I Wrote My Feelings Down in a Rush, I Didn't Even Check the Spelling

Maximo Park / 26th November 2005 / Postbahnhof

Tom English - Drums
Paul Smith - Vocals
Archis Tiku - Bass guitar
Lukas Wooller - Keyboards
Duncan Lloyd - guitars

Once again, i was running late for a gig. Me and my friend were scurrying towards the Postbahnhof when we heard Paul's distinctive singing and broke into a run to get inside. I've been to a few gigs at this venue now, and usually there is still a crowd of people hanging out at the bar during the show, watching it on the screen there i suppose (WHY?!!). At this gig, there was nobody who wasn't jam packed in front of the stage. it was CRAMMED full in there. Maximo Park had the place in riots. Their set was intensely loud, energetic and surprising. They played everything, plus new songs, "I want you to leave" & "Wasteland" (on a new Warchild album). My music is still in storage back in Dublin, so I havent been able to listen to "A Certain Trigger" for a few months now. I had forgotten how much i totally love the album, totally as in every single song on it. Maximo Park don't do filler. Graffiti, I Want You to Stay, Once a Glimpse, I Kiss You Better, Postcard of a Painting, Now I'm All Over The Shop, Going Missing, The Night I Lost My Head, Limassol, the Coast is Always Changing...they saved "Apply some Pressure" til last and their new stuff went down really well. Paul Smith doesn't stay still for one moment, his feet hardly touch the ground as he spends most of the time in the air, and by the end of the gig he looked so exhausted, pale and drenched in sweat, I felt exhausted just watching him. Lukas Wooller becomes an extension of his keyboard when he is playing, his fingers never leaving the keys, plugged in almost, he dances in jarred, robotic moves, cutting the air with his free hand and stamping his feet on the ground.
After the show, Lukas came down to the bar and I was lucky to get a chance to talk with him. When I first heard Maximo Park i knew it was a different band to the Futureheads, but at the same time i was astounded at the similarity in sound. At the time I didnt notice that the media had picked up on it. But since then I guess things have changed, Lukas said the media would love the bands to go at it with eachother, but the situation is quite the opposite actually. I asked him about it saying, obviously there were differences between the two groups, "well, we have a KEYBOARD." he pointed out. I hadn't meant to put it so simply. The difference in vocal techniques and lyrical content is very distinct, the Futureheads take an abstract approach in their lyrics, where Maximo Park seem to prefer a narrative. So I was standing there beside Lukas and thinking of the video for "Hounds of Love", and there is nobody running through the forest with a keyboard. Who came first, the Futureheads or Maximo Park? If you work it out tell me what you find.

That was Saturday night. The GO! team played in Magnet on Sunday. This venue is so tiny, and the Go! Team are SO BIG. They have two drummers, three guitarists and their amazing singer/mc dancing like a go-go girl for all she's worth. the GO! Team are making music that sounds like something from a long time ago. I suspected alot of sampling when I heard them first. But it's all live instruments and vocals at the show. The more shows I go to here in Berlin, the more I realise that the crowd loves to get involved. The Go! Team really like to get everyone to take part, giving the audience words to shout so we could join in on the new songs, they had us chanting, waving lit up phones & lighters, everyone was dancing, jumping, clapping and singing along, everyone knew the words. The new songs they played were taken up immediately by the crowd. Especially "Doin it Right". Their set seemed a little short, but all the good ones were in: Ladyflash, Everyone is a VIP to Someone, The Power is On, Huddle Formation, Junior Kickstart, We Just Wont Be Defeated, The Ice Storm (a b-side). There was one song that one of the drummers came out to sing, in the sweetest voice. The rest of the band left the stange and she was left with two of the boys on the keyboard. It was beautiful. Coincidentally, the Go! Team have contributed to the Warchild album aswell, with "Phantom Broadcast".

I don't know what this support band curse is that i have, but I fucked up on the way to both these gigs, distracted by a vernissage on Saturday night and misled by the door times, then the U-bahn got the better of me on Sunday, so I missed Her Space Holiday. I caught the last few minutes, it was a good five minutes.

After this weekend my hearing is fucked, my heart is beating really fast, my wallet is empty and im still hungover. I'm out.

The Strokes Set to Play Secret Gig in Berlin!

