Live Review: Eurovision 2009

Great news guys, I'm going to live blog the Eurovision as it happens. Without Ireland. Our song was much better than a lot of the crap in the semi, but in order to do well we'll need to annex Georgia or the Ukraine.

Also, check out Culch.ie's liveblog of the event, it features a lot of their writers, so promises to be more entertaining than mine! But they're watching it on the Beeb with our Graham. I'll be following Marty instead. And their joke is quite accurate, as I'm down in Carlow for the weekend, and my Granny will indeed be here.

Have a look at it here:

http://www.culch.ie/2009/05/16/eurovision-final-live-blog/

Mine will be below...


20:00 The voiceover sounds a bit like French, but even more like the Ducth they speak in the Amsterdam torture museum. Will the next three hours be torture? Probably. But sit with me and enjoy it!

20:04 Some of the camera work for this hasn't been good so far, but what the hell? Freaky adult baby child. Aaarrrghh.

20:06 Could do with Marty or Terry commenting on this Enrique-in-the-air version of last year's winner.

20:08 God that's a boring song. Ireland should've sent a ballad again this year.

20:10 Where's the sleazy guy from the semis gone? Awful dress she's wearing. Jenny and POD on Snog Marry Avoid wouldn't like all that make-up Alsou.

20:12 Song #1 Lithuania, got through in our semi, is it better than ours? Probably not. But the gay kid from High School Musical is playing the piano in it.

20:14 Still on Lithuania, but raptureponies over at Culch.ie has pointed out that there's karaoke lyrics on the red button on BBC. And Graham Norton rather than Marty.

20:16 Israel on now. Nice to see there's no Palestinian entry any year. Sorry, I just had to be controversial there! Is that Dana International again?

20:18 There must be another way. There must be better songwriters in Israel, more like.

20:19 @Glinner "There must be another way." I quite agree. How about next year, instead of singing to find out who's best, how about a big fight? #twumpet

20:20 Next up, France. Surrender monkeys. Benoit Pouillard last year was great. But no-one voted for him. Pity.

20:22 No English lyrics again. France will never sing in French. Dull, dull song. Je ne regrette rein. Or however you spell it. I got a D in the Leaving in Higher French.

20:23 How do you say "bag of cats" in French? Sac le chats?

20:25 Sweden. Which one is Anafrid? Sounds like that "The Voice" song we had years ago.

20:28 Croatia. One of them is called Igor. Shouldn't he be from Romania so? Flamenco Spanish guitar for Croatia? What's with those boots mate?

20:30 @Wossy #eurovision Croatia. His thighs are disproportianate to his backing singers.

20:32 Portugal on now. My mother has referred to this song as "absolutely vile, horrible, horrible, horrible". It's actually better than some of the manure we've heard so far. I wouldn't ever put this kind of stuff on my iPod though.

20:35 Iceland. While I'm mentioning my mother, this one is her favourite. She watched the semis and all, unlike most of the country. Nice little ballad this one. And is that Amy Adams from Enchanted singing?

20:40 Greece. Awful song until about two minutes in when they actually woke up from that whit coffin looking thing in the centre.

20:43 Did Marty just say the song was by or written by "Yo' Ma'"? It's Armenia anyway. I like this song. I could imagine using that jingly bit as a ringtone.

20:45 What is the point of all those dancers? Look like witches!

20:48 Russia now. They won't win two years in a row. They'll just be getting some "thank you for putting on a good show" votes. Looks like a brunette Kerry Katona in the background too.

20:52 Azerbaijan They were in our semi. Don't remember the song. It wasn't always on my mind. See what I did there? A pun. My Jesus. Sorry. What's going on with her leg though?

20:54 Bosnia and Herzegovina. I think the only reason Yugoslavia split up was to get more local votes in the Eurovision. Cause I don't know how anyone would vote for this nonsense. Worst song so far.

20:58 Time for RTE to pay Marty's wages with some ads.

21:00 Back on. Nelly the Elephant is on now for Moldova. Lucky/unlucky 13? "Hey Hey" over and over. Rubbish.

21:03 Marty hasn't been too funny so far. Feel I'm missing out on Graham's wizardry.

