Now my life is complete
Jon King of Gang of Four keeps the beat.
Gang of Four's tour may have delivered me from the temptation of Coachella. This is the original Gang of Four that released Entertainment, Yellow, and Solid Gold. I never considered Gang of Four a "favorite band," but since obtaining their compilation A Brief History of the 20th Century back in high school in the late 80s, and eventually Entertainment, they have been a permanent fixture of my listening habits and Entertainmentis one of my all time favorite records. Oh how those old songs hold up and stir. The ascetic minimalism, the stark, fierce, irresistable rhythms, even the lyrics, which still sound timely... I love a great rhythm band, and every part of Gang of Four is rhythm, even the melodic parts.
They played the Showbox a couple Fridays ago. Pressed to the front of the stage, I was so excited and dazed that I had trouble getting my head around the fact that I was seeing Gang of Four. Their stage presence was monumental and their energy level gives me hope for middle age. Though the two opening bands, Menomena and Radio 4, had unorthodox setups for rock bands, utilizing the stage's size and the Gang of Four gear behind them to encourage themselves to spread out a little, Gang of Four in their drums/bass/guitar/voice configuration OWNED the stage. Jon King, Andy Gill, and Dave Allen moved about, crosswise and back, relentlessly. Everything I needed to hear was played. and those songs were played as if no-one and nothing was the worse for wear after 23 years. "Damaged Goods," "At Home He Feels Like a Tourist," "Return the Gift," "What We All Want," "Natural's Not in It," "We Live as We Dream, Alone," "Anthrax," "Not Great Men," "To Hell With Poverty," and others were aired. Not aired, blazed and pounded, spat and scratched.
Planted in front of Dave Allen and his monitor and amp, the sound I received was dominated by bass, so I had trouble hearing Andy Gill's shattering, skittering guitar. But no complaints here about being subjected to a night of bone-rattling Gang of Four bass lines, the same parts that have bounced and ricocheted about my every residence since teenage-dom.
Jon King had the most energy of all, running all about and nearly up the amps and pillars at the corner of the stage. During one instrumental break he crouched low and bounced and lurched like a chimp in frantic circles behind the mike. One song featured Jon on microwave. By the end of the song, said appliance was smashed to bits. Do they keep a stash of microwaves in the van, replenishing at thrift stores? I was remembering the microwave performance as happening in "Paralyzed" but others are reporting it as "He'd Send in the Army." My memory is not serving me well here.
It all went by so fast. It wasn't until one of the last songs of the main set, "To Hell With Poverty," that I began to fully comprehend that I was seeng Gang of Four. Two encores ensued.
Now I've seen pretty much all of my late 1970s, early 1980s post punk favorites, to the extent that it's possible to do so. This reunion is totally worth it.
Note on the crowd: It was like a big party. We ran into so many people we know, and we don't know very many. At least 3 disparate groups of people we know showed up, ecstatic as we were. Lovely to see a single show draw so many together, and lovely to share in their joy.
Hugo Burnham, Andy Gill, Dave Allen
Rhythm section to end all rhythm sections. (Ok, close).
Kill it.