Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Looking Back Down Low



Last week I went along to the first (?) instalment of the Don’t Look Back series in Australia – Low performing their sombre and eerie master piece, Things We Lost In The Fire

I don’t propose to review this show, because, well, I just wasn’t in the frame of mind to fully absorb their rather morose musings. For one it was Friday night. Low seemed better suited when you’ve got the midweek blues, rather that euphoric Friday night feeling. Secondly, I had a shithouse sleep the night before for some reason. Thirdly, well, I should have known it wasn’t the best preparation but I had already indulged in some post-work celebrations. So even though they were sounding hauntingly beautiful, after about 30 minutes my mind began to wander.

So, that’s enough of that, this post wasn’t supposed to be about my Friday night sleepiness…

The real reason was the format, and I’m going to have a bit of a whinge. We didn’t get any dialogue about the album, the input from different musicians, the motivation behind the songs, the development of the songs, quirky anecdotes, album themes, etc, etc.

Nothing.

It was all a bit disappointing. I thought the whole reason for this Don’t Look Back series was to focus on a single record, and in doing so celebrate the album format, and provide some observations about what makes a disc of 10 or 12 songs such a great piece of work. Hardly seems like a celebration if they don’t even mention it. They even launched into to a few songs from other albums straight after they finished Things.

While I’m likely to go and see any band play an album in full if I really dig it, to get the most out of this concept, there needs to be more interaction, more explanation. Otherwise it just seems as though you’re watching a live rendition of the album. Which, in itself is fine as a purely nostalgic (or marketing) exercise, but not one that provides any particular interesting insights about the creative process.

3 Comments:

Blogger Dave said:

Yeah. I was in the right frame of mind and found the playing quite bewitching - much more so than last time around in the same venue - but I agree about the format. There's an opportunity to provide an experience which transcends standing-in-a-pub-watching-a-band, but all we get is a run-of-the-mill decent show.

5:39 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said:

One thing to note is that the artists don't seem to have control over what they perform. I recall hearing Alan saying (somewhere) that they wouldn't have chosen that album. But apparently that was the album that broke them in the UK, which is where the Don't Look Back promoters are from. So maybe their hearts aren't really in it.

Incidentally, I went to their regular show on the Sat night and thought it was a stunning performance. And there was quite a bit of interaction, which is always nice to see.

12:59 am  
Blogger Unknown said:

Want to see a group with tons of soul? Check out The KIN right here: woozyfly. com/thekin LIVE!

2:16 pm  

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