ok, let's start with the "blimey is it May already, where does the time go" comments. no, i am not entirely sure, look you see, if it is that the days, weeks, months, years all drift away so very quickly as you get older, or it just feels so on the basis of what you do with that time.
but, anyway, Primal Scream. plus support.
this was, perhaps surprisingly, the first time i had got the chance to see the band. not sure why i missed out on them over the years, probably just a timing thing. for anyone of a certain age, as in you were there when "one generation under the same groove" was very much a thing (late 80s to early 90s) it would be so that this band, and the Screamadelica album in particular were likely present in the soundtrack to those far more relaxed days and times. there i go with time again.
mostly this tour was in support of the recent, if you like "comeback" album off of the band, Come Ahead. i did indeed get it when it came out, especially as it granted me access to "pre sale" tickets for this tour. and, at the time, i was not too keen on what i heard. in (glorious) retrospect i was somewhat unduly harsh on the album, if not plain wrong. having played it a few times in the days leading up to the gig i was surprised to find it a damned lot (more) better than i had taken it as being. maybe i was not in the right state, or frame, of mind for it when it landed. still, being honest, my main hope was that the gig would feature more of their classic tunes, less ("fewer") of things all new.
usually at gigs these days i don't spend all that much time checking out the support act. an obvious exception would be the last gig i went to, Ocean Colour Scene, when the superb Kula Shaker were on first, delivering a quite brilliant set. i have come to see support act time as being time to wait outside having a cigarette or two (sorry), or maybe do business at the bar. mostly the former, really, since - and this is no bad thing - smoking inside gig venues is now a no-no.
go on then, i thought (or thought i), let me have a bit of a listen to Dylan John Thomas. he was, after all, off of Bobby Gillespie's home town, so i took it as a given that he had rather been picked by the band to be the support act, rather than the record label / tour booking agents shoving them on, or as is the case with the imminent Oasis thing, the absolute cheapest acts that are vaguely recognisable being picked.
rather glad i did check him (or them, for it was a band) out. yes, certainly that is a bit of really poor quality video for you, the shoddy nature of it telling you all you need to know how bad this Samsung A14 thing is. i do feel a bit bad not recording any of his own stuff (a rock sound with a distinct influence of reggae / ska, to my ears), but i was so taken by the audacious nature of this cover of Big Love from Fleetwood Mac i elected to try and record some of it.
were there any hitches or glitches with me and this gig? oh goodness me yes. sadly, too. as would be normal (or the new normal) for me and gigs in Newcastle, my dear friend, the legendary g-man, was to go with me. alas, his employers elected to f*** him right over at the last minute, so verk obligations meant he couldn't get there. a great shame, and yes of course as you do for a mate i have lied a great deal to him, telling him it was sh!t and he was better off missing it.
by chance, or fate, a good use for his ticket happened. about ten (or so) minutes before Primal Scream were due on stage three lads turned up. of them two had tickets, one claimed to have but their phone had died (again, like many others, i miss the days of having a proper ticket) and the ticket office couldn't do much for him. i immediately offered the extra ticket i (very regrettably) had to them, which they took up. yes, they offered to pay for it, offered drinks, something from the merch (none of the t-shirts are my size, ever) but i declined, saying rather someone have a top night than the ticket go to waste.
quite a lot of the opening number, which i believe was Don't Fight It, Feel It (when based on some reviews i had expected Ready To Go Home, the finest moment of the new tape), saw me just kind of stood there, staring at the majestic figure of Bobby Gillespie, thinking (and perhaps saying) "f***, that's actual f*****g Bobby Gillespie i am f*****g seeing". even after a couple of pints (perhaps 4 or so but who here is counting) it did take a bit for reality to sink in.
knowing full well that my phone is utterly useless for video, and truly just wanting to enjoy the gig because who knows when (or if) i will get the chance to see Primal Scream again, no, i did not record all that much. what i did record did (of course) come out quite bad. but for those of you who insist, or for some reason really, really like poor quality video, here's some of Movin On Up for you.
yeah, just maybe rather pick up a copy of Screamadelica if (for some strange reason) you don't already have it and play it proper. for those of you who have a provenance thing, by the way, this was all at Newcastle City Hall (or O2 academy, i think they refer to it as now) on 19 April (2025). the last show of the tour, no less, and the place is one of the best venues what i have ever been to.
overall, or on the whole, this was (and my friend g-man, or anyone else that planned to go but did not may well wish to stop reading now) one of the best gigs i have been to. yes, i know in the grand scheme of things i may not have been to all that many (i have good friends, for instance, who have seen the Manics over ten times more than the four times what i gone done), but still.
