(c) Dr Paul Kinsler.
[Acknowledgements & Feedback]
Gigs.
These are not really reviews, just random witterings constructed from
memory about the gigs. I have no idea why you might be interested, but here
they are anyway. As I go to see more bands, I'll keep adding to them. I
write my reviews because it keeps me amused. They are no doubt not very
good reviews, as in particular I'm pretty crap at musical descriptions and
estimates of musical ability. I like to think I do a good line in
descriptions of public transport though, and like to test bands against my
six important criteria:
-
Do they look like they turned up to give a performance, or
a shambles? Which do you think will impress me more?
-
Does the set have some continuity, both between songs and
during technical glitches -- e.g. with musical links or talking to the
crowd. If a band is not careful, whatever atmosphere they created
with their last song can rapidly dissipate.
-
What are they singing about? At least tell us the song titles
-- some
idea of lyrical content makes a big difference in picking up the lyrics,
and this make appreciation of the song easier. Not everyone has a
copy of the album, y'know; and not everyone saw you deliver the same
set last week/ month/ year. Do you want more (new) fans or not?
-
Do they play in a variety of styles to keep the set interesting,
and to avoid boring to non-die-hard fans to death? Fast songs, slow
songs, depressing ones, perky ones. Ones with saxaphone solos, ones
without. Etc. You get the idea? If I hear three similar-ish but OK
songs in a row, having the next one in a different style might just
stop me getting bored, and I might even like it a lot more. And
remember, the less familiar I am with your music, the more similar
the songs will sound.
Further, it demonstrates your skills as a band -- do you really want to
be a one-trick pony?
-
Does something positive set them apart from
other bands, or that defines them in some way? Silly costumes are
the easy way of doing this, but generally just managing some sort of
coherent image will do fine. Having that indefinable thing charisma is
best. Wandering on stage wearing whatever you happened to be wearing
yesterday (or similar) is unlikely to be good. The least you might do
is all wear your band t-shirts if other inspiration has failed.
-
Doing (or being) something a little unexpected.
But why, you ask, can Band-X not just turn up and be musically brilliant?
Surely you should be able to appreciate that? Well, for a start
"musically brilliant" is a very subjective thing, and not every member
of the audience will agree on what that it. Next, a gig is not like
an album -- you don't get the song titles (unless you're told), it's hard
to hear all (or often any) of the lyrics, and maybe there's some tall
bastard standing in front of you. So however subjectively brilliant the
band, many factors can conspire to make that utopian brilliance less
obvious. In my experience, the things in my list above help a band get
noticed more, and hence listened to more, and so (hopefully) appreciated
more.
So here they are...
- 1989-1993
Shriekback;
Died Pretty;
Young Gods;
Nick Cave/ Clouds/ Welcome Mat/ Falling Joys;
Ratcat/ Tall Tales & True/ Club Hoy/ Fear of Falling;
Rev. Horton Heat;
Died Pretty/ Kim Salmon/ Welcome Mat;
Sisters of Mercy.
- 1994-1995
The Bloodloop Beautiful;
Depeche Mode;
Veruca Salt;
Marion; Marc Almond;
Young Gods.
- 1996
Lush; Everything but the Girl;
Judith/ Libitina;
Long Pigs;
Rosetta Stone/ [Children on] Stun/ Dream Disciples.
- 1997
Geneva, Tiger, Symposium, 3ColoursRed;
Placebo/ Deus;
The Muttonbirds;
Linoleum/ AC Acoustics/ Silversun/ Reef/
Monaco/ Mansun/ Chemical Bros/...;
Veruca Salt, Placebo, FooFighters, Longpigs, Prodigy;
Horatii?/ blah/ Libitina/ Sisters of Murphy?;
Marionettes/ Libitina;
Inkubus Sukkubus, The Screaming Dead/ Mantra;
All Living Fear/ These Crimson Dreams;
Alien Sex Fiend.
- 1998
Faith and the Muse/ Stun;
Inkubus Sukkubus;
Sisters of Murphy/ These Crimson Dreams;
Puressence/ Straw;
Coloursound/ Liquid Head;
Ultraviolence/ Generation Xed/ 3 Spy Red;
Sunshine Blind/ Funhouse/ StagesOfCruelty;
Bauhaus;
All Living Fear/ These Crimson Dreams.
