amazing job at quick-changing the stage set up for the bands. While the crowd was waiting they were also treated to some music from a great DJ (think his name was Pete), who didn't play a song I didn't like all night!
 
There were clearly a few favourite artists for the song selections with Bowie and The Beatles featuring on a few different occasions. Other cover choices included Bob Dylan, Neil Young, U2 and The Clash. The venue was packed to the rafters and there was a great atmosphere.
 
The show started with orgainser and Dublin club-owner Dermot Doran's 10 year-old son, playing a brilliant acoustic version of 'Lean On Me' - giving everyone in the audience the feelgood factor. There was also an appearance by the Dublin Gospel Choir who sounded absolutely incredible in the modestly sized venue. A few bands from the night are worth a special mention - we particularly liked The Kinetiks, who sounded great and had a fantastic stage presence, despite their youth! Ham Sandwich were also playing - who we'd seen before at the Feille Festival in Belfast last year - and they did a great version of Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill'. Republic of Loose joined Sinead O'Connor on stage, before playing their own set - including their own 'Comeback Girl' and a jaw-dropping cover of the Sister Sledge tune 'Lost In Music'!
 
We were pleasantly surprised to find the Fun Lovin' Criminals were the last act of the night - starting off their brief set with a laid-back version of 'Scooby Snacks' (the relaxed approach reflecting in Huey's dress code too - opting for jeans and tee rather than the usual suited look). The stripped down set also meant no keyboards for Fast, with him playing just bass and trumpet instead, which was a pleasant change. The covers FLC chose to play began with some familiarity - Led Zeppelin's 'Rock and Roll' has been played as an encore at a few FLC gigs, it sounded great and the crowd at The Academy loved it. Huey, Fast and Frank then moved into 'Foxy Lady', swiftly followed by 'We Have All The Time In The World' - with great "ba-ba-ba-bah-da-bah" audience participation during Fast's trumpet sections, much to Huey's amusement.
 
The final cover FLC chose to play was a stroke of genius - Hal David and Burt Bacharach's 'Raindops Keep Fallin' on My Head', and the song most associated with Paul Newman's film 'Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid' - made it a perfect song to end the evening with. The audience sang and danced along and FLC seemed to love the response. This was definitely a winning idea.
 
After FLC had played their five songs, the Republic of Loose and Shane McGowan took to the stage again for an interesting version of the Blues Brothers' 'Everybody Needs Somebody', and then all the artists from the night were back for another rendition of 'Lean On Me' which was a great end to the night. It seemed like everyone involved with the charity event had a good time, including FLC and us in the audience.
 
SATURDAY:
 
After a great night at The Academy we were ready for another night of FLC fun with the Criminals on the decks. The night at Eamonn Dorans was billed as "DJ Set Featuring Huey, Fast and Frank" - however the evening was sadly missing one of the trio. As the set began in the basement of the pub/club we were informed by Fast and Frank that Huey was ill and so probably wouldn't be appearing - which unfortunately turned out to be true - although we were pleasantly surprised that this didn't seem to bother anyone. One can't help but wonder if his illness might have been a little self-inflicted, especially after seeing him and Frank on the mic with Shane McGowan the previous night!?!
 
Despite Huey's absence the guys produced an outstanding set between them. Fast and Frank seemed in a great mood, and the Jack Daniels was flowing freely for both them and the crowd, with Frank offering out the bottle to a thirsty audience. With the place being so busy the heat in the venue was almost unbearable at times and sometimes a little too crowded for dancing. They played for two and a half-hours (much longer than any other set I can remember), and along with some familar DJ set tunes (Damien Marley, KRS One, Lynard Skynard and Scooby Snacks of course) there were some newer tunes and some special treats in store.
 
There were a couple of Uncle Frank/Fatal Star tunes in there - with the Boy Kid Cloud version of 'Mary Jane' and 'Shake n Bake' was lapped up by the crowd and perfect for the vibe of the night. In the middle of the set there was also a little sneaky exclusive - 'Mars' is a new tune from the forthcoming FLC album - and the crowd at Eamonn Dorans were treated to a fantastic thumping dance remix version of the track. Now, I know i'm speaking as a biased fan of the band - but this tune sounded phenomenal - bassy, and a 'hands-in-the-air' sort of sound - surprisingly different - but that partly is what made it so appealing. I would have loved it, even if I hadn't known who'd made it. Not sure if all FLC fans will approve of the change in style - but we thought it was awesome!
 
As always - we'd like to thank all of FLC for their 'helping hands' while we were over in Dublin, you saved us a few euros and we had a great time. Irish from The Lounge - it was lovely to see you - no matter how brief it was! Big love to Dermot for being part of the Inspirations organisers and just for being you! All in all a great weekend from start to finish - here's hoping Huey's feeling better soon!

PHOTOS FROM THE GIG AT THE ACADEMY HERE

 

To begin with - can I say it was great to see such a strong FLC fanbase in attendance. It was great to see JoonBrightonBeach, Shoey, Mark, Charlie, Jayne and Martin there - sorry to anyone that we missed!

KoKo itself is a great venue - and Smirnoff had pulled out all the stops to make the night even more special. On the way in you could choose from free feather boas, sun visors, Kanye West style white sunglasses or some rather natty fishnet gloves! There was free bottled water and there was also a voucher for a free Moscow Mule, which we took immediate advantage of (well... I say 'immediate' although the queue at the bar was INSANE! And it seemed that the bar staff were not allowed to speak... Silent Gig... geddit?)

The Dutch DJ that was on before FLC (DJ OD) was doing a live broadcast to Holland, and he played some varied but good tunes... and was great at warming up the crowd and bigging up FLC. This was the first sign of things to come - seeing people dancing their hearts out and singing/cheering to what appeared to be absolutely nothing!

To set the scene for the gig itself - the stage was dominated by a large transparent 'tank' (later described as "a conservatory" by both Frank and Huey!), which was where Frank spent the gig - locked away from Huey and Fast who didn't have 'tanks' of their own. If I had to offer one criticism (and i'm struggling here) Frank's tank was sectioned into three vertical panels, which were taped together, making it difficult to see Frank from where we were stood at the front.

Okay - so lets try and describe it! Errrm...

It was odd... VERY odd. While you had the headphones on, it was the same as the 'normal' gigs (although the sound was slightly different - you could hear Huey's voice really clearly as if he was stood next to you!)... However, we found it great fun to occasionally slip off the headphones. When you did this Frank's drums were prominent, but you could barely hear Huey's guitar or his vocals. We tried it as well with Fast and again there was no keyboard volume whatsoever, but you could hear him obviously when he played the trumpet or harmonica! The other thing was the crowd... as you couldn't hear the music it was great to hear everyone singing along - especially to King Of New York, Scooby Snacks and Korean Bodega.

As for the set - FLC took the interesting step of beginning the set with Fun Lovin' Criminal, which went down a storm with the headphone wearing crowd. Followed by Loco and King of New York everything just seemed to gel beautifully. The sound levels were good, again a sign of Menace's presence and excellent work (although Fast was a little quiet on the vocals), the crowd were enjoying it, FLC seemed to be enjoying it (although they seemed at times to be as weirded out as we were... especially when it seemed to hit Frank as to what he was actually doing and burst out laughing!)... it was all great. Then in the middle of the set FLC turned things up a notch for us... firstly by playing the long-missed Too Hot and then by playing what I (and Alex) would say was THE BEST EVER live version of Come Find Yourself... It was just blissful and beautiful and reminded me of exactly why I do what I do - it was like popping my gig-going FLC cherry all over again! After the song we saw another difficulty with Huey and Fast being outside the box, as they couldn't even do the usual 'knuckles' of congratulation with Frank!

