beatsketching gigs 2004, part 2

beatsketching gigs of 2004 (part 2)

I’ve realised that in these reviews I tend to be quite defensive, but I suppose that it's more interesting to read an argument for a band's merits than a plain description. And for some reason I keep making a case for things being clever, or funny, or emotional, or all three of these lyrical things, or just noisy. I suppose that’s part of what I like about gigs. That and getting to go out and shake my bum.

the Divine Comedy, Thomas Truax, Super Furry Animals, Jetplane Landing, Herman Dune.

Sheffield Leadmill on a Thursday in June:
the Divine Comedy
This stripped-down show saw singer/guitarist/Mr.Comedy himself Neil Hannon accompanied by piano and double-bass, and brought life to the ‘mature’ album ‘Absent Friends’. If this new collection seemed to lack the desperate charm, and hilarious, glorious romance, of ‘Casanova’ - the DC’s mid-90s masterpiece- it wasn’t short on overblown orchestration. Watching the songs performed this way showed the likes of ‘Our Mutual Friend’ or ‘The Happy Goth’ in a new light. Hannon, like a little Jarvis Cocker, owes much to uber-crooner Scott Walker but deserves more recognition for his touching humour and deadpan way with a story.

Singing an ultra-slow ‘Becoming More Like Alfie’ while camply wreathed in cigarette smoke, his performance could hardly be more archly dapper; but he makes no claim to be any great guitarist, carrying songs by his personality or getting in quick with his own criticism. ‘Sweden’ is dispensed with quickly: “I would like to live in Sweden, please don’t ask me why; for if I were to give a reason, it would be a lie.” When Neil forgets how to play the song, he settles for a good old bit of self-deprecation. Upping the lyrical quality are covers of standard ‘Mack the Knife’ and another Noel Coward style song about cutting off your lover’s hand. There’s also, of course, Hannon’s own classic ‘Songs of Love’, and a soaring ballad like 'the Summerhouse'. The set reminds me that the man’s always been twee in places, letting his whimsical characters drive his songs, from Billy Bird the modern business traveller back to Bernice of the bobbed hair; but DC songs almost always have a sympathetic, personal feeling to them, too. ‘Tonight We Fly’ ends the concert with an emotional highpoint, even without its military drumming. To compare it with another cover, this matches the Flaming Lips' 'Do You Realise?' for joyful, life-affirming, friendly philosophy, and for doing this while including the most simplistic lyrics. So everyone leaves happily. "Over the hills and far away..."

Hull Adelphi on a Sunday in April:
Thomas Truax, Emma Rugg and Cracktown
I was kind of nervous when Antifolk star Thomas Truax jumped off stage and made his way around the candlelit venue, pushing a gramophone horn into people’s faces and telling them to shout “I’m coming home!” However, he didn’t make it to our table because he had already spent so long trying to get a response out of a dog.
(full review)

London, Royal Festival Hall, ‘Lightning Fryday’ in October:
Super Furry Animals
It's easy to forget how good this band are. Things don't always happen as they should for these masters. They tried inflating one of the huge bears from the 'Radiator' album sleeve, but didn't have enough room to inflate it even in the big entrance to the Festival Hall. So they took the evil bear out onto the South Bank, but it almost blew away over the Thames to be impaled on the Gherkin building.

It's easier to get away with such gimmicks at a proper outdoor festival, and we all know SFA are a top festival band, always ready for a party. But do they need such gimmicks when they have so many great tracks? Of course not.

Hull Adelphi on a Sunday in May:
Jetplane Landing and Harvey Half-Devoured
In the final fortnight of my degree, while rushing around getting all my work finished, I somehow managed to fit in watching a bill of Puerto Muerto and Salako – through which I was very distracted, but grateful for the Salako album which kept me calm to an almost magical scale – and also saw this gig. Oh, and MJ Hibbett with a support band which featured someone ironing on stage. I missed the first support on this occasion, a local emo band called Break Even, who received an ecstatic response from thisisull.com at the expense of the other bands. Harvey Half Devoured are ladies who rock like bastards, mostly. They have some songs which do everything they should do, and then do it all over again but even more so; repetitive but unpredictable like the best comedy shows, and pretty serious. I’m still waiting for recordings of these new songs! HHD playing with Jetplane Landing made one of my favourite gigs last year too, and neither set was much different second time around, except I knew the songs a bit better.

