stic
SetAct 1: DJ set by Chris Ronco
Act 2: Acoustic
Set
Interval
Act 3: Electric Set (not in order)
Review by Matt
After
a long round trip via Cardiff I arrived in the big lights to sample my first
London gig - Woo! A quick jaunt on the underground brought us to the venue which
in a previous life was a debating hall or something. (it also had various slogans
around the place that the manics would be proud of) Taking up on the excellent
2 for the price of 1 T-shirt offer we entered the main hall. Then, the first
horror caught us - Chairs! Surely they were not expecting us to sit down through
a Gorky's concert were they?? We found some vacant seats up towards the front
and sat down to enjoy the tunes put on by guest DJ Chris Ronco (a strange mix
of songs of which I only recognised a few). This gave us a chance to read the
special programs with mini biographies and more.
It
wasn't long GZM took to the stage and after a few line-up changes for the first
songs we were introduced to the full Mynci 2000. This included the normal Gorky
posse + long time Gorky friend Rhodri Puw. Special guests were Ashley Cooke
(from the group Derrero) who lended his services to guitar and backing vocals
and Gorwel Owen (legendary producer of GZM`s last 3 albums and SFA's Radiator
album) who helped out with keyboard duties. This all added up to produce a great
sound that equals what they had before John left. The first set was an acoustic
sit-down fair and included tracks from the new album, Bwyd Tyme and Tatay. We
were also treated to some great b-sides in the shape of Tears In Disguise and
the fantastic No One Looked Around. They also played a new song (which I think
is called How I Long To Taste..... I don`t know what comes after taste). During
the concert and sitting in the "royal" box there were various members
of SFA watching GZM in action.
After
the set there was a 30min interval before the second "electric set".
During this you could sense an increasing unease of having to sit though the
other set with people sitting on the floor between the stage and the first row
of seats. Thankfully when Gorky's entered the stage Euros invited everyone to
stand up and move up to the stage. This was a a cue for us to race forwards
to gain prime positions. The second set started at a fast pace and never let
up for a second and was a pure dance zone. Songs mainly came from the last 3
albums apart from Y Ffored Oren. After Humming Song they went off to a massive
round of applause and cheering and everyone was in agreement that we wanted
more and were not disappointed as they returned to give us the B-side Johny
Cash Lawsuit Song and then Let's Get Together. Again there was a bout of people
requesting songs to be played but only one person managed to get the last song
right. Then it was all over and so began my on going quest of getting my hands
on a set list. It looked like I had missed out again but I spotted one that
had been missed and got my hands on it! The evidence of this is above! We then
travelled back to the station to catch the last train back to Cardiff and catch
some sleep on the journey. This is one of the best post-John gigs and was on
a par with some of the great gig I`ve seen them play before. The crowd was realy
responsive and enjoyed the second set especially. It seemed such a short night
and left you feeling you wanted more although the combined set was much longer
than what they normally play. I had a fantastic time and it was well worth the
long journey it took to see them.
Review By Ceri
When
an e-mail dropped into my inbox one morning announcing this tour I knew I *had*
to go. However problems with trains persisted for two weeks until we finally
established that one really existed and we could get home (well home for me).
Two whole Gorkys sets - no need to put up with any average support band. So
in the refined setting of Conway Hall we took our seats and read the wonderfully
funny programme and worried about trains.
Sitting
down through a gig was very strange, but worked in this context. The set was
gorgeous with some lovely knew songs, a few surprising old ones which sounded
remarkably good in this format and (my highlight) Faraway Eyes. It was a good
idea for a band with quite so many hidden gems to split up the set in this way
and it was absolutely fabulous to chill out to the music.
The
other advantage was clear when it came to them "standing up to play". After
rushing to the front with the rest of the hordes, we were treated to a really
"up" set. If I've had one criticism of Gorkys shows in the past (and believe
me my total dedication to the cause doesn't prevent me regularly criticising
their live set) its that the show hasn't hung very well together - but the addition
of a acoustic set meant that they were forced to play their fast numbers and
play them they did. Matt already given the list, and as you can imagine we made
the most of it. No wonder they weren't able to escape without an encore, which
was absolutely superb and timed nicely for us to get to Paddington - how considerate
of them.
Whilst I haven't seem Gorkys as often as Matt, this was I feel the best performance I've ever seen, and for once I had no criticisms over the choice and ordering of songs. This was Gorkys at their sublime, brilliant. marvellous best.