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Rating:
The lights go out and to the sound of bagpipes enter Aidan and Malcolm, with the band assembled for this tour: Alan Barr on cello, Chris Bathgate on bass, David Jeans on drums, Jenny Reeve on violin, and Allan Wylie on piano and trumpet.
Wednesday at the Feierwerk Hug and Pint Pub with the intimate stories of Aidan, who narrates and narrates, often in a whisper, almost as if speaking to himself, almost as if reformulating his thoughts and memories out loud, trying to understand. When I first heard them, I thought of Tindersticks (with whom they later toured) with some electronic interjections, an effect and a drum machine. They shared the same warm voice, the same stories of urban alienation. Unlike Tindersticks, they haven't fallen into mannerism and self-referencing. "Here We Go" takes one back to Philophobia, "Scenery" (you used to be part of the scenery, but now I know your name) to "The Red Thread," while Glue, from the latest album, surprises us with Jenny Reeve's violin repeating two notes. The strings are never too present, the songs are perfectly balanced.
But the first enthusiastic applause that truly breaks the muffled silence between songs up to that point is caused by "New Birds." It seems many are waiting to recognize the song introduced by a sort of slow, inexorable, obsessive but delicate spoken word; the breakdown provides certainty, this is "the" song; some "Uh uh" (um...) disturb the calm moment of the break, and then the song starts like a flood on a wave of distortion. Magnificent. "Who Named the Days" seemed a bit tired on the last album, but live it shows a life of its own: there's more to it than I thought. "The Shy Retirer" is a welcome variation, with a dance drum machine replacing the drummer, reminding me of Shaun Ryder and his sloganeering. "Act of War" presents a wide string movement that wins hands down.
After the first encore, only Aidan and Malc remain on stage with a guitar. And the songs work even like this. "It's just the two of us left, what can we do?" They even play on request, Aidan runs his hand over his face as he has done countless other times during the concert "that song? ah concentration concentration." And the penultimate song is recognized only gradually; it's "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC (!), also present on the latest "The Shy Retirer Ep," which then transforms into "Packs of Three": "It was the best shag I've ever had." In all the songs, Aidan looked back, from the privileged viewpoint of memory. Things have already happened. That's where this calm is transmitted from. Finally, a beautiful concert. I thought I wouldn't get enthusiastic anymore. Majestic evening.
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