Gang Of Four at The Fillmore, fo’ real
I’m pleased to report that Gang Of Four was worth the 25-year wait. The band sounded and looked fantastic, playing most of the first two classic albums in a set lasting about 90 minutes. Jon King’s voice has only gotten stronger with age and Andy Gill’s furious guitar playing is still completely dead-on.
In my mind, Gill is the keystone of the band’s sound. Everything always seems to be on the verge of completely shaking apart and entering some realm of madness, but somehow he always keeps it just barely under control. To this day, the feedback opening of “Anthrax” still makes me queasy, which is just so right for the song. And then when they break into the funk-march, the dialogue between the two singers… it’s as good as it gets. High Art.
Even the stagecraft is impressive. Three mikes are set up onstage and each of the three frontmen run between them, switching places constantly. It’s energetic, it works well with the music and it gives King built-in opportunities to work the whole room like a stadium band without being ostentatiously so. Inclusiveness was always at the center of Go4′s message, and the stage set-up drives it home.
The songs, too, have improved with age. The antagonists of songs like “At Home He Feels Like A Tourist” and “Paralyzed” are kept at a somewhat ironic distance on the original albums, partly because of the band’s political commentary, but because the band itself was clearly NOT the characters they were talking about: ordinary people ground up by the system, looking for hope & meaning in Capitalist pursuits. These same songs coming from older, more wizened faces become more poignant, because now there’s the possibility that they themselves have had to face down these frustrations & demons. (It could be argued that by re-uniting 25 years on, they may have in fact given in. I guess time will tell whether this tour turns out to be a cynical cash-in.)
Not everything worked perfectly. King could be seen yelling “Slower!” o bassist Dave Allen during “What We All Want.” And “I Love A Man In A Uniform” just doesn’t work without a woman to chide King’s character for his hubris. We didn’t even realize until we got outside that “If I Keep Could Keep It For Myself” and “Outside The Trains Don’t Run On Time” got skipped.
At any rate, big thumbs up. Don’t miss this when they come to your town.
And now in the interest of equal time for dissent, here’s my friend, Darin:
I was actually pretty disappointed about the show quality. You can make the case that their music is supposed to be a little sloppy but the sound and the playing were way messier than the albums. At times they had the enthusiasm but I think they should have practiced more before they toured. Their playing didn’t do justice to those songs…
I’ve put up a couple of Gang Of Four songs in the past couple of months, so here’s a slight departure: a cut from the Andy Gill-produced Futureheads album. Curiously, Futureheads and Gang Of Four sit next to each other alphabetically in my ipod.
[Soundtrack]
Futureheads – First Day.mp3
The straight dope on the reunion from Andy Gill
Gang Of Four tour dates
For the record, and with furious gravity, I would like to poo-poo your ‘friend’ Darin. So, for you, Darin: ‘Poo-poo.’
By the by, Shawn, it’s ‘If I Could Keep It For Myself.’ The song you’re thinking of is ‘I Should Have Kept It In My Pants’, a Michael Jackson tune.
thanks for the review. i’ve been amped about seeing them in chicago next week. now i’m even more so.
Correction made to the song title. I pulled that from an id3 tag, and I should’ve known better.
OK Gabriel ….maybe you and I don’t agree about the quality of the performance. You ‘poo’ my my disappointment. I assume you were a satisfied fan. I’m not saying the show was a complete bust but I would have been elated if King would have just hit the mic when he aimed his lips. All that running around not only gave him a constantly winded look, he missed the first word or two of way too many lines. And what about that jacket? Midriffs are a realm better left for teens…preferably girls. Enuf said.
Seriously, I thought the sound was mixed poorly. The vocals seemed buried. I was dead-center halfway back and I couldn’t understand plenty of the lyrics. I also thought Andy Gill’s guitar playing was lazy. I liked it as much as the next person when he stood at the front of the stage and opened up the feedback caterwaul. But something bugged me as the show progressed. I put Entertainment into the tape deck (you read that right) on the way home from the show…. to see if I could figure out why I was so down. It was obvious right away. In the day, Gill was not only the defining element of the band’s sound, he held the rhythm drum-taut with light fills and runs. Those were absent for this show. Too often he’d hit one or two notes and let the sustain wail when he should have been working. When the rhythm section was performing poorly, as Shawn notes above, the absence of his control was fatal.
