Garvey spreads his wings at the ELBOW
Friday night of The Music In My Head Festival in The Hague saw ELBOW as the headliners. Now usually I would take offense, simply on principle to any band that sets it self up under one name and then focuses the spot light on one member so blindingly. But ELBOW is the exception because Guy Garvey really is their modern day Freddy Mercury armed with a walking stick instead of a rhythm stick and I’m happy for him to be there. Before I get too carried away I should acknowledge that perhaps I elevate his iconic status beyond its true place when you consider how emotionless and well … Mancunian, the rest of the band is.
I once heard Garvey described as having “The voice of an angel and the face of brickie” which is something I can complete agree with, on accasion I worry that in fact that amount of facial hair could provide dangerous levels of feedback all on its own. While he does indeed look like a shabby cigarette addicted badger, the beard adds credibility to his image of being the ELBOW messiah. For the entire set he glued himself to a bar stool, had all his guitars brought to his hand and even moved the drum kit stage right in order to not distract the audiances’ gaze from the halo he clearly thinks encircles his greasy locks.
(The story behind his walking stick and his apparent magnestism towards his bar stool is that he fell over and hurt his leg while drunk. Frankly I don’t accept this as a good excuse for his perpetual inertia. One week after their bus crash in 2002 the Strokes performed a typically high octaine set at Reading Festival plus one neck brace for Casablancas and no less jumping around than usual.)
Ultimately Garvey’s appearance makes no odds for me with regard to the overall performance; you really can stand there and let that voice of his wash over you like a cool breeze. The music they create really is a little eden umong the rock masses. A good deal of the show was spent bringing out the material for their new album and both “Mexican Standoff” and “Fugitive Motel” were roundly received. Despite this clearly being a gig for “Leaders of the Free World” they weren’t going to let anyone leave dissapointed and if Newborn had been recorded it could well have been enough to rival Grace Under Pressure featuring the mixed voices of the Glastonbury Royal Choir.
Garvey really is, and purely based on artistic contribution deserves to be, the centre piece here; as the singer of “Stillwater” said “I really make a connection man”. This is just what he does by keeping his speeches witty enough to make you laugh but not memorable enough to make you leave thinking “God I wish he had shut up and just played”. I think the only piece of criticism I can level at Garvey was regarding his comment about “I am kloot” where he said “oh they are good arent they” (Mancunian accent obligatory). Yes Guy well you would say that now wouldn’t you because you are producing their album!
All in all Garvey and his backing band were sublime, they are a band who will live and die by that voice. Long live ELBOW.
I once heard Garvey described as having “The voice of an angel and the face of brickie” which is something I can complete agree with, on accasion I worry that in fact that amount of facial hair could provide dangerous levels of feedback all on its own. While he does indeed look like a shabby cigarette addicted badger, the beard adds credibility to his image of being the ELBOW messiah. For the entire set he glued himself to a bar stool, had all his guitars brought to his hand and even moved the drum kit stage right in order to not distract the audiances’ gaze from the halo he clearly thinks encircles his greasy locks.
(The story behind his walking stick and his apparent magnestism towards his bar stool is that he fell over and hurt his leg while drunk. Frankly I don’t accept this as a good excuse for his perpetual inertia. One week after their bus crash in 2002 the Strokes performed a typically high octaine set at Reading Festival plus one neck brace for Casablancas and no less jumping around than usual.)
Ultimately Garvey’s appearance makes no odds for me with regard to the overall performance; you really can stand there and let that voice of his wash over you like a cool breeze. The music they create really is a little eden umong the rock masses. A good deal of the show was spent bringing out the material for their new album and both “Mexican Standoff” and “Fugitive Motel” were roundly received. Despite this clearly being a gig for “Leaders of the Free World” they weren’t going to let anyone leave dissapointed and if Newborn had been recorded it could well have been enough to rival Grace Under Pressure featuring the mixed voices of the Glastonbury Royal Choir.
Garvey really is, and purely based on artistic contribution deserves to be, the centre piece here; as the singer of “Stillwater” said “I really make a connection man”. This is just what he does by keeping his speeches witty enough to make you laugh but not memorable enough to make you leave thinking “God I wish he had shut up and just played”. I think the only piece of criticism I can level at Garvey was regarding his comment about “I am kloot” where he said “oh they are good arent they” (Mancunian accent obligatory). Yes Guy well you would say that now wouldn’t you because you are producing their album!
All in all Garvey and his backing band were sublime, they are a band who will live and die by that voice. Long live ELBOW.
posted by Ryan Fender at 15:21
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home