BRAIN: London gig review

[Carl Edlund Anderson]

On 18-Feb-2005 11:54, Jon Jarrett wrote:
> I think John Otway probably counts as a
> quintessential English tourist attraction for any transatlantic visitors
> :-)

Perhaps if we want to destroy English tourism forever :)  Apologies to
die hard fans, but as a person who had never encountered John Otway
before, he's planted himself firmly in my Top 3 Worst Opening Acts of
All Time list.  Whatever you need to appreciate 'im, I clearly ain't got it!

> I've known Al was a fantastic drummer ever since I got my first
> BOC cassette but it's nice to actually *see*, and to find that yes, he is
> *still* a fabulous drummer, and also clearly so so into his playing.
> Everyone in the band was, though, but Al, as I saw it anyway, was the only
> one really going over the top. Ross, particularly, is the kind of
> guitarist whose skill lies not so much in excess as in precision;
> everything he played was *right* on the mark, *just* right
 > [...]
> the power behind this band is a man who still feels,
> who's still alive and still has something to say. Sherman said that it
> felt more like a new band than the dinosaur performance she'd been
> half-afraid of witnessing and I agreed; we're, what, six albums down? and
> this band is still bursting to say its piece, it is the keen kid in the
> classroom who knows the answer, waving his arm to get the teacher to pick
> him. Let's hope someone is listening. `It Lives!'

Much though I know it's wrong to shout "me too", Jon's comments here are
right on the mark.  Al has always been among the few drummers that have
made me really sit up and _listen_ to what they're doing, and come to
think of it, perhaps he's the only one of those I've actually seen live.
  And with Al, as with Ross, everything played just felt like it was
being put in exactly the right place and the right time.  I don't know
if it felt like that on stage, but it sure felt like that where I was
standing.  Likewise, the quality and energy of the material and
performance were just top notch, top notch ....  Whoever still thinks
rock'n'roll is only a young person's game can think again!

Cheers,
Carl

ps - after all, didn't Motorhead just win a grammy?  Isn't Lemmy gonna
be 60 this year?

--
Carl Edlund Anderson
http://www.carlaz.com/