Posted by andrew bromelow The fact that one of the guys on the door, Martin, was in the very same class as me at secondary school bode (‘Bade’? ‘Boded’?) well for a top evening. I left school in 1982, (and should have been more attentive in English Language) and I have only seen Martin once since that time, sometime in the late 1980s I think… What a thoroughly nice bloke you are these days Mr Wren! A more pleasant, laid back, peaceful guy you couldn’t hope to meet. I doubt that you’re reading this dreadful piffle that I attempt to write, mate, but if you are, God bless you, man! Anyway, moving on from my nostalgic ramblings… All the staff in the Star and Garter were totally lovely too (I’d had a few beers: I’d not been necking E’s by the way: I don’t do that. I wasn’t all loved up, they’re just really nice people working in that gaff!) and even supplied me with two pints of water free of charge, at my seemingly strange behest, to go with some more beers, so that I’d at least remember some of the night’s proceedings! When Autokat took to the stage a little later, there were just these four ordinary looking blokes who appeared… One of the guys up there was one of the same blokes that I’d spotted knocking around earlier, with all the good people who’d come to see the band: Just these regular looking geezers, up there with instruments to play… The guys weren’t the ‘Look At Me’ vain types you might get in some other bands, and at least two of the ‘Kats were wearing what looked like Pringle V-necks from where I was stood, in the small but perfectly formed venue. Not very rock n roll, but pretty damn cool I reckon! Now, by this time, about elevenish, I was a bit squiffy, but I fully recall a most excellent version of ‘Fill Your Cup’, the newish song ‘Short Circuit’, and numerous top tracks off ‘Late Night Shopping’, but the final number (I think!) was the as yet unrecorded live favourite ‘Later In The Evening’… Well, it’s been recorded, but the ‘Kats don’t think that the version does the song justice… All the live tracks had surprised me by their sonic ferocity (at the points where it is merited within the songs), which is always a good thing in my books: When you go to see a band live, the songs should always be slightly faster than the recorded version, with the guitars turned up to maximum loudness and distortion unless, for example, you’re going to see Kraftwerk, obviously! That’s just my opinion, even though I think I might be right! I’ve seen a few bands that seem to ‘hold back’ as if giving it loads ‘guitar-wise’ is too ‘punk rock’ and therefore so passé… but they were crap, though! Autokat delivered track after track with ease, but also with what appeared to be genuine effort, in really making their tunes come fully alive. They never once tried to make out that they were ‘rock stars’ or ‘cool pretend indie tossers’ : The lads just got on with the job in hand, interacting with us, their adoring audience (whether they want us to adore them or not), and when they really gave it that ‘full-on’ sound, the fact that the ‘Kats were working intensely but without pretence, was not lost on this, your humble, and frankly bobbins, narrator. Lads: ‘Later In The Evening’ is emphatically not one of those tracks that you leave behind. You know when bands start getting serious, and they stop doing their speciality encores that their fans love? Trust me. We’re your audience. Top gig, top venue: Nice one 'Kats! Brom out.
on 4/22/2007, 10:57 am
195.92.168.163
After a (good) few after-work scoops, I made it to the ‘Star and Garter’ at about half nine on a fine Friday evening.
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