On 12th January 2005 at 10:02 Anonymous 1055 wrote...
Is your name really Harry Allen? Harry Allen was Public Enemy's "media assassin". "Yo Harry, are we that type?" - "Don't...believe the hype"
Kaiser Chiefs
Live at Joseph's Well on Friday, 7th January 2005
A charity gig for the Asian earthquake appeal saw local men-of-the-moment Kaiser Chiefs headlining on the eve of their short tour in America, and saying a fond farewell to the Joseph's Well crowd that has championed them over the last year and more.
By the time I got to the Well to meet a couple of mates for a drink it was only 5.30pm, but there was already a 25 metre queue of under-agers outside waiting to get their hands stamped for a band that weren't due onstage until about half ten. The gig had been publicised earlier in the day on national radio and various websites, and it seemed that there was quite a buzz going round Leeds.
A few hours later and first up was the intense industrial techno-metaller, Robochrist. It was a short sharp set of raw emotion from the peculiarly turned-out solo artist. Like a frustrated Covent Garden mime artist, all spray-painted in gold and sporting a mohican, Robochrist let off steam in spectacular fashion. His set was an incessant musical stream of consciousness, with cranial percussion, kids' TV theme samples and a cacophony of soaring vocals all punctuating the highlights. By the end of the performance, Robochrist was out of my sight on the floor at the front of the stage, possibly screaming into his guitar pickups or something, I've got no idea, but the whole experience set the tone for the evening, and warmed up the younger members of the crowd who'd been patiently queuing in the cold for hours.
With the seemingly disturbed Robochrist fresh in the memory, in comparison Duels strode onstage looking like your grandma's idea of a group of perfectly lovely young men (and woman). They ploughed into a set of poppy tunes that underlined their credentials as a successful act for the future, with catchy lyrics like pressure on you... Pressure on me being warbled to the heavens Albarn-esque, by the lead singer Jon. For a few songs I thought they were creating a big sound for a four-piece, but then the guitarist, Jim, shifted to reveal the third sibling at the back on keyboards, and all made sense. Nevertheless, Jim made a good job of combining lead and rhythm tasks, and displayed rare levels of charisma as he formed a strong vocal duo with his brother. By the time they played the most obviously poppy Silver And Gold, I realised that Duels had been reminding me of Hot Hot Heat all along, with their 80s tinged vocal harmonies and retro punk-pop rhythms. They're a band who you could envisage might make it one day, but don't seem to have the edge just yet. Leaving the stage in the wake of a stadium-rock ending, they had successfully paved the way for the headliners, and won over a few new admirers in the process. At this point I noticed that a group of fresh faced youths had formed a phalanx along the front row and were jumping around to the inter-band tunes in one of those single-sex huddles of adolescent euphoria. To me this sight signalled that Kaiser Chiefs really are moving onto another level of recognition. Those lads weren't aficionados of the Leeds music scene, rather they were at the gig because they'd been informed about the music of the Chiefs by more widespread sources.
Soon enough, The Chiefs of The Well appeared, frontman Ricky looking disconcertingly too small and cherubic to be fronting such a growlingly punkish outfit. However, it doesn't take long for him to dispel such fears.
They launched headlong into the Na Na Na Na Naa song, and kept up the tempo with a tribute to Mancunians; Every Day I Love You Less And Less. It soon became clear that it was time for a party. The girls were jokingly joining in with the moshing, and then running away giggling. The hardcore male fans, who mark their loyalties with various neck adornments, crowd surfed to the front and then enjoyed full-on snogging with band-members. It was almost as if the Kaisers were clinging on to every last bit of familiarity before they leave for pastures new, and during You Can Have It All, Ricky indulged in possibly his final slow dance on stage with a voluptuous female member of the audience.
After that moment of tenderness it was back to full punk service with latest single I Predict A Riot, Ricky marching on the spot, looking every bit the Ian Curtis of his generation, then bursting the bubble with a facial contortion that wouldn't be out of place on Hi De Hi. Vocally he was on top form, note perfect throughout his various forays into the crowd during this song and Oh My God. It seems that the vocal crescendo is a favourite tool of the Kaisers, and they use it on a number of occasions tonight, taking the moshers to new levels of ecstasy. The tunes that were being dished up for the appreciative crowd will no doubt form the album out later this month, and on this evidence, it will be a fine piece of work. There is more to this band than anthemic punk-pop, and during Modern Way, Peanut took the limelight, with his off-kilter cameo keyboard role as memorable as any moment during the gig.
It was a unique concert in many ways. It was the first time that I've ever seen a raffle be drawn on stage before the encore, the first time I'd ever seen a nine-year old kid crowd surfing, and the first time I'd witnessed such a fun-loving atmosphere in a live music venue. Although the band were determined to remind us of the real reason for the gig, it felt more like a celebration; like a wedding reception without the inevitable tears and family feuds. By the end it was hard to work out who was having more fun, the band or the audience, and drummer Nicky returned for the encore with a video camera to record the moment for posterity.
The future looks bright for Kaiser Chiefs. Now they're mates with Graham Coxon and produced by Stephen Street, they seem to be mixing with the right crowd for making good rock'n'roll music. And with them opening the NME Awards Tour, the other three acts are certainly going to have to be on top form to avoid being upstaged by their support.
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On 13th January 2005 at 09:49 Anonymous 3706 wrote...
I am indeed called Harry Allen. And i've heard about this Public Enemy fellow. Still haven't got round to listening to my name in one of their tracks though...
On 13th January 2005 at 14:28 Anonymous 30 wrote...
Should have done your research Harry - Duels did already "make it" as Sammy USA - signed to Island and dropped by Island with out releasing a sausage. It would seem they're now in the re-build stage - no doubt hence the name change.
On 13th January 2005 at 16:28 Anonymous 2539 wrote...
yeah but he wasn't talking in the past tense at all, so whether they made it or not is not relevant, he was talking about their new form, which as you say is in a rebuilding stage.
On 14th January 2005 at 09:19 Anonymous 3706 wrote...
Quite frankly, i'm sure Duels are pretty sick of every reviewer pointing out that they "used to be signed to Island." I did my research, but i'm sure the band would prefer that they are judged on their current merits rather than past exploits.
On 15th February 2005 at 19:32 Anonymous 3824 wrote...
Hello Harry i happern to be one of the 'fresh faced youths' that you were talking about You said that i was obviously there because i had heard about the chiefs from a widespread source, and that i wasnt a aficionado of the leeds music scene. Well I heard about kaiser chiefs throught their old band parva, and liked them when OMG was originally relised, and i go to leeds gigs nearly every week so you are wrong again. haha sorry just thought i would have a rant
On 15th February 2005 at 20:09 Dave LMS wrote...
Yeah, but Luke, what Harry is giving is an idea of the audience, the impressions, the sights. He does that well. That sentence isn't "wrong", a reviewer is hardly going to quiz each and every member of the 400 people in the venue in case he might not have picked their background, now is he. He's telling people what things looked like, and for that he is bang on right, regardless of whether you as an individual go to a gig every day or not. Make sense? A rant? A silly comment perhaps. What does "wrong again" mean, do you know something about Mr Allen we don't, perhaps? 