Set list (do not believe it's in the right order for one second!)

Fun Lovin Criminal
Loco
King of New York
Korean Bodega
Back on the Block
Too Hot
Love Unlimited
Up On The Hill
Come Find Yourself
Scooby Snacks
Blues For Suckers
Where The Bum's Go
Smoke 'em
Big Night Out

ENCORE:
Bombin the L

We were amused during Smoke 'Em when Frank clearly decided to use the fact that he was in his 'tank' to his advantage... lighting up when Huey and Fast couldn't! There was some window stroking on Huey's part, but we all felt jealous... especially when there was the faint aroma drifting across to us!

As we've seen over the recent months FLC were once again of fabulous form. Huey's solos were amazing and he was very chatty with the crowd - recounting the tale of when they last played at KoKo (at 2am apparently!).

Despite the bizarre concept - I think we can say that the night was a massive success. If this was an experiment for Smirnoff and The Silent Disco people then I think I can say that FLC were proof positive that this can work! Lots of happy people leaving the venue - and hopefully something that will be the talk of the music biz for a while!

To understand the night more have a look at the following YouTube videos:

FLC arrive on stage and begin playing Fun Lovin' Criminal

Huey chats to the crowd (through their headphones) and Loco

BBC coverage of the night

 

Four pages of photos from the Harley Davidson European Rally in Austria are now available HERE.

 

Having been to the Beachdown Festival the previous day, my first observation would have to be that this was a much different gig. The venue itself was situated in the grounds of Stowe House, which we saw as we arrived. A huge Manor House (and now a school) surrounded by acres of National Trust land... which meant walking past (some somewhat confused) people walking their dogs on the way to the festival's entrance!

Last Days of Summer was a smaller capacity festival compared to Beachdown, and perhaps the most contentious issue for us, and others at the event, was the choice of timing for FLC to appear. Instead of their usual headlining spot at these things, we were surprised to see them playing at the ridiculously early time of 6pm. This meant that they were playing before The Rascals, Richard Ashcroft, Athlete and Supergrass - and from what we saw these other artists only drew crowds of a similar size. However, the stupidity of the scheduling didn't stop a reasonably sized crowd from gathering to watch FLC.

The timing of their billing also meant that the band were limited to a criminally (please forgive the awful pun) just-under 45 minutes.

The Set List was as follows:

Loco
King Of New York
Love Unlimited
Smoke 'em
Scooby Snacks
Where The Bums Go (Woh-oh-oh-ooooh)
10th Street
Blues For Suckers
Fun Lovin' Criminal

Although FLC were going down a storm with the crowd, unfortunately things were spoiled somewhat by a few - lets call them knobjockeys - in the crowd. There had been the idea of giving the festival-goers sponge stress balls - which inevitably were then being used as mini-missiles for the unfortunate band members on the stage through the day. However during the Criminal's performance this was stepped up to a new level of stupidity when someone decided to throw an almost full bottle of lager in Huey's direction during King Of New York. Luckily it bounced off the monitor in front of him, but it was clear that he, and the other band members, were totally unimpressed - with Huey 'flipping the bird' and mouthing abuse in the direction of the moron who was responsible. He immediately got back into the song and continued - despite a couple of other things being thrown during Scooby Snacks - at which point we were actually worried that the set might be cut even shorter than the designated 45mins. Fortunately for us, after he issued a verbal warning (and threatening scowl) to the offender(s) this idiotic behaviour seemed to come to an end.

To add to the problems, there again seemed to be sound issues for the band - Fast was repeatedly looking over to the sound desk and seemed to be struggling with his bass pedals... and the difficulties were obvious when during Huey's usual intro to Love Unlimited the Barry White voice sample needed several attempts before it was actually audible to the crowd.

Similarly to what we had seen the previous day, King joined FLC on stage during Smoke 'Em to help with the passing of song-related smokables between the guys. Fast pointed out to the crowd that it was King's birthday, and there was even a small outbreak of 'Happy Birthday' being sung by the audience for him.

The set was over far too quickly... and the tightness of the schedule for the day was quite rudely evidenced in the speed at which the announcer for the day leapt on stage to talk about the other bands before FLC had even had a chance to say their proper farewells to the applauding/cheering crowd. However, despite the briefness of the set, FLC seemed to have been a very popular choice for the festival. Lots of people were positively responding and talking about the set afterwards.

We noticed that the merch stall was up and running, and seemed to be doing well with lots of people buying the new t-shirts, including an adorable baby in a pushchair, sporting a rather fetching FLC tee! Here's to the next generation of FLC fans!

We're hearing on the grapevine that the album is well into it's final stages, and there's a chance that it might be available fairly soon. This would be a great move following on from the success of FLC's appearances this Summer, as it certainly seems that these performances have helped jog some people's memories, convert some younger fans to the ways of FLC and reinforce to some (mentallists like us) existing fans why we go see the band live after more than 10 years of doing so.

Bring on the new album! Bring it now!

VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE FESTIVAL HERE

 

More summer festivals for FLC - this time, at Devil's Dyke near Brighton.  Beachdown is a nice, reasonably-sized festival which was in it's first year.  From where we were camping, we could see the sea (when it wasn't raining!).  And a highlight for us ladies, was the pleasant, flushing toilet facilities - whoop!
 
The main stage, where FLC were playing, was situated at the bottom of two converging hills - imagine, if you will, a tiny stage at the bottom of a fairly large bowl, which was great for viewing but quite physically challenging climbing up and down.  Not exactly wheelchair friendly sadly.  
 
On the Saturday evening we went to 'Stage 2' to see De La Soul who were fantastic and we were left confused as to why they were not playing the main stage instead of The Magic Numbers - as everybody in the crowd was dancing and interacting with the band and generally having a great time.
 
Before FLC's performance on Sunday, legendary band The Beat were playing.  Having already positioned ourselves at the front of the stage, we couldn't help but spot FLC's Frank at the side of the stage enjoying The Beat's performance as much as us and the rest of the audience.  The Beat even dedicated a song to FLC, which we thought was a nice touch.  
 
The gig actually began an hour later than scheduled, which meant FLC didn't take to the stage until 11pm.  However, time was filled by the crowd with frequent, tension-building countdowns and a fabulous rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, complete with guitar solos, with which we joined in enthusiastically.  All the crowd positivity (and it stretched way back up to the top of the hill!) carried on through the entirety of the gig with a pleasantly surprising number of people seeming to know the words to more than the usual amount of songs. There was also a great deal of dancing, bouncing and even a small mosh pit!
 
Despite being the headline act, their set was curtailed to one hour - which we found quite surprising (and a trifle disappointing as we were having a really good time!)  
 
Set list was (and we know this, because we nicked some!):
 
Loco/King of NY
Love Unlimited
Passive/Aggressive
City Boy
Korean Bodega
Smoke 'Em
Scooby Snacks
Where the Bums Go
10th Street
Blues for Suckas
Big Nite Out
Fun Lovin' Criminal
 
The guys seemed to be having some sound problems, although it didn't appear to be noticeable from the audience, and this didn't seem to affect their performance in any way.
 
Before FLC started Smoke 'Em, they were joined onstage by King (longstanding friend of the band and singer with Huey's side project The Tangiers Blues Band) who assisted with moving the required smokeables from band member to band member, and also handing out drinks!  It seemed for a while that the guys had forgotten the crowd were there as they enjoyed a smoke break! This seemed a successful approach however, as we thought it was a particularly superb rendition of Smoke 'Em.  
 
