Neurosis with Jarboe ~ Saturday 18th December, The Forum

[zoo_music_girl]

On Saturday I went to see Neurosis with Jarboe. I was a bit disappointed really. I'd downloaded loads of Neurosis stuff from Emusic so I had an idea what to expect, and the CD they recorded together had arrived on Wednesday so I'd had plenty of time to listen to that too. I love the Neurosis/Jarboe CD. Neurosis alone are a bit plodding for me, kind of prog rock for the 21st century, but Jarboe's vocals add a whole new dimension to the work and I was very much looking forward to the gig.

augeas and I found a spot at the foot of the stairs to the balcony, elevated above the main crowd but still pretty close to the front, so we had a good view although it was very much off to one side.

Neurosis were supposed to come on at 8.30pm, there being no support, but in the end they ambled onstage at 9pm to a minimum of fuss and remarkably low key audience reaction. They faffed about for a few minutes but the start of the performance proper seemed to be signalled by the filmshow in the background starting. Forty minutes of music to nod your head to later (it was amusing to watch the main crowd nodding in time) and augeas decided to give up on them and go home. Ten minutes later Jarboe came on, no introduction (actually nobody on stage said a word during the whole gig), no fanfare, just a roadie quietly setting up a microphone for her during the previous song.

She was great. Looking not of this world in lank black hair and a strappy black linen dress with pale, luminous skin, she was every bit the cult figure and star that the five dull blokes behind her could never be, and her voice was wonderful. The sound wasn't good though, and the bloody awful audience nearly drowned her out during the quiet bits. They did three or four songs (Within, His Last Words and another one or two I couldn't identify from the few listens I'd had) from the Neurosis and Jarboe album and then a cover of Patti Smith's "Easter", which seemed odd to me. It was a very competent cover, but didn't really suit Jarboe's voice, and given her incredible vocal range seemed a bit of a waste of her voice.

Jarboe left the stage with the same lack of fuss she'd entered it, and a roadie came on and took her microphone away. I stayed for one more song (I should point out that the average Neurosis song is about 8 minutes) and then decided that it was probably unlikely she'd be back and that I couldn't stand through another thirty minutes of Neurosis so I left.

I would love to see Jarboe again, but next time I hope it's a Jarboe show, which a Jarboe audience, instead of the bizarre crowd on Saturday, who were entirely unresponsive and unenthusiatic, and often stunningly ignorant, like the Spanish or Italian group standing behind me who kept shouting to each other. It was Neurosis' only European show and I got the impression that the large amounts of people with foreign accents wasn't just London's diverse mix, but who comes all the way from Spain to behave like that at a gig?

Reading The Living Jarboe, it sounds like the lady herself had a good experience though, so perhaps I was just standing in the wrong place.

Comments

[drpete.livejournal.com]

It was the same for the Oysters gig a week before - bloody incessant talking. I hate it.

Maybe it's the design of the Forum that sound carries? I've said on a number of occasions that they ought to move the bars out into the largely useless foyer/entry area so the talkers could fuck off out of the auditorium.

[zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com]

I've had this problem in pretty much every gig I've been to this year. In fact the last gig at the Forum, Neubauten, wasn't quite so bad. Nick Cave at Brixton was the last one to do my head in. These people were actually shouting to their friends several feet away though, it was appalling.

[denalyia.livejournal.com]

Agreed, that really is horrible behaviour. :( I had that at the Dresden Dolls, gig, actually. Or kekhmet did with the group right in front of her (we ended up sort of one in front of the other, by the time the gig ended with people moving around and going back & forth to the bar). Group of blond really trendy looking, actually, surprised me that they'd be into Dresden Dolls at all. But never judge a book by it's cover...except for when it's rude and loud during the quiet bits of a gig. :o

[augeas.livejournal.com]

Sorry to desert you after that pleasant chance meeting in the queue, but that really was all that I could stand. Abstract noodling is all very well when it's good abstract noodling, but that plodding rawk amongst the Pantera hoodies was intollerable. I took to seeing what risible names the crowd had given themselves on their bluetooth handsets (the results were hilarious) out of boredom. Those two security gorillas thought I was recording the concert! -As if. What a waste of a C-F card! -I couldn't believe the way the second thug pushed around that poor girl who was only texting. -At least that activity is silent. I doubted that even Jarboe's voice could redeem that drivel, so I left in disgust. As for the pricks not letting me in with bottled water... It would have to be a 'Neubauten gig for me to even think of going there again.

[zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com]

I didn't see the security guys giving anyone grief, I was paying too much attention to the stage. It did all seem a bit heavy handed though, from the water confiscation on. I wish they'd given those swines who kept shouting to each other a hard time instead.

You can grab "His Last Words" from Jarboe's website, it's pretty good. The alubm is supposed to be Neurosis doing the music and Jarboe just doing the words, but I reckon she must have inspired them because it's soooo much more interesting than Neurosis alone, more so than just the effect of her vocals, I think.