All will be revealed as you read on, if it hasn't already been unveiled by my chosen title. I feel I shouldn't have to justify my actions to any of you. I like Operator Please, and I'm proud of it. Sure, Ping Pong is possibly the most idiotic song ever written but their unreleased singles are very accomplished.
So off to the Metro we went. I haven't gone to anything with Elise in a while so it was great to catch up. After a long drive of gossip and psychology, we arrived to a throng of fluoro t-shirts and three-quarter tights, a crowd of people (especially girls) who were all shorter than me. I don't know if this image was a breath of fresh air or somewhat of an embarrassment. Elise and I complained all night about our clearly apparent maturity over the children that surrounded us, a comment on our cynicism of anything and everything. It was impossible to not feel a little marginalised for being old, rather than being intimidated at all-ages gig when I was younger; an interesting swap in roles. I made myself concentrate on what I had been waiting patiently for for a couple of weeks: Flamingo Crash and Sarah.
Flamingo Crash have been on the top of my iTunes list for a while now, but I have always been too young to go see them, hence the irony of seeing them now when I am of age at an all-ages gig. Minus a guitarist from their last EP, the 4-piece broke out on to stage imbued with an energy that flooded the audience. It was easy to tell that the majority of the audience had never even heard of this band, but it was good to see everyone getting into it. The lead singer seemed like one of those class clowns that is just there to entertain, introducing his band members as Michael J Fox and Velma from Scooby Doo (which were surprisingly accurate descriptions). I take great enjoyment watching the faces of drummers, who seem to be the musician in every band who is forced to concentrate the most. The FC drummer was hilarious, constantly screwing up his face to make fish-lips. The keyboardist Cate was definitely the most talented musician on stage (or maybe I just have something for keyboardists) and the guitarist's smile lit up the room. Yes?Yes?Yes? was a big highlight for me, as well as Shoot the Lights Out, of course, however I was disappointed they didn't play anything from their Animal/Animal Economy EP, namely Vamp at the Wax Party. It wasn't to be. The lead singer has such a resonant voice, complimenting the avant-guard style of lyricism, and I felt a constant connection between him and his audience. Praise Flamingo!
I had high expectations of Little Red after hearing about their sound from Olivia. I'm still unsure as to whether I like them or not. They walked on to stage rather nonchalantly, and that really set the mood for their set. It looked as if they had waltzed straight out of St Aloysius College choir, armed themselves with putrid tinned beer (VB at that). I had never seen skinny jeans fit around a man's waist before, but this wasn't the only first. I don't know what the trend is with bands these days who swap their singers around, and I'm usually a big fan of this, however I found there were sometimes too many harmonies and too many changes in pace for this band. There were two really good singers, one being the rhythm guitarist who never took the main part in a song, and a bluey who was great at pulling the bad smell face. The drummer looked like a little brother, vying for the audience's attention, never faltering in his cheerful smile. There was also just a guy wandering around a stage with a tambourine: he couldn't really sing that well, he didn't acknowledge the audience at all and looked at least 5 years older than everyone else. Overall, I think the image that is burned into my retina that taints their musicianship in my mind is of the entire band turning their backs at the end of every song, mostly even before they had finished.
After being disappointed at Big Day Out, I was hoping that the band would lift their game in light of their name on the headline. And this certainly came through. The band was up to their usual mischief, dancing and jumping around, still covering Devo's Whip It as they have for a while now. Amandah was wearing some horrible stockings that didn't compliment her physique, but she was much more modest on this occasion than she has been in the past. Taylor and Timmy looked cute as usual, but they are still too timid for me to take them seriously. Ashley seemed much more in the moment, interacting with the other members without the arrogant hair flicks. But I am unable to really comment on the other members very much, as my eyes were firmly locked on Sarah. The longer hair, the oversized t-shirt, the Pure Blonde. Everything. But she was rather drunk, and there was one song (Ghost I think), where she went totally off-beat but I may have been the only one that noticed seeing as I can usually differentiate every instrument through the blast of noise.
But the absolutely highlight of the night was meeting Thom Yorke. Well, not really. One of their roadies looked exactly like him, slinking around the back of the stage as we called out "THOM YORKE! OK COMPUTER! THE ERASER!" at him. Apparently Sarah had told him the exact same thing just before they went on stage according to a MySpace message I received from her a day later. No one else in the mosh pit seemed to know what we were going on about, but I'll blame that on their median age.
Two thumbs up.
Lovemeg
No comments:
Post a Comment