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REVIEW
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REVIEW
BY MARTIN & ALISON
Hello
everyone
My
girlfriend and I went to the dEUS gig in Shepherds Bush, so
this is our view of the evening.
Before
the gig we spotted dEUS in The Patio which is a Polish restaurant
in Shepherds bush - does anyone know if they liked it as I
work nearby and it sounds like an interesting place to eat!
On
with the show!
Soulwax
were on first and we'd never heard their stuff (apart from
a remix of Disco by Zita Swoon). They came on and said "We
are from Belgium" From that point I knew they were going
to kick ass!! Wow they rock! They wore hideous 1970's suits
and played experimental mad rock music. The guitarist kept
changing guitars - he had a pedal steel with a wah wah effect
that was scary, another song he did some beatboxing on and
to cap it he used a synthesier guitar that sounded like a
tuba! The best support act i've ever seen - it is a sad thing
to say that they blew dEUS off the stage totally - ah well.
We'll probably never see them in London again (damn) but anyone
who lives in Belgium should see these guys - they are so cool.
Bellatrix
were on next. They were OK - not bad but not exciting either.
The lead singer attracted a lot of really sexist comments
from the so called fans - more about them later - She sounds
like Bjork but the music is more standard English Indie Rock
ie boring guitar stuff. She was a very impressive singer and
front person let down by an average band.
The
whole gig was recorded by XFM, a supposedly indie music station
in London. i don't know when they'll broadcast this - does
anyone?
Finally dEUS came on!! Klaas was on crutches and was helped
on by Tom. Klaas had a very tasty red sock on his plaster
cast which he propped up on the keyboard! Magdalena was good
although the sound was not good and one moron fan yelled SHUT
UP in the middle of it - who the fuck were the morons in the
middle of the stalls? Sam Peckinpah's Daughter totally confused
the audience -but not us!! it was cool to hear something experimental
again. Most of the people just stood still! Suds n Soda was
mental but the mosh pit got totally out of order with idiots
crowd surfing and pushing the real fans at the front into
the floor. Thank god the magic hour is a slow song.
If
the French/Belgian guy in the red tshirt who was very tall
and standing next to his girlfriend at the front on the left
is reading this, thanks for letting us stand in front of you
as Alison and I are pretty short! We were both wearing white
dEUS tshirts - just some home made stuff. Little arithmetics
was a good song that went really fast at the end - Tom looked
like he was working the crowd into a frenzy - it was the first
song that really felt like they meant it. Instant Street was
excellent although we really missed the dancers who were at
the Camden gig. Hotellounge started good but got lost in the
middle and fizzed out with Craig singing a verse about the
movies of my dreams - I've heard it before but I don't recognise
it. A shame as it is one of our favourite songs. Sister Dew
was Ok,Roses was intense but Turnpike was the best song of
the evening - it was furious!! I sang louder than the PA (I
have a very loud voice) and Tom stared at me with a look that
said you call that singing!! Fuck it it was good! It was a
really extended version that turned into No Good (Start the
Dance) by the Prodigy - possibly the best dEUS live song I've
seen yet (we have only been to 3 gigs). put the Freaks up
Front was a good track but nothing comes up to Turnpike.
Things
went downhill from here for me as the crowd of idiots in the
middle went mad during fell off the floor man and started
crowd surfing, one of them kicked me in the head and smashed
my glasses which meant I couldn't see dEUS (I am very short
sighted) If the arsehole who did this is reading this I hope
you think next time instead of being such a fuckwit. This
was the last time dEUS will tour England for years and I couldn't
see from here on. This really ruined what was a good gig for
me. I don't know who the idiots were but they were nothing
like the dEUS fans I've met at other gigs - they just seemed
to come to cause problems and fuck up other peoples fun -
none of them seemed to know the songs - they just jumped up
and down to fast songs and stood still and looked confused
during the slow songs. I can see why dEUS don't tour England
much if they get audiences like the ones at Shepherds Bush.
