out with the old, in with the new

and so life moves on

it doesn't seem so long ago that everyone was singing 'champagne supernova' in the school corridors and now that i think about it so much has been and gone since those days and i barely noticed the time pass by

and it feels stranger and stranger that i am only just noticing that i am getting older, and all of a sudden gig goers seem to be an awful lot younger

I haven't given up on youth yet... it's just that others are more youthful than me now




earlier this year i saw Flamboyant Bella play a 14+ gig at Islington Academy, where kids jumped around to the bands and inbetween sat around discussing who had started wearing bras and who looked old enough to get away with buying alcohol (no lie!!)

and all of this is a very roundabout way of introducing the newest Flamboyant Bella video, for new single 'Get A Reaction', a song that loads of kids are already aware of and you should be too

wonky

wonky pop, despite their brief existence, certainly know how to pick em, i am yet to make it along to a wonky pop night but everytime i spot an advert or flyer i am impressed with their pedigree, it pretty much does what it says on the tin, giving a slanted take on glorious pop in all its guises, and so far their sparkling resume has championed such rising stars as Sam Sparro, Littles Boots, Tinchy Styder and Esser to name but a smattering.

and heading up the latest role call for the wonky pop tour is much heralded white boy rapper, Example who seemed to be going from strength to strength until the death of his label home, The Beats. Example has remained an underground choice and recently dropped a free mixtape turning his back on hip-hop beats and heading full steam ahead for the dancefloor, i'm looking forward to seeing how this is reflected in future live shows.

joining Example and the wonky pop alumni for the forthcoming tour are personal favourites, Flamboyant Bella (yep, them again) and considering the impact they had on Islington Academy when they played earlier this year the teaming of the two should realy see the place going off like never before and seriously raise the profile of everyone involved.



The wonky pop tour, hits London, Islington Academy on 3rd of June.

Flamboyant Bella

why has more not been said of Flamboyant Bella's first London headline gig?

i've had a quick google around and seen nothing reporting on thursday night apart from a bunch of excited comments left on the band's myspace.

i'm gonna step up to right that little injustice right now, because it seemed to me that there were an awful lot of clued-up people already aware of Flamboyant Bella, enough that they haven't needed to kick around the backrooms of london bars and instead made a bee-line right for the Islington Academy, and although many bands choose to start small and build a fan-base around the capital Flamboyant Bella seemed to have had no problem in drawing a crowd.

Taking to the stage with debut single 'Touch', they were instantly able to make the crowd move with their jangly off-kilter take on indie, electro and pop. A young and devoted audience were all too willing to lose themselves to a bunch of songs, often about subjects that they realy shouldn't be old enough to have experienced, but Flamboyant Bella and their songs are a perfect soundtrack to everything that being youthful, vibrant and fearless is all about, whether you like it or not.

And although the songs references may read like a 'Skins' script the performance put in by the band comes across as good clean wholesome fun, perhaps it's the thrillingly beautiful dual male and female vocals or the fact that you can't help but want to dance to their glossy up-tempo pop gems that occasionly take a twist into rave, much to the audiences delight.

Just to look at the band between songs, you could tell that they were genuinely overwhelmed by the response and that so many people had turned up just for them, yet they never let this get in the way of playing a polished set of songs old and new, slow and fast before finally encoring with the rapturously recieved 'Absolutely Wankered'

and the only downsides that i'll try not to hold against them, they didn't play my favourite song 'Break Away', and all ages gigs make me feel old.