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So two gigs in a fucked up week, thankfully. Hooray for escapism, eh. ;)
Anyway, the week started with a gig by The Wombats,supported by the Dutch band NeWax. Kudos to NeWax for getting the crowd all warmed up, and for their progression as well. Last time I saw them it was a bit too gimicky, now they really sounded good musically.
But The Wombats. Lets get the cat out of the bag right away, The Wombats will never be a life altering band. However, they are a nice party band, and that they do very well. With jump and dancy hits like "Let's Dance To Joy Division", "Moving to New York", and "Backfire at the Disco" they've got the young crowd jumping and singing a long.
Where they miss is during the slower songs. Too be quite blunt, they are not that good actually, but thanks to the fun oozing out of their every pore and because of the delightful tongue-in-cheek lyrics and straight forward catchiness they get everyone going. But they have to keep everyone going, and slowing it down just shows their weaknesses. But if it's not too expensive and you're in for a bit of fun and dancing, this band is well worth the visit.
So after crappy day, crappy day, crappy day, and the most glorious d- nah, another crappy day, we arrive at the I Am Kloot gig.
Again, kudos to the Dutch supporting act, Pien Feith. Despite boring everyone's socks off with the first and last song, everything in the middle was very good. She has a good voice, and the songs all are in a different pace and show the variety she can put on the table.
Then I Am Kloot. The best thing about the band is frontman John Bramwell. Ugly as fuck, the man has a sort of charisma that made me look at him all the time. Plus his wit, another thing that helped the gig. When the guitarist was out of fags, a whole bunch of cigarettes were thrown on stage. One guy then leaned half over the stage to probably pick a cig and put it closer to the guitarist, but it prompted Bramwell to say: "Yeah, take one back for fuck's sake, he's got ten".
The songs are a bit up and down. The fucked up ones are the best. He opens with the new "One Man Brawl", sneering "Sweetness" with such vigor and such poise even in his eyes that I was instantly captivated. Unfortunately, in some songs you hear the word "love" so many times and some are just pretty blant that the only thing worthwhile is the scrappy voice of Bramwell. A proof that you don't have to be a pretty boy to be a good frontman. The gig however was a bit uneven, though the banter of Bramwell was a nice addition.
Okay, one crappy week and two gigs down. Lets hope the first one was a last and the latter were two of many to come!
I Am Kloot- One Man Brawl
Sorry for the length, but this is I think an interesting matter that needs to be carefully put into words and arguments.
Yesterday I saw Editors. Normally I would do a review on it, maybe recount my personal venture with late trains and stuff. But there is something more pressing I want to address.
You know, I love that band. That voice, those great tracks; they are wonderful. Especially live Editors kick it into higher gear. Maybe some of you read my review on their show at Brixton Academy, which was ace!
But here I am, I look around and am amazed by the crowd. Let me first paint the scene, the Heineken Music Hall is a pretty big venue. It is the venue you go to as a stepping stone for arenas. That kind of venue. It is a very large hall.
Now, that is scary by itself, but adding to that this kind of crowd makes it even scarier. To my left is a group of 40+ year olds drinking large cups of beer, chatting throughout the whole show, and they are basically just there to drink, chat, chat up young girls, and basicly being out of their league. Now let me state this very clearly, I've got nothing against 40+ people. During the Brixton gig I referred to, there was a bloke of that age standing next to me, and when the pit hit full force he might not join in, but he stood there. He knew it was coming, he occassionaly smiled when someone bumped into him, and enjoyed the music. That is the type of crowd I want to see at gigs. I want to see people there that know the music, and either want to listen and enjoy it or that want to make a party out of it. Key words here are knowing the music. If you don't know the music, go back to the bar.
So early in the set they play "Lights", I jump, and I am the only one. I'm curious, I jump as high as I can and look at the crowd right in front of the stage. And even now that I see more people, I still am the only one jumping. People only start jumping very late, around "Fingers in the Factories", around the close of the regular set.
Next to me is a guy. He steals glances at me, because I'm playbacking the words, jumping, raising my hand. I'm one of the few. But I'm not crazy, they are.
There is this bit in "The Racing Rats" I really love. 'Let's pretend we never met, let's pretend we're on our own'. The guys next to me find it appropiate to chat right through those lines.
I'm standing in line for the wardrobe. This guy behind me asks his girlfriend if she can name one Editors song. No reply. And still I got the feeling he tagged along with her.
There are people there that are so obviously not in my scene. People I've got nothing in common with, including musical taste. They probably heard "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" on the f*cking radio, and liked this ballad-like song so much they thought it would be cool to go to the band's gig. So in that sense, Editors is a bit to blame as well. If they would've kept picking singles like 'Munich' and 'All Sparks' (which they played too slow, the only gripe concerning their performance) then this would not have happened.
