With a possy of legio the legends enter Vintergatan 2009. This is the one that all gossip's been on about since the first year, 1992, when a good 10 000 of the just over 22 000 that's showed this crop failed year weren't even born. Expectaions are so haussed that the whole shebang is about to blow and the religious feeling of the Kraftwerk show some years back's returned.
More to come...
And as we progress through some unaccounted Playing The Angel track and Wrong from Sounds of the Universe we get to some minimalistic version of Walking in My Shoes we reach It's no Good. The audience seems ok, but definetly not more than that. It's a tired DM on stage so far, perhaps marked by Dave Gagam's cancer, but nevertheless tired, distanced and bored. Regardless of the rock version of the tune.
More to come...
And we move on to A Question of Time - laden with heavy metal guitarrs on back tape and a single one on the increasing stomache of Martin Gore, deteriorating one of the Basildon act's most loved and perfected rubies of their crown into a plain mainstream tune. Sad!
And on to one of the Playing the Angel - the first single ; "thing's get damaged, thing's get broken..." - and regardless of crappy sound and a bored band the audience goes wild.
Next runner up is a rather good interpretation of Fly on the Windscreen from Black Celebration. And all is forgiven upon entering chant mode and "...finally I find that I belong here..."
But who does? This is out dated as MC Hammer, perhaps not on the turntable but definetly live with these tired and dented ol'timers. And my poor electronic heart weeps.
More to come...
Yet another two spineless tune from Sounds of the Universe, so anonymous I don't even recall it's name, the audience digress and give into handclap. But the handclap dies down and suddenly we seem to be bystanding a wake; this is how it feels when heroes die.
Time to murder In Your Room with a foul drum 'n base chaos version of the poor hit. Maybe Dave'd been better off true to Uncle Charlie White? And still the crowd and my poorly fed expectations obey being the band's favourite slaves. Or at least we don't leave due to respect of days passed on.
It's now time to push up the daisies for I Feel You and I quiver throughout the intro in fear of what to come...but some juice's still in these ol' Basildon boys -this is actually quite fine. At least in contrast to the watered down crap so far.
More to come...
Enjoy the Silence finally cracks a smile on our faces and the crowd actually spontaneous starts clapping again. Please, don't let any more words (of critique be) ver unneccesary. Please! Please...before Gore falls into coma and Andy Fletcher starts doing anything but looking bored.
Time for Music for the Masses and the big hit Never let me Down. Ate the lyrics a pleed, are the boys actually afraid their star is about to fall? Gore fronts again on lead guitarr and we try focusing on a slight hip wiggle to show sympathy. The waveing of the hands is at least present...
And they are off stage...
Time for encores.
First up is Stripped. And as they peel of any dignity left in the crowd we chant "let me hear you speaking just for me", wishing days gone to return to our pioneer spirit lost. Effectvive, but in no way blowing anything but smoke to us, the possy of diciples.
Next one is a version of Personal Jesus similar to pump dito... And we clap as were it the folk rock of our peers and cradle. At least the light engineer is more ambitious than his sound counterpart. And the siluttes of all the hard bodied women in the world won't cover the fact that one feels ironised by the selfproclaimed divinity the sharp sarcasm the hit originally advocated.
And that was it. Contrary to what it seemed - that stage was cleared in order to fit a concert piano - they were off for good.
Curtains
-- Post From iPhone in Medias Res
