Miles Kane’s tour kick-off at Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 13 April 2022Back in late 2019 Miles

Miles Kane’s tour kick-off at Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 13 April 2022Back in late 2019 Miles Kane’s short Crispy Tour took place, which saw him play various big arena support slots and small venues across England and Ireland, on the back of 2 brilliant new standalone singles from that same period. At points during those shows he looked sad and tired, or both. I was wondering what would be next for him. After an unwanted and unexpected 2 year break, in which live/life-lover Miles Kane still managed to get a few acoustic and smaller gigs in, this week he finally got back inside a tour bus for the kick-off of the 2022 Change The Show tour.Starting in my home country, even more so starting in Nijmegen, a city close to my home town, which he did not play since The Rascals’ days in 2008, since the plenty of venue shows in the past 11 years have always been exclusively in Amsterdam. Arriving early from London, he soon took off to Hilversum to play an acoustic set for radio station KINK in Hilversum that afternoon. Having rehearsed 21 songs for the tour, and wanting to make a selection of 18 songs, on the way to the radio station and back he decided on the perfect song selection and sequencing for that night.Support act Oracle Sisters are joining them this whole European tour, and it’s worth getting to the venue early to see their set. A trio formed in Paris, traversing borders with them being from all across Europe. A semi-acoustic set by 2 members, soon to be joined by the third member on bass, and ending with “the band” (a drum machine). The 2020 song ‘Asc. Scorpio’ is a highlight and could be put on any indie playlist. The merch guy or girl got the sack, and while economical and a sign o’ the times, it’s disappointing to see an empty merchandise stand with just the sign “get your merch online” with 3 shirts on display. Especially in times of steep postage costs, bad customer service and it always being unclear if heavy custom fees are being slapped on top of the order upon arriving, this is not really an inviting development. By the end of the night 2 of the 3 shirts on display were gone, with just the hangers as silent witnesses to what might have been a rebellious act of protest, which I secretly found a bit funny.The new stage set-up is sparse yet effective, just like in the old days the name of the man we’re all waiting for in big letters at the back, just like the album cover on a striking red background. About half of the venue was filled. A week day, with in one week 4 gigs in The Netherlands alone, having sold out Melkweg and Paradiso (both 1500 capacity) easily in 2011 and 2013. As planned, 21:15 sharp he took the stage, with a long and thrilling pre-show tape with flashing lights, high vocal harmonies and the vocal samples by TV royalty Paul O'Grady echoing around, which could only mean one thing: the lead single of the new album ‘Don’t Let It Get You Down’ as set opener.“If you want my honest opinion” it’s a flat opener. The current touring band does not have backing vocalist Rahh (Holly Quin-Ankrah) who was there for the few gigs in August/September 2021, so Miles is doing it all by himself with very little back-up of the guys in the band, which does not really work. It was a clearly the first song of the first show of the tour: a lot of glances at each other, some coordinating followed, all band members pointing towards their roadie for help and monitor man throughout the song. But Miles Kane’s 15 years of road mileage on tour shows: ever-professional and never noticeable for the crowd. Miles ditched his in-ear monitors again, and is relying on the monitors in front of him. All natural, being in tune with the crowd.But after the opener just one feeling remained: wow, Miles Kane is back on stage, finally he’s rocking again, with a fantastic band which can compete with his 2010-2014 heyday. And that’s the biggest compliment one can receive. So THIS is what was next for him, he is the resurrection. It’s like Miles Kane 2.0. It opens up a lot of opportunities for the coming tour, and hopefully many more to come. The band is looking and sounding like an alliance again as opposed to session members being called in for the job. We’ve got The Kane himself on vocals and guitars of course. Added is multi-instrumentalist João de Macedo Mello on keys and even saxophone and percussion, as well-needed extra member. Plus Oscar Sholto Robertson on drums. The latter is part of Sunglasses For Jaws, a band/studio collective by 2 London friends who produced Miles Kane’s latest album, and also played on it. The former is also associated with them, also plays on Miles Kane’s album, and both are playing together in the touring band for the album. We’ve also got Josh McClorey added to the line-up on guitar, having earned his stripes (no pun) while touring the world in his early to late teens as part of gimmick act The Strypes, who supported Arctic Monkeys during their 2013 European tour. Also the familiar face Nathan Sudders on bass guitar, having stayed from the previous touring line-up, and I was very glad to see him back.They all compliment each other musically, they fit the style of the new songs and the attitude of the band, and they play the older songs in their own style yet just as