3 posts tagged “zodiac”
Regular readers (I jest - this blog doesn't even have regular writers) may have noticed that in April of 2007 I went to a gig and saw a lovely singer named Adele. I wasn't too impressed, having seen her after an act called Peggy Sue and the Pirates who were like a funner, better version of her, and she was a very inconsistent performer too. Now, she is the biggest thing since sliced bread, I've read about her in the papers three times this weekend and her album is number one on the iTunes chart. Who knew?
I also think she is rather brilliant. I've downloaded the album and it's wonderful. You should all download it too - it's folksy lovely ballads and throaty singing. Hopefully the cock-ups in her performance in Oxford was a one off. If not, we've all been scammed.
Therefore I hereby make a compromise. I wish to receive free tickets to see Adele in concert again so I can re-evaluate her performance and make sure she can play her guitar and hit all the right notes properly (two of her shortcomings in the 2007 performance I saw). If I cannot have the tickets, I would like Adele to say sorry. That is all.
Oh dear oh dear. Things did not go well for Wednesday's gig.
Let's start with the reason I bought the ticket. I have recently been sent lots of catchy dancey indie by a friend. One of the tracks was the Dykeenies' Waiting for Go - something I had seen on music TV and quite liked. When I saw that they were playing at the Zodiac I bought two tickets and decided I would go along and cast my critical eye upon their live performance. While they were only a support band, I was still up for going when I saw that the other support was the Half Rabbits, a local band who's frontman lives down the road from me and whom I once accidentally stalked. My sister also knows him through university. The headlining act was The Enemy. I listened to some songs on their Myspace and...well...try for yourselves.
So I get to the Zodiac with ginger gig-going g...friend, Kate, and we find out that the Dykeenies have been 'held up in Scotland' and won't be playing. Not. Happy. I'd listened to a few of their songs by now and while they were mostly rubbish, whiney teenage indie-pop, it was the kind of rubbish, whiney teenage indie-pop that I like. At least I know it's rubbish. So, sulking, I slunk into the Zodiac and waited for the Half Rabbits to come on.
It was downhill from there.
A minute into their first track and I remembered why I didn't like them. They sound like an Irish Placebo but without the good lyrics and the look, as most of them are students. They slunk on, all dressed in black, looking sulky, and gave us some angry-ish Gothic rock with a Somerset/Irish twang. Yes, I know. It's weird. They played five songs from their first album and a new single, Louis' Revenge.
Their stage performance wasn't fantastic - they did just stand and play and not do any crowd entertaining, but the music was enough to distract from that - while I don't like it, it's certainly not bad. And if you watch carefully, you can get some serious entertainment from lead singer Michael. He gets seriously into his guitar solos. And seriously into his facial gestures. Observe:
The bassist also entertained me; she looked funky. I suppose it's hard not to be a tiny bit funky when you're a bassist but she looked like she got the funk (sorry). Observe: Alas, the crowd were not feeling it. Most of them were engaged in the observe and nod technique, but
We spent the break between sets trying to get the barman's attention to get some free waters and doing the robot (well everyone else was) to the Scrubs theme tune.
The crowd had mysteriously grown by the time The Enemy were set to come on. Mostly populated by trendy men in their mid-twenties and some of their girlfriends, I was squashed around many a man armed with a pint and a cigarette. Not my favourite scenario, as I have nightmares of people spilling beer on me. You may laugh, but, well, shut up.
I was bewildered by the growing crowd since everyone I'd talked to about the Enemy mentioned their rubbish reputation. Then three twelve year olds walked on stage. Oh dear.
The performance was erm...odd. The frontman was either drunk for the first time or pretending, and affecting a very northern accent - 'Yous fookin better dance like.' The music was decent, indie-pop-rock, fairly catchy and something that might get big but shouldn't. The bassist was very into his gig and seemed to think that extra attitude would conquer his nervousness. The camera was not kind to him:
The drummer had attracted the aforementioned boring teenage crowd at the front. Only the girls remained, clinging to the barrier and looking annoyed at anyone who brushed past them and mussed their hair. They knew all the words to the songs and spent the whole gig stroking their hair down and taking, then comparing pictures of the drummer. Groupies!
The rest of the crowd was...well...weird. A group of about 15 of the twentysomethings decided to start a baby mosh pit on one side of the stage. Sadly, I think it was their first mosh pit and they seemed a little furtive about it. Towards the end of the set they got very blokey and into it, but something just wasn't right. Whether it was the 2 metre gap between the mosh pittaki (the aki suffix comes from Greek, and means small) and the rest of the crowd, standing sensibly and rolling their eyes at the rowdy men and the rubbish music, or the fact that several older men (the bands' dads?) were in there too, mouthing all the words, it was a little bit worrying.
Overall? Disappointing gig. I wanted to see the Dykeenies, they didn't show. Sulk.
It started at 8 with the brilliant Hangar 18, a rap duo from New York who had some very speedy lyrics, dancey beats and were big on crowd involvement. There was definately some talent there, although we weren't convinced they weren't lipsynching.
Following were Madina Lake. Not so good. It was an unhappy combination of trying and failing to perform My Chemical Romance type songs with a similar look, and failing miserably. They were booed and apparently the lead singer ended up going to hospital. Good mosh pit though, even if it was strictly ironic moshing on my part.
Then, after an excruciatingly long wait, on came the Heroes. Since a friend offered me a ticket to see them in November, I had been avidly listening and falling in love with the realist lyrics, catchy indie-style music and energetic sound of the Gym Class Heroes. A band without genre, although frequently classed as indie-rap-emo, frontman Travis writes, raps and sings about love, friendships, women, depression, alcohol and Myspace.
I was all kinds of excited about seeing them, and nearly lost a lung in my enthusiasm when they walked on stage.
The third song was The Queen and I, a surprisingly upbeat song about a girl suffering from alcoholism, released in September 2006, and most of the crowd knew and danced and sang along with.
Then came a few tracks from their latest album, then a combination of a few songs from an older album, which included personal favourites A Beautiful Day, a narrative about waking up on a good day and the euphoric feelings following, and Taxi Driver, an original song which tells a story aided by the incorporation of band names: 'I took cutie for a ride in my deathcab. She tipped me with a kiss I dropped her off at the meth lab. Before she left she made a dashboard confessional,' and so forth.
The best part of the gig had to be Travis and his interactions with the young and excited crowd; mostly people my age; still at school and familiar with many of the band's songs. His friendly face, stylish clothes, and genuine enthusiasm at the crowd made it a brilliant performance, even if it was only an 8 song set.
Best songs included Cupid's Chokehold, a love song, Scandalous Scholastics, a rude song about a relationship with a teacher, New Friend Request, about chasing a pretty girl on Myspace, and ending with Clothes Off, using Patrick Stump's original 80s sample from his song of the same name.
Afterwards the band came out to sign t-shirts and take photos, we got a few of each. Hangar 18 were selling and signing merchandise and were incredibly friendly and charismatic.
Gym Class Heroes officially marked the opening of my gig season! And a brilliant start. The only part I have to complain about is coming away smelling disgusting and my new GCH t-shirt got beer on it. However, I am willing to overlook this since not only did I talk to and get my t-shirt signed by the brilliant Travis, but he also touched my hand. Never. Washing. It. Again. Like. Ever.
