Zoo Music Girl

Any real music fan will know what I mean when I talk about gigs that are so intense that you feel for a long time afterwards like there are two types of people in the world - the ones who've just shared this incredible experience with you, and everyone else. Last night was like that. I could write screeds (and I probably will) but I could never adequately express what it was like. We're well into music as religious experience and writing about it as catharsis/exorcism territory.

( long, rambling, slightly incoherent )

For my own reference:
Craig's write up.
Krys's write up.
If you're on their friends list you'd be better off reading their reviews as they're better informed and just generally better than mine.

I liked Lords, they were a raucous, bluesy three piece who reminded me a bit of the deeply missed Penthouse/Fifty Tons of Black Terror. (They also seem to be sharing an EP with former Penthouse man Tim Cedar's new band Part Chimp.)

Shellac were great. They have a tendency to go a bit noodly, and sometimes the between songs Q&A and general banter could be cut just a little bit shorter, but the power, precision, and dark humour make it a great show. When they really get into their groove it's awesome. I can't remember everything they played but we definitely got "The Squirrel Song", "Prayer to God", "Watch Song" and "The End of Radio".

Apparently the new album is out on the 4th June.

Tonight Simon and I went to The Coral Sea, a tribute to Robert Mapplethorpe by Patti Smith and Kevin Shields. Unfortunately I'm still feeling absolutely dreadful (although I did go back to work today) so we only saw the first half and missed the actual Coral Sea bit as I wasn't sure I could get through the second half without having to leave in the middle of something to pass out or throw up, which as I was in the second row would have been distracting for Patti and embarrassing for us.

The first half was excellent though. When she was just talking I kept thinking I was going to have to leave, but during the songs the music was so beautiful that I mostly forgot how ill I was feeling. It lasted about an hour and started off as Patti, Tony Shanahan (who I think was with her at Charleston) and Italian cellist Giovanni Solima, who was brilliant. It was the usual mix of great songs and political polemic in between, and she did her daffy thing again, talking about trying to find a square with a poet's house in it and getting distracted by the squirrels and eventually realising that the square she was looking for was on the other side of London.

She put it on a bit too though, I'm never sure how much of the daffiness is real (although I don't doubt she really did end up knee deep in a cow trough at Charleston) pretending to have forgotten the words to a song that she wanted us to sing along to, presumably to get a good second cut as they were recording. Later she was joined by Jason Pierce (of Spiritualized/Spacemen 3 fame), and for the last song of that set, by Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine).

We'd actually arrived at the Queen Elizabeth Hall just as she was finishing an (I assume, as it didn't seem to be advertised) impromptu solo acoustic set in the foyer and that was great too. She's a total legend. I suspect we've missed a great second half.

Review of Monday night's show from the Independent.

You can download new track "Qana" here.

Last night I went to see The Tiger Lillies with Alexander Hacke performing "Mountains of Madness", a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft with visuals by Danielle Picciotto. First though, we had to sit through K&A, who were the second most dreadful support act I've seen in my life (at least they weren't as loud as Final, who supported Jarboe in November). They consisted of seemingly random electronic noises and effects with a backdrop of kitsch, possibly ironic, 70s interiors and catalogue shots with K&As heads superimposed on the models' bodies. It was truly, deeply awful. It was actually quite funny, but that was more to do with the piss taking going on in the audience than any intended humour.

But enough about them. I don't really know Tiger Lillies' work beyond "Banging in the Nails", which Alasdair put on a compilation for me, nor had I heard much of Hacke's solo work, so I didn't really know what to expect. It opened with a projection of a snow covered peak, sinister and icy. Hacke walked on first to a subdued reaction and started some wonderful swooshy noises, then the Tiger Lillies joined him to only a slightly greater reaction and they started playing.

It was fabulous! Hacke told stories about and of Lovecraft in between the most wonderful, quirky, humorous and yet sinister songs sung castrati that somehow didn't grate, accompanied by accordion or piano, electric double bass or musical saw and toy drum kit, complete with rubber chickens. The visuals were just perfect too, and were sometimes projected in waves to create movement. They played for maybe an hour before going off, only to be called back on for encore after encore and eventually a standing ovation. They actually played the same songs again for the encore, presumably not having anything else to play that would include Hacke.

Afterwards they all signed DVDs and CDs and I got to thank Hacke and tell him I thought it was wonderful! I'm slightly regretting not buying a DVD of the show now.

They're playing again tonight. It's returns only, but it would be worth trying for a ticket.



http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,1735433,00.html

I've waited 20 years to see Bauhaus (I was living in darkest Aberdeen last time they played and was about 13 years old when they split up), but it was worth the wait.