impactful as about 10 years ago.The front man arrived in a somewhat casual suit, looking flawless as always, with most of the other band members adjusting to that as well. So after the not (yet?) perfectly working opener, with the second song of the gig the “ba-pa-pa-pa”’s kicked in and there was only excitement: he has arrived. Back in Summer 2021 he asked publicly on Twitter which Last Shadow Puppets he should add to the set. I, cheekily, replied that before he should even think about those songs, he should add ‘Quicksand’ again. The catalogue and live highlight he did not play at any point past 2014. A couple of weeks later he made his live comeback, brought back ‘Quicksand’, and I can’t help but think that either great minds think alike, or he saw the Tweet and realised it was time to make the right decision. And the song remained for this set. Some lovely new counter-melody on guitar during the chorus. During the breakdown before the chorus, with the high “whoooo”, it really felt like nothing ever changed. Even with him not doing his early Beatles head shake any more. It only misses the loud and high harmony vocals by Eugene McGuinness on the chorus, but nothing ever lasts forever. The song ended on an extra long outro with an energetic organ solo. “Ok, João, gimme some of that rock and roll, baby, take it away, solo!” The energy this arrangement radiates, makes that it could be a set closer, but it’s also the perfect choice to grab the crowd from the start. The classic ‘Rearrange’ followed, played at full speed. Turbo speed, I would say. With fantastic Wurlitzer subtleties during the verses. The fifth member is a huge addition. Even more so on the new songs, with ‘Nothing’s Ever Gonna Be Good Enough’ following. This being a duet, Miles providing both vocal parts live, with as said backing vocalist Rahh from his shows a while back not being brought on tour. But Josh McClorey tries his best on the high falsetto on the chorusses. You instantly hear this band has a history with these songs, with as mentioned 2 musicians who played on his latest record, one produced it as well, and it shows. A perfect rendition, a crowd-pleaser, and a song which deserved a lot more airplay and exposure. One big energy burst so far, with the final notes of the song going straight into ’Coup De Grace’. A song I would not deem necessary in his setlist now, but with the added percussion by João de Macedo Mello and high and driving tempo it gets a second life. The funky percussion, the stomping four-on-the-floor beat by Oscar Sholto Robertson going into rock groove during the bridge, the tight bass line by Nathan Sudders and both guitar players of the band showcasing their big talents, this became an enjoyable song. Just like the old days, when 2010-2014 keyboardist Ben Parsons would have Miles Kane’s guitar pedals wired back to him to trigger guitar feedback and echoing effects, there’s now no moment of silence in between songs. All songs go either right into each other, or when there’s a swap of instruments these rock and roll heroes know how to fill up the sound in any way. It became clear now all songs tonight were going to be played at high speed, with maybe the biggest upgrade of the new band being the energetic, creative and technical brilliant drummer. The band feels as a whole again, while the previous live band tended to play especially the older songs in a somewhat sluggish way. A tour kick-off means live debuts of new songs. ’Caroline’ followed, one of his most catchy singles ever, and live it’s everything you can wish for. One of those songs which will never leave a setlist, hopefully. The key was dropped, which is a very rare case of it maybe working even better than the album original. After this, Miles Kane addressed the crowd for a longer time: “thank you so much, this is our first gig of the year, our first gig playing all our new songs, so we thank you very much!”Suddenly he broke the bro code, and played the 2016 Last Shadow Puppets song ‘Aviation’ with his solo band. I’ve always been conflicted about this, when he did it in the past acoustically, and now even during solo shows. I want the Last Shadow Puppets songs to remain magical: only able to experience those when we saw them in 2008 and later in 2016. It remained special that way, as opposed to thinking next TLSP tour “ah, I’ve already heard this song on a solo tour the other year”. Can’t help but feel a bit sad about hearing those without Alex Turner there as well. Especially since you know he’s skipping a lot of his own tremendous material over it, currently more than 5 singles even, including the 2 singles and crowdpleasers from 2019 and all but 1 from his underrated second album. Also it pains me to hear the crowd erupt of joy, maybe even specifically waiting for those 2 songs, maybe even attending his solo shows for those. On the other hand I have to be realistic: it are his own songs, it are his own brilliant songs, it are his own very popular songs, give the people what they want. And the band is doing them justice. Is this any different to Paul Weller playing Style Council songs during his sets? Just like during the 2016 performances of this song, Miles played his acoustic guitar. The lack of string quartet (or full orchestra in 2008 for ‘Standing Next To Me’ later during the set) got filled up very well by strings on keys. I do have to mention the lack of powerful