MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : Q – DECEMBER 2012

It’s the end of 2012 and there’s a killer on the cover of Q. Not an actual killer, but Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers.

2013 will see the 50th anniversary of The Rolling Stones, a year which will see new music and a documentary, this getting a single page feature from Q.

Charlotte Church gets a two page interview, where she reveals pensioners still turn up at her concerts thinking she will perform her opera hits.

The band Keane get a five page profile as Q goes on tour with them in Japan, and are having a more successful time that Roy Keane did in Japan ten years previously.

Also featured is someone else looking to have success in a foreign country, asking why Breaking Bad isn’t available in the UK.

Q features the recent trend of musicians becoming DJs, with a profile of Radio 6 Music stars Cerys Matthews, Jarvis Cocker, Guy Garvey and Huey Morgan.

Cover star Brandon Flowers is interviewed as part of an eight page feature on The Killers, revealing that he believes he will one day overtake The Osmonds as the world’s most famous Mormon.

In live reviews, Q goes to see George Michael in London, back on the concert trail after a near fatal bout of pneumonia.

The magazine ends with a Q and A with Florence Welch, who reveals she has no plans to follow David Cameron on Twitter.

THE SOUND OF 2015 : 51-75

51. Stereophonics – Song For The Summer
52. Foo Fighters – Saint Cecilia
53. Travis – Everything At Once
54. Brandon Flowers – Can’t Deny My Love
55. Echosmith – Cool Kids
56. Charli XCX ft Rita Ora – Doing It
57. Cathal Smyth – Do You Believe In Love?
58. Squeeze – Cradle To Grave
59. Stereophonics – Cest La Vie
60. Walk The Moon – Different Colours
61. David Bowie – Blackstar
62. New Order – Restless
63. Muse – Psycho
64. Kodaline – Ready
65. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Riverman
66. Carly Rae Jepsen – Run Away With Me
67. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – The Dying Of The Light
68. James Bay – Hold Back The River
69. The Weekend – Can’t Feel My Face
70. Chvrches – Empty Threat
71. Sunset Sons – She Wants
72. The Vaccines – Handsome
73. Years and Years – King
74. Charli XCX – Famous
75. Natalie Imbruglia – Instant Crush

THE SOUND OF 2015 : 76-100

So, it’s that time of year to look back at the twelve months just past, and this blog is no different.

Totally unscientific and totally guesswork, time to present to you the Top 100 Songs Of 2015, to see who will join Kasabian, Feist, Sons and Daughters, Little Boots, Marina and the Diamonds, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Taylor Swift, Haim and Jamie T on the honours list.

Spoiler alert. There are four former winners in the Top 100, and there are two acts who appear on it who also have a cover of one of their songs in the countdown.

I’ll let you guess them, and the winner. Here’s the first 25 to get you going. Another 25 will appear every Thursday for the next three weeks.

76. Hidden Cities ft Tim Halperin – Hungry Like The Wolf
77. The Libertines – Gunga Din
78. Coasts – Modern Love
79. The Charlatans – Come Home Baby
80. Walk The Moon – Shut Up And Dance
81. Mans Zelmerlow – Heroes
82. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Lock All The Doors
83. The Vaccines – Give Me A Sign
84. Marina and the Diamonds – Blue
85. Bear’s Den – Agape
86. Gun – Every 1’s A Winner
87. Years and Years – Desire
88. Muse – Lies
89. Olly Murs – Kiss Me
90. Carly Rae Jepsen – I Really Like You
91. Miguel – Waves
92. Seasick Steve – Summertime Boy
93. Jason Derulo – Want To Want Me
94. The Courteeners – Has The Told You That He Loves You Yet
95. The Maccabees – Marks To Prove It
96. James Taylor – Montana
97. Coldplay – Adventure Of A Lifetime
98. Brandon Flowers – I Can Change
99. The Charlatans – Let The Good Times Be Never Ending
100. Years and Years – Shine

2015 : THE HALF-TERM HALF CENTURY

Well, we’re now at the halfway stage of 2015 and as is tradition at this time of year, it’s time for a Top 50 Songs Of The Year So Far, and it will keep you in suspense for the next six months as to what the best song of 2015 will be. Enjoy.

