Wellity, wellity, wellity! Ruthiepoos and I were quite exhausted from our various ailments/nights out/random things but decided to put on a brave face and go to the Sandi Thom concert tonight at the Birmingham Academy. I'm glad we did. Here is what we learned:
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~ i look quite good in horizontal stripes. Some people do not and should avoid them at all costs.
~ we ignored the support band and went to get some bottled water, which now comes in compostable bottles. Whatever that means. Ruthiepoos decided that in ten years time it will come out that the combination of compostable bottles and water gives people fatal illnesses. Still can't worry about that after you've paid £2.29 a bottle!!
~ the support band then got really good by doing a cover of The Scientist by Coldplay which i had a whole conversation with Ruthiepoos about before she gently let me down by telling me the support band had finished and I was actually listening to the Coldplay cd being "piped" through the speakers. Qu'elle horreur!
~ there was quite an adorable gay couple in front of us who were clearly on a date and wanted to do so much more that watch Sandi Thom. The electricity between them was rampant. I nearly blushed...
~ Sandi came on stage and actually no-one noticed. I was still drinking my possibly contaminated water before i realised the first song was halfway through. Oops.
~ I absolutely stand by my assertion that Little Remedy should've been the third single from the album. It was certainly rocking and joyful live...
~ I get the impression that if there hadn't been all the hoohah over Sandi Thom being a myspace chick, then she probably wouldn't have got such a hard time from the sometimes vicious popjustice forumers... she certainly has an ear for a catchy melody and a grooving vibe :) A more pop KT Tunstall if you will...
~ Her sparse percussive cover version of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy is one of my faves i've heard so far in the increasingly large canon of covers. And yet i still have only ever listened to the original twice. Can't bear it.
~ She don't half witter on inbetween songs and sadly doesn't have the most dynamic stage presence or sparkling banter. The tumbleweeds blowing past nearly knocked me out when she was telling "hilarious" tour stories - how terrible it was when the drummer got shot with a bbgun and how she lost a shoe. Yes, because that's exactly the same...
~ Then she went on about how she was desperate for a necklace for her new video Lonely Girl which said the song title on it. Not only should this song not be a single (although it's perfectly lovely), she eventually found a necklace at Elizabeth Duke, which she was then most disparaging about (causing lots of girls to nervously finger their cheap necklaces/dates). It cost her £4.50, which judging by the video just about doubled the budget...
~ She really should save some of those stories for a scintillating dinner party...
~ Luckily, her songs just really sparkle and have a great energy live. Her new songs including one called Devils Beat were seamlessly integrated and quite nice in a b-side sort of way.
~ Superman sounded just gorgeous live as did Sunset Boulevard. She should sell What If I'm Right to some country singer in America cos she'd make a boat load of cash and it's a great tune for that market.
~ Of course she finished with I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker which finally got a fairly lethargic audience of white, middle class people going. And it is a great tune. So annoying that so many people were saying "but punk rockers didn't wear flowers in their hair!" Sigh. Listen to the lyrics you goons...
~ I've sounded a bit harsh in this review, but Ruthiepoos and I loved her and are glad we went. Just cut down on the banter next time luv. Next time, leave it to D'Luv...
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LINK: Sandi Thom's myspace site
MP3: Sandi Thom - What If I'm Right acoustic
MP3: Sandi Thom - Superman
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Normal service resumes tomorrow - in the meantime check out the links below...
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LINK: New holiday diary up at The Zapping Holiday Diaries site...
LINK: First half of my top 20 boy bands ever at The Zapping Spin Off site...