Live From Abbey Road (Show 8, Series 2 - 15/08/2008)

I have made no secret of my disappointment of this series of Live From Abbey Road. My big gripe is the use of the 'live' tag as each artist performs not on a stage but in a recording studio - and therefore the sound is set up for a recording session. Much has been said of the impressive acoustics of the Abbey Road studio but this is not evident in the programme - maybe it is when you get to the sound desk and listen back but the actual set sounds very clinical. Thankfully it was all about to change.

This week looked like it might at last be a rare show of consistent brilliance: the US/UK fusion art-rock punks The Kills, US singer and pianist Sara Bareilles and Scottish alt-rock trio The Fratellis.

The Set:

The Kills

• Getting Down
• Last Day Of Magic
• Goodnight Bad Morning

Sara Bareilles

• Gravity
• Love Song
• Oh Darling

The Fratellis

• Flathead
• Milk And Honey
• Mistress Mabel

The Kills, ever the cool duo, saunter into Abbey Road with plenty of leather and red wine. Singer and guitarist Hince talks about how voodoo and rock were once acceptable bedfellows and that attitude is as important as music. This certainly is the band's mantra. Always unpredictable, they start with one of the weakest songs from new album 'Midnight Boom', 'Getting Down'. It is almost the perfect song summing up their approach - a weird wordless chorus and a dirty guitar. Hince introduces it as his ode to misery and/or jealousy. Second song Last Day Of Magic should be brilliant but is very sloppy. I suppose this again is a display which goes against the 'recording studio' basis of the show. So it's a good thing even if the music suffers slightly. You get the impression that The Kills threw together the set in about half an hour and then went shopping for art and more leather jackets and cool boots. Mosshart is excellent throughout - timing spot on and voice superb. The two perform facing each either which shows the dynamic and how they feed off each other. Third song is the great album closer 'Goodnight Bad Morning', inspired by the New York art scene and The Velvet Underground. The band want a return to this moment in time rather than the treadmill culture of modern bands. It is a terrible rendition but the two have a lot of fun, both with guitars. Hince declares at the end that he hit a few bum notes but that is all part of it. A few? More like twenty. The question still remains in my head, did this band give Abbey Road the respect it deserves? Or does being cool and different and individual mean more? I still don't know the answer.

Sara Bareilles says in her intro that even though she is 'green', she knows what to do and trusts her intuition. But her female conditioning forces her to defer to others. Strangely this submissive nature contradicts her feminist view that she is being patronised and not taken seriously as a pop star. Anyway, her set is utterly brilliant. 'Gravity' is just Bareilles and a piano - not a great song but executed well. 'Love Song' is introduced as a reaction to her record label demands and not anyone personal - but it was born more out of frustration of her own issues than anything malicious. It is a decent version but way too much like the original, i.e. identical. The drum mix is too loud and it would benefit from a simpler arrangement. She just about gets away with her third song, a version of The Beatles 'Oh Darling' from...wait for it...the Abbey Road album (like Matchbox Twenty). Creditability is saved by a great vocal performance against a single ragged guitar. Bareilles talks briefly before about the 'sacred' location and how music gives her a sense of inner peace. It is a pro-religious statement which is brave in this day and age even if her music is not overtly faith driven. A good set.

Like The Kills, The Fratellis took the same approach to the session, albeit with different results. Singer and guitarist Jon says that he came to the studio at eighteen but was turned away. He spent all his money on the train ticket. He also says that Pink Floyd are a big influence while we see and hear the band jamming 'Money'. They give a good live performance of Levellers meets lad-rock 'Flathead', then the epic 'Milk And Honey' which starts and ends with just piano but is packed in the middle with a full band experience. A great piano break is interrupted by big drums but gets the last word. Final song 'Mistress Mabel' is very cool - again excellent piano and a great 'live' sound. Occasionally you read a review that talks about 'lazy lyrics' and 'uninspired songwriting' - this is one of those songs. By his own admission, Jon says that he was at a loss for words so he just threw them together in a 'that will do' moment. It's a great song though.

So at last a decent show. The Kills were predictably slack and an antithesis to the whole event, embracing the live concept that has eluded many so far. I didn't expect anything less. Sara Bareilles was wonderful, if a little obvious. And The Fratellis were solid and proved that they are getting better as performers. Good good good.