1. The Strypes – Get Into It
2. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Ballad Of The Mighty I
3. Mumford and Sons – The Wolf
4. Muse – Mercy
5. Little Mix – Black Magic
6. Taylor Swift – Style
7. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – You Know We Can’t Go Back
8. Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do
9. Florence and the Machine – Ship To Wreck
10. FFS – Johnny Delusonal
11. Frank Turner – The Next Storm
12. Kodaline – Honest
13. Blur – Ong Ong
14. Giorgio Moroder ft Britney Spears – Tom’s Diner
15. Mini Mansions – Death Is A Girl
16. James Bay – Hold Back The River
17. Kodaline – Ready
18. Years and Years – King
19. The Courteeners – Has The Told You That He Loves You Yet?
20. Charli XCX – Famous
21. Cathal Smyth – Do You Believe In Love?
22. Rae Morris – Under The Shadows
23. Soak – Sea Creatures
24. Imagine Dragons – Warriors
25. Carly Rae Jepsen – I Really Like You
26. Charli XCX ft Rita Ora – Doing It
27. FFS – Piss Off
28. Brandon Flowers – Can’t Deny My Love
29. Blur – There Are Too Many Of Us
30. Walk The Moon – Shut Up And Dance
31. Stereophonics – Cest La Vie
32. Jason Derulo – Want To Want Me
33. Paul Weller – Going My Way
34. Mans Zelmerlow – Heroes
35. The Charlatans – Come Home Baby
36. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Riverman
37. James Taylor – Montana
38. Natalie Imbruglia – Instant Crush
39. Father John Misty – Chateau Lobby #4 (In C For Two Virgins)
40. Muse – Psycho
41. Little Boots – Better In The Morning
42. Gravity Storm – (Don’t You) Forget About Me
43. Nick Jonas – Jealous
44. Years and Years – Shine
45. Prides – Higher Love
46. Brandon Flowers – I Can Change
47. Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear – Silent Movies
48. The Strypes – Scumbag City
49. Blur – Lonesome Street
50. Florence and the Machine – What Kind Of Man

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 8.5.2015

1. Mini Mansions – Death Is A Girl
2. James Taylor – Montana
3. The Courteeners – Has The Told You That He Loves You Yet
4. Little Boots – Better In The Morning
5. Brandon Flowers – I Can Change

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 27.3.2015

1. Blur – There Are Too Many Of Us
2. Kodaline – Ready
3. Brandon Flowers – Can’t Deny My Love
4. Charli XCX – Famous
5. Chic – I’ll Be There

THE KILLERS – LIVE AT THE ODYSSEY 21.2.2013

Was at The Odyssey last night to see The Killers, a band i’d always wanted to see play live. For a variety of reasons, i’d never seen them play before.

I’ve been a fan of them since 2003, when I heard ‘All These Things I’ve Done’ on a goals montage on Soccer AM. My first reaction upon hearing their name, was “Oh! That’s the band from the New Order” referring to the video for Crystal by New Order, starring a band called The Killers.

It wasn’t actually The Killers. The Killers took their name from this fictional band.

Finally, the wait was over, they came on stage, and went straight into Mr Brightside. It had been a while since The Killers were last in Belfast, four years exactly to the day, pointed out by frontman Brandon Flowers.

Unsurprisingly, the set list was hit based. Album themes seem to switch back and forth, starting off with Dancey (Somebody Told Me, Mr Brightside), Rock (When We Were Young), back to Dancey (Human) then back to Rock (Runaways)

The early part of the show focused on the Dancey songs, before moving into a more Rock based direction.

Here’s a scary thought, the song Somebody Told Me, features the line “You had a boyfriend, who looked like a girlfriend, that I had in February of last year”

Somebody Told Me was released in 2004. The “Girlfriend, that I had in February of last year” is referring to events almost exactly ten years ago.

Almost a decade since being released, it’s still a fantastic song.

I didn’t have that good a shooting position, but I made the most of what I had. Thankfully, frontman Brandon Flowers was running about all parts of the stage, everybody will have got a glimpse of him at some point. The lighting was fantastic and helped with shooting.

There was a brief acoustic moment, as they played a cover of Brown Eyed Girl. Unsurprisingly, a tribute album to Van Morrison went down very well in his native East Belfast.

They left the stage to a rapturous reception, as an expectant crowd awaited an encore. They got one.

The crowd were chanting the chorus to “All These Things I’ve Done”, they didn’t get what they wanted at first, with them playing Jenny Was A Friennd Of Mine, before giving the crowd what they wanted.

After four years away from Belfast, The Killers were worth the wait. Let’s hope it’s no four years before they return.

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