Moving on from this song immediately into the perfect trio of Scooby Snacks, Where the Bums Go and 10th Street was just the right thing to do as the crowd went mental (and possibly so did your reviewers!)  
 
It was great to hear City Boy again, after hearing it at the Feile Festival in Belfast - melodicas rule!  
 
There was a sizeable portion of the crowd behind us who kept trying to tell Huey that they couldn't hear his vocals, however, it wasn't a problem for us at the front, so we wonder if it was something to do with the acoustics of the bowl-like shape of Devil's Dyke plus it was also quite windy.
 
We can't quite put our finger on what it is about FLC at the moment, but the last few times that we have seen them perform live, they really seem to have stepped up their game onstage.  They're sounding great, they seem to be emitting a positive vibe which then spreads out through the audiences, and all the band look in great shape.  Frank's drumming is particularly impressive at the moment, Huey has been looking very dapper and Fast has got a new haircut!  
 
Roll on the next lot of gigs!  
 
Special mention must go to Lounge member U2bawooly for making the trek from Devon to join us at Beachdown.  It was great to meet you and we look forward to hanging out with you at future FLC gigs.  His attendance at this gig might mean that flcnyc.co.uk will be able to bring you something really special in the next few weeks, but we'll keep you posted...and, for the time being, under our hats!  

VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE FESTIVAL HERE

I sent an request to the organisation for a press pass which I got fairly quickly, which I didn't expect asking so late, (only a week before).
I'd promised the event to take some pics for them too so I was there early, but having 4 stages it's not easy to take pics at all of them.

It wasn't very clear what the restrictions were for the photographers and so I asked one of the security people and he said there were no restrictions and that we even could go backstage... don't say that twice!

Walking around backstage is a strange feeling but at Huntenpop there wasn't very much going on besides the free drinks and food.
Maybe because of the 4 stages not all the bands are together in one place, and a lot of bands left right after their gig. I didn't actually see the guys from FLC til 15 minutes before the show. It almost seemed like they were nervous... or under the influence... I heard Frank ask for a bottle of Jack Daniels!

So I moved quickly inside to find a good spot in front of the stage, which wasn't easy because there were a lot of photographers but most of them left after a few songs, so halfway the gig I had the area for myself! I found it a bit of a tame performance comparing it to the Dordrecht gig but I enjoyed it anyway and so did the crowd. Some songs were played a slightly different from the way I know them. FLC played for an hour and 10 minutes.

I also found out that sometimes I'm so busy making pictures that I forget to enjoy the show, I have to find a balance between that! There was a drunk asshole who almost spoiled the whole thing by being agressive, a girl told me about it and so I warned security and they picked the guy out of the crowd.

Well now the setlist which I wrote down otherwise I probably forget half of it:

Up on the Hill
Love Unlimited
Loco
King of NY
Passive/Agressive
City Boy
Korean Bodega
Smoke 'em
Back on the Block
Scooby Snacks
Where the Bums Go
10th Street
Blues for Suckers
Big Night Out
The Fun Lovin' Criminal

Review by The Lounge's international reporter - Marcel!

VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE FESTIVAL HERE

 

This weekend flcnyc.co.uk crew Aitch and Alex went on a crazy journey, which involved them seeing five Fun Lovin’ Criminals related gigs in less than 4 days. Here’s the reviews of what they got up to…

 

Thursday, August 7 th 2008.

Summer Sundae Warm-Up – Leicester

 

To be honest, this was an unexpected FLC related night. Aitch had originally gone to Leicester to see The Dandilions play at The Charlotte. This was part of the warm-up to the weekends Summer Sundae festival at Demontford Hall. Several venues across Leicester’s town centre were hosting gigs to start off the weekend.

 

So starting out at The Musician, and having just settled herself in the corner, Aitch was therefore surprised to first spot Keiron (bass player with Uncle Frank), swiftly followed by Na’im and FLC’s own Frank Benbini taking to the stage!

 

Their appearance at The Musician was dramatic but brief. They played American Trilogy from the Ideal Food For Love album, and their latest tune Shake ‘n’ Bake… and then they were outta there! Turned out that the plan was to play a tune at each of the venues that were hosting the night’s events (although it later conspires that they didn’t make it to The Charlotte!). It was the first time i’d heard the new track, but as usual Frank and the guys didn’t disappoint. Shake ‘n’ Bake has the ability to immediately get the crowd onside with some fab audience participation via claps and the stupidly catchy ‘Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi… Yo-yo-yo-yo-yoooh’ riff (which has firmly embedded itself in both Aitch and Alex’s brains this weekend!)

 

There followed a quick visit over to The Firebug for another rendition of Shake ‘n’ Bake to the new crowd there, and then unfortunately it was time for me to leave and head down the road to catch the Dandilions (a fine band I may add!). The info is that Shake ‘n’ Bake is the next EP from the guys, with remixes by band member Junior Benbini and FLC’s Fast – so looking forward to hearing that!

 

Had to leave Leicester fairly early, as I had bags to pack for the rest of the insane weekend ahead of me – but this was an awesome, surprising start to it all…

 

 

Friday, August 8 th 2008.

FLC @ The Bulldog Bash – Stratford-Upon-Avon

 

Picking up Alex from the train station, making the short journey to The Bulldog Bash (past the ridiculous number of police, bikes and vans) and setting up the tent we had a cup of tea or two, had a smoke and then made our way to stroll around the venue.

 

Firstly bumping into Uncle Frank/Fatal Star’s Na’im on our way to the press room, followed shortly after by Fast and Frank on their way to look at the custom bikes tent we hugged, chatted and then made our way to find something to drink before the night’s gig.

 

After some initial confusion we discovered that we’d been given VIP passes, allowing both of us into the area known as ‘the bear pit’ immediately in front of the stage. The main tent where FLC played was nestled between the custom bikes tent and the lapdancing area… could it have been more perfect? Being undercover was even a bonus, as it kept us out of the rain! The bear pit filled up – with several kids plonked onto the bass speakers at the front… how their underdeveloped eardrums coped I don’t know, as the bass levels in there were internal organ rumbling!

 

By the time FLC came on stage the tent was packed, and the guys were given a great welcome by The Bulldog Bash crowd. Starting out the set with Where The Bum’s Go, swiftly followed by 10th Street was a smart and effective decision by the band – as immediately the crowd were enjoying themselves and feeling the more rocky vibe of FLC.

 

Alex and I have given this gig some serious consideration – and have both concluded that it was possibly one of, if not the best gig, we’ve seen FLC play. The guys themselves seemed lively and were all enjoying themselves. The sound was tight, and the choice of songs (although mainly familiar to us) was a winner for the crowd. After Scooby Snacks had gone down a storm (with lots of bouncing to keep Aitch happy), FLC followed with their cover of Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll – which the lively Bulldog crowd lapped up… and roared their approval even more loudly at the end. We’d both like to give a special mention to TRM Frank – his drumming on the night was jaw-droppingly outstanding, and he seemed to be putting his heart and soul into the gig.

 

Setlist… a little bit ‘hazy’. Right songs, not necessarily in the right order – although the first 4 - and last 3 - are definitely correct!

 

Where The Bums Go

10 th Street

Korean Bodega

Passive/Aggressive

Loco

King Of New York

Love Unlimited

Back on the Block

Scooby Snacks

Bombin’ The L

Rock and Roll (Led Zep cover)

Blues For Suckers

Smoke ‘Em

Big Night Out

Encore:

Foxy Lady

Fun Lovin’ Criminal

 

Frank made a point of mentioning the presence of Eddie Kidd at the side of the stage – and he was encouraged by the band to come forward and wave to the enthusiastic crowd. As it had been Huey’s birthday the day before the gig, there was even a rendition of Happy Birthday from the crowd for the man in question.

 

When the gig was over we popped round the back for a drink and to drop off Huey’s birthday pressies (we just hope he remembered to take them back to the bus!). Huey was kept busy with people wanting to chat and have their picture taken with him, but we managed to say our hellos/goodbyes to the guys before we headed off to our tent in the early hours.

 

A superb gig that I don’t think either of us would have wanted to miss!

 

VIEW PHOTOS HERE

 

 

Saturday, August 9 th 2008

Uncle Frank (feat. FLC’s Fast) @ Summer Sundae – Leicester

Cantaloop @ Mr Wolf’s – Bristol

 

The craziest day of the whole weekend for so many reasons!

 

The rain was coming down as we woke at The Bulldog Bash – so after making a decision to abandon the soaking wet tent we packed our things, hopped in the car, skidded our way out of the muddy car park and set off to Leicester for the Summer Sundae festival at Demontford Hall.

 

Uncle Frank

 

We arrived in the early afternoon, and after finally finding a place to park and once again don our wellingtons it wasn’t too long until we briefly bumped into FLC’s Frank and Fast, along with Uncle Frank’s Na’im and Keiron. After quick hellos (again!), they made their way to the Musician Tent to get ready.

 

It’s hard to review this gig to its full potential – as it was very much a visual event as well as an auditory one (hopefully the pics will help to paint the picture). Uncle Frank were playing the gig with a full horn section of trumpets/sax/tuba – including Gaz Birtles, who has played with the Fun Lovin’ Criminals many times, and Fast who was making a special appearance with the band. As the band set up we’d noticed Fast’s looks of concern, and when Uncle Frank took to the stage it became clear why! Stepping out to an Uncle Frank remix of The Next Episode the all the members of the band were sporting what can only be described as bright pink, full bodysuits – think Uma Thurman in the yellow jumpsuit in Kill Bill – only pink! They then stood – stoney faced with a clenched fist, resting on their palm in a kung-fu stance until the arrival of Frank, who himself was also in a bodysuit, but with a Jackson Pollack style paint job.

 

The crowd were already going wild – and the set was superb – lapping up the visual spectacle before them. Uncle Frank started their set with Shake ‘n’ Bake – their newest tune which everyone in the tent seemed to love. There were songs from the Ideal Food For Love album, including Kiss Chase, Frank’s Persuasion and Momma’s Got Her Groove On. Frank stopped the band mid song to announce that they weren’t being funky enough – to which Na’im pointed out that Steve Lamacq was watching. Frank replied that he "didn’t give a fuck who was there, it just wasn’t funky enough", before the band broke into a fabulous version of Prince’s Sexy MF.

 

There was so much going on in this gig – the outfits, the music, a trumpet/kazoo off, Frank demonstrating his use of the one-inch punch, a perfectly themed/hilarious cover of Tenacious D’s Karate, Junior B stripping to his waist (possibly in a way of disguising the fact he was wearing the jumpsuit!), Frank and Na’im synched dancing, ass-shaking… the list goes on… We think it’s safe to say that Uncle Frank were probably one of the most unique and memorable acts of the whole Summer Sundae weekend. Unfortunately we couldn’t stick around for long, so after a quick chat to Fast through a wire fence we raced to the car to head on down to Bristol for the next instalment of our weekend!

 

VIEW PHOTOS HERE

 

Cantaloop

 

After almost running out of petrol and driving at various illegal speeds down the motorway we arrived in Bristol about 10 minutes before Cantaloop arrived on stage. By this point Alex and I were really beginning to struggle with all the sleep deprivation and general insanity of the weekend. However, once we were at the venue the adrenaline had kicked in and so we were again able to enjoy this gig to its full potential.

 

Positioning ourselves at the front (so Alex could take even more photos!) we said hello to lead-singer Danny and quickly discussed our travels before he and the rest of the band took to the stage. The usual line-up were joined by Simon Holland on the trumpet and harmonica.

 

The set was brilliant, and although the venue itself was quite small (especially after the festivals of the weekend) the crowd were fantastic! After an invite to move forward after the first song the audience obliged and moved themselves to the front of the stage. It’s great to see the Cantaloop crowds, who are always willing to dance, clap and cheer… and by the time Danny and the guys had moved onto Propa they were more than ready for the audience participation. (We were on the winning side for a change!) Big respect from me for the awesome drum and bass on the night – making it impossible to not dance around for the whole gig!

 

During the gig Danny gave us a big-up… describing us as part of the Cantaloop hardcore crew due to the craziness of our visit and also introduced us to the crowd as ‘representing the FLC’ which made us feel pretty bloomin’ special!

 

After the gig the tiredness kicked in for us once again, so we quickly said our goodbyes and headed off to our beds in a local hotel for the night (Bristol’s City Inn – highly recommended by us, just for the iMac in your room!)

 

 

 

Sunday 10 th August

FLC @ Féile Festival - Belfast.

 

Sleep deprived, and by now realising that a diet of Red Bull and cigarettes is not the best for a person, we continued on our journey with a flight over to Belfast.

 

After a stop in the hotel to drop off our things we hopped in a taxi to the Andersonstown Leisure Centre. Even though we'd bought tickets, finding ourselves on the guestlist we made our way inside – to find possibly the strangest venue for an FLC gig yet. The room was, as the name suggests, a sports hall… filled with trestle tables, looking something like a cross between a beer-festival and a wedding reception. There was a small area at the front of the stage, and as we watched it appeared to be more of a dancefloor than the usual ‘mosh-pit’.

 

For the first time, we spotted the new merchandise on sale. There were the t-shirts that had been available at Glastonbury (the fist and the soundsystem designs), but additional designs include a blue shirt with the FLC name of the left breast and a large yellow FLC logo on the back and a grey polo shirt with a small dog printed on it (as worn by Fast after the gig at Glasto). Still no sign of the ying/yang hoodies yet. The stickers appear to be back on sale – and we also picked up a copy of an ‘FLC Party Mix’ CD. If any of you have been to gigs before, it’s the tunes that you often hear being played before FLC come on stage… so you can now have that pre-gig feeling in your own home!

 

The merchandise stand was being run by Robbo – so we bought him a drink and had a chat before making our way to the front of the stage – which now reassuringly had changed to a more gig orientated appearance.

 

Despite our reservations about the venue the gig was superb. Huey arrived on stage wearing his hat and tinted glasses and the crowd (including a bunch of squealing, bra-throwing girls next to us – possibly not seen at an FLC gig since 2003!) went crazy. There were some serious sound issues to begin with – the vocals were barely audible above Huey’s guitar, and Fast seemed to be having problems with his bass pedals. This was obviously causing the band some frustration, but after a couple of songs these issues seemed to be resolved – and in the meantime the fantastic response from the crowd boosted FLC’s attitude as the set continued.

 

The set seemed to be following a familiar path to us, with the usual list of songs, but played in a new order… until suddenly we spotted Fast pulling out the melodica, and before we knew it the guys were breaking into the start of City Boy! It was great to hear it played live again, and I think they could spot our grins at hearing a new tune in the set… I hope that they’ll keep it in the running order from now on. The audience seemed to love every minute of the gig – with plenty of dancing, arm waving and singing along. The venue was sold out and there were clearly a lot of serious FLC fans there that night.

 

Set List: Definitely right songs, right order… cos I wrote them down!

 

Up On The Hill

Back On The Block

Loco

King of New York

City Boy

Korean Bodega

10 th Street

Bombin’ The L

Passive/Aggressive

Scooby Snacks

Where The Bum’s Go

Blues For Suckers

Smoke ‘Em

Big Night Out

Fun Lovin’ Criminal

Encore:

(Fab drum solo from Frank)

Love Unlimited

Foxy Lady

 

Huey was appalled and the crowd were amused to discover Fast was drinking cider… although I suspect that the Fast that evening was an imposter, especially when I noticed his dirty sneakers! On the subject of Fast – we’d also like to suggest that next time you see the guys playing live you check out the new and improved ‘Fast’s acting school’ during Scooby Snacks… He rolls his eyes during the ‘I don’t know anything about…’ soundclip to perfection and always makes us smile!

 

During the encore Huey (again) received a burst of Happy Birthday from the crowd, after Frank announced that it was Huey’s birthday yesterday (? – But understandable as by this point we didn’t know what day it was either!)

 

After hugs and chats with Huey after the gig, plus another drink or two, we were ready to call an end to our gig-going… but before we left we returned to the front of the stage to watch the penalty shoot out which had begun in the sports hall - featuring FLC’s support band for the night, the brilliantly named Ham Sandwich. We were informed by the crew at the gig that these guys would probably still be there at 8.30 in the morning – and so we quickly made our excuses and left! Finally making it to our beds at 5am.

 

VIEW PHOTOS HERE

 

 

We’ve finally made it back to our respective homes – so that we’re able to bring these reviews and pics for you (it’s a hard life y’know!?!). This weekend has been the most interesting/exciting/crazy/fun/tiring/adrenaline filled of our lives… and has been worth every sleepless hour and mile we’ve travelled.

 

Thanks so much to Huey for sorting us out with passes at The Bulldog Bash, and to Fast for the same help at the Féile – your help is always really appreciated guys and the photos will be in the mail soon. Thanks to Frank, Na’im, Keiron and Junior for giving us the biggest laugh of the weekend with those outfits! Danny and the guys – it was so worth coming to see you… A mention to the guys and girls from Ham Sandwich and their awesome football skills, to Tommy the taxi driver and Tony the photographer. Robbo – it was nice to meet you… I’m sure we’ll see you again soon! Large (Mk II) – you are a gentleman sir!

 

Anyone else we encountered/bothered/annoyed… we can only apologise…

 

Feelin’ pretty hardcore…

 

Aitch and Alex

 

Arriving in Hemiksem well on time to check out the Belgian electro-band Vive la Fete, the surrounding area of this nice and free festival reveals itself. An abbey amidst a much more industrial site, on the bank of the Scheldt, very near to the water.

The sky doesn't look good for this evening in the open air though - it must have been some time ago that I saw pitch-black clouds like that. Fortunately, as it turns out later, the rain stayed in the sky for the whole evening.

Waiting in front of the main-stage for Vive la Fete to come on, it became apparent that they were not playing on the mainstage, because FLC's (new?) crew started the stage setup. To the right, somewhat hidden, was a tent however, which was used in a rotation method, to allow for a smooth interleaving of bands. Good!

Since the FLC were on at 23h30, moving back to the mainstage fifteen minutes before seemed like a wise idea. When their stage-setup started, the whole square was empty, maybe 3 people standing at the barriers. There were much more people now, but it was still pretty easy to get up to the front. Fourth row? All right, ideal for enjoying the whole show while able to take pictures!

I guess it was around midnight that they came on, ready to headline this local festival. Looking at the site, there must have been a few thousand people there (7000-8000?). Could have been more, the crowd-density wasn't super high, but can't say it was under-level this time.

FLC's outfits also where a little different from the usual thing. I suspected a more casual look given the pictures i've seen of recent gigs,
and that's how it felt when they walked onto the stage. Analysing my pictures lately, Fast was wearing a suit, Franky not, and Huey... something else! (See pictures of the event HERE)

Here follows the this time complete (and in the right order!) setlist of thegig. Don't ask me how I've managed to keep track!

Where the Bums Go
10th Street
Bombin' the L
Up on the Hill
Loco
King of New York
Korean Bodega
Smoke 'em
Love Unlimited
Scooby Snacks
Blues For Suckers
Back on the Block
Big Night Out
Fun Lovin' Criminal
Foxy Lady

The lighting was perfect, as we're used to, and crowd interaction was pretty cool too. Just before Love unlimited Frank started some drumbreak and I don't know if it was intentional, but the whole crowd started singing "la laaaa, la lala la..." the We Are The Champions way. FLC seemed positively surprised by this!

Another cool moment (can't remember where however) was a sample of the Indiana Jones theme being played. Funnily enough Huey looked more or less like an adventurer (see da pictures)!

In my opinion it was a set well worth seeing/hearing. A little on the short size (something like an hour), but I guess that's always the case with festivals. The sound level and mix were not optimal (could have been somewhat louder, it was quite quiet; also the guitars drowned in the bass mostly). But they sure had fun, which could be said of most of the crowd too. I've heard the usual complaints ("play something we know" etc.) but after Scooby Snacks they stopped, and they were not that present as before (suck it up anyway if you're one of those, maybe you should go and buy some CDs, or open yourself up to their whole spectrum instead of only their hits). (And so say all of us! - Ed.)

Too bad there were no Livin' in the City/Welcome to Poppy's tracks played this time, but I understand the constraints.

Anyway, after the Fun Lovin' Criminal they went off stage, there was a lot of "we want more" shouting going on so it didn't take long before they were back. Foxy Lady as an encore this time, and it rocked again. Only one encore song, probably because there was a great fireworks show on right after the Criminals, and it seems you need to take or leave a window for that with regards to weather conditions. I don't know whether they watched it, but they well deserved it. So did the crowd and the organisation of this great event. Flawless I can admit. Really reasonably priced drinks too (the effect on the crowd of that was visible!) Better and stronger beers (Duvel, Lachouffe, Vedette, ...) than anywhere else on a festival!

An evening well worth spending there, hope they'll consider it next year too! ...With the new album aha! For the ones they couldn't make it, hope you enjoyed this summary.

 

REVIEW AND PICTURES BY 'THE LOUNGE' MEMBER kbr.

 

 

The flcnyc.co.uk crew descended upon the city of Newcastle last night (Friday, 18th July) to drink, dance and be merry at the Fun Lovin' Criminals' DJ set at the Tup Tup Palace.
 
The venue, although smaller than some that the guys have previously played (I would estimate you could fit in a few hundred people in the Belvedere Suite), was a nice place - with modern decor and a pleasant atmosphere. Situated down the road from the Newcastle Carling Academy (where FLC gigged last year) the Tup Tup Palace created a great vibe and was filled with people happy to dance the night away.
 
Frank, Fast and Huey arrived at the venue sometime just after midnight - by which time the club had been nicely warmed up by the resident DJ, and I was already on the dancefloor (if the place had had a dancefloor that is - which it didn't - but it was one of those places where everywhere is the dancefloor!) The DJ set was a stop-off between a gig in the Czech Republic the previous evening, and a gig in Belgium tonight (Saturday) and the Netherlands on Sunday. How these guys do it i'll never understand - as today i'm suffering from just one night of partying hard!
 
