Gigs Thread

Just been to watch Ben Ottewell (Gomez) and James Walsh (Starsailor) doing an Acoustic set each at a Church in Warrington. Very unusual setting but both very good.

Bit strange having a bar there !
 
off to see Massive Attack at the Co-op, just learnt their support are Palestinian.... should be lively!
 
Massive Attack, Co-op Arena, 5th June. 4/5

When a gig provokes anger, boredom, (limited) joy, frustration, and - crucially - discussion well into the following days, you know you've attended something that won't be simply forgotten in the annals of gig going.

There is always a debate on what people think a 'gig' should be - albums lovingly (slavishly?) reproduced for adoring paying fans, artistic interpretation of classics, messaging platforms, social gatherings and constructs, joyful outpourings of song and dance in a tough world and more - but Massive Attack certainly went on the attack at the Co-op with an unrelentingly painful message of the current state of global affairs.

To the ire of many - a steady trickle of fans were leaving the co-op from 40 mins onwards (including 2 of our group of 7) - Massive Attack started with climate change speeches and then spent 100 minutes of MK-Ultra-esque messaging on war, corruption, social media brainwashing, conpsiracies and more. For 45 minutes I missed a lot of the music, which tended towards lesser known tracks from Mezzanine, Heligoland and strange covers of Jeff Buckley and Ultravox, as i was brain dumped endless misery on Gaza and Israel.

Much like the Bob Dylan debate, I am of the opinion no band should simply do as the paying crowd demands, they are their own artists who can do exactly as they please as long as the can take the debate/backlash, and so going down this path was their choice. Massive Attack have never shied from controversy in this manner, but even I was slightly taken aback at the unrelenting and slightly torturous nature of the visuals. I think in there resided a point.

My patience and, dare I say, appetite for this sort of artistic license is pretty deep but even i was left feeling a little miffed when, finally, Unfinished Symphony rolled out to zero video background to heighten the musical experience but i was feeling a little hollow and couldn't properly appreciate finally seeing one of my favourite all time songs live. It took Karmacoma to settle and Teardrop was delivered with utter perfection. In fact, away from the visual assault, the music, and in particular the vocals (Horace Andy, Deborah Miller & Elizabeth Fraser), were top notch throughout.

I left feeling i'd seen something. My criticism would be that while messaging and awareness raising are very important, and Massive Attack have form, this was a gig without much hope or joy. Comparing it to Ezra Collective of 2 months earlier felt like polar opposites. Also the visuals did detract from the music, without doubt. There's a place for everything in art, and many will be disgruntled with shelling out £60 for that, but you couldn't deny they did something.
 
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For any fans of The Paisley Underground bands, one of it's finest are returning to Manchester to play their best album in full.
Not sure who will be playing lead guitar, as the regular guy had 'visa' issues when they came over last year. (Vicky Peterson from the Bangles ably stood in for him)

Being a Sunday and shite trains it means a hotel stopover, but I cannot miss this.

Dream Syndicate.jpg
 
shemnel said:
Massive Attack, Co-op Arena, 5th June. 4/5

When a gig provokes anger, boredom, (limited) joy, frustration, and - crucially - discussion well into the following days, you know you've attended something that won't be simply forgotten in the annals of gig going.

There is always a debate on what people think a 'gig' should be - albums lovingly (slavishly?) reproduced for adoring paying fans, artistic interpretation of classics, messaging platforms, social gatherings and constructs, joyful outpourings of song and dance in a tough world and more - but Massive Attack certainly went on the attack at the Co-op with an unrelentingly painful message of the current state of global affairs.

To the ire of many - a steady trickle of fans were leaving the co-op from 40 mins onwards (including 2 of our group of 7) - Massive Attack started with climate change speeches and then spent 100 minutes of MK-Ultra-esque messaging on war, corruption, social media brainwashing, conpsiracies and more. For 45 minutes I missed a lot of the music, which tended towards lesser known tracks from Mezzanine, Heligoland and strange covers of Jeff Buckley and Ultravox, as i was brain dumped endless misery on Gaza and Israel.

Much like the Bob Dylan debate, I am of the opinion no band should simply do as the paying crowd demands, they are their own artists who can do exactly as they please as long as the can take the debate/backlash, and so going down this path was their choice. Massive Attack have never shied from controversy in this manner, but even I was slightly taken aback at the unrelenting and slightly torturous nature of the visuals. I think in there resided a point.

My patience and, dare I say, appetite for this sort of artistic license is pretty deep but even i was left feeling a little miffed when, finally, Unfinished Symphony rolled out to zero video background to heighten the musical experience but i was feeling a little hollow and couldn't properly appreciate finally seeing one of my favourite all time songs live. It took Karmacoma to settle and Teardrop was delivered with utter perfection. In fact, away from the visual assault, the music, and in particular the vocals (Horace Andy, Deborah Miller & Elizabeth Fraser), were top notch throughout.

