The planets line up, single file, like school kids on field trips. I'll uncloak myself, delurk. Hmm, something's awry. No, something's beautiful. Belle & Sebastian in Philadelphia. The Tower Theatre--with its cheesy science fiction planet panels and jukebox coloring amongst the aging, dusty grandeur of the old, converted moviehouse. Pictures playing in my head--now--of Stuart bouncing around, half-naked little flirt, the brilliant boxer boy in this scene. The brilliant architect of blissful poetry for the remainder of the flickering night. He said they were in Philly for three days. Ah, if only we had known! (Well, then what??) Stinky Pete's, eh? As aforementioned, Isobel went unaccounted for... although Ms. replacement-from-Rasputina did a lovely job on cello. Understandably, it's just not the same. Stevie was adorable. Sarah too. And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo. Yeah. We all know what extra fine musicians they all are, whether its the band alone or embellished with string section (etc.). However, I think it took the live setting to finally appreciate, fully, what absolutely solid musicians they are. Little indie rock band does theme from "Rocky" and... erm, terribly famous bebopping, brushstroking jazz number, the title of which is embarrassingly eluding me.... Ahhh, byooteefull. Too much rudeness from various audience dampened the mood here and there. But those were anomalies. All else shimmered... sparkly... glittery. Whee. The new songs are divine. The mix of old favorites put me on a sustained sugar high. Nearly overdosed, dammit. How nice! So many invitations to get up and dance like a tree shaking off its apples and leaves. "Judy" and "Seymour Stein" and "The Boy With The Arab Strap" and "String Bean Jean" and "Dirty Dream #2" and "Legal Man" and (slower but still effervescent) "Fox In The Snow" and "I Fought In A War" and! and! and! (she chirps, chirps, chirps). "Me and the Major" as an encore sent me soaring through the roof, right into the atmosphere. Ain't never gonna come down, I tell you. And yet.... Now I'm moping about as though I was a teenager again. The show's over. Back to my records and such. Flash. Moment gone. Beep. Game over. Well, I have a shirt (dare I say, a twee one indeed?) to remember it by. Free tees and badgies were handed out during the jazz "intermission"--lucky punks, you who received them! They were in abundance. But I bought myself a bus shirt before the show and did not get greedy, despite the temptation of possibly, maybe, perhaps getting a tee handed to me by Struan himself. ...sigh... I *thought* I had also recorded the show, so my friends and I could properly relive our valhalla experience over and over afterward. But wouldn't you know? The *one* time I receive a defective cassette it's for B&S. Why couldn't that happen whilst recording This American Life on the radio? At least you can buy those if you miss the broadcasts! All I have salvaged of the Tower performance is the second tape--the good one, the one that didn't betray me or devastate me or rain on my parade, lalala. A handful of final songs from the main set plus the encore. It's something, 'tis true. I sound so whiney and pathetic right now, 'tis also true. Still, all the work of sneaking my recorder into the theatre, past the mulleted ticket-taker, avoiding the flashlights of ushers... all for naught. Or near naught. Surely, some other fan must've smuggled in their own recording goods that night... but finding him or her is a leap in the dark. Boohoo, I know. Those of you who didn't get a chance to see them probably long to kick me right now. But your time will come too. This was my first time seeing our blessed lovely band upon which we cast our endearment. It seemed to take forever to come. And I eagerly await the next time they grace our ears... and our eyes (yum!) peace and purrs, Almeh p.s. The Aisler's Set were adorable and potently poppy too. Sadly, they suffered from a poor sound mix, which also plagued B&S occasionally. Who was that awful soundperson minding the board?? +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+