GIG NUMBER NINETY-SIX
Who
The Little Civic was depressingly empty when I arrived and didn't seem to fill up. The Gruff Rhys factor had clearly taken a major toll on attendance, although ignorance of the great music must have played a part too. I had two Newcastle Browns and tried to chill out but felt a bit awkward being alone in such an empty room. As I've mentioned in previous reviews, The Little Civic is covered in posters of previous bands to have played Wolverhampton but they seem to get less impressive every time strangely enough: Either my standards are rising or the best posters are being papered over with mediocrity! There was a little stage barrier too which is a new addition, but any venue where the toilet door involves walking to the left of the stage (like Manchester Night And Day Cafe) will always be relaxed, with few divisions between band and crowd. The night opened with a local band called Telegramme who seemed to have brought all their friends along for the event. Amazingly enough they had so many friends that they accounted for around half the audience, and they all had frustratingly little interest in the main attraction. Despite their fan club giving them a manic reception they were at the bottom end of mediocre, making a sound that was simply devoid of tune, apart from one song which was just about reasonable. They were fronted by what appeared to be a teenage girl messing around in front of her friends and that pretty much sums it up: I doubt they're taking music too seriously and it showed. However, when they finished and merged back into the audience the evening started to pick up!
Next support band were Radio Luxembourg and despite the very weak reception they received they were utterly fantastic. They played energetic, catchy Welsh songs which were ignored by most but even now I've got some of their tunes floating around in my head. Telegramme and their entourage were in the crowd leading the indifference, albeit quite politely. Euros Childs also emerged to very little fanfare to watch their show. He kept going off to the lavvy but it seemed barely anybody knew who he was. There were a few proper fans in though, including a guy wearing a Spanish Dance Troupe T-shirt! I remember few details about Radio Luxembourg beyond their general aceness, so I'll move on to the main act. Euros (who is much shorter than you'd imagine) was setting up his own equipment and lugging it around with the help of Radio Luxembourg while Run! Christian, Run! was playing in the background. When he was ready the small band of fans moved forwards and burst into very sharp applause to accommodate for the disappointing numbers. Euros started with the supremely cheerful Bore Da, and then followed it with Dawnsio Dros Y Mor. The set then reached its early peak with the indecently excellent Henry A Matilda Supermarketsuper featuring an awesome rock-out. Euros got all his words right and it was heartening to see that he knew his own songs so well. Euros backing band featured Alan Tan Lan (as before) and surprisingly he was accompanied by all members of Radio Luxembourg! There was much talent there but they just got on with the business of playing the songs with minimal fuss and chit-chat, swapping places at will. Euros performed Costa Rica by himself, which was very nice. People like Get Cape may be quite talented but no semi-acoustic solo guy could compare with this quality.
Euros played a cool tune about being ripped off by a record company (Outside My Window, as I'd later learn) plus Sandalau (very simply, about sandals) and Warrior from the new album, which I had already memorised from his MySpace. I launched into much muso chin stroking for a full-length version of Stella Is A Pigmy and the slightly less interesting quieter moments were more than offset by a supremely energetic Donkey Island and an unknown Meic Stevens song. As good as it all sounded, the expressions on the faces of Radio Luxembourg and especially Alan Tan Lan seemed to hint at utter boredom. They were probably frustrated at playing such a small (if appreciative) crowd and we were all annoyed by the Telegramme entourage who were now at the bar (out of sight of the stage) making so much noise it was almost comical: I swear they had loudspeakers or something! The set finished at 10:20pm and there was no encore. Minor omission was First Time I Saw You but all the essential solo songs had been played. I was surprised that there hadn't been a single Gorky's song this time around but if Euros is determined to press on with his new stuff rather than relying on his old band then good luck to him. I'd gone to so much effort to get into his solo work that the lack of Gorky's songs was barely an issue in the end. Euros announced he'd be selling copies of his new album and I felt a surge of excitement - buying it from the guy himself sure beats HMV!
I had a bit of a panic when I realised I'd ran out of money (I'd never planned to buy anything) but the doorman was reasonable enough to let me out to visit the cash machine then return to meet one of my all-time heroes! I always feel a bit silly and afraid of embarrassing myself but think I did alright. I praised him for putting on a good show and pointed out that the poor attendance was probably down to the Gruff clash, which he was already aware of. I also got to mention Wayne Coyne (as he's just about the only other star I've met) so wouldn't win any awards for original name-checking! I was very privileged to meet him, to obtain a signed copy of Bore Da and also to get away with still not quite being able to pronounce his name! Due to the early finish I had a bit of a wait for the next train but in a second pleasant twist a random guy who'd been on the same train said hi and suggested we kill time by going for a drink. It's always a pleasure to meet somebody friendly, as at only a fraction of gigs does anybody ever seem to start a conversation. We enjoyed super-strong beer, endured a supremely scary guy at a local pub and the time flew by, my penultimate observation of the night being that the Telegramme entourage were at the train station too. Final comments? Great show, awesome to meet the guy, but shame so few people could be bothered to turn up!
Mark: 8.0/10
Euros Childs
Support
Radio Luxembourg
Telegramme
Where
Wolverhampton Little Civic
When
6th March 2007
Price
£7.00
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the front
Comments
Almost a year to the day after seeing him last I gave Euros Childs a repeat viewing. He'd announced the show far in advance, which gave me plenty of time to memorise his solo material plus lots of live rarities. I didn't expect him to play many Gorky's songs so felt it was prudent to know as much stuff as possible. However, two major annoyances came about which were outside my control. Firstly, I was shocked and appalled that Gruff announced a solo gig in Birmingham on the same night. Does anybody bother to check these things before booking dates?! There has always been a massive overlap in the fan base of Gorky's and SFA and I believe the vast majority of people who'd want to see Euros would be just as keen to see Gruff. It seems outside the realms of possibility that their only gigs of the year in the West Midlands would fall on the same night, but I'd booked for Euros first so I wasn't going to change my mind due to shambolic scheduling. As the event drew near I'd finally got the Chops album drilled into my mind and felt ready to enjoy the show, but was concerned that I'd only have a day in which to get into Bore Da, which was due to come out the day before the show. I was totally disgusted to not be able to find it in HMV and then went online to find out what the hell was going on, to be greeted by the news that HMV believed the album had been delayed a week, but all other retailers (none of which I could travel to) didn't! Therefore on the day I was pretty miffed, so much so that I paid for a second train ticket by mistake. As is now becoming my tradition I went to the chip shop first before venturing into town alone. It once again just hadn't seemed worthwhile trying to persuade anyone to see an unknown genius like Euros Childs.
