Later...

This weeks 'Later...' was certainly worth the wait - not a single dud act on there (a first for when I've watched it). Here's a quick run-down of what I thought of the acts:

The Strokes
There is something about the Strokes that makes me really enjoy watching/listening to them, but I can never put my finger on it. It was no different this time. They forced me to open a beer within a minute as you could tell it was going to be a good show so why not make it better with a beer?

The Flaming Lips
Really good. They put on the sort of performance you'll watch in 10 years time and think to yourself "I wish music was that manic and unprofessional now-a-days!". Of course, they are one-of-a-kind now-a-days. The Yeah Yeah Yeah song was their opening number (shame they didn't play the full length of that, but still great), W.A.N.D was there second tune (it's finally starting to work for me) and sadly they wasted the third song on a cover of War Pigs. It was good, but would have been nice to hear another one of there songs, maybe an old forgotten one.

The Divine Comedy
Along with The Beautiful South, Divine Comedy are a band I dismissed some time ago only to realise my error now. They played 2 songs, both really enjoyable to listen to with the lyrics grabbing my attention. I'll try to get one of their albums some day.

Cat Power
I bought her latest album (The Greatest) when it was released after hearing rave reviews about it, and its never really fully grown on me (doesn't help that I purchased it at the same time as a couple other albums, one of which being Jenny Lewis). I was quite looking forward to seeing her on the show as I thought it might help me to enjoy the album some more. With that in mind it's a shame she played the 2 songs I know and already like but that said, the studio recordings really don't do them justice. Lived In Bars in particular was superb. So sure enough, I'm going to check out the album again.

Plan B
I think I've seen this guy on TV before (NME Awards). Back then I flicked past his performance as he sounded to much like an English Eminem wannabe.. I almost did the same this time, but thankfully I held out. Turned out to be really good. He's basically a rapper with an acoustic guitar and not a bad voice. Different.

Raul Midón
A testamentt to just how good this show was, the fact I really enjoyed the token obscure genre act. You have to see him to realise how good he is. In the simplest form, its a guy with shades on playing a guitar... but boy can he play guitar... and created a drum rhythmm on his guitar... and perform the trumpet solo with no trumpet(!). Really really good to watch! Usually I like my music because it flips a switch in my head that makes me think "this sounds good", rarely because I think "now that's some good playin!" - because to be fair, I don't really know what good playing is - But I can be certain that this guy can play.