Retro Man Blog & Retrosonic Podcast's Favourite Gigs of 2023

Here are some of our favourite gigs from 2023 - another great year for superb live music which included the long-awaited reunion of The Soundtrack of Our Lives and an emotional return to Japan for former Shack and Pale Fountains Mick Head with his new band, The Red Elastic Band. Please check out and subscribe to our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel for lots more original live videos from the featured shows below.

1. The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Way Out West Festival, Gothenburg, Sweden - August 10th

2. Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band - Shangri-La Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, Japan - May 30th

3. Gaye Su Akyol - King's Place, London - May 20th

4. Iggy Pop, Blondie, Generation Sex & Stiff Little Fingers - Crystal Palace Park, London - July 1st

5. Indochine - The Roundhouse, London - June 11th

6. Black Angels - Shepherd's Bush Empire, London - March 3rd

7. Lalalar - The Jazz Cafe, London - September 9th

8. Viagra Boys - Troxy, London - January 25th

9. The Undertones - Electric Ballroom, London - October 5th

10. The Courettes, Oh! Gunquit, Paul Groovy Pop Art Experience - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth 

- April 6th

11. Wingmen - Islington Academy, London - January 21st 

12. Killing Joke - Royal Albert Hall, London - March 12th

13. The Blue Aeroplanes - Electric Ballroom, London - September 29th

14. Ruts DC - SUB89, Reading - May 17th

15. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Koko, London - February 15th 

16. Shonen Knife - SUB89, Reading - April 13th

17. WitchDoktors & Seeds of 77 - The Half Moon Putney, London - March 5th

18. Duncan Reid & The Big Heads - The Lexington, London - October 7th

19. Thee Moot - High Tide Festival, Twickenham - July 30th

All Photos & Videos Copyright Retro Man Blog. Please support live music and venues.

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 53 "Play It Cool" featuring 20 superb new releases from Jah Wobble, Pascal Comelade & The Limiñanas, Elephant Stone, Jim Jones All Stars and more...

Welcome to Episode 53 of Retrosonic Podcast, featuring 20 superb new songs by some of our favourite international Bands and Artists from as far afield as Canada, Sardinia, France, America, Sweden, Indonesia, the U.K. and Turkey. The episode is out now so please search and subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast at Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcasts or direct from our SoundCloud site below: 

Retrosonic Podcast · Episode 53 "Play It Cool"

Tracklisting & Links

Big Boss Man "Do The Backstroke"

Jim Jones All Stars "Gimme The Grease"

Melody Fields "In Love"

Jah Wobble (featuring Jon Klein) "Fashion World"

Pascal Comelade & The Limiñanas "Le Riffifi Brille en Jaune"

Pete International Airport (featuring Rachel Goswell) "Tic Tac" (Anton Newcombe Remix)

Elephant Stone "Lost In a Dream"

Les Kitschenette's "Breuvage del Amor"

Crayola Eyes "Blacker Than Coal"

Jetstream Pony "Sixes & Sevens"

Hipbone Slim & The Kneejerks "Hey Catalina"

Gaye Su Akyol "Love Buzz"

def.fo "Play It Cool"

Spiders "Hanging On The Telephone"

Palooka 5 "Chetsworth Motel"

The Sound of Pop Art "Beach Life"

The Hangee 5 "Never Have You Ever"

Tiny Flaws (featuring Florence Joelle) "Hazy Recollection"

The Masonics "It's Time That I Moved On"

The Guy Hamper Trio "Cowboys Are Square"

Please click on the highlighted band names above for links to their official web-sites for further information and details on how to purchase the excellent music featured in this episode. For more details on our featured record label, Spinout Nuggets, please check out their official web-site here and their Bandcamp site here.

Allie Beaudouin's new book "Between It All" is available from Amazon here. You can see the live video of Allie joining dad Mick Head on stage in Tokyo for a superb version of "Broken Beauty" from the Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band album "Dear Scott" at our YouTube channel here. 

Thanks to all featured Bands and Record Companies, Lee from Spinout Nuggets, Shauna from Shameless Promotions, John Johnson and of course all listeners and subscribers. The Retrosonic Podcast archive is available at SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes and Apple Podcasts. It would be very much appreciated if you could please like, subscribe, follow and share. Many thanks! This episode's cover star: Tom Powell of def.fo Photo Copyright: John Johnson For more details on John Johnson's excellent photography, which includes cover art for Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band, please check out his Facebook page here.

Gaye Su Akyol at Songlines Encounters Festival, Kings Place London May 20th 2023

It was a thrill to finally get to see Istanbul based singer Gaye Su Akyol play live as part of the Songlines World Music magazine's Encounters festival at the new Arts Centre venue Kings Place in London's rejuvenated Kings Cross area. I'm pleased to report that the show exceeded all of our eager expectations with Gaye's eclectic mix of traditional Turkish Folk, Anatolian Psychedelia, Surf, Grunge and Electronica translating perfectly from the impressive body of recorded work onto the stage. Gaye appears, looking fabulous and strikes up an immediate rapport with the adoring crowd, she's a compelling and charismatic performer with a quite superb voice and, as she goes on to prove, a pretty damn good drummer too. That's because tonight it's a three-piece line-up minus the usual rhythm section so they had to work on the arrangements of the songs for the show and Gaye adds drums and percussion to the mix. 

 

They launch into "Anadolu Ejderi", the rousing title track of her superb new album. Ali Güçlü Şimşek's intricate guitar runs and Surf Rock motifs are quite remarkable, melding Middle Eastern, Arabic and Flamenco sounds into his own distinctive style and we are really looking forward to seeing his more harder-edged project Lalalar play at the Jazz Cafe later this year. The third member, Gorkem Karabudak was also really impressive, and was kept very busy with backing vocals, guitar, synths and keyboards. My personal highlights were "Laziko" which sees Dick Dale and Link Wray relocating to the Bosphorus. "İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir" is marvellous and "Sen Benim Mağaramsın" reminded me of Goldfrapp's stomping Glam Rock tinged period. "Martılar Öpüşür, Kediler Sevişir" was also superb with its crunching Pixies style Punky guitar that reminds you that Gaye is also a big fan of Nirvana and Grunge, something not necessarily apparent from most of her recorded works. 

 

We are treated to a selection of tracks from all four of her albums, ending the main set with the stand alone single "Isyan Manifestosu". These are protest songs of the best kind, demanding social justice, tolerance and hope and the whole package is truly inspirational. The band returned for an encore and reprised the opening track "Anadolu Ejderi" with the hugely talented dancer Must Kika joining in and the show ended in a blur of colour and rapturous applause. I sincerely hope she will return to the U.K. again very soon. For more information on Gaye Su Akyol please check out her official web-site here. You can see more videos from the show by subscribing to our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here. Ali Güçlü Şimşek Lalalar will play at the Jazz Cafe on September 9th, for more information please check here.