A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.
Luna in Oxford, London and Bognor Regis - a quick round-up
Hopefully someone else (Andy gazes longingly towards Joakim) will write up a better and longer review of Luna's trip to the UK, but until that happens (and in case it doesn't) here's how my three nights with Luna went.
Thursday in Oxford
Early on Thursday morning Kelly arrived at mine and once I'd picked up the car, and after a cafe stop, we headed off to the dreaming spires of Oxford for my first, and Luna's second, UK show of 2016 (I shamefully opted for work rather than make the trip to Manchester the day before).
The room was pretty empty, and didn't fill too much over the course of the evening - sadly it seems students these days don't take advantage of the treats served up on their doorsteps. Fortunately while the students hadn't made much effort we had, and AHFoW folk were a sizeable chunk of the audience!
First up were Co-Pilgrim, playing a cool set of country-tinged rock and they faired pretty well considering the challenge of playing to an almost empty room!
Britta had arrived at the venue earlier rather surprised to find herself on the bill and played an short set before the main act - I think the surprise billing made the performance seem a little less ready than it might have - but it was still a treat to get to hear the songs live.
Luna were playing Penthouse in full, the sound wasn't great, with a slightly tinny/toppy feel and some problems with feedback - but despite this, and despite the small audience the band made fine fist of it. And closing the show with Indian Summer will means I'll always leave the room on a high!
After a bit of post-show loitering I took my leave and headed back to London as I had to work the next day.
- Show details and setlist
- The whole show - including Britta's set, is available to download from Dimeadozen
- Photos: 2016-10-06: Luna in Oxford on Flickr
Friday in London
Friday afternoon I skipped off work a bit early and headed to the pre-meet in the (now traditional) Euphorium Bakery in Islington - lots of folk showed up over the course of the evening, and some who never managed to get to the pre-meet, showed up in the venue during the evening.
First up was Drift, who playes a short set spiky and enjoyable electronica.
Britta had a scheduled and longer set and seemed a lot more comfortable with that.
Another night of Penthouse for Luna. The sound was considerably better and the larger and enthusiastic crowd made for a brilliant evening ~ two encores and closing again with Indian Summer made for a perfect evening. Made more perfect by getting backstage to eat the band's cheese and chocolate and then off to an after-show gathering at the Betsey Trotwood - I left early again ~ if 2am is early (not for me but it appeared to be for everyone else!).
Saturday in Bognor Regis
I had spent most of my childhood summer holidays in Bognor Regis, so the opportunity of seeing Luna there was too much to resist - so had wangled some guest passes as the weekend tickets were a bit pricey!
We arrived in a damp and overcast Bognor and once we'd managed to track down our passes we wandered around the festival site, a Butlins holiday camp. Caught a bit of Clinic, all of Wire, a bit of Jah Wobble and then settled in for Luna's set.
This show was my only hope of seeing a non-Penthouse Luna show so when the band opened with Chinatown my hear sank a tiny bit... and then bobbed back up to the surface for Malibu Love Nest!
A lovely and nicely mixed up setlist (both Britta and Sean got to sing) and a decent sounding room (apart from the vibrations from the other stage on the floor below) made for a cracking evening.
Show over, we sadly had to shoot off before Suede to get Ulrika on a train to London so she could get to Antwerp for Luna's show the next evening. Adam and I pondered returning to Butlins but opted instead for a stroll along the beach in the dark before grabbing some food and heading back to my dad's to eat it.
