Yes, we know. We’re sorry for being away for so long. This website is not going anywhere, it’s just been very quiet out there. Now, here’s our review of the most recent Mew -show…

Truck Festival – Steventon, Oxfordshire, UK (July 24th, 2010)

The UK hasn’t always been that kind to Mew. From support slots with Elbow for the half-attention of tenth-full rooms, to technical malfunctions at V Festival through to heaving toilet venues back in 2005; reliably sold out, but at a peak, you felt.

Rolling up at Truck Festival then, to play a heavily-billed headline slot at a village fête masquerading as a festival (or vice versa – manufactured, sure, but in a nice way, I think) can only really be described as surreal. The cult is now a fieldful. Or maybe that’s a pretty good definition of a cult.

It’s not an easy task following 65daysofstatic, you know. 65 don’t PLAY bad shows. It’s just not an option. Tiger Girl in particular is dizzying. But Mew don’t swing that way; comparisons are pointless. Instead, with backdrops absent and the light show cranked up to obnoxious disco proportions to compensate, we get a jerky, raw Mew performance. It certainly doesn’t feel like a headline slot; it just lacks the necessary grandeur. In a way, that’s where they win. A club show out of doors.

I’m down the front and a few people are annoyed that you can’t really hear Jonas’s vocals properly save for the quiet bits (although there are a good few of those – dynamics, I think it’s called); for a second I’m more pissed off that you can’t hear Nick’s keyboard lines either, but then something lovely happens, like it did at Roskilde last summer. Analysing the mix is not what people, for the most part, are here to do. The songs are the songs and tonight they feel wistful without being nostalgic, stripped back (whether by PA accidents or by design) to the rawest forms without losing the necessary layers. Analysis? Go hang. This is a time for dancing. I’ve never seen a British crowd so involved in a Mew show, and that counts for more than a lot.

If anything needs the analysis, it’s the setlist, which is pretty much the same as at Shepherd’s Bush Empire nine months ago, and entirely lacking the new numbers doled out at other summer shows (Tricks of the Trade and Cartoons and Macramé Wounds aren’t here, which is beyond a shame). It’s mostly standard, unimaginative, save for the boldness of the opening Reprise which for the first time, for me, works unequivocally and finds its way over its own inherent corniness to be genuinely moving.

But when Snow Brigade is a mess of noise, the lights during Shelter (= Circuitry of the Wolf) are a stunning, jolting series of silhouettes, there’s a quiet couple in front of me singing quite literally every last word (including “Celebrate el sueño” during Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy – that was sort of a final test), and when Comforting Sounds is this deeply perfect… These are all GOOD things. We can all now get on with the serious business of missing them, now they’re back to being perenially not here.

Truck Festival setlist:

Reprise / Hawaii / Circuitry of the Wolf / Chinaberry Tree / Introducing Palace Players / Snow Brigade / Repeaterbeater / Beach / Apocalypso / Saviours of Jazz Ballet / Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy / Am I Wry? No / 156 / Comforting Sounds —– Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy

Ally Winford
Photos by Emi Wakatsuki

Photo Gallery

Mew are opening for The Flaming Lips in Japan this November. The three shows (in both Osaka and Tokyo) are going to be absolutely amazing, seeing as the Wayne Coyne’s group is one of the best live acts one could think of. You shouldn’t miss these shows…

November 15th – Namba Hatch (Osaka, Japan)
November 17th – Zepp Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)
November 18th – Zepp Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)

Provinssirock – Seinäjoki, Finland (June 18th, 2010)

In 2005, then relatively unknown Mew stole the hearts of Finnish festival audience at Provinssirock. Located in the town of Seinäjoki (some 400km north of Helsinki), this festival is one of Finland’s oldest and largest. The 32nd annual Provinssirock gathered approximately 20 000 people on its first day (June 18th) when the main attractions were 30 Seconds to Mars, Mew and Pendulum. Five years ago our beloved Danes performed here in a huge tent that was built this year as well. A lot has happened since then, and Mew have become too big for that venue, so they opened the main stage instead. British singer Paloma Faith had the honours of kicking off the festival (in that tent) and Mew were ready on the main stage just one hour later. Mew started playing at 7:45pm when it’s all daylight in Finland during summertime. Actually, it really doesn’t get dark at all in these latitudes. At 1am that night, the singer of 30 Seconds to Mars, Jared Leto thought it was crazy that the sun doesn’t set.

Let’s talk about the show. All in all, I must say that I was quite disappointed. The sound was absolutely awful in the first 20-30 meters from the stage. It was all bass and you couldn’t hear the vocals. Provinssirock had a new stage, ordered from Denmark, and I’m pretty sure it was the same as the one at Skive Festival just two weeks prior. Finland didn’t have a stage big enough (available) for Rammstein and their massive production. This stage was way too big for Mew in broad daylight, but it would’ve been amazing if they could have used the visuals. To get a better sound, I went further back and it was fine there. Although, the biggest problem at Provinssirock were the weather gods. It had rained heavily right before their show, so it was wet and cold (and muddy). Many fans in wet clothes just stood there, and that reflects back to artists, I’m sure. I was told that Mew looked happy enough on stage. Only, I couldn’t really tell. I had to rely on the video screen, more or less. The cold, the rain and the early slot resulted in a pretty bad turn-out. Looking at the crowd, one might have thought that you were in Sweden. Also, many fans were still queueing for their wristbands, cause the festival had big problems there. There’s an interesting 360 degree photo here. It’s also possible that Mew played so early due to their next show being in Aarhus (Denmark) on the following day.

On Friday it had rained before and after Mew. So, in the way, they were lucky (Saturday was nothing but rain) and the early slot turned out to be a good thing after all. Last time that Mew performed in Finland without the backdrops was in 2003 when they played at Ruisrock for the first time. One reporter from a Finnish tabloid-magazine said in a “news-article” (which was all lies, of course) that Mew’s manager had called the organisers upon arrival, and that he was pissed when he found out that some Finnish band is playing after them. Managers always know lineups before confirmations, no need for such calls. That particular Finnish band playing after Mew was called Lauri Tähkä ja Elonkerjuu and they are a very popular act in Seinäjoki (where they are also from). They are a terrible band, and had to play in the rain. So, in your face, Lauri Tähkä.

Paloma Faith went for a drink or two (or three) just after their own show, so they got to dance to Mew. This YouTube -video also proves that the sound was more than acceptable 200 meters away from the stage. Some fans in the front row had made a huge sheet that demanded Vaccine onto the setlist, I wonder if the band saw that. Mew had also brought the Bamse t-shirts for sale and that was a good thing (even though it’s pointless to play that track without visuals). Well… as you noticed, this is not much of a review. I refuse to review a show that I couldn’t really see, hear or feel… at least, properly.

Provinssirock setlist:

Introducing Palace Players / Snow Brigade / Am I Wry? No / 156 / Hawaii / White Lips Kissed / Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy / Beach / Repeaterbeater / Tricks of the Trade / Apocalypso / Saviours of Jazz Ballet / Comforting Sounds —– Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy

Tero Heikkinen
Photos by Pete Heikkilä

Many of our readers reside in United Kingdom…. and many of them know that the ONLY festival show for Mew in England this summer is the small (independent) Truck Festival in Steventon, Oxfordshire. The 13th year marks the festival’s first event in its teens, so it’s very fitting that one of the main acts is called Teenage Fanclub. The festival organisers – known as Truckers – are very excited to have Mew as their headliner for Saturday, July 24th. Booker Drew Brammer gave us a special link where you may buy a one-day festival ticket before anyone else. He also adds:

“A couple of years back we were lucky enough to have Mew play Oxford, and it was one of the best live shows we’d ever seen, so we knew then that we had to have them play Truck Festival. We’re really excited about exposing them to the Truckers and seeing them in the open air.”

Tickets have sold very well this year, so if you wish to see Mew in England this summer, do not hesitate for too long. Naturally, MewX.info will be reporting the festival.

*****

In other news: today is 15/6, that’s how June 15th is usually presented in Europe. This website opened exactly four years ago (as MewX.org) and the date was not a coincidence back then. The site was originally in Finnish language only (for the first year or so), then there was a gap until we restarted with English, Danish and Finnish. We posted all the news in three languages for a year and a half until we decided to go English only. A decision we have not regretted. We thank all the readers here… the global traffic has been pretty good for a fansite.

Siesta Festival – Hässleholm, Sweden (May 29th, 2010)
Skive Festival – Skive, Denmark (June 2nd, 2010)

Mew kicked off their summer festival tour from the town of Jelling (Denmark) on May 28th and the following day they were already performing in Southern Sweden. Hässleholm is a nice little town only an hour’s drive from Malmö, one of Sweden’s largest cities. Siesta Festival is less than ten years old, but Mew have already played there twice. Reasonably priced tickets attract a lot of young people – in fact, the average age of an attendee is probably no more than 20. Out of the few foreign acts, Mew were one of the most anticipated. One of the reasons may be the fact that they have not played in Sweden since their solo show in Stockholm last November. The capital doesn’t lie the South, at any rate.

