November saw our second Pussy Riot support event FREE PUSSY RIOT TOKYO CONCERT at Las Chicas in Shibuya Tokyo. The lineup consisted of a variety of speakers from the arts world, as well as several DJs and live bands led by our headliner GROUP A who blew the stage and won themselves a legion of new fans.
Ireland’s SINEAD O’CONNOR has been making a restrained but impressive comeback. At an intimate gig at the small St. Pancras Church, she made her mark once again as the iconic singer-songwriter that she is. She continues to be vocal in her support for human rights issues, passionately supporting the release of jailed members of PUSSY RIOT.
Another British music icon was to follow. Later that same month, we met with singer-songwriter legend JOAN ARMATRADING backstage at IndigO2. We were thrilled to see her live show and witness all the classics as well as some new tracks. A great supporter of up-and-coming talent, Armatrading is a ball of energy and enthusiasm — a wonderful inspiration for all artists.
Toronto band AUSTRA was back in town, much to our excitement. This time they were in London, playing to the East London hipsters. The gig itself wasn’t the best, mostly due to the under-par venue and typically detached London crowd, but the band was electric and even on a duff night this band performs at a level of perfection rarely reached by most bands. You’ll not see a better drummer these days than Ms. Maya Postepski who also heads her own project PRINCESS CENTURY and who has worked closely with Robert Alfons on TRUST. We’ve been happily glued to both debut albums Austra’s “Feel It Break” and Trust’s “Trst.”
CRYSTAL CASTLES has a reputation for chaotic gigs, crowd-surfing and all. The experimental electro Toronto band driven by vocalist Alice Glass and producer Ethan Kath happily blew the stages at Brixton and Manchester Academies, with Glass up to her usual crowd-surfing/walking tricks. Impressive and massively crowd-pleasing, this band knows how to deliver to their fans.
The month ended with a smasher of a show at London’s Scala. Topped by London’s dark electro duo THE VOYEURIST, New York’s LIGHT ASYLUM and Berlin-based Canadian DJ and performer PEACHES, the lineup was fierce with the venue rammed with fans of Ms. Nisker.