Goldfrapp live, November 3rd, Leeds Academy
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First things first, in case you missed the post, Secret Santa is on! http://mog.com/Dale/blog/235506 Thanks again to Dale for organizing it :*
~ The crowd
This is my first show in the UK where the majority of the audience is 23-40 years old. That's right, almost no teenagers! Oh sweet joy and relief, thank you, god of music, for sparing me the teenage angst. The only downside to such a crowd is that I was one of the very few people dancing and bopping, which made me stand out, as we say in Greek, like a fly in the milk. I can live with that, besides, it earned me smiles and friendly gestures from band members, so na na na na at the ones standing still.
~ The regulations {?}
Before the band took the stage, an announcement was heard, informing us, in a strict voice, that we are not allowed to record any parts of the show, it is illegal, and also, we are not allowed to use flash when we take pictures. I had never heard such an announcement before, so you can imagine my surprise.
After the second song, Alison addresses someone in the audience, saying "hey you, your arms are gonna hurt, you're recording the whole fucking show". Uh oh, I think to myself, she really means business.
Some time later, I take a picture of Alison, and my flash gets triggered (no idea how it happened exactly, but I assure you that I did not do it on purpose). She sees it, glares at me, I'm thinking "please don't humiliate me" while I can feel my ass sweat a little bit, I mouth a silent "sorry", and luckily she responds with a thin smile. Phew.
~ Theatrical aesthetics
Lights hanging from the ceiling (see relevant picture below), a specially constructed wall decorated with red and green triangle-shaped flags, and green long plants on various musical instruments composed the scenery, that made you feel like you were about to witness a secret performance in the depths of the woods, or in a secret garden. All the band members are dressed in white, except for Alison Goldfrapp, who was barefoot and wore a forest-pixie like dress that can be seen in the pics below.
~ The band
Guitarist, violinist, bassist, drummer, bling bling-er (I call all the beats and computer samples "bling blings"), harpist, drummer, Will Gregoy {keyboards/synthesizer player and songwriter}, and, of course, Alison Goldfrap, composed a lovely, harmonious sonical web, in which we were all caught and loving it.
Alison is an artist, in every sense of the word. You can sense it in her vocal delivery, you can see it in the way she moves her arms and hands, the way she dances, moves her head. You know all the pretty female singers-guitarists-bassists we love? Alison could eat them for breakfast, if she was a cannibal, that is. Surrounded by a talented team of musicians, who really seem to be enjoying themselves on stage, she moves from the radiant tenderness of the new songs to the aggressive electroclash sexuality of the older ones with genuine charisma, and she can treat your ears like a harp or a drum with equal effectiveness. Her eerie and sexy presence of lady Goldfrapp causes grown men to yell "ILOVE YOU, ALISON!", and I can't blame them, really.
The way that the fragility and the sensuality of the compositions were presented live was enchanting and the final result was one that satisfied the senses thoroughly. So, you can see how this show earned its place in my top 10 shows of all time yet.
Once again, this was Anna, reporting to you live and amateurishly from the sweaty erm, third row.
~ Loot
~ Pictorial souvenirs
Comments (30)
"hey you, your arms are gonna hurt, you're recording the whole fucking show".
Goodness, that's not what I expected from fairy goddess Alison.
"my flash gets triggered ... luckily she responds with a thin smile."
Again, this woman is scary. Is she a Mitchell brother in disguise?
"from the sweaty erm, third row."
Slacking now, are we? First row report in future please!
Great review and beautiful photos all the same.
Thanks for the advert, I appreciate it! :*
Love the pix, and I see you scored another setlist! Well done!
Do be careful with your flash next time though, it won't do for you to offend Alison and have her eat you, because then I'd have to hunt her down, then August would get mad and hunt me down, and it would devolve into a vicious never-ending cycle of violence.
Oh she can be very strict, Fluxy. My impression is that you don't want to get on her bad side, I'm glad I got away with my accidental flashing (lol) her.
I had no idea who Mitchell brothers are, and my first wiki attempt to find out gave me *"this.":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Brothers_O'Farrell_Theatre* hahahhah
ahhahaha I got there a bit late, sorry! And another downside of adult audience is that you feel bad if you shove and push them to get to the first row...I'll make amends soon :)
Thank you very much!