- 1999
Creatures/ support; Nervosa; Horatii/ Vyvyan/ Waterglass;
ChaosEngine; Star-80; Sneaky Bat Machine/ Narcissus Pool;
Horatii/ Sneaky Bat Machine/ Star-80;
Inkubus Sukkubus/ The Screaming Dead/ Decendants of Cain;
C-Tec/ Covenant/ Inertia/ Chaos Engine/ Leechwoman/ The Borg/ Man(i)kin/ K-Nitrate;
Mesh/ Manuscript/ Chaos Engine;
DreamDisciples/ Nervosa/ ArkhamAsylum;
- 2000
Killing Miranda/ AngelWhore/ K-Nitrate;
Apoptygma Berserk/ Inertia/ Carpe Diem;
Queen Adreena/ Sahara Hotnights;
Clan of Xymox/In the Nursery/ Diary of Dreams/ Killing Miranda/ Greenhaus/ Altered States/ Mechanical Cabaret/ Faces of Sarah;
Sunshine Blind/ Complicity/ Psychophile;
Freudstein;
Waterglass/ Interlock/ AngelWhore;
Ligature/ Dark Cell/ All Living Fear/ Drowned;
Breath of Life/ Narcissus Pool/ Skinflowers;
Decendants of Cain;
Queen Adreena/ Little Hell/ The Imps;
- 2001
Seventh Harmonic/ Cauda Pavonis/ Leisure Hive/ Blind Before Dawn;
Fun Loving Criminals;
Faces of Sarah;
Inertia/ Melotron/ Swarf;
Project Pitchfork/ Chaos Engine/ Temple X / Maxidymz (?);
Rev. Horton Heat/ Hamell on Trial / (?);
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds;
Funhouse/ Corrosion/ D.U.S.T.;
Dream Disciples/ Emma Conquest/ Psychophile;
Mechanical Cabaret;
D.U.S.T./Leisure Hive/ Sleeping Pictures/ Womb;
Cruxshadows/ Mechanical Cabaret;
Killing Miranda/ Kiss the Blade / Maxdimyz vs I.O.N.;
De/Vision/ Evils Toy;
- 2002
Fad Gadget/ Greenhaus/ Psychophile;
Einsteifen/ Ghost of Lemora/ Action Directe/ Misnomer;
Jesus Fix/ Ghost of Lemora/ Libitina/ Muffpunch;
Swarf/ Psychophile/ Deathboy/ Ariel+Flames;
Passion Play/ Belisha/ Descendants of Cain;
Waterglass;
Kiss the Frog/ Lesur Hive/ Forcis(?)/ Camira(?);
Apoptygma Berserk/ Sheep on Drugs/ Sulpher/ Angels and Agony/ Greenhaus/ Chaos Engine/ Needleye;
Descendants of Cain;
Komputer/ Barry Andrews/ Neck Doppler/ Drop/ Ed Baxter/ Wayward Grace;
Sigue Sigue Sputnik/ Goteki/ Mechanical Cabaret/ Complicity;
- 2003
Psychophile/ Freudstein/ Deathboy/ Arkam Asylum/ Impulse 9;
Leisur::Hive/ All Living Fear/ Faetal/ Conspiracy/ Living with Eating Disorders;
Ghost of Lemora/ Skinflick/ Scary Bitches/ Einsteifen;
FaithAndTheMuse/ KillingMiranda/ ScaryBitches/ Misnomer;
Psychophile/ 9xDead/ DevilishPresley;
- 2004
Altered States/ Libitina/ Cauda Pavonis/ Tracer;
Last days of Jesus/Devilish Presley/ Vincent Razorbacks;
Terry Edwards & the Scapegoats/ Leisur Hive/ Living with Eating Disorders;
Bella Morte/ Zombina & the Skeletones/ Devilish Presley;
Ghost of Lemora/ Demeter/ Screaming Banshee Aircrew/ Kinho;
- 2005 (someone)
- 2006 (none)
- 2007 (none yet)
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