I have been wanting to see Belle & Sebastian at concert for as long as I can remember. They were even one of my entries in my Gig Wishlist blog post. The day arrived! I booked my ticket very early to avoid disappointment as it sold out quite quickly. Given it was to be held at Rock City I decided to arrive a bit late - remember my hesitation of going front row at this venue? Well this meant that I missed most of the great Julien Baker performance! I only caught her very last song. But even so, with just one song, I did realise just how great she is! I will keep an eye out for any other gigs she may have in town.
|
|
It seems others had decided to arrive a bit late too as the venue wasn't much crowded when I arrived. Of course the front of the venue was already taken by keen fans. For the first time I decided to go up the right stairs and stand at the end of the balcony. This meant that I didn't have a clear view of the whole band. Bad decision - I didn't capture any great pictures. But I wasn't squashed at all during the evening so that was a plus...I guess!
All great music played that night. New songs and old. From the old they didn't play my favorites: I want the world to stop and Funny little frog. But you can't have it all, can you? They did play I'm a Cuckoo. I also enjoyed their new music but I must confess I hadn't followed them for a while so they were all new to me! Nonetheless, all were great so I'm a happy camper! ( <--- Do you see how bad my photos are of the night?? ) |
I never had seen an interview of the group and I barely know who is actually in the band (and how many they are!) and to be honest, only half of them were visible to me on stage too!!! But what struck me was just how approachable they seemed to be. Genuinely nice folk. They made nice banter kind of expressing a concern that the crowd didn't remember the last time they gigged in Nottingham. They said it was in 1998!!! and commented that most of the audience wasn't even born then! But did single out a gentleman and said 'most likely you were there'!! They also asked if any of the crowd had gone to the photoshoot for their album cover. Some actually had and Stuart, the lead singer, said he remembered one!
Talking about Stuart, he came on the stage wearing a tin foil looking jacket. I thought it was an odd choice --- and apparently so did his band as they told him he was too old for it!! I liked the dude's energy. He danced on the stage and reminded me of Tim Booth of James, dancing his heart away. I liked that. They also allowed the crowd to step on the stage and dance with them. Apparently they had a specific number they would allow. One guy got on the stage but his girlfriend didn't. He asked the security to allow his girlfriend on but he got a no. As a good boyfriend he got off the stage and went back to his girlfriend. That was a nice sight to see. Well done young man! Kudos to you!
Overall an enjoyable night. Great music and great atmosphere. And because I know you probably didn't press on the links on my favorite songs I am also posting them below!!! How could you not hear them?
|
|