Review: Desaparecidos live at the Electric Ballroom, Camden

So last week I went to see Conor Oberst perform solo at Barbican, and it was a really lovely gig. A great venue, and a good mixture of Bright Eyes, solo and new songs. White Shoes had me in floods of tears and You are your mother's child had me crying for my pregnant mate who couldn't be there. Even my boyfriend, who was a stand in, and doesn't LOVE Conor, enjoyed it (or at least didn't moan the whole way through). The only downside was it was all seated, and although the view was good, we were a bit far back and you never quite get the atmosphere of a proper gig. I was jolted towards the end gig, though, when Conor said 'my other band is playing next week'. And he didn't mean Bright Eyes, who I've seen numerous times. No, he was talking about Desaparacidos, his best and loudest side project. The band only has one album so it would be guaranteed they would be playing all my favourite songs on it, and they haven’t played for 10 years! But tickets had sold out ages ago. I had to dig around.
After a close call with a conman on Gumtree (don't ever put a request for tickets on there!) I finally got a ticket for £50 on eBay. Quite a lot over the face values of £15 but £15 seemed very low in the first place (it was £30 for Conor solo). I would have paid up to £100 if I'd had the money!
So I met up with the guy selling the ticket outside – thank god he turned up! – and then there I was, at my first ever gig I'd been to alone. I did a smooth manoeuvre to the front; there was a guy at the barrier obviously saving a space for a friend, so I kind of slid into the spot over a period of about five minutes. Come on, you can’t hog barrier, be there, or be usurped. I could tell he was a bit grumpy so I offered him a Tic-Tac (I was on a strict no fluids policy, as I have a pathetically weak bladder) and then I felt I’d made my peace. When his friends did finally turn up there were about 12 of them, so I didn’t feel so bad.
I hadn’t heard of support band Johnny Foreigner, but I admire their name. I think he said, ‘we’re from Chicago’ when he came out in a very-non-Chicago accent, but at the end he admitted they were from Birmingham. I’d describe their sound as a yelpier Bloc Party, and the band had a girl and a black bloke, so it covered all bases. Was good to hear a woman screaming (hold on, that doesn’t sound quite right) and they looked the part. She reminded me of Kylie off Corrie. I enjoyed them and I rarely say that about a support band.
Desa (can I call them that for now, I still struggle to spell it) came on about 9.15, and the place KICKED OFF.
They opened with a new song Left is Right (thanks to Lee who sold me the ticket, because I only had two of the new songs, and he alerted me to two more! I'm a bad fan) and the energy was just crazy. I felt like a young person again!.Conor came out in some hideous stars n stripes sunglasses and the long hair he’s got at the moment and a little stars and stripes neckerchief. I hate his long hair but that’s beside the point. I can honestly say, I think I had the best spot in the house, right in front of where Conor finally came out, and just on the edge of the mad moshpit so whilst I got jostled a fair bit, I didn’t want to kill someone (an occupational hazard at gigs).
Probably the most amazing song was the second one, Happiest Place on Earth, which is one of my favourite songs of all time, it just has the most amazing lyrics, a song about war that you don’t resent for being a song about war. Actually, he’s good at those (see also No one would riot for less and the silly When the President talks to God - notable for me going 'I DOUBT IT!' quite a lot). It was just perfection, and everyone was going mad. I was even headbanging – WTF.
Probably the best thing about Desa is they don’t have any slow songs, every single one is a screamer. So it was a nice contrast to the acoustic gig of the week before. Also, as they only have one album, you knew every song. It’s quite cool to go to a gig where you’ve been listening to that one album for 10 years, never expecting to hear it live, because the band had disbanded. And then when they get back together it’s not a tired old money-making racket like Pulp, for example.
At one point Conor  played the song $$$$ and limp-wristedly threw some money in the air, that never even got as far as the end of the stage, and at the end of the gig, the bouncer stole it! What a git. It was £35 as well because I could see it sitting there (hey big spender) – that would have covered the extra cost of my ticket! Conor also said he'd been shopping on Camden Market; wish I'd gone there that day!
All of the songs were good (there was a Clash cover which I wasn’t fussed on, but it beats Moon Over Kentucky or whatever crap Morrissey normally tries to inflict). But my favourite has to be Man and Wife, The Latter (Damanged Goods). I must have played that song in my car over a thousand times. It’s just pop perfection. So to hear them play it seemed slightly unreal. The crowd was literally bouncing all over the place, I haven’t been to a gig with energy like that in years. And thank fuck I was on the barrier, or I would have had to run for cover.
It was so nice just to be that close to Conor and not to have to worry about anyone else, but just to do exactly what I wanted. I would definitely recommend going to a gig on your own, it’s fun.The crowd was small as well; there wasn't even a queue. I thought Conor fans would have turned out in droves.
I really pray that Desa put out a new album now, Conor is at his best when he’s screaming or heartbroken, and about as far away from a country guitar as possible. He promised to come back sooner, so don't let us down!

