| Author | Message | ||
     Hardin Smith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 14 Registered: 03-2006 |
I was curious about people on the board's experiences actually going to GoBs gigs, so I was going to share my experience of the one time I was lucky enough to see them...Forgive me if this duplicates any other threads - I didn't see one specifically on this subject. It was in 1989, in New Orleans, at Tipitina's, of all places, that I saw them. Tipitina's, for those of you who don't know of it, is a classic, venerable old music hall (some might say dump) where a lot of the N.O. music legends, like the Meters, the Nevilles, Professor Longhair, etc, have played. Maybe a strange place for the GBs to play, but a lot of other punk and indie bands have played there - the Mekons, for instance. I took a very superficial and shallow girl I was seeing at the time to the show, in effect, wasting a ticket. She could've cared less.The relationship was based on nothing very deep - physical attraction, getting drunk together...ah youth...but deep she was not, and she didn't particularly care about music in general, and least of all the GBs music...I think she wanted to go because it sounded exotic - "ooh, they're from Australia!"... But anyway, we arrive there, and there are literally, like, 12 people there...(sad)....There was a gawky, tall giant sitting at the bar in an almost blinding mustard yellow suit. This, of course, was Forster. Which floored me - it seemed shocking that big rock stars would rub elbows with the hoi polloi...At the time, I'd seen their video on MTV (for Streets...), so to me they were big rock stars...how come they weren't being mobbed by fans? Eventually Forster and band took the stage. They seemed exhausted, listless, even...Knowing what I know now, I can see why - they were apparently on the verge of breaking up. Amanda Brown actually looked like she'd been crying... They still managed to put on a great show. I remember Forster mentioning that he'd just bought the suit that very day for $50. As with the DVD, he really does apparently assume the role of frontman and spokesperson. I also vividly remember GM rocking out playing the riff to "I'm Alright". THOSE two were having fun, anyway - I guess that's probably because they were givers of pink slips at that point with their own futures, and not receivers. Amusingly enough, the "crowd", who didn't really look like my internal picture of GBs fans, were TOTALLY into it...imagine redneck-y, hulking guys, looking more like football fans you'd see at a N.O. Saints game, singing along at the top of their lungs to "The Clarke Sisters", as though it were "You Shook Me All Night Long"...quite surreal. I half-expected them to give the "devil's horn" hand signal and slamdance each other.... So, it was quite a hell of a night and I feel really fortunate to have seen them then...too bad they broke up soon after, but if they hadn't, they probably wouldn't be together today, still producing vital music. |