FLC's set(s) were the mixture of dance, rap, hip-hop, reggae and old-school tunes that you would expect if you've been to a DJ set by the band before. An ecclectic mix of their musical tastes - skipping from Madonna to Daft Punk, from Damian Marley to Prince, and from the Beastie Boys to, rather unfortunately for this reviewer, Olivia Newton-John*.
 
As with the set I attended in Galway earlier this year (see review further down this page), there again seemed to be a distinct absence of Huey at the decks. Most of the night was governed by Fast and Frank - with only the briefest of glimpses of Huey at the mixer - which again was a shame. I'm not saying that Fast and Frank did a bad job - quite the opposite in fact - but I still miss hearing Huey's choices on the night. But his absence from the decks did mean that a lot of happy Tup Tup customers got to chat and have their pictures taken with the man!
 
As is usual on these occasions we danced our socks off, and all was going well until Coffeebug's bag was stolen from inside the club. None of us are quite sure how it happened, as we kept an eye on our things all night, but it put an un-FLC-related dampener on our evening, which was a great shame. So if the person who did it should by any chance read this, then you know what I called you via a text on her now stolen mobile phone, and I stand by that comment now!
 
Back to the review, and the guys played a healthily substantial set - packed full of musical goodness. Everyone in the Tup Tup seemed to enjoy the night, and hung around until the music ended and the club closed in the very early hours. We made our way back to the hotel, minus one handbag and plus some quite sore feet. And I think we can safely say, that this was another great FLC DJ set... and we're looking forward to the next one!

Review by Aitch.
 
 
*Aitch would like to point out that - for the benefit of anyone who was in the Tup Tup Palace last night - she DID NOT request the song 'Let's Get Physical' by Olivia Newton-John, despite what a certain member of FLC may have suggested... In fact - she would rather burn out her own eyes with a hot spoon than do so!

 

3 pages of photos from the evening are now online HERE

 

Lexy reporting for The Lounge:

Right dear friends in the Lounge, I'm back from the Land of Glastonbury, slightly revolting and muddy, but whole in body and spirit (mostly!).

Arriving at Castle Cary and we were greeted by the police with sniffer dogs...nice! Then it was a bus to the festival site. I should mention that it had been raining persistently for a few hours at this point and Aitch had already sent me a picture showing the mud at the site. This worried me somewhat as I had on a pair of sandals and hadn't brought my wellies.

Got to the site, and the mud was ankle deep...my sandals are probably now destined for the bin. It took me around 40 minutes to walk across the site to meet Aitch...by which time I was knackered.

Anyhow, we set up my tent - thanks guys - had a cuppa and then got ourselves sorted out to go and see FLC. Off we went, through the mud to the Jazz World Stage. By now though, the rain had stopped - lucky for FLC! Lupe Fiasco were just finishing and a lot of people moved between stages, so Aitch and I managed to get a couple of rows back from the front on Fast's side of the stage.

Menace was impressive as always in setting up the sound and seemed to do it in record time!

Then just after their allotted time (well DONE guys!) FLC came onstage. Although a lot of people had left after Lupe Fiasco, they had clearly been replaced by a LOT more...and it started to get very warm and cosy in that crowd!

The boys looked dapper as always...Huey resplendant in a white suit!!! We were afraid that he might get pelted with mud - we were both sure that this had happened to another performer some years ago, but neither of us could remember who. I've done a search on google, but I can't find it and I'm too tired to go searching through dozens of articles to find it - so if someone knows - PLEASE tell us!

They started with Korean Bodega and away we went! The set list (and we think it was pretty much in this order) was as follows:

Korean Bodega
Back on the Block
Loco
King of New York
Love Unlimited (baby-making music - according to Huey!)
Scooby Snacks
Where the Bums Go
10th Street
Blues For Suckers
Up on the Hill (Nice to see Gaz Birtles on the sax)
Smoke 'em
Big Night Out
The Fun Lovin' Criminal

The boys seemed in great form and Huey kept saying how amazing it was to be back, and clearly meant it.

Frank was dynamite behind the drums, really playing some stand-out riffs during Loco - I never tire of hearing him play!

The crowd, of course, went absolutely MENTAL for Scooby Snacks and sang along as expected. However, there were clearly a fair few FLC fans in the crowd, because everyone was familiar with the call and response of tracks like King of New York and Love Unlimited, and I think we all shouted ourselves hoarse during Where the Bums Go (I know I did!).

It was fantastic to see Gaz Birtles joining them again on the saxophone for Up on the Hill - it always completes that song perfectly when Gaz is there to play the sax.

At one point Frank led the crowd in a rendition of "Ole ole ole ole..." - you all know how it goes!!! While we were all yelling along, Huey was doing some kind of dance...I don't have the first clue how to describe it...so I won't try! It was funny...let's leave it at that!

As soon as Fast lit his joint, we all knew it ws time for Smoke 'Em - and the band (and some of the crowd) certainly proceeded to do so!

They followed with a very boisterous Big Night Out...and then the last track, their signature tune...The Fun Lovin' Criminal. It was at this point that Huey seemed to have a brain slip and completely forget all the words...funny as all hell for me and Aitch...but I don't think anybody else noticed to be honest...besides, he ad libbed the entire way through, so it's just us nerds that were sniggering!

And then, all too soon, they were gone.

Aitch had bounced almost continually throughout the gig, like someone on a pogo stick. I would have gladly made the attempt, but by this point, I felt that if I bounced, I may come out of my wellies...leaving them welded to the mud!

We were told that the boys were going to be signing copies of their albums in the signing tent, so Aitch and I had a brain-wave and got in the queue. They were selling copies of Living in the City and Welcome to Poppy's, so we got one of each. After a fairly lengthy wait, we suddenly noticed Fast chatting to people in the queue in front of us, working his way along, saying hello to people, signing the albums they had and posing for photos.

Eventually we got to the desk where Huey and Frank were sitting. It was lovely to see them both, and they both signed the albums for us.

What a gig! Aitch and I had an absolute BLAST as usual, and it was lovely to get to say Hi to the guys.

I wussed out UTTERLY and came home today, but Aitch is being all 'Hard Core' and is leaving on Monday! I should explain at this point, that I left Aitch's tent at around 3.30am this morning after a girlie chat and a cup of tea, and then I lay in my tent and I haven't slept a wink all night.. Mind you, Fast told us that Huey had gone to bed at 4.30pm before the gig on Friday evening!

I got a message from Aitch when I was on my way home saying that the sun had finally come out, she had had an ice cream, and they were watching the Wurzels (as you do!)...

Fellow flcnyc-er Coffeebug and I have had quite a busy weekend, which began on Friday, when we went off to Birmingham to see regular-FLC support Cantaloop... and continued with a trip to see the FLC at Nottingham yesterday.
 
Now first of all - let's confess... This was a student-only event... and as hard as it may be to believe by those that know us, Bug and I are not students... However, with a little bit of flcnyc.co.uk magic - and a hint of desperation - we managed to blag get tickets (a BIG thank you to Andy for all his help) and off we scuttled to the venue at Nottingham University's Campus. It was a great place to hold an open-air festival... situated in the centre of the massive campus was a nice bit of field with the main stage situated at the bottom of a grassy slope.
 
