| Author | Message | ||
     Matt Ellis Member Username: Matt_ellis Post Number: 31 Registered: 11-2004 |
I was lucky enough to be able to travel from London to Spain to see the last 2 shows at the weekend with The Go-Bees, Teenage Fanclub and Delays. I'd never seen Delays before but they were brilliant! They got an excellent reception from the crowd at both venues and I shook the singers hand after the last gig. For general interest I wrote down the setlist for the Barcelona gig: Does anyone have the Bilbao set written down? (my mobile phone battery ran out by then!) Boundary Rider Head Full Of Steam Caroline And I Magic In Here Streets Of Your Town Darlinghurst Nights Bachelor Kisses Did She Overtake You? Bye Bye Pride Finding You Surfing Magazines Spring Rain Was There Anything I Could Do? Here Comes A City The gig the following night was quite eventful: the venue was jam packed and probably oversubscribed. The gig began an hour and a quarter later than the advertised time on the ticket. I realised there might be a problem when after the scheduled start time several roadies and Glenn Thompson could be seen in the main enterance moving drum gear around in flight cases! I also saw Grant looking out at the waiting crowd from one of the top windows of the venue. Nothing was said on stage by any of the bands so I assume that they intended the later start. Robert was at his arch best on stage. He entered the stage and took about 4 studiosly taken photographs of the crowd with a disposable camera. They began with Clouds with Grant and Robert only (Robert only singing vocals with no guitar). After Roberts first full band song (can't remember which) he asked for more vocals and less drums in his monitor. He stopped the song 4 times in a row! and beckoned the sound guy onto the stage at one point (he didnt oblige) There were many bemused faces in the audience! I suspect many where there to see Teenage Fanclub. Eventually it was sorted and Grant was seen having a go at the soundmen too. Grant dedicated a superb rendition of Bye Bye Pride to the Spanish fans and commented that Spain reminded him of parts of Australia. All in all Bilbao was a brilliant gig, totally different atmosphere to Barcelona - a lot of very drunk people in the audience :-) I'll be interested to hear other views? | ||
| carl allen Member Username: Carl Post Number: 3 Registered: 07-2005 |
I have a few photos from the Valencia gig on my website www.biggiantlittlegiant.co.uk , click on Gallery 4. There's also some photos of the Barbican gig there too! The set list from the gig looks the same as the Barcelona gig (above) but I will check. | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 20 Registered: 07-2005 |
Really good photographs Carl. The Go-betweens really the best live photos I've seen of them. Love the Wedding Present and House of Love.Mozzer always takes a good photo. I'd better dig the LPs out. | ||
| Gee Member Username: Gee Post Number: 1 Registered: 11-2005 |
Went to Bilbao. Great weekend and a great gig (not as good Shepherds Bush earlier this year though). Robert, however, was in a complete strop throughout mostly with the soundman but also with Glenn when he fluffed the end of one song. I found this rather rich given old Bob's 'unique' guitar talent! Much underrated are our Glenn and Adele... Robert had rallied by the closing 'Draining the Pool' which had great audience participation on the outro. Teenage Fanclub were OK - went down better than the Go B's but were a bit workmanlike. For any Bilboans reading - you've got a fantastic city. | ||
| Brook Crowley Member Username: 1_fan Post Number: 57 Registered: 02-2005 |
Carl, I went to www.biggiantlittlegiant.co.uk and yes, I found three photos of the Go-Between leaders, two of Robert and the other of Grant (playing a bass- I think it's sure been at least twenty years since he played the bass!). By the way, where were those shots taken? | ||
| Matt Ellis Member Username: Matt_ellis Post Number: 32 Registered: 11-2004 |
Brook, I seem to remember a posting regarding a recent German gig which mentioned Grant playing bass on one song. Also, don't forget Grant played bass last year at the Barbican gig for an 8 song first set. I personally think the way Grant can sing and play complicated basslines is pretty impressive. Mark King....eat your heart out old son! | ||
| dan collins Member Username: Danwie Post Number: 1 Registered: 11-2005 |
I finally saw GB live in my city (Barcelona). My only complaint is that the concert suddenly finished in the heat of the moment. I am waiting for a concert only played by them, no other supporting (or not) bands. I would have paid a fortune for being in London's Barbican last year according on what can be heard in Live in London's cd. (at last, a GB's live album, and only for the real fans, not available on shops, perfect!) | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 18 Registered: 04-2005 |
Some random notes on the Madrid gig from my pal David that happened to be there on holiday. Don't read this if you really really like Teenage Fanclub! > Just thought I'd send you my thoughts and impressions of the Go-Betweens in Madrid before it all fades from the memory. You've probably already got accounts from your online contacts, but anyway... I must admit when you mentioned the fact that they were playing in Madrid while I was there it didn't really register as a "date" for my holiday diary. But I was really glad I went. A superb gig, spoiled only by Teenage Fanclub. Venue maybe a bit big for them ("Sala Divino Aqualung", in a shopping centre) -- but then, this was Teenage Fanclub's night, unfortunately. The crowd was really there to see TF, but were still very appreciative of the GBs, and there was a crowd down the front, clearly Spanish, who were definitely fans, singing or at least mouthing along to some of the songs. So you'd have to say they