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London,

XFM Winter Wonderland

Description: The chart-topping Razorlight strum through their indie hits. With support from The Temper Trap, The Big Pink, Bombay Bicycle Club, Local Natives, Goldhawks and Cassidy.



Rating: 4 out of 5 John Aizlewood's rating
Rating: 2 out of 5

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O2 Academy Brixton Stockwell Road, SW9 9SL

Phone: 0844477 2000

Website: www.brixton-academy.co.uk

Email: mail@brixton-academy.co.uk

Extra info: Pub

Transport: Tube/BR: Brixton Transport for London , Tube / Bus: 2, 35, 37, 59, 109, 133, 159, 333, 432 Transport for London

No riots at XFM Winter Wonderland

XFM Winter Wonderland
Not such a big gig: are Kaiser Chiefs falling?

By John Aizlewood
3 Dec 2008


For the first time in their career, Kaiser Chiefs are struggling. Their third album, Off With Their Heads, has brought their seemingly unstoppable rise to a juddering halt; next February/March’s arena tour is struggling to sell out and last night, on behalf of a minor radio station and Oxfam, they found themselves headlining the sort of venue they ought to have left behind.

They had only 50 minutes, so they mixed’n’matched old and new and there are no prizes (apart from vocalist Ricky Wilson hurled into the crowd during a frenzied Oh My God) for guessing which went down best. “There’s got to be more enthusiasm,” Wilson pleaded after the new Good Days Bad Days. Yet, not everything is quite as straightforward as it seems and rumours of an artistic demise are wide of the mark. The new songs, notably Half The Truth and Never Miss A Beat, are every bit as vibrant as the old; they’re just more of the same. And there the problem lies.

Still, Wilson flung himself into the crowd for Take My Temperature and, for all its over-familiarity, I’d forgotten just how thrilling I Predict A Riot can be and just how beguilingly peculiar The Angry Mob is. They may be stumbling, but surely they won’t fall.

Earlier, Iglu And Hartly were silly, camp and, for Californians, surprisingly lovable. The crowd sang along to their finest moment, In This City, and swayed to numerous A‑ha‑esque, sweeping synthesiser solos. They might just be a good outside bet.

Before Kaiser Chiefs, The Rifles swapped all the joy, excitement and energy of pop music for some mundane indie plod, but they did leave us with a cheery, festive version of Phil Spector’s Sleigh Ride, which was sweet of them.

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

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The Kaiser Chiefs problem lies with the new songs that have cliche-ridden lyrics and no great charm and a very exhausted Ricky Wilson failing to give the old songs anything new. Since June 2005 I have seen them various times at Glastonbury, V, The Albert Hall and last night. Both last night and at this year's V Festival he appeared to be exhausted, the arrangements of songs like Oh My God are the same every time, great crowd singalongs but never changing, never surprising.

Iglu and Hartly were quite superb hitting the stage with the same impact and instant enthusiasm the Kaisers had when they won over that Pyramid Stage in 2005. Sounding like Eminem meets The Ramones meets The Human League there was so much to enjoy and too little time to take it all in.

- Alistair Burns, Tiptree, United Kingdom, 03/12/2008 15:25
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No surprise they have struggled to seel out their tour when they have yet to make a great record and none of their songs will still sound good many years from now.The biggest joke about their lead singer is he thinks the Kasier Chusffs are bigger and better than Oasis who did manage to sell their big stadium tour withiin an hour.

- Paul From Enfield, London,England., 03/12/2008 12:30
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