Mark Rowland - Live Reviews


Hamish Hawk

Hamish Hawk - Scala, London, 5/2/2023

Mark Rowland at The Scala in London watches rising singer-songwriter Hamish Hawk play an exuberant post-punk set to promote his new album ‘Angel Numbers’.


Idles

Idles - Abbey Road Studios, London, 29/8/2020...30/8/2020

Mark Rowland watches Idles play a remarkable three set lockdown session over two days at Abbey Road Studios in London.


Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Roundhouse, London, 13/5/2011

Mark Rowland at the Roundhouse in London watches Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and electronic artist Alva Noto play a show of tense, but enormous emotional impact to promote 'Summvs', their fifth collaborative album


Pere Ubu

Pere Ubu - Blackheath Halls, London, 27/2/2010

Mark Rowland watches an enjoyably different and visually striking show from Pere Ubu in which they merge music, theatre and animation at a gig to promote their 'Long Live Pere Ubu' album at Blackheath Halls in London


Passion Pit

Passion Pit - KOKO, London, 28/10/2009

Mark Rowland discovers Massachusetts-based electronic band and former bedroom act Passion Pit to have an increasingly comfortable stage presence at a gig at ther KOKO in London


Deerhunter

Deerhunter - Scala, London, 18/5/2009

At the Scala in London, Mark Rowland watches Atlanta punks Deerhunter play an impulsive, yet charismatic and powerful set


Animal Collective



At a keenly anticipated, strikingly visual show at the Forum in London, Mark Rowland watches pioneering electro act Animal Collective play a set which completely splits its audience


Of Montreal

Of Montreal - KOKO, London, 16/10/2008

At the London KOKO, Mark Rowland finds Athens, Georgia-based band Of Montreal's eccentric form of orchestral rock and stage theatricals occasionally becoming too pretentious for their own good, but overall totally riveting


Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen - Victoria Park, London, 26/6/2008

At a gig at London's Victoria Park to promote their 'In Rainbows' album, Mark Rowland watches Radiohead play an enthusiastic, eco-friendly set to an ecstatic crowd


Bob Mould

Bob Mould - KOKO, London, 27/5/2008

In front of an appreciative crowd at the KOKO in London, Mark Rowland watches former Husker Du and Sugar front man Bob Mould prove that he is still able to carry a rock show like a man half his age and play a fiery, rapid fire set of Greatest Hits and new songs


Sebadoh

Sebadoh - KOKO, London, 7/5/2008

Sebadoh are not known for being a dynamic live force, but Mark Rowland finds the reformed American indie rockers compelling at a Don't Look Back gig at the KOKO in London in which they revisited their 1993 album, 'Bubble and Scrape'


Wedding Present

Wedding Present - Manchester Academy 3, Manchester, 21/2/2005

At an audience largely dominated by over excited middle aged men, Mark Rowland watches the reformed Wedding Present play a flawless set to an exuberant crowd, but sees David Gedge's Cinerama songs go down less well


Cure

Cure - Old Trafford , Manchester, 9/7/2004...10/7/2004

At the Move festival in Manchester Mark Rowland enjoys sets by the Cure and former James frontman Tim Booth, but finds himself totally enthralled by the Pixies, back together after an absence of more than a decade


Million Dead

Million Dead - Brickyard, Carlisle, 18/4/2004

One of the rising punk bands , Million Dead recently toured Britain. Mark Rowland watches "one of the better new rock bands in Britain at the moment" put on a rabble-rousing show at the Carlisle Brickyard


Trumans Water

Trumans Water - Camden Underworld, London, 3/6/2003

Mark Rowland's dislike of London's Camden area was recently intensified when he was robbed in the street there, but, despite this, he still manages to forget temporarily his troubles at a post-punk night at the Underworld


Candies

Candies - Garage, London, 30/5/2003

Since interviewing frontman Giulio Calvino for the first time, Mark Rowland has waited almost two years to see Italian post-punk trio the Candies, but finds the experience well worth the wait at the London Garage


Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Reading Festival, 23/8/2002...25/8/2002

Always an experience, the Reading Festival probably had the best line-up of all the British music festivals this year. Mark Rowland has an an exhausting, but exciting three days


Miss Black America

Miss Black America - London Dingwalls, 7/8/2002

...but Mark Rowland at the same gig , despite finding much of its emphasis on fashionablity unbearable, in contrast enjoys the experience much more


D4

D4 - London Garage, 12/7/2002

In the second of our D4 live reviews of this month, Mark Rowland at a show in London finds the New Zealand punks to be the ultimate live experience


Alec Empire

Alec Empire - London Mean Fiddler, 30/4/2002

The missing link between hard dance and punk metal, Alec Empire and his Digital Hardcore label now have a legendary cult following. Mark Rowland watches the Atari Teenage Riot frontman play a "spectacular" solo show at the Mean Fiddler