GIG NUMBER NINE
Who
So anyway... I queued for ages thus fortunately managing to guarantee my position at the front, whiling away the time hanging out with some Oasis fans, who had already decided this gig would never be as good as their heroes were. Never found out if they changed their opinion after, but they were most definitely very impressed! The High Llamas opened with a quite indifferent support, whose memory now has been completely obscured by the awesomeness of the main act, which eventually rendered all the other problems superfluous! The sound quality proved to be the only thing about the venue that was spot-on as Gruff sung Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home) on his knees with the aid of a miniature piano thing. It didn't quite work, as is often the case with this difficult tune. Bad Behaviour was then delivered in such a frenetic manner that it would have put any so-called "metal music" fans in the crowd into ecstasy, making them wonder why they bother with their relatively mid-tempo acts!!
The hyper-loud tunes continued, making the presence of the ambulance outside distributing earplugs quite understandable! Things then slowed down for a strange Chewing Chewing Gum, as SFA launched into an appropriately small quiet segment. Gruff thanked us for coming out on such a shit day, but a little rain hardly messed up a wonderful show and was very low down the list of problems for the night. The quiet bit was then followed by the hits (except the strangely omitted Northern Lites), including a brilliant version of Mountain People, The International Language Of Screaming, and everything else I've listed on my setlist, each song as awesome as it could possibly be. The volume was insane and the light show incredible, making the Rings Around The World and Phantom Power tours, where the band played in time to their video screen, seem very flat and dull by comparison.
After asking us what song they should play, the band ignored all our requests to play Hometown Unicorn. A typically apocalyptic Night Vision, possibly with Cian on guitars, then led into The Man Don't Give A Fuck, where I was left wondering if the building would collapse on us all! The vibrations became quite obscene at this point, making it no surprise that some people had come to the show just for this reason, and the quadraphonic sound was put to very good use. As at V99, the furry trumpet players emerged after the insane moshpit of TMDGAF, each with a fist in the air in triumph. This continued for a good ten minutes but no-one wanted to leave when it finished! Absolutely incredible. I doubt if SFA can ever be as good as this live again, but this was an even greater show than the last time, and it is literally impossible to exaggerate just how amazing this was. Your loss everyone, your loss!
Mark: 10.0/10 (putting the non-musical problems aside!)
Super Furry Animals
Support
The High Llamas
Where
Stoke Royal
When
1st November 1999
Price
£12.00
Who with
No-one
Position
At the front, in the middle!
Comments
This gig proved to be perhaps the most ambivalent experience of my life. The venue was shit: the front barriers so uncomfortable I was overcome by pain throughout, as well as being covered in some horrible sticky stuff. The organisation was terrible: the staff didn't open the door until it was half an hour late, after deciding to close it when the first time it was opened there was a very slight surge forwards, due to the very understandable desire to finally get inside. So I'm happy to report that this place is now closed down, and that justice has won through!! Worst of all, I'd purchased two tickets on the very reasonable assumption that I would get someone else to go with me. However, I was faced with both shocking ignorance and astonishing coincidences (people who wanted to go but already had important engagements that night planned months in advance). When you're faced with people who refuse to go to what was one of the greatest gigs ever for a bargain price, the guarantee of being blown away by it all, and the offer of a free lift, you really start to worry about the state of the world. Worst though was the beyond ridiculous complete lack of touts on the door, making this quite probably the largest gig I've ever been to without any of them outside! Not until Benicassim in 2003 would I run into more conclusive proof that I'm cursed!
Setlist
Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)
Bad Behaviour
Something 4 The Weekend
Do Or Die
She's Got Spies
Chewing Chewing Gum
If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You
The Turning Tide
Play It Cool
The International Language Of Screaming
Calimero
God! Show Me Magic
Some Things Come From Nothing
Fire In My Heart
Hometown Unicorn
The Teacher
Demons
Mountain People
Ice Hockey Hair
Night Vision
The Man Don't Give A Fuck
