Sinister: DC & NYC (the first evening) shows

[Mick McMick]

Hello Sinisterines,
	I've just read through 120 posts, so I feel it is my right to be as
long-winded as I'd like, though I'm not sure if I can top Reid, or would
want to, we'll see when we get to the end of my message, because I've
got TWO show reviews in one! Yes, you'll really be getting value in this
post...
	So anyway, I flew in to New York thursday night, and didn't do much
beyond going out to dinner. Nothing worth mentioning, I shouldn't
suppose. Friday morning Minka and I met up with Brian and took a train
to New Jersey. We met up with MrManners (I wish I knew listees by their
e-mails rather than their chat nicks, but whoever needs to know who my
friends are probably already does) and began our four-hour drive to DC.
Not bad, but not don't forget I had to fly to New York first ;)
	Anyway, the ride down was pretty uneventful, so I'll spare you all the
details. We arrived in DC just before Polly's opened up. For those of
you who don't know & didn't come, that's where the pre-show meetup was
for a few of us. So we got in, got some grub, and the listees began to
trickle in. Damon and a friend were there, as well as Clint, Michelle,
and the wonderfully Daiskiki-clad (sp?) Corporea Arenacea, complete with
brown leather coat a la Shaft. Come to think of it, I played Shaft on
the jukebox before he got there, or perhaps when he was there. Anyway,
we had some nice chatsies, but after a time a few of us left, and the
rest shambled down to the Black Cat.
	Initially we walked right in to the bar. I'm glad we got there early,
after hearing the line horror stories. We spotted a couple members of
the band, and someone was talking to Stu M. The best I could manage was
to stand nearby whilst they did. Then Megan tracked down Chris Geddes
and helped him obtain some quarters, as well as showing him some lovely
pressed pennies she'd made on the way (with the aid of a penny press, or
whatever such a contraption is named). 
	After a time people began stamping hands over by the entrance, so we
got our hands stamped. They really didn't tell us what to do next, and
we were pretty frustrated and annoyed at the organization of the club,
as we shuffled back and forth between two doors for a bit, finally
settling on the one by the bar. After what seemed like forever, they
opened the door, and we poured in. I headed straight for the T-shirt
stand, and managed to procure a Stow shirt for myself, discovering much
to my dismay that the merchandise-sellers were totally badge-less.
	I returned from my T-shirt purchasing to find that the rest of the crew
had secured a spot that was quite close to the stage, though we were
directly behind the three really tall guys. Luckily I'm not really
short, so I had a decent view. Stereolab was blasted loudly, as someone
said, and Guv'ner played.
	I hesitate to say anything bad about Guv'ner, just because they could
be great at what they do, and I still wouldn't like them. Regardless,
they were a poor opening choice. I think the Masters of the Hemisphere
should have opened ALL the dates, but we can't always get what we want.
The Guv'ner set lasted forever, but I'll stay away from that subject and
get to the good bits.
	So B&S finally came on. Before seeing them, I had really always held on
to the belief that loud, upbeat bands would always have better live
performances than quiet, soft bands. I think I've totally changed my
mind, and both DC's show and the NY show to follow are somewhere up
there in my list of most wonderful shows. As has been reported, they
stuck mostly to Sinister, playing some EP songs, some TWATTYBUS numbers,
as well as my favorite Stevie-song, "Wrong Love/Girl" (whichever they're
calling it now) the delightful "I Know Where the Summer Goes," which
sounds much better live than on a live bootleg, and later, my personal
favorite of the show, "Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner" (Reid,
this is the one you're thinking of), which grooved and pulsed and ached
and just oozed with emotion, seeping out from the words of longing and
hardship. 
	The crowd was awful, being pushy and screaming out song titles before
the band even played. The band themselves were wonderful, Stuart M
looking really pleased to be playing, Stevie leaping at least a bit, I
think my favorite member of the group for stage presence. For the
record, I'm 99% sure that Stu D sang the South Park number, which was a
lovely treat. Stuart was wearing a light blue shirt I recall, and Chris
had something greenish on.
