From: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org (idealcopy-digest) To: idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Subject: idealcopy-digest V6 #120 Reply-To: idealcopy@smoe.org Sender: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk idealcopy-digest Monday, April 28 2003 Volume 06 : Number 120 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [idealcopy] Re: Barbican [HowardJSpencer@aol.com] Re: [idealcopy] Jazzercise [Bart van Damme ] [idealcopy] "Send" isn't here, yet... [=?iso-8859-1?q?Monochromatic=20Man] [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? [Anthony Chapman ] RE: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? ["Keith Knight" ] Re: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? ["Keith Astbury" ] [idealcopy] Barbican [Alistair Tear > He sang on Agfers of Kodack but some dim soundman failed to turn him up enough. He could barely be heard at all until halfway through. Highlights: I don't understand, Spent, Art of stopping, Mannequin, Fragile (yes!), Strange. The Chapman brothers' backdrop idea had an initial impact but the laughter turned to a congealed grin when they did no more with it. Es Devlin's much better. Howard ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 15:03:51 +0200 From: Bart van Damme Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Jazzercise Jeez, thnxalot for taking the trouble writing this down as quickly as you did AT Keith. I must say I'd have to agree with Ari on this completely! Wish I'd fucking been there! That dvd out yet or what? Bart > A (further) delayed start. The boys spread out across the large > Barbican stage. Reuters is performed, pretty much as it has been > recently but with an added lyric spoken by Graham in the instrumental > break - difficult to make out what he says although Weapons of Mass > Destruction are mentioned. A short break of a few seconds and then - > Field Day for the Sundays. And then, and then... It's strange to hear > any album - at least one with his many tracks - played end to end. You > know exactly what's coming next and the anticipation on occasions is > immense. Everything is played more or less straight - even Mr Suit, > which grooved in Brighton, has been returned to its unadorned state. > Except compared to the original these are angrier, louder versions - and > in the case of Mr Suit and Surgeon's Girl, faster. The speed of the > latter is unbelievable and it's one of the great highlights of the set > for me. > > There's great amusement value throughout as well in hearing some of > these songs played live - The Commercial, Field Day, Brazil and the > other sub-minute songs are not a normal live experience anymore, if they > ever were. The band are on song tonight - only during The Commercial is > there evidence of chord confusion. Other particular standouts for me > are Pink Flag, Ex Lion Tamer, Fragile (something of an oasis), Mannequin > (which just sounds like a classic song by anyone's standards - > sing-along-a-Wire) and Strange which churns like a caged beast. > > And what of the Chapmans? Here's where Andrew's hint comes in. > Throughout the set a huge screen projects stock footage of fit looking > people doing step-aerobics, probably from an American video (some of the > footage is shot by the ocean). And that appears to be it - no blood and > gore, no stage sets. I quickly tuned it out to watch the band. > > At the end of 12XU the band strangely don't leave the set - surely > they're not going to play Dot Dash for the CD generation? Then a huge > flash from lights surrounding the screen and seven fit people bounce on > dressed in pink aerobics gear and carrying their own step and proceed to > emulate the screen people, grinning inanely, while Wire play the > re-interpreted version of Pink Flag familiar from last year's gigs. > It's simultaneously funny and arty in a pure Wire way and almost makes > the boredom of the screen imagery worthwhile. > > An announcement that there will be a 40 minute break. In the foyer some > DJs are reinterpreting Wire songs in a very interesting way but I use it > as background noise while I chat to some of the huge number of people I > know here. > > Back in the venue and four large Perspex boxes have been set up and one > can make out a band member inside each one. The lights dim and heart > monitor -type waves and numbers (pulse rates?) are projected on the > front of the boxes. Each is dark but Colin's is then illuminated as the > band lay into a stunning version of 99.9. I've been relatively lukewarm > about this song up to now but this is stunning. For the next song, > Colin's mouth is projected in close-up singing the words. Later we see > Graham's right eye, Bruce's left eye (greyer eyebrow than Graham) and > Robert's nose in close-up. The projection and band visibility is > different for each song. Despite the fact that they can't see each > other the band