Right, just back in (it's 00:45 as I start to type this post) from Birmingham: driving on a deserted M6 and M1 at midnight on Saturday is so much fun it should be illegal. In fact, my drive back actually
was fairly illegal, and I'm back home in double quick time!
Ok, here goes with my thoughts then:
The first band up were Dead Letter Office (named after the R.E.M. album, I guess?) and they were a 5 piece (2 guitarists including lead singer, bassist, drummer and keyboard player) who did some pretty promising alternative rock. Music-wise, they were fine: not reinventing the wheel at all - it was pretty standard-ish Muse/Radiohead guitar sounds - but perfectly listenable and decent, for want of a better word. Their lead singer was amazing though, he had a really, really good voice that reminded me of Jeff Buckley's at a lower pitch - if you've ever heard JB wail during live recordings of
Dream Brother, it was that kind of pitch, and very nearly that kind of quality. Plus a couple of the band were - I'm sure they won't mind me saying - a tad well-rounded, which endeared them to me as I'm no salad-muncher myself. And they were pretty engaging and positive in their between songs banter/attitude, which was good to see. Overall, an excellent support act.
Next up were Gaslight, who are a 4 piece guitar band (as for DLO, but minus a keyboardist). They were late on (not quite sure how late, but I'd guess about 15 mins) because their bassist hadn't showed up, and this resulted in them playing a shortened setlist so that PRR could start on time. The omens were not good, and that's the way it turned out in the end: they were terrible, IMO. As well as the bassist being late, he also got my hackles up by wearing one of those peaked caps (not a Yorkshire-style flat cap jobby) that Steve Craddock (of Ocean Colour Scene) used to wear all the time before OCS got ridiculed for being the 2-decent-songs chancers that they are. I know it's not good form to dislike people on appearances, but the way they looked (and the bassist's hat in particular) did scream, "We're
ever so indie!" to me. Not good. Of their style and their set, it was so bland as to be offensive. Think Razorlight, and then, if you can stretch your mind this far, imagine they somehow became even more dull: you've just pictured Gaslight. Utterly boring no-marks... who will probably end up going on to be massive successes now, such is the unfairness of the world!
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EDIT #2 - I've just tried to find their Myspace or official site, and I'm not sure if I've got their name completely right. They might have been Gaslight, they might have been something similar. Whatever the truth is, they were gash either way, and I can't be arsed to research properly to find out!
Then came our favourite boys and girl, and the setlist was as for previous nights:
1. Les Malheurs
2. Keep Me Sane/Insane
3. Apogee
4. Deus
5. Twyncyn/Trembling Willows
6. Victorious Cupid
7. Bright Ambassadors
8. The Gloaming
9. AVO
---Encore---
10. Voices In Winter/In The Realms..
11. Arrival/The Intention Craft
EDIT #1 - er, having a look at my setlist there compared with others, I might have got Cupid and Willows the wrong way round (genuinely can't remember which order they came in), but other than that I'm pretty sure this is what we got.
In terms of performances, I thought everything was pretty spot on. The sound was very good (and very loud, albeit I was right in front of the speaker stack by Jon, so I was asking for trouble), and the band were - once again, judging by previous gig reports on this tour - in cracking form both playing- and showmanship-wise.
My personal song highlights were Ambassadors (which is sounding SOOO good again these days after its slight re-working to a more guitar based number, and I think is dispelling any doubts over its place in the setlist once people hear it again) and AVO (in the interests of fairness, it is my favourite song on the new album, so was always going to go down well with me) which just sounded stunning live - and a lot more powerful than it seemed on the 2 live bootlegs of it from Southampton and Manchester: however, I'm sure that's just the recording and that it was every bit as good when it was being played at those gigs.
As for the crowd, I was sort of between the first and second rows towards Jon's side of the stage, so I wasn't looking at the majority of the crowd for most of the night which might have coloured my opinions of how the audience was. In terms of numbers, the place seemed pretty much a sell out by the time PRR came on - not overcrowded madness like at the Water Rats last year, but definitely looking full when I glanced back. The atmosphere and energy of the crowd (that I could see - again, most people were behind me) was reasonable without being what you could call 'very good' or better. We got an encore, so it must have been ok, at worst. People were moving during the higher tempo parts of the set, but I didn't see all that many other people attempting to sing along during the set (to be fair, maybe discretion is the better part of valour when it comes to singing along to PRR - I know that for myself I was just doing my best guesses to what I think the lyrics might be as I never take the trouble to learn them!
). What did put a bit of a dampener on my night was [and I'm sorry if you're members of the forums here, but I have to say it anyway] a father and son (I presume) who were the only people between me and the stage barrier in front of Jon. They weren't actively rude or anything, but they were spending all their time taking photos or mobile phone videos of the show. Between them, there was maybe about a cumulative total of 10 minutes in the whole set where one or other of them wasn't using their phone or camera for pics or videos. Now I know it's good to get a souvenir or two of the great time you have at a gig, but these two never looked like they were 'in the moment' for one minute of the show: they looked too busy trying to capture the moment for replaying afterwards rather than enjoying the spectacle that was there in front of them live! It seemed like a waste of two great places at the front of the venue, and I have to say it put me off a bit and did slightly dampen my own enjoyment of an otherwise excellent gig. I have no idea why people do this (it happens at football as well, and is just as baffling there) - yep, take a handful of photos to remember your night by, and maybe even a short video of something, but to spend the majority of the set doing it just seems like work rather than the fun you're meant to be having. Again, apologies if you guys are members here, but that's the way I feel about that.
After the show, I had a brief chat with all of the band (unfortunately nothing juicy worth sharing!), and as usual they were all lovely, charming and friendly, and were kind enough to do their customary signing (I seem to tap them up for one at every gig!) of my AVO and Deus single sleeves. I also bought the signed drumskin that they had on sale at the merch stand there, and I've uploaded the pics of all 3 signed jobbys for people to have a gander at if they wish:
Full Size Version:
img22.imageshack.us/img22/385/dsc00484lmi.jpgEr, okay, that's me done - see anyone who's going to Dingwalls there: I have lots of friends going with me to that bad boy, so hopefully will be an even better time than I've had tonight!
)
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