A review of Sunday Girl and Ellie Goulding live at the Sheffield 02 Academy.

 Sunday Girl then takes to the stage looking particularly windswept and interesting, which almost gives a summary of her set overall. Her first track has a slow introduction but by the chorus it turns into a catchy, upbeat track that gives the crowd something to dance to. The vocal melody is complicated and difficult to follow, which is a great credit to her because it sounds wonderfully creative and difficult, and she pulls it off so well. This melody lingers on in your mind afterwards and reminds me of Blondie’s slower songs, which of course is a great comparison for any female vocalist. However, she seems to be slightly uncomfortable on stage (a problem I’m sure Debbie Harry didn’t have), but this awkwardness is almost enchanting, as it symbolises that this young girl is at the start of her journey on the stage, and she hasn’t let it go to her head. For one track the guitarist ditches his guitar in favour of playing the keys, which in my opinion is only detrimental to the track, and he should stick to what he knows best, as it would bring more to the track. In the third track there is the first big musical moment, which is great because it brings more power to the track which forces Sunday Girl to reach more powerful notes. Unfortunately she seems unwilling to get involved with the crowd, and this shows in the crowd’s reaction, as she receives cheers with no real conviction.

    Ellie Goulding opens with Under The Sheets, and takes to the stage with a huge band complete with backing singers something that is rarely seen these days! She adds extra vocal parts that aren’t on the track which truly shows her talent. Ellie also takes it upon herself to do some of the percussion, mounting the front of the stage and banging a huge drum that has been set up for her, which adds greater depth to the track and shows that she is not a girl to be messed with. She is every inch a star, even more so than I expected. This Love (Will be your downfall) is a track that I had not heard before which is performed fantastically. The lyrics are cleverly simple, and they are sung clearly and soulfully.  One of the highlights of the set is when she picks up an acoustic guitar and plays her biggest single Guns and Horses.  For the first part of the song only she plays and sings, which shows her talent as a musician and allows the crowd to interact solely with her, a moving moment. The track is played in a mellow way until the powerful chorus, where the underlying synth forces the song to new heights.

    Halfway through her set, she and the band leave the stage and a video is played on the screen behind them. The video is Ellie talking about how she is a normal person with normal ambitions. The crowd seem to greatly embrace this video and open their hearts to Ellie Goulding. When she returns back to the stage, she explains how the video is about her journey over the past 12 months, and thanks the audience for taking part, and says how she is “grateful” to have a headline tour. At this point it is pretty much impossible not to be falling in love with the amazingly talented yet down to earth girl that is gracing the stage. The End is an acoustic track that is not on her album, which just Ellie plays acoustically. It is a testament to her talent that she can play guitar and sing so well. The track has a beautiful guitar riff that continues into the second verse, leaving me slightly intimidated by this girl’s musical ability as well as her beautiful vocals. Her cover of Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap is charming because it is rare for artists who are stars in their own right to do covers. Ellie really unleashes her vocals on this track, making it very emotional and powerful.

   As expected, she ends the set with Starry Eyed, another huge single. This track is filled with energy and on stage dancing and I don’t think anyone in the crowd was left standing still. Her energy is infectious, yet this track doesn’t call for powerful vocals, leaving me feeling that it is nearly anti-climatic from a melodic point of view. However, Ellie Goulding has proven to everyone here tonight that she is a star, and I am sure she has a long way still to go. 

Review to be published in Sheffield Music Scene, like will be posted when issue is published.

Stupid Newspapers!!

Now, I'm no Tory, but I am still FURIOUS about the accusations against William Hague and his aide about their "sexuality" and "relationship". RIDICULOUS.

So, two men shared a room together. Apparently, this sparks rumours that they are gay and having some kind of relationship. This makes no sense. Have the journalists who concocted these stories never ever shared a room with someone of the same sex? What Mr Hague said was right, we should be happy they shared a room to save taxpayers money! I know I'd share a room with anyone I worked with to save money, it's just what you do. But no, apparently this means you must be having some kind of affair.

Many people I have spoken to about this story believe Mr Hague is straight, and now due to rumours started on the Internet and then blown out of the proportion in the tabloids, he is now having to defend his marriage and justify his private life to the entire country. Enough is enough with this absurd situation. Perhaps Mr Hague was in the wrong to give a public statement about his personal life; it was this response to the Internet rumours that led the newspapers to create a media storm. If Mr Hague had ignored the rumours it all might have gone away. Nevertheless, he should not be punished for defending himself, his aide and his marriage.

