Sunday, April 27, 2003

Time for Poetry. I'm still in a Wire mood. Their song Reuters sums up all the madness of the Bush admin: Our own correspondent is sorry to tell Of an uneasy time that all is not well On the borders there's movement In the hills there is trouble Food is short, crime is double Prices have risen since the government fell Casualties increase as the enemy shell The climate's unhealthy, flies and rats thrive And sooner or later the end will arrive This is your correspondent, running out of tape Gunfire's increasing, looting, burning, rape And remember: this song is from about 1977. 8:43:29 PM     |

Wrecked. And another gig to look forward to: Wreckless Eric, live on the 8th of May in Denmark Street, London. That's where the Pistols used to live in the seventies. And Roadent. I know where to go to on the 8th... Via the fantastic Kosmonautentraum. 6:44:32 PM     |

Raw Power. My ears are still ringing. Amazing, how much noise only 4 people are able to generate. I just got back from the Wire concert at the Barbican. They were absolutely fantastic. Pure Punk. "Another day. Another cigarette. From A to B. Again avoiding C, D and E." They played the complete Pink Flag album, the highlight being '1-2-XU' of course, the best Punk Hymn ever pressed onto vinyl. And they played it at least twice as fast as on the album. "Our own correspondent is sorry to tell of an uneasy time that all is not well. On the borders there's movement. In the hills there is trouble. Food is short, crime is double." There were Aerobic videos playing on a big screen in the background. Then a 45 minute break to rearrange the stage, and they played send. Noise, noise, noise. And the band was boxed in, with videos playing on top of them; and their new stuff actually better than the old Pink Flag. After 13 years they just crop up again and produce better music than in the 70s. "Trust me. Believe me. It's all in the art of stopping." I've set up a gallery of pictures here (Hey, they call me Mr Focal Length!). Wow. The Velvet Underground Reunion was fab; Devo were great; the Ramones were noisy - but Wire beats them all. Except the Damned perhaps, back in 1977. Now go to Wire. "The smell of you That's the lowdown." 12:52:40 AM     |