(c) Dr Paul Kinsler. [Acknowledgements & Feedback]
Sisters of Murphy; 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;
Index; Last year: 1997; Next year: 1999
Dont remember this much really. Probably entertaining. Then I had to run to the coach station to meet future wife.
I vote "Faith and the Snooze" as dullest ambient goth band of the Year. Talented, a good 'image', a variety of songs, but still dull. Still, probably just a personal taste thing. And they should really try and work on their between songs bit, I've never seen so much aimless wandering around looking slightly lost from a band before. Not unlike their music really ;-) IMO one of 'em should talk to the crowd, or play some kind of wibbly intrumental thing to link tracks -- the way they did it, all atmosphere seem to get lost as they adjusted things. And for an "atmospheric" kind of band, that's a mistake, isn't it? Best Song: I haven't the faintest idea what any of their songs are called.
A band of pagans, going by their songs. A good energetic stage presence. But what does that guy with the kilt and flat drum thingy actually do? I liked them a lot the first time I saw them; less so this second time, but I think that I just wasn't in the right mood. Their lyrics are a bit too feminine and agricultural for my liking, give me something more Apollonian any day.
I've seen these Crimson Dreams them before the Josephs Well gig, but I'm not sure where. Supporting ALF at Le Phono, maybe? Anyway, while listening to them they kept reminding me of some other bands, at first I thought it might have been the Clouds, a non-goth Australian band -- mainly, I think, because TCD have two female vocals. Then later on I though I might be thinking of the US band Tribe (also non-goth), with the similarity in the slight urgency of the singing, and the overlapping phrasing from the two voices. I'm sure that there was some guitar and keyboards in there as well, but nothing about them sticks in my mind. I think I'd quite like them if I knew what they were singing about, but I've always found it difficult to pick up the words to unfamiliar songs at gigs. Perhaps if they improved their links and at least said the title of the songs clearly it might help. As a final note, do not expect the lead vocalist to carry anything, especially any band-related equipment ;-).
Sisters of Murphy: Damn good, for what they are. I'd have to mark them 11/10 for volume, smoke, and my vodka consumption except I didn't get back to the bar after they started their set. But actually I'm a little confused -- I know it isn't strictly necessary to cover songs word for word, but do those lyrics _really_ need to be "Lucretia, my erection"? And who was that guy playing the air guitar? Will his legs still work ok? And they did a cover of the real SoM doing a cover version -- very postmodern (or something).
Straw are if you like indie. Good in places, bad in others.
Puressence: while they were sort of OK, it wasn't good enough to be entertaining, and not bad enough to be amusing. Actually, they were lots better than this. The singer has an excellent voice, and I think I'd have enjoyed this a lot more if I was more familiar with their material.
Liquid Head were pretty good, although they probably should stop their drummer from trying to sing. I guess I liked about two-thirds of what they played, and while they mixed styles a little, they pretty much sounded consistent all the way through. Not sure how to describe it though. As I cant think of any musical comments, I'll just suggest that if their singer is going to do the show topless, perhaps he could spend a little more time in the gym. ;-)
Coloursound. Well, they rocked. They kicked ass. This, I think was the reason the LiquidHead drummer was braying during the previous set, so their technique oviously went as far as permitting temporal anomalies. I mean, this was a mid-eighties Iron Maiden concert, wasn't it?
But there was no room for Corporate Rawk on this stage -- that space was already taken up by Coloursound.
Technically superior to LH in all ways, but let down by a delivery that didn't have a single hair out of place. These men were not spitting glass at the audience. Still, the audience loved 'em, probably the best gig they ever went to. Depressing, isn't it.
3 Spy Red: two men and some machines that go bleep. Sounded OK, but nothing much to see. Generation Xed: two shouty blokes and another two men and some more machines that go bleep ... they clearly cared very deeply, but I'm not sure what about. But not too bad, for all that. Ultraviolence: claimed to be cyber-goth on one flyer I saw and ... they aren't ... I'd have thought they were industrial or something, though I'm not really up with all the labels. Damn good band, damn good sound, and a damn good time was had. If I was more into their sound, it might have been the best gig ever.
Hmm, so deep in the Mex-goth haunt of the Borderline, a band called Stages of Cruelty were being intermittently good, and drawing attention to their crap bits by going on about them at great length. This was probably a mistake, since half of them I hadn't noticed until they were mentioned for the second time. They were obviously embarassed though, as I dont recall them ever saying who they were. A drummer, some waxworks swaying gently in the smoke and playing guitar-type things, and a singer in what was almost an interesting dress.
Then twas the time for the suspiciously foreign sounding Funhouse, who it transpired were a band with ex-wives hailing from Sweden, or something. Didn't sound musically very foreign though, just a sort of blend of Cult & Mission. But they weren't taking themselves seriously, and certainly put on a good show. More of a stage presence than their predecessors on the stage, and they certainly seemed to enjoy partaking of beverages.
And now, after my third #2.40 vodka, I realised that the last time I'd paid that much for drinks was in a resort hotel in Egypt. Oh for the advent of gigs at the Meanwood Working Mens Club, and 91p shots. Still, at least they kindly topped up my ice-cubes and lemon slice with a small amount of coke.
