I went to two concerts in three days last week, I don’t think I even did that at the height of my gig-going early 20s. The two shows and artists couldn’t have been more different, except that they were both fantastic. All the videos here were shot by my lovely wife at the actual shows.

First up on Thursday night was Father John Misty with his California-flavoured country-rock. The audience was all plaid shirts and beards, and for an encore the band did a cover of Canned Heat’s “On The Road Again” which should give you the general vibe. Old-timey dude rock can still be a wonderful thing with a band as tight and skilled as this lot were, and Father John (aka Josh Tillman) is a terrific front man, all slinky Jagger-esque moves and laconic stoner humour. Man has a hell of a voice too.

The next band we were seeing would have to be very good to top that show which made me a little nervous as the next band was Saint Etienne. Sorry, I mean OMFG SAINT ETIENNE!!!!!!

St. Et exist in an alternate pop universe from the very trad, dad Father John Misty, with the “band” being Pete and Bob standing behind a bank of synthesizers and Sarah Cracknell (swoon) vamping it up like the indie disco queen in her sparkly dress and feather boa — the only “real” instrument being the cowbell played by backing singer (and semi-legend) Debsey Wykes.

Whatever nerves I had evaporated a few seconds into the opening number “Lose That Girl”, and the wildly enthusiastic cheers and gleeful, arm-waving singing-along from the audience that greeted every number made me realize that the place was filled with people like me: fans from way back who have never had the chance to see them live before and were just beside themselves with joy that finally, here they were. I think Sarah and the band were pleasantly taken aback by the delirious noise and appeared quite chuffed by it — at one point I saw Bob exchange a sheepish grin with Debsey that seemed to be saying “Blimey!” It was a magical night for me too, I was smiling and dancing and singing the whole time.

With a set that included “Like A Motorway”, “You’re In A Bad Way”, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, “Nothing Can Stop Us Now” (the highlight for me), and “He’s On The Phone” we had plenty to go mental for. On the way there I joked to the wife that for me this was like seeing The Beatles which was obviously meant as jokey hyperbole, but by the end it didn’t seem that way.

(That isn’t me singing along very badly in the background of the Saint Etienne videos by the way.)

I remember watching this concert when it was first shown on Rock Goes To College back in 1980 and thought it was one of the best gigs they ever had on that series.

I don’t have a bucket list of things to do before I die but if I did seeing Saint Etienne live would be on it — not very near the top but somewhere on it at least. They’re probably my favourite band of the last 20 years and I’ve never seen them. I moved to the States soon after their first album came out and on the very rare occasions they’ve toured over here since they’ve never come anywhere near where I was living. But now — hallelujah! — they’re playing Boston next month and I HAVE TICKETS!!!

They’d better be bloody good now after I’ve waited all these years.

I went to see Cate Le Bon live last week, it was the first night of her US tour and there were probably only about 30 people in the small club (now that’s what I call a cult following) which was a little disappointing and made me worry about the atmosphere. But then Cate hit the stage looking like a Wiccan Mary Quant, all Mod hair, dark eye makeup, and long black cape (or whatever that was she was wearing) and I didn’t care if there were 30, three, or 30,000 people there because she and her band were fantastic, cooking up a spiky, jangly, spooky, psych-folky noise with Cate’s voice sounding especially fine. She plays a mean guitar too and you know how much I like a girl with a guitar.

Standing at the bar after the show finishing my beer who should come up and order a drink right next to me but Cate Le Bon herself. So I said hello, told her the gig was great, and she asked me if I wanted a drink too which was very, very nice of her — I had what she was having, a Jameson’s on the rocks. First time in my life I’ve been bought a drink by someone I own records by (OK, not exactly “bought”, she got free drinks but it’s the thought that counts).

I wish I could tell you we had a profound conversation about the meaning of her songs and her influences and all that jazz, but instead we mostly chatted about the snowy weather back home and how long it takes to drive across America (her tour ends in LA). That’s me, the sad bastard who talks to sexy female rock singers about the weather and long-distance driving.

Download: Puts Me To Work – Cate Le Bon (mp3)
Buy: “Cyrk” (album)

I went to see Ladytron on Friday night and they were bloomin’ marvelous. You know how you know what a band is going to play for the encore because they haven’t played that song yet? Well, this is Ladytrons, I imagine they’ll be closing shows with this one until the end of time.

The encore can sometimes seem like a bit of a phony ritual, unless the band is booed off stage you know they’re coming back and in the States I’ve never seen a band play more than one which makes it seem all the more rote and expected. I remember at concerts in my youth bands were regularly dragged back for second and even third encores by the enthusiastic noise of the audience. Now, no matter how well the band are going down, they do one and it’s lights-on-go-home-everyone. Is that only an American phenomenon or is it just the bands I go to see?

I saw Bat For Lashes live last Thursday and she/they were almost supernaturally good, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a concert more. Natasha Khan is even more beautiful in real life, has an incredible voice, writes amazing songs and oozes charm and charisma, but I think the thing I liked the most about her (well, the second most) was how much she seemed to be enjoying herself. For someone who often makes such dark and mournful records she rarely stopped smiling and danced around like a happy schoolgirl in her bedroom half the time. It adds a whole extra layer of enjoyment to a concert if the person on stage is having as much fun as you are.

One phenomenon I’ve noticed at concerts lately is how many people are taking pictures. Every time Natasha came over to our side of the stage almost everyone around me held up a cellphone or digital camera and started snapping away. It’s a bit annoying to be trying to concentrate on a show when there are all these little illuminated screens glowing all around you. I preferred it when people held up cigarette lighters or just their fists. There were a lot of people videoing the show too, which is even more irritating but at least it meant I could go to YouTube the next day and relive the actual concert I’d just seen. Like this clip of my favourite moment, a thunderous version of “What’s A Girl To Do?” filmed by what looks like the girl who was standing right in front of me.

I was at a concert with the wife last week and she asked me if I was going to write about it on my blog to which I replied “no, because it’s not part of the brief” which I guess is a bit silly as it’s my blog and I can write about whatever I damn well please. Besides, I’m not really in the mood for maudlin nostalgia at the moment.

The gig in question was a performance by A Camp, a wonderful group with a stupid name fronted by The Cardigans’ lead singer Nina Persson. If you’ve never heard of them you’re not alone because apparently no one has outside of Nina’s native Sweden either which explains why there were only about 50 people at the concert — they could easily have done the gig in my living room. Which is a shame as it was a bloody marvelous show and A Camp have recorded two fabulous albums full of lush, grown-up pop music that should be much better known. I hope that those who like that sort of thing will find they like this sort of thing a lot.

Download: Song For The Leftovers – A Camp (mp3)
Buy: A Camp (album)
Download: Love Has Left The Room – A Camp (mp3)
Buy: Colonia (album)