I left feeling i'd seen something. My criticism would be that while messaging and awareness raising are very important, and Massive Attack have form, this was a gig without much hope or joy. Comparing it to Ezra Collective of 2 months earlier felt like polar opposites. Also the visuals did detract from the music, without doubt. There's a place for everything in art, and many will be disgruntled with shelling out £60 for that, but you couldn't deny they did something.
Click to expand...
I left confused. Whilst the incessant messaging certainly took away from the sometimes brilliant music, it also polarised my thoughts on the worldwide problems, caused by the madmen pulling the strings. I went last night for the music, but came away wondering what exactly did I witness.
 
Danny Hoekman said:
I left confused. Whilst the incessant messaging certainly took away from the sometimes brilliant music, it also polarised my thoughts on the worldwide problems, caused by the madmen pulling the strings. I went last night for the music, but came away wondering what exactly did I witness.
Click to expand...

i'm personally fine with that, some bands go for the art angle and try to push a feeling or to make you reflect, and in fairness they were always going to do that with what's going on in the world. Others see it differently, 2 of my mates were pretty raging they paid for that. Musically though, i thought it was excellent.
 
shemnel said:
Massive Attack, Co-op Arena, 5th June. 4/5

When a gig provokes anger, boredom, (limited) joy, frustration, and - crucially - discussion well into the following days, you know you've attended something that won't be simply forgotten in the annals of gig going.

There is always a debate on what people think a 'gig' should be - albums lovingly (slavishly?) reproduced for adoring paying fans, artistic interpretation of classics, messaging platforms, social gatherings and constructs, joyful outpourings of song and dance in a tough world and more - but Massive Attack certainly went on the attack at the Co-op with an unrelentingly painful message of the current state of global affairs.

To the ire of many - a steady trickle of fans were leaving the co-op from 40 mins onwards (including 2 of our group of 7) - Massive Attack started with climate change speeches and then spent 100 minutes of MK-Ultra-esque messaging on war, corruption, social media brainwashing, conpsiracies and more. For 45 minutes I missed a lot of the music, which tended towards lesser known tracks from Mezzanine, Heligoland and strange covers of Jeff Buckley and Ultravox, as i was brain dumped endless misery on Gaza and Israel.

Much like the Bob Dylan debate, I am of the opinion no band should simply do as the paying crowd demands, they are their own artists who can do exactly as they please as long as the can take the debate/backlash, and so going down this path was their choice. Massive Attack have never shied from controversy in this manner, but even I was slightly taken aback at the unrelenting and slightly torturous nature of the visuals. I think in there resided a point.

My patience and, dare I say, appetite for this sort of artistic license is pretty deep but even i was left feeling a little miffed when, finally, Unfinished Symphony rolled out to zero video background to heighten the musical experience but i was feeling a little hollow and couldn't properly appreciate finally seeing one of my favourite all time songs live. It took Karmacoma to settle and Teardrop was delivered with utter perfection. In fact, away from the visual assault, the music, and in particular the vocals (Horace Andy, Deborah Miller & Elizabeth Fraser), were top notch throughout.

I left feeling i'd seen something. My criticism would be that while messaging and awareness raising are very important, and Massive Attack have form, this was a gig without much hope or joy. Comparing it to Ezra Collective of 2 months earlier felt like polar opposites. Also the visuals did detract from the music, without doubt. There's a place for everything in art, and many will be disgruntled with shelling out £60 for that, but you couldn't deny they did something.
Click to expand...

Sounds brilliant. Thanks for a great write-up.

I like it when bands plough their own furrow. I remember seeing Smashing Pumpkins at Glastonbury when the Mellon Collie album was a worldwide smash. The crowd turned up to hear the hits, but instead SP did an hour long, continuous jam set without a single recognisable song, nor any lyrics, or audience engagement whatsoever. Every now and then they’d tease the intro to some well-known song, but pull it back the second the crowd recognised it. By the end they’d alienated almost the entire main-stage audience. To this day I can’t make my mind up as to whether it was one of the most arrogant, or brilliant things I’ve ever seen. And that’s a great thing.
 
The big screen must have broken down during these songs, heh...



 
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shemnel said:
Massive Attack, Co-op Arena, 5th June. 4/5

When a gig provokes anger, boredom, (limited) joy, frustration, and - crucially - discussion well into the following days, you know you've attended something that won't be simply forgotten in the annals of gig going.