With approximately several thousand people there our strategy was to get into the crowd early and then wriggle our way to the front in time for FLC coming on stage... Unfortunately for this strategy to work we had to start on our tactics about 3 hours in advance! This meant no beer, no toilet breaks, and quite a substantial amount of bruising and battery from a brilliantly lively crowd whilst the other pre-FLC bands were on... (The Bees, The Courteneers and The Maccabees). However, the plan worked, and by the time The Maccabees had left the stage (a little later than was scheduled) we had made it to the barrier.
 
As the running times were behind we were a little worried about how long FLC would actually get on stage, as we already knew they were restricted to a 50 minute set. According to the posters stageside FLC were due on at 21.40, but the crew were still setting up the equipment at well past 10pm.
 
Huey, Fast and Frank took to the stage... and as we've now come to expect, were all impeccably dressed... making them stand out from all the previous bands' t-shirts and skinny jeans. Opening their set with Korean Bodega we had a certain apprehension about how the students would react after seeing the more current 'student-orientated' bands of the day. I think we'd both say it probably took a few songs, but by the time they'd moved through Tenth Street and onto King Of New York the crowd was hooked and were in the palms of FLC's hands, and what followed was a really awesome set!

We tried our best to keep track of the setlist, but having returned to the hotel we realised things had become a little 'hazy'... so here we go, in no particular order (apart from the first and last songs!):
 
Korean Bodega
10th Street
King Of New York
Up On The Hill
Passive/Aggressive
Love Unlimited
Where The Bum's Go
Big Night Out
Scooby Snacks
Bombin' The L
Bearhug
Smoke 'Em
Fun Lovin' Criminal
 
The Come Find Yourself and 100% Colombian dominated set was a beautiful mix of mellow and rocky (AAADRIAAN! ....aherm...) tunes which really seemed to please the audience of old, and potential new, FLC fans. Bug and I estimate that they actually played for about an hour, which was an added bonus for us... Credit has to go to Fast who we observed playing bass, smoking and doing vocals simultaneously... talk about multi-tasking!
 
As they ended the set with Fun Lovin' Criminal Frank threw his drumstick in the air... missed the catch (doh! - Didn't he miss the catch at the last gig in Belgium too?), and as Huey signalled for the punchy drum ending to the track Frank got out from behind the drumkit... (you know when you have that 'oh-oh' kinda feeling?)... and launched himself from the stage, over the crash barrier and into the crowd! It took quite a while for Frank to be 'returned' (much to Huey and Fast's amusement it seemed) and for FLC to leave the stage... but the stage-dive was certainly something that got the crowd talking, which can only be a good thing, in the same way that as we waited for our taxi home we heard several people going past singing FLC lyrics!
 
Thanks to the guys for another cracking set - the first of many we hope this Summer. Thanks to God for keeping the weather nice after the forecast of showers all day. Respect to 'The Riddler' who busted some serious moves at the back of the stage for the whole set... and to the rather drunk Irish guy next to me - for although he nicked my hat several times, and tried to fiddle with my undergarments (!), knew the words to most of the FLC songs and sang along with me!
 
As we made our way towards the exit - through the empty beer bottles and numerous lost flip-flops - we concluded that this had been a good night out had by all!

BRING ON THE NEW ALBUM!!!

 

 

Review by 'The Lounge' resident... kbr in Belgium. (Thanks man!)

I'm about to tell you of the latest FLC gig at the Neerpelt Open Air festival in Belgium. What a day! It was too hot for me, the kind of the heat we experienced when we were in California a year ago. I was having problems finding a ride back (or a place to sleep) days before the gig, but was able to arrange the day anyway last-minute, thanks to our guitar-playing buddy who was wanting to go along (thanks, you know who you are).
 
Because we were way too early (early-afternoon -- gig started at 8 in the evening), we made a little detour, which resulted in taking too many random/wrong directions - even thinking at for a while that the cops where chasing us! Anyway, we spent most of the afternoon in a baking hot car, windows open, some nice chilled electronic tracks on. When we finally were back on track and relatively close to the festival, we found a big field with some shade to rest (yes - one gets tired of all that cruisin'!).
 
It was a rather short (60 mins) but enjoyable set. Although the sun had dropped some degrees (in angle and temperature) by 8 o'clock, it was still scorching hot. The crew was struggling to to set everything up - I saw some seriously red faces there. The soundcheck didn't seem to go that well at one point, but they were finished right on time.
 
The Criminals started with Korean Bodega, and ended the set with the Fun Lovin' Criminal. The complete (if i'm not mistaken, could have forgotten one maybe) setlist goes as follows (order ain't really right, only a little bit!)
 
 
       Korean Bodega
       10th Street
       Back on the Block
       Bombin' the L
       Loco
       King of New York
       Passive/Aggressive
       Where The Bums Go
       Up On The Hill
       Smoke 'em
       Big Night Out (Which Huey dedicated to all the girls)
       Mini Bar Blues
       Love Unlimited
       Scooby Snacks
       Fun Lovin' Criminal
 
 
I think they rocked (considering the late DJing they did the night before as i've heard) the set, and it was worth going. I've had better, but that was usually because the crowd was more cooperative. As you can see in the YouTube video , the crowd is lazy as hell. That ain't fun. The place wasn't full eitherl, and now and then people walked off because it appeared they didn't like it. Their loss...
 
There was however the hip dancing dude and the funny man close to where we were standing, that made my day. On the other hand, there were some people constantly nagging 'play something we(ll) know(n)' -- come on (Well why don't they try listen to more than one of their albums? - Ed.). There was also an obvious undercover cop dressed up "casual with moustache and a beer" going around and asking people for drugs, then going "it was just a question though" when everybody declined - jackass!
 
FLC tried their best to interact with the public, but often the response was meager. Except then for some guy on a fence (taking pictures or just watching the show). Huey asked him how he was doing and he was happy to respond. Frank did a nice drum-solo though (with a 'make some noise people!'). At the end he threw one of his drumsticks in the air to catch it, but it bounced of his drumset!

The sound was pretty damn good, and not too loud. Perfect. The onstage camera-man was constantly filming members of the crowd that were moving... wonder when that will turn up? (If it does it'll probably end up on here! - Ed.) I'd have liked to have heard a Livin' in the City song too, that surprised me a little. They've been playing these a lot lately, which is good.
 
They didn't do an encore, which was pretty understandable given the crowd wasn't ready for it. I was then reminded by a panic-feeling that it's too soon to see the criminals walk off stage, and start hoping for a next time soon!

 

 

The lesson learned from this trip? Aitch and bright red, cinnamon flavoured liqueurs do not go well together!

My apologies first of all… I hang my head in shame, and say that Agent Aitch has failed www.flcnyc.co.uk, as there are no pictures from me of the DJ set. Sorry folks… I will do better next time – as long as I learn from my boozy mistakes in Galway!

So off I set on Friday morning, bright and breezy, to the airport for my flight to Shannon followed by a pleasant, sunny drive up to Galway. After checking in at the Hotel Meyrick, and popping down for a quick look at Eyre Square (the view from my window at the hotel) and a smoke, I got ready to go out and went down to the bar to meet my fellow flcnycer. The reason we were meeting in the bar was that upon check-in we’d both been given a sealed envelope.

Feeling a bit like a secret agent at this point I opened it to find this:

How bloomin’ fancy-dan is that?

Now, trying my hardest, and in the fairness of as much of an unbiased review of the band as I can. I do have to say that this was a slight ‘glitch’ in the evening… because we met up in the Oyster Bar… and we waited for FLC to arrive… And we waited… And we waited… This wasn’t a problem for me, but some other people were becoming a little agitated wanting to know why there was a delay.

