PARKlife :)
Last night was IMMENSE in every way! (Well, not every way. You'll see what I mean in a bit.)
We got to Brixton at about 8:30, and promptly realised that I'd stupidly booked seats rather than standing tickets. (This was the first cock-up of the night.) This was a massive disappointment because I really hate sitting down at gigs, I feel like I'm observing rather than participating and might as well be watching a DVD of it. So we went back down the stairs and wheedled for a while with the very nice man on the door there, who eventually said 'Oh, alright' and I considered giving him a joyful hug but decided against it and ran inside. God bless him.
We were just in time to see Good Shoes. They were pretty good but I think they'd be better in a smaller space, they said themselves it was the biggest one they'd ever played and the sound just wasn't quite right for it. They got more into it after a couple of songs and I really liked Never Meant To Hurt You and Morden and another one, the name of which I didn't catch.
So after that we wormed our way more into the heart of the crowd, I was checking my watch every few minutes through sheer anticipation and excitement, fidgeting so much that Cat was beginning to get really annoyed. Finally they came on and the place exploded, they started off with The Coast Is Always Changing which is one of my favourites, and played all their singles, it was about a 50/50 split between A Certain Trigger and Our Earthly Pleasures except I was surprised and pleased that they played Fear Of Falling because it's an old song, and felt very smug knowing all the words.
They really are extraordinary live. Paul has so much energy and charisma it's unbelievable, he was constantly leaping from one end of the stage to the other and climbing on the speaker, he's a real showman and I reckon anybody could take tips from him on how to perform. That was what was so great- and it happened at Morrissey as well- was that the audience felt like they were part of the performance rather than people who'd paid to come and watch. They played with such passion and their music lends itself really well to live performance as well, it's so sharp and wiry and interesting and generally good in the kind of way that you can listen and dance to. OMG Acrobat was the most amazing encore ever, Books From Boxes melted faces and everybody went insane for Apply Some Pressure and Our Velocity.
Two things happened that made it less enjoyable- they didn't play either Your Urge or Signal And Sign, and I managed to lose my phone and realised halfway through the set, so I was worrying about that rather than focusing on enjoying myself for a while, trying in vain to search for it and then after Limassol (a very, VERY high-energy song) realising it was probably a goner so stopped being anxious. Cat's purse fell out of the bag too but fortunately didn't have any money in it, just her cash card which can be cancelled, but I was still irritated with myself because she really likes the purse too. With any luck that won't have been bashed to bits, I'm about to ring through the venue and see if they've managed to find it.
I just hate being without my phone anyway, plus getting numbers off people again is a hassle, so it's all annoying really.
Still, excellent :)
We got to Brixton at about 8:30, and promptly realised that I'd stupidly booked seats rather than standing tickets. (This was the first cock-up of the night.) This was a massive disappointment because I really hate sitting down at gigs, I feel like I'm observing rather than participating and might as well be watching a DVD of it. So we went back down the stairs and wheedled for a while with the very nice man on the door there, who eventually said 'Oh, alright' and I considered giving him a joyful hug but decided against it and ran inside. God bless him.
We were just in time to see Good Shoes. They were pretty good but I think they'd be better in a smaller space, they said themselves it was the biggest one they'd ever played and the sound just wasn't quite right for it. They got more into it after a couple of songs and I really liked Never Meant To Hurt You and Morden and another one, the name of which I didn't catch.
So after that we wormed our way more into the heart of the crowd, I was checking my watch every few minutes through sheer anticipation and excitement, fidgeting so much that Cat was beginning to get really annoyed. Finally they came on and the place exploded, they started off with The Coast Is Always Changing which is one of my favourites, and played all their singles, it was about a 50/50 split between A Certain Trigger and Our Earthly Pleasures except I was surprised and pleased that they played Fear Of Falling because it's an old song, and felt very smug knowing all the words.
They really are extraordinary live. Paul has so much energy and charisma it's unbelievable, he was constantly leaping from one end of the stage to the other and climbing on the speaker, he's a real showman and I reckon anybody could take tips from him on how to perform. That was what was so great- and it happened at Morrissey as well- was that the audience felt like they were part of the performance rather than people who'd paid to come and watch. They played with such passion and their music lends itself really well to live performance as well, it's so sharp and wiry and interesting and generally good in the kind of way that you can listen and dance to. OMG Acrobat was the most amazing encore ever, Books From Boxes melted faces and everybody went insane for Apply Some Pressure and Our Velocity.
Two things happened that made it less enjoyable- they didn't play either Your Urge or Signal And Sign, and I managed to lose my phone and realised halfway through the set, so I was worrying about that rather than focusing on enjoying myself for a while, trying in vain to search for it and then after Limassol (a very, VERY high-energy song) realising it was probably a goner so stopped being anxious. Cat's purse fell out of the bag too but fortunately didn't have any money in it, just her cash card which can be cancelled, but I was still irritated with myself because she really likes the purse too. With any luck that won't have been bashed to bits, I'm about to ring through the venue and see if they've managed to find it.
I just hate being without my phone anyway, plus getting numbers off people again is a hassle, so it's all annoying really.
Still, excellent :)