venta

This has nothing to do with a trip to NZ, and is in fact a gig review I wrote before I went. No idea why it didn't get posted then. All references to things like "last week" are clearly wrong.

Sometime last year, one of those pervasive internet sites which listens to music for you suggested to me that I might like The Decemberists. I think this was on the grounds that they're liked by people who like The Crimea, though with hindsight I think that's a bit specious.

Because I'm an obedient sort, I trotted along to their website. "The Decemeberists," said the blurb, "travel everywhere by dirigible".

Well, if that's not a recommendation in itself, what is ?

I mailed a couple of friends. "Hey," I said, "there's a band which travels everywhere by dirigible, do you want to go and see them in February?" You should understand, by the way, that I believe implicitly everything which I read on a band's website.

The friends, being inclined to humour me, agreed and tickets were bought. Last week, perusing the mountain of flyers thrust into our paws at a Bloc Party gig I pointed out the advert for the Decemberists. And was greeted with vague incomprehension. "Are we going to see them?"

Er, yes. On very little grounds whatsoever.

Just in case, I mailed the intended recipient of the other ticket to check he hadn't forgotten too. I got an email by return which said "yay, surprise gig!" I guess he had, then.

So, having finished our quest (ok, let's be honest, my quest) to eat cake in Shepherds Bush we toddled into the Empire on Thursday. The Decemberists were already on stage.

I have really very little idea what they look like or, indeed, how many of them there are. The Empire has no rake, and all I could see were the backs of many, many heads. It was almost as if I'm short but - as I'm sure you're aware - I am exactly the right size and thus am forced to conclude that The Decemberists' fans are, on average, preternaturally tall.

This actually made the game of guess-the-instrument rather more fun. OK, I can hear a guitar. And a bass - make that a double bass - and a fiddle. And, er, an accordion ?
<consult taller friends>
Yes, an accordion.

Towards the end of the set I heard an odd, thin sound and was just thinking "surely they haven't got a..." When a voice in my ear said "what's that bloke on the left winding?"

Oh. I guess they have got a hurdy-gurdy, then.

Now, this presents a dilemma. I'm a big fan of bands with unusual or varied instruments. I'm still bitter about not having managed to get Arcade Fire tickets before they sold out, and I look daily for the arrival of DeVotchKa and their sousaphone on the big scene. Accordingly, a hurdy-gurdy is good.

But... but... on my personal scale of bile, hurdy-gurdies come in somewhere below ukeleles. For anyone who isn't familar, to make a hurdy-gurdy you need:

a wooden box

a large spiked wheel

a cat

You put the spiked wheel in the box. You put the cat in the box. You turn the wheel. The resulting howls as the cat is shredded will probably bear no relation to the keys pressed on the box, but people do it anyway.

Anyway, it turns out that The Decemberists are American, somewhat folky in sound, a bit inclined to prat about on stage and actually quite entertaining. I've never been to a gig with mid-show callasthenics before. Their audiences are also wildly excitable - which is always a little odd when you're standing there not knowing any of the songs.

If you like your music acoustic and a bit folky (songs about dead barrow boys or the American civil war come as standard) then I'd advise you to check The Decemberists out. Good singing, nice harmony, interesting instruments - and an optional re-creation of scenes from civil war acted out by the band among the audience.