Last night's Saint Etienne show at Koko was smashing ... but I didn't take any photos!
Well, just this one of Johnathon & Paul being silly after the show ...
[NOTE: No one in Saint Etienne is actually gay (to my knowledge), nor is Koko a gay venue. However ... given the power of poofetry ... Johnathon & Paul can make any locale decadently woofterish! - Accuracy Ed.]
Annie, electro Norwegian pop saviour, opened the show. Annie's voice sounded great & the music even better ... but she's not really a dynamic performer (not that I'm demanding she wear a thong & thigh-high boots whilst bouncing around!). I'm just not all that interested in her. If you believe the critics, I must be missing something.
Saint Etienne were fab. Deeply fab!
They are touring to promote the release of their latest album, TALES FROM TURNPIKE HOUSE (which includes a bonus 6-track EP entitled UP THE WOODEN HILLS aimed at the children of their fans).
Sarah's voice sounded better than ever and she looked bright & sparkly and was triumphantly thin for a mother of two.
Debsey, backing vocalist extraordinaire, was in fine form as well. Very strong, very loud and gloriously in tune ...
There were some odd choices of songs that I don't think worked very well live. Everyone seemed to be talking & going for drinks during TEENAGE WINTER & GARY STEAD. There were a couple of songs I didn't even recognise ... SPLIT SCREEN (I remember the title from GOOD HUMOR) and DON'T BACK DOWN (from SOUND OF WATER but I have no recollection of it whatsoever). And HEART FAILED is still a stinker of a tune in my opinion ...
St. Et. also did not perform their biggest hit HE'S ON THE PHONE ... and that did not sit well with anyone in my general vacinity. It was the criticism I heard over & over again while working my way out of the venue.
KOKO is a strikingly lovely venue but the sound was a bit muffled. I thought LIKE A MOTORWAY in particular sounded completely foggy.
And regarding songs off the children's music bonus disc, I still think they should be doing LET'S BUILD A ZOO instead of YOU CAN COUNT ON ME!
:-)
The high points of the night for me were SHOWER SCENE and a slightly raucous version of SYLVIE. But new songs like STARS ABOVE US and A GOOD THING were smashing live!
I thought the show was better than the New Year's Eve 2004/05 gig but not a speck on the Xmas 2003 show!
Well worth the £18.00 though ...
KOKO SETLIST:
Heart Failed
Shower Scene
A Good Thing
Lightning Strikes Twice
Split Screen
Sun In My Morning
Who Do You Think You Are?
Stars Above Us
Don't Back Down
Side Streets
Last Orders For Gary Stead
Action
Teenage Winter
You Can Count On Me
-----------------
Like A Motorway
Sylvie
-----------------
Nothing Can Stop Us
Special 'ello to Sarah from Boston ... the only fan who noticed my AVENUE Mailing List t-shirt & spoke to me!
However, I did bump into quite a few of my mates there.
And I had FAR too much Scrumpy ...
Richard
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Click here for more on Saint Etienne.
Click here for more on Annie.
Click here for more on the venue Koko.
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