Fugly, a band from Porto had the ungrateful task of being Primal Scream’s opening act. Ungrateful because being opening for Bobby Gillespie’s and Andrew Innes’ band is, not also daunting, but requires a band capable of, if not matching, at least complementary to Primal Scream.
It is hard to say if Fugly are, or aren’t, a good life band. The sound was too loud and too high pitched to allow for clear judgement. They have energy and drive, but it was was difficult to access more.
If how good a concert is can be measured by how much the reviewer and audience sweat and danced, Primal Scream were off the chart. If not, they still were off the chart.
Had seen them before at festivals, the experience is quite difference in a venue, especially one like Hard Club’s Sala 1.
The intensity is the same, but the closeness and confinement make it for a far richer, enjoyable and mind blowing happening.
On tour to promote Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll, The Singles Volumes 1 and 2, quite a comprehensive singles collection, Primal Scream set was just that, the singles, played loud, clear, with joy, fun and colour and, of course, maximumrock’n’roll.
From Velocity Girl to Miss Lucifer, through Swastica Eyes, delivered with an overload of strobes and colourful flashing lights adding to the song’s insane ambient; Higher Than the Sun, during which we were floating in space; Kowalsky and Kill All Hippies one after the other in a maddening, vibrant, sequence again punctuated by intense light flashes to Loaded, another, lets go travel to lands far, far away moment and pretty much every conceivable single the band has released.
Save for Come Together, Jailbird and Rocks, reserved for the encore. By come together the room that has been literally shaking and vibrating for a while, blew into an even intenser dance and mutual adoration frenzy. The band, especially Gillespie, feeds off the audience as much as the audience feeds of them and him.
Concious of the fact that fans make, or break, a band, the band, and especially Bobby play to, and for, themselves and the love of music, but also to the gallery.
It is only logical. No band exists without its audience. After all, people go to concerts because they love the music and, often, because they want to see a good show that for an hour or so makes them forget their daily life.
A consummate showman, Bobby Gillespie knows it – (so does Andrew Innes, but Innes is smart enough to let the singer shine, coming to the front of the stage at times striking poses with his guitar and allowing the audience to capture him with their mobiles)-, loves the cameras and the audience as much as they love him.
Primal Scream both know all the tricks to rapture an audience as well as keep embodying a genuine love of music and displaying authenticity.
Last, but not least, Bobby Gillespie sartorial choice was on point. Sharp magenta (or was it pinkish-redish-mauve?) suit, red shirt, pink shoes.
words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Raquel Pinheiro
Mick Harvey performed last Saturday night at room 2 of Casa da Música, Porto. Currently on a European tour (called Mick Harvey plays Serge Gainsbourg), the musician’s mission is to live broadcast his four solo works, started in 1995, about the songs of French musician and agent provocateur, Serge Gainsbourg.
Considering that Intoxicated Man (1995), Pink Elephants (1997), Delirium Tremens (2016) and Intoxicated Women (2017) were spread in time over 22 years, one conclude that this is a breathtaking work of remarkable quality in the re-adaptation of another artist’s work into English. Such because it is difficult to translate the universe of Gainsbourg’s lyrics into English and even more troubling to risk singing them in this context. But, Mick Harvey proved that it is not an impossible task, and somehow managed to overcome the challenge and create something that by being unique and captivating, generates interest. Not that Mick Harvey needed it for his career, as his original work is also of the highest quality, but with Gainsbourg’s songs he adds another dimension to his prolific career (I venture, without having counted them that Mick Harvey will have more songs than those of Nick Cave’s entire career to date).
The former The Birthday Party and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have always handpicked the musicians that accompany him, both in record and live. The band that performed on Saturday’s rainy night reflected it, with some of the best heavyweights of today, within more alternative and noir, but not only. J.P. Shilo, James Johnston and Lawrence Edward Mullins showcase it. From the start, it was a winner.
In a strictly musical area of the show, I will say that, by the selection of played songs, it is obvious that the best ones are those of the first album, Intoxicated Man. Maybe because it was also at that early stage of the project that Harvey summed up the best songs of French musician, continuing throughout the years with the others. However, it would be unfair to say that the first album alone would define all the subsequent ones. Not quite so, but such possibility of interpretation exists.
I saw Mick Harvey in 2015, in Ílhavo, precisely with the same live performance mode of this project of his and there was no significant change in regard to Saturday. That is, the tone of concert is the appreciation of music for the sake of music, without major investments in other devices that can distract the audience from the songs played very carefully and disciplined, without mistakes or great reveries. Just as we heard them on record, with everything, including the string arrangements, with four violinists on stage.
