Monday, January 29th, 2007
Wow, that was a kick in the balls I didn’t expect! And it only cost me six quid.
I was only there through the curiosity of whether a band with such a ridiculous (but brilliant) name were actually any good.
Man these guys make a lot of noise. Mainly down to the 2 (yes, two) drummers. This is handy at times, because it leaves one of them free to go for a jaunt through the audience mid-song.
Buy their records if you must, but just make sure you see this band play live. Soon, before they inevitably implode under the weight of their own ferocity.
Thursday, January 25th, 2007
Having been moved from local venue Scala all the way across town to the ‘Bush, tonight’s gig outing isn’t off to a great start. And with a college exam tomorrow I should be studying for, this better be worth it! Its not that anyone’s twisted my arm to come along tonight, after all who’d miss out on a one-off performance of the best album of last year. But I’m just a little sceptical about whether a live show can do it justice.
Three or four songs in, I’m starting to think maybe I shouldn’t have bothered. Maybe they shouldn’t have bothered? If this was a play I’d call it say the acting was a bit wooden. But then something strange happens. Isobel speaks! Some crowd interaction? A joke? A freakin disco ball?! All of which accompanies a new song (huh?!), to which we’re told to clap along if we’re “cool enough in London”. I’m not convinced we are. Right at the death they come within a maracca shake of rescuing the whole night, with a rousing rendition of Ramblin’ Man, although bizzarely rather than bowing out on a high they descend into a five-minute bluesy dirge before leaving the stage.
A charmingly shambolic performance from Ms Campbell, accompanied by an unsurprisingly cool and understated presence from Lanegan. In the end, about as good a show as I expected. Still though, what a fuckin’ album.
