49 gigs and counting...

Our next gig is our 50th as I Concur. Here's the run down of the good, the bad and the sometimes god damn ugly :)

2007

1. The Packhorse, Leeds - 15/01/2007 - with Pete Wright and Peasman
All I remember about this one is being scared to death playing our new songs in front of some very close friends. It as a real buzz when we got through the first song!

2. Mixing Tin, Leeds - 07/02/2007 - with Vessels, Apartment and Race
Our first gig with Vessels. They blew us away. I remember being very nervous at this one too with old band mates turning up.

3. Atrium, Leeds - 20/02/2007 - with The Window Right and Palo Alto
We'd started gelling by this one...

4. Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - 24/02/2007 - Vessels single launch with Immune, Itch and Downdime
Our first good gig and an honour to be on such a wicked line-up.

5. Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - 15/03/2007 - with Stateless, Samsa and worriedaboutsatan
Another good gig with the first set of proper songs coming on strong.

6. The Packhorse, Leeds - 24/03/2007 - with Napoleon IIIrd and ActionForce
This gig really set us going. The Engine Room guys and Nap3 have supported us ever since.

7. Mixing Tin, Leeds - 26/03/2007 - with Glissando and Laymar
Our first and only gig (so far) with our good friends Glissando.

8. Escobar, Wakefield - 16/04/2007 - with Samsa
It had all satarted so well but this was one of our worst ever gigs. Technical problems everywhere.

9. Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - 31/05/2007 - Concur EP Launch with The Pattern Theory, Rotary Ten, Micky Charbagz, Peter Wright)
It was a real buzz to have our first proper record launch. About 150 folks turned up too which was ace. Great gig.

10. Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - 06/06/2007 - with David Thomas Broughton, Peter Broderick and The Twilight Sad
Our first big support slot with the Sad. A really good gig.

11. The Howard, Sheffield - 08/06/2007
One to be forgotton...

12. The Packhorse, Leeds - 13/06/2007 - with Itch and Wintermute
Fun night playing with two ace bands that we love. No one turned up though.

13. The Cockpit, Leeds - 26/06/2007 - FutureSound Competition
This gig really set the ball rollingfor us. We played ace, had teenagers clapping (!!) and landed a slot on the DTTR compilation with this one.

14. The Cockpit, Leeds - 10/07/2007 - supporting The Hold Steady
Our first BIG gig proper. We were the main support to The Hold Steady in front of almost 600 people. Good times. We played ace too.

15. The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - 18/07/2007 - Unity Day fundraiser with Smokestacks and The Butterfly
This ones a bit of a blur...

16. The Packhorse, Leeds - 03/08/2007 - with Cardboard Cowboy and The Old House
A good gig with good friends. We were just about to start recording Lucky Jack / Build Around Me with Jamie Old House at this one.

17. Qubar, Margate - 06/09/2007 - with The Pattern Theory
Our first night of a five date tour with The Pattern Theory. Dead as a Dodo (two people!) but great times getting drunk, playing on SingStar and paddling in the sea!

18. Cross Kings, Kings Cross, London - 07/09/2007 - with The Pattern Theory
Not so great times. Our least enjoyable ever gig to date. We played well but the support band were horrible, horrible people.

19. Bunker's Hill, Nottingham - 10/09/2007 - on tour with The Pattern Theory
Another fun one. We were well looked after by the DiS and Mint Ive crew. Carl TPT nearly lost a finger and we had a run in with some crazy kids and the Notts' police.

20. Dry Bar, Manchester - 11/09/2007 - on tour with The Pattern Theory
Alright gig. The Dry Bar smelt funny. Tim forgot half his pedals but we got through it pretty well. The WotGodForgot guiys were tops.

21. Head of Steam, Newcastle 12/09/2007 - on tour with The Pattern Theory
Ace times. Ace crowd. The Get Involved guys are the bess knees. We love them and Newcastle.

22. Royal Park Cellars, Leeds - 18/09/2007 - with Lite
We played ace and Lite still blew us away. Awesome band.

23. The Hi-Fi Club, Leeds - 05/10/2007 - with Scaramanga Six
This ones a blur too. Iremember is being a major rush for us all to make it for soundcheck from work!

24. Under the Boardwalk, Sheffield - 07/10/2007
Americana night. A small but appreciative crowd. Tim got very drunk and we sold more CDs in one night to one person ever (6 I think!?!).

25. Puzzle Hall, Sowerby Bridge - 18/10/2007 - with Laboratory Noise
Remember this one feeling a bit rushed! The Lab Noise lads were lovley though.

