First time at old 80's haunt the Bierkeller for a good long while, and first time ever for my gig buddy, young Tim! Had a couple of games of pool, as is traditional here, before our peace was broken rudely by Bis, who were energetic but a mulchy mess of sub-Shonen Knife and Subway Records shouty DIY crap!
Lou Barlow's Sebadoh sauntered on at 10.15, and played an intriguing set of introspective guitar stuff, slightly left field from Luna, interspersed with some shouty Nirvana-esque head trips led by the young bassist. Lou, a mythical figure in US Alt-rock circles, was a downbeat and introverted little soul onstage, which conversely held the audience's attention well! He dealt with hecklers who kept calling out names of people he resembled ("Woody Allen!" "Rick Moranis!") very politely and matter-of-factly indeed, and overall came across as a nice and genuine caring bloke, a view further underlined by his occasionally brilliantly emotional paeans of love lost and found... and sometimes lost again.
And the band played on... and on! An expected hour-long set became 1 hour 25 minutes, which after a 7 song encore (!) became 1 hour 50! Sebadoh proved tonight, unfortunately, that it is possible to have too much of a good thing; a 1 hour 15 minute gig would have been excellent!
Showing posts with label Sebadoh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sebadoh. Show all posts
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
390 SEBADOH, Nought, Oxford Zodiac, Thursday 19 November 1998
A strangely early one this, and my first time for awhile back at a venue (formerly The Venue) which I really don't care for too much; too smoky, wooden and packed, as I recall! Still, doors at 7 and we got our tickets from the door just after 10 past, so we were therefore part of a whole load of people from tonight's sell-out crowd in to hear support Nought. Sporting a thin female vocalist with a strong resemblance to Janet Street Porter (oh dear), they were bloody awful actually; an instrumental set of sub-HM thrashy rock doodling, which they obviously thought made them MBV. It really doesn't, guys...
They were thankfully over by 8.30, and we joined the packed-out throng at the front for the entrance of Lou Barlow's Sebadoh just after 9 pm, Barlow joining us by skipping (yes, skipping) across the stage. I must confess I'm still not over-familiar with Sebadoh, but this was an enjoyable, low-fi, considered set of US college rock and balladry. At least when Barlow was in charge, that is... however, the bass player had a slot of half a dozen numbers mid-set, which he sung and which were incongruously noisy ramalama punk, a la Offspring. Really not sure about that. Lou took over again for the final 4 numbers, which were the best of the night, culminating in a sensitive, touching and heart-felt "Soul And Fire" and a searing "Beauty Of The Ride".
So, Sebadoh, once again a fine but flawed performance. But early, so over by 10, and home before 11!
They were thankfully over by 8.30, and we joined the packed-out throng at the front for the entrance of Lou Barlow's Sebadoh just after 9 pm, Barlow joining us by skipping (yes, skipping) across the stage. I must confess I'm still not over-familiar with Sebadoh, but this was an enjoyable, low-fi, considered set of US college rock and balladry. At least when Barlow was in charge, that is... however, the bass player had a slot of half a dozen numbers mid-set, which he sung and which were incongruously noisy ramalama punk, a la Offspring. Really not sure about that. Lou took over again for the final 4 numbers, which were the best of the night, culminating in a sensitive, touching and heart-felt "Soul And Fire" and a searing "Beauty Of The Ride".
So, Sebadoh, once again a fine but flawed performance. But early, so over by 10, and home before 11!
Saturday, 30 January 2010
611 SEBADOH, SJ Esau, Bristol Louisiana, Thursday 16 October 2003
Went along to this one anticipating an intriguing night of melancholy from one of US Alt-rock's stalwarts, old misery-trousers himself Lou Barlow. The "Acoustic Show" billing for this gig at least meant we were spared some of band-mate Jason Lowenstein's more "rawk" excesses! So we hit the venue at 8.30, the place already full in anticipation of this sell-out show. Got a stage-left spot for SJ Esau, a painfully young John Linnell (They Might Be Giants) lookalike with simple, stupid songs and a weird effects pedal. A lot of his stuff should've been left in his bedroom dustbin, however.
Lou Barlow took the stage at 9.20 and proceeded to sit there on his own for 10 minutes (!) before being joined by his faithful lieutenant Jason, who allegedly, "thought he (Lou) was still in the bathroom!" Thereafter, their set was very entertaining; musically quiet, sombre and generally melancholy as expected, with Lou repeatedly requesting to turn his guitar down, but in between the avalanche of songs both Lou and Jason revealed not a little amount of humour with their banter. "I love damp and cool, so put me on a plane to England, baby," was one of Lou's classic lines, as was the way they both dealt with a dickhead down the front who had a wife fixation (?!). The audience, sensing the vibe, joined in ("This may be our last UK date for awhile," said Lou, prompting a wag to reply, "well, you're not getting any younger!") and I got in on the act too, advising a confused Jason that Lou's "in his cups" line was a Shakespearian reference to being pissed!
Musically,the introspective "On Fire" and the inevitable heartbreak of "Soul And Fire" were highlights, as was a bizarre number which climaxed with both singers shouting, "the oven is my friend!" Attempts afterwards to get Jason to give me the set-list were unsuccessful ("it's the only one we have, and we're off to Holland now, otherwise, totally"), but this didn't detract (much) from a surprisingly funny and entertaining hour and a half!
Lou Barlow took the stage at 9.20 and proceeded to sit there on his own for 10 minutes (!) before being joined by his faithful lieutenant Jason, who allegedly, "thought he (Lou) was still in the bathroom!" Thereafter, their set was very entertaining; musically quiet, sombre and generally melancholy as expected, with Lou repeatedly requesting to turn his guitar down, but in between the avalanche of songs both Lou and Jason revealed not a little amount of humour with their banter. "I love damp and cool, so put me on a plane to England, baby," was one of Lou's classic lines, as was the way they both dealt with a dickhead down the front who had a wife fixation (?!). The audience, sensing the vibe, joined in ("This may be our last UK date for awhile," said Lou, prompting a wag to reply, "well, you're not getting any younger!") and I got in on the act too, advising a confused Jason that Lou's "in his cups" line was a Shakespearian reference to being pissed!
Musically,the introspective "On Fire" and the inevitable heartbreak of "Soul And Fire" were highlights, as was a bizarre number which climaxed with both singers shouting, "the oven is my friend!" Attempts afterwards to get Jason to give me the set-list were unsuccessful ("it's the only one we have, and we're off to Holland now, otherwise, totally"), but this didn't detract (much) from a surprisingly funny and entertaining hour and a half!
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