gig update

cult of luna:
dry, and alone, and feeling exhausted, ii went to the cult of luna show. the lights went down and a beautiful taped piano version of 'marching to the heart beats' came on, and people didn't shut up. then, when they walked onto stage, instead of going straight into 'finland' like you expected, they played it experimental and went with the old set closer 'waiting for you' but without anymore drums than tambourine and light synthetics. the guitarists played it totally straight - but there was no huge big banging. instead of the singer running out for the last 15 seconds (of 8 minutes), we were left with the guitarist's, often off-mic, efforts. ii can understand why people would talk through the (lengthy) opening music, but when they're on stage, please, just shut up and let's all enjoy the band. when the singer did come on, he couldn't quite get the force of the recordings and couldn't hold a note. but the musicianship - if a little close to the album versions largely, with some great variations in tempo and volume (the intro drum roll on 'echoes' is now monumental) - was excellent. a shame at the vocals generally let it down, especially on 'crossing over', which is actually possibly the most beautiful moment in metal ever.

bill bailey and the bbc concert orchestra:
often something of a mel brookes-style slant to this evening; the vastly expensive crap joke, of which part of the humour is 'i can't beliieve you made all that effort for that cheap joke', which of course just makes it funnier (bad e.g. 'what's the matter colonel sanders? chicken?'). but a great way to refresh some now-very-old tunes, and a great opportunity to see someone playing the theremin really well.


girls girls girls:


yes, girls girls girls, but more importantly, me giving luke the masters for my last five releases and saying 'now go make me some money'. i could talk much more (as always) about the awful supporting wench then the very acceptable girls, whose new songs definitely impress in an unexpected way; but what, no 'south america', 'vepp's email' or 'morning sickness'? how can you flog a cd and not play any of the songs on it? can't really comment further, as i'm not an impartial observer.

euros childs:
fantastic. well i'd imagine so; it was sold out. tommy and i walked from piccadilly to the mall, then turned right instead of left, all the way down to the victoria monument, then back up to find it exactly where we'd joined the road. walking up to the door, i noticed two figures outside smoking;one was obviously david wrench, the other identifiable as the durmmer and multi-instumentalist in the euros childs band. i was well made up to see david wrench, who looked a lot frailer in real life than in promo shots. having just loaded up on copies of 'new boyfriend' e.p. (it's largely a 'single' thing, maybe not deliberate, but it seemed to work with the lovely marion) so i gave him a copy, and under pressure described myself as 'eclectonica' (which seems to have usurped 'prog-pop' and 'heavy meta-l'as my new favourite description). then we went in and found out it was sold out. we went back outside and hinted that the guys should sneak us in but they wouldn't have it so we walked across town, getting lost in the west end so we could find ourselves again with maps, and ended up in a nice belgian bar ion drury lane. it was a good night. and now i'm late for my bed appointment.
might just add some more face book's first.. where's all the white girls at?