got a good reception, and not just out of politeness. But still. Robert Forster is a performer who needs a relationship with the audience, who needs dialogue, banter, patter. And of course there was none of that. The campness, the theatricality was all there, but there's not much point in making wry quips to a non-Anglophone audience. Also he was severely pissed off at the lighting -- he kept shouting out "More light, more light" -- eventually "More fucking light!" Basically they were all back lit which I think was to fit in with Teenage Fanclub later on, but what Robert wanted was full-on lighting -- lighting on him. As Grant Maclellan explained, "Robert is a very beautiful man and he needs a lot of light". Finally he got it and he was happier. But I don't think he was ever entirely at his ease. GM seemed more comfortable. To be fair there was a very corporate feel to the whole concert -- you came on, played for the allotted time and that was that. No encore. Even TF only got one. "Surfing Magazines" (brilliant, joyous -- stayed in my head for days afterwards) Was There Anything I Could Do" (GM: "in memory of Magenta who is no longer with us"?) one called something like "Did She Overtake Me?" -- new song, written the week before I feel there were more but that's all I can remember. It wasn't a very long set. I'm just looking over the review from El Pais, but there's really nothing in it about the GBs other than who they are and what songs they played. I don't know anything about the conventional gig review terminology or who played like what -- but they were tight and controlled and full of energy. It reminded me of how great the songs are. And that gift they have which I'm sure I've mentioned before of drawing you in even with new material -- each song is a vignette, a character sketch, a story -- as in my listing above, there are phrases that stay with you. You may not know all the details but it's immediately apparent that there's something there, something is happening or has happened even if you only get glimpses. What a contrast with Teenage Fanclub. From the sublime to the ridiculous. I've had to do my best to expunge the memory of their segment from my mind -- I was positively depressed after listening to them...If it had been up to us C and I would have left straight after the GBs. Where the GBs songs are about life and passion and things that happen, the Fanclub is barely warmed over pastiche, endlessly recycled 60s riffs, lyrics you would cross the road to avoid. Vapidity set to music. They pound away in that relentlessly cheery fashion and you just wish the ground would open up and swallow them. Their songs have no character, no particularity. They lower your spirits. They're a sort of anti-Go-Betweens. And I have to say, those Spanish kids dug them the most. So that was a low note to leave on but whenever I'm tempted to think of them I conjure up instead the memory of the joyful wordless chorus from "Surfing Magazines" and all is well with the world again > I'll try and persuade David to dig out his great piece on the Hoochie Koochie Club, Edinburgh 1987 sometime... Andrew | ||
| abigail law Member Username: Abigail Post Number: 11 Registered: 06-2005 |
tsk maybe you saw the teenage fanclub on an off day but every time i've seen them live (five or six times over the years) I thought they were excellent. yes, they sound a bit byrdsy but then so do the go-betweens at times. their albums on the whole are fantastic too and their latest, man-made, is one of the best albums of the year. I'm still listening to it now which is more than can be said for oceans apart. but each to thier own i guess | ||
| julia motzko Member Username: Julia Post Number: 11 Registered: 05-2005 |
yes, and "Grand Prix"! it's an album full of classics, like "Don't Look back", "Neil Jung", "Verisimilitude", "Discolite", "About You", "Say No", "Mellow Doubt" etc. - so that was already more than half of the songs on the album, but it's that good!  I'm a sucker for all Glaswegian bands including the BMX Bandits, The Pastels, The Delgados, Future Pilot Aka, B&S, Arab Strap, Reindeer Section, and those on Francis Macdonald's Shoeshine Records. When I saw Teenage Fanclub a couple of weeks ago, Eugene Kelly (of The Vaselines and Eugenius fame) joined them on stage and they did "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam" as an encore. that was such a highlight. Kelly has just released his solo debut, I haven't bought it yet but I think it's worth it. | ||
| abigail law Member Username: Abigail Post Number: 12 Registered: 06-2005 |
at a push i'd say grand prix is probably my fav TF album with man-made a v. strong second continuing the scottish note, I bought the orange juice retrospective - the glasgow school - recently and a really fantastic record it is too. | ||
| Matt Ellis Member Username: Matt_ellis Post Number: 33 Registered: 11-2004 |
I think that Andrew Kerr's comments about Teenage Fanclub were a little harsh. I can't see them as "The anti Go-Betweens". They've toured together twice and both bands have a knack for ultra melodic songs with personal, poetic lyrics. On the other hand I think that Andrew has a point in that I just felt that something was missing from Teenage Fanclubs performances at the 2 gigs I saw. This is from someone who regards Grand Prix and Songs From Northern Britain as two of their favourite albums. But I must say that I prefer listening to their records over hearing them live. I suppose headlining the Go-Bees isn't the easiest thing to do! | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 19 Registered: 04-2005 |
Matt, Should point out that I have no opinion about Teenage Fanclub, having never listened to them. My posting was based on an e-mail that a friend David sent to me. It must be pointed out that he has actually listened to them in the past...but probably won't be again I suspect. |