Hello Sinister! I went to see Belle & Sebastian last Thursday. It was an outdoor show in Brooklyn by the East River. There were magnificent views of the city, and the weather was blustering and threatening to be apocalyptic. They played for almost two hours, and it was very nice. It was like running into an old flame that you still think of fondly from time to time. Every once in a while they'd start talking about some of the later stuff, when things started to go a little bad, but then they'd follow it up with that time early on and it was all good again. Now that I have a smartiPhoneajig I actually jotted down the setlist. I Didn't See It Coming (new song) I'm a Cuckoo Step Into My Office, Baby Like Dylan in the Movies I'm Not Living in the Real World (new song) Piazza, New York Catcher I Want the World to Stop (new song) Lord Anthony Sukie in the Graveyard We Rule the School Another Sunny Day The Loneliness of a Middle-Distance Runner (Struan wasn't sure if we'd know this one, as it was a B-side, and I scoffed. I allow myself a bit of cooler-than-thou about this band) Write About Love There's Too Much Love The Boy with the Arab Strap If You Find Yourself Caught in Love Judy and the Dream of Horses Sleep the Clock Around Encore Me and the Major Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying I was surprised by how much stuff they played from DCW, but I'm finding that album to have some serious legs, so perhaps I shouldn't be. The songs sound amazing live, especially Piazza. Serious lack of anything from FISHYCLAP, which is fine, because I'm finding that album to have no legs whatsoever. I wasn't too impressed by the new songs, at least on a songwriting level (guys, I know, we all love Stevie, but he keeps writing the same song over and over again.) but the melodies are great. And every time I see them I'm impressed by how tight they are as a band. They switched from Lord Anthony to Sukie in the Graveyard in a beat, and then went to We Rule the School, and it all just worked. Maybe they'll come back in three, or four, or five years, and I'll go and see them again, and it'll be pleasant. Then again, maybe they won't, and that'd be okay, too. Love, Eric PS I leave you with this bizarre interview from America's very own National Public Radio (for which I will soon be working): http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/06/130382972/belle-and-sebastian-s-bu... -- "Why are the machines so sad?" +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+