Results tagged “manchester”

       

If Guy Garvey was half as pretty as Chris Martin, Elbow would have been at the top of the charts a long time ago, neck in neck with Coldplay. As it is Elbow's richly melodic rock, powered by Garvey's transcendent voice has long made them the darlings of critics and music geeks everywhere, but not as celebrated as they should be be the mainstream. Such is life. Over the past ten years, Elbow has gathered an extremely diverse and loyal base, which poured into the Wiltern on a Wednesday night, selling out the house. There really is something magical about standing in between a behomoth of a man, covered in tattoos, in a jean jacket with the sleeves cut off, and a tiny scrap of a girl, who couldn't be more than sixteen, wearing tons of glittery eyeshadow, and hearing them both unabashedly belting out the same song at the top of their lungs.

              

Last Wednesday, San Diego-based Tristan Prettyman (MySpace) and local Jesca Hoop (MySpace) anchored a solid night of female singer-songwriters at Hotel Cafe (MySpace) in Hollywood that included openers Lucy Schwartz (MySpace) and Annie Bethancourt (MySpace).

The 2008 Mercury Prize for best UK album of the year went to Elbow for their album The Seldom Seen Kid, besting 11 other finalists, including Radiohead's In Rainbows and offerings from British Sea Power and oddsmakers' choice Burial.

Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)