Scroobius Pip at Koko, 27th February 2012

I don’t know if your nights out usually involve blood spilling, noose wearing, hair shaving and fast rhymes all rolled into one, but when you attend a Scroobius Pip gig nowadays, that will be the norm.

Scroobius Pip’s debut solo album ‘Distraction Pieces’ follows the same depressing but real topics we know and love from the Essex lad and that’s why the fellow bearded community, some sporting facial hair nearly as impressive as the main man himself, joined Mr Pip at Koko’s on a Monday night.

After coming on stage with his back pack still on and shaving lumps of hair from the side of his head, the poet made sure everyone knew he was enjoying himself as he expressed himself by saying, ‘you know I’m glad to be here after being in France for a whole week, I fuckin’ hate Paris!’

Though we were all hoping that Scroobius would sneak in a couple of his previous acts hits in his set, perhaps a ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ or something, however what the bearded poet produced was certainly much more weirder and intense so wouldn’t have fit into his hour show. His supported act B. Dolan, who you would think is the white Cee Lo Green but with a long blonde beard when first gazing upon him, came out for their humorous track ‘Solider Boy Kill Em’ which pokes fun at the 15 minutes of fame star. He also joined him on stage for the encore along with

Scroobius Pip can certainly hold his own. The spoken word genius looks like he was born to say 300-400 words per song of real life stories every night. You wouldn’t have ever thought he was born with a stutter. With a new Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip album on the way at the end of the year, Scroobius is definitely staking a claim at being one of the best rappers the UK has ever produced.

Hurts gig review, Brixton 4th November 2011

Synth duo Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson may have only formed Hurts a couple of years ago, but after a strong debut album 'Happiness' and their highly praised live performances, they have been classed as one of the most entertaining UK acts for a number of years. One performance which really improved their stature was at this years Glastonbury. The festival which played host to the likes of U2, Coldplay and Beyoncé named Hurts' performance as the show of the festival. With this praise, I just had to see them. Luckily they announced a UK headline academy tour for the cold months of October and November. They beckoned towards the iconic 02 Brixton Academy on the 4th, and that is where I was heading.

This would be their last performance for a while since they were heading back in the recording studio to create that all important second album in the new year and they did not show signs they were already on holiday at Brixton. Playing this show like the others, with heart and passion for their music, the duo are something to savour as artists. Like the greats before them such as Blancmange and Soft Cell, Hurts obtain a great combination of soft synth simple beats and great singalong tracks to get everyone's voice bellowing across any outlet. A number of tracks including 'Blood, Tears & Gold', 'Silver Lining' and 'Wonderful Life' made the near 5,000 sell out crowd feel like a arena filled spectacle at times.

Performing tracks from the deluxe release of their debut album 'Happiness', you couldn't have expected anything else that could mark this performance as one that could be separated from any other epic display the band have show from the last two years of giging. But this night was marked with something nobody really expected or really thought was possible. It wasn't the amount of roses Theo was throwing in the crowd nor was it the steer class of the musicians Hurts got their hands on for the show, it was seeing none other than Kylie Minogue. The Aussie beauty joined Hurts on stage to sing their duet 'Devotion' one of her singles 'Confine In Me'. A roar of excitement a joy echoed throughout as one of the most powerful and stunning tracks on the album was performed the way it was supposed to.

The concert seemed like it shot by so fast that I couldn't really appreciate the volume of effort that goes into a show like this. But that always happens when you're enjoying sheer quality, no matter what you are doing in life. Though a good hour an a half would be about right for more or less any other band, Hurts certainly could go on for much longer without too many people feeling disappointed. Finishing their set with probably their biggest song 'Stay', you would expect the majority of people leave for the next train home. But only the bare minimum left before the encore ended proceedings.

One of the best gigs I have been to this year, I will certainly remember the performance for a long long time.