The next stage - Beyond London - Oxford October 16
Passed the half way mark - however you count them - and moving into a new phase of the tour. The intensity of the first 'round' (10 gigs in 12 days and a lot of trekking across the northern bits of the UK) complete, we settle into a mid tour lull - nothing on consecutive days now til Ireland, with long tranches of time to do other things... erm... go to see The Paddingtons and Frank Turner? Get some work done? Catch up on my laundry?
Suffice it to say that if some of the more recent gigs have featured pushing, shoving, intense crowds, that if the Roundhouse audience was rather on the wild side and it was hard to stay on your feet in the mosh pit, that if Cambridge included extreme squishing... none of them came anywhere near the breathless, bruising, pushing, sweltering madness of the Oxford Zodiac last night. A small, narrow venue, it was set to rival Preston as a space designed to encourage the sense of intimacy and egg the band into wild-stomping mode. This was exacerbated by rain-forest temperatures and a large group of quite young lads in the centre a few rows back, clearly pissed and ready to kick off.
Inevitably, the band fed off the crowd and the intense atmosphere. The energy was high and they seemed like they were having fun. More surprisingly, the performance was good - Blood on My Shoes is getting better - they seem to have sorted out the strange muddy effect in the middle, and, although they had to loop back and attack part of it again, the overall sense was cleaner, more effective. The Chinese Dogs to Playboys progression improves every night. Truth Begins is getting more confident in it's spot at the beginning of the post fag break set, and each night we listen with amusement to see who's got the clap.
Although I now sport an indecent number of bruises, and the tour-chesty-cough seems to have leaked from the band (Anthony has it now as well as Carl), so I'm snot filled and achy, it was a bloody memorable gig. Certainly one of the best of the tour so far. That magic combination - the right venue, the right crowd, the right mood...
Since I haven't posted a setlist in a few gigs, here's what they played last night - this seems to have stabilised into the set they're playing with a few variations, like sticking in 'In Bloom', usually in the slot taken by 'Truth Begins'. Last night, due, I think, to Anthony's version of the tour-flu, Kicks was omitted from the printed list, but inserted into the post fag-break set instead of it's usual place between Bloodthirsty Bastards and Gin and Milk.
Wondering
Holly Go Lightly into
Buzzards and Crows
Doctors and Dealers
Hippy's Son
Tired of England
Bloodthirsty Bastards
Gin and Milk
Gentry Cove
Come Closer
The Enemy
Chinese Dogs
Playboys
Plastic Hearts
Blood on My Shoes
Deadwood
[i]fag break[/i]
Truth Begins
Kicks or Consumption
BURMA
Bang Bang
YFLI
Suffice it to say that if some of the more recent gigs have featured pushing, shoving, intense crowds, that if the Roundhouse audience was rather on the wild side and it was hard to stay on your feet in the mosh pit, that if Cambridge included extreme squishing... none of them came anywhere near the breathless, bruising, pushing, sweltering madness of the Oxford Zodiac last night. A small, narrow venue, it was set to rival Preston as a space designed to encourage the sense of intimacy and egg the band into wild-stomping mode. This was exacerbated by rain-forest temperatures and a large group of quite young lads in the centre a few rows back, clearly pissed and ready to kick off.
Inevitably, the band fed off the crowd and the intense atmosphere. The energy was high and they seemed like they were having fun. More surprisingly, the performance was good - Blood on My Shoes is getting better - they seem to have sorted out the strange muddy effect in the middle, and, although they had to loop back and attack part of it again, the overall sense was cleaner, more effective. The Chinese Dogs to Playboys progression improves every night. Truth Begins is getting more confident in it's spot at the beginning of the post fag break set, and each night we listen with amusement to see who's got the clap.
Although I now sport an indecent number of bruises, and the tour-chesty-cough seems to have leaked from the band (Anthony has it now as well as Carl), so I'm snot filled and achy, it was a bloody memorable gig. Certainly one of the best of the tour so far. That magic combination - the right venue, the right crowd, the right mood...
Since I haven't posted a setlist in a few gigs, here's what they played last night - this seems to have stabilised into the set they're playing with a few variations, like sticking in 'In Bloom', usually in the slot taken by 'Truth Begins'. Last night, due, I think, to Anthony's version of the tour-flu, Kicks was omitted from the printed list, but inserted into the post fag-break set instead of it's usual place between Bloodthirsty Bastards and Gin and Milk.
Wondering
Holly Go Lightly into
Buzzards and Crows
Doctors and Dealers
Hippy's Son
Tired of England
Bloodthirsty Bastards
Gin and Milk
Gentry Cove
Come Closer
The Enemy
Chinese Dogs
Playboys
Plastic Hearts
Blood on My Shoes
Deadwood
[i]fag break[/i]
Truth Begins
Kicks or Consumption
BURMA
Bang Bang
YFLI