Glasgow Gig on the Green

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Missed the first day on the basis that everything playing was crap. Heh heh - come on you didn't expect me NOT to be controversial did you? I have no interest in wasting any of my life in front of Slipknot, The Offspring or The Prodigy (or Cornershop or The Streets for that matter, I HATE The Streets sooo much. Why is NME all over them???). The 'appeal' of The Prodigy still bemuses me. Surely they are controversy for cretins? I mean, what will they do next to 'shock' the middle classes? Release a song called 'Hitler was alright if you met him on a good day'???

Anyhoo - onto day 2. Gig on the Green basically tries to condense Leeds/ Reading into a 2 day fest. The ticket sales were poor this year though and the event needed to be re-sized. It WAS very small and for some reason there was no cash machine in the entire festival. But onto the music...

I was greeted by the sight of grown men in white gowns on the main stage. It's 'The Polyphonic Spree' apprarently. Urgh. Well, at least they got 'The Mouldy Peaches' off the stage. They were PAINFUL!

So onto The Vines. Erm... crap. Now (and I stress) this is but my opinion... Craig sings as if he's having a needle pushed through his scrotum slowly. They do the 'fast Nirvana' songs. And they're all terrible. Then they do the 'slow Radiohead numbers'. Which are even worse. I hated them. Left after 4 songs.

The White Stripes... yippee! A real showstopper from Jack and Meg. They came on to 'Hotel Yorba' and all seemed well. Not too many tracks from 'White Blood Cells' - and no 'Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground' or 'Fell in Love With a Girl' but still a rocking set. GREAT cover of 'Joleen' by Dolly Parton as well.

Jane's Addiction - didn't want to lose our place at the crash barrier so we suffered through them. Argh! These guys REALLY suck and the guitarist looks as if he's never actually seen This is Spinal Tap because he looks sooo daft with his nipple rings and his 'rawk on' hand gestures. Perry is a batty front man though and is mildly amusing for about ten minutes. Shakes his ass a lot too and doesn't seem to know where he is: 'It's great to back in... erm, ahem, erm (more pausing) erm, um... (finally) Europe'.

Pulp are fab. A MUCH better performance than when I last saw them at Elgin and Jarvis really has the crowd in his hand. They should've headlined in my opinion because I knew The Strokes could NEVER beat them or fill a 70 minute healdine slot. So why not give Pulp the longer slot??? They play a good 12 song set list - aimed at the more casual fan. So there's mostly Different Class stuff and the odd single like 'This is Hardcore', 'Babies' and 'Bad Cover Version'. The final song is 'Sunrise' and it's a hit that never was but really should have been and sounds utterly gorgeous live. They celebrate Candida's birthday by having a near naked black guy come ons tage with champayne.

The Strokes only play for 50 minutes. The new songs (tonight they premiere 4) sound like the old songs, so they probably won't win any new fans or disappoint the loyals. Julian is still on crutches so he plays mostly sitting down, but seems restless and tries to stand up on many occasions (often falling right back over). He's clearly a toff kid though. Too much 'fucks' and throwing beer cans about. A toffs idea of what rough folks are like no doubt. Great pop tunes though. I reckon they'll be around for quite a while.

Anyone else there?

― Calum, Monday, 26 August 2002 15:55 (twenty-three years ago)

i wasn't but since there hasn't been a reply since you posted this question then I just want to say that now I'm here (but i must go home).

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 26 August 2002 17:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Jane's Addiction...Argh! These guys REALLY suck

Roger Fascist to thread!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 26 August 2002 17:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Grr, who is Roger Facist?

Cool to see you're still here Julio!

― Calum, Monday, 26 August 2002 19:27 (twenty-three years ago)

calum- I've always been here...to the regret of some ppl (well, maybe). nice to know yr still around calum.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 26 August 2002 21:12 (twenty-three years ago)

i had free weekend tix but staying in bed seemed like a better option so i didn't make it to either day

― Leigh, Tuesday, 27 August 2002 09:31 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm a bit late but Calum you are wide of the mark. Slating Jane's Addiction then praising to the skies the White Stripes indicates that you have a pitiful understanding of the band's significance or influence. They might not be what they were but to say the suck doesn't seem to compute against the content of the rest of your review. The ST criticism angle of Dave works on a visual level I suppose but if you listened to the actual guitar playing you might quickly realise that he is actually rather good stroke majesterial stroke out there stroke etc etc etc.

On another point: "Pulp are fab!" - No.

― Roger Fascist, Tuesday, 27 August 2002 10:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Jeez,
They don't call you Roger Facist for nothing.
Look, it's all about opinion. You LIKE Jane's Addiction and far be it for me to change your mind by pointing out the laughter that accompanied Perry when he came ons tage dressed in a hat borrowed from his gran. Far be it for me to point out his dimwitted soundbites like 'I hope everyone here gets laid for the rest of their life... yeah'. Far be it for me to point out that saying a band has been 'influential' hardly makes me go: 'Oh sorry Roger dear, how STUPID of me to say they were shit'. And influential to whom? No bands that I like that's for sure. You can use the great guitarist arguement all you want too - does that mean you LOVE the music of Van Halen? Do you like Bernie Butler? Johnny Greenwood? I could give a shit how good someone is at guitar personally. Point is - Jane's Addiction are shite. In my opinion.

You like them. Great. I like Pulp. You don't. Who's wrong and who's right? No one. That's the beauty of having an opinion.

― Calum, Tuesday, 27 August 2002 13:52 (twenty-three years ago)

That's settled then.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 14:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Alas Julio, I have to point out one or two holes:

"They don't call you Roger Fa[s]cist for nothing" - that's right - I call myself Roger Fascist as it happens.

Now then, my point, albeit expressed in terms sure to rile, was that the existance and publication of the music of bands, say like the White Stripes, owes something (some would say substantial) to the Jane's project. I was merely surprised that you seemed so ready to dismiss them when you seemed so starstruck by the Stripes and the Strokes.

As for your soundbite complaint, well, that's fine, but to be sure, many a rock star has spouted shite from the stage (a point aluded to by many bands, say like the White Stripes, in the lead track off their last album) and Perry's wardrobe is surely irrelevent although perhaps if you hold in such high esteem the comic costuming of two clowns decked out in red and white, Farrell's garb might well seem absurd.

Finally, the guitarist speil you spin is cod. To lump Navarro in with any of the chaps you mention is balderdash. Whether I liked those chaps or not is not pertinant to your complaint, I merely pointed out that Navarro is a fine guitarist if you can get beyond the nipple rings.

Actually, now that I think on it, the majority of your criticism seems to take place on a visual level, which is not too important to me when it comes to music. I mean I dig a good show right but if someone insists on wearing a goofy hat I can usually make allowances (unless it's Damon Gough) for fine music.

― Roger Fascist, Tuesday, 27 August 2002 14:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Just not my type of music Rog. Soz.

The White Stripes are fab though and Jack's a great front man. When one guy kept shouting out: 'I love you Meg', Jack finally stopped, stood still and stared the guy out with a tongue in cheek look of brotherly concern. It WAS utterly hilarious, but you probably had to be there.

― Calum, Tuesday, 27 August 2002 15:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Calum: Seriously, go check Nothings Shocking by Jane's - it might tickle your toes...

― Roger Fascist, Wednesday, 28 August 2002 06:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Nah - you said Pulp stink so I'm not going to now!

― Calum, Wednesday, 28 August 2002 17:24 (twenty-three years ago)

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