I talked Clive into coming along tonight by playing him some Cordelia's Dad stuff, and we headed off, finding the place easily (first roundabout off the M32). However, when we gained entry we found out it was a heavy metal bar, so Clive in particular felt conspicuous in his flowery shirt! Quite a contrast from the indie student populated gig the previous night!
The first band on was consequently a horrendous HM band of the lowest common denominator; lumpen, noisy and really crap. The opener "Rocking In The Free World" would have had Neil Young reaching for the lawsuits. Clive and I retired to the quiet end of the pub for this set.
Cordelia's Dad were on at 10, and were introduced by a fat screaming compere, who vocalist Tim immediately deflated with a laconic, "yeah, rock'n'roll," put-down. With a less dynamic, more low-key start, tonight's set took until 4th number "Brother Johnson" ("not Magic Johnson, we don't do songs about sports stars!" said Tim) to really burst into life. Then "Jersey City" and "Bright Smile", following in quick succession, turned me and Clive into whirling dervishes, and with their aggressive guitar attack, these two even had a nearby leather-clad HM dude declaring they were pretty good!
So, a difficult gig on the face of it turned into a minor triumph, as Cordelia's Dad even got an encore, the moody and edgy noise-fest of "My Pretty Little Pink", which I've never really liked much on record, but which was great "live", taking flight. Quick congrats afterwards, after another fine set!
I ended up seeing their folk side project, io, instead.
ReplyDeleteRubbish.