Von Südenfed – Heaven, London, Thursday, 18th October 2007

Got there in time to hear Chrome Hoof (fun, like Magma on a good day) followed by a suspiciously Fall-tribute-sounding band. Hey ho.

It was a shame Von Sudenfed weren't as loud as the DJ that preceded them.

One of MES's microphones didn't really work, which gave people the chance to enjoy his fiddling-about-with-the mic routine; Mouse on Mars gave it their all but I personally felt I was watching a parody of the Great MES occasionally yelling over the Daft-Punk beats. I hope he and they enjoyed it, and wonder what any other Fall fans present thought about it, as there appeared to be quite a few?

Good night. From Serious Brainskin onwards was incredible.

Also: was it just me or did MES say "I'm off my head on skunk" during Serious Brainskin? The "No trumping onstage bit" was hilarious, too.

Or maybe snuff? He was definitely snorting something. Can you snort skunk?

Suprised at the lack of comments on the show.

In no particular order:

Speech Contamination/German Fear of Osterreich > Rhinohead > Fledermaus Can't Get Enough > Serious Brainskin > Family Feud > Flooded > The Young the Faceless and the Codes > That Sound Wiped > (ENCORE) Slow Down Ronnie?

Tickets £20 on door. Pint of Carlsberg £3.80.

A somewhat disappointing show in this reviewers opinion. There was knob twiddling, microphone slinging, amusing banter and various other MES exploits but there wasn't much else. Perhaps I may have mistakenly attended the Von Sudenfed karaoke night. The 'laptop musicians thing' - although they certainly seemed to be getting into it I found it hard to engage with their 'performance'. I sort of presumed/hoped MES would resolve that issue but with microphone problems or being just too low in the mix it didn't always work for me. But perhaps I'm also being a little harsh - Family Feud was excellent and I loved the repetitious self-proclaiment of "I am the great M.E.S". As someone else commented things steadily improved as the night wore on but it was all over within the hour. Tromatic Reflexxions (in my opinion) is probably one of the best records MES has been involved with since Country on the Click so for me it was just a shame the record didn't transpire into a memorable live performance. I'd be interested to hear other peoples comments on the show.

More comments, you say? Here we are then ....

Support act which generated, within my small coterie, a drizzle of hollow, empty, silent laughter - derivative stodge delivered with the perfunctory, too-cool cynicism of the industry-infused old lag.

The volume did dip when VS took the stage, and the opening couple of tracks were distinctly shaky and watery. It improved as the night went on, but I'd say only Family Feud was anything better than good.

There were some pleasantly curious noises, but there's a certain something that's missing. It's pretty energetic as laptop music goes, but it lacks some spontaneity, swing, and snap - it all sounds as if it's being performed from behind glass, with a limit on the amount that the sound can expand, and the amount of aggression that can be created. I guess it doesn't feel right, for either the heart or the hips, for beats to be always landing exactly where they should. The telling sign was that my wife hardly danced at all.

MES did all the usual to please the eccentric-celeb-box-tickers.

They were probably onstage for about the right length of time. Any more would have been too much.

I thought the Mouse on Mars guys were excellent. If you accept that live mixing isn't as exciting as a live band (which I don't) they were as good as I've seen in comparison to Chemical Bros, Daft Punk, Orbital etc.

I think at times they got into a great groove. As for the 'great MES' he was at times brilliant, funny, annoying and embarassing. At times he added to the music and at times his knob twiddling, microphone problems and wad of paper messed things up.

The Mouse on Mars guys were very tolerant !!

Glad I went, so was my mate

i did try and warn you
why follow mes around
it's like following a actor around in a bad production

Wasn't going to post, but have been provoked.

In the words of one of our group - 'Fabric was excellent, but that was something else.'

Stage time together has repaid the music tenfold.

From the beginning when Speech Contamination cranked up, and Smith came on and cast forth the utterance 'DEUTSCH FEAR! DEUTSCH FEAR!' which was then looped back into the music, to the end, when Smith beckoned a long arm out of the dressing room to haul Andi and Jan back in, massive grin on his face, as a cacaphony of white washing machine noise churned round on a loop, this gig gripped, dilated, stopped, started and reached periods of great intensity - particularly during Family Feud.

What was marvellous was way everything would break down to just a couple of stuttering bleeps, before building up again. It was alternately sparse and dense, with Smith periodically smearing wails over the top, delivering military commands, shifting personas (as I say, Family Feud was particularly good with its cat-call of 'You imitate! You imitate, Andi!' delivered off stage, then looped into the music.

