Another
one which Tim largely twisted my arm to go to, and another, like Okkervil River
earlier this month, that he was absolutely spot-on about! 90’s Seattle
post-grunge powerpop legends The Posies announced a 30th Anniversary
tour which piqued my interest somewhat, but as the closest they were coming to
the ‘don was this gig at Highbury Garage, I was prepared to give it a miss,
particularly bearing in mind the embarrassing drunken chaos which my last
attended Posies gig (gig 670, waaay back in 2005) degenerated into. However.
Tim’s enthusiasm won the day, so we duly booked tix for a first Posies gig –
and first time back at The Garage! – for 13 long years! Yipe!
It being
a Friday, we made reparations to leave early, so I taxied into work and Tim
picked me up from there at 4 for a startlingly swift drive up. Remembering the
chaotic journey back from the Sparks gig in May, we parked in Shepherd’s Bush
(our early arrival there necessitating us hanging around until we could legally
park, including a swift drive around the block to avoid an approaching traffic
warden!) and tubed it over, hitting an embarrassingly deserted venue about ¼
past 7. Early, true, but The Posies were due on at 8… took an easy spot on the
barrier, house left, and surveyed my regular 90’s North London haunt – I think
it was suffering from the Wagon Wheel effect, as it was a lot smaller than I
remembered! Opener Anna Wolf, a striking brunette with an accompanying
guitarist, took the stage in short order, and assaulted our eardrums with some
poor doomy Goth/ pop crossover material, like Paloma Faith trying on dark
eyeliner and playing with Hallowe’en dolls. A stage presence part Kate Bush,
part Katniss Everdeen and part scalded cat, she jumped up and down and bashed
remorselessly on an innocent floor tom, with a voice that emerged from her
throat as if it had been on death row down there. Minus several points for the
dreaded loops and effects pedals as well; the only saving grace was at 4 songs,
this was short – and easy to pack away afterwards!
Luckily
we have the plangent melody and graceful 60’s infused intertwining harmonies of
The Posies to cleanse our collective palates, I thought… hoo boy, little did I
know… The Posies took the stage prompt at 8 to a still-disappointing turnout
(between 2/3 and ¾ full, in my estimation), in pretty good humour from the
outset, Ken Stringfellow commenting, “good gravy, it’s The Garage!” and
swapping compliments and self-confessed “dad puns” about gravy and, bizarrely,
Brexit, with hefty partner-in-crime Jon Auer. Opener “Dream All Day” pretty
much set the tone – far from the hazy, swirling psychedelic “California
Dreaming”-esque harmonies I was expecting, this was rugged, tough and powerful,
with Ken and Jon energetically jumping up and down, as if their mission was to
pummel huge holes in the stage floor by set-end. Woah!
Ironically,
given my last Garage gig was American Hi-Fi, back in 05, The Posies tonight
delivered the kind of set da Hi-Fi always excelled in (and Raze*Rebuild do now)
– a pure adrenaline-fuelled, savage, raggedy-arsed punk rock assault, as if the
nuances of melody and harmony were things to be bludgeoned over swathes of
riffery, reverb and sweat. “Daily Mutilation” lived up to its’ name, a
powerful, visceral garage punk attack, and even the more morose and melancholy
“Please Return It” was savage and seething. Between numbers, Jon and,
particularly, Ken were voluble and gregarious hosts, Ken offering us a
generous, “welcome to the Posies’ 30th Anniversary! Surprising, as
I’m only 29…!”, then giving us a lengthy yet absorbing speech about their
inception (“we lucked out… as Seattle became a cultural phenomenon”),
introducing legendary producer Jon Leckie (producer of their sophomore “Dear
23” album, and in the crowd tonight) in the process. An off-mic duet of “You
Avoid Parties” was a moment of clarity amongst the noise, stark and beautiful,
and the subsequent “You’re The Beautiful One” became a big, beefy and
big-hearted grunge anthem. After a preamble about the PledgeMusic campaign
funding the re-release of their 90’s canon on vinyl (“the ones everyone listens
to,” remarked Ken pithily), they introduced one such pledger, audience member
Lawrence Salisbury, on to play drums during “Going Going Gone” – and a damn
fine job he did too! I personally could have done without Anna Wolf’s
reintroduction, and bristled somewhat as she caterwauled through Kay Hanley’s
sublime backing vocal parts during an otherwise-excellent “Glitter Prize”, but
a punchy, punk “Everybody Is A Fucking Liar” redeemed matters instantly. Set
closer “Solar Sister” was utterly magnificent, easily the best of the set – and
the most coherently delivered as well, Jon Auer’s searing guitar solo
complementing the smooth, honeyed harmonies perfectly, the band, dripping with
sweat, taking a deserved break at its’ conclusion.
The
encores were damn special too – “Song #1” dedicated to the late Joe Skyward, “I
Am The Cosmos” yearning and emotive, “Grant Hart” a thrash-punk beast worthy of
its’ name, and finale “Burn And Shine” featuring a cacophonous feedback outro
of which even Bob Mould would’ve been proud – once he’d removed the earplugs,
that is… An appropriate punctuation to a startling set replete with power and
punch, the material standing up surprisingly well to the sonic assault, and
teetering yet never plunging into chaos. Wow!
Good as
their word too, Ken and Jon repaired to the merch stand directly afterwards, so
I snatched a pic, signatures for my list and a couple of words with them before
we headed off to the tube, before chips on the Uxbridge Road and a swift drive
home, back by 12.30. Great night, great gig – even if a bit different than
expected – but a fine, visceral way to celebrate The Posies 30th
Anniversary!
No comments:
Post a Comment