Friday, October 17, 2008

The Week

dEUS at Tripod on Monday night were ridiculously good, playing with such power and skill that I felt both sickened and highly relieved that bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers sell out stadiums at massively inflated prices, whilst groups as good as this one have to toil away in pub-sized venues, charging 25 euro a head.

Still, the tiny venue definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the gig and it was great to be able to go right up to the front without being trampled on or suffocated. My only gripe was that they threw in Instant Street as their second song, before the crowd were really warmed up enough to enjoy it properly. The crowd seemed to be of a similar demographic to me, with most people a little too world-weary or self-conscious to throw themselves fully into jumping around or singing along. My neck hurt viciously the next day and it took me a while to realise that this was a result of some very enthusiastic head-nodding on my part. The band also had the decency to close their set on another of my all-time favourites. So thank you, dEUS, for the Roses.







Tuesday brought me to the Amnesty International Duke Special vs Divine Comedy gig, accompanied by bloggers of all shapes and sizes. I've always quite liked both of these artists, without being a huge fan of either. So the gig, with both performers only playing a piano and occasionally accompanied by a guitar, came as a reminder to me that in general I like my music fairly stripped down, without too many instruments clogging the mix. Darren and Darragh have both written comprehensive reviews of the concert that I can't really add much to, except to say that Neil Hannon covering Duke's 'No Cover Up' was one of the most emotional moments I've had at a concert in quite a long time.

Tuesday also brought the Budget to those of us in Ireland. I'm no expert, but I would imagine the 50 cent that has been tacked onto each pack of 20 cigarettes is largely going to have to go towards hiring extra customs officials and airport and harbour police to stop an increase in the amount of cigarettes being brought in by the case-load for sale on the black market. you can get 200 in Egypt for the price of 20 here now, y'know. It's easy for the government to pretend that they instigate these kinds of increases because they don't want people to smoke, but in fact it's far too valuable a source of revenue for them to wan t people to stop. Which means that a move like this is, in fact, calculated to take advantage of people's addictions. Likewise, the rise in petrol. We are addicted to driving in this country because our lousy public transport infrastructure gives us no other option. From where I work I can get back to Wicklow in about 35 minutes by car. Or, I can walk 15 minutes, take a Luas for another 15, walk another 10 and then get a bus that takes an hour and a half. I'll stand by my car for now.

7 comment(s):

Darren said...

The transport system is still a joke despite the fact that the government poured money into it over the past 10 years or so. After the fantastic Celtic Tiger, surely we should have something more to show for it than a tram and a few extra buses. If I was you, I'd drive too.

We'll have to do that dEUS album swap. Remind me. Thanks again for bringing us along and I'm sorry I wasn't in better form. The band were class though.

Sarah Gostrangely said...

Lucky Lucky You. dEUS rock. Saw them Electric Pic thing in 2005 or 6, super cool belge-roc ja.

Yeah seems like most fans are just a tickle too old to be moshing or the like.

That song Under the Sea(?is that the name?) makes me cry like an infant.

Andrew said...

Darren - Ah you're always fabulous company, darling. Still, pints and dude-time this week, i reckon.

Sarah - yep, they were only feckin' brilliant. Still, you're in Australia right now so shut the fuck up with your 'lucky yous'.

I know the song you mean, I think you got the name right. Gorgeous stuff.

B said...

dEUS put Instant Street in early to set crowds into a decent mood I think.

Second song at Oxegen and won the whole wave of Ben Folds worshippers over.

Mind you, they probably have better songs.

allthelightsarebroken said...

know the feeling re the transport system, i moved into town because i couldn drive and wouldn have anywhere to park even if i could... bray to town on the bus would take an hour and a half, on the dart and walking would be over an hour... cycling straight out the n11? 35 mins average with a bit of fitness, never quite figured that one out.

Andrew said...

B - Due to a vast underestimation of how long it took to get from the campsite to the stages I only caught the end of dEUS at Oxegen, and therefore no Instant Street. I think it makes more sense to stick a song like that on early at a festival, where you're competing with a shitload of others for people's attention.

ATLAB - I've never been able to figure out much about our transport system. However, my bus driver last night proved to be quite the whiz at sudoku, every time the traffic paused for thrty seconds.

B said...

They were competing with Paddy Casey and the Sawdoctors

...in any sane environment that'd mean they'd win, but this is Ireland.