Mew jumped on stage at 9:30 pm. After a few tracks it could’ve been dark enough to use the visuals, but they decided not to show them to the Swedes this time around. It was not a particularly large audience, maybe just 3000, though the camping area may account for this. It was located quite far from the actual festival area, and by the third day many must have had blisters on their feet and opted to keep the walking to a minimum.

Once again, they opened with the Scandinavian favourite Snow Brigade, and personally I would have hoped for something else had I known that the show was going to last only for an hour. I have a feeling that Mew wanted to play Comforting Sounds as well, but the drunken Swedish (teen) audience started to walk off after 156, prompting the band to leave it at that. When has that happened before? Interesting choice as the final song, but it certainly kept you craving for more. Swirlies frontman Damon Tutunjian helped the band on bass during Introducing Palace Players, but that was a very brief moment (in Norway’s Quart Festival he did more just about three years ago). Overall, this show was one of the most passionless shows I’ve seen by Mew, an exact opposite of what would be waiting for us in Denmark a few days later.

Siesta Festival setlist:

Snow Brigade / Circuitry of the Wolf / Chinaberry Tree / Hawaii / Beach / White Lips Kissed / Tricks of the Trade / Apocalypso / Saviours of Jazz Ballet / Silas the Magic Car / Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy —– Introducing Palace Players / Am I Wry? No / 156

*****

Mew were charging batteries for three days and that resulted in one of the best shows I’ve seen by them, at least what it comes to outdoor gigs. Skive is a small (and slightly scary) town in Jutland, the mainland of Denmark, some five hour drive away from Copenhagen. As the Danish capital city is located on an island, you need to take a ferry at some point. Previously known as Skive Beach Party, Skive Festival is Denmark’s third largest summer festival and it was wonderfully organised. No question about that. The camping area is just a 10-minute walk away from the main stages and Mew played on the second largest one on opening day. I say day, cause they started at 8:15 pm and it was way too early and sunny to even consider the visual backdrops. So, once again, they didn’t use any. Are they deliberately telling us that they don’t need the animations to put on a good show? If so, they sure are right. Even without them, this was a wonderful show. It was all about the performance.

The sound was particularly good for an outdoor event and the band seemed happy and energetic on stage. As the stage was located next to a beach, Bo Madsen made sure that the audience danced to Beach. Nick Watts was constantly getting people excited, he sure can play the keyboard and jump at the same time. Danish people, in general, take a lot of pride for Mew and I don’t blame them. Any country would. The crowd was really into it during the whole 77-minute show that opened with Introducing Palace Players and ended with Comforting Sounds. They probably could have played an even longer set (with Tricks of the Trade maybe?), but they started almost ten minutes late (a rarity in their world) and Green Day was about to get ready on the main stage.

The title should give it away already, but Hawaii works beautifully in sunlight. Not sure about Cartoons and Macramé Wounds, though. That seems to demand a darker atmosphere despite its lyrics. Due to aforementioned track, they were able to extend the show to a reasonable length. Almost eighty minutes with fifteen tracks is quite an achievement when some songs are so short to begin with, and Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy is just played shorter. When Mari Helgerlikova cannot be seen on visuals, they cut the finale of that song.

Skive Festival setlist:

Introducing Palace Players / Snow Brigade / Am I Wry? No / 156 / White Lips Kissed / Hawaii / Beach / Repeaterbeater / Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy / Cartoons and Macramé Wounds / Apocalypso / Saviours of Jazz Ballet —– Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy / Comforting Sounds

NEXT UP: Finland’s Provinssirock (on June 18th). The time slot is set as early as 7:45 pm… so, this would be the first Finnish show without visuals in use since Ruisrock 2003.

Text and photos by Tero Heikkinen

Once again, we asked Jonas Bjerre some questions that fans might be interested in. If you want to read the beginning of this interview (merely about festivals), click here.

How many albums, approximately,  have you sold total (worldwide)?

What do you sing in the beginning of Introducing Palace Players (the very first sentence that is written on the album booklet as ”In which we make sure no-one got hurt”)?