21:05 Malta. Big Fatto solo balladeer on. She's a great singer. Fair play to her. That's the kind of stuff we should send. A real winner.

21:07 Estonia. That main one invested in some fine hair dye there. Kind of like the colour men in their 40s use. Bit boring though.

21:11 Denmark. Our Ronan. And I don't mean me. He sings the exact same as him. Bus going out through those legs with that stance.

21:15 I'm also liveblogging over at Culch.ie, so check that out too guys. Germany. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a great film. This is slightly different. Johnny Got a Boom Boom. Skiddelybopdoodelybop. Great to see Dita there. Nice cameo. Better than Plushenko last year.

21:19 Turkey. It's turkey time. Gobble Gobble. Real europop nonsense, a bit eastern too, which I usually like. The Turkish Shakira maybe? Not at all. Awful. While I'm on an eastern theme, you know what soundtrack is great, the film is on in ten mins, Kingdom of Heaven.

21:23 Albania. Rats in the streets. Or so the Irish footballers say. Great intro. Weird blue man there.

21:26 Norway. The favourite. More of this Russian dancing stuff. I can see why it's the favourite. It's good. But no Malta. Malta all the way. Oh and the krauts too.

21:30 5 to go. Some sort of chatting nonsense, just to show off her new dress no doubt.

21:31 Ukraine. Oh I remember this crap from the semi. She looks like Sass from Neighbours. Google her, see what I mean. I love the fellas dancing in this one. You are my SEXY BOM! What?

21:35 The Romanian Pussy Cat Dolls. Just as cheesy. Not as good. Yawn. The dresses look like they were made in arts and crafts.

21:39 Here's Jade. Decent enough song. But no-one in Europe usually votes for Britain. So they'll need a large jury vote. Where's Lord Webber? Oh he's there. Excellent. Britain: it's not your time. She's a great singer, he's a great writer. But this is the Eurovision, so it'll probably be in the bottom three.

21:44 Bomfunk MCs, Rock the Microphone, Free Stereo, Rock the Microphone. Remember that? This is the exact same. Middle eight/bridge is more Bloodhound Gang. All is terrible. But expect it to do well.

21:47 Last song coming up. Spain. Allegedly it's good to be on last, because you stay in people's minds. Or something. This one won't stay in anyone's minds. The show itself cost €30 million to put on. For what? Looks good though.

21:51 No more tunes. Alas. Just these two talking. At least it's not the two tools that presented the semis.

21:53 Nice link to the space station there to announce the opening of the voting. Recap through them all now. Why would you want to hear some of these ever again? Fifteen minutes to vote isn't long enough.

22:00 Round-up done. Marty is a fan of Alsou's wardrobe changes. Haha.

22:03 Another recap? Why? Anyhow, my money is on Moldova.

22:07 One minute left to vote. Did she change again?

22:09 No more votes. Interval time. See the one on Thursday? Those dancers weren't bad. They didn't fold their arms though. Get me some shrooms like in Knocked Up!

22:11 Latest Twitter trends, in order: #twumpet, Moldova, Malta, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Ronan Keating, #esc, Star Trek, Watching Eurovision. Star Trek? What's that about? How dare you talk about anything other than Eurovision. Never thought our Ronan would be a trend.

22:16 Thank God that rubbish is over. Might have been interesting there. Not here on my couch.

22:18 First announced vote is a local vote. No shock. God I love the voting. Woo! Norway in an early lead. Very early.

22:21 Norway doing quite well after 4 countries. I like the bar at the bottom. England not going to come last anyway. Fair play Lord Webber.

22:23 6 countries in. One seventh of the way there. Norway looking like the winner now alright. UK in second. Not too shabby lads. Pity we weren't in the final.

22:25 No votes for Denmark from Sweden. Strange. Nor for Finland, us westerners don't stick together. The Easterners do though. Norway further in front. Just replayed it. Boring.

22:27 France not a word of English no doubt. Huit points. Lol.

22:28 Norway fifty points ahead already. That cute little fella is going to run away with it. UK slide down to third after Latvia votes.

