Well, no gig night would be complete without some kind of personal crap impeding stuff. Yesterday it was the faux pas of having let the OH rope me into the idea of travelling the Tube to get to the gig and leaving the logistics to her.
Now, having discussed how we were going to get to the gig, and despite knowing that the gig was ON “The Oval” (the street name of the venue The Pickle Factory was on) rather than IN “Oval” (a suburb of London), we ended up at Oval. I get my phone out, put in the venue…and you guessed it…we were 5 miles away from where we were MEANT to be. Yay?!
Well, that was my venture on the Tube now a wasted piece of anxiety. The prospect of going BACK on the underground and going the several stops back down the line to get us closer to where we needed to be was just too much!
Two buses and one hour later, we had finally made it to the Pickle Factory. Right on queue for open doors at 7pm. It all came good in the end. (We’d deal with the prospect of that return Tube journey later.)
Opening support came from C.A.R. Fabulous! By far and away the best support act I have seen in my recent gig-going hit list (apart from Warm Digits and The Anchoress…as when these acts are on the bill as support, I am usually there to see them…so they aren’t really deemed as the “support” in my eyes). Really enjoyed that set! Atmospheric, minimalist, a bit shoe-gaze, but great rhythms and a fantastic voice. The woman behind C.A.R – Chloe Raunet – reminded me of both Siouxsie Sioux and Grace Jones in vocal style. In my opinion, she really is one to watch!
Heat and This City were the standout tracks for me last night, but having sampled the latest album, Pinned, there is not a poor track on the album. I very much intend to “take to the wheel” further with C.A.R!
As for Warm Digits? Well, much like when I do my reviews for Simple Minds, I find it hard not to be biased. These guys are just fantastic! The opener of Two To Four Degrees always gets me up and pumping. And they don’t rest! They go straight into another track…which I SHOULD know the title of by now….I think they go into “Always On” – another track from Wireless World – but hopefully if the guys see this review, they’ll correct me if I’m mistaken?
Either way, the opener is a killer. The vocal tracks sounded vivid and strong last night. Starting with Growth Of Raindrops with vocals from the wonderful Sarah Cracknell…on to Better Friction with vocals by Mia La Metta, then The Rumble And The Tremor (vocals Devon Sproule), and finally End Times with the fabulous Peter Brewis of Field Music on vocals. The vocal tracks were not played back to back…they were interspersed with fabulous non vocal tracks that these boys are equally maestros of.
Below is a nice chunk of “Fracking Blackpool” – a song about…exactly what the title suggests. Fabulous graphics compliment all songs.
Andy was in great form, both as drumming animal, and with his audience banter. They left the crowd wanting more after ending the set with “dance tracks”. Every song of theirs is a dance track to me. Dancing…sensory overloading explosion of thump and grind and pulse and…ggrrr…just…I love them!
They came back for a two track encore. Well, Andy wanted it to be. He’d promised us a “ballad”. Lol. He was in a wonderfully jovial mood last night…but “the management” said only a one track encore was allowed…so the guys ended with the first song they ever wrote together, called One Track Groove – a track from their superb debut album “Keep Warm…with the Warm Digits”. And what a way to end a killer set!
As I have said before, these guys are THE BOMB! Once again, to Steve and Andy, thank you for being so awesome! I really do hope it isn’t too long before I see you guys again. If there are gigs happening up north, I may just have to get my travelling shoes on and come up to see you guys, instead of waiting for the next time you’re heading south.
Warm Digits are HAWT!
And after that…the journey home was safely negated. I even rode the Tube again! Dealt with mega escalators and all!
And so, on to the next gig…The Anchoress and Manic Street Preachers at Robert Smith’s Meltdown Festival in just over a week. Exciting!
