GIG NUMBER SIXTY-FOUR
Who
This brings me to my point that it was mainly a repetition of old favourites lined up for this year so far, which I felt slightly backwards about. Electric Six are one of those bands most will have consigned to the dustbin of 2003, me included, discarded as two hit wonders. It was only a last minute impulse that persuaded us it would be fun to turn up on the day and get tickets, and it was something of a shock they'd as good as sold out the place! Approaching 9pm, with no listening of the Fire album beforehand, we got in there. And a curse struck! I'd joked about a hotly tipped new band being on who we'd be missing, so was well gutted when first support turned out to be The Blood Arm. Franz Ferdinand have been raving about them so already I'd decided I'd like to see them, but they had finished by the time we'd arrived. Downloading one of their songs afterwards only made me more convinced I might had missed out on an act who could had been special!
Hoggboy were already halfway through their set before we came in although the rest of it seemed to last forever. Looking back on this archive confirmed what I'd suspected - I've seen them before supporting The Electric Soft Parade and had decided that they were mediocre Strokes wannabes. Although they may have changed their style since then, they were still dull. One song seemed to never end and it was the typical loud guitar and drums with nothing of note, which so many support bands wheel out. They said something about covering Gay Bar at the end then didn't, and their only saving grace was that each song did seem a bit different, even if I didn't really like any of them! We pushed our way through the astonishingly young kids in the crowd into the moshpit (naturally surrounded by those awkward few who stand in the moshpit and prefer to play musical statues - these guys seem to come up at every show!), me foregoing any beer for the sake of a good bit of jumping.
It was déjà vu seeing the group at the same venue, looking exactly the same (except Dick Valentine had longer hair), being the same distance from the front and even having the same backdrop on the stage!! But I'd enjoyed it the first time so was happy to experience almost exactly the same show again, the only difference being that it was songs from the second album getting played that I didn't know, as opposed to some of their b sides. "We want Dick!" shouted everyone as the six guys sauntered onto stage and launched into some new song. Everyone else seemed to go crazy, making me think some guys here were real fans who'd rushed out to get that second album. But it was the old favourites I was concerned with, meaning that Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother) was what got me jumping! We also got the somewhat slower Synthesizer in a nice moment, before returning to the typical pace for She's White. This was great fun rock music, providing plenty of chances to point, laugh and sing-along.
Gay Bar was unleashed relatively early and with no fanfare from the band but it naturally went down a storm regardless. A pop song this memorable should not just be forgotten about, even though it was so overplayed at the time! Danger! High Voltage was a similarly insane moment and I still can't decide which of the two I prefer. But possibly the b-side Improper Dancing trounced both of them! The "STOP!" was not followed by any "continue", then it was a sideways step for a few quiet acoustic numbers, one incorporating Backstreet's Back! Then came the "CONTINUE!" after much shouting for it, and the last 30 seconds of Improper Dancing was played out as it should be. Dick then said that he was never going to go back to Wolverhampton again as he'd got food poisoning there, and in future they'd just play Manchester twice instead - boo! He also admitted to the repetition, saying they'd no doubt be playing in this room until it was in a different room!
The crowd seemed to alternate bizarrely between being massively up for it, with crowdsurfing, a slam pit, and endless oddments successfully hitting Dick on the head, and being quite lame, with looks of disgust whenever I chose to mosh like a pro to a good bit, even though everyone else was bombing all over the place with reckless disregard at times! Some of the new songs seemed quite good although I can't pretend to know any of them and, as a seasoned gig goer, have learned to save my energy for when it matters! Dick had his shirt off and praised the little kid who'd crowdsurfed a good five or six times as the band reached a glorious encore, promising us two top forty hits. Radio Ga Ga remains one of Queen's great moments and this cover version a moving experience, with the handclaps in place as expected. Then came Dance Commander, the great forgotten single from Fire and another contender for best tune. The running order of the songs I knew had also ran nearly as the last time, with Nuclear War (On The Dancefloor) the only real omission. But Electric Six had already showed themselves to be a novelty band with some staying power, and no doubt will remain an enthralling live act as long as they're on the circuit!
Mark: 7.5/10
Electric Six
Support
Hoggboy
Where
Manchester Debating Hall
When
26th February 2005
Price
£10.50
Who with
Matt, Jim
Position
In the moshpit
Comments
A bit of a head scratcher to the untrained eye, but Electric Six provided a reasonably storming start to my gigging year! The state of popular music seemed to be picking up as of late so all the newer bands I'd like to be seeing - namely Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters, Kasabian, The Killers, The Libertines, Razorlight and Kaiser Chiefs - seemed to have jumped straight into the bona fide mainstream, bypassing the toilet venues altogether! Although part of me says good for them, it also means I've missed out. I usually like to get in there at the £7-a-ticket early shows, easily get a good position near the front, and then decide if it's worth jumping in with the hype wagon. Now they're all playing sell-out shows, usually at expensive large venues, and it just doesn't seem worth it. £15 is a lot of money to check out a band, especially if you have to contend with the larger less intimate venues and already obsessed crowds.
