Sinister: Isobel Campbell tour - help please

[David Hewitt]

G'day all.

Gentleman and scholar, Lawrence Mikkelsen, said:

> PS - Melbourne people ... Vanessa and I are coming over for the B&S
> show ... keen for a picnic or a meetup or something?

I say: Yes. Yes indeed.

Does anybody else fancy it? Given that it's Melbourne in June, I'd say
a picnic is perhaps somewhat on the optimistic side, though if we give
ourselves the option to take shelter in a nearby pub, we can certainly
attempt it.

The gig's at the Forum, which has several advantages over the Palais,
where they played last time. For one thing, it's somewhere you can
stand up - there should be a bit more atmosphere than there was at the
rather muted, all-seated affair we were treated to last time Belle &
Sebastian swung through town. Also, we needn't make the epic,
unpleasant trek South of the river - a huge bonus. Plus the Forum has
this weird thing going on where it tries to make you think that you're
outside, when actually you're still inside. It's a difficult visual
effect to describe, but it's really quite striking. Hang on, here are
some pictures, so you can see what I mean:

http://www.marrinertheatres.com.au/hireforum.htm

(Click on the ones down in the bottom right-hand corner.)

Any word on the support yet? It better not be bloody Architecture in
Helsinki again. Yechh. How about Art of Fighting or Sodastream or
someone like that?

As far as a picnic location goes, should we try for something near-ish
to the venue? There's probably a bit of grass by Federation Square we
can set up camp in. I'll go down there and have a look around,
perhaps, once the madness of the Commonwealth Games has passed. Drop
me an email if you're interested in getting on board, and we can
discuss some details off-list.

The new record's been on pretty heavy rotation with me, I have to
admit. I think it's some of their best work. I wasn't completely sure
about it at first - "The Blues are Still Blue" gave off a weird Bucks
Fizz sort of vibe, and "Song for Sunshine" felt like it might become
the next "Beyond the Sunrise" or "Roy Walker", but thankfully it all
came good eventually. I can even pinpoint the exact moment when I knew
everything would be alright: it's when Stuart sings "will you bugger
off, I've got work to do" in "Act of the Apostle, Part Two".

In fact, those final three tracks are genius. AotAPT sort of ties
everything back in together, and is a stunning song in its own right.
Then "For the Price of a Cup of Tea" has that classic
final-track-of-an-album sound to it - you can almost see the credits
scrolling up the screen over the top of it, somehow. But then
"Mornington Crescent" sneaks up on you, as if it's not really part of
the album at all- it's like when that cooler kid who was a year older
than you in school taped an album for you, and stuck the obscure
b-side that everyone said was far better than the album tracks on that
free bit of space at the end of the tape. "Mornington Crescent" is
that song, but they've put it right there on the CD for you. Nice one.

That said, how unspeakably awful are the filmclips? Almost as bad as
Stuart's goofy little hat, surely? Come on, someone had to say it.

Bulk love,
-David.
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