Date: Sun, 27 Jul 1997 12:49:03 -0400
From: Jeff Keibel
Subject: Standard Stuff For Drama
4AD & Dr. Martens presents:
gusGus/Lamb in Toronto 07/26/97
Lack of sleep and great music was the focus of my weekend. No time to
complile the Homemade VAD but I'll get around to it later this week
hopefully...
Held at The Opera House, where Toronto's "Shaving The Pavement" tour
took place, the venue was packed with a healthy mixture of fans from all
three bands. With tix only $14.50, it was a very value-for-your-money
musical evening. Despite the sweltering humidity and close quarters, a
fun time was had by myself and fellow 4ad-l lister Creig J., fresh from
the gusGus show in Washington, DC just earlier that week.
gusGus and Lamb were joined by a third band, Vancouver's Kinnie Star, an
eclectic duo fronted by one damn bold front woman whose stage presence
and lack of inhibitions enabled her to jump off the stage into the crowd
to finish a song among us concert goers. She has a remarkable voice and
the group has a style that could easily find a home on 4AD.
Lamb took stage next, starting with an instrumental intro which merged
into "Merge" followed by "Gold". Louise looked absolutely radiant
tonight. Other songs played included "Ear Parcel", "God Bless",
"Gorecki" and a very cool new song called "Ha Ha Ha".
Once all of Lamb's equipment was moved off the stage, leaving a huge
empty space, gusGus took to the stage. Three mics at the front of the
stage with all the tech gear at the back next to the cloth "movie"
screen. Magnus, Daniel and Hafdis dominated the front of the stage,
with images and phrases projected on the screen behind them.
Daniel's stage presence and kick-ass vocals really took the spotlight as
the show began. First up was "Polyesterday" followed by "Chocolate",
"Gun" and "Barry". The set list is pretty much constant from show to
show. A new song, "Blue Mug", with Hafdis singing was showcased. Great
versions of "Remembrance" and "Believe" were included as well.
I was disappointed two of my favorite tracks from the album were not
played. Both "Why?" and the Slowblow cover "Is Jesus Your Pal?" were
sadly absent as singer Emaliana Torrini wasn't part of the tour. Herr
Legovitz was also absent, opting to stay home this trip.
I can safely say every gusGus member sweated away several thousand
calories during their show. They're all very physically active on
stage. Daniel is as agile as a cat, even doing handstands at one point
and Hafdis was "in character" totally with her funny faces and dancing.
At the venue's foyer, various products were available including both
parts of the "Believe" CD, the "Polyesterday" CD and the double vinyl
version of the album. There are a couple different gusGus T-shirts on
hand as well. Lamb shirts are available too. Sadly, the Soil Samples
12" promo with the video version of "Polyesterday" from previous shows
is all gone now.
Prior to the show, Creig and I had a chance to greet the various gusGus
members as they arrived at the venue from their overnight journey from
Montreal. I was super happy to receive signatures from all eight
gusGus-ers in attendance on the back cover of my "Polyesterday" 12"
which is conveniently blank and prime for autographs.
While we were standing in front of the venue a while before the show we
chanced on meeting up with Louise from Lamb, who was nice enough to sign
my "Gorecki" CD. We bumped into Andy from Lamb while waiting in line
and got his sig as well.
I'm endlessly impressed with Lamb's ability to stand up to idiot record
company people. Here is an excerpt from a Lamb interview in the local
entertainment rag called Now:
"In America, it's been a different story", says Lamb's Andy Barlow.
"They were convinced handbag house music was going to be massive in
America and wanted stupid club remixes of our music. Louise and I said
we are not going to promote this sick, twisted form of music. The label
told us they'd pull the release of our record if we didn't agree, so I
said, 'Right, WE'RE going to pull the release! Fuck you', and slammed
down the phone. Three days later, they called back and said we didn't
have to do the remixes after all."
The article also mentions and later confirmed by Louise that by
September we'll be seeing a double CD from Lamb featuring remixes by
Fila Brazilia, Global Communications and others as well as a live
collection of reworked tracks from Lamb's debut album on Fontana.
A special v23/gusGus US tour postcard is also available at the concert
so make sure you look out for it in Detroit tomorrow or wherever you
happen to be catching the tour. It has a nice still from the
"Polyesterday" vid of Hafdis caught by the police officer. I managed to
"liberate" the gusGus "Polydistotion" poster from down by the venue's
bathrooms and feel somewhat better after not finding that US card sleeve
advance CD for "Polydistortion" at Penguin before Creig did.
A final word from Baldur of gusGus before we exited the venue following
the show perked us up... It turns out gusGus could be back for more
touring as early as "after Christmas". One can only hope. :)
Jeff Keibel
Scarborough, Ontario
CANADA