Bands you'd love to have seen, or see again.

[kevo]

Was that the one DeLacey went to?

No, he was at Coachella. Clark was at SXSW. Here's a review (unfortunately Clark's Playlouder one seems to have disappeared into the ether):

South by South West, Austin, Texas 14/3/03

There were about 30 people at the show. These guys flew from Europe to play ONE show... ONE... in Austin, Texas for 30 people. We met the guys, and they had an intensity in their eyes, much like a young boy trying ferociously to learn to ride a bicycle. It was the kind of determination that foreshadowed their performance, and ultimately their philosophy... No matter how many people are watching, 30 or 3000, we will put on a show that they will remember.

And yes, I remember quite well just how much these gentlemen (if I can use that term) literally lit up the 8 foot stage they played on. Dressed entirely in camouflage and war coats, they decorated the stage with foliage. Perhaps you have heard this about them. Pretty funny. My friends and I brushed them off immediately, taking this setup as a gimic. We were mistaken, and fortunately, we stuck around to see them play. INCREDIBLE. And I have pictures to prove it. I don't even know these guys' names... but for 45 minutes, they tore us apart.

Carrion was what they played first, if I'm not mistaken... a beautifully tragic tune that carries a fast rhythm, yet doesn't go overboard... you're caught in between the intensity and the innocence of their approach. Pretty great, in other words. Each song built up gradually until their last opus, Lately. How would I describe this song, other than a tour-de-force of sound approach and technique. The beginning guitar riffs show the harmonics of mainstream acts such as Coldplay, and early U2, their Unforgettable Fire era. However, the bass kicks in, and descends the scales much like Bowie's Spiders From Mars would in the early 70s. The song reached its apocalypse, however, when every instrument explodes into a fury that could only be proven by their live show... and they delivered that completely.

The "explosion" I mentioned is a blend of the surreal shoegazer noise of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and The Stooges L. A. Blues... a complete disregard for everything you would expect in a pop song, rock song, any song. The guitarist whirled his guitar around and actually threw it into the crowd, careening into a young guy's shoulder. And everyone looked up to the stage in unison, jaws dropped. The guy was actually hurt. THEN, the guitarist climbed the rafters of the stage and found the club's storage closet. He then proceeded to launch 10 pound chairs down at the crowd below, sending them running every which way for cover and safety.

Meanwhile, the singer flies off the stage and lands head first onto the floor we're frantically running around on, and flops around like a fish out of water. Chairs are still flying down like snow. Bouncers and bartenders are trying to get him down, shouting and screaming. I look around... everyone else is doing the same. Yet there's this beautiful feedback, harmonizing from the amps. Everything was moving in slow motion. I just smiled. These are the kind of concerts that change the world.


British Sea Power is taking their music to the streets, to whoever will listen. Now, they're opening for Interpol. Soon, they will be be headlining, and some Lester Bangs-esque journalist will write about how he once saw a band that wore foliage, blew his mind with their beautiful noise, and made him believe again that music is still out there to be heard. Get the album. See them perform. Believe it.

David Hampton
http://www.members.aol.com/brilliantinebsp/fanreviews.html#sxsw

[Blackout]

I would also liked to have seen They Might Be Giants when it was just the two of them.. fatty and thinny and a tape machine

The first ever gig I took my sister to was the two-John TMBG - at her request; she was so excited she spent all her savings on an accordion a few days later. Unfortunately her music taste started to degenerate soon afterwards under the influence of various idiot boyfriends and now she likes chart R'n'B and despite being four years younger than me is worryingly middle-aged. They were fucking good though and I'd probably never have gone otherwise.

[Smoggy]

I would also liked to have seen They Might Be Giants when it was just the two of them.. fatty and thinny and a tape machine

The first ever gig I took my sister to was the two-John TMBG - at her request; she was so excited she spent all her savings on an accordion a few days later. Unfortunately her music taste started to degenerate soon afterwards under the influence of various idiot boyfriends and now she likes chart R'n'B and despite being four years younger than me is worryingly middle-aged. They were fucking good though and I'd probably never have gone otherwise.

The first gig i ever went to was TMBG at the Leeds Irish Center in 2004. Bit of a late starter really... It wasn't a very good gig either

[bancroftboy]

i really wish i had been to see the mary chain in their prime.
i have never seen new order though i have always liked them. i now think its too late.
i had a ticket to see blondie in 78? and didnt bother going, which i regret

[Lieutenant Woodpigeon]

i really wish i had been to see the mary chain in their prime.
i have never seen new order though i have always liked them. i now think its too late.
i had a ticket to see blondie in 78? and didnt bother going, which i regret

I saw them in December 1979, the one that was on the telly. Well, the (second) half that was on the telly. They were only marginally better in the first half. One of the most disappointing gigs I've ever been to. They (Clem Burke excepted) obviously considered themselves too cool to be entertaining, or even show that they were remotely interested in being there.

