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Archive for November, 2002

I went to see some gigs too, you know

Posted: November 4th, 2002, by Marceline Smith

It was kind of a while back now though so forgive my memory if I start telling complete lies. First off, Eska were playing a gig with El Hombre which was a treat not to be missed. First on were Hex who I’d heard good things about but not yet seen. Two kids and drum machine and they made the loudest, heaviest ear bleeding noise I’d heard in a long time. I could feel my brain slowly turning into mush. Then they had a bunch of sound problems and decided to take it out on their instruments with almost painful results. Someone with a wicked sense of humour should plug them into Mogwai’s equipment and see how many windows they can shatter. I recommend them. It’s always great to see Eska and I was expecting a preview of their Fugazi support slot. But, no, we got lots of new songs instead! Eska have really developed into a fearsome rock monster but with those little intricate bits to make sure they never fall into some stodgy black hole of doom. By the sounds of things, the next Eska release should be fantastic. Hurray! I’d not seen El Hombre Trajeado for ages and had almost forgotten how cheery they are. Lots of quirky twisty turny instrumentals and the night seemed perfectly complete.

Couple of night later I walked miles and miles in the pouring rain to see some bands promising ex-Yummy Fur members. When I finally arrived at the door, the price had mysteriously risen to six pounds in a canny ‘wet people seeking refuge’ plan. Worked for the most part as well. Inside I was overjoyed to spot John McKeown himself helping out with the first band Michael Dracula, a rather sparky new wave disco band fronted by a glamorous blonde straight out of a Yummy Fur song. Hang on, that makes her sound like a prostitute. Umm. I guess I mean she looked like one of Lung Leg. She looked great anyhow and if we could have a Lung Leg revival that would be completely fine by me. They were quickly followed by Alex from the Karelia and the Yummy Fur’s new band whose name I have forgot and they were pretty great too. There was something a bit jarring about the vocals though that was putting me off a bit so I didn’t like them as much as the first band. The audience insisted on an encore though which I always love when local bands are supporting supposedly more famous American bands. For Gogogo Airheart were headlining. They were a bit odd really. Steven pointed out that the singer looked like Jon Bon Jovi which then made it difficult to take the band seriously. There was also lots of mucking about going on in the audience which was rather funny so I was pretty distracted throughout. I was too busy thinking about that six pounds as well.

And then finally it was Fugazi night, which seemed though it would never come, ticket #00002 having been stuck on my pinboard since June. We got there super early to get a good spot for taking photos although lengthy discussions with the promoter about whether our cameras were too professional and whether we’d leave them for Fugazi to check held us up a bit. I totally agree with all Fugazi’s venue demands [no barrier, no photo passes, not allowing huge telephoto press cameras, lights on in the audience etc.] but we were just fans with half decent cameras fitted with normal short lenses and prior permission from Southern. Hardly worth giving us the third degree over. It all got sorted out though but by the time we got upstairs Senator were on their last song which was a bit of a shame. More of a shame though was the fact that there was still a barrier up in the venue so Fugazi were seperated from the audience by a huge gap and it was almost impossible to take any good photos that didn’t have acres of barrier or stage in them or some security guy’s fat head. Bah. I am not fond of the Barrowlands. Eska looked great up on that big stage though and sounded even better. Glasgow gave them loads of support and it was all just heartwarming really. Ahhh. Fugazi themselves were simply amazing. There’s just no other band with such sincerity, kindness and a sense of their own power. It’s rare I don’t find my mind wandering while bands are playing, especially when I’m taking photos, but I was transfixed the whole time. Fugazi are the only band I go all guitar geek over. I’m just constantly in awe of how Ian and Guy play and interact wth each other. I got to hear pretty much every song I wanted to hear and it was pretty much perfect. Couple of songs were let down by bad sound but they were minor glitches in a set that kept getting better and better, culminating in a staggeringly great Shut The Door. And then they came back on and did a whole extra bunch of songs and you just wished they’d stay onstage forever. If you missed them this tour then go bang your head against the wall for being an idiot.

Gigs

Posted: November 3rd, 2002, by Adrian Errol

Last week saw a vertual plethora of gigs in Bristol and one in Oxford. The Nought/Noxagt/Giddy Motors show mentioned below on Tuesday; Cat on Form in Bristol on Wednesday; Jackie O’Motherfucker (or something like that) on Thursday and then on Friday Fugazi and also Oceansize. Yet even though I’m the diskant events handler I only managed to get to the Friday gigs. How crap is that? Anyhow first time I’d seen fugazi and they were great. Everything I expected plus they played most of the songs I wanted to hear and the bonus was they finished by about 9.30 (excluding encore) and so I had time to nip over to see Oceansize. Who were a little disappointing really. Lots of new songs but they don’t seem to have too many ideas. Lots of big hairy riffs and loudness though which matched my mood for the evening. So 5 gigs over 4 nights and I only manage to make 2 of them. Crap, huh. I really wish I’d have got to the Nought show as it sounded ace. I did however get to the cinema to see ‘The Road to Perdition’ and I really liked it. Beatifully shot and well acted, but the plot had some holes and I’m not sure Tom Hanks was the person to cast in the lead role. The kid was wicked though. ‘Donnie Darko’ next week which from every review I’ve seen should be fab and so that’s something to look forward to. Plus I have a job interview next week so fingers crossed everyone….Thanks….