You're very welcome, Dale! I'm trying to earn the position of being your PR person :)
Thank you!
ahahhahahahahahhaha oh my! Oh the bloodbath...that would make a great b-movie...it would even touch the sensitive subject of cannibalism. I think we should proceed with this unglamorous production. Fluxy can finance it, since he is a supporter of the arts and all... hahahaha
wow... i have this negative taste of goldfrapp in my mouth. she sounds like a diva. i mean, this is 2008 and cameras are on cellphones and everyone has a cellphone. if you want to be in the limelight you shoudlnt be shying away from flash. (as some of you might remember, I've never seen her bc the one time i went at roskilde 2 years back she canceled her set 10 minutes AFTER it was suppose to start!) i might have to go and just illegaly download some of her music just to put my two cents in... ;
other than that i see how this behavior might extend from artistic asthetic. to say it was one of 10 best ever... dayum!... now i might have to give it a try.
Oh, you have to know who the Mitchell Bros if you want live in England. They are a cornerstone of British popular culture. No, British culture period. Although I prefer your definition. ;)
Yeah, charge your way to the top next time. The skinny craze means teens aren't able to put up much of a fight!
You know Anna i have to say something....
Stop including yourself with the word amateur!
For $#%@ sakes this is a top notch review!
You come across as a pro actually...
(getting paid to write being the only thing that separates you from this...)
Ah i love Alison Goldfrapp too (there i've joined the "grown men club" that proclaims this to all.)
I'll second the "beautiful photos" comment by FluxC.
You are having the time of your life since you moved to England aren't you?
Lucky girl seeing all these incredible artists almost every week.
Oh just one more thing....don't get me started on the camera phone people! (psst if one's near me i keep "accidently bumping into them!)
So there you are Anna....a wonderful read and i'm calling this a professional review...
Fluxy could do more than finance it; he can write the screenplay. Make it so!
You know I'd hire you for PR if Secret Santa paid anything at all.
Charley, "i might have to go and just illegaly download some of her music just to put my two cents in" ahahhahahhaha
She really is a diva. And that has both positive and negative effects. Negatives being that she can be strict in the ways I mentioned, positive is that she really is an individual of rare talent, and not just in singing, and has the ways to express it more than adequately. I think that the fact that she can be a diva in a bad way becomes of little importance in the big picture (I'm speaking as a simple listener). And I agree with your mentioning of behaviour extending from artistic aesthetics.
Not that I'm comparing them, but I do recall Bob Dylan not allowing people to use flash in a show of his in NYC this year. Yes yes, I know that Bob Dylan is Bob Dylan, but some of the logical 2008 arguments you mentioned still do apply, I'm afraid.
Sorry if I gave you a bad taste :/ When I left the show I was waking on arty clouds, and that was my main aftertaste.
Fluxy, thank you for feeling in my gap in British culture lol!
Especially hipsters with matchstick legs! I eat them for breakfast, HA! I promise I'll make them shed mascara tears next time :)
Greg..but but but I like it! It lowers expectations! hhahahahah
Maybe I can get someone in the UK music industry to pay me to be a professional amateur :)
You should get an I-Love-Alison-Goldfrapp-Too T-shirt :)
Don't call me lucky...I left my home, my family, and my friends behind, to relocate here. Shows are one of the perks of living in the UK. That aside, the whole thing was a conscious decision, didn't have much to do with luck :)
Op! What do you have against camera phone people? hehehhe I use a camera, if that helps...
Thank you very much for your kind words, I really appreciate it!
Dale, that's right! Fluxy, you got homework!
Santa is stingy! Makes sense if he has to buy presents for all the children in the world, feed his reindeers, and accommodate the elves though...I'll do it pro bono :)
Okay if ya like it then go ahead but i always call 'em as i see 'em!
Oh....sorry i didn't know you left all of them behind.
Camera...good.
Filming entire concert while watching it on tiny screen....bad.
Disrespectful and distracting are a few words that come to mind.
I don't get it is all...
(runs away as people start throwing things at him)
Haha, she sounds eeevvviiiiiilllllll! Luckily the show itself was great and you recognize the talent despite the horns on her head. :P (j/k)
Greg, oh yes, I agree, that is very annoying! Or when someone takes a million pictures and constantly blocks the view for all those behind him. I usually accidentally on purpose push these people, too...mwuahahha!
Heya Stefan, you MOGger of the week you (grats btw) !
ahhah why do you think she has a curly fluffy hairdo? To hide the horns ;P
I don't like that sofa cover she wears these days. This possibly does not do the same to you as it does to me, but I liked her better when she dressed like this.........(...and you can bet I was in the front row then.)
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sofa cover hahahahhaahhaha
Alison is going through her eerie pixie phase now, what's a girl to do. I'm sure she'll go back to the electroclash dominatrix one in the future and wear outfits like the one you took a picture of (I cannot imagine you doing that!) or this one:
Can you not imagine me taking that photo because the lens isn't smeared with saliva?