Albert Hammond Junior-

"We'll do eight new songs and leave, just like how it was with the first record, with no one knowing any of our music. We thought it would build some excitement,"

Neverevereverdid

Architecture in Helsinki are crazy bastards. 8 of them stomped onstage brandishing trombones, trumpets, those little keyboards you blow into, guitars, tambourines..in other words, lots of shaky, bangy things that make ALOT of noise. Making alot of noise i believe could possibly be the ethos of this band. Though it must be said that they also know the charms of subtlety, see: the clarinet, hand claps and mouth pops (y'know, when you blow your mouth up with air, then pop your finger in the side of your mouth?!) The stage was pretty small, they played in Bastard. It is a pretty cool place, as i have found most music venues in Berlin to be. Dimly lit by an assortment of old fashioned light fixtures and with walls papered in colourful images, though it is a small place, the ceiling is high and so you get the intimate feeling of the small venue, with a big sound assaulting your ears. AND WHAT A BIG SOUND THIS BAND HAVE! After they tromped onstage, they had to find somewhere to stand that wasnt taken up by cables or the drums or either of the keyboards. i mean 8 members yo, on this tiny stage. While they were grabbing instruments and arranging themselves everyone clapped and cheered to welcome them and then waited for the show to begin. SUDDENLY, there was a blood curdling roar that seriously must have shook the foundations, which turned out to be the band, all of them screaming terrifyingly into the microphone, saying hello to us or something. A typical Aussie greeting perhaps?

Their bio is pretty fantastic to read. Here!

The main singer-boy (there was a main singer-boy and a main singer-girl, he yelled alot and she sang sweetly) towards the end of the show took to the centre stage and seemed as comfortable there as if he was in front of his own mirror (up until then he had been kind of hiding at the left hand side of the stage...It was quite odd to hear this massive voice seemingly boom out of nowhere.) He sinously wrapped himself in the microphone lead, and there was not so much yelling, as he actually has a delicate voice that is strong even when he's hitting the high notes. He also has a massive head, and sure enough he addressed the crowd and asked if anyone there had the same surname as him, something terribly complicated and German. He said, "as you can see, i have a very German brow. Are there any Hefiansalodowieqwegers here?", or something like that... The band came back onstage twice for us, by the second encore they had run out of songs, so they did some rather fantastic covers. "Love is the drug" by Roxy Music and "Living Without You" by Randy Newman.

I think they have two albums, "Fingers Crossed" and "In Case We Die". I had never heard anything by them before this show, and can't give a setlist here. IT WAS REALLYREALLY GOOD THOUGH!

The support was from Jenny Wilson, who seems to be some crazy, French lady. Ohnowait, she is Swedish! She sang these mad, electro-pop songs. I got the impression that she probably owns the whole Human League back catalogue. She wowed us by tapping on a little wooden box along to the beat of her music for the first song, but then her guitar came out. (i haven't seen one of those wooden box things that you tap since my junior infants classroom. yay!) She had her sister onstage playing electric guitar aswell, and...i don't think it was a backing track, i am sure it was something else..a little gadget that had all the music of her songs, except for the guitars on it. What is that called? i saw her sister switching tracks each time.

Anyway, this lady really grabbed my attention. Now i find out she has worked with the KNIFE! I simply must get her new album, LOVE AND YOUTH. I must have it, yes i must. From the lady herself:

"LOVE AND YOUTH contains 12 songs/short stories with ingredients as: Nosebleed, love, fights, despair, the awful schoolyard-blues and - of course - sex! Drumbeats's next to electric guitars, dramatic & beautiful choirs, vibraphones and acoustic guitars."

Thank you Jenny wilson, you are probably crazy and i thought you were French but you are Swedish. I should have known, French girls don't smile as much as she did for us in the Bastard that night. (Plus, see how pretty she is! - main picture.)

While this unbelievably cold winter is just beginning, I am lucky to have a stack of good books as my excuse for staying in under the covers. The last three books i happened upon have turned out to be the best books i have read in a long time. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by Dave Sedaris, "Razor's Edge" by Somerset Maugham and "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides. For one reason and another i picked up these books. I had never read anything by any of these authors before, the cover of the Somerset Maugham book nearly put me off (Bill Murray doing his best "whats that smell?" expression..) and since the Virgin Suicides is one of my favourite films evereverever the chance to read something by the man behind the book behind the film is a treat i could not pass up. English books in berlin are either overpriced imports- albeit as part of a usually good selection to be found in most bookstores- or eclectic and musty collections on sale in the 2nd hand bins at flea markets and also bookstores. I can't believe my luck, and now that I've discovered for myself three new writers that i thoroughly enjoy, i can look forward to hunting down more of their works...It was wierd, in the Dave Sedaris book, he is the main character and it was all about him. In the Somerset Maugham book, the story was from the author's point of view also. In "Middlesex", Jeffrey Eugenides description of his main character pretty much matches what he looks like, though they have different (but similar) names, and its obviously not about his life.