harmony vocals on the bridge.A short break: “how we’re sounding this evening, we’ve got a whole new band and we haven’t rehearsed much, we’re maybe a bit rusty, but we sounded okay?” At this point the band already sounded like they’ve been doing full-on tour. Throughout the show you could notice a bit they have to get back into the groove again though, sometimes walking up and down the stage with guitars, not being completely sure which one to use for which song yet. “Can I have a massive round of applause for my new band, please. This is a party song, called Never Get Tired Of Dancing, take it away, Oz!” And while Oscar took it away on drums, João de Macedo Mello came forward to play saxophone on this instant single. A nice touch, a semi-duet in this way. he venue once again transformed into a dance hall. Just like ‘Nothing’s Ever Gonna Be Good Enough’ and ‘Caroline’, when the new songs are setlist highlights, you know you’ve delivered a great new album with an stimulus to your musical catalogue. The crowd clapped along, especially during the “arena break” of the bridge, danced along, and carefully sang along as well. It’s funky, it rocked, it sounded tight, it got energy, it looks joyful, all you want to experience during live music and Miles Kane is a master at it. It might be that Miles’ pedalboard is no longer watered down to the basics, with on this song an audible delay effect on his electric guitar. Hats off to the FOH sound engineer as well, the mix of the whole night sounding transparent yet impactful. Again, it really shows the majority of the band member is overly familiar with this material already and they poured their own identity into it while recording and producing it together, as opposed to it being played either on record or live by session members.  A very varied set, with ‘Inhaler’ following with an incredibly fast drum intro, this tour brightened up by organ stabs. A more matured version, still rocking as ever. The pounding on the kicks and fast snare fills on this song by Oscar Sholto Robertson are something which desperately lacked from the previous touring line-up. The first breather of the night, a little bit of silence and the mellow ‘Loaded’ following, all band members being confused: Miles being too late with his guitar intro, still having his eyes glued to the fresh and unfamiliar setlist, the keys sounding like a mellotron instead of a piano for the first few notes, and the drummer doing a bit of an unsure drum fill as intro. Moments like this happened a few times, sometimes going into songs too early with the rest of the band not ready yet. Or the drummer missing a breakdown or fill here and there, like during the bridge of ‘Quicksand’. Which he all solved so well by doing an extra fill so it sounded intentional, only a geek like me would ever notice. And always with Miles keeping everything in check, looking back and giving a smile or a nod. If those sparse moments for a first full gig are considered “rusty”, they will be alright.‘Loaded’ is a peculiar one in his catalogue, no song by him sounds like it. It’s an incredibly strong song, and it’s the ideal glue in the middle of the set, but I’m afraid the crowd moved on, and I can understand it’s on his nominees list to skip for the festivals. Most of the songs were played on his beloved Gibson ES-335 guitar, at no point playing the Gibson SG he started using during the 2018 Coup De Grace tour for the majority of the songs then. For a couple of songs he played on his acoustic Gibson guitar.  A foreboding Spanish guitar intro straight out of a Western movie, played on said acoustic guitar, was the obvious harbinger to what was to be expected next: ‘Standing Next To Me’. I got the same feeling as hearing ‘Aviation’ in this way, but looking around me it was all the crowd was hoping for. And of course I’m spoiled, having heard them sing this live together in person on both the original 2008 and 2016 reunion tour, and the unforgettable surprise guest performances by Alex Turner at Miles’s set at Glastonbury 2013 and the other way round at Finsbury Park in 2014. It must be an electrifying experience for Josh McClorey: having played this song so many times as young ‘un and I believe even covered it during the early days of The Strypes, and now years later nailing the guitar on stage with the main man himself.At this point the songs were no longer played all in one go, a bit more silence in between songs occurred, and it was a clear middle of the set with more slower and soft songs. It was only right that at this moment ‘Colour Of The Trap’ came out, the fixed feature ballad from this solo debut. No longer the tacky drum machine beat from the previous tour. But in a brand new arrangement with a steady, fast backbeat and piano chords leading, with Miles on electric guitar, and the bass joining later during the first verse. And as leading role Josh McClorey on lap steel guitar, an interesting and great choice. This song needed some freshening up, and this arrangement was surprising and worked like a treat. Miles screwed up his guitar solo near the end, cringed and laughed to his band members.  