Воскресенье 31 Май 2009, 5:10
2006
26th Jan: HIM (Anathema)
- It was all way too intense for me at the front, I think (typical of a HIM gig), so I got out and stood at the side and met Vincent Cavanagh from Anathema when he was on his way from the backstage area to the bar, so that was nice.
The thing about HIM is that the utter hysteria of the audience ruins it a bit for me. Both of these gigs could've been so much better if more of the audience were being courteous and decent human beings to their fellow audience members instead of clamouring for Ville Valo's sweat in a cup. Having said that, that intense atmosphere also is amazing to be in the middle of.
Anathema have a lovely cover version of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb.
6th May: Mendeed (The Red October, Big Hand, A Day Called Desire)
- I'm not even sure I was at this, but I know I went to a gig at the Underworld and the date seems right and the bands seem familiar, so this is a guess. All the bands were rubbish, so it doesn't matter. I just went along because my friend took me. The highlight was getting onto my friend's shoulders and dancing to get a free CD from one of the bands. The lowlight was falling down in the mosh pit. Embarrassing.
7th Aug: Bauhaus
- I wasn't wearing my glasses, so everything was a bit blurry, but I won't forget Daniel Ash's feather boa in a hurry.
2007
11th Dec: Apocalyptica (Lacrimas Profundere)
- Majestic is the word I'd use to describe this. Nothing like some cellos and a bit of headbanging.
2008
22nd May: Einstürzende Neubauten (Otto Von Schirach, White)
- Plinky plonky electronic superhero Otto Von Schirach looking very solitary up on stage with only equipment as a friend. Quite some sounds.
2009
13th Feb: Magazine (Ipso Facto)
3rd April: Stiff Little Fingers (Chelsea)
6th May: Devo (Robots In Disguise)
12th June: The Damned (The Alarm, Henry Cluney)
- This gig has it's own review here.
4th July: Jimmy Somerville, Suzerain,
Scooch
18th Aug: U2 (The Hours, Glasvegas)
26th Sep: Gang of Four (japanese voyeurs)
8th Oct: John Cooper Clarke (Frank Sidebottom, Laura Dockill)
11th Oct: Peter Murphy (Noxshi, Lettie)
3rd Dec: Gary Numan
2010
13th Jan: OK Go (Wave Machines)
- I only arrived in time to see about one and a half Wave Machines songs, but I got a good impression - like them, wish I'd seen a bit more of them.
OK Go are great performers. Lots of confetti all over the place - the atmosphere was absolutely pulsating and delicious. Their rendition of What To Do on handbells was astounding and amazing and gorgeous and I'd like to listen to that over and over again please.
3rd May: Iggy and the Stooges (Suicide)
- Huge, majestic, fantastic. Fucking IGGY AND THE STOOGES! I don't think I need to say much more.
25th May: Howard Jones
- This was at a little club in Soho, so it was super intimate, and I got to accost him slightly as he was leaving the stage - I hope he didn't mind! I had a great time - it was nice to have been able to see him in such a tiny venue before I see him at the Indigo2 in November.
Support band Kids on Bridges were alright, nice bit of synth/8bit stuff, and the club - it seems a nice club. Good songs, nice atmosphere.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3uyyqsspX1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
4th June: The Damned (Ed Tudor Pole, Texas Terri Bomb!)
- This was my second time seeing The Damned, and it was bloody good as expected.
Ed Tudor Pole was fucking amazing and I need to see him again. The song about an 8 year old with a moustache is just brilliant, it's all brilliant. I love Ed Tudor Pole. I love his songs and I love his face.
Texas Terri Bomb! in contrast was rubbish. Just too generic-trashy-punk-imitation for me, I found her exceptionally boring. Her cover of I Wanna Be Your Dog was laughable, and made worse by the fact that I'd seen The Stooges for real recently before. She hopped into the crowd and ran around a bit to a fairly muted reaction from the audience - it was something a little different, so that was alright. She certainly was enthusiastic, and afterwards she came out and said hello to everyone and shook hands and such and seemed very nice, so I feel a bit guilty about rubbishing her here, but hey - just not my thing.
Here's a lovely picture of Captain Sensible.
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3uz7l2qub1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
3rd July: Gay pride London - Sonique and others.
