Blog: 80s Rock

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On Tuesday The Whole Of My Moon and I travelled to The Camden Roundhouse to see The Waterboys. One of us is a HUGE fan of them, and one of us (NB me) has grown to like them over the years, especially since I have realised that they're not really a raggle-taggle band of gipsy spiritualists but are actually a Classic 80s ROCK Band!

The gig got off to a very good start for us when we totally missed the support band - we looked him up before going and discovered that he was a Harrow educated graduate of RADA, and i know that those guys never get any breaks and are, apparently, totally discriminated against, but we decided it was more important to have our tea before going out. We DID see him saying "thank you" to the audience though, so if he ever becomes a megastar we can still say we saw him.

The atmosphere was very pleasant as most people there were older than us, so you could gently and politely make your way back to your position from the bar/toilet at any point without aggro, which is always a BOON. Also good was the fact that getting served at the bar was PEASY - it was always crowded, but it was crowded with people who had forgotten how bars work, as they seemed to have gone in groups of three and had to keep turning round and asking yet more people what they wanted, so WILY BARFLIES like me could easily sneak through.

It was all very civilised, right down to the published stage times - the band came on approx 60 seconds BEFORE they were meant to and then played to precisely 10pm, ready for the encore. The gig itself was MAXIMUM 80s ROCK - keyboard player with long flowing hair rocking out like crazy! introducing the band! twice! extended outros! finishing the song with several drum fills, then doing it all over again! lead singer starting a song with his back to the audience, just rappin' with the drummer, then turning round at a Dramatic Point! guitarists leaning in to ROCK together, then wandering over en masse to ROCK at the keyboard player! whole band coming to the front of the stage to take a bow at the end! THE LOT!

The MOST 80s section was, of course, the second encore. Mike Scott came on in a sparkly jacket and did a version of "How Long Will I Love You" (which, by the way, was AMAAAAAAZING) and introduced it as "an old Ellie Goulding song", THEN brought the whole band back on and did a cover of "Purple Rain". This latter was EXTRA AMAZING as, not twenty minutes before, The Rhythm Section In My Band had leant over and said "This all sounds like Prince!" for LO! it was Funky!

So yes, it was RATHER a good gig, and also a delightfully civilised one. Next time I'm at the Roundhouse it's to see Prolapse supporting Mogwai. "That'll be a bit more raucous" I thought to myself as I wandered home, for LO! this won't be 80s Rock, this'll be from the NINETIES!

posted 5/2/2015 by MJ Hibbett

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