MY NOVEMBER IN GIGS...

MIA

Only just gotten round to writing this about 3 or 4 weeks after the event. The show is now just kind of a blur of GRRRR. There are moments though that stick in my mind so clearly, like the blood splattered screen and the filthy bangin techno holler of ‘Born Free’, the smell of weed in my nostrils as the first note of ‘Bucky Done Gun’ sounded, and for some reason the line ‘some people think we’re stupid, but we’re not’ from XR2. This strikes a chord given some of the articles which imply MIA is…well, if not stupid, ‘confused’ or whatever (as discussed by Melissa in this ace article from Slow Songs For Fast Hearts). Actually that line sang slowly at the end of XR2 surrounded by electro fuzz felt like a moment really poignant to me, because it made me think of all the misrepresented and dismissed types of this world. But I’m just a fucking bleeding heart aren’t I? Really the night was just one big gay party (gay here meaning fabulous of course).
MIA is a proper macho femme, her style is a stunning mash to behold...Headscarf, blue strip of fierce cyber glam make-up, sparkling blue hot-pant outfit, all the stage awash with neon colours whilst singing about immigration, parties and liberation. ‘Armed and I’m equal, all power to the people’. Yeah!
Her two backing dancers had the moves and OTT goofy expressions on their faces, which sometimes turned faux-macho in a way which seemed to me to be taking the piss out of that notion. They looked like they’d walked off the set of a scally gay porn movie. In case you are confused, I think this is a good thing.
POWER POWER!


NICKY CLICK

I had the pleasure of hosting Nicky Click and her girlf Lady Jane Meredith, who does very awesome queer feminist screenprinting, when she came and played a show in London. She played at Bar Wotever and was decked out like a high femme bio drag queen, an explosion of glitter and perhaps some sort of candy in her pants. The set was beautifully chaotic, starting with Two Femme Girls and ending with a karaoke version of a song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. There was a lot of booty shaking from the hot-panted Nicky and encouragement for the audience to do the same, sadly the crowd were somewhat tepid. I stood at the front, but I didn’t shake my booty as I have never been gifted with any moves…

WOOLF

What can you say about Woolf? They’re screaming post punk and they’ve come for your brains. The lead singer Collette always reminds me of that final scene in Ring (the original version, I do not watch American remakes) where the woman comes out of the TV. As I was watching Woolf at the scruffy but cosy punky local, The Bird’s Nest in Deptford Bridge, pint of cider in my hand and friends around me, I realised there was nowhere else in the whole world I’d rather be.

TEETH

Although they play in London a fair bit, I’ve not seen Teeth play in a couple of years, so I was glad to catch them before Babes buggered off to New York. They are electro punk joy with big hard beats. Their singer is fucking kick arse despite professing to feeling like shit. Babes is dancing over his laptop and quaffing a beer. The crowd are east london hipsters but some of them are really loving it.

THE KNOCKS

My friend pointed out they were a bit like a PA at a gay super club. As we’ve already discussed, the terms gay and super are positive in some contexts. They were pretty fun, they got the crowd dancing.

SLEIGH BELLS

They move like two balls on a pinball machine. They sound like screamo pogoing electro bhangra noise punk. Biff bang pow! One of those gigs where everyone falls on top of each other in excitement. They attract a lot of hipsters and they're super in, but don't hold it against them too much.