| Author | Message | ||
     Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 36 Registered: 04-2005 |
Last night's show at Seattle's elegant Triple Door (a suitable venue for the dapper Mr. Forster) was tremendous. I've sent the setlist to be posted on the tour page, so I won't repeat it here. And I'm incapable of being objective about the show, so I won't try to write a conventional review, just make a few notes: -When they came out, Robert said they were going to do something different by maintaining the mood of the opening band, the quiet folk/country band Delorean, so they started the set with "He Lives My Life." Robert promised that after the song, the band would deliver the "hard rock" the audience had come for. -They only played four songs off of 'Oceans Apart,' with the highlight not surprisingly being "Darlinghurst Nights" (Grant on electric). The album wasn't mentioned at all, so they weren't exactly "pushing product." -They played half each of "The Friends of Rachel Worth" and "16 Lovers Lane." The songs from the former were the biggest revelation of the show--they were so much stronger live, leading me to conclude that the problem with that album was the flat production and somewhat underarranged songs. Even "Surfing Magazines" worked live, and "German Farmhouse," rather than sounding like a humorous novelty song, sounded like a classic stomping rocker. -The highlight for me was "Spring Rain," with Glenn nicely approximating Lindy's classic drum rolls that make the chorus so jubilant. -And indeed, Adele and Glenn are thoroughly worthy Go-Betweens; there should be no hand-wringing over the absence of Robert V, Lindy, or Amanda. Adele's enthusiasm, muscular bass playing, and fine backing vocals make her a strong counterpoint to R & G, and Glenn, while not flashy, is a solid, flexible drummer. Make no mistake: the Go-Betweens are a band, not just Robert and Grant with some backup musicians. -The one song that didn't work for me was "Poison in the Walls," which stripped of the recorded version's more intricate guitar nuances becomes a slightly bland jangle-rocker. "This Night's for You" is much stronger in a similar vein, if less interesting lyrically. -As another poster noted about an earlier show, Grant abandoned his guitar on the last song of the final encore, "Cattle and Cane," to wander the stage with the mike, offering some curious pseudo hip-hop gestures. M.C. Lennan indeed! -Grant walked past me about half an hour before the doors opened to the venue, but looked in a hurry so I resisted the urge to say anything to him. In retrospect, I wish I'd at least said, "Thanks for coming to Seattle, Grant." My girlfriend and I hung around for a bit after the show in hopes Robert might emerge to greet the audience, but it didn't look like it was going to happen so we left. -The woman at the concessions stand said they didn't have enough room to pack the tour T-shirts for the U.S. swing. At least they had plenty of copies of 'Live in London.' It would be nice if they'd make the shirts available through this website eventually. Anyway, it was a great show--all I was hoping for and more. Thank you, Go-Betweens. And you people in SF and LA are in for a treat. Wish I had the time/money to hop on a plane and catch the show at Slim's tonight... |