The quartet's second album ‘Once Like a Spark’ is another encouraging listen. “Make more of your time, more of your anger.” Jetplane Landing play well-planned emotional punk rock with no need for postcard mohawks, stripy jumpers or any of the silly visual trappings associated with that clichéd scene. They take the attitude and songcraft of At the Drive-In, dispense with their tendency for guitar wankery, and ally this dynamic sound to their own bitesize polemic. Alternate shouting and singing never made so much sense. “Self-improvement, self-importance, an army of the self…” They’re a group who understand what it means to tour independent venues and appreciate each reaction as something individual and as part of something bigger. Being at the front of this crowded, sweaty gig was just what I needed when bogged down in my own thing.

Afterwards, I wanted to show the world how to headbang all their stresses away. I wanted to tell the world to watch this band. I even bought a T-shirt covered in confused sloganeering.

(here see Puerto Muerto / Salako / this line-up last year / Harvey Half Devoured EP review / MJ Hibbett coming soon)

Hull Adelphi on a Sunday again, back in January:
Herman Dune, Kimya Dawson, and local gig whores Cracktown again
A gig I actually reviewed at the time, another Antifolk one, and all that remains to be said about it is that, to remember a gig so well from so long ago, it’s got to be a great one. It’s also a gig to which I managed to entice my student friends besides the usual Adelphi lot, and a good time was had by all. The only problem was that with such a big audience, we were squeezed right in to the seats by the speakers. But all three acts were worth seeing up close, and pan-European trio Herman Dune especially are another of those bands I could never get bored of watching. Makes me wish I lived in Paris, or New York, or somewhere else these bands always play.