Sunshine Blind. Well, they fixed the initial sound problems and then there was no stopping them except the fact that eleven o'clock eventually turned up. I've probably said this before, but a gig finishing early enough so you can catch normal public transport home? Ah, how civilised these English. Antipodean gigs I frequented almost never even got the first band on stage before eleven. I partook in much leaping about at the front (or more accurately a moderate amount), I wasn't dancing, honest, I was just trying to avoid getting my toes trampled on or being knocked flying into the nearest pillar. Again. But a top of the range performance from SB.
So, the lights come up. Someone feels me bum. Eh? Was it Uncle Nemesis thanking me personally for venturing out on a rainy night? Did I imagine it? Turned around to see dodgy black clad bloke disappearing into the crowd. But then the place was full of them, so who can say. Probably just wishful thinking.
Friday. 4:30pm. After 2 days of virus, I'm psyched up to go out and see Bauhaus at the Manchester Academy. Off with the stereo and out the door. Number 42 bus. Train to Man. Oxford Rd, make a quick pitstop, livened up by the gentleman combing his hair while aggressively threatening someone who wasn't there. Probably he was just practising his routine for later.
"Isn't the Academy a long way down Oxford Rd" -- I remember thinking this while walking down thataway for a Young Gods gig a few years. Buy some chips. Eat chips. Buy some vodka in Hoghead, drink, then wander back up the road to queue. Everyone from scouser casuals to full-on ubergoffs in costumes that look like they took take fourteen hours to put on. It's just after 7:30pm, and the doors open. There are almost more scalpers trying to sell me tickets than there were dealers trying to sell me hash while I wandered down the main street in Lisbon a few month ago. I join the queue while at about its maximum length.
OK, I'm in. Ho hum. Dum dum de dum. Indifferent music plays in the background and variously dressed people mill about. Someone who looks rather like a plainclothes policeman wanders by looking more out of place than even the oldies back for a little nostalgia.
Bored yet? I was. Oooh, but now it's 9:30pm-ish. Five hours since I left home. Bauhaus are on. Hooray! Not a good build up though, what with all the waiting and muzak, so it takes me four or five songs to warm up. Nothing wrong with the show -- but I knew there there was a reason for support bands and DJ's. I'd probably have enjoyed the gig about a zillion times more with a proper build-up. Bounced about at the front for a bit, and lost a cufflink; bounced some more, but two hours of pre-gig tedium has a lot of inertia. Still, much better than Coloursound ;-). Many encores, three? four?. These occur after about a minutes of shouting, and consist of one song. Probably only the equivalent of two encores then. Still, no reason to complain, a great show, all the old songs. No sign of flabby old blokes tying to squeeze a few pennies out of nostalgia hungy fans, so top marks for that. EOG. Find cufflink, now well squashed flat. :-(
Wander out and up the road. What to do ... the 11:50pm train to Leeds, or Rockworld? Sod it, Rockworld, it is, ... hmm. No tap water at bar. Temperature such that you sweat in shirtsleeves even while standing still. Shite vodka -- and I'll even lower myself to drink Virgin vodka if I have to. Dodgy sound system, and indifferent music. Well, it might have been great music, it wasn't at all easy to tell. I'm _distinctly_ unimpressed. Thank christ I never bothered to go there before. Alternate dancing and watch-checking. Wander off to catch 1:44am train back to Leeds. Leeds. Giant taxi queue, so walk home.
Full marks to Bauhaus. Fewer marks to whoever it was who had the idea that they'd come across better with nothing but a black curtain beforehand.
Still, I suppose it could have been a khaki curtain.
I'd never been in the Fenton before. 1-0 to Everton vs Newcastle at half time. Cant finish the crossword. In desperation ;-) I climb the stairs. I think it might even be dingier than the Duchess up here.
So These Crimson Dreams start playing. This is the third time I've seen them, and they're all right really. A bit sort of ambient for my tastes, but quite good at times. Some indecipherable mumbling between songs, but not very much. What were they trying to say? "We aren't These Crimson Dreams, we're Exotic Death Piercing"? "Thank all five of you for coming"? (OK, I lie, there were more than five people). "The next song is 'Death Row Nipple'"? I quite like knowing song titles, knowing some context helps me pick up the lyrics, and so gets the idea behind the song across better, and so increases my enjoyment. Since I'm not going to hear these guys on the radio, I'm not going hear what song is which unless they tell me (or I buy an album, I suppose). Perhaps other people prefer the mumbling though. I wonder if the singer carried anything offstage after the gig. I suppose I'll never know for sure.
All Living Fear. Didn't there used to be three of them? The singer struggles to carry a tune, so he lets us know by opening with an acoustic number. I quite like ALF, but for a while I wonder if I really shouldn't have gone to my usual Monday jive night instead. It takes me two or three of the following numbers to stop noticing the voice. A new song "Game Show Host". Great ... heard the title, can make out (some of) the lyrics and everything. Fab. Bounce. I wonder if I should email j.peel and vote for it? From then on I enjoyed myself, and they played right up to the 11pm time limit. Finished on a cover, and if I recall, last time I saw them (at Le Phono) they did the same. It wasn't bad, it's just I went away from the gig with this cover, someone elses song, going through my head -- when it should have been one of ALFs songs. Do they rely on covers to end on a high note? I think they're better than that.
Index; Last year: 1997; Next year: 1999
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Date=20000721 1130 19981118 Author=P.Kinsler Created=19981008
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