Some thoughts on the NME Awards Tour – Manchester Academy
Peace:
At the start of the night, I’d never really listened to Peace, and had only heard California Daze, but I left feeling pleasantly surprised! Within 10 minutes of Peace’s set, the crowd had gone wild, and by the time they played Bloodshake there was even a mosh pit getting started. And I spent most of the time remarking to my friends how the bassist was the spitting image of Alex James. But overall, they were the perfect warm up band and I would definitely have liked a much longer set.
8/10
Palma Violets:
So, I’d read a lot about Palma Violets in NME recently (they can usually be found somewhere in every issue), so I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. And once again, I have to say that this is another band that I think have been ridiculously over-hyped by NME, yet again. For some reason, I just didn’t seem to get into them as much as everyone around me did. Admittedly, their songs were good for dancing to, especially Best of Friends, but to me, they just felt a bit same-y.
5/10
Miles Kane:
It was obvious that the majority of the crowd were only there for Miles Kane, and many promptly left after his set (which always really annoys me). And after Peace and Palma Violets, all the mods were getting impatient, and broke out into a few rounds of “We want Miles” and “We are the mods”. It felt like the riot scene in Quadrophenia. Miles was absolutely brilliant, opening with his new release Give Up, which everyone went absolutely wild for. Me and my friend ventured into the mosh pit and escaped covered in bruises by the time he ended on Come Closer.
10/10
Django Django:
Despite the depleted audience, Django Django were enthusiastic and started off with Waveforms. And the way they projected what can only be described as venetian blinds onto the crowd made it feel a bit like a rave. Aside from the lighting, the highlight for me was definitely Default, undoubtedly their most famous and dance-y song!
8/10
Interesting…. I’m seeing this in Bournemouth tomorrow, but I’m not a fan of Miles Kane, seems like a poor man’s Paul Weller to me, but I’m prepared to be impressed.