When do I get to feel like Sinatra felt?
Sep. 28th, 2017 05:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ventaBrains are weird.
There is someone whom I recognise, but don't know, whom I believe lives in Whitby. This is because I see her at the goth festival twice a year, and at the folk festival. Since it seems fairly unlikely that someone would like both gothy nonsense and the sort of very traditional folk music one gets in Whitby, I conclude that she lives there.
Have you spotted the problem with this chain of reasoning?
Exactly. I only see her because I am there (despite not living in Whitby). Because I like both gothy nonsense and trad folk.
At gigs, ChrisC and I commonly play the Least Likely T-shirt game. That is, spotting the band t-shirt worn by someone to the gig that seems most implausible given the band that are playing. Just how likely is it that someone who wears an Iron Maiden shirt would want to come and see Allo Darlin' anyway?
Yesterday, while waiting for Jamie to show up for pre-gig food, I watched a new Tigercats video on Youtube. Then we went to see Sparks, a gig at which I picked up a Flag Promotions flyer and considered whether I wanted to go and see Covenant[*] or Front Line Assembly. And yet I think it's notable and funny that someone else turned up to the show in a Wildhearts shirt.
Oh yes, I went to see Sparks yesterday.
I'm not an especially large fan of Sparks, but they're fun, and I like the songs I know, and I enjoyed the bit of FFS I saw at Glastonbury a couple of years ago. Sparks having been going for actually longer than I've been alive. That the band's core is two brothers probably makes it even more impressive that the band has never split up (though I'm reasonably sure that their supporting cast of band members has changed frequently).
Support was provided by Mr Goodnite, who is apparently Sparks' other, not-a-Mael-brother, keyboard-player. He did odd lounge-singer crooning over records - the sound level was quiet, and it seemed extremely non-compelling. I'm not sure I got it.
The SBE seemed unusually crowded, although I imagine they hadn't sold more tickets than usual. I'd expect fewer, if anything :) (An unsubstantiated, friend-of-a-friend-style anecdote reports that in the 90s Brixton Academy sold more tickets for an Ash gig than for an REM gig, on the grounds that REM fans took up more space, on average, than the skinny teenaged Ash fans.) Anyway, the crowd was dense and weirdly tall. Also mostly older than me, and predominantly male.
And not that prone to dancing, but quite prone to waving arms in the air - and there was some pretty grandiose conducting manouevres from the balcony at times.
I hadn't done any revision, because I figured Sparks are the sort of lightweight, cod-operatic nonsense you can busk along with without really knowing what's going on. And that's true, although I think I might have had a better night with a bit more prep. Certainly the song I enjoyed most was probably the one I know best: When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way'. The set-list was understandably new-album-heavy, and I'd have really liked some more "old favourites".
(Yes, they did play This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us, but actually that's a song I can take or leave.)
Although the sound quality for the main set improved dramatically after the support act, it still never seemed to hit quite the fullness I was expecting. Sparks didn't seem to have quite the epic swoop I was expecting. So, although I enjoyed it, I think I was hoping for a bit more Yay!
And while we're on, I recommend that Tigercats video.
Tigercats are one of my new favourite bands. They're London-based, but have a nasty habit of playing on schoolnights in venues which are inconveniently far East and away from the tube. (And when they do play a gig on a Friday, I'm out of town... but everyone else should go>)
I always describe them as being like a twee-er version of Los Campesinos!, though actually not that many tracks sound all that much like Los Campesinos! when I inspect them closely. (Bannned at the Troxy is one that does, if that's appealing to you. By which I mean if you aresatyrica ;) I have no idea if they actually are banned at the Troxy.)
Anyway, I really like them, and they've got a new album out, and you should try them.
[*] Probably not. I always think I like Covenant. But really, Call The Ships To Port and I'm basically done.
There is someone whom I recognise, but don't know, whom I believe lives in Whitby. This is because I see her at the goth festival twice a year, and at the folk festival. Since it seems fairly unlikely that someone would like both gothy nonsense and the sort of very traditional folk music one gets in Whitby, I conclude that she lives there.
Have you spotted the problem with this chain of reasoning?
Exactly. I only see her because I am there (despite not living in Whitby). Because I like both gothy nonsense and trad folk.
At gigs, ChrisC and I commonly play the Least Likely T-shirt game. That is, spotting the band t-shirt worn by someone to the gig that seems most implausible given the band that are playing. Just how likely is it that someone who wears an Iron Maiden shirt would want to come and see Allo Darlin' anyway?
Yesterday, while waiting for Jamie to show up for pre-gig food, I watched a new Tigercats video on Youtube. Then we went to see Sparks, a gig at which I picked up a Flag Promotions flyer and considered whether I wanted to go and see Covenant[*] or Front Line Assembly. And yet I think it's notable and funny that someone else turned up to the show in a Wildhearts shirt.
Oh yes, I went to see Sparks yesterday.
I'm not an especially large fan of Sparks, but they're fun, and I like the songs I know, and I enjoyed the bit of FFS I saw at Glastonbury a couple of years ago. Sparks having been going for actually longer than I've been alive. That the band's core is two brothers probably makes it even more impressive that the band has never split up (though I'm reasonably sure that their supporting cast of band members has changed frequently).
Support was provided by Mr Goodnite, who is apparently Sparks' other, not-a-Mael-brother, keyboard-player. He did odd lounge-singer crooning over records - the sound level was quiet, and it seemed extremely non-compelling. I'm not sure I got it.
The SBE seemed unusually crowded, although I imagine they hadn't sold more tickets than usual. I'd expect fewer, if anything :) (An unsubstantiated, friend-of-a-friend-style anecdote reports that in the 90s Brixton Academy sold more tickets for an Ash gig than for an REM gig, on the grounds that REM fans took up more space, on average, than the skinny teenaged Ash fans.) Anyway, the crowd was dense and weirdly tall. Also mostly older than me, and predominantly male.
And not that prone to dancing, but quite prone to waving arms in the air - and there was some pretty grandiose conducting manouevres from the balcony at times.
I hadn't done any revision, because I figured Sparks are the sort of lightweight, cod-operatic nonsense you can busk along with without really knowing what's going on. And that's true, although I think I might have had a better night with a bit more prep. Certainly the song I enjoyed most was probably the one I know best: When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way'. The set-list was understandably new-album-heavy, and I'd have really liked some more "old favourites".
(Yes, they did play This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us, but actually that's a song I can take or leave.)
Although the sound quality for the main set improved dramatically after the support act, it still never seemed to hit quite the fullness I was expecting. Sparks didn't seem to have quite the epic swoop I was expecting. So, although I enjoyed it, I think I was hoping for a bit more Yay!
And while we're on, I recommend that Tigercats video.
Tigercats are one of my new favourite bands. They're London-based, but have a nasty habit of playing on schoolnights in venues which are inconveniently far East and away from the tube. (And when they do play a gig on a Friday, I'm out of town... but everyone else should go>)
I always describe them as being like a twee-er version of Los Campesinos!, though actually not that many tracks sound all that much like Los Campesinos! when I inspect them closely. (Bannned at the Troxy is one that does, if that's appealing to you. By which I mean if you are
satyrica ;) I have no idea if they actually are banned at the Troxy.)Anyway, I really like them, and they've got a new album out, and you should try them.
[*] Probably not. I always think I like Covenant. But really, Call The Ships To Port and I'm basically done.