here you had (and i believe this is the right term) a perfect storm. there was the band, in particular of course the iconic singer, in absolute bang on form, an audience emotionally invested in the music what they were there for (no "i am here and i only know Wonderwall" types), a brilliant venue (the sound inside is exceptional) and a considered, excellent and if you will "balanced" set. i didn't even notice that i didn't have a cigarette for the two hour duration.
main highlights? honestly there was no "down" time. as fluent and fluid a set as you could wish for, with the "classics" easily blending in with the new. sure, one or two people elected to head to the bar on hearing a more recent song start, but that sort of thing happens at virtually every gig. flawless, i think, is the best way to describe the songs selected and the running (or batting) order. sure, what's likely my favourite of all time Primal Scream song, Burning Wheel, didn't get played, and no they didn't decided to go and play all 11 (or so minutes) of Trainspotting, but i kind of assumed they would not.
certainly i read some reviews before going. most were decidedly honest, if in part brutal. there were suggestions of Bobby Gillespie "mumbling rather than singing", and a high level of apathy, if not outright boredom, in the audience with the Come Ahead songs. neither of these things were true of the gig i was at. as point of fact, at the end, random strangers approached me (and several others) expressing what an incredible gig it was. far be it from me to suggest they had taken any sort of self prescribed medication to take themselves back to the early 90s.
go on then, one more bit if (poor quality) video. here you go with Rocks, which was the final number of a three song encore. at the time the song got a bit slated for being a "Stones rip off", but my how us fans have ignored that and it's well established as a rock classic. you might have thought they would consider opening gigs with this one, but undoubtedly it was determined to do so would be "a bit naff" and far too an obvious thing. careful now, for Bobby unleashes a few swear words. ones that you can make out reasonably clearly even with the limitations of this phone of mine.
easily the biggest surprise of the night for me (since i can write only of my experience) was the crowd reaction to Country Girl. difficult competition and impossible to gauge accurately, but to my eyes and ears it was so this one that really got the crowd all pumped up. pumped up even more than the rest of the set, which (believe me) is saying something. make no mistake, it's a fairly good song, but i always classed it as a sort of whimsical, throwaway thing, likely produced to ensure some radio play and grab attention for the band and album (Riot City Blues) at the time. going purely on the crowd reaction on the night you would believe it to be their best, greatest and most important song, ever.
perhaps the moment which shall live in my mind the longest was Loaded. i am taking it as something of a given they haven't played it all that often on tour, going on how Bobby Gillespie elected to introduce it with the words "surprise mother f*****s". what followed when the song kicked in was extraordinary. take the idea, if you will, of the end of the (actually not bad) film adaptation of Perfume, where the scentless apprentice (spoiler warning here) wafts his ultimate scent and a massive orgy spontaneously commences. in that moment at the gig when Bobby raised his hand with customary defiance everyone in the gig was immediately transported to a huge warehouse rave, say 91 or 92, absolutely ripped to the t!ts on ecstasy or similar for the next six to ten minutes. weaving such magic is what makes Bobby Gillespie who he is, and blessed be us for being able to experience it.
let me be fair here - the band, this current incarnation of Primal Scream, are also excellent. they, as we, though surely know that the focus will always be on Bobby. it is true that the musicians flourish and strive on songs like Loaded and of course Come Together, and Movin On Up is constructed on a perfect, frantic gospel fuelled sound, but everyone there - in audience and on stage - is in a "wow" state of awe and admiration of this audacious force of nature.
blimey, it's almost as if i am doing an actual, proper review here. moving on, then, and i was thrilled that they did another favourite of mine (which i shall slightly censor here) in $wast!ka Eyes. i didn't really think a live rendition of the song could match up to the polished perfection of the studio take, and to be fair it perhaps didn't, but still. also, unexpectedly, Medication got a play, which was most brilliant to hear.
i would suggest that i have made it (reasonably) clear that this was one excellent gig. so, rather than saying that again, my favourite Bobby Gillespie stories. first, and best, was that time the band pulled out of appearing on Top Of The Pops at the (more or less) last minute. why? it turned out they were going to be flown in to Luton airport, and they (as in Bobby) decided that Luton airport "wasn't rock n roll enough". from memory they got a quasi "ban" off the BBC for a couple of years for that one. then there was that time (early 90s) that Dave Gahan was going slightly off the rails during a tour in America. legend has it that they opted to rush in Primal Scream to join them on the tour, for some reason assuming, or outright believing, that Bobby Gillespie would have a "calming influence". oh.
right, that's that. for this post, not gigs. unless something dramatic happens. just a further 2 (two) gigs are lined up as things stand, with both (oddly) also going to be in (why aye man) Newcastle. this is particularly pleasing, for it is an excellent city with a focus mostly on having a good time all the time.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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