October 2007 Archives

At the Electric Proms gig we attended at Roundhouse in Camden on Saturday.

Throat infection + cold Creme Soda from South African shop = bliss.

The times, they are a-changing, round here in casa del Natalie-and-Ian... more on that later. Right now, the synopsis of the first of four up-coming gigs that we are lucky enough to be attending in the near future.

Maximo Park at Carling Academy Brixton - supported by the Good Shoes, and Theoretical Girl and The Equations.

I bought these tickets as part of Ian's birthday gift, as I needed a cool co-present for the Wii and t-shirt I'd got him, and as we've both been listening to a fair amount of Maximo Park of late I thought it would be a good idea. He was chuffed, ace.

We met at the station in Brixton, expecting there to already be a massive queue (we had learned from the Deathcab gig) but surprisingly, there was no snaking around the block at 6:30pm - shocker. We got in, laughed at our mid-twenties selves for standing by the metal barrier that was furthest back in the venue (to put our coats over, balance drinks on, support our aging hips) and enjoyed the two support acts. Then, as the place was filling up, who should decide to stand in front of the barrier but Gargantua and Very Tall D-Bag (a pic of whom can be seen in my flickr stream).

At first, they didn't have these names, they were simply the two tallest people at the gig who decided to stand RIGHT in front of us just before the main gig. Ian and I umm'ed and aah'ed about saying anything - we don't like to persecute tall people, and man, they were TALL - but we thought we'd appeal to the common decency and humour in these tall folks and ask them politely if they wouldn't mind standing somewhere else, as we couldn't see anything of the stage beyond them.

Ian later told me that he'd honestly not entertained the idea, at all, that they would conceivably say no. Which they did. Effing rudely. My exact words of "I'm sorry, but we have been standing here since 7 o clock and we really can't see anything at all", were met with "Move then." and the two Tallest Assholes in History turning their backs on us. I don't know if I can convey how rude they were, and frankly just remembering this is annoying me, but as shock truned to disbelief turned to anger, I realised that they were just not operating on a basis of consideration. We stayed put, as did they, and while I occassionally caught a glimpse when the horse faced tall girl danced her awkward dance, the gig was basically a write-off.

Maybe I actually AM too old for this? And we still have 3 gigs to go? Was I just over-sensitive?

We enjoyed the bits of the show that we saw. It was weird because earlier on, outside, some girls had been belting out Maximo Park songs in the queue ahead of us, and when I commented that these screeching girls were dressed and acting like "chav indie kids", which we then christened as "chindie", Ian had remarked that the girls stood out because they were wailing and boozing outside the venue, unlike your usual indie music fan, who is polite, friendly, and is just there to hear a great band and have a great time. Those girls, and the two Green Giants in front of us, just did not fit that description at all.

Well, we ended up leaving slightly early, which was just as well as we unwittingly caught the last Victoria line train up into central. A bit of an ok night after all, but definitely some room for improvement!

As for the changes, Ian and I get the keys to our new place on Thursday. Last Friday night, staying in, was, we realised, our last Friday in the Deptford flat. It feels weird, and all too real now. We've bought a Victorian terrace maisonette, with old pipes and no bed and no fridge and no couch and no washing machine and no ANYTHING, and it's scary as much as it is awesome.