Eventually at approx 10.30 – 10.45pm Huey appeared in the bar and went over to chat, take pictures with waiting people, and generally be be the host with the most. Although I didn’t actually go over to say hello until a while later I didn’t see Fast or Frank there, but I may have just missed their presence between nipping outside for smokes and nipping to the bar for JD’s and Cokes…

Note: Although I in no way blame my flcnycer, Irish, for the night’s events of drunken debauchery… this is where the ‘messiness’ began!

Several JD and Cokes later (aherm) we made our way downstairs to ‘Tosh’ the hotel’s ‘Lounge Bar’ for the DJ set. This is when I became somewhat relieved. Earlier in the evening when I’d been sat in the bar, I noticed the place had a somewhat ‘old folks home’ feel about it, and Irish and I had begun to worry that the night may not have been as good as we were expecting. However, downstairs was very busy with Galway’s coolest cats, the cocktails were already flowing and there was even the odd person who had made their way to the dancefloor.

It was well after midnight before the guys arrived in the club… but I think they timed that to perfection. The crowd were nicely warmed up already with a good DJ before FLC and most people were ‘pleasantly pickled’ (myself included!).

Now the good news… this DJ set was awesome. It wasn’t necessarily the tunes that made it so tasty, although the guy’s DJing style changed somewhat… out was the 80’s rock and reggae (apart from one Shaggy track, but I personally wouldn’t classify that as ‘reggae’) and in was House, old skool and modern rap, dance classics (‘Pump Up The Jam’ anyone?) and a smidgen of cheese here and there. I will hold my hand up here, and say that, unfortunately, due to the vast amount of booze I had consumed by this point, I don’t remember everything that was played. I remember dancing, I remember loving most of the tunes, I even remember a couple of songs being dedicated to me… but the rest is fuzzy… apart from very vividly remembering Olivia Newton John’s ‘Physical’ being played quite early on!

What did make this night so great was the way that the crowd lapped up the set. The dancefloor was packed out from start to finish… Fast was chatting away on the mic through the night… and plenty of people got the chance to go up to FLC, say hello, and get their photos taken, which always equals happy customers.

A bit of ‘bad’ news? I didn’t see Huey DJ at all. The night was all about Fast and Frank, doing their thang-a-thang on the decks (which was bloomin fab, but I missed the trio of them up there together). Huey was out around the club, meeting and greeting. Occasionally he’d come up to the DJ box, but as far as I’m aware (even in my drunken haziness) he didn’t go anywhere near the mixer. I’m assuming people who aren’t familiar with their sets wouldn’t have minded as it gave them the chance to see Huey… but I pined a little for the mix-and-match, tag-team skills of FLC on the wheels of steel!

Fast and Frank DJed for 2 hours, before packing up their headphones and heading back to the hotel.

In the early hours (and after losing Irish somewhere mid Fast-conversation) I made my way back up to my room, made myself a cuppa, and settled down in my HUGE bed for a couple of hours kip, before the usual ritual of dragging myself out of bed and driving to the airport to come back home. Obviously I soooo wished it was a plane to Belgium, where FLC were following up their DJ set with a gig, but alas, it is not to be this time. However, I am glad that I didn’t have to get up a mere 3 hours after the DJ set finished to travel hundreds of miles to play a gig… unlike some people! Although as Fast suggested, they may “opt for a laid-back set… playing ‘Up On The Hill’ seven times, and then going home…” Only time will tell I suppose.


To conclude – this DJ set kicked ass! Their best one, that I have seen, yet. Good tunes (although still not sure about Olivia Newton John!), great vibe, good crowd. Hopefully more great DJ sets like this from FLC are to come!

 

 

I think it's safe to say that I adore this band!
 
There were FOUR support bands on before Fatal Star headlined... We didn't get to see all of these as we arrived late. But I think the one most worth mentioning were the hammond organ/jazz drumming duo!
 
Fatal Star themselves were on top form, and as usual when they play in their home town of Leicester, they were loudly and warmly welcomed by the audience. Starting out with trippy 'Mary Jane' - within the first few drumbeats there were people dancing at the front which was good to see.
 
Other songs on the night included the newest track on their MySpace - 'Nip It In The Bud', along with 'Gravy Baby' and a stunning version of 'Saving Grace', complete with Frank and (his brother) Junior's beatboxing!  
 
Frank and Naim ended the set with a couple of acoustic songs... most notably 'Josephine' which was so beautifully performed, and the crowd's gobs so smacked, that apart from Naim's guitar and the vocals, The Musician was so silent you could have heard a pin drop until the song was over!  
 
After the acoustic tracks the whole band ended the set with one last song - their new Prince cover of 'Sexy MF' that they'd also performed at the Uncle Frank gig last Saturday. I can't put into words how great this is, it just has to be heard live!
 
Respect to all the guys in Fatal Star, but a special mention once again for Junior, who still amazes me with his musical talents... hopping between guitar, keyboards and drums... there's serious genius going on there!
 
And all too soon it was over... We wandered over to the Esko for a couple more drinks (a nice bar by the way, the outside does definitely not do the interior justice!)
 
With their great songs, fun approach and what appears to be pure enjoyment at playing live, Fatal Star need to be recognised as the beautifully awesome band they are (hopefully the interest from BBC radio will help with this) and playing the larger venues they deserve before the end of 2008!

 

When we got to The Donkey, we found the front door closed and a note on the door asking people to use the other entrance... and once we got through the side door it was obvious why... The venue was packed! It was great to see such a massive turn out for the gig, even if it meant a battle to get to the bar (although, obviously I merely saw this as a challenge rather than a deterrent!)
 
The gig began with a support from Greg Gent... who performed acoustic tracks and warmed everyone nicely.
 
There was then a brief performance (and by brief, I mean 2 songs) by Rob 'The Hands' Tucker. Rob is a hairdresser by day (he and Frank used to work together), and this was apparently his first time performing his own songs in front of a crowd. Despite his nerves he was great, and on the last song was joined by Frank for a bit of support!
 
Uncle Frank took to the stage in rather fetching matching pink polo shirts... except for Frank, who seemed to have chickened out of the bold fashion statement! During their approach to the stage they were accompanied by an intro of a looping riff from 'The Addams Family', chopped with some dialogue from Frank... (i.e. Der der der der... "It's Uncle Frank"... der der der der... "How about..." der der der der... "...the ladies behind the bar..." etc. etc.)
 
The set itself was great, full of songs from the album, including 'Ideal Food For Love', 'She She She', and 'Irresistible You'. Frank also did his best to prove that the art of playing the kazoo is not a dying art with a duel against 'The Lips' on the trumpet!  
 
There was also the cover from the album of 'I Think We're Alone' (which still kicks the Girls Aloud version's ass!), but there were also a couple of pleasant surprises... a cover of 'Cherish' by Kool and The Gang and then a truly awesome version of 'Sexy MF' by Prince, which I would have to say was probably the highlight of the gig... especially when Uncle Frank were joined on stage by Gaz Birtles on sax.
 
The crowd really seemed to enjoy the gig, with a few people dancing at the front of the stage... which was impressive with how little room there was to move! When the set was over the guys left the stage to the 'outro' of more Addams Family and a gratuitous plug for the Fatal Star gig on Thursday!
 
The gig was great... The Donkey is a great live music venue... if a little crowded... and as well as all the people in the pub lapping up the gig there was also another certain individual checking out the gig... apparently a certain Mr Morgan was checking out the tunes via webcam from NYC... Hope he enjoyed it as much as we did!