so, this is going live on my blog about two (2) weeks after the event, and likely a week or so after the entire matter has drawn to a close. the entire matter would be the Ian Brown tour of this year (2022), and the bit before references my attendance at one of the nights, look you see.
as is customary, i went to see Ian Brown in a year what can be constructed only from using a 2s and 0s in Newcastle. previously this was 2002 (referenced here), and now we are here in 2022. to make a far from intended unusual pattern, i have ended up seeing him once every ten years, then. but, when a year can be made up from using 2s, 0s and 1s it is of course essential that one see him in Manchester, and further in what used to be his day job. oh so very much about that one written, here and here for a start, feel free to look at the rest if you wish.
how was this third (3rd) witnessing of Ian Brown do a variation of his thing? interesting. those in the know shall know that there was some controversy around this tour. indeed i will get to that. but, up front, i would defy anyone to find evidence of any gig, alone or in a certain band, that Ian Brown has done which got reviewed or discussed as being ordinary and straightforward. for various reasons there is always a story when this man takes to the stage.
oh, if you think the above picture, as well as the ones to follow, are not of the greatest quality, well, just you wait and see how poor the obligatory video (yes, we have got a video) clips are.
for what reason was Ian Brown out on the road, touring? well, presumably money, and also that's what musicians, or if you like singers, kind of do. as in do when not recording or, in certain cases, not engaging in the indulgences offered by the rock and roll lifestyle. to be honest, yes, i had feared that he was out on the road to "promote" or "share" his views on certain matters, such as (and by that i mean quite specifically) a certain recent plague and subsequent vaccination drives. no, though, pretty much this appeared (based on artwork and set design) a rather belated tour to promote Ripples, being as it is his most recent solo album and his first of such nature since the wheels (once again) fell off of The Stone Roses. as they do.
there is a particular emphasis on solo, then. as much of the media has picked up on, be it of a social nature or the actual fourth estate (the press), Ian Brown, in a surprise move, decided to go and tour, which is to say do gigs, with no traditional musicians as such. just Ian Brown and a tape deck, then. no, actually a lad with a laptop plugged into the sound system. oh.
go on then, before i continue, a short bit of video of Ian Brown, accompanied by a tape (for it is easier to call it such), doing Be There.
my reaction to the news of how the gig would go, and this information came to me some three or so days before i was due to see him, was very much "what the f***". it didn't immediately strike me as being a very good idea, which was a sentiment perhaps enhanced by the largely negative comments which accompanied the reports. but there was never any danger, any question of me not attending. this is Ian Brown. i am biased. yes, whatever i paid for the gig tickets would be money i would pay to stand there and just watch him standing there staring at us. further, and this could well be me just rationalising it all in my mind (where else, i wonder), but i figured no, i am going to see him anyway, and not really the session musicians he may (or as it turned out may not) have hired to go on tour.
and how did that all work out? surprisingly well. no, not as good as seeing a band live. lost were the dynamics, the spontaneity and the improvisation one would usually get at a gig. yet, or but, also gone were missed notes, false cues, etc. which are also an important part of a gig. the very, very, very last thing i would ever suspect or expect of an Ian Brown gig (mindful of his infamous live singing track record) would be for him to seek it to be a precision run thing. maybe this is him being subversive, perhaps all of it is one big, gigantic statement concerning where he is in relation to a certain band that he used to be in.
progressing, or moving on, then, the gig itself. but yeah i may mention tapes again at some stage. i have every confidence the support act were or was decent. they certainly sounded it. unfortunately, or wisely, my friend and i (yes will get there) decided that it was probably a wise idea to just head to the bar, and indeed the bathroom at Newcastle City Hall than it was to go and see what the support was like. so far as i am aware this is the first time i have "skipped" the support band at a gig. well, of course, sometimes i've seen (and heard) them but not paid attention, but was at least in the venue.
