Elbow – Carling Academy
Monday, October 20, 2008 ~ 2 comments so far
Last night I stood in a crowd of people, rapt and in awe of a band that, frankly, can’t get much better (although I’m sure they’ll prove me wrong).
I’m not going to write a review per se as SwissToni has already done an excellent job, but I did just want to capture some thoughts about last night.
1. It’s the subtle things that make you realise this is a slick outfit, well seasoned. Guy Garvey comes on stage wearing a jacket. As the first song starts up he takes it off and lays it down. At the end of the evening, as the last song winds up he puts it back on. End of show.
2. As others have touched on, part of the charm of the band isn’t just the lush melodies, or heart wrenchingly beautiful lyrics, instead you are drawn into the gig by a frontman that feeds off of what he sees before him. He reacts to gestures and shouts, and whilst he will have a set of stock questions there is never the feel that he is reading from a script. He is as much there as we are, all joined in the same glorious moment.
3. And what moments. I realised last night what it is that has just a pronounced impact on me when seeing Elbow live, it’s that I’m rarely ever so THERE, so in the moment to the total exclusion of everything else around me. I’ve never experienced that at other gigs, always finding myself realising my feet are sore, or that I’m thirsty or ‘did I lock the car?’.
But not last night. Tears trickled down during the sadder songs, and during Mirrorball you could’ve stripped the place of the rest of the audience and I don’t think I would’ve noticed, so complete was my attention on that moment.
Amazing, brilliant, wonderful. So many words yet I find myself struggling to put my thoughts into words. So I’ll steal some from SwissToni:
very few bands can convey such a broad emotional palate so effectively. They deserve to be cherished.
Seriously, go read his review he captures most of my thoughts perfectly.
A few final notes.
Acknowledging the fact the band will be back for an encore, Guy Garvey challenged us to sing “We Are Sailing” and if we did they’d come back out. I’m not sure if there was anyone in the hall that WASN’T belting it out at the top of their voice and I’m certain the big grins on the faces of the band members were genuine (even if they were of the ‘what a bunch of fabulous nutters’ type).
And lastly, during Mirrorball, Guy broke into a small smile whilst pointing right at a couple that were embracing, lost in their own thoughts. I hope that little smile was at least a small payback for him for providing us with a wonderful, wonderful night.
One year wiser
Sunday, October 19, 2008 ~ 6 comments so far
A quick thank you to everyone who took a moment from their day to wish me Happy Birthday on Friday. Many of you did so through Twitter, some by email, some by comments on this blog, some by text message and… eh… yeah I think that’s it. Thank you.
Each little message gave me a lift and I was a little surprised by just how I was affected. I am sincere when I say that it meant a lot to me, so thanks (have I said thanks yet? thanks!).
So, as I sit here in a new t-shirt, smelling of new aftershave, contemplating which Hitchcock movie to watch (from the boxset I received), or perhaps to play one of the three games I was given, and all the while looking forward to Elbow tonight which is a rather nice way to round off a birthday weekend if you ask me, I realise that I am very lucky and that presents (or not) isn’t the important thing.
The important thing is friends and family, relationships and emotions.
Now, if you’ll excuse me I’ve got some marzipan chocolates to eat!
Pssssssstt
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 ~ 7 comments so far
Anyone got any words I can borrow? I need to find more than 140 characters worth as that’s all I seem capable of at the moment.
So, I’d like to blog, I really would but I’m now stuck, not paused. Odd that.
In times of old I’d just keep typing and see what turned up, usually a load of old tosh (you HAVE checked out the archives, right?) but I’m struggling to do even that.
And, to be honest, there isn’t any good reason for it. The events of last week have passed and it turns out that my thoughts on presents is probably something I should’ve considered better before I posted.
I could post a follow up to that I guess.
Or I could always update my 100 Things, or maybe ask for more questions that I can answer?
Or… you know, something else.
Meh. I dunno.
Paused
Thursday, October 9, 2008 ~ 6 comments so far
I started this blog, this website, purely to see if I could. It wasn’t really about the writing/publishing/conversation at that time, it was only about me. I’d already started jotting down my thoughts (for various reasons) and despite the rambling nature of them I did find that it helped. The process of vocalising and externalising your thoughts and emotions is a compelling reason to write.
It’s just the show off in me that continues to blog.
So why the sudden introspection? Well, as ever, that big thing called LIFE has given me cause to focus and ponder and consider. I’ve just had the sad news that my friend’s Dad has suddenly passed away. It brings back memories in a sudden rush, still painful and raw three years on, sharp edges that catch on my skin, dragging me open, emotions bubbling and bleeding out.
Such pain is personal and distinct, but one day at a time we will get past this to the next hurdle. Life always goes on.
I’ll be back in a bit.
Present tense
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 ~ 10 comments so far
I wish people would stop asking me, I really don’t know and whilst I can always give suggestions I really honestly don’t need anything. Can we just not do the whole present thing?
I am, of course, talking about my upcoming birthday.
Now I’m fairly well off, I can afford most of what I want and that’s even before I consider things I really NEED (errr… nothing, really), so the whole idea of getting birthday presents seems a bit daft.
Is it just me?
Regular readers will know I that I flip-flop between fighting off the hordes of consumerism and succumbing to charms of the latest gadget. So this whole birthday present thing depends on the current state of the battle.
If I’ve recently had my ramparts overrun (ooer, missus!) then it’s easy to jot down a list of “things wot I’d like”, if my ramparts have yet to be breached (I should stop with this, right?) then my response to “what would you like for your birthday?” becomes a shrug and a few items that I could just as easily pick up myself.
But then it’s not about the item you get, it’s about the fact that someone has taken the time to think about me and get me something they think I’ll like. I get that part of it fine and dandy, honest I do and, you know… thanks.
The whole present buying/receiving thing is a tricky area of course, with oodles of etiquette and unwritten rules which make it far harder than it should be. For example:
- Are you allowed to admit that you throw away presents?
- Is there an acceptable timescale for re-using presents? Ohhh come on, we’ve all done it!
- Is providing a list of things you’d like the “done thing”?
- What is wrong with just cancelling the entire birthday shenanigans??
IS it just me? I doubt it.
Of course, regardless of all of the above, I reserve the right to change my mind completely when my birthday rolls around.
Brrrrrrrrrrrr
Monday, October 6, 2008 ~ 8 comments so far
Just a quick blog post to note that this morning we heard the first ‘ding’ of this coming season, when our car tells us the temperature has dropped to 3C (or below). No frost yet, but it can’t be far away.
And, is it just me, or did we suddenly enter Autumn bang on October 1st? It’s like someone flipped a switch!
And I did run
Thursday, October 2, 2008 ~ 4 comments so far
Last night, after a gloriously sunny day, the clouds rolled in and the heavens opened.
Why does that phrase always making me think that God is peeing on us (or all of the angels? I dunno…)?
Anyway, the rain raineth on the just, which is apt as I only just made it in time to start the first jogScotland session, splish-splashing my way across the car park to catch up with the group as they made their way out into Strathclyde Park.
Thankfully I asked which group it was before they headed off as it was the wrong group (who were setting out for a 30 min jog, my group was doing 15 mins! Hey, I’m easing myself back in..).
A few minutes later I happened across the correct group and off we set, already bedraggled and soaked, into the gloom of the evening.
It was great!
I’ve got physio tomorrow morning, mainly to see how my knee is holding up but aside from a slight dull ache it’s fine. Yay! I’m already aiming, provisionally, for the 5K in December. Fingers crossed!