But now, here is a band I truly love. I love Tom Smith's voice, I love the songs ('You Are Fading' has turned into a massive monster that can bowl everyone over, and their cover of The Cure's 'Lullaby' is haunting), and I love the performance they give.
And here it is, I've seen them four times now. And the first three of those were great gigs. Especially the Brixton one, which is up there on my all-time gig list. But this venue is too big for me. This crowd is too not music loving for me. People are chatting through moments you shouldn't chat through, people are unwilling to make a party of it from the get go. People look at me strangely because the music actually does something to me and because I want to make a party out of it.
So, is it that time? Is it time to let go of Editors? People often say that when bands get big they aren't interested in that band anymore, and that's not because they (we) are artsy-fartsy hipper-than-thou types that want to feel like they (we!) are better than others. It is because, in this case, I have seen Editors three times, three fantastic times, and then you have a fourth time and the band plays great, but it just does not hit that spark. Why would I pay more money for gigs I will enjoy less? Why would I pay money for a band of which the previous gigs were so much better and felt so right? Just to diminish their legacy in my own mind? Just so that the memory of that band and those previous gigs can get muddled?
Bands sometimes get too big, apparently. And even though Editors delivered a good set, it wasn't up to par with the previous times I saw them. The masses have discovered them, but I don't want to party with the masses because the masses don't know music like I, like we, do.
I went to The National in November. In the front rows was a woman, fifty-ish I would say. Pearl necklace and everything. Every song, she went bananas. Not pit-like obviously, but genuinely enjoying and loving it. I don't have to be surrounded by scenesters of my age, I just want to be surrounded by people who love the music. Editors have come into a next phase, and baby bird has to fly himself now.
Alas, I'm out. Let The Domino State be the next post-punk band I can fancy and love and care about.
Comments
I hear your pain, Stef. I basically try to avoid concert venues larger than 800 people or so, but already for reasons of intimacy. The kind of audience you describe would drive me nuts, too; I'm sorry that it's the way it turned out this time. Still, you're a lucky bugger for having heard them do "Lullaby" live; it wasn't on the set list at The Warfield show last month.
Why would I pay money for a band of which the previous gigs were so much better and felt so right?. Cuz if you hadn't been to the fourth gig, you wouldn't have known that it was worse.
SA, yes, you got many points on this post. But i can't even imagine how is the feeling. In a previous thread of yours, i had explained that tickets here in Greece cost about 40 euro..and the daily average salary here is about 25-30 euro. So, people will go in a show (if any artist may remember this little country called Greece) if they really like the music.
Let me tell one more thing. Yes, those people may be...strange, but you should consider yourself lucky, cuz you had the chance to see Editors live. Some of us will just never have one. ;)
I am of the same mind as 1234chainsaw. If I can help it, I don't attend shows that are held in venues larger than theaters and concert halls. And I generally catch performers on the way up, unless I'm certain that subsequent shows will be so much better that they can't be missed. When band popularity exceeds fan functionality, I'm rarely interested. My motto has always been: Get there first - then, get the hell out.
Andrew VanWyngarden said that perhaps playing Letterman in January was too early for them, and playing Jools Holland's BBC show maybe was a bit early as well. However, those two shows are big in the States and UK respectively, and they've only added to the ever growing fanbase of the Brooklyn band MGMT . They are moving fast.
And so surely, when a ticket is 7.50 euro, you have to go to one of the hottest new bands. In the sold out small hall of Paradiso the young lads, they expand to five live, entered the stage.
What was striking was that on album I liked the first half much more, but live the five piece kicks the second half of the album into higher quality. Especially their live version of "Future Reflections" was simply superb. A bit of extra guitar play and instrumentals made the musically more challenging second half of the album into a strong package live.
The first half suffered a bit though. "Electric Feel" lacked the cheekiness which could make it a great live track, and the synth driven dance numbers were not peppered with a bit more danciness to get the crowd going.
The gentlemen rarely bantered with the crowd. They went through their set with sometimes a little acknowledgement of the applause, but not much else. They just stood there, and did their stuff. A bit more crowd interaction or show wouldn't do them any harm. I only saw the frontman crack a smile once. And such a lovely smile it is, but a bit rare in the Paradiso small hall. Even little things as a bit more smiling does wonders.
With that said, especially because they played the second half of the album so well live, MGMT delivered a decent concert with some unexpected quality performances. To say there is no room for growth is another thing, but the lads have time enough for that.
My album review of MGMT 's "Oracular Spectacular": http://mog.com/SA/blog_post/142451
Comments
hmmm...
there is definitely a huge difference between being good musicians and good performers. i would expect a huge dance-ability quotient from these guys.
i also like the first half of the album better, so that would be interesting to see what they do with the second half.
good review.
Comments
I Am Kloot impress me mucho.