Jiminy Cricket

Indeed I am back. :) There's a review of the gig in the Snow Patrol thread. Today was good, but it's sort of ended on a downer. A good friend of mine's depressed... :(

It's something I plan to do if I can. :)

Thanks again. :)

Double post ftw. -- I actually gasped when I got into the T.F., you know. Such was the sight that met my eyes, of the stage setup for the Reworked Tour. It was then and there that I realised just how different things were going to be. A multi-million-selling act were going to try some intimacy. And the night was intimate. Oh yes indeed – about as intimate as you can get in a venue this size. Billed as starting at 8pm, the lights didn’t dim until 8.15: clearly, the roadies were making an effort. Every single one of the instruments on that stage had to be pitch-perfact, after all. The first set got underway with a skeletal version of ‘The Finish Line’, featuring just Gary Lightbody and a harp player. The line-up of people on stage changed constantly throughout the night. Through ‘Crack the Shutters’ and ‘Batten Down The Hatch’, there’s more than a little chatting going on, and this prompts Lightbody to address the crowd thus – though whether it’s in light-hearted fashion or otherwise is unclear: ‘This [chatting] is really starting to fuck me off, so if you want to continue it, you can go to the bar’. Later, he apologises, explaining that he ‘just gets into a weird mood sometimes’. However, this doesn’t change the fact that people are struggling to get into what he calls the ‘quiet first half’ of the set. Now, this is going to sound elitist, I know, but while I can forgive the majority not recognising some of the more obscure tracks (’An Olive Grove Facing the Sea’ – which is stunning; the Reindeer Section material, ‘Cartwheels’ and ‘You Are My Joy’, many, many times throughout the night do I get the feeling that quite a few are only here for the singles. As if to prove my point, ‘Take Back the City’ gets by far the best reaction of any song in the first set, closing things in rousing fashion. After an intermission (Lightbody: ‘It’s just like going to the theatre’), things are resumed with new song ‘Dark Roman Wine’. As set openers go, understated is not the word. After this, however, now with what would constitute the full band on stage, they launch into a truly euphoric version of ‘Spitting Games’ during which we are urged to stand up. Most every single person in the room remains standing for the rest of the night, as the band pull off a storming set. Crowd-pleasers are rolled out, and the reception that ‘Run’ gets is, quite simply, incredible. In a bitterly ironic twist, what could be called their best-known song, ‘Chasing Cars’, meets with clueless looks until the vocals come in. However, things pick up, and the roof is duly raised as the song reaches climax point. Two covers are rolled out tonight: One, Declan O’Rourke’s ‘Galileo’ (with the man himself on stage; in fact, Declan is around for quite a part of the show), and an absolutely jaw-dropping take on Elbow’s ‘One Day Like This’ (the band even roped in their string section). A long-overdue debut is given to the rather excellent ‘Lifeboats’, too. They really pulled out all the stops. The second set finishes with an electrifying ‘If There’s A Rocket, Tie Me To It’, before an encore of recent single ‘Just Say Yes’; their ace in the pack, ‘You’re All I Have’; and a fantastic take on ‘Shut Your Eyes’. A truly marvellous night from start to finish, one can only hope that the risks they’re taking on this tour rub off on the group as they begin writing for album number six. True, they are still very good at what they do, but some experimentation, as heard in ‘A Hundred Million Suns” epic closer ‘The Lightning Strike – would be welcome. Has tonight given them the confidence to go out on a limb? We shall just have to wait and see.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg0AntKH6ss]Galileo[/ame] :)

Short summary of the gig last night: Two words. Fucking epic. Setlist as follows (people who would prefer to be kept in the dark, stop reading now): The Finish Line Crack the Shutters Batten Down the Hatch Give Me Strength An Olive Grove Facing the Sea Galileo (w/ Declan O'Rourke) You Could Be Happy The Golden Floor Grazed Knees Cartwheels Take Back the City -- Dark Roman Wine Spitting Games You Are My Joy Run (FUCKING HELL THIS WAS SO GOOD) Set the Fire to the Third Bar ONE DAY LIKE THIS (SEE ABOVE) Lifeboats Chocolate The Planets Bend Between Us Chasing Cars (say what you want, but you cannot deny this is always a live highlight) If There's A Rocket, Tie Me To It -- Just Say Yes You're All I Have Shut Your Eyes Review soonish.

How've you all been? :)

Mmf. :P

Oh, by the way, Space Cadet, the 'Keyla' list can be removed. I already have one list up there. :)

Things haven't gotten into full swing here yet - my town's lights haven't even been put up! And it's the 4th of December!! :o

Coincidence? :uhoh:

Yeah, Laura, I is Bernard. :) Oh, and it's MAJA!? Very well then, Happy early Christmas Maja. :) It's certaonly cold enough here for snow. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. *shivers*

:sick:

Merry early Christmas, _. Think I'll call you _, since I've no idea what yr actual name is. :P

That would be because I've not been in this thread for a while, Laura. :) Actual name is Bernard btw. If Crests can be all coy and tell us her real name... I'm thinking it probably is Crests. :P

YES IT IS It's :awesome: in fact. Why has it been spoiler'd? :(

Old cartoons ftw. :) @Crests: mmm... burger... :P

That sounds absolutely doorsome. :rolleyes: :P

As you should be. I'm hard put to pick an Editors song I don't like. :nice:

Welcome. :)

:laugh3: Classic Mark.

You like Coldplay and Snow Patrol, right? Well, they have a similar ear for melody, although electronics permeate their sound. There's more Radiohead in there than Coldplay or SP. Recent single 'You Are Here' The album is an 'album' in the proper sense, rather than a collection of songs. It's thirteen tracks longer, and all joined up via clever segues and transitions. Finally, no less than SEVEN tracks occupied my 'song of the year' spot throughout the year. If it's available on Aussie iTunes, please do buy it if you like what you hear. :) http://www.myspace.com/codesofficial

Oh, yeah, I remembered you were doing something amazing this moth that I wasn't... :( :P Enjoy the gig! :nice: By being prepared, d'you mean 'have you got all yr presents bought, etc.?' If you do, then no, I most definitely not prepared. :P

I didn't know it was out over there! :o Oh well, money well spent. :) And yes, I wonder... ;)

Final list for the year runs thus: 01. Codes - Trees Dream In Algebra (masterpiece. And I do not use that word lightly.) 02. Johnny Foreigner - Grace And The Bigger Picture 03. Grammatics - Grammatics 04. The Xcerts - In The Cold Wind We Smile 05. And So I Watch You From Afar - And So I Watch You From Afar 06. Editors - In This Light And On This Evening 07. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion 08. Tubelord - Our First American Friends 09. The Boxer Rebellion - Union 10. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest