Arrived at venue at 7.10pm. Got beer. Mylo came on. Quite good. Got more beer. Faithless came on. Faithless can ROCK!
What a great gig. Met up with Scott (Louise’s boss), and had time for a beer before Mylo came on. If you’ve heard his album “Destroy Rock & Roll” then you aren’t missing much from his live show to be honest. Add in live guitar and bass and that’s pretty much it. Of course that doesn’t count for it being, probably, my album of the year nor for how good ANY music sounds when it’s played really really loud (trouser shakingly so). I should probably throw in a few exceptions to that last sentence as I’m not sure hurdy-gurdy music would be at it’s best being pumped through a 500W sound system but hey, each to their own.
We headed to the bar when Mylo announced his last track, thankfully that meant we only had to endure a five deep queue. Mind you, maybe endure isn’t the correct word as right behind me I had a rather curvy young lady literally rubbing herself up against me in, I presume, a pre-coital act. Either that or she was just trying to get past me in the queue.
Beers secured I managed to bump into my sister. A fleeting hello and she was off, no doubt to get into a good position. Scott and I fondly remembered the day when the moshpit was our domain. These days it’s all rather off-putting though, as Scott pointed out, you just KNOW your calves would be killing you the next day. Time waits for no man.
And then that magical moment. The lights go down. Everyone cheers as the excitment builds. The music starts. Maxi Jazz appears on stage… Reverence.
It’s all a bit of a blur after that. Insomnia, God is a DJ, Mass Destruction (punk stylee!) are weaved in amongst some of the slower tracks from the new album. Now, I’m not a great fan of the new album but the tracks used worked well to punctuate the faster moments allowing you a spot of respite before the next “hands in the air” moment. Next thing you know, We Come 1 is blasting out, fingers are raised in tribute and it’s all over.
Well, it’s all over if you need to get the train home – a couple of letters are being sent today as it’s bloody annoying to have the last train at 11pm when the gig finishes at approx. the same time. It’s even more annoying when they play two of my favourite tracks, Muhammad Ali and Salva Mea, for the encore (I could hear them as I queued to get my jacket from the cloakroom).
Anyway, suffice to say that if you get the chance, even if you only know a few of their tracks, I would recommend you go see this band live. They encapsulate, for me, what a good band is all about. They don’t just turn up, regurgitate their latest album and a few hits, they put on a show and what a show it was.