A lot of newspapers and suggesting it must be true because the aide (Mr Christopher Myers) has quit due to the scandal. Although this could appear as suspicious, I think that if I was in the public eye holding a job of such responsibility, I might quit if the British media started accusing me of things that were or weren't true. If Mr Myers is actually gay and, like many gay men, is ashamed of his sexuality and does not want to be openly gay, he may be deeply hurt by this media storm about his sexuality which could force him to resign.

The issue with this story is not whether William Hague is gay or if Christopher Myers is gay. At the end of the day, homosexuality is widely accepted in our society now, and the majority of the British public would respect their choices and decisions. The issue is that once again, tabloids are blowing things out of proportion and invading people's private lives to sell newspapers.

To quote the chairman or Mr Hague's constituency party, Mr Christopher Bourne-Arton; "The tragedy is that [the personal statement] was made necessary by this media feeding frenzy, and I rather wish they'd all go back into the slime pool from which they arose."

Has The Music Industry Really "Gone Too Far"?

Quite a while ago now, I mentioned that I had seen an article in the Daily Mail about how pop music is too mature for young children. I have now found this article, check it out using the link below;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1301974/Mike-Stock-Pop-charts-porn-putting-children-risk.html

Now, Mike Stock may be one of the greatest and most influential men in pop music, and although I respect the experts in this profession, I must say I disagree with his view completely. Being a huge fan of the music industry (and hoping to maybe even one day go into music journalism) I feel that we need some insight into this article that the Mail produced.

Mr Stock believes that today's pop stars, such as Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, are not keeping values that are important in the "modern world". What the Daily Mail does a lot in this article is compare these artists, especially Lady Gaga, to the Kylie Minogue of the 80's, one of the most loved pop stars in history with hits such as "I should be so lucky". This is where my first issue with this article comes in. What are the "values" that are important in a modern world, and how are artists like Lady Gaga and Britney not upholding these values?
     It is vital to consider the changing values of society and of young people in society. This is very clearly mirrored in the way Kylie herself has changed. It is all well and good saying that in the 80's music was more innocent, but is it the pop stars fault or society's fault that music has become more "sexualised"? I am sure everyone over the age of 16 can remember the video for "I just can't get you out of my head" by Kylie, a much more sexualised video. True, this isn't quite as raunchy as Lady Gaga can be, but once again isn't this merely a measure of changing time? Young people aren't as innocent and protected as they used to be, we know about sex, we know about drugs, that doesn't mean we are all out getting our clothes off because of the music videos we see.

   Another issue I have with this article, Mr Stock's line; 'These days you can't watch modern stars  -  like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga  -  with a two-year-old." Maybe this is because this music isn't aimed at two-year-old's. It might be possible that Mr Stock is insinuating that all pop music should be suitable for children of all ages. When Lady Gaga writes her songs she doesn't think "oh I simply must make this child friendly!". She writes what she feels and it just so happens that this music is more suitable for an older audience. If you expect all pop music to be child friendly you may as well expect all music to be child friendly, that is how diverse our charts can be. Can you imagine seeing reports of how people are unhappy because their child listened to Marylin Manson or Megadeth and it wasn't "child friendly"? NO, because different music is aimed at different age groups. If you do not want your child to listen to such music, don't let them, it is that simple.

One of the things that got to me the most about this article was the example the Daily Mail uses to show how music has changed.  It gives us an example of Kylie's lyrics from "I should be so lucky" - "I'm dreaming you fell in love with me...but dreaming's all I do" from the 80's. This is then compared with lyrics from Lady Gaga's "Lovegame" - "I'm educated in sex, yes...I wanna take a ride on your disco stick". While this is clearly more sexualised than Kylie, it is also a very extreme example. Being a fan of Lady Gaga, I know this is one of the raunchiest tracks on the album, which the Daily Mail have used to lead people to believe that "This is what all pop music is like". NO once again! Taking another song from this week's chart, All Time low by The Wanted, sample lyric; "I'm in pieces, it seems like peace is the only thing I never know". This may be more sombre than Kylie, but there is clearly no sexualisation. This is coming from a track that was number 1 several weeks ago, proof that not all the music in the charts is sexualised.

As society changes, the arts change and music changes. Young people may be subject to more sexualised images, but is that necessarily the great evil it is made out to be? For parents of young children, you can stop them watching these music videos, you should be monitoring what they watch, but we cannot expect artists and musicians to change because some mothers aren't happy. And, cynical as it is, at the end of the day The Music Industry is there to make money, and if "sexualisation" is what it takes right now, nothing will stop them.