	A couple other comments, Dog on Wheels was heavenly, Dylan in the
Movies brought a tear to my eye, as did Century of Elvis, to my
surprise. Isobel was totally unenthused except when she was singing "Is
It Wicked..." which was actually quite nice, I thought. "Ease Your
Feet," one of my faves, nice to hear live, not much better than it was
recorded, though. "Loneliness," is just gorgeous, and I'm thankful I had
a demo copy to listen to and prepare myself for the majestic live
version they did of it. "Sleep the Clock" was ALMOST as good as the
Session version, which is a very good thing. 
	I was pretty dismayed by the lack of Tigermilk songs in the set, and
indeed, it seemed the US tour as well, but happy, because I would get to
see them another night, and they could potentially play all my other
favorites, and I thought they were wonderful in DC. I did talk to a lot
of people who had seen them last year in NY and thought they were much
better before, so I guess that made the DC show a good one to begin
with. 
	Anyway, we talked a bit with friends from the DC area, considered
crashing somewhere for the night, and I was interviewed by some nice
girl with a Super 8 camera who asked such flustering questions as "How
do you explain the B&S phenomenon?" After the show I finally met John
FM, who is super swell, as far as I could tell in 10 minutes, possibly
the nicest person I met on the whole trip. So here is where we decided,
at somewhere between 1-2 AM, that we should drive back home instead of
sleeping in DC on what would likely be a floor, perhaps a couch or bed.
	The ride back was much more eventful. The highlight was finding out
that there were some permiscuous goings-on in the men's room at the rest
area we stopped at in the wee hours of the morning. I'm quite pleased I
had no need to drain the proverbial lizard at that time, and Megan was
amused for half the ride back. I don't think I'll ever listen to
"Looking for Love (in the Hall of Mirrors)" in quite the same light ever
again.
	The drive back ended in a very sleepy me driving for 40 minutes with
Megan babbling in a feeble attempt to keep me awake. Luckily Matt took
over again afterwards and I collapsed. Then Megan and I huddled together
for warmth in the sub-zero temperatures waiting on the train back to New
York at what now must have been getting close to 7 AM. We made it to bed
at 8 AM, whew.
	Saturday was spent recovering from friday, and buying the new Field
Mice reissue (yay). As it was Halloween, we went to some interesting
parties, witnessed some very drunk people, and generally had a lot of
fun. To me, having never lived anywhere but West Vriginia and the
middle-of-nowhere Ohio, it seemed like some odd scene out of Beyond the
Valley of the Dolls, only without all the sex and Ashley St. Ives, oh
and I suppose there weren't any drugs either. Well it seemed pretty
exciting to me anyhow.
	Sunday afternoon we went to a Japanese supermarket in New Jersey,
returning in time to make a mad scramble to get to the meet-up on time.
We were only half an hour late in the end, but we almost missed the
whole shebang. Apparently the park, as Megan, her roomate Julie and I
had witnessed before getting to the supermarket, was closed, so no
meetup could ensue. Some folks left, and the main gaggle was JUST about
to leave when we got there just in time, hauling the lovely & huggable
Jonny Kat and Billy along with us. The meetup dissolved into dinner at
the posh Roy Rogers/Pizza Hut/Dunkin Donuts complex nearby. We got some
grub, and then proceeded to the Supper Club, where a long line awaited
us. 
	It wasn't all that bad, though I did feel awful for all those without
tickets, but we entered the ultra-swank Supper Club, and even got to
check our coats! Wow! That's only the second time I've ever been to a
real coat check. The club was gorgeous and purplish, and seemed quite
large. Substitute your own words in for "club" and there's my smut
content/ We met all sorts of Listfolk, including the feisty Rachee and
smartly-dressed Holly, and then decided to try and get a spot up on the
balcony, as there was no way we could get as close as we had been in DC. 
	Up on the balcony we did manage to get a pretty good spot. The air of
excitement was definately much nicer this time, and the lines much more
organized. I noticed the particularly good pre-show music, and even
caught "Walk Away Renee," by the Left Banke. Little did I know it was
Andrew Symington himself spinning! Containe played, and I was a bit
disappointed. I suppose I had expected too much due to the Versus
connection, but they really were a suitable opening band, unlike
Guv'ner. Later on things picked up, they did some numbers that sounded
more like what I'd heard by them, and were generally okay. I guess a
successful opener, since they didn't come close to outshining the main
band.
