The Leisure Society, ULU – July 2009
Joy Thomas whoops excitedly
This was one of those gigs where you realise afterwards that you’ve been whispering excitedly about every song “Oh! This is my favourite!…”, “No, THIS is my favourite!”.
I think this gig – at ULU – was the one to make me realise that seeing music live puts it in context; you can understand more about the music from watching it being enjoyed and played by the creators than by reading an interview with them. Sometimes the music just seeps into the crowd and you get so much more of a sense of it. Or maybe that was the beer-without-dinner-beforehand…
The band also seemed to love being there (this sort of thing matters to me) and were so appreciative of what they described as the “too nice for London crowd”.
On the bus home a man more knowledgeable than I declared loudly into his mobile phone that he thought they had struggled to fill the time. I knew what he meant and made a mental note to steal this snippet for my review and slip it in unnoticed. There was something, well, sparse about the gig, which gave me the feeling that we’d definitely heard everything they could do. The encore was tight and organised… but almost too tight and organised, if that doesn’t sound ungrateful. I wasn’t sure how adaptable they would have been if the bass player had spontaneously combusted and they’d had to play something different. Mind you, I’m not sure how adaptable I would have been in that situation.
Having said all this, we really cheered them back on for the said encore and they played TWO more songs (pushing everyone’s bladders to the limit). Highlight moment: Gary Numan’s Cars. I mean, COME ON, no-one was expecting THAT when the nice chap with the clean and shiny hair exchanged his guitar for his ukulele. It made me whoop excitedly as the flautist delicately trilled the melody helping to create an almost slow-dance version of the sweaty synth-classic. It was thrilling (and reminded me of what that word really means).
The poor old drummer was a bit thin and looked like he could do with a hearty dinner. But (perhaps to distract from this?) the cellist had a light on his head which made him look like a tonsured monk.
Joy Thomas
www.myspace.com/theleisuresociety
