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zoo_music_girlWe'd gone for dinner beforehand and got to the RFH with minutes to spare before John Cale came on. I don't know his solo stuff at all and wasn't sure what to expect. He spent the bulk of his set playing a keyboard turned three quarters away from most of the audience, and pretty much full on back to us from where we were sitting.
The backing band, which included Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, was very accomplished and varied from four guys to a maximum of eight, coming and going during the set. There was a fair bit of jazz club style noodling around, which was pleasant enough but not really my thing, but then he got up, strapped on a guitar, turned round to face the audience and ripped into a storming "Gun", which I only know from the Siouxsie and the Banshees' covers album. I like the Banshees' version anyway, but I'm now keen to hear the original studio version. "Gun" segued straight into another track I don't know (Pablo Picasso), but he kept the guitar on, and I got much more into it. Good stuff.
Then there was maybe a twenty to thirty minute break, just time to check out the merchandise (I bought a Horses tshirt) and have a drink, and the lights went back down.
The band came on first but Patti wasn't far behind, wearing her trademark black jeans, black jacket, huge white shirt and black tie, and what later emerged was new black boots.
They launched more or less straight into "Gloria", and it brought tears to my eyes. I really thought I was going to start sobbing. Surprisingly, the melancholy "Rendondo Beach" actually brought me back, but I think it was more tears of joy anyway.
It was a seated gig, but during "Gloria" had people started to stand and move down to the front of their area (security stopped them getting any further forward.) I wanted to stand but was conscious that the people behind me might not appreciate it, but gradually nearly the whole hall was on its feet and I had to stand if I wanted to see anything at all.
They went through the rest of the album in order, with Patti stopping to chat a little in between. We heard about her dental trauma ("if I can teach you one thing, just one thing - get your teeth cleaned professionally twice a year") and the new boots she bought to cheer herself up afterwards, how there hadn't been any fuck ups in Meltdown, no matter what we read in the papers. She was clearly having a really good time.
"La Mer" turned cleverly into a reprise of the chorus from "Gloria" and I was in tears again. Absolutely amazing. I just love that song, so joyful and powerful. They went off after that and I actually hoped they weren't going to do an encore, it was just so perfect that they couldn't possibly follow that.
But they did come back, and while they did break the moment for me, the encore was wonderful. Patti claimed they'd forgotten to do a song, and indeed they had missed out "Elegie", but I suspect it was planned.
She came back on with a tshirt in place of the white shirt and was soon taking off her new boots ("never wear your new boots to an important new job!"), but we didn't get "Dancing Barefoot" despite requests ("that'll be another four bucks"). We did get a reading of "Piss Factory" followed by "Pissing in a River" and a couple of others I recognised but can't place (Tony? Tanya? Edit: I think they were "We Three" and "Frederick" after consultation with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tamaranth), and the obligatory political diatribe. They finished on a chaotic "My Generation" ("I hope I live before I get old"), during the climax of which the drummer dived through his kit, utterly destroying the set up! They went off again briefly but then returned for a haunting, beautiful "Elegie" including a roll call of absent friends and then it was goodbye.
I feel very grateful that I was able to be there and I'm sorry for those who couldn't get tickets for whatever reason. It felt like the sort of gig that people will be talking about for a long time. Wow. How do you give a standing ovation when you're already on your feet?
The backing band, which included Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, was very accomplished and varied from four guys to a maximum of eight, coming and going during the set. There was a fair bit of jazz club style noodling around, which was pleasant enough but not really my thing, but then he got up, strapped on a guitar, turned round to face the audience and ripped into a storming "Gun", which I only know from the Siouxsie and the Banshees' covers album. I like the Banshees' version anyway, but I'm now keen to hear the original studio version. "Gun" segued straight into another track I don't know (Pablo Picasso), but he kept the guitar on, and I got much more into it. Good stuff.
Then there was maybe a twenty to thirty minute break, just time to check out the merchandise (I bought a Horses tshirt) and have a drink, and the lights went back down.
The band came on first but Patti wasn't far behind, wearing her trademark black jeans, black jacket, huge white shirt and black tie, and what later emerged was new black boots.
They launched more or less straight into "Gloria", and it brought tears to my eyes. I really thought I was going to start sobbing. Surprisingly, the melancholy "Rendondo Beach" actually brought me back, but I think it was more tears of joy anyway.
It was a seated gig, but during "Gloria" had people started to stand and move down to the front of their area (security stopped them getting any further forward.) I wanted to stand but was conscious that the people behind me might not appreciate it, but gradually nearly the whole hall was on its feet and I had to stand if I wanted to see anything at all.
They went through the rest of the album in order, with Patti stopping to chat a little in between. We heard about her dental trauma ("if I can teach you one thing, just one thing - get your teeth cleaned professionally twice a year") and the new boots she bought to cheer herself up afterwards, how there hadn't been any fuck ups in Meltdown, no matter what we read in the papers. She was clearly having a really good time.
"La Mer" turned cleverly into a reprise of the chorus from "Gloria" and I was in tears again. Absolutely amazing. I just love that song, so joyful and powerful. They went off after that and I actually hoped they weren't going to do an encore, it was just so perfect that they couldn't possibly follow that.
But they did come back, and while they did break the moment for me, the encore was wonderful. Patti claimed they'd forgotten to do a song, and indeed they had missed out "Elegie", but I suspect it was planned.
She came back on with a tshirt in place of the white shirt and was soon taking off her new boots ("never wear your new boots to an important new job!"), but we didn't get "Dancing Barefoot" despite requests ("that'll be another four bucks"). We did get a reading of "Piss Factory" followed by "Pissing in a River" and a couple of others I recognised but can't place (Tony? Tanya? Edit: I think they were "We Three" and "Frederick" after consultation with
tamaranth), and the obligatory political diatribe. They finished on a chaotic "My Generation" ("I hope I live before I get old"), during the climax of which the drummer dived through his kit, utterly destroying the set up! They went off again briefly but then returned for a haunting, beautiful "Elegie" including a roll call of absent friends and then it was goodbye.I feel very grateful that I was able to be there and I'm sorry for those who couldn't get tickets for whatever reason. It felt like the sort of gig that people will be talking about for a long time. Wow. How do you give a standing ovation when you're already on your feet?