is tight, right on the nose. The impact of the boxes is > startlingly effective to my mind - Es Devlin succeeding where the > Chapmans hadn't. And the noise - power flowing off the stage. Spent is > staggering, I Don't Understand and Agfers (Graham's voice lost in the > mix) only slightly less so. Bruce takes to squatting by his amp. > Robert is astonishing - the muscles on his arms standing out like ropes. > He looks fitter than any of the step-aerobic people. Colin is animated > - he'd done some non-guitar singing during Pink Flag and this has > encouraged movement. He's sweating heavily in his box - it must be hot > in there. Is Graham slightly more subdued than normal? He's furthest > away from me so perhaps not. One thing tonight (and this incarnation) > lacks is Lewis singing. > > Oddly, not all of Send is done - the set is all R&B material, none of > the new songs. They end abruptly and the lights come up. Have they > been curfewed? A sound of Velcro ripping and they exit their boxes. No > amount of clapping will bring them back. > > All in all I thought this was a great night. The band are in top shape, > Pink Flag was a joy and if you're going to put something on in a big > concert hall at least give the punters something to look at and think > about. Afterwards not everyone agrees - this performance is going to > provoke some interesting debate in the next few days. > > Good to meet so many ICers, some again, some for the first time. And > there were doubtless some I missed. > > Goodnight - over to others for more considered comment. > > Another the Keith ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 18:10:52 +0100 (BST) From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Monochromatic=20Man?= Subject: [idealcopy] "Send" isn't here, yet... > I wrote to Posteverything about buying 'Send' and > was > informed that the live remix CD is only available > via > mail order, and won't be offered during the tour. That's what it said when I ordered my copies. Yes, I bought the vinyl version in addition to the cd. I suppose I'll have to wait at least a week for mine to arrive. Cheers, Billy ===== /\ /\ /\ { o _ o }  \ _--_ / --Try it now! ) GWS Ltd http://www.fortunecity.com/uproar/mental/111/ __________________________________________________ Yahoo! Plus For a better Internet experience http://www.yahoo.co.uk/btoffer ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 19:21:41 +0100 From: Anthony Chapman Subject: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? Hi.. I'm new here, so please forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn. I was wondering if anyone had taken pictures of the Flag Burning performance last night? I've been trying to explain the second half stage set up to online friends, and i think it would be easier to point them to pictures. Thanks in advance - -- Anthony Chapman ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 11:30:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Ari Britt Subject: Fwd: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? Anthony Chapman wrote: Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 19:21:41 +0100 To: idealcopy@smoe.org From: Anthony Chapman Subject: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? Hi.. I'm new here, so please forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn. Better be careful Anthony,we all are the most UNforgiving lot on the planet,right boyz?ESPECIALLY when YOU got to go and we're all 5000 miles away................... I was wondering if anyone had taken pictures of the Flag Burning performance last night? I've been trying to explain the second half stage set up to online friends, and i think it would be easier to point them to pictures. Thanks in advance - -- Anthony Chapman The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 20:26:59 +0100 From: "Keith Knight" Subject: RE: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? Ari, I can feel some ongoing resentment here so here's my recommendations to give you a sense of the experience: 1 Play Pink Flag while watching a friend, neighbour or family member do step exercises in front of you - ensure they can keep this up for 30 minutes however. After, take a break of 40 minutes or so while you have a beer. 2 Buy some small Perspex boxes, put cut-outs of the lads in them and project images on them with a slide projector. Play R&B extracts while sitting some distance away. Admittedly, one or two elements of the experience may be lacking but at least you'd get some idea! Welcome Anthony - no, sorry, I don't have any pics but I'm sure someone does... And where's everybody else's opinion? Are people still on their way home? Another the Keith - -----Original Message----- From: owner-idealcopy@smoe.org [mailto:owner-idealcopy@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Ari Britt Better be careful Anthony,we all are the most UNforgiving lot on the planet,right boyz?ESPECIALLY when YOU got to go and we're all 5000 miles away................... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 20:50:09 +0100 From: Andrew Walkingshaw Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? Keith wrote: > Welcome Anthony - no, sorry, I don't have any pics but I'm sure someone > does... Fergus Kelly (one of the many extremely friendly people I met for the first time last night - thanks everyone for making it such a good evening!) was down the front with a camera - and he told me at half-time that he's going to upload the pics (with a review) to Wireviews at some point. A very brief review: I thought the first half *musically* was great - the 2k3 version of Pink Flag and Surgeons Girl being the absolute highlights for me - but the Chapmans' joke wore thin rapidly, sadly. I just ignored it for the most part (though the gestures of the lead stepper on "stick it up your arse" during Mr. Suit were somehow appropriate :) ). The band were unbelievably tight musically, too: more powerful-sounding than the album recording. I remember thinking about five songs in that they should have recorded the gig, master it, and issue it as a "super-24-bit-remastered-edition" (or some other such music-industry-bollocks title...). It was that good. The second half was visually *stunning* - if I hear of anything else Es Devlin's doing, I want to go. Musically I enjoyed it, but a couple of things: a) You're all going to call me a lily-livered wuss, but the mix was a bit off[1] - the top end was disappearing into pure white noise, which though exciting for one song was just stopping me from being able to hear that much of the actual music by the third track in. This might have been better in the circle than the stalls, I don't know - but there's something wrong if the mix sounds a bit better when you half-cover your ears. The other problem might be the stinking cold I have, of course - it is having a bit of an effect on my hearing ATM. Again, the band were really on form - I think I'm bitching at the sound desk here. b) A short set, sadly, and not all of Send was played - probably heat/curfew/ practicality reasons, but I was hoping to hear "Mr. Marx's Table" and "You Can't Leave Now" (on the first bounce, my two favourite of the new tracks on "Send"[2]) live. If anyone's offering the moon on a stick, I'll take that too... Overall, it was really enjoyable, and I *really* want to see the new stuff in a club setting now. Also, it was great to meet so many people on the list. When's Graeme going to put the monkey caught stealing into production? - - Andrew [1] I don't have a better way of describing it than that. [2] "Send" ultraminireview - new (better, longer) remix of Nice Streets Above, track order is great, "Mr Marx's Table" is poppy in all the right ways and I love it deeply already. "99.9" remains one of the album closers of all time, as it was on the R+B02 EP. The live concert is great too - the Barbican set sounded pretty similar apart from the white-noise thing I whinge about above. I suspect the two CDs are glued into my MD player on repeat at work at least tomorrow, and probably for most of the week/month/period yet to be determined... - -- email: andrew@lexical.org.uk http://www.lexical.org.uk/ Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge http://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/ CUR1350, 1350 MW Cambridgeshire and online http://www.cur1350.co.uk/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 21:42:28 +0100 From: Anthony Chapman Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? In message <20030427195009.GA24120@colon.colondot.net>, Andrew Walkingshaw writes >a) You're all going to call me a lily-livered wuss, but the mix was a >bit off[1] - the top end was disappearing into pure white noise, which >though exciting for one song was just stopping me from being able to >hear that much of the actual music by the third track in. They really should have brought a PA in. The weedy classical "sound reinforcement" rig at the Barbican just isn't up to it. Also, it's a cavernous hall - ideal setting for many classical shows (I've been to a few at The Barbican, and they've always sounded fantastic). Just not great for anything noisy. Still, had a great night, and they played fantastically well. - -- Anthony Chapman ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 23:52:17 +0100 From: "Keith Astbury" Subject: [idealcopy] barbican > > MY favourite album is 'Chairs Missing, with '154' mentioned in (Reuters?) > > despatches. > > Chairs Missing is my favourite too and I believe there were others... Keith? Bit late in replying, but yes... Definitely! Followed by ABIAC. So as a 70's Wire fan the dismissal of the 80's stuff doesn't wash with me at all. (It's the 90's pre-split stuff I don't rate). I think someone has already made the point that he doesn't agree with Colin's remarks here and I'll