Competition: win a trip to Paris, Lille or Brussels

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    Personal touch

    Rock En Seine lightsAt the end of August Eurostar and We Are Social sent me over to Paris to review Rock En Seine. Now they are offering a pair of tickets to Paris, Brussels or Lille to one lucky Cougar Microbes reader as part of their Little Break Big Difference campaign.

    All you have to do is submit a review of your favourite band, album or concert experience, through the comments section of this post, using no more than 150 words.

    Deadline for submission is the 10th of October, the best entries will be featured on the main site and the top one will win a pair of tickets.

    The final selection is picked independently so though I will happily accept bribes they won’t help you.

    WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

    doublecougar

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    10 Responses

    1. It was late 1992 when my friend called me: "You have to come round NOW and listen to this tape". Hard to imagine that in a pre-internet, pre-mp3 era we actually had to travel to each other’s houses to listen to music together. The tape was Doolittle by The Pixies; it became the soundtrack to my youth, and the bastards split up about 2 months after I first heard them.

      Fast-forward to 2004 and their reunion tour, Brixton Academy. The place was full of people like me, who’d fallen in love with a band but assumed they’d never get to see them. There was a sort religious fervour in the air. To this day, my memory of that gig is a blur of sound, sweat, tears of happiness and, as I danced like a lunatic, the great big stupid grin that was plastered over my face the entire time.

    2. I’ve been to over 200 shows this year and had some pretty brilliant moments. I love live music so much, I spent just about all of my student loan on gig tickets earlier this year. All the little changes in the songs, and the beauty of hearing songs performed by the artists that wrote them make it all so special. It’s too hard for me to choose just one favourite moment, so here is a recent favourite:

      I’ve loved a band called The Whispertown 2000 for years. I saw them recently at the Luminaire. For the encore they played an old song (my favourite), and the singer said she might not remember the words. She obviously saw me beaming with joy, and asked ‘do you know it?’ I nodded, and the band invited me onto the stage to sing it with them. So fun and so wonderful! A real treat.

    3. Tuesday 03 July 2001.

      Standing outside a sweaty Shepherds Bush Empire in London with frenzied anticipation of seeing one of my favorite bands of all time, Weezer, I was handed a promo cd. Now normally you'd expect the floor to be littered with the remnants of the next big things "hard earned graft" but this was a little different. As the cd I was holding was by a relatively unknown (as far as I was concerned) band called JIMMY EAT WORLD. The cd (1. A praise chorus 2. Authority song (Demo)) has gone everywhere with me in the proceeding 8 years as a prized possesion.

      The show flew with JEW's last echoed call of "We're not bigger than this" to Weezer playing the whole green album in full, followed by an encore of "Tired of Sex" flowing through to a rendition of "Say it ain't so" that had me singing so hard that I nearly puked.

      I left the show, life in my sweaty paw, feeling well and truly affirmed!

    4. A friend of mine once gave me an album of a band I didn't know at that time. The album was "Siamese Dream" by The Smashing Pumpkins. It was breathtaking listening to something so attracting I've never heard before.

      Later the band split up, but gave a last tour. Two friends (including the one mentioned before) and myself went to Munich to see the Pumpkins. First they came in completely dressed in white and played a 15 minute acoustic set, got off the stage and came "back in black". They then played a heavy metal-set and we had to stick to each other in order to not lose each other. It was amazing and I will never forget that concert!

    5. Lights came on and the audience seemed to swell in unison. Chris Cornell's voice sounded exactly as in the album, reaching high notes effortlessly. He belted through Soundgarden classics, and then some acoustic solo work. His cover of Billie Jean went down well – and this was before the King's death. The bassist thought it was raining plectrums for a while, until he realised the roadie on the other side of the stage had been lobbing them for the last 15 minutes. Chris then took off his shirt and invited David Arnold onstage for the Bond theme, which they wrote together. The lyrics echoed with the audience, and probably for several days afterwards in David's head as Chris stood next to him shouting the chorus over and over into his ear: "You know my naaaame!". It truly was an incredible performance that night at the Roundhouse.

    6. I was in the audience of Jools Holland’s BBC studio in 1999. Everything was planned, such as when to clap and when to stop. An unknown band called Travis performed their single “Why does it always rain on me?”, and as the last note faded away the crowd went wild, genuinely. It was then that Sir Paul McCartney, on the stage beside them, turned to his band and said “I don’t see what’s so special… we can do that!” and started playing the song on his bass. What he didn’t realize was that the microphone was on…

    7. Found my self playing the slot machines, a feeling of anticipation building inside me. I got another pint of cider. I could see my group of friends hanging upside down off a Garfield kids’ ride. It said for ages 8 and under so i gave it a miss. All Tomorrow’s Parties. Camber sands, windswept and cold. The stench of chip fat and candy floss on the breeze. 99 bands I want to see and one I would kill to watch. Take my place in the crowd. Hands cold. Eyes shining. Stage dark. The Brian Jonestown Massacre parade through their glory, Swallowtail, When Jokers Attack, Who, Servo. I am drunk and happy and singing and dancing. They play everything I want to hear. Afterwards, I sit in the adventure playground and think about what i just witnessed. I smile and check my screwed up paper of all i want to see. Mission of Burma. Cider. Yes.

    8. The sixth of March, two thousand and eight. Probably lurching in to the realms of not being able to count the number of The Fall gigs I’ve been to on the fingers of both hands. Still a novice in all fairness. They’re playing a new venue. A sweaty black box of a rock haunt in the North of England. The crowd are unsure. “It is The Fall, isn’t it”? It is. They’re playing a blinder. A cursory glance at the messageboard of visi.com/thefall a couple of days later confirms my assessment. It’s almost over. A full two pint plastic pot is launched at Elena drenching her and her Korg. Oh shit. Being the promoter I’m privy to the inner workings of the band post-storming off stage. Shouldn’t have worried. They storm back on with all the fury and anger they left with. Blindness. Wings. White Lightning. Best. Encore. Ever.

    9. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s 2005 self-titled album highlights the digital music revolution.

      In a few months’ time a decade which saw the almighty coup d’état against global music conglomerates will draw to a close. Throughout the ‘noughties’, the internet shifted the power firmly back to the music fan. Some artists fought The Man’s battle with him, others evolved.

      From Tyler Sargent’s Brooklyn apartment CYHSY endured hours of envelope licking as they targeted MP3 blogs and webzines with copies of their self-funded, self-released debut album. The recipients lavished the album with wild praise and word began to spread.

      Musically the album is a slab of Americana vocals, humorous self depreciative lyrics, groovy bass lines, pretty guitar tones and upbeat percussion with occasional poignant moments of brilliance.

      With the help of a world-wide network of music lovers CYHSY took on a multinational industry and won. Power to the people.

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