I'm not slagging the true fans who were really nice and sang
along and felt like a good crowd, just those fuckwits in the
middle.
OK
my rant is over - sorry about that! The first encore was Everybody's
Wierd. Second encore was Serpentine and the third was Worst
Case Scenario which was good - I had found the remains of
my glasses by then so I was able to watch dEUS a bit. They
left the stage pretty quickly just saying they would be back
in 2 years - that's too long!! Personally I think they were
better at the Camden gig - they looked really tired and worn
out - not suprisingly after all that touring.
If
you read all this thanks for taking the time.
See
ya
Martin
& Alison
REVIEW
BY DENNIS SMITH
me
and my girlfriend clare both went to the gig, and i felt
the whole gig was o.k., not good or fantastic just o.k.
i was stood front row 2 foot from the left. the sound system
was terrible very tinny as if the bass was removed deliberatly
- not very balanced, i thought they was on a tight budget
and desided that the did not need a sound engineer, i was
pleased with deus but i was not too happy with the support
bands - soulwax and bellatrix
with soulwax who was on first, i could not hear the vocals
much but they were mostly in time and were very loud, they
were a bit of a dissapointment as i would have liked to have
heard some of there music with at least a bit of clarity,
apart from that they were fun and i think that despite not
being able to hear them too well when they was singing they
were fun and that made up for the poor sound, and i do like
there neon lamp mikle stands.
next was the bellatrix who sang well and were fun - maybe
because the lead was femail, her voice was hear better than
the lead from soulwax, their music was o.k. like soulwax i
had not heard any examples of there previous music so i was
quite impressed with them, based upon my first impressions.
i was wondering if the lead was drunk or something as she
was all over the place and even dance in to the mike stand
nearly falling completely of the stage, but she just smiled
embarrisingly and then carried on singing, the band as a whole
carried on despite the guitar strap braking on one and one
mike not working up till a roadie could replace it. they even
made fun of another roadie who was bent over repairing something
on one of the monitor amps - by simulating sex from behind.
the sang o.k. and made a lot of noise that started the rest
of the audiance dancing unlike soulwax who just got no movment
from the people near to me (even one person was reading a
newspaper in the balcony and someone next to me was reading
a novel, but when Bellatrix were on stage, the book went down
and so did the newspaper too.
after bellatrix came on deus followed after a bit of a wait while
the stage was cleared and reset for deus to play and it was
o.k. - klaas came on with some help and they followed and
the bands atmosphire was gloomy with the exception of klaas'
who was quite happy - was he just happy becouse of the painkillers
for his foot? anyway they played o.k. with the audiance ready
for them with a cheer but the feeling was not really in it,
even when there was an equiptment failure mid-song and the
rest of the band carried on playing ad-lib untill the problem
was resolved. the crowd was dancing most of the time and singing
the rest of the time. the way deus played was as if their
heart was not in it or they had heard someone had died and
felt the show must go on or it was too late to pull out. overall
i felt that their music was not as 'happy' or not as good
as normal, unlike the first time i see them playing live,
also in london in the empire not that long ago, they were
very dissappointing when the said at the end "see
you in two years!" i feel that they are
depriving the fans over here of there fantastic gigs it was
as if they no longer care for the fans here and they are not
bothered enough to get on board a plane to visit and play
for us. even less popular bands visit the smallest of countries
as often as they can, with the popularity deus has, they
are disappointing the fans here. never the less, the band
played everybody danced, everbody sung, and they went
home and it was as if they never even played as it missed/lacked
the atmosphire that they normally have, and lacked the real
fun that they normally emit.
overall the bands played o.k. and some people even enjoyed
themselves it was not as good and lacked the feeling that
bands normally have or the atmosphire. but despite this i
had fun planning the trip and getting there. i hope deus will
be back soon and i will make an attempt to get some sound
bites of studio cuts from soulwax and bellatrix as i would
like to hear what they really sound like. i hope some people
did enjoy themselves better that i did.