22:32 Nice neighbour voting there Montenegro. But Norway are getting 8/10/12 from nearly everyone. Even people miles away. UK slide even further down now. Huge leap for Spain from 0 to 12 after neighbours Andorra voted for them.

22:34 Gorgeous shirt there on the Finnish jury. Germany in last. Like every other year. Not even Dita Von Teese could save them.

22:36 Bulgaria only gave Norway 2 points, but sure at this stage it hardly makes too much difference. I might as well go to sleep.

22:38 Duncan from Blue. He understands a thing or two about cheesy pop. UK votes 12 to Turkey. Gobble gobble. I've had a Macedonia.

22:40 Commercial break. My eye. Over on BBC, crap cover of TaTu's 'They're Not Gonna get Us' from some folk band. Rip-off of that Katy Perry cover yoke.

22:44 Only 22 so far. I'm bored, cause it might as well be over now. More votes for Norway.

22:45 Captain Jack's gay brother announcing the Bosnian vote. What the hell?

22:48 Fine contrast between Ukraine and Turkey. She's a bit slow this Turkish one. Slow in the head.

22:51 Cyprus give 7 to UK. All the Brits gone out to retire in the sun. No shock they gave none to Turkey who invaded them.

22:54 The dental service of Estonia did a great job on that girl's teeth. Massive. I don't think Moldova's going to win now anyway. No way Norway can lose anyhow.

22:58 Good morning Moscow, that was weird Derek Mooney. Cause they're 2 hours ahead. 12 for Iceland and 10 for the Brits. Denmark and Ronan Keating only got 4. Shocker. He never said "Byeeeeeee" at the end!

23:02 Slovenian gobshite acting the maggot. What a tool. Even Marty got annoyed by him. Marty is speaking well of the UK. Fair play. No vote is worth 19 or 16. :p

23:05 Last two countries to vote are the ones in the lead. Fine coincidence. Would've been funny if Norway's own vote had've meant they didn't win, but it's been over for ages now.

Congrats Norway, and goodnight guys. Hope you enjoyed reading.

Download: Coldplay - LeftRightLeftRightLeft

New Coldplay EP is free to download from today. All you need to do is enter your (or any) email address on their official website and then you can download the entire thing as a .zip file.

Tracklist:
1. "Glass of Water" – 4:43
2. "42" – 4:52
3. "Clocks" – 4:40
4. "Strawberry Swing" – 4:16
5. "The Hardest Part/Postcards from Far Away" – 4:15
6. "Viva la Vida" – 5:24
7. "Death Will Never Conquer" – 1:39
8. "Fix You" – 5:38
9. "Death and All His Friends" – 4:22


Download it for free here:
http://lrlrl.coldplay.com/leftright.html

Lyrics: Dave Matthews Band - Alligator Pie

More lyrics from the new Dave Matthews Band album Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. Stella and Grace are the names of Dave's twin daughters.

Alligator Pie:
Floating in the lower nine
Waiting for a boat to throw me a line
See my Stella smile
Sitting on the roof eating alligator pie
First day the water rise
Second day the sun is high
Third day Stella cried cause night times dark as a dead man's eye's

Tell me when is help gonna come
Stella said daddy when you gonna put me in a song?

Morning ride on by thank lord everybody's alright
Don't mean to throw us a second line
The devil left us here to die

Stella said daddy when you gonna put me in a song?

All the things we know and
Everything we hoped for
All the things we wanted
Everything that was sure
Now there is a scar
Where the old men used to be
The corner store and market
Where Stella used to sing to me

Grace is all I'm asking
When will grace return

Remember how I feel in those days of the summertime
Then Stella smiled
Stella said daddy when you gonna put me in a song?

Tell me lord when help is gonna come
Daddy when you gonna put me in a song?

And here's another preview video with a clip of 'Shake Me Like a Monkey':

Stream: Passion Pit - Manners

One of the albums of 2009 (yes, I'm saying it already), Passion Pit's Manners is the follow-up to their excellent Chunk of Change EP from last year. Have a listen to it to see what I mean, and check my archives for some other downloads and stuff.

Stream it in full here:
http://www.myspace.com/passionpitjams

Also, Wallpaper have remixed two of the tracks from Manners, which you can download here:
Passion Pit - 'The Reeling' (Wallpaper Remix)
Passion Pit - 'Sleepyhead' (Wallpaper Dio remix)

I've also got a Shuttle remix of 'The Reeling':
Passion Pit - 'The Reeling' (Shuttle Remix)

Live: Brett Dennen at Whelan's

You may have heard him on Grey's Anatomy or Scrubs, but he's so much more than that. American folk singer Brett Dennen will play Whelan's in Dublin next Thursday, the 21st of May. Tickets are €13.50 and are on sale now.

I'll be at the gig, because it promises to be special before he goes off in support of The Fray later this year. It's always much better to see an act headline their own show, don't you think?

John Mayer said of his second album "He paints these gorgeous pictures musically." It's worthy of the praise.

Check out his website for some nice tour diaries:
www.brettdennen.net

Watch 'Ain't No Reason':

Stream: Wilco - Wilco (The Album)

Bu now you probably have heard that Wilco's new record Wilco (The Album) has been leaked onto the net. Search some more disreputable blogs for some rapidshare links. I bet there's dozens. If you want to be a model citizen, however, you can listen to it all legally on Wilco's own website. I've just started listening now, and the first three songs sound pretty good.

Stream it in full here:
http://beta.wilcoworld.net/records/thealbum/index.php

Live: Brian Wilson at Electric Picnic 2009

More acts announced for Electric Picnic 2009 including the legendary Beach Boy Brian Wilson. Also added are: Amadou & Mariam, A Flock Of Seagulls, Bell Orchestre, Marina & The Diamonds, The Wailers, Fionn Regan, James Murphy/Pat Mahoney, Mundy, Royksopp, The Field, Jeffrey Lewis, and Richmond Fontaine.

Album News: Better than Ezra - Paper Empire

How did I let this one slip away from me? Better than Ezra are a US poprock band (kind of like Fountains of Wayne or one of those bands) that I really loved when I was younger. In fact, their album Closer is still one of my favourites, and regularly gets a spin. The lead single 'Absolutely Still' was released in March, and the album itself came out on Tuesday.

Track List:
1. Absolutely Still
2. Turn Up The Bright Lights
3. Just One Day
4. The Loveless
5. All In
6. Fit
7. Hell No!
8. Hey Love
9. Nightclubbing
10. Black Light
11. Wounded
12. I Just Knew

Watch 'Absolutely Still':

Cancelled: Future of the Left at the Academy

Luckily I hadn't chosen a winner for my first ever contest, but unluckily it's been postponed until September. Future of the Left have had to reschedule their Academy date which was set for this Sunday. This is unfortunate, but tickets for the original date will still be valid for the new date.

No info as yet on when exactly it will be, but I'll let you know as soon as I know.

Also, now you have an extra few months to enter the competition!

Download: King Khan - 69 Faces of Love

If you haven't heard of King Khan and the Shrines yet, shame on you. Shame on you. They've offered up another free download of a track from last year's excellent What Is?, and I have it here just for you.

Download:
King Khan and the Shrines - '69 Faces of Love'

More info:
http://www.myspace.com/kingkhantheshrines

Live: James Morrison at the O2

'Broken Strings' singer James Morrison (yes, I know he has other songs) will play Dublin's O2 on 6th of December 2009. Support is from OneRepublic, so fans of both acts should really enjoy the show.

Tickets aren't too overpriced at €39.20 and €49.20. They go on sale this Friday at 9.

See, told you he had other songs:

Album Cover: The Dead Weather - Horehound

What a great name for an album, and what a great album cover. Horehound is the album from the Jack White/Allison Mosshart collaboration The Dead Weather, and is due out on July 14th. I, for one, can't wait.

Watch: Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King clip

Scenes from Big Whiskey, Part Two:


Good chance this will leak next week, with the band giving out 100 copies of it to the general public as part of a competition.

Setlist: Eric Clapton, O2 Dublin, 11 May 2009

No power outages at last night's show, thank God. The bluesman was really on fire, playing all the classics, and even a sweet version of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'.

