Photo by @BethanDyer70
Well, I got it totally wrong in my Eddi Reader review - as it turns out, Henry Dartnall is quite the storyteller. His between-song yarn about getting locked out of his hotel room with only his pants on wasn't quite up to the heartwarming standards of last Saturday, but when he announced earlier in the night that the next song (Something Awful) had been written after his grandfather died of Alzheimer's...it still wasn't heartwarming, exactly, but this revelation was surprisingly stark and, well, sad, especially given the band's usual level of stage banter seriousness (Exhibit A: the Hilton hotel pants story).
My fear - expressed here - that the Young Knives would be shunning their back catalogue on this tour was largely unfounded as well. Okay, so the majority of the set was dedicated to playing the new album, Sick Octave, in its entirety, but they brought the goods out for the old guard before the end. We got Vision in Rags off Ornaments from the Silver Arcade*, Weekends and Bleak Days and The Decision** from Voices of Animals and Men, and Terra Firma and Turn Tail*** from Superabundance. A token offering, sure, but enough to reassure us that they haven't forgotten those oldies.
Besides, I quite like witnessing entire albums played live. The only other one I remember seeing is A Matter of Life and Death by Iron Maiden (imagine how many standards they must have cut from the setlist that night, given how big their back catalogue is) and while both that gig and this one did provoke a mild case of 'aah what are these new and unfamiliar songs why didn't I listen to the album more before tonight', both were entertaining and enjoyable experiences in spite of the hits they displaced. Besides, it will be nice to one day say: 'Oh, you like that album, yeah? Well I saw it live."
It shouldn't have taken me three paragraphs to say this, but yes, I like Sick Octave. It's challenging, it's experimental, and it's loads of fun, especially when performed live in front of a projection of a naked man. My only complaint about the gig concerns how closely they stuck to the studio tracks, using pre-recorded sounds to make every song as similar to the album version as possible. Since I'm still not particularly familiar with the album, this didn't dampen the experience too much for me, but it is nice when songs sound a little different in the live arena.
Incidentally, I still have absolutely no idea what any of it Sick Octave is about - the only clue I've got is Henry's story about his granddad and how he imagined him turning into an end-of-level boss instead of dying - but that's something I can work out over time.
It shouldn't have taken me three paragraphs to say this, but yes, I like Sick Octave. It's challenging, it's experimental, and it's loads of fun, especially when performed live in front of a projection of a naked man. My only complaint about the gig concerns how closely they stuck to the studio tracks, using pre-recorded sounds to make every song as similar to the album version as possible. Since I'm still not particularly familiar with the album, this didn't dampen the experience too much for me, but it is nice when songs sound a little different in the live arena.
Incidentally, I still have absolutely no idea what any of it Sick Octave is about - the only clue I've got is Henry's story about his granddad and how he imagined him turning into an end-of-level boss instead of dying - but that's something I can work out over time.
In the meantime, I have glanced through the YK catalogue one more time and constructed my perfect Young Knives setlist. As much as I enjoyed last night, this is what I wish they'd played. Call it an exercise in Friday fanboyism. Have a good weekend!
JOEL'S ULTIMATE YOUNG KNIVES SETLIST
REPRODUCTION
OWLS OF ATHENS
WOMAN
UP ALL NIGHT
IN THE PINK
COUNTERS
HERE COMES THE RUMOUR MILL
EVERYTHING FALLS INTO PLACE
TERRA FIRMA
("We're gonna do a couple off our new album now...")
MAUREEN
MAUREEN
ALL TIED UP
HUMAN AGAIN
JOHN
THE DECISION
SILVER TONGUE
LOUGHBOROUGH SUICIDE
(A curtain falls, revealing a 20-piece orchestra, who help out with...)
TURN TAIL
GLASSHOUSE
(woo yeah more!)
Encore 1:
PART TIMER
BED WARMER
DIALING DARLING
SIGNS OF WEAKNESS
(more! more!)
Encore 2:
TREMBLINGS OF TRAILS
SHE'S ATTRACTED TO
CURRENT OF THE RIVER
(extended version, where the final chorus is repeated over and over again for about twenty minutes)
Maybe next tour.
*"It's off our third album, so you might have missed this one", quips House of Lords.
**I know it's one of their best-known songs anyway, but I'd like to think that the Young Knives feel obliged to play The Decision every time they're in Cardiff because of the 'I am the Prince of Wales! I'm your monarch!' bit.
***That bit in the middle of Turn Tail - stompy distortion tantrum into life-affirming eight-second guitar solo - never ceases to wow me.
No comments:
Post a Comment