23 MUSIC
NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR Badly Drawn Boy Leeds University (25th November 2002)
T
he first rule of showbiz, surely, is not to let your celebrity chums upstage you. If you’re going to invite a guest on tour with you, you’d better make sure you’re better than him, otherwise things start getting embarrassing. So when comedian Peter Kay bounces onstage, unannounced, after 45 minutes of Badly Drawn Boy cheerlessly going through the motions, playing lack-lustre, off-key album tracks and complaining about the sound, you wonder if this is going to be the night’s highlight. In an excited bustle of confusion and laughter, Peter Kay performs about 15 minutes of stand-up about mp3 players, crap songs and worse jokes. The crowd love it, and Kay gets by far the biggest cheer of the night so far. As Kay introduces Damon Gough and pals back onto the stage you brace yourself for more of the same earnest singer-songwriter bollocks, charmless and tuneless, a million miles away from the laughs of Kay and of old Badly Drawn Boy gigs.
Doves Leeds University (24th November 2002)
A
fter the almost tragic event of getting on the train to Darlington, which incidentally is the opposite direction to Leeds, we finally made it to the Refectory having only missed the first few songs of the Doves. Unfortunately two of these were the recent hits ‘There Goes the Fear’ and ‘Pounding’. I know from past experience that these are two of the best songs that the Doves can really add something exciting to live. The songs we managed to catch did make it worth the 3-hour train journey to get there. ‘The Man Who Told Everything’ was the first song we saw, and it was performed brilliantly in front of the star clothed backdrop. Following most live performances at the moment they included visuals in their set. Many of these seemed slightly inappropriate and seemed at times to distract the audience from the band. The Doves are a very genuine band and shouldn’t need any gimmicks. Playing the majority of songs from their latest LP ‘The Last Broadcast’, what impressed me most is the
enthusiasm that they have on stage. It becomes obvious from the moment you see them that this is part of the reason why they have become well known recently. To see a band who do put a huge amount of effort into their performance is always a positive, and can make a massive difference. ‘New York’, one of the stand out songs on the latest LP, was particularly impressive tonight, proving the recent songs to have an added element that was possibly lacking in the older ones. Although ‘The Cedar Room’ and such like will never lose their power, even when you have a set of drunken Mancunians chanting next to you. This might not have been an Oasis gig, but it did seem as though many people were there in order to show how dedicated they are to Manchester, and felt that ‘foreigners’ just didn’t belong. This did not ruin the atmosphere, however, and the perfect ending came with ‘Firesuite’ and ‘Catch the Sun’. Then the moment I was really waiting for: the ultimate reflection of 90’s baggy dance in the form of the Doves original band, Sub Sub. The crowd inevitably loved this, and it finished off an evening that was not particularly innovative, but consistently enjoyable. (Beth
Judging by the amount of flak currently being shot at any sign of a passing Ashcroft by certain publications, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he’d been churning out speed funkmetal. Things would appear gloomy. However, judging by the crowd tonight, Ashcroft is anything but at the gates of ‘90s indie heaven. Until you see the crowd, you forget just how huge and important Ashcroft is. The set itself is awesome. Old Verve favourites such as ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ are greeted rapturously whilst Ashcroft has lost none of his mighty stage presence. However, it is the reaction to the new material that exposes the lie currently doing the rounds that no one listens to Dickey anymore. The crowd’s reaction to what must be a future release, ‘Buy It In Bottles’, demonstrates just how much the new Ashcroft is loved. Furthermore, the songs take on a whole new life live. Walls of sound and huge crescendos create the storm in heaven for which early Verve releases were so loved. That part of Ashcroft remains, combined with a man spiritually at peace. There is no better summary of the night than Ashcroft finishing ‘Nature Is The law’ with the claim ‘They say I’m lost but really I’m found’. (James Kelly)
SINGLES
But Gough duly rises to the challenge laid down by Kay, and the second set is triumphant. The crowd are more responsive, BDB is actually having fun now, and with the dreary half-songs from ‘About A Boy’ out of the way, out come the stunning new tracks and classics from ‘… Bewilderbeast’. Clearly drunker, and playing better songs, he slips right back into top gear, delivering beautiful acoustic versions of ‘Once Around The Block’ and ‘The Shining’. In between he resorts to taking the piss out of the hecklers, serenading a hand-picked member of the crowd with ‘I Was Wrong/You Were Right’ and making every song, including a handful from the EPs to keep obscurists happy, sound perfect. The night closes with the anthemic sing-along of ‘Pissing In The Wind’, and the crowd go away with a smile on their face. Despite the dodgy start, Badly Drawn Boy obviously still knows how to play to a crowd, and they got to see Peter Kay, too. But it’s all about the music, really, and a songsmith as talented as Damon Gough can never really fail to impress. ‘How can I give you the answers you need/When all I possess is a melody?’ he laments during ‘How’.