Setlist:
Going Down Slow
Anything For Your Love
Key To The Highway
Old Love
Hoochie Coochie Man
I Shot The Sheriff
Driftin’
Lay Down Sally
Not Dark Yet
Anytime For You
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Badge
Little Queen of Spades
Before You Accuse Me
Wonderful Tonight
Layla
Cocaine
---
Crossroads

Watch: Hockey - Learn to Lose

New video from the best new band of the year, Hockey, who return to Ireland in September, and also play Oxegen this year.

Check out their tune tune 'Learn to Lose':

Setlist: The Hold Steady, O2 Dublin, 8 May 2009

Best performance from The Hold Steady I've seen in Ireland. Much better than their Academy show last year, and they weren't even headlining. I'll do a mini review for this one for tomorrow so you can have a read of it then. For now, here's the setlist:

Setlist:
Constructive Summer >
Hot Soft Lights
Sequestered In Memphis
Navy Sheets >
Banging Camp
Massive Nights
Party Pit
Magazines
Joke About Jamaica
Stay Positive
Lord, I'm Discouraged
Slapped Actress

Live Review: Counting Crows, O2 Dublin, 8 May 2009

Ireland loves the Counting Crows. We have for years. And I'm one of those people who loves them, even still, even after last year's disappointing record. However, their live show is never disappointing, and last Friday at the O2 in Dublin was no different.

The band had played The Point before, as well as numerous other Irish venues, I remember them a few years back at Slane and at the Olympia. Great shows. Like this one. They've been here many many times, and this is even reflected in their tune 'Washington Square' which was the first song after the encore. It's one of the better tunes from the album, and I had a feeling beforehand that they'd play it.

They opened the show itself with a fan request of 'Sullivan Street', the first time Adam says he ever took a fan request. And I must thank that fan, because it was an excellent start. They then went on to play 'Cowboys', a new song that sounds a bit Recovering the Satellitesy, which is a good thing.

This led perfectly into a run of RTS songs: 'Ghost Train, 'Have You Seen Me Lately?' and sing along classic 'Another Horsedreamer's Blues'. 'HYSML?' is my favourite Counting Crows song, and I definitely wasn't disappointed with this version.

Hard Candy cuts 'Miami', 'Black and Blue', and 'High Life' all sounded decent, especially 'Miami' where Adam introduced it was a nice little story about seeing his lover leave at the airport. Adam was wired throughout and we all thought that he'd end up falling after bumping into the mic stand a few times. He did actually slip on a guitar cable and although it was painful to watch, he got up unharmed.

As I said, this was the first night he ever took a request, but unfortunately he didn't hear my request not to play 'Le Ballet d'Or', a horrendous song from Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings and the worst track they've ever recorded. This was the only low point of the night. It'd be wrong to complain about no 'Mr Jones', because we were given so much else including a nice treat to the Fairport Convention's 'Meet on the Ledge'.

'A Long December' was another highlight, and strangely 'Holiday in Spain' closed the show. This worked better than expected, and is a great tune live. Much better than on the album.

All in all, a wonderful return to Dublin from a band who promised they'll be back soon. I can't wait for the next time...

'Have You Seen Me Lately?' recorded at the O2 by Valerie.

Setlist: Counting Crows, O2 Dublin, 8 May 2009

Expect a review of this gig later today when I get a chance to put it up.

Setlist:
Sullivan Street
Cowboys
Ghost Train
Have You Seen Me Lately?
Another Horsedreamer's Blues
Miami
Black and Blue
High Life
Le Ballet d'Or
Recovering the Satellites
Hard Candy
A Long December
Come Around
---
Washington Square
Meet on the Ledge (Fairport Convention cover)
Holiday in Spain

Live: Jason Isbell at Whelan's

It gives me so much pleasure to announce that Jason Isbell will be playing an acoustic show upstairs in Whelan's on June 20th of this year. He's playing a few European dates to promote new album Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and thanks be to jaysus he's coming back here.

Tickets are €16, and worth every single penny. Gig of the year, no doubt about it.

Jason plays Drive-By Truckers tune 'The Day John Henry Died' acoustic: