Metro Radio Live 2011 @ Metro Arena

As part of my attempt to keep up with my teenage daughters and their tastes in music,  I took Becca off to the Metro Radio Arena last night to see the "Metro Radio Live" - a very impressive line up mix of established and new acts and I'm quite proud to say I had actually heard of most of them.

The arena excels in this type of event, thousands of screaming teenagers, a plethora of flashing headbands all mixed into the heady smell of 'Brittany' or 'Christina' or some other pop princess's latest perfume.

The build up DJ, a regular from Metro / TFM, had obviously misread the brief and proceeded to deliver a 7 yr olds disco party, punctuating every 20 seconds with "make some noise" or "are you having a good time" - maybe it was to counter the royalties process, but in 35 minutes he didn't play one song fully, cutting most off after the initial 45 seconds of recognition.  His coup de grace, however, was to bring on stage two dancing Star Wars Stormtroopers who proceeded to wander around for a bit before doing an impromptu version of the birdy song.  Hmm, Becca & I exchanged rather concerned, puzzled and somewhat pitiful looks but nevermind - he was only the warm up.

The main line up went like this:

The Overtones: - nah, me neither, but as every semi decent looking person knows, it always pays to have at least one ugly friend to make you look even better - they were the concert's cr4p act, brought along so that everyone else sounds good  Rating: 1/2 ★

Tinchy Stryder: - so from the ridiculous to the sublime, a class act, he gave the crowd exactly what they wanted and a preview of Starship, his new single which will merely serve to confirm that TS is going interstellar  Rating: ★★★1/2

Parade: - A one hit wonder ? More like its a wonder they actually had a hit - choreographed by one of the girls nans and practised in a spare bedroom somewhere in suburbia   Rating:  ★

The Feeling: - There was a pattern developing to the first half of the concert; cr4p, great, cr4p, great and The Feeling fitted in perfectly - fabulous 'real' band (playing instruments and everything) great catchy songs and definitely a group I would happily pay to watch a full gig  Rating: ★★

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: - Now I have a confession to make, it was Ms EB's name on the line up which prompted me to get the tickets and boy was I a happy bunny - she is truly a stunningly beautiful lady, completely at ease on stage and delivered some cracking tunes.  She let it slip that it had taken them 8 hours to travel up, all for a 5 min slot, dedication or what - having said that her husband is the lead singer with The Feeling so it was possibly more like a family outing for her Rating: ★★★★1/2

Chipmunk: - 3 great acts in a row and another huge crowd favourite - Mr Munk (or Chippy to his mates) really looked like he was having fun, a fabulous mini-set and some great interaction with the fans  Rating: ★★★

Nicola Roberts: - Oh dear ! Lil girl lost without her mates on stage to help her out - "The Beat of my Drum" sounds like a Missy Elliot tune, but Nicola is no R&B stomper and to be honest it was more like a school talent show attempt.  Her 2nd song, Lucky Day was surprisingly catchy and would probably do well as a solo spot in a Girls Aloud gig but she really needs her mates with her Rating: ★1/2

So, we reached half time and all in all a very slick production, great use of the jumbo screens to preview the next artist and some buzzing performances.........

2nd Half

Her Majesty and The Wolves: - Wow ! Quirky, catchy, completely mad but a fab start to the 2nd half - Her Majesty is the spitting image for a young Farrah Fawcett (showing my age there) especially in THAT pose which every teenage boy had as a poster Rating: ★★

Mike Posner: - Awesome dude, he took the gig to a new high, ramping up the crowd into a screaming frenzy and then delivering some banging tunes - Boom Chick a Wow Wow and Cooler than Me were perfect tracks to choose and he ended his slot buried deep in the crowd - Rating: ★★★★

Dionne Bromfield: - I had never heard of this young girl before tonight, she sounded a little but like a Tamla Mowtown version of Amy Whinehouse - nice to see that she had brought her younger cousins along as backing dancers Rating: ★★

Katy B: - Oh Katy, Katy, Katy - she looked like a young mum who had dropped the little one off at toddlers, popped out for a pint of milk and found herself on stage - completely missed her cue for the opening song which threw the crowd and thus her 'backing MC' spent the rest of her slot shouting at us to 'make some noise' and 'sing with Katy' - She's got some great songs in her repertoire, just not great at delivering them live Rating: ★★

Example: - If Sophie Ellis Bextor was the perfect act to watch, then Example was the perfect

act to bounce to - Kickstarts and Change the Way you Kiss Me were awesome, high tempo, high energy and highly addictive - excellent production and another who I would gladly go to see on their own Rating: ★★★★1/2

The Wanted: - So this was the pinnacle for all the girls in the crowd and the 5 lads didn't disappoint anyone - I bet every girl felt that they had sang, waved, blown a kiss directly to her, they were genuinely having fun and worked the crowd like touring veterans - Not half bad songs either, who knows what they can achieve once they've grown up and reached puberty  Rating: ★★★1/2

The Saturdays: - Headline act, polished in choreography but lacking in real charisma.  They seemed to spend most of the time wandering around the stage, almost following each other like a disjointed, 10 legged snake. After Example & The Wanted they really struggled to get the arena bouncing again Rating: ★★1/2

So, all in all a fab night, live music is always great, regardless of the quality, but I would definitely recommend keeping an eye out for the next Metro Radio