New Model Army at The Corporation
Nov. 20th, 2007 09:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mundensAs planned, last night I went to The Corporation to see New Model Army play.
For those that don't know NMA, I suggest reading the Wikipedia entry for a quick summary. They have been labelled as punk, but this is perhaps more because of their ethos than their music. You'll notice even their website is not a .com, by choice it's newmodelarmy.org, because they'd prefer to be thought of as an organization than as a commercial entity. You can download the track Wired off the the latest album High. Back in August they got refused visas to the US, reportedly for the track 51st State, so had to cancel their tour.
Hung around outside briefly because they opened the doors late, got handed a flyer for a night called Selene Rising.
The venue was a black-painted warehouse. It weren't pretty, but it wasn't the worst place I've seen, and they did have coat check facilities, and the staff seemed pretty friendly. They don't use glass at gigs, though, my pint of Carlsberg came in a huge plastic cup. Even all bottled beer was first emptied into plastic before being served.
When the first opening act began to play I remembered why I love live gigs, as the driving bass thudded into my chest setting up resonances thru my bones. It's been a while since I've had the poisons shaken out of my mind by a sonic attack in that killing decibel and frequency range. I was reminded of Hawkwind's track as the beat impacted my chest like cardiac massage.
The band was NYAA, or New York Alcoholc Anxiety Attack. They were a young, keen, three piece and could have held attention in any NZ venue, the lead looking like Tommy from The Who's rock opera, or Jim Morrison on a good day. The drummer was very energetic, though I get the feeling a lot his effect was supported by electronic looping and echo machines, but I can't fault him on that given Carl Palmer's pioneering, and in fact the wall of drum did remind me of some early ELP on places, such as Tank. The bassist while hiding under his green hoody for the first few tracks (grin), nevertheless laid down a good covering fire.
The second support act, another three piece called Demander also from NYC , were more polished, and would have reminded me of early Cure, if it wasn't for the fact that the drummer, and bassist/lead singer were both women. The drummer did some horribly complicated patterns, and in fact that was the most memorable part of this group, the complex patterns they created between the drum beat and the bass. The vision of the bassist and the drummer facing off, putting it together, wreathed in smoke, framed by white light, and the lead guitar emerging in a halo of green fire with a squeal of tortured metal is an image I shall probably remember for a while. Maybe it's because I'd been listening to it a bit in the previous week, but the vocal style and quirky percussion reminded me a bit of Miranda Sexgarden. Though I'm sure most people will disagree with my comparisons.
While waiting for the main act, I thought to myself "Fuck it! When am I ever again likely to get a chance to buy an NMA t-shirt at one of their concerts?" So I did so. I got the shirt related to the new CD, with the word "High" on the front and the album cover, and the words "I am not at war" on the back.
NMA opened with Vanity and went thru the expected mix of old and new, though the old seemed to be more popular with the crowd. I could just rave about it all here, being impressed with numerous songs, but it would be pointless. Suffice it to say that there was a huge amount of energy, an impressively complex lighting array, and probably too much smoke. Though having people disappear and then emerge from the smoke with halo effects was fun. I feel I definitely got my money's worth, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been attending with like-minded friends and having the right gear to have gone down front and really raged.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
seraphs_folly can attest to my bubbliness when I got back the flat and said good night to her. I will say that I most enjoyed hearing Before I Get Old played live.
Justin was chatty and explained the new album's title track High, making it plain it referred to actual physical height and not drugs. Later in the evening, at the end of a song, when one of the people standing on shoulders came down a little hard, Justin asked him if he was OK and obviously knew the guy by name.
They played two encores. Justin came out and said "I know why you don't want to go home yet, it's coz it's pissin' down outside!". The he added "Maybe if the rain doesn't stop we could just play all night, and you can all go to work in the morning from here." The first encore opened with the aforementioned 51st State which got everyone stomping, and the second consisted of a long atmospheric guitar solo from Marshal Gill that led into a wonderful performance of Vagabonds.
Heh, just realized they began and ended with a "V"! And the one night they didn;t play in November so far was Guy Fawlke's Night! Shall we read in any hidden meaning? :)
The crowd were an eclectic mix, but well behaved and friendly as befitted that whole "family" idea that NMA champion. There were ageing hippies in the corner and guys in leather Stetsons. There were girls who looked like they'd just stepped out of a dance club in gold lame handkerchief sized tops, and there were many solid bald guys with tats who would have been scary if you'd met them at a football match. In front of me a thin goth boi with long blue-streaked hair jumped up and down with an arm around the waist of a guy whose look could be best described as "biker", all the while holding the hand of his pale green-haired girl-friend. Down the front what looked like pagans and/or Burners lifted some of their people on shoulders where they did hand dance patterns like a ritual. A number of the WDC would have looked right at home in there! During the last encore I found myself dancing with a short-wiry skinhead and a massive punk with a platinum blonde mohawk and a huge grin.
Having listened to the CD today while writing this, I have to say that the mix on the CD makes it all sound very mainstream and Top 40. A lot of it could properly be labelled protest music and in my opinion it needs to be heard more angrily and more full of bass thud than the softness of this CD mix.
For those that don't know NMA, I suggest reading the Wikipedia entry for a quick summary. They have been labelled as punk, but this is perhaps more because of their ethos than their music. You'll notice even their website is not a .com, by choice it's newmodelarmy.org, because they'd prefer to be thought of as an organization than as a commercial entity. You can download the track Wired off the the latest album High. Back in August they got refused visas to the US, reportedly for the track 51st State, so had to cancel their tour.
Hung around outside briefly because they opened the doors late, got handed a flyer for a night called Selene Rising.
The venue was a black-painted warehouse. It weren't pretty, but it wasn't the worst place I've seen, and they did have coat check facilities, and the staff seemed pretty friendly. They don't use glass at gigs, though, my pint of Carlsberg came in a huge plastic cup. Even all bottled beer was first emptied into plastic before being served.
When the first opening act began to play I remembered why I love live gigs, as the driving bass thudded into my chest setting up resonances thru my bones. It's been a while since I've had the poisons shaken out of my mind by a sonic attack in that killing decibel and frequency range. I was reminded of Hawkwind's track as the beat impacted my chest like cardiac massage.
The band was NYAA, or New York Alcoholc Anxiety Attack. They were a young, keen, three piece and could have held attention in any NZ venue, the lead looking like Tommy from The Who's rock opera, or Jim Morrison on a good day. The drummer was very energetic, though I get the feeling a lot his effect was supported by electronic looping and echo machines, but I can't fault him on that given Carl Palmer's pioneering, and in fact the wall of drum did remind me of some early ELP on places, such as Tank. The bassist while hiding under his green hoody for the first few tracks (grin), nevertheless laid down a good covering fire.
The second support act, another three piece called Demander also from NYC , were more polished, and would have reminded me of early Cure, if it wasn't for the fact that the drummer, and bassist/lead singer were both women. The drummer did some horribly complicated patterns, and in fact that was the most memorable part of this group, the complex patterns they created between the drum beat and the bass. The vision of the bassist and the drummer facing off, putting it together, wreathed in smoke, framed by white light, and the lead guitar emerging in a halo of green fire with a squeal of tortured metal is an image I shall probably remember for a while. Maybe it's because I'd been listening to it a bit in the previous week, but the vocal style and quirky percussion reminded me a bit of Miranda Sexgarden. Though I'm sure most people will disagree with my comparisons.
While waiting for the main act, I thought to myself "Fuck it! When am I ever again likely to get a chance to buy an NMA t-shirt at one of their concerts?" So I did so. I got the shirt related to the new CD, with the word "High" on the front and the album cover, and the words "I am not at war" on the back.
NMA opened with Vanity and went thru the expected mix of old and new, though the old seemed to be more popular with the crowd. I could just rave about it all here, being impressed with numerous songs, but it would be pointless. Suffice it to say that there was a huge amount of energy, an impressively complex lighting array, and probably too much smoke. Though having people disappear and then emerge from the smoke with halo effects was fun. I feel I definitely got my money's worth, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been attending with like-minded friends and having the right gear to have gone down front and really raged.
seraphs_folly can attest to my bubbliness when I got back the flat and said good night to her. I will say that I most enjoyed hearing Before I Get Old played live.Justin was chatty and explained the new album's title track High, making it plain it referred to actual physical height and not drugs. Later in the evening, at the end of a song, when one of the people standing on shoulders came down a little hard, Justin asked him if he was OK and obviously knew the guy by name.
They played two encores. Justin came out and said "I know why you don't want to go home yet, it's coz it's pissin' down outside!". The he added "Maybe if the rain doesn't stop we could just play all night, and you can all go to work in the morning from here." The first encore opened with the aforementioned 51st State which got everyone stomping, and the second consisted of a long atmospheric guitar solo from Marshal Gill that led into a wonderful performance of Vagabonds.
Heh, just realized they began and ended with a "V"! And the one night they didn;t play in November so far was Guy Fawlke's Night! Shall we read in any hidden meaning? :)
The crowd were an eclectic mix, but well behaved and friendly as befitted that whole "family" idea that NMA champion. There were ageing hippies in the corner and guys in leather Stetsons. There were girls who looked like they'd just stepped out of a dance club in gold lame handkerchief sized tops, and there were many solid bald guys with tats who would have been scary if you'd met them at a football match. In front of me a thin goth boi with long blue-streaked hair jumped up and down with an arm around the waist of a guy whose look could be best described as "biker", all the while holding the hand of his pale green-haired girl-friend. Down the front what looked like pagans and/or Burners lifted some of their people on shoulders where they did hand dance patterns like a ritual. A number of the WDC would have looked right at home in there! During the last encore I found myself dancing with a short-wiry skinhead and a massive punk with a platinum blonde mohawk and a huge grin.
Having listened to the CD today while writing this, I have to say that the mix on the CD makes it all sound very mainstream and Top 40. A lot of it could properly be labelled protest music and in my opinion it needs to be heard more angrily and more full of bass thud than the softness of this CD mix.
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 09:59 pm (UTC)(I gave you the Selene Rising flyer btw... ;) )
no subject
Date: 2007-12-03 08:49 am (UTC)As well my innate liking of music and moon light. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-03 12:47 pm (UTC)