Bauhaus were one of the big three of my teenage years - Bauhaus, The Sisters and the Banshees. I had their logo scribbled all over my school folders and photos of Pete Murphy sellotaped inside. Oh, but he was gorgeous. Twenty years later he's put on a bit of weight (the buttoned up smoking jacket he wore for the first few songs did nothing for him. I never thought I'd go to a Bauhaus gig and hope Pete Murphy would keep his shirt *on*!) and he's lost a bit of hair, but he's still a handsome man, and has amazing stage presence. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

They opened with a song I know but can't place[1], starting with just Daniel Ash on guitar, hair (a full head of it) tied back in a tight topknot and looking painfully cool in shades and some sort of designer-looking gothic punk outfit of trousers and a long coat. Then Murphy's voice came in, although I couldn't see him till much later on in the song. (My only slight complaint was that he spent too long at the back of the stage where those of us at the front right couldn't see him.) David J and Kevin Haskins arrived onstage as their parts came in, and the years have been kind to them too. In fact I'm not convinced there's not been some sort of diabolical pacts going on, possibly involving portraiture.

I can't remember the order things were played in, but they played pretty much all the old favourites. I don't remember hearing "Spirit", but that was the only thing I would have expected that they didn't play. They did "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores", which delighted me as it's probably my favourite Bauhaus song, (despite actually being a John Cale song :}), possibly not least because of the very sexy performance of it in the Shadow of Light live video, and it was still pretty sexy tonight.

Other highlights for me were a very spooky "Hollow Hills", singalong Pete to "Kick in the Eye" (Kick! Kick! Kick!), and "St Vitus Dance" mixed into a storming cover of "Transmission". I'd never realised before how similar Pete Murphy and Ian Curtis's dancing styles were! At the end of "Stigmata Martyr" they stopped for a few minutes and the stage went dark but they didn't go off. The two more conventional breaks between encores had mercifully brief gaps too. It was a long show, I'm pretty sure they went on around 9pm and didn't come off till 11pm.

The only slightly jarring thing was a cover of a Dead Can Dance song (thanks Ed), a requiem, which was beautiful but broke up the rhythm of the night. We'd already had "Hollow Hills" and then had the tempo pick up and it didn't seem the right moment to take it down again.

"Ziggy Stardust" was clearly the big crowd pleaser, which I've always thought was a bit of shame as on record it's such a carbon copy of the original and not as interesting as their other covers, but they really owned it tonight. They also played "Telegram Sam".

They finished with "Bela Lugosi's Dead", of course. Murphy changed out of his white shirt and into a black tshirt and cape and the years just fell off. I swear the guy got younger as the night went on, perhaps appropriately for that song...

At first I was enjoying the show mostly as an exercise in nostalgia, and enjoying seeing how things had changed, but as the band and the audience warmed up I got so into it and by about eight songs in was absolutely swept away. It wasn't one of my live music as religious experience nights, but it was a great performance and a fun gig.

Magic.

[1](anyone want to save me going through my entire Bauhaus collection when I get home? Burning From The Inside, thanks Matthew. Never was one of my favourite Bauhaus albums.)

Guardian review of Manchester gig.

~~~

Oh, and yes, I wussed out of going to Dead and Buried. Christa and I got on the Victoria Line, sat down, and realised we weren't going anywhere. Maybe next month. :}


~~~

Killing Joke are playing Koko on 5th April, is anyone else going?

I've seen Killing Joke three times now. The first time was in Edinburgh at the Network in 1991. Afterwards my friend Marisa and I went to a club, which I've since discovered was run by bootpunk and zotz. It was a great gig, and Jaz scared the hell out of me, staring into the crowd like he was memorising faces for doing dreadful things to later... I saw them again a few years later at the Mayfair/Garage in Glasgow on the Pandemonium tour and they weren't quite as good, but they were still pretty scary.

Jaz didn't scare me at all on Friday, but I had a great time. He looked terribly pleased to be there and seemed more like he was recognising old friends in the crowd, and perhaps he was, Killing Joke have been around more than 25 years now and have a devoted and loyal fan base.

Geordie was as aloof and utterly cool as ever. I'm told Paul Raven didn't look too happy, but I couldn't see him because a bloke who reminded me of a very tall version of mr_tom was blocking my sightline. The drummer wasn't Dave Grohl in the end, but he did a good job.

They opened with Communion, which was strong, but then they went into Wardance, which was absolutely storming. Much jumping around and singalonga Jaz ensued. Actually it was that sort of night, lots of bouncing around and joining in at the chorus. Jaz even seemed to encourage it. I seemed to have been lucky to be near the bit of the pit that apparently had NMA fans in it, they were pulling each other up and generally looking out for other people, but I heard the audience was aggressive and pushy elsewhere.

I can't remember everything that was played, but we definitely got The Wait, Complications, Requiem, Primitive, (it was heavy on the first album, which suits me fine) Darkness Before Dawn, Money is Not Our God, Whiteout and Asteroid. They went off for a few minutes and then returned for an encore of about three songs. They were joined onstage by a female violinist (Jaz told us to be nice and welcome her and afterwards they gave her a bouquet of flowers) for the final song Pandemonium, dedicated to their merchandise guy, Jester, who sadly couldn't be there as he has cancer, because it's his favourite song.

I really enjoyed the gig, they played lots of my favourite songs (I was actually disappointed that Wardance was second, as that's my very favourite and it's nice to have something to hope for and look forward to) and the atmosphere was strange great!

