War thunder live how to#

After a brief chat about Twinkies, the band plays the eternally wonderful Tugboat and a superb cover of Kraftwerk’s Neon Lights. It turns out the band have a couple more surprises up their collective sleeves as they return for not one but two rapturously received encores. Who are The Rutles I hear you ask? Only the band The Beatles could have been. All this and we even get a brief, impromptu rendition of The Rutles’ Cheese & Onions. Their cover of George Harrison’s Isn’t It A Pity may very well be the most beautiful three minutes of live music I’ve heard in years. Strange is indie-pop perfection while Another Day (sung by Phillips) feels like reassurance from an old friend. Whether you’ve loved Galaxie 500 since their inception or discovered them along the way, there’s no denying that this is our music. Make no mistake, there’s real magic here. On Fire is an album that finds the sweet spot between tender, heartfelt songwriting and hazy, subtle psychedelia. With his disarmingly simple melodies, it’s easy to underestimate what a great guitarist Wareham is. The track receives a huge round of applause and quite rightly too.

War thunder live how to#

It’s true, Galaxie 500 always knew how to rock. The wonderful When Will You Come Home is breathtaking with its melancholic verses and electrifying outro. One thing is abundantly clear, Wareham is an exceptional songwriter. To my shame I haven’t listened to the album in a while, yet I’m quickly reminded why it remains a frequently revered and endlessly loved LP. Great music often offers a form of escapism and On Fire really is an album that takes you somewhere else. The hair on the back of my neck stands up in anticipation as we reach the song’s euphoric conclusion and the band sing “I’ll drive so far away”. Blue Thunder has to be the most beautiful song ever written about “an evil helicopter pilot” (thanks for that info, Mr Wareham). The stage lights change to red and suddenly we’re in On Fire territory. “I taught myself to put in a key change,” he tells us before playing the gorgeous jangle-pop of Cashing In, “it only took 32 years”. It’s his first solo album in seven years and his songwriting skills certainly haven’t diminished in the interim. Songs like Robin & Richard sparkle with mellow Velvets-esque charm while the band provides blissful harmonies aplenty. In a show billed primarily as a chance to hear some old songs, it’s great to hear such brilliant new material. Opening with the effortlessly dreamy The Past Is Our Plaything, the new material finds Wareham on fine form. Before we get to that we’re treated (and I really do mean treated) to tracks from Wareham’s latest album, I Have Nothing To Say To The Mayor Of LA. This isn’t, of course, a Galaxie 500 reunion yet tonight’s band is more than ready to tackle the songs. Wareham is joined on stage by Derek See and Roger Brogan of LA psych outfit The Gentle Cycle, and his wife and regular collaborator, Britta Phillips. Yet with a selection of Galaxie 500 tracks up his sleeve, that definitely won’t be a problem. And just like that, Ryder The Eagle has left the building.Ĭomparatively, Dean Wareham is a man of few words. He sits down, he stands on the seats and he crawls around on the floor serenading individual audience members as he goes.

During The American Dream, he walks out into the crowd, and every eyeball in the room attentively follows. Cassignol is immensely entertaining but he’s putting a lot of himself out there too. It’s a sentiment that sits at the heart of tonight’s show. “All of this might sound funny,” he tells us at one point, “but it’s true”. Ryder The Eagle delivers songs about love, sex, death and divorce like a Vegas years Elvis singing a particularly energetic set at 2am in a local bar. A crooning bullfighter singing about his divorce: it’s quite possibly the last thing anyone was expecting. Accompanied by a backing track, he dances, shadow boxes and thrusts his way around the stage. This is immediately followed by a quirky and confessional ballad entitled The Divorce.

He starts by telling us that he’s French, lives in Mexico City and was married six years ago.

An idiosyncratic, one-man artist with a flair for performance. Striding on stage dressed like a matador, Cassignol is anything but predictable. The first surprise comes in the form of tonight’s opening act, Adrien Cassignol aka Ryder The Eagle.