Happy Birthday to Us! – Extreme Listening Mode is 1

Doesn’t time fly? The world was a very different place 12 months ago when what would soon be the recognisably scary orange and black colour scheme loaded up and Extreme Listening Mode came into being. Since then we’ve seen a lot of changes but what has been undeniable is that ELM has continued to exist. [...]

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – Birmingham Academy

by E Streeter About a year ago I went to see Ryan Adams and the Cardinals with a friend and having seen about an hour and a quarter I was really none the wiser as to whether Ryan Adams is a rock musician trapped inside a wistful country boy’s shell, or not. I’m still not [...]

Let the Music Do The Talking

‘It’s only words’ sang the Bee Gees many moons ago, and they may well have been correct, though obviously not in the grammatical sense. But there are times when words can cause problems. And I don’t mean hurtful or nasty words. I mean loud ones, spoken at gigs, by arseholes.  ELM attended two cracking gigs [...]

It’s a Rich Man’s World – Has the Live Market Reached it’s Peak?

Many moons ago, there was an Office of Fair Trade (OFT) investigation into the price of CD’s. Older readers – most of you, frankly – will recall that the CD, from its inception, was a pretty pricey piece of kit. I vividly recall being charged £13.49 for Nevermind way back in 1992, and that was [...]

The Friday 5 – 5 Blatant Breaches of Gig Etiquette #2

Good day to y’all, and sing hosannas, ’tis Friday. Yes, the Lord has blessed us with another weekend, with all the attendant promise and possibilities that it offers. And, as if that wasn’t enough, NOT ONLY have the mighty Hold Steady announced a UK Tour, but so have the excellent Cold War Kids and current [...]

Goldfrapp – Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

From contributor Chenks; Hot on the heels of their triumphant set at Glasto, there was much anticipation from this correspondant when a friend was able to pass on some last-minute briefs for this sold-out gig. Then I realised that we were in the all-seater Concert Hall and I started to get a bit concerned as [...]

The Friday 5 – Blatant Breaches of Gig Etiquette

Well, finger my funnel if we haven’t arrived back at Friday. Ah, Friday, rich with promise and verve, all the colours of the ‘bow shine brightly as we contemplate the world in all it’s beauty. Or go to the pub and get pissed at least. This weekend promises to be a belter indeed. ELM gets [...]

(We Are) Performance – King Tut’s Glasgow

There’s a great story about R.E.M. when they first started. They literally drove round America, taking any gigs they could. Didn’t matter where, didn’t matter who, just anywhere that would give them petrol money and an audience. And, as Bill Berry said ‘if we played to six people the first time, there would be twenty [...]

Gig-goer clichés #204 – The Scenester

ELM Towers will be vacated this evening as we head out to see current press darlings the Ting Tings (full review tomorrow.) It’s a hot ticket gig and no mistake; the venue sold out very quickly on the strength of the ‘Great DJ’ single (which is as awesome a piece of throbbing art-disco as you [...]

Welcome to ELM

You know, there’s a lot of it about. Music, I mean. And frankly, you don’t have time to listen to it all. But you want to listen to some. So how do you know the wheat from the chaff, the Udon from the Pot Noodle, the (Lazer) Guided Melodies from the Girls Aloud?* Well, you [...]