Will you ever release the early backdrops of Hawaii on YouTube or something (only Americans have seen these live)?

Are there any b-sides left from No More Stories -era, or are Owl, Start and Swimmer’s Chant the only ones? Is there also any particular reason why no singles (save for the EP) were released physically?

- There are lots of recordings, but nothing finished or mixed (as far as I can remember). We may go back and work on that, we’ll see. In the US the physical single format is much less important than in the UK where reaching the single top 20 (or maybe it’s 40) is crucial to “make it”. I don’t really like that chart system because bands are more or less forced into schemes of releasing 6 or 7 versions of each single to boost sales and make the coveted chart. But I do like the single format, especially 7″, if there’s quality stuff on the b-sides.

Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy has been in heavy rotation on Danish radio and now Norway, too (even radio edit). Do you consider this as the fourth single and will there be a proper release (thinking about the wonderful version we heard on the most recent video diary)?

Also… about Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy, the kids and the location are the same in the backdrop as in the Beach -video, is there a connection?

- That is certainly up for interpretation. I would say yes.

When do you plan on starting to write new music? Will there be a US tour after the scheduled summer festivals? Have you already written something that is on early stages?

How about releasing a new live-DVD (and/or blu-ray)?

… the summer festival season, that is… Tonight Mew will play their first show in over three months. Within a week, they will play three shows: the Danish Jelling Festival is up next (May 28th) and then Siesta Festival in Sweden (May 29th) and Skive Festival in Denmark (June 2nd). We will return with live show reviews!!!

Have you noticed that Mew released Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy as a digital single? The ‘radio edit’ of the song runs only 2 minutes and 40 seconds, so it has been shortened by almost half of its original length. Unfortunately, the single is available in Norway only, and if that is where you reside, click on this Spotify-link to listen to it. The track has also been in heavy radio play in Norway and in Denmark, so we’ll see what happens here eventually, but – as of now – there are no plans on releasing the single in physical format.

Well, it’s been quiet in the Mew world. But hey, they continue touring next week and we will review many of the shows (which should be fun)… Apparatjik – on the other hand – have done some interesting stuff recently. First of all, they have released a single that you may download for free. You need to give some contact information here first. The single contains the following tracks:

01. Antlers
02. Look Kids (Premix AA) Diskjokke A
03. 4 Can Keep a Secret If 3 of Them Are Dead

In between Mew shows, Jonas Bjerre does another Apparatjik live show as well. The second ever show for them takes place in a small town called Flø (Go with the Flø -festival) in Norway (on June 5th) where the mysterious cube will be presented once again. Here’s a video clip from the first show in Berlin. This should be part of the upcoming DVD that will be released alongside the physical format of the debut album We Are Here, finally shipping on June 7th. Apparatjik are also releasing a series of Q&A -podcasts, the first episode has Jonas in a very otherworldly form. These guys are obviously having fun with this project…

*****

Maybe you are interested in checking out Jonas’ official website. It has a new design and some new features as well.

*****

Are you following us on Twitter yet? YOU SHOULD!

Have you noticed that Vibrashop has some new merchandise for sale?

Apart from the snowglobe (or “waterball” if you will), the theme of the new stuff comes from the song Bamse. The bags come in many different colours and the t-shirts look pretty nice. All these should be available at summer festivals as well. The bags (and the snowglobe) are approximately 10€ each and the shirts are priced a little under 30€.

Want to see Mew and many other great bands FOR FREE at this year’s Skive Festival in Denmark? Then copypaste the following text and post the tweet on your Twitter -status:

I want to see @mewwire and ??? at this year’s @SkiveFestival – check @mewxinfo -fansite for contest details!

Replace the ‘???’ -part with the band you are hoping to see (use the artist’ official Twitter -username if possible). Skive Festival’s (June 2nd – June 5th) full lineup on the official poster (below). The biggest international acts include Rammstein, Green Day, White Lies, Mika, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Gossip, Rise Against and many big names from Denmark.

We are giving away two tickets for two lucky winners (that’s four tickets altogether) randomly selected from the Twitter -entries. The tickets are valid for full four days with camping. One ticket alone is worth 1645 DKK (approximately 230€), so you should definitely act now. You have until May 17th and the winners will be notified immediately after that.

PS: If you don’t have a Twitter -account, you may also email the text to admin (at) mewx.info – title the email with the heading ‘Skive Festival Contest’. These are as valid entries as the tweets.

GOOD LUCK!!!