(Hang on, what's that between her legs in the photo you posted?)
I'll have to come back later to digest this post fully . . . .
Hello, as i said before you are a real pro, this is really good, very good indeed. i was ansious to here about Goldfrapp and now i'm really amaze.
Thanks for this great work as always, that's why you are queen Anna!
Top 10 of All time! Glad it was sooo much fun for you, Anna! Great photos. Life must be great for Allison just lolling about in such theatrical cape-like ensembles.
ahh yes. ive been to a lot of shows recently that have really cracked down on the live recordings, like conor oberst and others. (coughpanicatthediscocough)
i can understand the flash bit though. that could get irritating. but still excellent amatuer review and once again, im jealous of your concert oppertunities in the UK!
WOW, those are some great pics you managed to take!
I always get a little nervous about taking pics at concerts, though as it happens the camera on my phone's crap anyway.
ya the pics arent showing up for me, so i shall return... sofa covers are so titillating. :)
Nice. Good job Anna. As usual.
She played a great gig a few years ago here with The Zutons and Morrissey. An excellent night and I met a real cool girl from Yorkshire at the gig who was visiting and we ended up hanging out for an entire week. Yup.
First of all, if Alison ate you & Dale went after her I wouldn't blame him one bit. Sure I adore Alison BUT I don't know her personally like I do you Anna, so you'd definitely come first in a battle IF I had to choose!
Sounds like a great time & that you thoroughly enjoyed it. Great pics & set list. Btw, that was the same outfit that Alison wore at Coachella! Surprised she's still wearing it.
Also, not surprised about her Divaness since she was throwing a fit & swearing about the sound system being off at Coachella.
I was wondeirng when we were going to sse a full report back on tnis one.. I had an similar experience at a recent show where one of the security guys came up to me as I was filming and asked if I had permission... ah oh, I need permission.. ooops! I was fairly obvious though on a bench above everyone with a clear shot of the stage, stood out like a light bulb flashin! Great report, I have to add this one to my list.. which is a fairly long one and growing! No teenagers, hip hip hurraw!
Cheers,
INdy x
Neill, believe it or not, it's a horsetail. Yup.
Thank you very much, soundwaves! You made me blush. Glad you enjoyed it! I'm no queen! Although I've been thinking of running for Queen of the Dead 2009 :)
Cheers, Brittany! I was hoping that she would be wearing the outfit she was wearing when you saw her, but oh well, I had to settle. Merci :)
summer eyes, I don't understand either, assuming they are within logical limits and reason. Comes with being a popular musician, and since that's what they want, they should suck it up. I'm strict like that mwuahhaha
Thankies :)
Do be back, Sam. Plenty of sofa cover shots for you to erm, feast your eyes on!
Thank you, milkshake. Bah, they wanted to be on a stage, so they have the pics coming :)
Aw thank you very much, Jeff, very kind of you to say so!
Ha! Mark! I guess that was a great weekend for ya on all levels, nice!
Uncle A hahahhaha thanks, that's sweet of you! We should proceed with the movie anyway though. No need to deprive world culture of the gem it would be!
It was truly wonderful! Thank you very much.
I think that she (and many other female artists of the same calibre), pick 2-3 special outfits and wear them for their whole tour.
hahaha well, if anyone can be a diva, she certainly can afford to be one!
Indy, it took me a while, but I delivered!
Permission my arse! It's not like we will sell the videos for profit. Post them at youtube more likely.
Thank you. Oh that artists list is neverending...will be the death of me, but I wouldn't want it any other way :)
Cheers, dear!
I saw this mog notif in my inbox and could not open it until tonight. Not because I couldn't, but because I did not want to be filled with envy of your concert experience. Well, tonight I read your post and as I imagined I am drooling wishing I could have been there for this. I loved your post, and it made me laugh.......especially the part about the photo flash gone wrong. Now I have a decission to make, my friend who lives in London is begging me to come for a visit in June. I do not know if I can say no after reading how great the concerts are in that part of the world.
Anna, i specially love how you've written and done this show review. gorgeous shots, as usual. i second yummygatalover - you and "amateurishly", as incompatible as fly and milk!
Neill's "sofa cover"- ahahahah i can't stop laughing.
flashing Alison is poetic justice. ;d
Kevin, don't be envious...be ready to pack for London!
Thank you very much :)
It's not a decision you have to make, it's a fact you have to accept. Seriously, you will love the city. There is just so much art there, and I don't mean just music. You will appreciate it to no end.
Merci, poe! Very kind of you to say so :) I'd still like to be the Duchess of the Flies or something tho.
Flash her, flash her! She might flash back her sofa cover :P