go along with that. I don't recall hearing Snakedrill and thinking 'oh god, what's that - why don't they sound like they used to'. I just thought it was great that they came back with such a great ep that didn't sound like where they'd signed off but yet was still essentially Wire. Anyway, good to see everyone last night. As I said in the bar, I was obviously the voice of dissent. It was good, but it didn't blow me away like the other two occasions I've seen them (RFH 2000 & Brighton 2002). Some points... Wouldn't the PF stuff have sounded meatier with more gtr from Colin? The 2nd version of the title track was much better than the 1st IMO - and the step-aerobics was hilarious after the endless video footage. Would Graham have looked happier if he had been standing behind the girls instead of one of the blokes! I thought the Send half was much better. The opening 99.9 in particular was GREAT! The stage design was impressive, but the out of sync footage of Colin's mouth annoyed the fuck out of me. There was a train of thought that it may have been the boys fucking with our heads, but I think it was just out of sync myself. Whatever, it went some small way to spoiling a great version of Spent for me. My other complaint was that whilst we got all of PF, the boys were a bit tight-fisted with Send. And whilst this 'arty stuff' is all well and good, you can give me Wire in a small club on the Brighton sea front rather than this cavernous theatre any day. And although I suspect that I might be in a minority here, I think my reservations were shared by a section of the audience to some degree - I didn't feel as if they exactly demanded an encore, whereas at the end of the Brighton gig certain IC-ers ended up hugging each other! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. But whilst I can make all sorts of excuses - too close to the wings etc etc - I expected to enjoy it more. Sorry... Keith ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 00:07:25 +0100 From: "Keith Astbury" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? > Ari, I can feel some ongoing resentment here so here's my > recommendations to give you a sense of the experience: > > 1 Play Pink Flag while watching a friend, neighbour or family member > do step exercises in front of you - ensure they can keep this up for 30 > minutes however. After, take a break of 40 minutes or so while you have > a beer. > > 2 Buy some small Perspex boxes, put cut-outs of the lads in them and > project images on them with a slide projector. Play R&B extracts while > sitting some distance away. > > Admittedly, one or two elements of the experience may be lacking but at > least you'd get some idea! Excellent post Keith! For those not there, he hit the nail on the head!!! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 18:49:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Ari Britt Subject: Fwd: RE: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? Tx for the advise atK,I settled for a couple of bottles of sam smiths oatmeal stout,a couple of pipes of,um, pipeweed,and a turned up Pink Flag,followed by r&b 1&2............Send hasn't arrived yet,now what else can I bitch about.......... Keith Knight wrote:From: "Keith Knight" To: "'Ari Britt'" , Subject: RE: [idealcopy] Flag burning pics? Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 20:26:59 +0100 Ari, I can feel some ongoing resentment here so here's my recommendations to give you a sense of the experience: 1 Play Pink Flag while watching a friend, neighbour or family member do step exercises in front of you - ensure they can keep this up for 30 minutes however. After, take a break of 40 minutes or so while you have a beer. 2 Buy some small Perspex boxes, put cut-outs of the lads in them and project images on them with a slide projector. Play R&B extracts while sitting some distance away. Admittedly, one or two elements of the experience may be lacking but at least you'd get some idea! Welcome Anthony - no, sorry, I don't have any pics but I'm sure someone does... And where's everybody else's opinion? Are people still on their way home? Another the Keith - -----Original Message----- From: owner-idealcopy@smoe.org [mailto:owner-idealcopy@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Ari Britt Better be careful Anthony,we all are the most UNforgiving lot on the planet,right boyz?ESPECIALLY when YOU got to go and we're all 5000 miles away................... The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 09:01:27 +0100 From: Alistair Tear Subject: [idealcopy] Barbican Guardian review is here http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/story/0,11712,944756,00.html A ************************************************************************* The contents of the e-mail and any transmitted files are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. 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