Maybe my expectations were too high and I’m being unrealistic. [Or I could just be wrong...:)] These guys wrote some gems, though. At a point, the best songs are not about the band as much as they are gifts that they were lucky enough to channel. If you’re going to step on stage and resurrect songs like that live, at least practice enough so you do them the justice they deserve. Makes me feel sorry for those folks at the Royal Albert Hall this week.
All of the above is strictly personal opinion and not to be taken as anything more than a “poo poo” shot in return.
My apologies. I don’t know how to use HTML tags. I think this is probably because I don’t care about HTML tags but still, the lack of style is a bit annoying and undermines the flourishes afforded by a line break. So, again, sorry. How about asterisks? Yes. That will have to do.*****
Let me say at the outset that my statement was not meant in any way to be a condemnation of your opinion, repugnant as it may be (imagine a wink and a smile emoticon here; I refuse to use them.) I should think that my choice of the term ?poo-poo? illustrates this well enough. To this end, please presume that this entry is made with all due respect. I appreciate the opportunity to reply at length as I so rarely have the time for recreational riposte.*****
Ahem? *****Spectrums of analysis abound in music criticism and several intersect with uncomfortable contradiction. Performances can be judged on the merit of technical expertise, sound quality, etc. as well as emotional intensity or the quality of interaction with an audience. Math versus poetry. Logic versus passion.*****
There is something in the tone of your assessment that made me think of an arc with Emerson, Lake & Palmer or Yes at one end and the Sex Pistols and maybe the New York Dolls at the other. I?m aware that connecting these dots aims a wild, punch-drunk accusation your way but fuck it, I?m going to spend a few paragraphs trying to back it up.*****
As to Mr. King?s lack of wind, the man is in his forties. Late forties, I imagine. I?ve seen performers young and old with a bent towards stage antics and all of them get winded. When given the choice between a cool, distant artiste and a pinwheeling fool, I?ll take the fool, thank you. Meanwhile, you and I were standing about with our earplugs in.*****
As for the jacket and midriff, someone please call Iggy Pop. Jim, you?re embarrassing yourself in front of hundreds of women who want to fuck you. Hmm? wait a minute.*****
I commiserate with you about the sound although for me it was the bass (I was center leftish and it felt weak.) The vocals sounded great to me and I understood the lyrics just fine but then, why do we have to understand the lyrics? Most of us know them by heart. And I can tick off any number of singers that I wouldn?t understand if I were standing in front of them with a translator.*****
I must disagree somewhat about the defining sound of Mr. Gill in that his style was a, not the, defining element of the band?s sound. One quarter, to be exact. The drummer for Oxbow, a bodhisattva of the skins in his own right, once played a split second fill courtesy Mr. Burnham in ?If I Could Keep It For Myself? about seven times in a row and by way of explanation just looked at me with a baffled look that said ?I will never be that good. Why do I keep playing??*****
(Please forgive that last anecdote. It blew several music geek fuses and must have been somewhat unpleasant.)*****
To me, Gang of Four are a revolution, black humor and high art all in the same moment. It really goes without saying that they loom large in the history of what I think of as a golden age in music of any kind.*****
I had a small, wretched feeling in my stomach as we waited for them to come onstage that I was about to have it all ruined for me. I ended up smiling so hard my face hurt and crying at one point out of sheer joy. For the record, I?ve never felt that way about a musical performance. It?s a bit much.*****
Yes, they were not perfect. Fuck perfect. Everything that Gang of Four has meant to me since I was a geeky little punk rocker in the suburbs transfixed by ?Outside The Trains Don?t Run On Time? leapt off the stage at the Fillmore and made me feel better than I have in years. *****
Of course, this is just an opinion. But even with the irony of a Clear Channel venue hosting them folding the dollars in its dry hands, my money was well spent. An essence rare indeed.
*****
I?m really very sorry about the tape deck.
Well said, Gabe! You got what you paid for. That emotional impact is why we (I) go to shows. Lucky you for hitting the motherlode!
Respectfully and….guilty as accused of picking nits.