Blog: Art Brut

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Off to fragrant CAMDEN last night, making a first visit to The Electric Ballroom to see Art Brut. I was surprised by how ALL RIGHT The Electric Ballroom is - maybe it's because we went past Koko on the way (which surely must have actively TRIED to win the Worst, Most Annoying Venue EVER BAFTA?), but it seemed unusually OKAY for a venue that size. They DID have the usually Unnecessarily Humourless And Angry Security Guards (Security Guards at Indie gigs! You're only there to make sure nobody sneaks in a bottle of vodka, not fighting for your life, LIGHTEN! UP!) but otherwise the sound was good, the beer was ludicrous but not PISS TAKINGLY expensive, there was enough room to fit everyone in AND you could both see and hear the stage very clearly from the back of the room. The surprise levels were PLEASANT.

The audience was a funny old mix, it was as if some Krazed Scientist had taken a Half Man Half Biscuit audience and a The Killers audience, shoved them into a BLENDER, and unleashed the results on the auditorium. Mind you, I guess one might argue that Art Brut THEMSELVES are a bit of a cross between HMHB and a Haircut Band (in the nicest possible way), so fair do's.

We stood near the back (i.e. near the bar) and were DELIGHTED to see a Carter USM reformation going on before our eyes, as BOTH Jimbob AND Fruitbat were stood a few feet from us, chatting merrily. Earlier on Art Brut THEMSELVES had wandered through the audience: a GRATE idea, I think - if ever I could manage to persuade a couple of thousand people to pay a TENNER to all come and see me at the same time then I would DEFINITELY wander through the audience, just to give them a chance to point at me and say NICE THINGS.

Anyway, as I say, we were stood near Carter USM and when things got going and everyone moved forward I found myself stood in the middle of them. I felt like the DRUMMER!

The gig itself was GRATE - they really are an MAGNIFICENT live proposition, and I was particulary impressed this time around by the MASSIVE RIFFAGE of many of the songs. As mentioned earlier, they sound like one of those Incredibly Competent Young People's Bands that somehow manage to be all, like, rock and roll and couldn't give a toss yet CLEARLY PRACTICE EVERY DAY ... BUT! BUT still fun and exciting and full of GRATE songs and FANTASTIC lyrics. It was an HEADY MIX and Mr Argos certainly knows how to work a crowd. They were BRILLIANT.

And then I staggered off home, to discover this morning that the one foolproof way to avoid getting a Nasty Lager Hangover after going to a gig of this size is to NOT DRINK LAGER. Aha! A Minor Tinned Guiness Hangover is a walk in the park in comparison!

posted 8/5/2009 by MJ Hibbett

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