Subway she is a porno...

Reasons which may go some way towards explaining why Interpol weren't as great last night as I was hoping:

1. Apparently they have been on the road for 18 months. I was exhausted after one month touring; I can't even begin to imagine how they are feeling right now.
2. Their setlist needs reworking. They opened with a dirge and the bulk of the middle of the set was all songs in the same tempo and pretty much in the same key as well. More variety required. The end of the show and the encore fucking rocked.
3. Uber-hipster bassist Carlos D's proto-fascist outfit (and here and here); don't get me wrong, I love it, but it may have invoked bad energy from some fucken hippies or something.
4. Hiring a touring keyboard player from a one-man Kraftwerk tribute act is a mistake. No one wants you to jump around behind the keys like a twat, dude, but just let us know you're alive from time to time, ok?

Ok, ok, just joking about #3.

I always watch the bass-player at gigs, for an indication of how the band is feeling; it's a simple trick but more often than not, it works. Last night Carlos D. was pretty much fixed to the spot, looking like he was having about as much fun as I was having; that is until the 2nd to last song in the main set, when he suddenly sprang into life, prowling the stage and skipping around waving his huge bass. Then the band woke up with a bang, and roared through the last songs and I was suddenly nodding away with a huge grin across my chops and it was a real shame when the house lights came up, signalling the end of the show.

And I still have trouble paying $60 for a ticket to a gig.

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