The Bad Shepherds, the Corner Hotel
Adrian Edmondson playing folk versions of classic punk and new wave songs.
I was debating whether or not to go see The Bad Shepherds, flipping between "that sounds cool" and "I've spent too much money lately". In the end, some friends said they were going, and that was enough to tip me into buying tickets.
We met up, had dinner upstairs at the Corner, made self-deprecating jokes about all the bald middle-aged punks there. Then we went down to watch the support band.
Support band Merri Creek Pickers were a line of long hair, scraggly beards and mellow folk harmonies. Very pleasant.
I didn't really pay a lot of attention to them, because I was too startled to see cabaret-style tables set up around the edge of band room floor. Thank, Corner. Way to drive home that we're getting old.
It was hot inside the band room. Someone fainted near the side of the stage. It was only after the ambos wheeled him away that the Corner turned on the air-conditioning.
Which was also when the Bad Shepherds came on stage.
I hadn't actually listened to any of their music before the gig. I assumed it would be pretty much straight covers, but done with a mandolin and maybe some fiddle.
They opened with a droning version of 'Anarchy in the UK', Edmondson's mandolin accompanied by fiddle and uillean pipes. The covers were a lot more Celtic and folky than I expected. But they were great. The covers were often a bit quiter than the originals - their version of the Members 'The Sound of the Suburbs' was almost plaintive - and then they would segue into a foot-stomping traditional folk melody. Their cover of PIL's 'Rise" as fantastic, all jangling mandolins and Edmondson shouting into the mic.
The audience were very polite, clapping loudly after each song, then standing quietly for the next one. There was not much dancing, perhaps because it was a Monday night. A few hecklers yelled out for the Hat Song, and a nearby couple didn't seem to understand the difference between a live music venue and their lounge room.
But the music was great. And now I'm late for work.
Damn you, middle-aged punks!
Crossposted from sharplittleteeth.dreamwidth.org
You can comment here, or over there using OpenID.
comments there.
I was debating whether or not to go see The Bad Shepherds, flipping between "that sounds cool" and "I've spent too much money lately". In the end, some friends said they were going, and that was enough to tip me into buying tickets.
We met up, had dinner upstairs at the Corner, made self-deprecating jokes about all the bald middle-aged punks there. Then we went down to watch the support band.
Support band Merri Creek Pickers were a line of long hair, scraggly beards and mellow folk harmonies. Very pleasant.
I didn't really pay a lot of attention to them, because I was too startled to see cabaret-style tables set up around the edge of band room floor. Thank, Corner. Way to drive home that we're getting old.
It was hot inside the band room. Someone fainted near the side of the stage. It was only after the ambos wheeled him away that the Corner turned on the air-conditioning.
Which was also when the Bad Shepherds came on stage.
I hadn't actually listened to any of their music before the gig. I assumed it would be pretty much straight covers, but done with a mandolin and maybe some fiddle.
They opened with a droning version of 'Anarchy in the UK', Edmondson's mandolin accompanied by fiddle and uillean pipes. The covers were a lot more Celtic and folky than I expected. But they were great. The covers were often a bit quiter than the originals - their version of the Members 'The Sound of the Suburbs' was almost plaintive - and then they would segue into a foot-stomping traditional folk melody. Their cover of PIL's 'Rise" as fantastic, all jangling mandolins and Edmondson shouting into the mic.
The audience were very polite, clapping loudly after each song, then standing quietly for the next one. There was not much dancing, perhaps because it was a Monday night. A few hecklers yelled out for the Hat Song, and a nearby couple didn't seem to understand the difference between a live music venue and their lounge room.
But the music was great. And now I'm late for work.
Damn you, middle-aged punks!
Crossposted from sharplittleteeth.dreamwidth.org
You can comment here, or over there using OpenID.
comments there.