Saturday, August 06, 2005

Hot off the press from brother Don in 'Frisco...

"just back from bimbo's where glasgow's finest performed what can only be described as a triumphant performance. first of all, thank you to francis from me and cynthia for the passes which in no way affected the following completely unbiased report...

second, altho i have a few teenage fanclub albums i don't have them all and i must admit that most of what i've heard by them over the years (aside from their latest album and the incredible SONGS FROM NORTHERN BRITAIN) i heard over and over again in my buddy tom's car. that and the fact that i was under the influence of 12 yr old macallan (seemed appopriate) means i can't tell you every song they did or in what order.

but everyone else in the capacity crowd certainly knew every song. they screamed like it was the beatles fer chrissake. well, it WAS one great tune after another... classics like "start again", "i need direction", "your love is the place where i come from", "sparky's dream"... even their first record, "everything flows". they did a lot from the new album including "slow fade", "only with you", and my fave: "it's all in my mind", after which a friend of mine who was there said, "that's one of the greatest pop songs ever" and i agree.

they did two encores and left with a sped up "what you do to me" (!)

guitars: a real ('60's, not korean) epiphone casino, gibson les paul, gibson 335, fender precision bass. guitar amps were fender combos and the bass guy had a huge ampeg which sounded tremendous.

the secret to teenage fanclub's rhythm guitar sound: capo. that's where that chimey big star guitar sound comes from.

super tight harmonies -- i mean it was astounding. it was almost too much of a good thing. you needed a few nothing songs in between if you know what i mean. but i'm not complaining. the only complaint i have is the club. i hate bimbo's. it's all glitz. (they joked about the fog machine). not the best sound. and they constantly hassle you about where to stand no matter where you are. managed to say hi to francis the drummer before bimbo's security cleared the place. by the way, the crowd was - not all - but way too many - big doofus guys which, given the type of music, i didn't quite understand. and the place was too small. hopefully next time they'll play the fillmore. but no matter where they're at catch these guys if you can...as they say in my beloved glasgow... fucckhin' (gotta capture that gutteral brogue) fantastic!" - dc

No comments: