Still Corners, Future Islands, Leon Of Athens. These are all artists I have discovered from my girlfriend. One advantage of having a younger girlfriend is that you learn about younger bands and artists. And if you also take into account the bands she is a huge fan of and to whom I was already listening to like Belle And Sebastian and Manic Street Preachers (not forgetting the Pet Shop Boys who brought us together), there are quite a few bands that we both like to listen to and see live.
The latest addition to the first list are Blossoms. They are virtually unknown in Greece and she learned about them from friends on a trip to the UK where they're hugely successful and most of their gigs are sold out. I like them because they're new, they're fresh, they're young, they're successful, they play both guitars and synths and they like The Stone Roses and Oasis.
It would be difficult - and probably too crowded - to see them in the UK where, as I have mentioned before, their tours sell out very quickly. So Milano was a much better - and cheaper - choice. And the gig would probably be intimate as it was taking place in a small club. I did not know if I could make it and I only found out about my work schedule just a week before the concert
On the day of the gig I was working but only until midday. I left work and went straight to the airport to catch my plane to Milano. When I landed I took the bus to the Milano Central Station which conveniently terminates just outside my hotel which is also in turn close to the club itself. So I checked into my room and then went straight to the gig.
Tunnel Club is exactly what it says on the tin. A club in a small tunnel underneath the railway lines. If Blossoms become as popular in Italy as they are in the UK we won't be able to see them in venues like these anymore. We were able to find seats in the very small seating area of the club next to the merchandise stand, run by a very cheerful guide who promised us that Blossoms were thinking of playing in Greece (in my opinion though this is highly unlikely).
And it was from this stand that I bought a double vinyl deluxe edition of the band's latest album "Cool Like You" (Vinyl number 2 features acoustic versions of every song on the album).
And when Blossoms came up on stage they launched into the opening track from that album "There's A Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)".
One of the best moments however was "My Favourite Room" at the end of which they played snippets of "Last Christmas" by Wham! and "Half The World Away" by Oasis.
They do like Oasis, on a live DVD that was featured on a different deluxe version of "Cool Like You" they play "Whatever". I was thinking back then that I would love to see them cover The Stone Roses as well and that wish came true when on this year's Record Store Day they released yet another deluxe version of "Cool Like You", this time with a second vinyl featuring cover versions recorded at the BBC. One of them was "She Bangs The Drums".
They came back for an encore and they finished their set with "Charlemagne", their biggest hit from their first, self-titled album. Some people complained that their set was too short, but that's to be expected since they have only released two albums. And they played almost all the songs from the latest one (10 out of 12 tracks). That's something that we will probably not be able to witness in the future. Oh and I have heard somewhere that The Smiths in the 80's used to play 35 minute sets, so we should be more than satisfied with the 65 minutes Blossoms gave to us.
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While we were leaving the club, people were waiting outside for the club's usual Friday night event. It was straight back to the hotel since this was a tiring day which, for me at least, featured work, a flight and a Blossoms gig all within 24 hours. But we had the next day (Saturday) free to explore Milano where we would see many U2 fans on the streets since U2 were in town for a series of concerts. And what I didn't know at that time was that my next gig would be from one of the bands on the girlfriend list: Still Corners.
01. There's A Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)
02. Unfaithful
03. How Long Will This Last?
04. Getaway
05. Giving Up the Ghost
06. I Just Imagined You
07. Stranger Still
08. Between the Eyes
09. Blow
10. Blown Rose
11. Honey Sweet
12. Cool Like You
13. My Favourite Room / Last Christmas / Half The World Away
14. Love Talk
Encore:
15. At Most A Kiss
16. I Can't Stand It
17. Charlemagne
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