Probable setlist (looks about right!)

Communion
Wardance
Sun Goes Down
Primitive
Darkness Before Dawn
Total Invasion
Requiem
Butcher
Money is not Our God
Frenzy
Asteroid
Whiteout
Wait
Complications
Psyche

Inside the Termite Mound
Blood Sport
Pandemonium

Last night I went to see Mick Harvey (of The Birthday Party and Bad Seeds fame) at the Underworld. To me, the Underworld equals small goth bands, home of much missed Uncle Nemesis gigs, so it was weird seeing one of the members of not one but two of my all time favourite bands playing there, in a tiny venue. It was even odder to see the place full of people who weren't goths (although there were a couple). I don't think it was sold out though, I'm sure I've seen the place busier than that.

I watched a couple of songs of the support band, which was either a three-piece called Simon Breed or else the singer was Simon Breed. They were alright, if a bit too determinedly quirky for my taste. I left after two songs and joined everyone else in the back bar, where I also picked up three CDs for £20 (To Have and To Hold, the soundtrack for And The Ass Saw The Angel, and an Anita Lane CD).

Mick Harvey was on stage on 9.30pm on the dot, as per the running order we'd noticed in the box office. I'd have expected no less from the man who managed to keep the Birthday Party in order. This man has organisational skills to put mine to shame, *and* he's rock'n'roll, proof that it can be done! (Although perhaps not by me. :})

There were three of them on stage, Mick, who played guitar and sang, Rob Ellis, who played keyboards and occasionally drums, and JAMES JOHNSTON! (I don't know why I'm putting that in capitals as I expect about ten of you know who he is and only one of you (waves at inulro) will find that exciting.) Anyway, James Johnston formerly of Gallon Drunk on second guitar and occasional keyboards.

They played a mixture of songs, one or two I recognised from the new album, which is encouraging as I've only listened to it once, but most I didn't know. He did play "Sad Dark Eyes", which was lovely, and one of the encores was "Bonnie and Clyde" from Intoxicated Man.

He played a couple of bars from "Mr Clarinet" between songs at one point and I got a bit excited. He seemed surprised to get a reaction to that one at all, saying he thought that one was too old for anyone to know. (It's an early Birthday Party song.) He seemed to be having trouble keeping his guitar tuned in the sweaty atmosphere so he chatted a lot between songs while he fiddled with it, and was relaxed and amusing. His young son was there too, and he dedicated a song to him. (I know I wouldn't bring a young child to the Underworld, I'm really suffering for the after effects of second hand smoke.)

I really enjoyed it, although it wasn't the awesome experience it could have been, just a very pleasant evening. naturalbornkaos seemed disappointed but I didn't really have any expectations. I think it was best summed up in something jhaelan said, "this is music to drink whisky to". Not life changing, but I'm glad I went.

( patti smith made me cry. twice. )

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?

I am not a Dead Can Dance fan, I own one album which to be honest I've not really listened to much, and I went along because I thought it would be a good show and an experience I'd enjoy. I did.

My first exposure to the band was on the 1987 4AD compilation Lonely is an Eyesore to which they contributed two tracks, The Protagonist and Frontier. I can't actually remember what the first of these sounds like, but the latter was a gorgeous blends of drums and That Voice.

I don't much care for Brendan Perry's vocals, I tend to find them dull and monotonous (and was amused and agreed with laurelei that he sounds like Neil Diamond at times), but I could drift away to Lisa Gerrard's voice all night, and indeed I was surprised to realise that the concert had been two full hours, with just two very short breaks between encores.

The sound was gorgeous. As well as Lisa and Brendan there was an assortment of other musicians, who changed instruments for practically every piece and sometimes during the same song. I don't even know what some of the instruments were, and I sometimes found it hard to tell what was synthesised and what was live, but it sounded good.

They played a wide mixture of styles and songs. There were Eastern influenced swirls and Medieval sounding hurdy gurdy, there were songs that were just Lisa and a soaring synth and one that was just Lisa's vocals without backing. There was even one song with Brendan singing, which Lisa actually left the stage for, which sounded to me more like country and western than anything else. I definitely strongly preferred the songs with Lisa as a focus.

She was wearing a rather dramatic outfit too. Barefoot, with a huge billowing gown in sunshine yellow, she looked like she'd been transported from another place and time. For most of the gig she had a stand for her instruments which was covered with a white cloth and in the changing coloured lights it sometimes looked like part of the dress, they matched up so neatly.

Lisa apart, the light show and the visuals were not anything special. I'd have been as happy to close my eyes and listen, and indeed did that a couple of times. It was a lovely concert, and the first song nearly brought tears to my eyes, but after that I just wasn't emotionally engaged and I'm not sure why, although I was very tired. I did enjoy it though, and I am glad I went.

I do hope the Forum gig tonight is as good, and that the audience show the same hushed reverence we enjoyed last night, but my experience of Forum audiences makes me sceptical. I believe that this is not a show that can be enjoyed with someone chattering a few feet away.