James Kelly Robbie Williams -Feel (9th December) As per usual for the most overrated man since Judas Iscariot won Best Disciple prize AD31, you can hear a thousand songs that he's ripped off in just one song. According to the prince twat, "It's just a beautiful song. I pour my heart out". Competently, absolutely, but most of Death In Vegas - Scorpio Rising (16th December) Rather psychedelic offering with Liam Gallagher on vocal duties. In fact, it sounds very like Oasis but the press release dubbing it the 'best single Oasis never made' is possibly going a bit far. The days of an appearance by the Gallaghers meaning instant stardom (see Chemical Brothers) may have passed but this deserves to make a sizeable indentation on the Mew - She Came Home For Christmas (18th November) Absolutely brilliant second single from the newest Scandinavians on the block. It's little wonder that eyebrows are starting to rise. Sounds like Doves when they used to be epic crossed with Sigur Ros and the Flaming Lips on valium. Come on, it's even got 'Christmas' in Ms Dynamite Put Him Out (out now) Unfortunately, there's an overwhelming stench of 'girl power' about this record from the Mercury award-winner. It's those good for nothing men again - when will they stop picking on pop stars out there. Pleasant enough but perilously close to average and not as good as the previous releases.
Alabama 3
Leeds Cockpit (15th November 2002)
Sheffield Arena (26th November 2002)
Leeds University (23rd November 2002)
LIVE
Alice Cooper + Thunder
Richard Ashcroft
YORK VISION 03/12/02
Any of you Goths out there who think that dressing up with black eyeliner and leather trousers is cutting edge can well and truly think again. This man’s been doing it for nearly thirty years. As the opening bars of ‘Hey Stoopid’ ring out across the arena, there is a rising cheer, and after a couple of hard-core thrashes from the band, the big man Mr Cooper appeared in all his glory. Kitted up to the nines with swords, blood, guillotines, straight-jackets, erotic nurses and two-headed babies, this was a show not to be missed by any rocker, especially those with a mullet...and they were there in their thousands. Thunder and the other bands had warmed the crowd up nicely, but it was classic hits like ‘Poison’, ‘Schools Out’, ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ and ‘Feed My Frankenstein’ that really got those perms a-rockin’, not to mention a touching tribute to Britney Spears. Not a sell-out, but with ten dates in almost as many days, Alice Cooper showed he can still cut the mustard in the Monsters of Rock stakes. Marilyn Manson...Nowhere! (Matt Collinsinko)
The Levellers York Barbican (16th November 2002) The Levellers have never been the epitome of coolness. Their pop/rock/ punk/folk with a fiddle approach never really caught the imagination of the Indie nation. Yet their fanbase has remained loyal for fifteen years now, and tonight it is easy to see why. Singer Mark Chadwick is approaching forty, yet his voice still packs a punch. Early acoustic numbers “Is this Art?” and “The Boatman” suggest this is not a tour designed to plug the new album , but to showcase their exhaustive back catalogue. However, it isn’t until Jon Sevink enters with his fiddle and Jeremy Cunningham flings his dreadlocks around stage that the crowd literally explodes. Despite this they never seem particularly interested in communicating with the audience – the between song banter is non existent all night, and as a result the impact of the show is tempered somewhat. Similar to their political namesakes in the 17th century, the Levellers will never take over the hearts and minds of the entire country. They’re just happy with the small piece they already have. (Thom Wood)
Alabama 3 have found the place where Christianity, Communism and drug culture meet, and called it home. One is the son of a preacher man, one was raised on Marxist-Leninism, and all seven (or so) have indulged in a little chemical experimentation. This is a band that stays ‘in character’– evangelism with a Deep South twang, music peppered with ‘oh lord’ and ‘hallelujah’, and we are reminded that we are not an audience: tonight, brothers and sisters, we are a congregation. A seven-man band from Brixton shouldn’t be able to get away with this kind of pastiche – but they do, because from the third song in the congregation are dancing, and they don’t stop. A little guitar, some harmonica perhaps, keyboards, and then the drums and drum machines come alive and we have the fusion that is ‘country acid house’. It can get a little repetitive – tonight there aren’t quite enough of the more stripped-down acoustic songs – but nobody cares because they’re all dancing. Finally, after a mix of old and new songs, gospel choirs, protest anthems and electronica, the last song fades and the brothers and sisters begin to leave. The band have been transcendent. (David Bowles)
Burning Brides Glass Slipper EP (16th December) About to be championed by the NME, Burning Brides are quite concerning. 'Glass Slipper' is fine enough but the nagging doubt that this is another Nirvana wannabe band like The Vines is confirmed by the B-sides. Eminem Lose Yourself (out now) Eminem drops the comedy for the theme to his semiautobiographical film '8 Mile', and instead gives us a song of which any self-motivation speaker would be proud. This is Eminem bang on form, with a grinding rhythm and an atmosphere of danger. AND there is only one instance of someone doing something incestuous to their mother that they really shouldn't. Melaton - Still Water EP (out now) Battling with Mew for single of the issue, JJ72 and Seafood supports Melaton are truly special. They sound very much like Irish band The Frames, who are huge everywhere except Britain. However, this isn't a bad thing and with a pinch of Starsailor, Melaton deserve to be huge. They'll just have to make sure The Frames' lawyers aren't listening too closely.