There is always a debate on what people think a 'gig' should be - albums lovingly (slavishly?) reproduced for adoring paying fans, artistic interpretation of classics, messaging platforms, social gatherings and constructs, joyful outpourings of song and dance in a tough world and more - but Massive Attack certainly went on the attack at the Co-op with an unrelentingly painful message of the current state of global affairs.

To the ire of many - a steady trickle of fans were leaving the co-op from 40 mins onwards (including 2 of our group of 7) - Massive Attack started with climate change speeches and then spent 100 minutes of MK-Ultra-esque messaging on war, corruption, social media brainwashing, conpsiracies and more. For 45 minutes I missed a lot of the music, which tended towards lesser known tracks from Mezzanine, Heligoland and strange covers of Jeff Buckley and Ultravox, as i was brain dumped endless misery on Gaza and Israel.

Much like the Bob Dylan debate, I am of the opinion no band should simply do as the paying crowd demands, they are their own artists who can do exactly as they please as long as the can take the debate/backlash, and so going down this path was their choice. Massive Attack have never shied from controversy in this manner, but even I was slightly taken aback at the unrelenting and slightly torturous nature of the visuals. I think in there resided a point.

My patience and, dare I say, appetite for this sort of artistic license is pretty deep but even i was left feeling a little miffed when, finally, Unfinished Symphony rolled out to zero video background to heighten the musical experience but i was feeling a little hollow and couldn't properly appreciate finally seeing one of my favourite all time songs live. It took Karmacoma to settle and Teardrop was delivered with utter perfection. In fact, away from the visual assault, the music, and in particular the vocals (Horace Andy, Deborah Miller & Elizabeth Fraser), were top notch throughout.

I left feeling i'd seen something. My criticism would be that while messaging and awareness raising are very important, and Massive Attack have form, this was a gig without much hope or joy. Comparing it to Ezra Collective of 2 months earlier felt like polar opposites. Also the visuals did detract from the music, without doubt. There's a place for everything in art, and many will be disgruntled with shelling out £60 for that, but you couldn't deny they did something.
Click to expand...
Excellent review that pretty much nails it for me.
''TURN IT UP..''
 
shemnel said:
Massive Attack, Co-op Arena, 5th June. 4/5

When a gig provokes anger, boredom, (limited) joy, frustration, and - crucially - discussion well into the following days, you know you've attended something that won't be simply forgotten in the annals of gig going.

There is always a debate on what people think a 'gig' should be - albums lovingly (slavishly?) reproduced for adoring paying fans, artistic interpretation of classics, messaging platforms, social gatherings and constructs, joyful outpourings of song and dance in a tough world and more - but Massive Attack certainly went on the attack at the Co-op with an unrelentingly painful message of the current state of global affairs.

To the ire of many - a steady trickle of fans were leaving the co-op from 40 mins onwards (including 2 of our group of 7) - Massive Attack started with climate change speeches and then spent 100 minutes of MK-Ultra-esque messaging on war, corruption, social media brainwashing, conpsiracies and more. For 45 minutes I missed a lot of the music, which tended towards lesser known tracks from Mezzanine, Heligoland and strange covers of Jeff Buckley and Ultravox, as i was brain dumped endless misery on Gaza and Israel.

Much like the Bob Dylan debate, I am of the opinion no band should simply do as the paying crowd demands, they are their own artists who can do exactly as they please as long as the can take the debate/backlash, and so going down this path was their choice. Massive Attack have never shied from controversy in this manner, but even I was slightly taken aback at the unrelenting and slightly torturous nature of the visuals. I think in there resided a point.

My patience and, dare I say, appetite for this sort of artistic license is pretty deep but even i was left feeling a little miffed when, finally, Unfinished Symphony rolled out to zero video background to heighten the musical experience but i was feeling a little hollow and couldn't properly appreciate finally seeing one of my favourite all time songs live. It took Karmacoma to settle and Teardrop was delivered with utter perfection. In fact, away from the visual assault, the music, and in particular the vocals (Horace Andy, Deborah Miller & Elizabeth Fraser), were top notch throughout.

I left feeling i'd seen something. My criticism would be that while messaging and awareness raising are very important, and Massive Attack have form, this was a gig without much hope or joy. Comparing it to Ezra Collective of 2 months earlier felt like polar opposites. Also the visuals did detract from the music, without doubt. There's a place for everything in art, and many will be disgruntled with shelling out £60 for that, but you couldn't deny they did something.
Click to expand...

Did Liz sing on many songs?
 
Just got tickets for Beethoven’s 9th at the Grand Teton music festival. Haven’t been for a couple of years but this is my favorite Beethoven. Gonna get all Drooged up, in one way or another
 
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