the setlist, widely circulated from the three (3) gigs of this tour he gone done before i saw him this time around, was of course predictably "set in stone" (ahem) due to the technical nature of how everything was to be performed. and quite a satisfactory set, too. a particular emphasis was placed on the faster beat, higher tempo tunes off of the Ian Brown solo discography. high energy, if you will, if not quite in the realm of rave. one happy exception to this was Shadow Of A Saint, which he did, as it is one of my all time top tunes by him. sadly, though, it meant another classic, Whispers, didn't make it on.
with it being ostensibly a tour for the Ripples album, there was of course a fair few from that record. the most interesting aspect of that, for me, was hearing a (fairly) big crowd singalong to the tunes. as history shall forever testify, it was an album release adversely affected. when it got released HMV were in one of their "going bust" spells, so had no copies on the shelf. absolutely none of the supermarkets had it in. some independent stores had it, but only "to order", as in (as i found as i tried) you could not walk in and purchase a copy. not much (that i was aware of) radio play happened with the tunes, and i don't believe Ian Brown turned up or out for any interviews or television appearances. and then, as we know, there was the world in lockdown. so, after three years of listening to the record isolated from any idea of how others took to it, it was boss to hear such enthusiasm for some quality vibes at large.
of late it is so that i have, by default or design, been to a few gigs on my own. which is a strange sounding thing to do, granted, but i have no quarrel with it. but no, no solo voyage or outing this time. as it was up in that there Newcastle place, i went along (as was the case with the Manics last year) with my good friend g-man.
you certainly can have apologies for yet another picture of moi appearing in one of my posts, on my blog, again this month if it upsets you. but, don't concentrate on my looks (or lack thereof), rather just dig the smart Reni Hats (bucket hats) we have on. indeed they are more Stone Roses than Ian Brown, but there you have it. of course not, no, these were not bought off of the official merchandise store. whereas in the venue itself one could buy a Reni Hat (bucket hat in proper terms) with Ian Brown on them for £20, an entrepreneurial chap just a bit down the road was flogging these for £10 a pop.
concert merchandise has, on that note, apparently gone to sh!t. once you could get some really cool, unique shirts and things. now, not so much. my understanding is, in this brave new modern world, one of the few ways in which musicians can actually make money is off of gigs (especially when you don't have the cost of a band) and the merchandise at shows. the shirts and things on sale at the Manics last year were poor, well overpriced with little design, small sizes and that uber thin material. same here, really. and they (or Ian) were (was) asking £30 a pop for a t-shirt. make one my size, and of decent material, and perhaps with something other than the artists' name on it, and the money is right here to pay more than that for one, thanks.
back to the gig, though. what was lovely and nice was to hear just how many excellent tunes Ian Brown as a solo concern has given unto us, the fans. sure, he has not done a record i didn't like, but to get a good cross-section over 20 tunes and ninety minutes rammed that home. and yes, of course, we got his very first solo single, and one of his biggest hits, My Star. here you go with a snippet from the end, which is and is not the song. well, just play.
easily the most unexpected thing, for me, was the level of conversation Ian had with us, the crowd. after about twenty minutes he had spoken to us more than i had experienced him doing so in 2002 or 2012. not a bad thing, as such. also, the clear sign of him smiling, laughing and looking very relaxed. comfortable with himself, and what he was doing, if you like. full tilt loaded with confidence and arrogance, of course, but still.
relating, or tying, that in with the performance of My Star, one lengthy "speech" he gave was how he was warned, when playing in China, against saying anything anti-Chinese, he asked if was all right for him to do a song about how America is filling space with nuclear weapons, and got a thumbs up. this, and a blink (or go to the bar) and you will miss it change to a lyric of another song to make it be a warning about "trusting scientists", was about as controversial as it got from him. except the bit about not having a band.
but the rest of the songs? and, perhaps most importantly (this is Ian Brown, after all), how was the vocal performance? for the latter, quite likely the "best" i have heard him. sure, eventually his voice started to go towards the "classical" Ian Brown live performances we know and love, but for the first three or four songs he was ace, in top form. often he went off to drink some lemon and honey, so not sure if the performances have been taking the strain. with this set up, he is singing (or talking) for a lot more than he would with a band to just play on. distinctively him, though.
