Blog: The Language Of Flowers

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It was a bit of a rarity for me on Friday night, as I went to a gig JUST FOR FUN. Not because any pals or people I knew were playing (although, as it turned out, some were) or because I thought I ought, or owed somebody a Gig Attendance, or even because I was playing MYSELF - this time I was going JUST because I wanted to see The Language Of Flowers. I got their album last year after hearing bits of it on Mark Radcliffe, and have since played it REALLY A LOT because it is SO VERY GRATE. They were supposed to play at The Buffalo Bar a little while ago and I was WELL displeased when it got cancelled, so got myself all excited at the prospect of finally seeing them. My excitement was slightly diminished by my MASSIVE HANGOVER from the Brighton gig (a bit MYSTERIOUS as I hadn't drunk THAT much), but only by a little bit.

I was also quite pleased/relieved to discover they were on SECOND, with The Gresham Flyers on first, which meant that I could see BOTH bands I wanted to and then nip off to get home and to bed at a reasonable hour. Er... I mean, nip off to an opium den to drink Jack Daniels and do KUNG FU. Yes.

The Gresham Flyers were as FUN and POPPY as ever, though they seemed to think they'd been BELOW PAR. It later arose that they thought this partly because there'd not been time for a soundcheck, and they felt unprepared. I found this a bit surprising, then realised that, although the confidence and General Demeanour of the band members leads one to think they are ROCK VETERANS the band itself is actually fairly YOUNG, and I think many of them haven't GIGGED that much beforehand, so tho they occupy the body of a HARD ROCKING COMBO inside they are actually about 19 years old and only just being allowed to play the Local Band Showcase (FREE ENTRY). THUS I suppose that up until now they'll have had the EASY LIFE that you DO tend to get for your first gigs, after which any MISHAP seems like HIDEOUS DOOM. BLESS! Don't worry chaps, if all goes well within a year or so you will come to view CALAMITY, DISASTER and DASHED HOPES as familiar companions on the ROAD OF ROCK, and LARF MERRILY at the memory of such minor setbacks! YARR! CLIMB ABOARD THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, ME HEARTIES!

Sorry, got a bit carried away with my own ROCK HARDNESS there. What I mean is, it was actually quite sweet to realise that they were feeling that way, and charged me with an odd little FRISSION of NOSTALGIA for the days when VOON would be wracked by CRISES at every gig. The only CRISES we face these days tend to be when the singer is having a strop because he's not got enough BRANDY...

ANYWAY, that little vignette over with, it was time for The Language Of Flowers to come on, and they were UTTERLY GRATE. They took AGES to get started, as there was much nervous fiddling around with tuning, and also going to the toilet, so much so that I started to get a bit annoyed. I thought they were being DIVA-ISH, but it seems they were just A BIT NERVOUS. Once they began tho it was AMAZING - the first three songs were all off of the album, and it reminded me how BRILLIANT it is going to gigs. I knew all the words, and to hear those VERY familiar bass and guitar riffs peeling out behind the vocals... well, it was very exciting INDEED. To me they're MASSIVELY FAMOUS and I always forget that, actually, not that many people have even heard of them, but on Friday night it felt like soon EVERYONE would have to know and LOVE them. The middle bit featured songs I didn't know, which to be honest took the wind out of me a bit, but then they finished with more from the album and it was back to it's TREMENDOUSLY EXCITING best. It was really them, I was really watching them, and it was really BRILLIANT!

The only disappointment was that I couldn't find a merchandising stand to buy the How Does It Feel To Be Loved compilation from, which was a bit daft as it was meant to be the Launch Night for it. I would have tried to complain to somebody, but goodness knows I've forgotten to set one up (or, more usually, decided I couldn't be bothered) enough times in the past, so decided to look for it online later, which i did, and bought it too!. I went home KNACKERED, but very happy - gigs are GRATE, aren't they?

posted 11/9/2006 by MJ Hibbett

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Comments:

I think it might have been because the release date got pushed back a week, so it only came out yesterday, rather than the previous monday. That's what Ian was saying in the email he sent out t'other day.
posted 12/9/2006 by CarsmileSteve

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