Clare Lydon

Lady Antebellum, Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – August 11th Cowboy hats and whooping were de rigeuer at last night’s Lady Antebellum gig – and that was just for the support act. When the Nashville trio eventually appeared, the audience clapped and hollered like we were in a sticky, beer-covered Tennessee bar and not in West [...]

Keane, The Fridge, Brixton – May 12th With Keane’s latest release Night Train they’ve hopped aboard the left-field express, proving again they’re no one-trick pony. If last album Perfect Symmetry had them straying into Bowie territory with the odd ‘wooo!’ thrown in for good measure, this time around they’ve recruited rapper K’Naan for a couple [...]

Julie Andrews, The O2, London – Saturday, May 8th You know the story – Julie Andrews, star of Broadway and the silver screen, angelic voice, finest Dame around. Then 14 years ago, a botched operation on her vocal chords struck down her range to almost zero. But hang on a minute, she’s doing a concert [...]

Camden Crawl, Camden, London – May 1st & 2nd This year’s Camden Crawl was a tale of two weather fronts: Saturday was drenched & steaming while Sunday was fractious, chilly and wind-battered. To those crawlers walking round all weekend in shorts and T-shirt – admit, you were freezing, right? However, the plus side of the [...]

The Tabernacle, Notting Hill, London – April 13th Liam Frost has an impressive head of hair – that’s the first thing that struck me on meeting him prior to his gig at London’s Tabernacle. He’s also someone that you’d be happy to go for a pint with, which came across in his hour-long set in [...]

Mumford & Sons, Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – March 14th 2010 “Sunday’s the best day for a hoedown!” lead singer Marcus Mumford yelped as his band cranked into action and judging on the evidence before us, he was right. Crackling with talent and energy, Mumford & Sons put on some show in West London, overflowing [...]

Kassidy/Noah And The Whale, Roundhouse, London – March 12th 2010 The Roundhouse is probably my favourite place to see a gig right now: smart space, ample loos, zippy bar staff and most importantly, a pie stand at the back where you can buy hot pie, gloopy mash and mushy peas. So I was in a [...]

Gladys Knight, Wembley Arena, London – October 8th 2009 When an artist steps on stage glittering from head to toe and says: “Hey y’all! Work day’s over it’s time to party!” you know you’re in safe hands. Gladys Knight has been performing for nearly 50 years with Pips and without, so what she doesn’t know [...]

Natalie Imbruglia, Heaven, London – October 1st 2009 Natalie Imbruglia’s first album for four years – Come To Life – was due to hit the shops in October, but for reasons known only to her record company it’s now been pushed back to next year. Her new material wasn’t hiding anywhere last week at Heaven [...]

Alberta Cross,  South Of The Border, London – September 23rd 2009 Although they hail from London and Sweden, Alberta Cross have a heavily US-influenced blues-rock sound – think Kings Of Leon spliced with Pearl Jam + lead singer Petter Stakee trying to emulate Kurt Cobain and you’re pretty much there. Debut album Broken Side Of [...]