18th September: Angelic Upstarts (Splodgenessabounds, Skets)
- The crowd were almost as interesting as what was going on on the stage - I couldn't help having the odd good look at the mosh pit. There was a particular punk kid who I thought was adorable (I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be calling punks adorable, but really, he was). He seemed to have a permanent smile on his face underneath his nose ring and Vyvyan-from-The-Young-Ones hairstyle. I watched him a bit like the great big creep I am.
Anyway - Upstarts! They were just fantastic. Mensi's neck wobbling along while his eyes stared like great big saucers - wonderful.
On my way home I got to hear a nice little rendition of The Murder Of Liddle Towers on the tube from a few stragglers from the audience, to the confusion of many passengers.
Splodgenessabounds were outstanding support. I just adore them and I'm not saying anything else about it.
Skets just seemed a little dull to me really, although I liked their two-man vocal style, and I like their band name! There's something missing there for me though, I'm not sure what.
Splodgenessabounds:
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laec28Q4mN1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laec5gSyqT1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
Angelic Upstarts:
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laecb9DSK31qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
The crowd:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laecgeiXIE1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laece1Fjw61qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
6th October: Delays (MidiMidis)
- This was great. Great set, lots of passion. Yum yum. Lots of singing along and jumping with a big light shining in my face. I didn't manage to get my hands on a free ticket sadly, but I did grab a handful of badges, and met Rowly, so that was pretty cool. Ending with The Earth Gave Me You was perfect, and the crowd did a lovely thing - they requested an encore by repeating the song's distinctive "ooh"s. It was gorgeous to hear a great big audience doing that.
MidiMidis were a rather enjoyable support act - It's difficult not to enjoy a band that comes on and goes off to the Mario theme tune. Nice 8bit-incorporating tunes, Julian Casablancas-esque vocals from frontman Marcus, with his big hair and Monster Munch T-shirt.
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laecuwO9ED1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lafe0jf5ny1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lafe372Fsp1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lafe74vfGi1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lafebveZW61qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lafeiuAbtv1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
8th October: Spizz Energi (Dead Heaven, Dutch Order)
- I found myself perching on a little stool in front of the stage for most of the gig, as the majority of the crowd stood about 4 metres back for reasons I can't quite figure out. Felt lovely and personal because of that though. I rather enjoyed my little seat. Spizzenergi were grand. Lots of ENERGI, naturally. I must say I did find myself coveting Spizz's light-up belt buckle with the band name scrolling across it - very chic. Here's a scan of Spizz's setlist.
Dead Heaven offered a nice chunk of goth, and Dutch Order before them offered a nice chunk of Joy Division, frontman Matthew Kesby doing his best Curtis-esque drawl. (Also I really liked his trousers. I'm a trouser enthusiast I suppose.)
Dutch Order:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lafeohu1Ce1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
Dead Heaven:
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lafeuigsC91qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
Spizz Energi:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laff1auBmi1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laff4lT8Gt1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
The crowd:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laff6eerUU1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
16th October: Killing Joke
- I came in just as Killing Joke were coming onstage. Perfect timing. I squeezed my way into the front for Love Like Blood, which was fantastic, gorgeous, amazing, etc, but during the next song decided to go to the toilet. I tried to get back to where I was when I came out, but alas, no luck. I began a quest to get to the other side of the apollo. I went through the mosh pit (accidentally), er… fell down in the mosh pit, and promptly got picked up by a helpful person. Thank you helpful person.
It was all just really good and big and powerful and I don't have much more to say about it. The set was wonderful. I just about exploded when they played Eighties. The Absolute Dissent stuff was brilliantly played. Love love loved everything.
I nabbed a poster from the wall (although I did rip it quite severely during the journey home), and had a lovely conversation with two other audience members on the tube. Bill and Phil, if you're reading this (of course you're not), hello!
I didn't get any pictures because I was just too far away.
28th October: The Psychedelic Furs
- Before I went to this gig I discovered the guitarist's blog and saw several pictures he'd posted of himself with his cat, which actually added so much to my enjoyment of the show.
Richard Butler had a rather nice waistcoat on. Also THAT SAXOPHONE. I want and need and must have a saxophone. Amazing playing. All Of This And Nothing was my favourite. That glorious build up at the beginning. Expertly done. Also, I accidentally got myself a set list, which I have a small post about here.
Here is a picture of Rich Good with his cat:
http://i52.tinypic.com/okr3t1.png
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgo3m8IWcX1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgo3nqd99N1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgo48g5hsc1qzzcp4o1_500.jpg
