2007年 02月 11日 日曜日 20:35

Sat 10 Feb – The Long Blondes, The Lodger, Wet Dog

Having driven around Hove for half an hour on the phone to Gig Partner trying to find out exactly where I was going, I finally got to the venue. There was a cursory bag check (and the bouncer let me take my water in with me - bonus points) and we went into the bar, only to find Screech Louder sitting in there. He and Gig Partner apparently have a mutual friend, so they chatted for a while before he signed our tickets. Unfortunately we never did find any other band members, but it was still a good start to the night.

We met a friend who also frequents Concorde 2 and queued with him for a while before deciding to go into the main room. Surprisingly, no one actually told us we could go in, and we got there only a few minutes before the first support act, Wet Dog, started their set. Much to my surprise there was no barrier, so Gig Partner and I positioned ourselves roughly in the middle of the stage.

Wet Dog, a three-girl band, played a half hour set, and while they were good, nothing in particular grabbed me about their music, which was mostly generic with lyrics I couldn't decipher. Though, they did have a trombonist join them for one song. You can't go wrong with trombones. And anyway, nobody's worse than Crystal Castles.

Second support act, The Lodger, are building up quite a following and I can see why. Most of their songs were instantly catchy and they got more people dancing than Wet Dog did. During the first couple of songs, some girls behind us remarked that the guitarist was playing upside-down. Apparently the concept of "left-handed" was beyond them. Their drummer did admirably well during the last song, when she dropped one of her drumsticks and managed to get straight back into the rhythm without seeming fazed, or indeed without the song stopping abruptly. Their set was around half an hour long and their debut album, Grown-Ups, will be out soon in the UK.

And so, we waited for The Long Blondes. A loud American couple behind us talked loudly. Another couple next to me did that annoying coupley snogging thing. But finally it was over, and the band we were all there to see came onto the stage. Telling us it was good to be back in Brighton ("Hove!" said the girl next to me indignantly), they launched into set opener and former b-side favourite, now album opener, 'Lust In The Movies'.

Kate Jackson was wearing hot pants. I feel this is an incredibly important point to make as I was directly under her and could see her knickers (again with the vagina! What is it with me and that happening at gigs?). Despite having been ill last week, Kate didn't stop moving at all, as we've come to expect from her. This made my amateur photography rather difficult.

Funnily enough, I didn't hear anything from the "upside-down guitar" girls when Dorian played, even though his is upside-down too (and not even re-strung as The Lodger's guitarist had done with his).

They played most of the songs you'd expect, though none of the new b-sides were added, nor was 'Heaven Help The New Girl' as had been rumoured. However, the songs that were overlooked on the last tour, 'A Knife For The Girls' and 'Swallow Tattoo' were there, along with their singles. There was a glaring omission on the setlist, however. There was no sign of 'Appropriation (By Any Other Name)'.

As they ended the set and walked off, I was disappointed. Once again, there was no encore, and they'd missed out one of their best songs! Then Gig Partner pointed out to me that someone was plugging in Dorian's second guitar (a gorgeous Gibson). Lo and behold, an encore! It was only for a single song, but that song was 'Appropriation' and was really the perfect end to the evening.

There was a new t-shirt design on the merch stand, but I couldn't justify buying it. Fortunately, the delay by the stand meant that the people I'd been next to had found me - my camera had fallen out of my bag. So, on the off-chance one of you reads this: once again, thank you so much!

http://checkyourshoes.co.uk/images/lbsetlist.jpg
*Encore (not on setlist): 'Appropriation (By Any Other Name)'