This image: FEWS
Jordan Worland from local music website Slate the Disco selects his must-see gigs in Cambridge this month
May promises to be a varied and exciting month for live music here in Cambridge. Our must-not-miss recommendation this month is Tindersticks on 6 May at the Corn Exchange, which sees the band bring their tenth record The Waiting Room to Cambridge. Two decades into their musical voyage, the established masters of restraint and poetic human emotion are a band now creating the best songs of their career.
Also at the Corn Exchange is Tipping Point by Ockham’s Razor (13-15 May). Whilst being a contemporary dance piece the whole show is a multilayered surround sound musical landscape especially composed by Adem Ilhan and Quinta who have previously worked with Radiohead, Hot Chip and Bat For Lashes.
5 May sees Flemmings in town to play the Blue Moon. Flemmings make an awesome, excitable racket and will be supported by three-piece fuzzy pop band Mammoth Penguins and new Cambridge outfit, The Baby Seals, who make head bopping pop punk songs.
Barns Courtney brings his eclectic mix of US blues rock, hip hop and grunge with British indie melodic sensibilities to The Portland Arms on the 5th, whilst everyone’s favourite two-hit wonder John Otway makes a very welcome return to the same venue the following evening. Expect all the usual wit and shambling charm.
Cambridge folk-pop outfit Fred’s House are back with a new album launch party at the Cambridge Junction on the 7th, whilst Hackney Colliery Band play the same venue on the 21st – definitely a feel-good group to check out.
Another not to miss is Three Trapped Tigers and their incendiary live show at The Portland on the 10th. For the unacquainted, Three Trapped Tigers are a band for which genres and labels struggle to keep up. They move – often at breakneck speed – from screeching, effect-laden guitars to an arsenal of glistening sci-fi synths, pummelling sub-bass, colossal riffs and audacious drum patterns that both underpin and define their unique sound. As anyone who has seen their live shows will know, trying to pinpoint what makes the group such a force is a difficult thing to do.
The Portland also hosts Dan Owen (16th), anti-folk legend Adam Green (19th) and the returning Michael Kiwanuka (18th), who could easily fill much larger venues, so expect an intimate evening as he brings his new album to town.
Former frontwoman of The Long Blondes, Kate Jackson releases her debut solo album this month and backed by her band The Wrong Moves will play The Portland on the 17th. The album takes in eclectic musical styles, from synth driven glam rock to Blade Runner electronica, faded piano allure to sweeping strings alt-country all tied together by Jackson’s unique vocal top line.
Our new band tip this month is FEWS, a Swedish/American four-piece who specialise in bold and contorting guitar lines. They play The Portland on the 24th.
Our final tip for this month is obvious. As Lonely The Brave release their sophomore record, they celebrate this with their biggest home town show to date, at the Corn Exchange on the 20th. Both anthemic and immediate, they come into their own in the live setting, this is one not to miss.
This image: Kate Jackson