Gig: Tommy Reilly at Proud Galleries in Camden

Writing a blog has almost no perks. In my time here I have written squillions of words about Big Brother, Morrissey and crisps, and the most I've got for my troubles is berated by an angry virgin who I slagged off on a reality show, invited to a film thing, and invited to be on Freaky Eaters. Eek!
But last night I actually got invited to something good, so I dug myself out from my sick bed and ventured Camden-wardly. Last week I wrote about Orange Unsigned Act, and my pick to win, Scottish singer-songwriter Tommy Reilly. His PR read my blog and invited me to his gig, so I and JOTV went down to do some networking, darling (this actually involved sitting in a corner, having a migraine, with JOTV playing The Weakest Link on his clapped out old Nokia).
I got a text message alert on route that 'Tommy was having some food'. I felt like a stalker! Let the boy eat!
The Proud Galleries themselves are a peculiar venue, otherwise recognisable as a bit of Camden market (one of the bits that hasn't been razed to the ground). Normally in this area people are selling their old Smurf collection and Beanos, but they've gutted it, put up some nice artwork, and now there's a vast expanse of gig roomage (which had all the romance and atmosphere of an empty barn) and some 'stables' to sit in which are like little VIP rooms with flashy tables. The drinks were VERY cheap. I'm not sure why, but let's not knock it.
Tommy was being herded round various groups by his PR; which is my idea of a living hell, so I felt sorry for him that I was going to be adding to his list of schmoozing to be done. I had my photo taken with him (the less said about that the better). He seemed very disarming and up for a chat with some total strangers who may or may not write something horrible about him, when you can tell it's probably not his ideal evening either. I told him I'd found someone's fake nail stuck to me, but was soon whisked away from us. The next person he spoke to had a huge notepad of questions and JOTV berated me for being unprofessional, so the next time Tommy came in alone, I beckoned him over. I said I had some questions and he very politely took my notepad off me and started reading them (so thank god I didn't write anything offensive).
And here's the interview (I was trying to think of funny Smash Hits-style questions, but failed miserably):
What have you got on your rider? He would have pizza and beer, but he doesn't have one.
Who are your favourite bands? Scottish ones especially Frightened Rabbit (I fancy listening to these). I was pressing him on if he liked Bright Eyes as I think they have a similar sound and he said he had the live album, which is one step up from JOTV who just has the Christmas album (why oh why?!)
What TV do you like? I asked him this one for us! For the good of the blog. He said he liked the Mighty Boosh and Blackadder. He said more, but I wrote nothing down, and I forgot the rest (listen, I'm ill!) I asked him if he liked the X Factor and he said he hated Alexandra's Hallelujah (a popular feeling at present). Finally he was frowning at the last question on my pad, going 'what's that?' My final question was 'What do you think about the great lightbulb revolt?' as I had been mildly amused by reports of old people struggling to read by the harsh, buzzing, stinky light of the new energy efficient lightbulbs. Tommy concluded that he was pro-the new bulbs. I said, 'what if old people don't know how to use them because they get confused easily?' and he said, 'fuck 'em.' Or I might have said this, but he definitely agreed. It's all a bit hazy without a dictaphone. Anyway; that was all clearly very exciting but onto the gig!
Tommy came on at 11. I had a KILLER migraine, so if he could take my mind of that, then I was a fan. I thought his first songs all sounded quite short; but halfway through the set they seemed more fully-formed. I liked the lyrics, 'I dropped my words on the floor, can you pick them up for me?' Again, it's quite abstract and Conor Oberst-like (it reminds me of 'thought the kettle was a train/ thought that Monday was a doorframe' lyric off the solo Conor album).
The second half of the set was really good, he played 'Jackets', 'I Don't Like Coffee' (JOTV's pick) and 'Give me a call' my favourite, because, er, it's the best one. Tommy did really well to hold a pretentious London crowd's attention with just him, a cardigan and a guitar; no band at all. He told me it was his first gig in Camden, and the venue was about the opposite of the sweaty, jostling, fire-hazardy feeling you get squashed up inside the Barfly. But even without that sort of appealing gig-glue, he created his own atmosphere with his lyrics and his voice alone. I really like it when he pushes his voice as far as it can go. I like voices that almost make people wince; because there's truth in it. The kind of truth you don't ever get on X Factor.
It was really good to find myself entirely out of my comfort zone like this; I'm the least schmoozey, fan-ey, wanting-to-go-out-and-meet-people person in the world, so I think it was healthy for me to force myself into that situation. I am really looking forward to Orange Unsigned Act this week, any spare tickets going?! Haha. Maybe this schmoozing's alright after all. Vote Tommy, he is the best raw talent of the bunch. Oh yeah; and here's my super-high quality video evidence of proceedings, enjoy:

Gig: Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band (Electric Ballroom, Camden)

So here I am, walking past a queue of people seemingly no taller than five foot (and I aint MUCH taller), to see screamy-turned-country-cokehead-genius-and-isn’t-he-cute!- Conor Oberst. The crowd does not match the music on offer tonight. But these are eyelinered teenagers who fell in love with The Calendar Hung Itself (that was the first Bright Eyes song I ever heard) and Lover I Don’t have to Love (if you’re younger).
Why do we stick by Conor as he goes from brain-bleedingly vital (Desaparecidos) and downright genius (Letting Off The Happiness/ Fevers & Mirrors/ Lifted/ Digital Ash) to generic country bumpkin? Because look how many albums WERE downright genius. How can you fall out of love with someone who gave you so much? I am a loyal little fucker and he has done more for me than 99.9% of people on this planet just by existing.
And so I took my place at the front of the barrier amongst the crowd who were 80% female and 80% under 20. I might be older, but I’m the same age as Conor. He speaks for me as well.
The support band were a bit peculiar, a Welsh David Icke lookalike and a guitar player who would have made a rabbit in the headlights look like it was sitting on a sun-lounger sipping a cocktail. But my general feeling was, it could have been a lot worse.
I had reasonably low expectations for the gig; I was fully expecting it to be a full on country-fest, which it was to an extent, but it seemed to work well in it’s own bubble. You just have to push the back catalogue out of your head and appreciate this for what it is. I saw quite a chunk of Conor at Reading on BBC3 and I thought it was OK, but it was much better when you were there (plus he didn’t look quite so much like he was in fancy dress).
Conor and The Mystic Valley Band came on in a collection of puke-coloured shirts. Conor later said they were ‘ill’; I think ‘drunk’ was more the word he was after. The guitar player looked like he was struggling to stand and Conor later said it was because he’d dropped acid right before the show; if that was the case, he did a sterling job.
I’m quite fond of the Conor Solo album anyway, but it seemed more alive on a stage, less mellow and like it was meant to be heard this way. The stripped down numbers like Lenders in the Temple and Milk Thistle were lush and I thought Conor’s voice sounded really good, especially as he seemed to have a sore throat. The lighting was really cool at times I thought and they did one song that I have an acoustic version of that they really rocked up and it sounded brilliant (I don’t know the name of it- they did it at the BBC session and it says untitled!)
Minor gripes; I don’t think there was one member of the band that didn’t sing a song (even the bloody drummer sang one!) which seems a bit of a waste; like getting some gormless ballboy to play a set at Wimbledon whilst Nadal sits drinking some barley water and staring into space. Actually those songs were OK, and the covers, and I thought the whole set was pretty good (oh OK they pushed it a bit at the encore, but the very last song made up for it.)
I do just enjoy watching Conor, I like watching him fall apart a bit, and stumble round, and I especially like it when he SCREAMS. The final song (which I have discovered is called Breezy) saw Conor take to the keyboards, for this ballady number, then halfway through the song kicked in (I Believe in Symmetry style!) and there was a fair amount of shouting. It felt like a moment. It was an absolutely brilliant song and I want it now!
I actually thought him playing no Bright Eyes tonight was just right. I’m sure some eyelinered teens will have been disappointed. But I’m older. I’ve seen him on five or six tours now. They just should have been born earlier!
PS. I think Conor will be our Madonna and go a bit pop/ dancey next. I’m hoping anyway.