Last night the Editors played a fucking great show. They cut me up and put me back together.
It was only a short time ago -- at the beginning of September -- that they were here taking part in the Popkomm festival, playing a show with Stars and Supergrass. That night they were given a slot pretty early on in the evening, which confused me into thinking that they weren't that well known here yet. Maybe it was just that there were 10 other gigs on that night of the festival, because even that great line-up didn't really attract a full crowd. However, last night I was reassuringly proved wrong, with a really great turnout for the last gig of the band's European tour. The standout tracks of the night for me were: Bullets, Munich, Blood, All Sparks, Fingers in the Factories, Someone Says, Fall. I was smiling the whole night, and once brought to tears. Playing Munich and Blood one after the other is almost too much, and the chorus of Fingers in the Factories really riled up the crowd. Tom Smith's crazed is-he-going-to-throw-his-guitar-at-us-or-isnt-he-antics on stage were once again in evidence. Often times he would come right to the edge of the stage and just stare out at everybody, it was a little disconcerting. Usually it seems like musicians do their utmost to avoid letting the crowd know that they know there is a crowd watching them play. Chirs Urbanowicz's seemingly cool and detached appearance was broken down when they played Munich, he was actually sweating. He also nearly smiled during the encore.
The special guests were the Howling Bells, a four piece rock group, i think from Australia. Their debut album was produced by the "Coldplay producer" Ken Nelson, swit swoo. I really liked them, alot. They have a very cool website. They have listed influences that range from Sigur Ros to Beetle Juice. So yeh, I don't know what to say about them, but they are good. Their lead singer is this tiny, gorgeous girl, Juanita Stein, with a voice that was kind of scratchy at first but when she warmed up, it was powerful and strong. The rest of the band sing along to all the words, even those without microphones, with their eyes closed, which I always think is a good sign.
After the gig there was a huge queue for the cloakroom, the merchandise desk, and the toilet.. The only place there was no queue for was the bar. I decided that instead of standing in a big crowd of people for half an hour waiting for my jacket i'd order a glass of wine and hang around at the bar for a bit. Which was fun because there were lots of interesting people about and the dj was really good. Then I decided I would like to buy a pin, so I went over to check out the stuff they had on for sale. You had to buy a t-shirt to get a pin, which was pretty disappointing, but I happened to look down and found one on the ground. So I went back to the bar and sat down. I had bought my ticket at the door on the way in, and it was just a crap little square card with the name of the club hosting the night on it, no mention of who was playing that night or anything. While I was sitting at the bar, I noticed that Tom Smith, the lead singer of Editors, was talking to some fans so i scooted over to say hello and he fixed up my ticket, signing it with "Tom" and "Editors" (no THE..) During the show, he had asked if anybody in the crowd had been to see them at their last show, during the Popkomm festival. Noone shouted back, but im sure there were plenty of people who had been. Then he said "Good, it was really fucking bad." I asked him why he thought it had been a bad show but he just said, "ah, it wasnt so bad. things just werent going well." I came back to see them because of that show, whether or not he thought it had been bad, it made me want to come back for more. He said they would be back in Berlin in February, which is not too far away at all.
As the sun goes down on a broken town
And the fingers bleed in the factories
Come on out tonight, come and see the sight
Of the ones you love and the ones you love
And you
Keep with me, keep with me, keep with me, keep with me
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