I've said it already this was a superb night. Why write more?
I just need to say it again to myself as this gig was electrifying. I found a pulse in my 53 year old body and it was pounding. At one point during "Alphaville" I seriously thought I was taking off. I'd been in Ian Curtis gyration mode for most of the night anyway but someone turned up the voltage and I was full on fitting.... in a good way.
The whole gig was peppered with classics. I say that because I knew most of the songs. I'd always thought that bands tended to favour either the studio or performing live and in my head I'd completely boxed up the Monochrome Set in the studio. I dont know why, I'm just stupid that way. I once told Gillian from New Order that they preferred the studio and she said "no", but it didnt stop me following it up with 'why is that?', bad ears, cognitive failure or just plain ignorance. Gillian was good and just said "No, we like playing live." and my cognitive function returned.
Back to the performance and my cognitive function was clearly working as Bid introduced song after song in a leisurely accomplished well practiced way and the Monochrome Set delivered another powerful salvo from their repertoire. Bid's voice is better than ever and their music is beautifully smooth, jagged and disjointed. It hits this particular nail right on the head. There is so much to like about the music and as I said, the performance is something I was ecstatic about. John Paul Moran the keyboard player has a great feel for the drama the songs offer and if air traffic controllers had his sense of timing we'd see some fantastic air shows in the skies, but never a crash. Wait, wait, wait, smash! Like a sportsman awaiting the delivery he timed ever movement so well, watching him and drummer Mike Urban was a joy. Its all about energy, subtlety, craft, comedy, nuance and delivery. So many things and my mind was just exploding with the rhythms. Bass player Andy just dodged along as ever, bang on the beat and smiling at the end of each song thinking, yeah, smashed it out the park again!
"Alphaville" is a good song and I've always thought of it being quite composed, almost aloof in its jaggy way but on the record it sounds and feels like good jaggy guitar tearing at you but not like last night. Last night live, and nearly 40 years on, it was clinically tight, everything absolutely on the beat, crisp and loud. The light and shade of the song meant that when it was loud it was very loud and when it went quiet, it went quiet. Spectacular arrangements that have clearly been worth the time. I've seen a lot of great bands over the years and got to go backstage and tell them how good they were, even wangling backstage in Paris when the Clash were playing the Mogador theatre in September 1981 and I know I have seen and heard great performances or even songs but the way they played Alphaville blows everything out of the water. The whole gig was superb but words really do fail me in trying to articulate why the way the Monochrome Set played Alphaville last night set it so apart. Quite simply it's the best performance I have ever been lucky enough to have seen.
The best music for me has melodic intros and a bit of stop start, rise and fall, but always in a groove. Its understandable that after 40 years playing music, musicians tend to slide into a groove that feels good for them and its probably why fans like the old stuff best. It reminds the songwriter of their youth and performers play it with the skills they've acquired in a lifetime of playing. The audience love it because its a reminder of their youth and the playing is even better than the original, off the f'n'clown clock I think was my reaction. The encore was He's Frank and now you're just thinking I dont know if my body can take any more of this, I'm moving into heart attack territory. Ive never thought you could have too much of a good thing but this was one time when I genuinely was grateful there wasn't anymore, I'm sure incontinence was on the way.
Afterwards I pestered Bid about how good they were, the closest I got to interview mode was asking rhetorically 'do you realise how good you were?' before proceeding to tell him how fucking good he and the band were. Jools Holland has to get them onto his show, then I can watch it over and over again. I am quite happily going to find ways of pestering him to get the band the audience the music world deserves. As exercise videos go an hour of dancing to The Monochrome Set burnt a few calories in my wee fat carcass.
The Cathode Ray are fronted by the former frontman of the Strawberry Tarts and Jeremy may have lost the feather boas and make up but he still happily doffs his hat to the Velvets and he still writes some lovely songs. I would've preferred the vocal mic to be a bit higher, (there was also a track I really wanted to sing myself, need an extra vocal Jeremy?) and as usual I would've mixed the rest to my peculiar taste, but the band clearly like a groove and they were having fun up there. As with the Monochrome Set you can hear how comfortably their instruments feel after 40 years playing music. I'd like to hear them play some of Jeremy's earliest Tarts' songs as the light and shade in songs like 'Bone of Contention', would be brought to life by The Cathode Ray. Musically we all progress so do we really want to sing songs we wrote when we were 19, oh go on, give it a bash, live on the edge!
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