Wrecklesss
Eric and Amy Rigby released one of my favourite albums of the recent
past with their 'A Working Museum' and I had been waiting with some
keen anticipation for the gig in Stereo.
I had
seen Eric a few times before, but I had never seen Amy herself, or
even with Eric.
This
wasn't unusual as it seems that most of the crowd appeared to share
the experience in one way or another.
Mike -
who were were in the company of - had seen Amy a few times, but not
Eric, while Kelly had seen neither.
From
watching people singing along you could see the distinct camps rising
and falling with the material as it was performed.
To our
right there was a crowd of people who were on top of anything that
was sung from Amy's back catalogue, surrounding us were some hardcore
fans of Wreckless Eric who knew the words to every song that he had
penned on his own, and then there was those of us who were happy to
key into the songs that they had written and recorded together.
We pretty
much made up a ramshackle crowd who would fight tooth and nail not to
be categorized, and strangely enough what Eric and Amy do could be
described in the same way.
There's
no neat little box that they would feel comfortable being embraced
by.
Instead
they have a real punk attitude to their art.
If they
want to do it then consider it done.
If you
want the same sound to be beaten into submission album after album,
song after song then you have come to the wrong place.
There's
so much that should be lauded in their performance that it is
difficult to know where to start.
There's
the comfortable relationship between them both that has a special
charm all of its own.
Then
there is their gung ho attack on Bobblehead Doll, or maybe it was
Teflon Wok, that conjured up a Velvet Underground freak out with
Warhol whispering more discord, more discord.
The easy
way that Eric warmly communicates with the audience shouldn't be
ignored either.
Then
there's the music itself.
Sublimely
bloody excellent.
I would
have had Amy's vocals a little louder in the mix, but then again when
I was at the bar the levels sounded fine so it's probably difficult
to get it consistently good in the venue.
That's a
minor grumble on my part and shouldn't be considered as something
that detracted from the enjoyment of the night though.
I think
the sign of a good gig is the appreciation that is shown by those who
turn up, and on that basis the warm applause they both received - and
the calls for encores that they obliged - highlight that the gig was
one that could be described as a job well done.
I can
quite firmly state that I am very very glad that I was there and
there is no doubt that this was to have been the first of many
Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby gigs that I will be attending.
Thanks to
Mike for the company and of course The Fallen Angels for putting the
show on.
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