WE LOVE SOUNDS
By George Buckleton & Mike Atkins
First Draft: We will never know how We Love Sound would've turned out had Underworld, and Crookers remained on the billing. but, it was such a well put together show that it's easy to imagine it being as successful scaled up to a larger venue...
Second Draft: (aproximately half an hour after the first): The venue was over-sold. But, the venue was so tiny that that only accentuated how sad this crowd would've looked in a bigger venue...
Third Draft: (Time has lost all meaning, but assume that aproximately another half hour has passed): I'm on a fucking balcony! I have no idea how I came to be on a balcony, but I am (This has nothing to do with me being a writer, I just went exploring, and there I was). I am above everyone, looking down; or maybe outside, looking in. P-Money is playing Underworld's sublime hit Born Slippy, to give the audience some of what they paid for. The audience appears to me to be a liquid mass concined only by the four walls...
Like the stoner who was losing an argument with another stoner said: «everything's relative» (apparently, in this case, to how long P-Money has been on stage). That's the thing about spending an evening at a place that's not you'r scene: it's all about how you want to see it. I could write a miserabalist rant about the puke, and baggies blocking the urinals, and the constant danger of tripping on broken glass. But, 1000 odd people were having a really good time. and anyone who couldn't see that was wearing blinkers. What I did, and did not enjoy is neither here nor there, since it was not a night to reflect on. It was a constant now, continuously rendering 5 minutes ago void. These pictures, and this text, are at best souvenirs, certainly not documents of the true event. Not to mention that I suspect what I value, is not the same as what those thousand odd people payed $65 for.
Even so, it seems wrong not to acknowlege the acts that I really did enjoy. Minuit Sounded a little porridgey in the vocals, but, my god is Ruth Carr a performer! She really owned that stage. And a large part of her act involved turning her back to the audience, and bending over... She was wearing pyjamas too... During their set, I was still able to make it up to the front, and stand perfectly still (like white people are meant to do at concerts). Doing that in that environment meant being treated like a cat's scratching post, only for arses instead of claws.
I hate Kids Of 88 for having a name that reminds me that they are 5 years younger than me, and for having fun. I'd rather listen to the 60 year old Tom Verlaine sing that he's not going to grow up because it involves «too many contradictions», thank-you. They're also responsible for one of the most annoying songs i've ever heard (i hardly need to tell you which one). But live, the song growls, rather than whines, and the beat sounds minimalist, rather than ameteurish. So, the guys have a new reluctant fan. Apart from that, well, I could tell that P-Money is a professional, and played an electrifying set, but I'm a bit cloth-eared to that sort of thing. I assume the same is true of Steve Aoki, but I went for a leak just before his set, and wasn't allowed back in to the main area. Turns out that everyone else was wearing catheters. That's why '90s ravers always wore such big pants. But catheter technology has come a long way since then; they're smaller, and more discreet than ever. Even the guys dressed as Roman centurions were wearing them somewhere. So, that's it for What I liked, and disliked. Here's some stray observations: -Were the glasses made of safety glass? I swear to god, all the broken glass I saw (there was a lot) was in tiny particles, like bits of a broken windshield. If I was seeing things, then it''s a really good idea. Someone should make those.
Here's a conversation I had. Stranger: «Mumble mumble»? Me: «Back there, and to the left». Stranger: «Mumble mumble»?. Me: «No. Wait, what? Whay would you ask that?» Stranger: Mumble, mumble mumble». Me: «Oh. Sorry. Yes, that is P-Money». Stranger: «Mumble mumble?» Me: «I don't know». Stranger: «Mumble mumble»?. Me: «I told you, I don't know». Stranger (more insestently): «Mumble mumble». Me: «OK. Fine. $15 an hour». Stranger: «Mumble»? Me: «They pay it into his account by Internet banking after the gig, but because it's the weekend, he has to wait a few days for it to go through». Stranger: «Mumble». (walks away). -What's the difference between the guy in the control booth playing Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal inbetween sets, and P-Money playing it as part of the set? Some questions are best left unasked.