It's this integration of Smith's into the music, so he is able to duet with himself, that made a lot of the gig so good. Even the middle-aged security guard in the high-vis vest was clapping along to a particularly rumbustious Duckrog mixed up with Slow Down Ronnie lyrics.

And it's so goddam PLAYFUL - everyone clearly having fun.

In its violent abstractions and collisions it on occasion felt like you were listening to the sound of the future, which is presumably why people in patterned tank tops (25 years behind Smith) and sticky up hair with surly girlfriends shook their heads either disappointedly or in disbelief and edged their way out.

It was a cacophonous entropic mess, thank God, and a couple of times it threatened to drift into jam session mode, but like apparently fallow periods of Test cricket, this merely augered imminent excitement.

Rhinohead was rather weaker than at Fabric.

But I was still very fascinated.

Felix

First time I've ever eaten an ice-lolly at a gig.

B-

Weren't they dead expensive?

Yep, best proof this is again cutting edge. NOT mind you Mark OR Mouse on Mars. It's all in the combination. I hope they come here and make up for the pukkelpop gig soon.

Oh yes, seeing the grin on his face was a highlight of the evening - I've never seen a security person look anything less than studiedly indifferent or frowning to hide his confusion.

Weren't they dead expensive?

£1.50 for a Zoom from the cafe isn't that bad when the staff at the main bar manage to look through you for a full 20 minutes.

Thanks for trying to warn me johnnymills. I don't think we've met. But what I will do is reprint what I said in my initial post:

Tromatic Reflexxions (in my opinion) is probably one of the best records MES has been involved with since Country on the Click so for me it was just a shame the record didn't transpire into a memorable live performance.[I]

Weren't they dead expensive?

£1.50 for a Zoom from the cafe isn't that bad when the staff at the main bar manage to look through you for a full 20 minutes.

The small semi-ciruclar bar, with two people handing out warm cans of beer for colossal lolly and apparently serving the whole of that section of the club was a fucking joke.

Felix

You havent kidnapped Hanley have you

But the smell around that area was... enchanting.

You havent kidnapped Hanley have you

i think he will be resurrected for galtymore

Fuck what the rest of you said, this is the review I trust. And let me add I don't much care for much of the record.


It seems Felix became one with the weirdness, as opposed to waiting to be amused. I get the palpable, albeit distant, sense that the lads were having a time with it, and attention beyond a storming fist and a sense of entitlement was required. But let me add, I don't really know...


Wish I was there to know, but alas...

It was dance music and eminently danceable so I was glad I was up near the front where some people were actually making an effort. As for the rest of the fairly packed gathering, they mostly seemed to be standing gawping as if they were waiting to witness some spectacle like the audience at the arena of ancient Rome. Or maybe they just wanted to say they'd been in the presence of MES...yet again. Got the impression this was pissing him off too as I think I caught the line "No dancing...and no fighting; it's London..."

Already a convert to XX Teens (or Xerox Teens, whatever) from their regular promo spots on MTV2's 120 Minutes so I wasn't disappointed on that score either.

I'm pretty sure he said "No farting"


Time's a funny thing, the more it passes the better this gig gets, and I confess I was a backroom gawper for most of it, with my knees an everything, but the last 15 minutes down the front were ace - it's always the way.

Yeah, it was pretty dark in there. Couldn't really see MES facial expressions that well. The service at the bar was poor. The encore of Slow Down Ronnie was the highlight for me.

Fuck what the rest of you said, this is the review I trust. And let me add I don't much care for much of the record.


It seems Felix became one with the weirdness, as opposed to waiting to be amused. I get the palpable, albeit distant, sense that the lads were having a time with it, and attention beyond a storming fist and a sense of entitlement was required. But let me add, I don't really know...


Wish I was there to know, but alas...

trust!!!

Gig of the year (so far) for me. Knocked Pram, who I saw in Brum a few days before, into a cocked hat and they were good.

I was shaking my bacon for most of it despite being excessively tired. The groove was the thing that MoM kept going even when it seemed to have descended into random bleeps, they always kicked back in on the button. MES and everyone else looked to be having great fun and I just enjoyed every minute of it.

The only one negative note about the performance is that sometimes it strayed towards prog dance territory. A minor quibble.

The less said about the attitude of the venue the better. What a sh!t3h0l3!