GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN
Who
Yo Majesty were the support for the night and I had no idea what to expect so was surprised to discover that they were a female duo performing what I'd describe as gangster rap. Their producer was first onstage and apparently doesn't usually play with them but his button pressing on a computer seemed to be responsible for all of the pre-programmed music. Despite the incompatible musical style most of the crowd seemed to enjoy it bar a few indie-purists and I found them reasonably entertaining if too loud for their own good. They may have been drunk but perhaps I was too as I could have sworn that one of their tunes sampled the Thomas The Tank Engine theme! They were enthusiastic and continued to demand crowd participation despite the disinterest of most but gamely carried on rather than moaning about us, thereby earning a little respect from me! Now the time for Neon Neon was approaching and the reasonably large venue had filled up somewhat hence I was quite a few rows back and with a large head in my way!
The band took to the stage to applause and opened, quite naturally, with Neon Theme. Gruff held up a board declaring "Stainless style. The lives, wives and tragic fall of John Z DeLorean by Neon Neon" and announced that this was the plan for the evening ahead before playing a stunning Dream Cars, featuring awesome video footage of the DeLorean in action. Gruff then somehow forgot John DeLorean's name as what was supposed to be his voice from beyond the grave endorsing the show was played between tracks! He also held up a board at regular intervals in the show which said "applause", and we were happy to accommodate the band in this request! Gruff wore what appeared to be a Hey Venus! t-shirt and a nice fuzz of facial hair and stood stage right as usual. Boom Bip spent most of the show to the right of Gruff and seemed to make minimal contribution to the live experience. Cate Le Bon stood stage left and greatly enhanced the vocal mix, especially on I Lust U, plus the band had a drummer who was blinded by the video projector but sportingly carried on regardless! The sound was loud and distorted but the show had as much energy as you could extract from a mainly electronic album and it was nice to hear Gruff doing something 100% new and fantastic and with more enthusiasm than usual.
Every track from Stainless Style was played with the exception of Luxury Pool and surprisingly there were no cover versions or extra treats thrown in. Gruff maintained that the whole album was about John DeLorean and explained that She Told Me On Alderaan was based on a dream sequence, whereas for Raquel he held up two pieces of A4 paper crudely held together by hand with the word "Oh!" on, seeing as that was the principal lyric of the track. He also had some hand-held drumsticks which amazingly you could play just by beating thin air. They were particularly cool, even though they seemed to malfunction after a while. Michael Douglas was especially lively and featured some cool lights and lots of yellow on the video screen, which wasn't used for every track. It was also a surprise when Har Mar Superstar appeared onstage for a few tunes such as Trick For Treat, and it was very exciting when the principal rapper from Yo Majesty joined him for an energetic Sweat Shop! I've never much liked Har Mar but, in small quantities and under the thumb of Gruff, he was quite entertaining.
Practically every tune of the evening hit the spot and enhanced my already high opinion of the album and the band did a pretty good job at bringing it to life, swapping places onstage with abandon. Even the crowd were positive and enthusiastic, a pleasant surprise for Birmingham! Neon Neon left the stage then returned for a short encore of Steel Your Girl followed by Stainless Style, which Gruff pointed out was as final as a last song can be, being about the death of John DeLorean. Someone heckled the suggestion of bringing him back from the dead just so we could enjoy a second encore but Gruff argued back that he didn't think John would appreciate that! The song somehow evolved into a quasi-rave before the band vacated the stage, leaving me plenty of time to catch the train home and play some Sudoku on the trip! I do wonder if Stainless Style is destined to be a one-off concept album. Perhaps so, in which case this could have been the last gig the band will perform. They played all the songs I wanted in as good a way as I'd hoped for, so this was certainly a successful trip.
Mark: 8.5/10
Neon Neon
Support
Yo Majesty
Where
Birmingham Glee Club
When
10th November 2008
Price
£10.00
Who with
No-one
Position
In the middle
Comments
As a highly creditable spin-off from Super Furry Animals and my first opportunity to see Gruff playing outside of his main band I knew Neon Neon were an unmissable show. The ticket was a bargain £10 and choosing the DeLorean as the subject for a concept album was a match made in heaven, combining two of my favourite things in the world - SFA and DMC-12! Indeed the album was so exciting that it almost didn't register and I had to force myself to listen to it repeatedly before the gig, discovering what a brilliant piece of work it was. The show was the last of the tour and heralded the unfortunate end of my travels and re-entry into real life, at least until the end of the year. I decided to arrive early and walk around to try and spot a DeLorean but had no luck, yet I did see another cool old car. I also had to work out where the Glee Club was and discovered it was in a nice but randomly deserted drinking area I'd visited once before. I was one of the first to arrive and we were eventually ushered into a hugely expensive side-bar affiliated with the venue and had to hang around for a bit before the doors were opened and we were allowed upstairs. The bouncers rudely kicked us out of the seating area next to the stage which stayed deserted for the duration of the evening so I stood next to a brightly lit wall while reading a music newspaper until the venue started to fill up.