< part 1

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beatsketching gigs of 2004 (part 2) I’ve realised that in these reviews I tend to be quite defensive, but I suppose that it's more interesting to read an argument for a band's merits than a plain description. And for some reason I keep making a case for things being clever, or funny, or emotional, or all three of these lyrical things, or just noisy. I suppose that’s part of what I like about gigs. That and getting to go out and shake my bum. the Divine Comedy, Thomas Truax, Super Furry Animals, Jetplane Landing, Herman Dune. Sheffield Leadmill on a Thursday in June: the Divine Comedy This stripped-down show saw singer/guitarist/Mr.Comedy himself Neil Hannon accompanied by piano and double-bass, and brought life to the ‘mature’ album ‘Absent Friends’. If this new collection seemed to lack the desperate charm, and hilarious, glorious romance, of ‘Casanova’ - the DC’s mid-90s masterpiece- it wasn’t short on overblown orchestration. Watching the songs performed this way showed the likes of ‘Our Mutual Friend’ or ‘The Happy Goth’ in a new light. Hannon, like a little Jarvis Cocker, owes much to uber-crooner Scott Walker but deserves more recognition for his touching humour and deadpan way with a story. Singing an ultra-slow ‘Becoming More Like Alfie’ while camply wreathed in cigarette smoke, his performance could hardly be more archly dapper; but he makes no claim to be any great guitarist, carrying songs by his personality or getting in quick with his own criticism. ‘Sweden’ is dispensed with quickly: “I would like to live in Sweden, please don’t ask me why; for if I were to give a reason, it would be a lie.” When Neil forgets how to play the song, he settles for a good old bit of self-deprecation. Upping the lyrical quality are covers of standard ‘Mack the Knife’ and another Noel Coward style song about cutting off your lover’s hand. There’s also, of course, Hannon’s own classic ‘Songs of Love’, and a soaring ballad like 'the Summerhouse'. The set reminds me that the man’s always been twee in places, letting his whimsical characters drive his songs, from Billy Bird the modern business traveller back to Bernice of the bobbed hair; but DC songs almost always have a sympathetic, personal feeling to them, too. ‘Tonight We Fly’ ends the concert with an emotional highpoint, even without its military drumming. To compare it with another cover, this matches the Flaming Lips' 'Do You Realise?' for joyful, life-affirming, friendly philosophy, and for doing this while including the most simplistic lyrics. So everyone leaves happily. "Over the hills and far away..." Hull Adelphi on a Sunday in April: Thomas Truax, Emma Rugg and Cracktown I was kind of nervous when Antifolk star Thomas Truax jumped off stage and made his way around the candlelit venue, pushing a gramophone horn into people’s faces and telling them to shout “I’m coming home!” However, he didn’t make it to our table because he had already spent so long trying to get a response out of a dog. (full review) London, Royal Festival Hall, ‘Lightning Fryday’ in October: Super Furry Animals It's easy to forget how good this band are. Things don't always happen as they should for these masters. They tried inflating one of the huge bears from the 'Radiator' album sleeve, but didn't have enough room to inflate it even in the big entrance to the Festival Hall. So they took the evil bear out onto the South Bank, but it almost blew away over the Thames to be impaled on the Gherkin building. It's easier to get away with such gimmicks at a proper outdoor festival, and we all know SFA are a top festival band, always ready for a party. But do they need such gimmicks when they have so many great tracks? Of course not. Hull Adelphi on a Sunday in May: Jetplane Landing and Harvey Half-Devoured In the final fortnight of my degree, while rushing around getting all my work finished, I somehow managed to fit in watching a bill of Puerto Muerto and Salako – through which I was very distracted, but grateful for the Salako album which kept me calm to an almost magical scale – and also saw this gig. Oh, and MJ Hibbett with a support band which featured someone ironing on stage. I missed the first support on this occasion, a local emo band called Break Even, who received an ecstatic response from thisisull.com at the expense of the other bands. Harvey Half Devoured are ladies who rock like bastards, mostly. They have some songs which do everything they should do, and then do it all over again but even more so; repetitive but unpredictable like the best comedy shows, and pretty serious. I’m still waiting for recordings of these new songs! HHD playing with Jetplane Landing made one of my favourite gigs last year too, and neither set was much different second time around, except I knew the songs a bit better. The quartet's second album ‘Once Like a Spark’ is another encouraging listen. “Make more of your time, more of your anger.” Jetplane Landing play well-planned emotional punk rock with no need for postcard mohawks, stripy jumpers or any of the silly visual trappings associated with that clichéd scene. They take the attitude and songcraft of At the Drive-In, dispense with their tendency for guitar wankery, and ally this dynamic sound to their own bitesize polemic. Alternate shouting and singing never made so much sense. “Self-improvement, self-importance, an army of the self…” They’re a group who understand what it means to tour independent venues and appreciate each reaction as something individual and as part of something bigger. Being at the front of this crowded, sweaty gig was just what I needed when bogged down in my own thing. Afterwards, I wanted to show the world how to headbang all their stresses away. I wanted to tell the world to watch this band. I even bought a T-shirt covered in confused sloganeering. (here see Puerto Muerto / Salako / this line-up last year / Harvey Half Devoured EP review / MJ Hibbett coming soon) Hull Adelphi on a Sunday again, back in January: Herman Dune, Kimya Dawson, and local gig whores Cracktown again A gig I actually reviewed at the time, another Antifolk one, and all that remains to be said about it is that, to remember a gig so well from so long ago, it’s got to be a great one. It’s also a gig to which I managed to entice my student friends besides the usual Adelphi lot, and a good time was had by all. The only problem was that with such a big audience, we were squeezed right in to the seats by the speakers. But all three acts were worth seeing up close, and pan-European trio Herman Dune especially are another of those bands I could never get bored of watching. Makes me wish I lived in Paris, or New York, or somewhere else these bands always play. < part 1 home / reviews index