GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND NINE
Who
The room was rammed to an extent I'd never expected, and with all the touts outside I wondered just how so many people wanted to see Nine Black Alps and why they simply hadn't let them perform in the vacant main room. The bar was too busy so we only had one drink and tried to get our bearings. I'm sure that the stage for The Supernaturals had been on the opposite side to this! We jostled for position and noticed that the venue was at the forefront of technology by bluetoothing advertising to your phones... Very clever! Unfortunately the night then took a negative turn as support act Kong took to the stage. They have an OK name so I'd hoped for something interesting but they certainly didn't deliver this. It was a fuck-awful barrage of tuneless dirge, the band were wearing masks and appeared to be inebriated to a point where they could no longer play. The crowd reaction was surprising, with a few cheers for them amongst the disappointingly few boos. After ten or so minutes we couldn't tolerate any more so just elected to stand outside. So just how bad were they? Possibly second worst to Toploader, and that's saying something! I was curious to learn more about this band afterwards so have checked out their MySpace page. It certainly indicates that they are indeed always this bad. I wondered whether anyone could be claiming they'd enjoyed them and was staggered to see several postings hailing this performance! No matter how awful a show can be it is fascinating that somebody can argue it to be good, either proving that idiots are everywhere or that live music is so inherently exciting that it's possible to enjoy anything if you try hard enough! The bottom line though was that this was hardly Arctic Monkeys "supporting" them like it was last time!
We re-entered the hall before the end of Kong to try and get into a good position for Nine Black Alps. There was the usual quota of obscenely large heads blocking my view and this was hardly a relaxed crowd like I'd expected. I had been planning to record the whole show on my new MP3 player just to see how it turned out but couldn't be bothered in the end! NBA took to the stage and launched into a few songs I didn't know. Presumably they were from the first LP, which would generally be a good thing except in this instance where I wanted to hear songs from the second album which I knew! The four members of the band looked younger than before and the guy in the baseball cap, presumably on loan from Grandaddy, was a good presence just as I remembered from the first time I watched them. Strange that I hadn't noticed him at the last show but that may have been because of my glasses breaking! It was great to recognise a few songs but the sound was too loud and somewhat distorted. Also the crowd reaction was disproportionate to the quality of the show as a space cleared in the middle of the room and a violent slam-pit commenced! Nevertheless, it did feel like watching an early Nirvana and if the reaction had been everyone moshing rather than a few people slamming around I'd had happily joined in. I certainly don't agree with anyone dismissing NBA as not "hard" enough, as it would have been difficult for them to rock harder without completely sacrificing the tunes! The crowd reaction peaked with the brilliant Just Friends followed by an energised Cosmopolitan, which was surprisingly the highlight for me. The emphasis then switched onto the second album and the reaction calmed down, but I was just happy to recognise the songs!
Bitter End and Burn Faster were dispatched back-to-back and I felt supremely ambivalent when the band launched into the dynamic introduction of Unsatisfied. It was great that they'd played everything but they'd done a Franz Ferdinand and blown all the big hits at the start! After a few unknown songs Nick wanted to leave early but I was determined to stick it out, hoping they'd have something left in the bag to keep everyone interested. I have no idea how long they were onstage but it seemed like ages. I recognised so many new songs, such as Everytime I Turn, Painless and Forget My Name. In fact every single song from the new album I enjoyed. But knowing they hadn't got any "huge" songs left detracted from my enjoyment. Sam called us "Brumchester" and mentioned the late Heath Ledger but I don't remember much of the banter. The barrage of songs was starting to get just a little too repetitive. The nadir of the concert was when the band said thanks to Kong for their show and said about how mad they had been, then played a dull track called Intermission that lived up to its name. A change of pace but not very exciting! Things then improved for a few exciting songs that I'd never heard before so I presume they were from the first album and the slam-pit resumed. They finally finished and we made our way out, having no interest in if there was an encore. There certainly was nothing left for them to play. Leaving early would have been a supremely negative act and I'm glad we didn't as we left in perfect time for the train back. My ears were whistling and the primary topic of conversation was the much more exciting shows planned for later in the year - Gogol Bordello and Paul McCartney!! The sound was too loud, the crowd too mad and too many hits were played early on, but you could argue that those points are all positives! Nine Black Alps had proved a worthwhile night out and that was indeed the original intention.
Mark: 7.5/10
Nine Black Alps
Support
Kong
Where
Birmingham Academy 2
When
28th January 2008
Price
£8.00
Who with
Nick
Position
In the middle
Comments
I'd seen Nine Black Alps twice before and could never claim that they were particularly great. In the two years since watching them "headlining" above Arctic Monkeys in Manchester I'd heard that the emphasis on the second album had gone towards poppier tunes, which was a good thing, and I'd discovered Unsatisfied, a truly stunning song. I certainly was keener than before, but still knew that this show wouldn't be much more than a mildly entertaining evening out. It definitely made me question what motivates me to agree to a concert and to choose Nine Black Alps over hundreds of other bands, but the bottom line is that ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead remains the only show that had no merit whatsoever, and I haven't done too badly. If I only stuck to the gigs I "knew" would be great then my experiences would be much less for it and there'd be no Gogol Bordello for starters! I went out of my way to learn as much material as possible and had a pleasing "Gogol Bordello moment" when I first heard Just Friends and realised that it had been the greatest song of their previous live show, rather than Unsatisfied! I'd heard their second LP over and over again until it had sunk in whereas Cosmopolitan was the third track I knew from their debut. On the day itself I was ready for the action, enjoying exceptionally mild weather and a satisfying pint of Guinness on the journey, but being held back by the hopeless lateness of the train and a messy and rushed KFC meal. We arrived at the venue and were surprised to be ushered into the main Academy. I'd expected it to be at the Bar Academy but it turned out that the entire main building had been reserved, then proceedings were strangely restricted to a small side room. I was delighted to recognise this as the Academy 2, a room still legendary for hosting my one and only Supernaturals show. I'd thought that it was now just a bar at the main Academy but it had been temporarily sealed off for the show to act as a venue once again.