REVIEW
BY SAMIR MATHUR
Shut
your eyes. Tighter. But carry on reading; this is good. Now
imagine a laboratory somewhere in northern Europe. Baby Spice
and Bjork have been captured, and are being cross-breeded
to form the ultimate pop minstrel. But who’s this stumbling
in, asking for directions to the local Budgens? Why, it’s
Vanessa Mae! The experiment is seemingly screwed, but fear
not, crazed Nordic sciencefellas, for you have created Chief
Bellatrix member Eliza. She coos about the venue being unusually
cool for them, and they play singles Crash and Jediwannabe,
both which feature violin solos. It shouldn’t work, but
it does. We soon learn that ubergod John Peel is at the bar,
though he’s sadly ordering the drinks, rather than serving
them. Ah well. Sadly, just when you really start liking Bellatrix,
during final song, the metal-fused nursery rhyme (I shit you
not) Altogether Now, Eliza starts running on the spot and
star jumping. Eep. They tried, bless ‘em.
And
whilst your giving out blessings, you may need to hire an
HGV to supply dEUS (damn you, auto-correct) with their dues.
Although when the band fall onstage the omens are bad –
violinist Klaas has an ankle in plaster, therefore the chances
of him reprising his Glastonbury headstand are remote –
as soon as the opening chimes of Magdalena fill the actually
packed venue, all is forgiven. Unlike many bands, dEUS bother
to make an effort, with five of their six wearing collars,
and one even in a jacket.
Considering
their newly found profile thanks to the Ideal Crash LP, it’s
Suds & Soda which gets the crowd jumpin’. And with
good reason, too, because it’s fuckin’ awesome.
Klaus may be immobile, but he still distorts his violin mighty
fine. Tom Barman screams to make himself heard above the noise,
and the calm-before-storm bit that precedes the chorus is
stretched out, so when the big "there’s always something…"
arrives, it’s just that lil bit louder. If you don’t
know the song, and you’re lost, ha-ha.
Many
people like Mogwai because they see beauty in their moments
of sheer white noise. dEUS have many such a moment, and if
Stuart Braithwaite dared say something other than ‘Fuck
the Queen’, Mogwai may become as good as our Belgian
friends.
Older
stuff is always lapped up by fans, so Little Arithmetics and
Roses are gloriously well received. Off the new album, Sister
Dew is played at a funereal pace, with more phasers than can
be legal; Instant Street is preceded by Barman saying ‘We
came here tonight to be destroyed’; and ‘Let’s
See Who Goes Down First’. with Barman providing bizarre
falsetto, is wicked. Things go a bit pear-shaped on The Magic
Hour, where sadly the most interesting thing is the widest
crowdsurfer ever EVER falling flat on himself. Later, he heroically
makes it over the barrier, requiring not one, not two, but
THREE security dudes to hoist him over. The XFM banner below
us falls down and knocks several people unconscious.
The
band pop off for a quick Bovril, and then the Gallic voice
declares ‘Everyone’s a weird guy’, and nobody
dares argue. By the time the band play WCS, Barman has staggered
around in a ‘I’ve just been shot’ stylee, the
bassist has had his top ripped off –making him a dead
ringer for Bryan Adams, actually-, and dEUS have used more
instruments in an hour and a half than I can name in twice
that time.
OK,
so they still noodle about, occasionally dipping their toes
into the water that is ‘prog rock bollocks’, but,
as the woman says, ‘everybody’s weird’. When
they’re good, they’re doggone good. When they’re
bad, they’re still good, albeit less so. Not a lot of
bands have this quality. Not a lot of bands are this good.
Not a lot else to say.
Samir
Mathur wrote this.
>The
Brain Farm
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SUPPORT
: Soulwax & Bellatrix
SETLIST
Magdalena
Sam Peckinpah's Daughter
Suds n Soda
The magic Hour
Little Arithmetics
Instant Street
Hotellounge
Sister Dew
Roses
Turnpike
Put the Freaks Up Front
Fell off the floor, man
Everybody's weird
Serpentine
Worst Case Scenario
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