Off to ULU, for the second gig in a row. A notice on the door informed us that, amazingly for a Babyshambles gig, one of the artists scheduled to appear had pulled out. The real amazing thing was that the missing artist wasn't Babyshambles, it was Willy Mason, who had been replaced instead by Brendan Benson. Wow, am I glad that I came last week to see Willy Mason now!
The best thing about ULU is that, being a student union, all the barstaff are uninterested and crap, and it takes about half an hour to get served. I remember this from my student days, and it is not a highlight. Take note ULU, if you want to be a venue that makes money and lets normal people in as well as students, we generally aren't happy to be treated like students!!
The Paddingtons played first at this gig, and were, for want of a better word, awful. There was not one decent tune during their whole set (actually, I lie, there may have been one). If Babyshambles sound like a disorganised, amateur version of the Libertines, then the Paddingtons sound like a disorganised, amateur version of Babyshambles, without the basic songwriting ability. Which is not a compliment.
Brendan Benson up next, and although I was slightly disppointed to miss Willy Mason, Brendan was a more than adequate replacement. He had just finished a UK tour to play his new album, and although I'd not heard it, he actually treated us all to something of a greatest hits set, with all the singles from both albums. That won over the crowd, who obviously weren't expecting to see him, and ensured that his set was very well received. During Brendan's set, I spied Romeo, the singer of the Magic Numbers, watching from the crowd. I couldn't resist going to say hello, and congratulating him on an excellent band. A very modest man, he was embarrassed to be praised like that, and went red under his beard. A later tip to the toilet and the back bar revealed the rest of the Magic Numbers at the gig as well - they may not be able to do that unnoticed for too much longer.
Babyshambles set today was the moment that allowed me to see how they have been hoodwinking us all for the past few months. On their electric, rocked up songs, they are a great band - they showed that about 3 times today. But, when they spend 2/3 of their set jamming away at reggae tunes, they sound pedestrian, unoriginal and lazy. Unfortunately, they just sounded boring for most of their set.
I suspect that the quality of Babyshambles' performance is highly dependent on Pete's mood, and state of intoxication. My first Shambles experience was a truly great set, my second was a no-show. The third, last night, was an averagely good set. But today was awful, and shattered the illusion that they are a good band. Of course, I know they can be a great band when they show up and are up for it, but that shows through insufficiently often at the moment to get away with it. Summary - can be utterly fantastic, but its far too much of a lottery to try to catch it happening.
During their set, I got talking to a very nice guy from a record company. He had a guestlist +1 pass for the whole of Carling Live. He was off to Shepherds Bush to see Embrace and The Subways in the following gig. I didn't have a ticket, and wasn't intending to go, but given the offer to be his +1, went for it regardless. So, 3 gigs in one day, and technically 4 inside 24 hours.
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