Sinister: Apollo 9

[Sam Walton]

Hello Sinister

As various media corporations keep reminding me, the Brit Awards are taking 
place this week. Last night Carsmile Steve reminded me that Belle & 
Sebastian once won a Brit Award, after the release of their third album, for 
best newcomer. But that was seven years ago, and things were very different 
then.

Indeed, I don't think many could have plotted a seven-year plan which 
transformed the Brit Award-winning B&S into the just-plain-winning group 
that performed last night. It seems that every time I post to you these days 
I bleat on about how satisfying it is to see the band all grown up and 
confident, how much I love seeing them swagger, without all the nervousness 
and diffidence of old. Sure, the records were great then, but the live shows 
were a little underwhelming. Now, as someone else said, the band are "tight" 
and "in tune", and there is a polish and ambition, which means that they're 
actually choosing to play their most difficult songs, but playing it really 
well.

So last night we got a frankly astounding version of Your Cover's Blown, 
replete with crisp harmony and a lot of very tight funk, and seriously 
raving version of Electronic Renaissance, which appeared to have three of 
the band on percussion duties and Beans enjoying his new role as 
programmer/dance wizard. Much of the new stuff, too, with its three-part 
harmony and glam stomp would sound rubbish done by a less accomplished set 
of musicians, but they were professional and well-reheased (dirty words!) 
and the results showed. I was particularly impressed by the vocal breakdown 
of White Collar Boy ("She said you ain't ugly you can kiss me if you like"), 
and most of Sukie in the Graveyard, which beforehand felt like a bit of a 
filler on the LP.

With this new-found confidence throughout their set, it was slightly funny 
hearing the old stuff. Fox in the Snow, perhaps the wettest of the "old-B&S" 
cannon, mutated into an assured, accomplished song, so much so that it was 
almost like hearing a "pops orchestra" version of the tune, like those 70s 
LPs you get of "chart hits" as performed by So-and-so So-and-so and his 
Orchestra. Judy & the Dream of Horses and Pastie, too, were greatly improved 
by the new style, rounding themselves up in the most satisfying of dins, and 
the finale of Swing Your Cock Around even had strobe lights and a house 
beat. Dazzling stuff.

Struan is now a true showman too, shaking hands with the crowd, cracking 
jokes on stage, and writhing on the floor for the last verse of Your Cover's 
Blown before announcing that he thought he'd pulled something and appealing 
to a masseur to ease his pain after the show (that's my boy!).

Disappointingly, Stevie's songs continue to let down the rest of the set, 
and his voice seems to jar with Struans when they sing in unison. These are 
minor gripes though, the performance was masterful and slick, and there 
ain't nuttin' wrong with that. For the completists then, the setlist ran:

The State I'm In
Another Sunny Day
The Model
Sukie In The Graveyard
If You're Feeling Sinister
To Be Myself Completely
Electronic Rennaissance
The Loneliness of a Middle-Distance Runner
Blues Are Still Blue
My Wandering Days Are Over
Fox In The Snow
Funny Little Frog
White Collar Boy
She's Losing It
Your Cover's Blown
Dog On Wheels
I'm A Cuckoo
If You Find Yourself Caught In Love
The Wrong Girl
Judy & The Dream of Horses
   -encore-
Le Pastie De La Bourgeousie
Sleep The Clock Around

Pre-gig there was pubbage at the Duke of Cornwall, outside of which a bunch 
of Egyptian minors had gathered, with the intention of watching the African 
Nations Cup final through the window. We discovered their nationality when 
the match went to penalties. Inside the pub, meanwhile, was an assembled 
crew of Carsmile, Brapps, Aerosmith Guitarist Jo Perry, Gillian Kirby, and a 
couple of others whose identities escape me at the moment.

That's all for now.



Stay loose,

Asm.x



   ================================
     "He's strictly a pain in the ass, but
      he certainly has a good vocabulary"
               - Holden Caulfield


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