|
I liked the Roundhouse as a venue. I'm used to seeing SY play in places half the size, but for a 3000 capacity venue it's quite nice. Had to make sure to be somewhere at the front though, because at the back in the lower section it was difficult to see anything at all.
It's hard to say which night was "the best" out of the three shows, but Saturday was my favourite of the three... because of the support act, because of Expressway to yr Skull and because SY were much more talkative compared to the other nights. Crowd response was probably the biggest on Saturday as well. It seemed everyone that traveled from far had chosen the Saturday gig (obviously because it's in the weekend). I overheard many different languagues being spoken on the Saturday compared to the other nights and while on the Friday I only met boardies boardies form the UK, on the Saturday they were all from abroad except one.
I thought the sound of the drums could've been better on each night, and to my ears the vocals seemed to be a bit lower in the mix on the Friday. I thought Thursday was better soundwise, but then spoke somebody who thought it was exactly the other way round, so it's all in the ear of the beholder I guess.... and depending on which position you're standing on each night.
The weeks before these gigs I started to have doubts about going. During my teens I maybe listened to Daydream Nation close to a thousand times and my fear was that it could be disappointing... and then I'd have to experience it another two times. I really didn't want to see my favourite band rape the soundtrack of my youth.
But it was phenomenal at times... The Sprawl, 'Cross the Breeze and all songs from the Trilogy... all great. I think Rain King and to a lesser extend Total Trash were the weakest songs on these shows, but I loved every minute of it. Awesome to see Kim play the Thunderbird and great to spot the small differences and similarites in the band's playing/behaviour every night.
On the first night the Rather Ripped songs seemed a bit bleak to me compared to the DDN set, but still better than on the 2 gigs I saw last December. The band seemed more into it though and I'm appreciating those songs live no more than I did when seeing them last year. I've even started growing fond of the live performances of Pink Steam.
During the Saturday show, the possibility of Expessway with Corsano went briefly through my mind, but I instantly dismissed it due to the 11 pm curfew and the length of the song. But when Corsano's drumkit was brought back on stage I knew an already fantastic weekend was going to finish even better. Had a blast during the rest of my stay in London as well... thank you all.
|