Monday 30 May 2011

Adam Ant: Newcastle O2 Academy, Sunday 29 May 2011


I promise I will try and get through this review without
making bad puns like how much I "ant-icipated" it, etc.

Well, a little girl's dream came true last night when Adam Ant came to town.  I've made no secret of how much I esteem him as a total underrated bloody marvellous musical genius, and when he announced he was going to tour again after all these years, I possibly waited about 4.5 seconds to work out whether it was likely that I was going to be in the audience that night:

Brain: Alive that day, do you think?
Body:  Most likely.
Brain:  WE'RE THERE. 

And what better gig-mate to accompany me than my fab Auntie Lisa (or should I say, "Ant-y Lisa") who is solely responsible for my induction into the insect nation back in the '80's.  Here's what I have said about Adam Ant before:

I implore you to have a careful listen and try not to be distracted too much by the videos – they are as mad as a box of frogs, make no mistake – but the innovations he makes especially in the depth and layering of the vocal harmonies is something truly special. Behind that pretty boy facade, Ant has a prodigious grasp of musical structuring, put together in an undeniably unconventional way that yet somehow makes you want to hit ‘repeat’ and listen again. And also? TWO drummers? Wha-hoo!


...and try as I might, I can't rephrase that any better to make you see why I love him so. 

Ever the show-off, the inimitable Mr Ant. 
*swoon*
I took some video but they all turned out too distorted and crap to share, but a few quick clicks to YouTube revealed some footage that I have spent most of this afternoon replaying.





If I had one bit of criticism, it's that he didn't really interact with the audience much, nor the rest of the band on the stage, which was a little odd.  Not to take away from the fact that I was enjoying myself immensely -- bopping and jumping and having a bit of drunken-Ant-mad-craic with the girls down at the front with us, representing the "naughty North" -- but save for the occasional 'thank you' and other generic between-song pleasantries he didn't talk very much and it distracted me slightly as I couldn't work out whether or not he was enjoying himself.  I felt a bit unsettled, because I really buzz off that,  you know?  Especially if I'm sweating my boobs off down the front, giving it crazy, shouting lyrics like a mental case.  It's like there was a noticeable deficit in one side of that give-and-take exchange of that energy that should bounce around a concert venue; fizzing between the band before thundering off the kick drum before being zapped  out across however many thousands of us are there watching.  You know what I'm on about, right? "Bad vibes akimbo." Hmm?




Be that as it may, it was still a fantastic night out - just the right ratio of new material to old, and I really enjoyed hearing some of my favourite songs performed nearly 30 years later and sounding as fresh and contemporary as some of the stuff I like these days.  Truly ahead of his time; Mr Ant and his music still tastes lip-smackingly delicious and I have no wish at all to try another flavour.  

 





Tuesday 24 May 2011

Instant Song Love - Fruit Bats: When U Love Somebody

Just a quickie before I go to bed.  

I just watched 'Youth In Revolt' with the adorable Michael Cera (you know I have mentioned him before) and this song featured in the film, and it's so cute and lovely I wanted to share it straight away.  Never heard it before.  So glad I did tonight.  Instant song love.  What do you think?



Tuesday 17 May 2011

This Kind of Crap Stops Me From Going to Sleep On A Night

SCENE:  A BEDROOM, LATE ONE EVENING

The Bearded Man and the Voluptuous Woman lay together in bed.  Irritatingly, the man sports at least a week's worth of stubble.  Our heroine  is nearly asleep, her fantastic hair swept up into a bun out of the way, to make for comfortable sleeping.  The man wants a cuddle.

W:  Bugger off, will you.  I'm asleep.

M:  But I like you.

The woman rolls her eyes, but softens -- the cuddle is not half bad.

W:  Why do you like me?  Tell me.

M:  I like you because you like me, I like you because you gave me two really cute babies, but mostly I like you because I have no other real friends to speak of, so I cling to you in desperation because I have no one else, really.

W:  Ah.  So... less of a husband, more of a parasite?

(a few moments pass)

M:  Yes.  That sounds right.  I am a "limpet".

W: (laughing)  Is that even a word?  Where's my phone?  I am going to Google "limpet". 

M:  Google might say "ex-partner of one of The Cheeky Girls".

W:  That's a "Lembit", you knob.  (pause)  Ah... "aquatic underwater mollusk."

M:  Precisely.

END SCENE

Aquatic underwater mollusk.

Lembit Opik, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament.


More adventures with our intrepid couple here, here, here, here and here.

Thursday 5 May 2011

Words Are Stronger Than Tanks

Remember a few months ago I whined about the whole tanks/guns/war thing?  Yeah, we're still trying to wrap our heads around it, too. 

*   *   *   *

“Where are we going? I’m hungry for breaaaaaaaaaaaakfassssssssssssst!” he whines, as we walk towards the school gates. “No, Mammy! School is closed today!”

“Yes, baby,” I say. “But Mammy is going to vote this morning.”

“What does ‘vote’ mean?” he asks.

“Well, you know the government who runs our country and... looks after everyone?” The latter few words stick in my throat slightly, but my inflection doesn’t waver enough for him to notice and he nods. “Well how do you think those people get into the government?” I ask.

He shrugs.

I explain the very basic premise as the furrows in his brow uncrease as pieces of understanding fix themselves together in his little head.

“Can I vote?” he wonders.

“You can when you’re eighteen,” I tell him. “And do you know what? Less than a hundred years ago, they didn’t let women have a go at voting. They only let men. What do you think of that?”

“So, they only let Daddies but not Mammies decide the government?” he asks.

“Yep.”

“Well I think that that mustn’t have been very fair for all the Mammies.”

“You’re right, it wasn’t fair for all the Mammies. But you know, all those Mammies got together and fought the government and made them make it fair.”

“Did they have a war with tanks?” his eyes light up.

“No, baby. They fought with words. Words are stronger than tanks.”

At this, he throws his head back and laughs. “Words are not stronger than tanks. Especially not the 75mm gun on the German Panther from 1943 that weighs 35 tonnes and has a turret and 80mm armour on the side of the hull.  Can we have crumpets for breakfast?”