SD-JEM - Live at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, 15th April 2012

They say that family members have a natural affinity for performing together, and that certainly seemed to hold true for brother and sister duo SD-JEM, who took to the stage at London’s esteemed Shepherd’s Bush Empire to support Cher Lloyd on her Sticks & Stones tour. With an audience comprised almost solely of excitable young kids and a smattering of their parents, dragged along for the ride, it’s important to remember that in many ways, this represents music fans in their purest, most innocent of forms – raw and untapped. Praise has to be given to SD-JEM then, who by the end of their set-list had the crowd eating from the palm of their hand, totally engaged in the call and response feel-good factor of their pumped up party tunes.

Through a combination of the duo’s slickly orchestrated dance routines and radio-friendly tunes, which neatly pick up the baton for urban-flavoured pop where N-Dubz left off, SD-JEM ended up coming away with a rousing crowd-reaction scarce seen for support acts, and for a group still very much in their infancy, that has to be applauded. For Shanel and Denis, who make up the duo, there’s a confidence and energy to their performance that really feeds off that audience reaction, filling that wide open stage with a presence far greater than the two of them. And here’s where the family-factor comes in, that almost unerring ability to know what the other will do, a second before they do it – and as such, there’s a supreme tightness to the whole SD-JEM live show that really fits the glossy, sugar-rush feel of their songs.

With a host of tracks including Addicted To The Dancefloor, Let Go, Bass Drum and current single Roll With Me, there’s the immediate sense that SD-JEM’s music is definitively keyed in to a party setting. For the young kids arrayed in front of them, this is like their first taste of proper nightlife, a souped-up world of hedonism and clubland grooves that awaits them a few short years in the future. It’s confident, big, full of presence; and that’s what these kids want to latch on to, something that makes them feel part of something on a far wider scale. Where other acts in the urban-pop vein have often faltered at the first few hurdles – lacking the cohesiveness to keep standards up - there’s already the sense that SD-JEM have the momentum to go much further, the songs and the proficiency to carry them forward on a wave of popular appeal. The UK has been calling out for a cool, street-smart new group with a unique-twist for quite some time now, and last night, that call was answered in fine style by SD-JEM.

Roll With Me is released on the 20^th May.

Metronomy - Live at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, 16th April 2011

The Shepherd's Bush Empire never lets me down. There's something about this venue, steeped in its ornate mystery and tight intimacy that brings out the best in every artist that performs here. And for Metronomy, who release their third album The English Riviera this week, they came into their element tonight. The venue was packed, the crowd full of vigour and party spirit; it wasn't long before the standing section looked more like a nightclub dancefloor. Bodies twitched and revolved to the band's frenetic electro rhythms, day-glo rave sticks being thrown down from the upper balconies to disappear in the sea of revelry below.

In a genius bit of staging, the band wore what can only be described as light pads attached to the front of their shirts - these would dramatically flick on at various points in their set, synchronised perfectly to the music. Forget stage pyrotechnics or a luxurious backdrop of visuals, tonight, this inspired bit of costumery provided ten times the atmosphere. A stark, vibrantly coloured range of lighting effects washed over the band throughout, a rainbow cloak that brought forth visions of summer Mediterranean nights.

And it's this aspect the band aimed so precisely for with The English Riviera - the albums tracks interspersed here with a handful of fan favourites. Having had the new album on constant repeat on my iPod this past week, the thing that struck me most tonight was just how bigger everything sounded. One of Metronomy's biggest charms is that for a synth band, every part of their sonic-makeup sounds so organic and handcrafted. Every track is a work of love; you can almost feel every step of processes that went into their creation. And in the live setting, each and every song was elevated into an anthemic dance master-work. And the crowd lapped it up, the cheers of appreciation bookending each number testament to that.

Equally charming was frontman Joe Mount's demeanour. So many bands can come across as either immensely cocky or overly meek and stilted when performing live, but Mount carried himself with effortless cool. You could really sense the mutual respect between band and audience here and Mount even found time to joke about the public transport disruption on the night. Safe to say, it hadn't kept the fans away. There was a delightful shot of distinctly British wit to everything Metronomy did, a particular highlight being the music-statues-esque dance moves.

Tracks like The Bay and Heartbreaker reared up as if fueled by pure living spirit; I spied a fair few people down below crowd-surfing, as if the surging forward on the surging pulse of the tracks themselves. With its 80s-sounding riff, Corrine was the ultimate in toe-tapping energy. The louder the crowd cheered, the harder they danced, the more Metronomy enveloped themselves into their songs. Trapped in the tight confines of the Shepherd's Bush Empire, all this energy had nowhere to go, and you could physically feel the music bouncing off the walls, reflecting and refracting off the band themselves, spurring them.

Culminating in current single The Look, the band then walked back on to a rapturously received encore, Metronomy. You need only look at the heaps of acclaim The English Riviera has received from the music press to realise that this is Metronomy's time to shine, their moment. And tonight at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, that moment came alive.

Ellie Goulding - Live at the Reading Hexagon

Ellie Goulding

26^th November 2010

Reading Hexagon

Ellie Goulding really is the success story of the year and tonight’s gig is the affirmation of that success.  “We love you Ellie!” scream various members of the crowd, working themselves into a frenzy as the cheery, young songstress works her way through the hits of her brilliant No. 1 album Lights.  Pounding out a drum beat herself to the opening bars of the dancey, seductive Under The Sheets, Ellie even manages to work in a little dancing too.

There’s a real sense of a bond between singer and audience here, playing off each-other’s energy.  For many of the songs Ellie plays acoustic guitar, and her vocals are always note perfect.  Her talent is undeniable, and even better, she comes with bucketloads of charm too – between songs Ellie chats to the audience, almost not quite able to believe everyone in the room is there for her.  From the sweet balladry of The Writer to her fantastic cover of Elton John’s Your Song, (currently doing the rounds on John Lewis TV adverts) all eyes are on her.

Come the gig’s triumphant finale, the crowd’s voices fill the Hexagon, singing along to the dreamy Starry Eyed as Ellie cries “I’m feeling sexy, let’s move!”  All this contributes to a new, more glossy, more confident Ellie Goulding.  When I saw her play the Shepherd’s Bush Empire back in the summer, her fame was still very much in the ascendency – she was the rising star.  But now, coming to the end of a full UK tour, we have the complete, fully fledged star.  And she’s amazing.