oh yeah, the other songs what he gone done. easily the biggest "highlight" beyond the well known classics for me beyond Shadow Of A Saint was the performance of Marathon Man. i am not always aware of all Ian Brown songs all the time (regrettably), so it was kind of an out of the blue reminder of what a top tune it is. might as well list all of the songs, but Black Roses off of Ripples, Time Is My Everything, Dolphins Were Monkeys and Longsight M13 were ones i would add to a list of the stand out, or outstanding moments. for more of the "took me by surprise" stuff, i did go "wow" at the crowd reaction to Golden Gaze and Stellify. both top tunes, to be sure, but not ones i would have immediately placed on a list of "hope he does live". i mean, Stellify was always a top tune, and yes, after this live outing, i do have a new, more better appreciation for Golden Gaze. shout out for the person in the audience what had the Golden Greats artwork on the back of their hoodie and held it up for the duration of that tune.
did he do F.E.A.R.? of course he did. arguably this is the song that "most" would hold up has his finest achievement as a single, coming as it does off of what i would argue is his greatest solo album, Music Of The Spheres. not to be confused (at all) with the recent Coldplay album of same name. how about a bit of video (yes, we've got a video) of a section towards the end of the tune. where Ian does not do the usual self-censor, so be warned, despite poor quality, you may hear Mr Brown use a rude, naughty word in the clip.
and that, the performance of F.E.A.R., was that. no encore, as is standard. quite a bit of a longer cheers everyone, thanks for coming, goodnight than would be usual for him, which ties in with the relaxed vibe he was transmitting. an unexpected and inexplicably tight, precise 90 minute show closed.
yes, is the answer. we, at this gig, did have "a few" seemingly or apparently walk out of the gig. it could be they did so for not "digging the vibe" of the tape show. maybe they just went to the bar or bathroom and did not come back to their original spot, or perhaps they were off to catch the last train home, before such went on strike. had i not booked in at a hotel then i, too, would have had to leave early for such a means of returning to my place of exile. whilst Stone Roses gigs were just about always (there was the odd incident) one generation under the same groove, for some reason an edge of tension always exists at an Ian Brown gig. no fights (that i noted) as such, but certainly (mostly empty) plastic pint pots were getting thrown around towards the end.
ultimately, i am glad that i went. sticking with my pattern, not sure he or i shall still be doing whatever it is we do in 2032, but i could certainly be tempted by seeing him again. or, maybe not. a partial lament was that i was not all giddy with anticipation, excitement and what have you at the prospect of seeing him again, not even when he was just moments from being onstage. maybe this is me getting old, it could be that now seeing him, in one form or another, live more times than i have any other artist is that i have paid homage in enough instances for this existence of mine.
the whole "no band", tape (laptop) for music stuff? well, i am an unapologetic acolyte, so anything i say in defence of the approach is going to sound like me simply being an apologist. his response was to simply say "haters hate, lovers love". a school of thought says that pretty much anything Ian Brown does is going to attract detractors and criticism, for it always has so. may it always be true that this is so, for it means he's still just doing his thing.
however, that said, it is far from being a unique, and subsequently new, idea. granted it is of no real direct comparison at all, but let us not forget some 40 (!) years ago, one of the most celebrated performances in music history was David Byrne walking on to a stage, pressing play on a tape and doing Psycho Killer that way. more recently we have had that Ed Sheridan (or whatever), noted corrupter of charts and someone who is frequently asked about his "inspiration" for songs, turn up and play gigs with some backing tape that he controls by pedals, or something. i don't know or care. and let us not forget countless instances, involving the biggest names one can name in music, of lip-sync or if you will miming. none of it, arguably, matters if the people there enjoy the experience. which i did.
right, then. phew, perhaps. that's likely more than i expected to write of it all, but it is done now. many thanks as ever for taking the time to read, or skim through and check out the (poor) pics and (even more poor) videos. dig what you dig.
who is and who isn't
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