[BuffaloChunk]

I would also liked to have seen They Might Be Giants when it was just the two of them.. fatty and thinny and a tape machine

I got to see them at a small club here in Cleveland, very entertaining. I think the accordian is a very undervalued instument in rock. You have John from TMBG and Weird Al, and that's it.

[vyse]

These fellas:

the polyphonic spree in radical second album shift

[pomfob]

Another bit of forum archaeology...do you still agree with what you said 12 years ago (yikes!)

Thing is, it's all the gigs I've not been to that I wish there was a way to go. I might not care for the work of Bob Dylan (understatement) but the thrill of being at the Judas show would be incredible. And who wouldn't want to see Sex Pistols at the 100 Club or the Lesser Free Trade Hall? And 1,000s of other gigs that I'd go to if I had a TARDIS.

Back in the realms of reality, the 2 bands I've seen but I would love to reform are Band Of Susans and Thin White Rope. Kevo will doubtless agree with me on the latter. 2 incredible American guitar +++ bands from the early 90s that are still pretty untouchable in my eyes.

The 2 bands I could have seen but didn't were Husker Du and Gilded Lil. The former played Manchester in December 1986 while I was at college, but I'd already booked to go back to the parents for xmas. Next time, I said to myself. There was no next time. I've since met someone who actually went, and apparently it was awful; they didn't want to be there and they didn't want to be around each other. Small consolation though.

Gilded Lil were a noisy garage punk band from Scotland with a sweary, screamy woman singer (ticking all the boxes there) in the late 90s. I was quite obsessed with them, bought all the records, and was super excited when they announced they were playing Leeds. I dutifully trooped along, only to find a sign outside the venue saying they'd got into a fight in the van on the way down, and had split up. Disappointed doesn't cover the half of it.

[redc]

I didn't post 12 years ago, but I think my all time most 'loved to have seen' would still (and probably always will) be as per my latest post in the 'Funk' thread.

Also my biggest regret in this area remains not seeing Floyd perform The Wall @ Earls Court in 1980. Now it's my least favourite Floyd album, but back then it was a major part of my life sound track. A friend received 4 tickets for her birthday and I was invited along, but unfortunately I took my parents advice and decided not to take 2 days off from work experience in Cornwall at a now defunct company/industry in a field I never pursued as a career. I never did get to see Waters' Floyd, but nowadays I'd rather have seen one of Syd's early outings at say UFO.

..and, of course BSP @ Cargo.

PS i know i'M not the only one who hankers for a certaiN Leeds band to get back on the tracks.

[pomfob]

These fellas:

Here we are now, all the lads.

[TheAlex]

It seems this thread came just before I discovered the BSP forum existed in a new place.

It would've been awesome to see Queen, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Rainbow, The Yardbirds etc. in their pomp. But then again, I saw The Who in 2003 (one of my favourite gigs) and someone who'd seen them a few times in the 70s told me the '03 gig sounded much better. So who knows. I wasn't actually into Pink Floyd until a couple of years ago when another band (Mostly Autumn) announced they'd be playing an hour-long Pink Floyd covers set as one of 5 sets they played that day. It was incredible. Spookily, an advert for Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets just played on Spotify as I was writing that.

I wish I was at the recent Krankenhaus.

Collapse Under The Empire has only played one gig, in 2016. I was away in the Hebrides for 3 months and if I'd known there wouldn't be another gig, I probably would've broken my trip for Dunk! Festival in Belgium.

The only favourite 90s band I got into after they split that hasn't reformed are Symposium. Even Slowdive reformed for some epic gigs I only ever dreamt of.

I wish I'd seen Weezer touring The White Album. They unexpectedly released something that compares with their first three albums. I wish I'd seen Yann Tiersen when he toured with his mini-orchestra, and Bob Mould playing Sugar's Copper Blue in full in London. I wish I'd seen Secret Machines more than once. My car broke down on the way to one of their gigs. I missed Still Corners last year when I could have attended, and their album turned out to be one of my 2018 favourites. Similarly, Alice Gold about 8-9 years ago, who hasn't gigged since.

Maybe I should've gone to Switzerland to see The Evpatoria Report's final gig. They're unlikely to do another.

On the whole though, I feel very lucky for the gigs I've been able to attend. I wouldn't change much. :)

P.S. I just checked out Thin White Rope and liked what I heard.

[Heartland]

Still a bit sad that I didn't get into BSP before 03/04, but you can't have everything.

Main lifetime disappointment is never seeing Joy Division.

[pomfob]

P.S. I just checked out Thin White Rope and liked what I heard.

Turning the world on to Thin White Rope, one person at a time.

[bancroftboy]

More than anything I regret that I never really got the idea of going to see a band repeatedly and travelling to do so before BSP