Time to bring back some rock and roll, they must have thought. ‘Give Up’ smashed through the venue. Fast funky verses on drums, much slower chorusses, very dynamic. Just like with other songs a well-needed refreshment of this song. The bridge even consisted of a long drum solo. The crowd did not really pick up on this, and personally I think he’s got much better rock songs he choses to skip this tour. Maybe the drums were getting a bit too dynamic at this point. All songs were played ultra fast, but often the tempo was also all over the place. But how great to see after the genius Jay Sharrock from the 2010-2014 band we got a co-frontman on drums once more, carrying this band with the front man and putting the well-needed energy and spirit back. The title track of the new album ‘Change The Show’ was played before during the few 2021 shows, now the first time on tour. As said you can hear at moments like this the band partially played on the record: it sounded exactly like it, same tempo, same impact, only missing the big group vocals. The crowd got a bit chatty now, hopefully this huge chorus will turn out to be a festival pleaser in the coming months. It deserves to be. Miles got rid of his electric guitar, and a bit of slide guitar tuning sounded to his right side, so ‘See Ya When I See Ya’ was next. No surprise at this point: a smooth and tight rendition followed. Having only played this song acoustically before during the album promotion, this was the full band live debut. It’s remarkable how strong his live vocals are on songs like this, he grew a lot in the past 10 years. Singing this solo without any instrument gave him that extra space. Also to shock the ladies at the front row by coming over to sit at the side of the stage, holding hands with the fans at the front. This was the 6th and final new live song of the night, and it only leaves me waiting for more song debuts, even when I’m afraid that chance is slim. Apart from the opener they all worked amazingly, and one can hope they will do a promo gig somewhere with all the songs from the new album. I know I will be looking forward to hearing these songs again, and again, and again.After no less than 2 new songs in a row a thick fuzz bass intro followed, a key role for Nathan Sudders. “Are we fucking ready to have it, baby???” Miles shouted in his distinctive voice. ’Cry On My Guitar’, another song I don’t think is really needed now, but the - dare I say - “swag” the new band brings to this song made me revalue it. Even when I’m glad the endless ‘Bang A Gong’ glam rock phase has passed, and he’s onto something new.Throughout the show, photographer and videographer Ewan Ogden filmed the band and crowd from various spots in the venue, including bits on a 90’s camera, probably on Hi8-tape. Miles addressed the crowd a final time: “we like to thank the Oracle Sisters for supporting us on this tour. And thank you for being our first gig back in many, many years”. Time for the uber classics, the expected and ever-welcome 10’s rock hits: ‘Come Closer’ and ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’ as set closers. Even these 2 lacked impact during the previous tour, played too slow, too rigid, too bland. And just like that, it felt like 2011 or 2013 again: fast and fierce drum pounding, loud guitars, subtle keys, and the band rocking out and smiling at each other, bass player Nathan Sudders bouncing up and down, the crowd singing along. Energy, joy and great tunes, that’s all it’s about. And was that Miles looking over the excited crowd singing along to his tunes, having missed this for more than 2 years, and him swallowing emotions in between vocal lines? Ahw.“We want more!”. But no encore. Unexpected for the crowd, by the look of things with the lights still off and no music being played also a surprise for the local crew. But after those 2 songs in a row there’s no way back. 18 songs in 1 hour and 5 minutes. During the exclusive tour interview with KINK from the afternoon of this show, Miles talked about creating the setlist of the upcoming gig, and mentioned how in the “next few days there’s room for improvement”. This band and this approach of the songs just shout for setlist alternatives every night. If only for a handful of album tracks. Realistically thinking, I carefully suggest at least ‘Better Than That’, ‘Taking Over’, ‘Can You See Me Now’, ‘First Of My Kind’ and ‘Blame It On The Summertime’. All singles, and especially the exclusion of the latter is mind-boggling: it’s was his first instant fan favourite during concerts in more than 6 years at the time. I miss a few rock belters like ‘Too Little Too Late’ and ‘Silverscreen’ from the last tour, but I can see why they might not fit in currently. A ballad like ‘Killing The Joke’ would though, just as ‘My Fantasy’.  I would say ‘Loaded’, ‘Give Up’, ‘Coup De Grace’ and ‘Cry On My Guitar’ are songs from the ongoing tour he could skip, even when those last 2 got a fresh impulse. The way the band sounds at the moment he can really do all songs from his catalogue justice again. They can make it funky, hard rocking, laid-back, and every new arrangement of an older song aligns perfectly with the new sound. Miles Kane is back, this time for good. Go see him when he’s playing near. Full setlist: https://strangedaysindeed9.tumblr.com/post/681464881601495040/miles-kane-live-at-doornroosje-nijmegen-theAudio recordings of 3 new songs: https://strangedaysindeed9.tumblr.com/post/681555486133370880/miles-kane-live-at-doornroosje-nijmegen-theVideo recordings of 4 of the new songs can be found linked in the text. -- source link

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