I just finished reading "Middlesex" a couple of days ago, so it was kind of cool that i came upon this interview: Jeffrey Eugenides being interviewed by Johnathan Safran Foer.

Tonight: Decemberists.

Do You Realise, That One Day Everyone That You Know Will Die.

i have to run away in a minute to see Architecture in Helsinki, so i wont have to time to go over this and check for spelling mistakes and stuff like that. OK? a funny thing happened the other night when i went back to see "Fearless Freaks! The Improbable Story of the Flaming Lips". First of all, it was actually on. I used my free ticket and bought a huge box of popcorn. This time the theatre seats were teorquoise, and full. Within 2 minutes of the film starting, i knew it was going to be GOOD. and it is great. The bit i cant forget is the 5 minutes spent on Steven Drozd shooting up heroin. Or rather, telling Bradley how he got addicted, and what his life is like right now, broken up with longterm girlfriend, wasting every cent on heroin, worrying everyone to death that he will die. they left out the actual injection. i was squirming in my seat hoping they wouldnt show it. this part of the film made me cry, whereas i couldnt help smiling madly at the rest of it, beaming at big shiny Wayne Coyne with his mad hair and rumpled, blood stained suit. That was another unforgettable piece. he related seeing a photograph of miles davis this one time. Miles Davis was doing a concert, and before he went on he stepped outside for a smoke, whereupon a policeman beat him over the head. A photographer took some great photographs of Miles after the incident, and he happened to be wearing a yellow brazer, which showed the blood up real good.

Oh, i really i ahve to go soon.

When the film was over everyone started clapping. This was good, I totally wanted to clap, but i also wondered why..Til the director stepped out in front of the screen! He was there to answer questions and talk abuot the film. He seemed kind of nervous, and i couldnt think of anything to ask, so i tried to look reassuring if he happened to look at me. Other people asked interesting things like, "did you diret steven in that part where he shoots up?" and bradley answered something like, "no. i was nervous going to see him. when i got there he said, "you gonna ask me questions?" and i didnt know what to say. I thought it was going to be really awkward, but then after a few minutes, i realised for him this was a simple activity like making a cup of coffee. It was pretty gruesome, there was 45 minutes of footage of Steven trying to find a vein..in his arm, in his foot, in his hand..he was bleeding."

I learned about the Flaming Lips' feature, something about aliens..and that the singer of Mercury Rev used to be in the band. I think the Flaming Lips don't know how great they are.

Novembre, C'est Chaud

Fri 18th Architecture in Helsinki, Bastard Club 10pm.
Sun 20th the Decemberists, Magnet 21h.
Mon 21st, Rufus Wainright, Kesslehaus, 8pm
Weds 23rd Misty's Big Adventure, Roter Salon, 10pm.
Thurs 24th Nada Surf, Kalkscheune, 9pm.
Sat 26th, Maximo Park + New Pornographers, Postbahnhof, 8pm
Sun 27th, the GO! Team & Her Space Holiday, Magnet, 9pm.
Sun 27th I Am Kloot, Postbahnhof.
Mon 28th, Anthony and the Johnsons, Folksbühne, 9pm.
Mon 28th, Teenage Fanclub, Postbahnhof.

Last night i tried to go and see "FEARLESS FREAKS! The improbable story of the Flaming Lips"....but it all went totally wrong. It's showing at the Eiszeit cinema, but they had some shitty DVD copy of the film or something, and it wouldn't start. Then it did start, but it kept stopping. So they moved us to the other theatre, for more of the same unfortunately. After about 30 minutes of this they gave up. We all got our money back and a free ticket. So i'm gonna go back tonight and see if i can see it.

Someone Said They Saw You, In The Night And On Your Own

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

..and the last kiss had a foolish cause...

On a whim yesterday i decided to go and see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I could blame it on the U-Bahn, but once again i arrived late, and so missed most of the set by the wonderful Gliss. They are dirty rockers. The lead singer moans breathlessly on just about every song, waving his arm in the air flamboyantly and swinging his guitar along to their awesome dirty rock. The drummer slumps and hides behind her poker straight blonde hair, a brief glimpse of her pale face reveals no expression, but her eyes close and her head falls back as the denouement of the song crashes upon us and her intent is clear.