	Whilst waiting for the band, I got introduced to more listees briefly
this time, including Susannah, JJ (who talked with Stuart M as I only
watched) and equally interesting and very easy to talk to non-listee
Mick Cooke, who actually remembered me from chat!
	But then the band had to rush off, and so did we, awaiting eagerly the
evening's performance from our balcony spot. Fellow listees and
all-around lovelies Ben & Laurel joined us at our spot, and we listened
as some sample spoken in accents too thick for my paltry ears to make
out announced the upcoming performance in words I couldn't understand,
but it made the waiting all the more exciting, nonetheless.
	The band finally moved on stage, and Stuart broke out into a beautiful
version of "The State That I Am In," with the rest of the band chiming
in in a staggered manner. I'm not quite as big a fan of it as everyone
else, but they did it wonderfully, and it was so nice to hear something
from Tigermilk, if only one song. They proceeded with a gorgeous version
of my 2nd favorite EP track, "Belle and Sebastian," which sounded like
the soundtrack to a childhood I never had, and an equally
earth-shatteringly-good "Slow Graffiti," which sounds increasingly good
each time I hear it, and now vies with "Loneliness," as the song I am
most anticipating the release of. Those three songs were a moment of
total perfection for me, I couldn't be happier, no matter what the rest
of the set was like. They played a nice-sounding version of Chickfactor,
but it's not one of my favorites. Then, they made up for it to me by
playing yet another song off of Tigermilk, "She's Losing It," which I
like quite a bit more than The State, and was noticeably pleased about.
It sounded just like the original to me, contrary to what someone said,
a nice, hazy, middle-of-summer song, despite the winter chill outside.
"Lazy Line Painter Jane," was magnificent, and "The Boy with the Arab
Strap," was triumphant. The New York crowd managed to beat out the
previous record set in Athens, and people clapped the whole song! It was
great, though I myself only had the endurance to go halfway through, yet
I still enjoyed the unforced crowd participation. "Lord Anthony" was
nice, though I think I'll need to hear it a few more times before I like
it as much as some of you. It was certainly pleasing to hear a B&S song
played live that I had never before, what with being spoilt by session
and demo tapes from chums. Dirty Dream #2 was moving, just like the
other night. Seeing Other People was even more  moving to these ears. At
some point in the set I nearly cried, I think it was there. The words
just seemed so much more poignant when you could watch Stuart Murdoch
signing them TO you, and the piano flourishes were the best part of the
song. Then, there was a treat in store, as they did a shambolic and
endearing version of the Byrds' "Turn, Turn, Turn," with a lovely
trading-off 3rd verse between Stuart M and Stevie, and Stuart M's stage
antics again appearing. I think he allows for one a show, judging on the
two instances I saw. "The Boy Done Wrong Again," was, despite my usual
dislike for the song, very very good. Maybe they just didn't record it
well. They finished with "Simple Things," which, if you ask me, was a
poor choice, being very short and not very climactic, but by then I
could hardly complain, and I'm sure I will forever remember the show.
	Afterwards, Megan chatted with Andrew Symington and I blurted out a few
words, right before the pushy management moved us in to the coat check
line. We managed to meet our final listees of the evening, including
Carrick Blair, whom I think looks more like Alan McGee than anyone else,
and his friend whose name I've embarrassingly forgotten.	
	Afterwards we had a bit of post-show with some friends/listees, and
returned home quite late. We just couldn't stop talking, like at a
slumber part/sleepover, but finally we did get to bed.
	Well, that's about it. I caught a flight today, and here I am, back in
Ohio, typing up this incredibly long-winded story. Oh, I know it's late,
and I've even left out bits (I swear!) and probably made a fool of
myself 6 or 7 times over, but it's a tale worth telling I feel, so take
it or leave it. I wonder how close I came to Reid....
 
 /"\_/"\_/"\   Mick McMick - bp224995 at oak.cats.ohiou.edu - ICQ#5056758
 \         /   Sandcastle Records - (same e-mail for now) 
  |       |    Sandcastle Homepage -  
  |       |      http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Amphitheatre/4972/ 
  |       |    "Everyone has their own cup of tea.  
  |       |         Some just happen to like a lot of sugar in it!" 
  |       |             - Me!
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