Here you go then...
Fiery Furnaces, Highbury Garage, 24/02/04
In The Bailey beforehand: great pub, the Thai food makes me drool just writing about it, it's always full of indie kids about to go see a gig, and sometimes members of the band - tonight it's packed with people watching the football too, which at first kinda sucks but once we have seats and a couple of drinks under our belts it starts to feel like fun - go on, "the" Arsenal! - even once you include the bloody, bone-crunching violence (goalkeeper's face collides with someone's knee, afterwards with blood covering most of his face he's still standing, trying to shake it off, "don't worry guv I'll be okay" - stirling work)...
I'm telling you all this so you can understand my mood that evening. I was in the kind of mood where you mind seeing brutal sports much less than the prospect of a nice indie band with clever instrumental arrangements and songs about puffins. This was the setting for me to tell my companions:
"I'm in completely the wrong mood for this - I want to see a loud, dirty rock'n'roll show."
Surprise, surprise, this is exactly what the Fiery Furnaces gave us. They up the tempo and roughen the edges and rattle through previously quite sedate tracks like 'Up In The North', which means that when they get to the more rough'n'ready'n'rowdy stuff from the record - 'Asthma Attack' in particular - wow. "ROCK", as I'd say if I'd had a lobotomy this morning.
I definitely get why they keep mentioning The Who in interviews now, it makes a lot more sense, and it's not the only thing. I never quite understood what all the fuss was about Eleanor Friedberger, but seeing her perform live, I totally get it now. She really becomes the focal point for the live version of these songs, especially once they strip down the instrumentation and it's just her and her brother with maybe a guitar or two between them. She has this jittery intensity that's really compelling, because it's not an obvious nervousness bordering on neurosis (like say, Cat Power on a bad night), but then it doesn't look like confidence in the way people are used to frontpersons being confident, either.
Definite highlight of the new songs played: the one about being single, or is it wanting to be single, which has the violent / sexual chorus about, well, "banging". Other high points: the switch from 'Don't Dance Her Down' into 'Inca Rag / Name Game' (I will admit, I thought of Flux at this point); 'Crystal Clear' being hugely appropriate and euphoric given the lyrics about finishing work, getting paid, etc and the day I'd had; 'Worry Worry' absolutely ruling (perhaps I did have that lobotomy, but I can think of no other term except the equally redundant "it was sex"); 'Rub Alcohol Blues' sounding better than ever after all that raw rock'n'roll: a song for the collapsed and drink-sodden, a moment of tenderness for tired, troubled and worried minds.
I got this vague sense that the band might not quite be used to a certain level of enthusiasm for their live show from the crowd. That was my perspective, but then I did get down the front fairly early on, and I was a trifle tipsy, so I could be wrong. Still, I'm pretty sure I've read that Matt Friedberger can seem a little pissed-off with their audiences (?), but tonight he almost seemed taken aback by how into it people were (at the front anyway). And Eleanor was doing her staring at people schtick but didn't seem to stare at people for very long at a time: maybe it was 'cos they stared back. Or maybe that was just me.
Fiery Furnaces, Highbury Garage, 24/02/04
In The Bailey beforehand: great pub, the Thai food makes me drool just writing about it, it's always full of indie kids about to go see a gig, and sometimes members of the band - tonight it's packed with people watching the football too, which at first kinda sucks but once we have seats and a couple of drinks under our belts it starts to feel like fun - go on, "the" Arsenal! - even once you include the bloody, bone-crunching violence (goalkeeper's face collides with someone's knee, afterwards with blood covering most of his face he's still standing, trying to shake it off, "don't worry guv I'll be okay" - stirling work)...
I'm telling you all this so you can understand my mood that evening. I was in the kind of mood where you mind seeing brutal sports much less than the prospect of a nice indie band with clever instrumental arrangements and songs about puffins. This was the setting for me to tell my companions:
"I'm in completely the wrong mood for this - I want to see a loud, dirty rock'n'roll show."
Surprise, surprise, this is exactly what the Fiery Furnaces gave us. They up the tempo and roughen the edges and rattle through previously quite sedate tracks like 'Up In The North', which means that when they get to the more rough'n'ready'n'rowdy stuff from the record - 'Asthma Attack' in particular - wow. "ROCK", as I'd say if I'd had a lobotomy this morning.
I definitely get why they keep mentioning The Who in interviews now, it makes a lot more sense, and it's not the only thing. I never quite understood what all the fuss was about Eleanor Friedberger, but seeing her perform live, I totally get it now. She really becomes the focal point for the live version of these songs, especially once they strip down the instrumentation and it's just her and her brother with maybe a guitar or two between them. She has this jittery intensity that's really compelling, because it's not an obvious nervousness bordering on neurosis (like say, Cat Power on a bad night), but then it doesn't look like confidence in the way people are used to frontpersons being confident, either.
Definite highlight of the new songs played: the one about being single, or is it wanting to be single, which has the violent / sexual chorus about, well, "banging". Other high points: the switch from 'Don't Dance Her Down' into 'Inca Rag / Name Game' (I will admit, I thought of Flux at this point); 'Crystal Clear' being hugely appropriate and euphoric given the lyrics about finishing work, getting paid, etc and the day I'd had; 'Worry Worry' absolutely ruling (perhaps I did have that lobotomy, but I can think of no other term except the equally redundant "it was sex"); 'Rub Alcohol Blues' sounding better than ever after all that raw rock'n'roll: a song for the collapsed and drink-sodden, a moment of tenderness for tired, troubled and worried minds.
I got this vague sense that the band might not quite be used to a certain level of enthusiasm for their live show from the crowd. That was my perspective, but then I did get down the front fairly early on, and I was a trifle tipsy, so I could be wrong. Still, I'm pretty sure I've read that Matt Friedberger can seem a little pissed-off with their audiences (?), but tonight he almost seemed taken aback by how into it people were (at the front anyway). And Eleanor was doing her staring at people schtick but didn't seem to stare at people for very long at a time: maybe it was 'cos they stared back. Or maybe that was just me.
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