BRMC announced themselves with a short slot by lead singer (or co-singer?) Peter Hayes who by himself recieves a huge welcome from the audience. He delivers a full sound, playing beautifully on the harmonica and guitar, the plaintive country sound conveying a depth of feeling sometimes a whole band is not capable of. It's only my third time there, but I have never seen the Postbahnhof so crowded, the place is really packed. As Hayes finishes up the last of the songs he will play by himself, the three other members of the band arrive, more noisy applause and hooting. They launch into their set and the response is almost instantaneous. This is my first time at a gig in germany that i've seen jumping, moshing, crowd surfing and such rowdy behaviour. I'm not really into mosh pits. It might be cos of that one time I got kicked in the head. Or that other time my leg nearly got bent back the wrong way. Anyway, right now the injury on my (same) leg has not yet totally recovered from the bike accident, so im sort of keeping myself safe, just to the right of the unpredictable crowd that sways en masse randomly this way and that. Its obvious that the band like to have this affect on their fans, and sure enough, bassist Robert Turner smiles down at the crowd and yells into the mic "this is the best fucking time we ever had in this city!" He likes to stand right on the edge of the stage, with his leg raised and his guitar pointed to the crowd, a mass of arms reaches up to him. From where im standing it looks like hes playing on top of the crowd. The drummer Nick Jago knows the right way how to make alot of noise and his pounding batterie more than once steals the show. By the end of the night he has thrown two sets of drum sticks into the crowd, and faked a stage dive.

Songs like, "Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll (Punk Song)", "Aint no Easy Way" and "Spread Your Love" are undeniably great, but more than once I was bored, anxious for the next song, and even thinking about leaving, which is very rare for me. It was a shame "At My Door" was left off the set list...Seeing how much they were getting out of playing the show, plus the fact that they left "Spread Your Love" until the encore kept me rooted to the spot though, and i did stay until the end.

Walking home along the East Side Gallery, and across the beautiful Ober Baum Brücke, it didnt matter that i kept taking the wrong turns, so my 10 minute walk home turned into an hour long trek. BRMC have infectious energy, and with my ears ringing i made it home, and fell into bed happy to have felt the force of it.

You're Like Me, We're The Same

Brendan Benson is a band, so Brendan Benson says. And that band is made up of himself and his merrymen. I learned recently that in the studio, Benson does everything himself and he also produces for other bands (Blanche, the Greenhornes)which is wow. I also heard something about himself and Jack White making an album together next year. Very wow indeed, !!! I was at the Hurricane Festival in June and managed to be up early enough to catch his performance, he was on first that day. The band had quite a short slot and sometimes it just seemed like something was missing from the songs. The gorgeous piano on "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" was totally lost in the festival setting, it just seemed to take something away from the music. So i was really excited when I found he was coming to play in Berlin, I knew it was going to be a great show.

Benson came onstage and greeted the crowd with "yeh! this is a proper fucking berlin gig!" He seemed pretty happy to be playing in the city. The show was on at the Mudd Club, which i only managed to find by following some people I thought were going to the same show as me. At the end of an alley and past some scaffolding, down some rickety stairs and through a door with a cracked pane of glass leads you into the Mudd Club. Its really small with a bar running along the left hand side wall, and a seating area on the other side. Kitty Wu were onstage when I arrived, they were really great and I wish I knew more about them!

Normally I like to watch from the side, but somehow on this night I ended up in the very front row for the main attraction. Being so close was slightly unnerving, but also quite thrilling. I was overcome with dodgy impulses like taking pictures of Benson's trainers...And unfortunately I sneezed at a rather quiet moment at the end of a song, whereupon Benson looked down and said "Bless you...uh, gezundheit." It seemed like the set list was the best combination of songs ever. "good to me", "cold hands, warm heart", "folk singer", "gold into straw", "spit it out", "alternative to love", "between us", "im easy"...Then something strange happened. During the encore a man came onstage from the side and got the bass player's attention, they huddled in what looked like a serious conversation. The police had arrived! Benson & his Merrymen were making too much noise. They looked so sad. Brendan said, "we have to quit". Everyone roared, "NOOO!". Then someone down the back shouted, "PLAY ACOUSTIC!", so that is what they did. The band wasn't sure what to play though, so they turned to the crowd for inspiration. Someone shouted "YOURE QUIET!" and so we got a strange sort of acoustic version of it. Kind of ironical.

I would love to see them playing again, its a pure joy to watch them perform.

Tonight: The Arctic Monkeys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.