26. Brainwash Festival (Brudenell / Royal Park), Leeds - 19/10/2007 (with Youthmovies)
A big gig for us pretty much opening Brainwash. Remember lots of well known faces in the crowd. Ace gig. Ace night. Ace weekend.

27. The Faversham, Leeds - 21/10/2007 - with Gravenhurst
Gravenhurst turned up but never made it onto the stage :(

28. The New Roscoe, Leeds - 03/11/2007 - with James Apollo
The James Apoollo boys were ace. Hopefully we'll hang with them again.

29. The Cockpit, Leeds - 11/11/2007 - with The Duke Spirit
We almost set a record for the least amount of space on one stage ever at this one.

30. City Screen Picture House, York - 20/11/2007
Pretty much all I remember is rain, rain, rain!

31. Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - 21/11/2007 - with The Officers
England were playing a World Cup Qualifier. Dead!


2008

32. The Faversham, Leeds - 06/03/2008 - Red Stripe Music Awards
First gig after 3 months off and it was a good one. Able Archer got its first airing. Our first NME review too.

33. The Love Apple, Bradford - 07/03/2008
An odd gig playing in my old stomping ground.

34. Brudnell Social Club, Leeds - 08/03/2008 - Concur single launch - with Her Name is Calla, Wintermute and The Pattern Theory
Our first ever single launch. Huge crowd (250+). Didn't play as well as we can but an awesome night.

35. The Grapes, Sheffield - 11/03/2008 - with Vessels and worriedaboutsatan
One of the best. Full house. Leeds crew in Sheffield and wicked promoters. Fun. fun. fun.

36. Industry, Shoreditch, London - 18/03/2008 -with The Domino State and Telegraphs
Our first enjoyable London gig. Put on by Club AC30. Top blokes and all the other bands were sound.

37. The Library, Leeds - 28/03/2008 - with Twilight Sad, Vessels and Wintermute
Good gig. Far too many good band on one bill.

38. The Vine, Sowerby Bridge - 02/04/2008 - with Vessels
Good local crowd but couldn't hear a thing on stage!

39. Escobar, Wakefield - 04/04/2008 - with Vessels
A not so good gig. We don't have much luck at Escobar :(

40. The Head of Steam, Newcastle - 23/04/2008 - with This Et Al
Newcastle was ace again. The first of two gigs with Et Al and also their last gigs. Big shame.

41. Live At Leeds The Cockpit, Leeds -03/05/2008
One of the best gigs ever. Never to be forgotton. Ace (big) crowd. Felt like rock stars, ha ha!!

42. Brudenell, Leeds - 06/05/2008 - with Gravenhurst and Pivot
Finally we play with Gravenhurst.

43. Fuzz Club, Sheffield Uni, Sheffield - 05/06/2008 - with Napoleon IIIrd*
Silly night. Most of the students had left for the summer but still good fun.

44. The Library - 27/06/2008 - with You Slut, Itch, Lizardmen
Our first night official for Brew Records. Fun but another quiet one due to Leeds being dead in the summer.

45. The Cockpit, Leeds - 08/07/2008 - Futuresound with These Monsters
Ace gig. Good times playing in front of an ace crowd. We love playing The Cockpit.

46. The Luminaire, London - 18/07/2008 - with The Domino State and Mint Ive
Another ace gig. We love the Club AC30 guys. Sobotka gets its first airing and goes down a storm. We also had just found out we were going to be playing Leeds & Reading Festivals!

47. Festivals warm-up, Packhorse, Leeds - 21/08/2008 - with Grammatics, Fran Rodgers, Pulled Apart By Horses
Everything that could go wrong went wrong at this one. Still, what's a warm-up for?

48. Reading Festival - 23/08/2008
Ace, ace, ace!

49. Leeds Festival - 24/08/2008
Ace, ace, ace, ace!!

* We've played one more gig but it was only two songs:

Brudenell, Leeds - 31/05/2008 - Smixies Night
Fun night. Not a proper, proper gig as we only play two songs but we do get to cover The Smiths' Handsome Devil. Madness.

More fest pix...

Sunday 24th August – Concur play Leeds Fest

Another early 9am start. Surprisingly we all seem to feel pretty good, except Tim who lost the plot on the guest bar dance floor last night. From what I can see of the curled up red sweaty mess on the tent floor he looks pretty rough.

We head to the Introducing stage and emotionally hook up with Alan and Katy from the BBC Raw Talent team who helped get us here. We sort out the tech stuff and everything seems to be pretty good. Tim eventually turns up and we’re ready to go. An amazing weekend is pretty complete when we have another really good gig. The crowd are just brilliant and it’s one of the biggest buzzes ever!

Finally we can relax proper. We do various interviews and photo shoots for the BBC.before chilling out backstage. After checking out Los Campesinos! and Foals we head back to the Introducing stage to do one final interview with the Raw Talent guys. Alan Raw’s on top form and I recommend having a listen to the interview we did with him. We’re not normally on such good form when a mic is put in front of us.

From then on it all gets a bit hazy. We get drunk, dance a bit and even end up in the silent disco before turning it in. All in all it’s been wonderful. Happy days to be in I Concur.

Saturday 23rd August – Concur play Reading Fest

I’ve never been awake before 9am at a festival before but then I guess I’ve never played one with my own band before. Reading is hot today. Very hot. No need for wellies either. Perfect.

We head to Gate Charlie and meet our Artist Liaison for the day, Hayley. She’s lovely and sorts us out with beer and water. Our stage manager, Pop, a giant of a man with neon orange dreadlocks is lovely too and we breeze through our sound check. You can just tell that we’re going to have a good gig.

We’re met by a few friends out the front of the stage and they wish us well before we head to a Radio 1 interview and then launch ourselves on stage. The gig’s spot on. Great fun. The short set works a treat: Captors, Able Archer, Sobotka, Build Around Me and Oblige.

We chill out in the guest bar and grab something to eat before running into Huw Stephens behind the Introducing stage. He’s seen our Oblige flyers and is even genned up on the date the single’s released. Good man.

We set off from Reading to get back to Leeds before it gets dark. Unfortunately we hadn’t planned on taking the wrong exit out of the festival and before we know it the van’s stuck in a sea of festival goers at the front gates! The crazy Scottish security guys, rather than simply sending us back the way we came, start moving the crowd and all the gates to one side. It’s carnage as we drive the van across rocks and people start diving out of the way. Once we get to the road the security guys realise it’s sealed off by metal gates which they can’t move. We then have to reverse the van down the pavement between several lamp posts and touts before finally finding a gap at the side of the road and escaping the crazyness.

When we get back to Leeds we begin to chill for the first time this weekend. All our friends are there so a fair few beers are knocked back, mainly by Tim, and we check out Dans Le Sac who’s pretty ace. After avoiding several ligging mediocre pop stars and TV presenters we head to bed.

Friday 22nd August - getting to Reading

We get up in decent time and head to watch local lads Eureka Machines kick off the fest. Mega professional as always. When the rain kicks in head to see Yeasayer in the NME/Radio1 tent. Ace set.

It’s time to go to Reading so, after meeting the remaining members of the Concur that didn’t camp on Thursday night (that’s all of them but me!), we all pile into the Vessels’ van. Martin’s brought his fully inflated air bed and forgotten to take his mountain bike out (“what the ***!”). These two essential items take up much more room than any of our gear. Teff’s going to be great value for money this weekend.

Within an hour we’re stuck, permanently, on the M1. A detour through the delights of Chesterfield ensues and we fall two to three hours behind schedule. Are we going to make to Reading in time to see Rage Against the Machine. Probably not. At least I get some kip.

We’re welcomed to Reading by the crazy Scottish security guards who make the Leeds Festival security look like Masterminds (more about these guys later). The Reading site is right in the middle of the town in what seems to be a golf course or race track of some kind. All very odd. Toby’s loving it. He’s been here before and he seems very at home. The rest of us feel a bit like aliens.

After watching Minor Complaint Against The Machine (the sound quality really was that bad!) we head to the guest bar to hand out flyers and get mildly drunk. We then set up camp next to the lovely Johnny Foreigner crew and head to bed to get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow’s gig. Unfortunately the good kip doesn’t happen thanks to drunken idiots falling over my tent. Ah well, it’s all fun really.

Thursday 21st August - set up camp at Leeds Fest

We’re late getting to Leeds Festival. Our van driver for the weekend, Mr Martin Teff of Vessels fame, is, completely out of character for him, faffing around. We’re gonna hit the A64 traffic and have to put our massive Concur tent up in the dark. Indeed, after an infuriating mission trying to get in and out of the artists’ car park (good old uninformed fest security) this is the case. It’s all stress, but at least we’re finally here. Thanks to superhuman Sandman Ed Rob Wright we get the tent up, “have you got planning permission for that?!?”, and head to watch the Dance To The Radio stage.

We witness the end of the Pigeon Detectives’ secret gig and hook up with the Brew Records crew and Teff’s sister Helen before getting the (incredibly expensive) food in and enjoying Grammatics. The site is really really really muddy. It’s going to be a wellies weekend!

Concur’s Leeds and Reading blog

We decided to do a blog of the festivals. Here it is....