Without surprises in such regard, this time what stood out was the realization that much of the interest of the concert laid in the young singer Xanthe Waite (of the Australian band Primo !, who is also Harvey’s niece), who wielding her white Squier Mustang, and with her voice, at times sexy, at times angelic and tender (drawing a veil over Anita Lane), enchanted a large tportion of the show, becoming, without a doubt the center of great part of of the attention, sharing only that time and space during the remarkable moments when dueting and singing backing vocals with Theoriste Sundown Shilo – photographer and video maker of some of Mick Harvey’s and JP Shilo’s work -, that would come up on stage on occasion to sing on some songs.
Mick Harvey has a very professional and sincere stance, from time to time introducing some songs, telling a few stories in connivance with an audience at his feet repleying with humor to someone in the audience, who always responded in dismay when the musician referred that the next song was about a failed marital relationship. He has a good sense of humor, playing with some of the choruses of a song, forgetting which one, but saying that the first chorus is the same as the second, like in a Ramones’ song, or praising a member of the audience wearing a David Bowie‘s T-shirt, which lead him to rehearse Ziggy Stardust’s opening. Mick Harvey knows that he is a charismatic entertainer, and in that field he does not give in or capitulates.
If there were no major surprises where it come to the songs selection, all played exquisitely, the great musical moment was precisely the last one, played on the encore calle L’Invisage (a cover of French singer Alain Bashung, who also collaborated with Serge Gainsbourg).
It was a special moment different from the whole show, unlike the usual 3-4 minutes of the other songs, it took 8 minutes and condensed a magnificent psychedelic-environmental approach (very krautrock), and, once more, showed what an excellent guitarist and multi-instrumentalist JP Shilo is. An unforgettable moment, retained for future memory, from the one that, by far, I consider to be the best musician of the current Melbourne’s alternative music scene.
In a nutshell and managing a selfish manifesto of my ideals, I want to mention that Mick Harvey is one of the GREATS in the history of rock’n’roll, an exceptional and decisive musician in my musical culture. He was part of The Birthday Party, one of the three most influential and defining bands of my life and of the path I’ve traveled to date (the other two are The Ramones and The Sex Pistols). He was part of the best years of the Bad Seeds and his music is practically in everything I usually listen to, either by simple influence or because I always listen over and over to exhaustion, which is important and relevant and saves me day and night.
His sound is omnipresent in my life; it has to do with me, as simple as that. It also works whenever I see him live, a way of appreciating the other musicians in his band. It was through him (and the great Rowland S. Howard) that I discovered J.P. Shilo’s fabulous Hungry Ghosts Is is very rewarding for those like me who are constantly looking for new quality things in the harsh world of alternative music. This time I was also able to meet Tobby Dammit [ Lawrence Edward Mullins], his drummer. He was Iggy Pop’s drummer in 1991 during the concert I consider to be the best of my life to date. That’s why Mick Harvey doesn’t just do good things, he directs and delivers them through others. That is also why he is huge.
Mick Harvey apresentou-se na noite de sábado passado, na sala 2 da Casa da Música, no Porto. Atualmente em tour europeia (denominada Mick Harvey plays Serge Gainsbourg), o músico tem como missão divulgar, ao vivo, os seus quatro trabalhos a solo, iniciados em 1995, sobre as canções do músico e agent provocateur francês, Serge Gainsbourg.
Se considerarmos que Intoxicated Man (1995), Pink Elephants (1997), Delirium Tremens (2016) e Intoxicated Women (2017) foram realizados de forma espaçada ao longo de 22 anos, concluímos então que é um trabalho de grande fôlego e de qualidade notável na readaptação de uma obra de um outro artista para a língua inglesa. Isto porque é difícil a tarefa de traduzir para inglês as letras do universo de Gainsbourg e mais atribulado ainda a de arriscar o canto das mesmas nesse contexto. Mas Mick Harvey provou que essa não é tarefa impossível, e de alguma forma, conseguiu através deste seu desafio, criar algo que gera interesse, por ser singular e cativante. Não que Mick Harvey necessitasse de tal para a sua carreira, pois o seu trabalho de originais é também de elevada qualidade, mas com os temas de Gainsbourg acrescenta uma outra dimensão ao seu prolífico percurso (arrisco, sem ter feito contas precisas, que Mick Harvey terá mais canções que os de toda a carreira de Nick Cave, até esta data).
O ex-The Birthday Party e ex-Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds sempre escolheu a dedo os músicos de que se faz acompanhar, tanto a nível discográfico, como em concerto. A banda que atuou na noite chuvosa de sábado à noite era reflexo disso, contando com alguns pesos-pesados do que de melhor existe na atualidade, dentro da música de pendor mais alternativo e noir, mas não só. J.P. Shilo, James Johnston e Lawrence Edward Mullins são exemplos disso mesmo. Este era já à partida, um concerto ganho.
No campo estritamente musical deste espetáculo, direi que, pela seleção dos temas interpretados, resulta óbvio que os melhores temas são os que constam do primeiro álbum Intoxicated Man. Talvez porque também foi nesse momento inicial do projeto que Harvey resumiu o melhor dos temas do músico francês, continuando nos anos seguintes com os restantes. Seria injusto, porém, afirmar que só com o primeiro álbum já se definiriam todos os outros trabalhos seguintes. Não é bem assim, mas essa possibilidade de interpretação existe.
Em 2015, vi precisamente Mick Harvey no mesmo registo de apresentação ao vivo deste seu projeto, num concerto em Ílhavo, Aveiro, e não existiu em relação a este de sábado qualquer alteração significativa em termos de espetáculo. Ou seja, o registo de concerto é o de valorização da música pela música, sem grandes investimentos em outros expedientes que possam distrair o espetador das canções que são interpretadas de forma muito atenta e disciplinada, sem erros ou grandes devaneios. Tal e qual como ouvimos em disco, e com tudo incluído, inclusive os arranjos de cordas, com quatro violinistas em palco.
Não havendo surpresas neste aspeto, ressaltou desta vez a perceção de que muito do interesse deste concerto residiu na jovem vocalista Xanthe Waite (da banda australiana Primo! e que é também sobrinha de Harvey), que empunhando a sua Mustang Squier branca, e com a sua voz, ora sexy, ora angelical e enternecedora (fazendo esquecer Anita Lane), encantou os presentes, tornando-se indesmentivelmente o centro de muita da atenção, partilhando apenas esse tempo e espaço, nos momentos marcantes em que fez dueto de voz e coro com Theoriste Sundown Shilo, esta música, fotógrafa e videasta de algum do trabalho de Mick Harvey e J.P. Shilo, e que subiu a espaços ao palco, para algumas canções.
Mick Harvey tem uma postura que é muito profissional e sincera, apresentando de tempos a tempos alguns dos temas, contando uma ou outra história em cumplicidade com o público rendido e respondendo com humor a alguém da assistência, que sempre lhe respondia em desalento, quando o músico referia que o próximo tema era (mais uma vez), sobre uma relação conjugal falhada. Tem um bom sentido de humor, brincando com alguns dos refrões de um tema, esquecendo-se qual, mas dizendo que o primeiro refrão é igual ao segundo, como numa música dos Ramones, ou elogiando um membro do público que envergava uma t-shirt do David Bowie, o que fez com que ensaiasse a entrada do Ziggy Stardust. Mick Harvey sabe que é um entertainer com carisma, e nesse campo não cede nem capitula.
Se não houve grandes surpresas na seleção das canções, interpretadas todas de forma primorosa, o grande momento musical foi precisamente o último tema, já executado em modo de encore, do seu nome J’Envisage (sendo uma cover de Alain Bashung, cantor francês, que colaborou também com Serge Gainsbourg).
Foi um momento especial esse e diferenciador em relação a todo o espetáculo, porque ao contrário dos habituais 3-4 minutos de duração das outras canções, este perfez 8 minutos e condensa uma magnífica abordagem psicadélica-ambiental (muito krautrock), e demonstrou mais uma vez o excelente guitarrista e multi-instrumentista que é J.P. Shilo, num momento inesquecível, retido para minha memória futura, daquele que considero ser, de longe, o melhor músico da atualidade da cena musical alternativa de Melbourne.
Em jeito de conclusão e na gestão de um manifesto egoísta dos meus ideais, quero referir que Mick Harvey é um dos GRANDES da história do rock’n’roll, um músico excepcional e determinante na minha cultura musical. Fez parte dos The Birthday Party, uma das três bandas mais influentes e determinantes no caminho que percorri até hoje (as outras duas são os Ramones e os Sex Pistols).
Fez parte dos melhores anos dos Bad Seeds e a sua música está praticamente em tudo que ouço habitualmente, quer por simples influência, quer porque volto sempre a escutar até à exaustão o que é importante e relevante, e que me salva os dias e as noites. O seu som é omnipresente na minha vida; tem a ver comigo, é tão simples quanto isso. Também resulta, sempre que o vejo ao vivo, numa oportunidade rara de apreciar os seus outros músicos de banda. Foi através dele (e do grande Rowland S. Howard), que descobri J.P. Shilo com os seus fabulosos Hungry Ghosts, e isso é muito recompensador para quem como eu procura incessantemente coisas novas e com qualidade no agreste mundo da música alternativa.
Desta vez possibilitou-me também conhecer pessoalmente Tobby Dammit, o seu baterista, que foi em 1991, baterista de Iggy Pop, no concerto que considero ser até hoje, o melhor da minha vida. Por isso Mick Harvey não faz só coisas boas, direciona e oferece as mesmas através dos outros. É também por isso que é enorme.
Simon Bonney (Crime&The City Solution) is on tour as Mark Lanegan’s support act.
The Australian singer-songwriter is presenting Past, Present, Future a compilation of his two album along with some new songs, accompanied by violinist Bronwyn Adams.
Unfortunately due to a last minute re-schedule that saw them starting fifteen minutes earlier, they played for a nearly empty room. In their meagre half an hour Simon and Bronwyn were a joy to listen to. Simon’s beautiful songs and voice gently highlighted by the guitar and violin and complemented by Bronwyn’s voice.
In sharp contrast Mark Lanegan and his band, presenting Somebody’s Knocking, his latest album, soon become morose. Morose may be an oxymoron since, by default, that is the essence of Lanegan’s voice and songs.
However, at their best when the melodies are smoother, the arrangements more vibrant and the voice takes off from its more uni-dimensional tone as in the great Field Songs, Lanegan’s songs and voice shine. The same is true of his collaborations with Isobel Campbell and The Queens of The Stone Age.
With an uninspired band, less or nonexistent arrangements and a set list that, aside briefly towards the end, hardly took off to other dimensions we’re left with a loud, strong, but not layered sound and a hoarse voice. Not that any of it made a difference to the many devotees that filled the room.
Mick Harvey is currently on tour presenting playing Serge Gainsbourg as well as some shows with J.P. Shilo. He will be playing in Portugal on Saturday, 2, Casa da Música, Porto and Sunday 3, Lisboa Ao Vivo, Lisboa. We catch up with him about Serge Gainsbourg, WWI, his legacy with The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party, The Bad Seeds, architecture, his favourite instruments and more.
by Amândio Barbosa, Guilherme Lucas & Raquel Pinheiro
When did you come across Serge Gainsbourg? What made you take an interest in his songs?
I came across most of his recordings in the mid-80s. Until that time I had only really heard “Je t’aime’, ‘Lemon Incest’ and ‘Bonnie & Clyde’. Obviously he is a great songwriter so that is what made an impression on me – so many great songs that people didn’t really know very well outside France. That offered up some interesting possibilities.
Was it difficult to translate the lyrics into English? What did you value the most, preserving rhythm and meter, the rich images conveyed by the lyrics or making sure they were singable?
It was important to preserve all these elements. Probably the hardest of those is the richness and style of language as that is almost impossible to convert. Each language has its own feel, its own musicality. This is something that is usually lost in translation. It’s nearly impossible for it not to be. From my side I tried to retain all the meter and rhyming schemes as it was essential – these are part of the music. And of course the meaning was very important. I tried hard to insert the word plays and puns where I could but this was also not possible sometimes. So yes, it was a major work to create these English versions and I worked very hard on them.
Is there a difference between recording and playing Serge’s songs live and your own?
Yes, it’s very different. My own songs and most of the work I do with other musicians on their original work is usually very moody and quite dark. The Serge material feels, in comparison, like entertainment and more like fun when it is played live. And it IS very entertaining. With all my other pursuits I am not interested in making it easy for the audience – on the contrary, I think most of my work is quite hard listening. So it was funny to start playing the Gainsbourg material and realise it was in a very different area.
In what do this new Serge Gainsbourg songs’ concerts differ from previous ones?
Well, there are some new songs in the live set from ‘Delirium Tremens’ and ‘Intoxicated Women’ – volumes 3 & 4 – so yes, there are some differences.
Which is your favourite Serge Gainsbourg song?
I don’t have favourites. My mind doesn’t work that way.
Edgar Bourchier, the poet of The Fall and Rise of Edgar Bourchier and the Horrors of War, is a ficitional ones. His poems are similar, and his birth year the same, to Wilfred Owen. Was he based in Wilfred?
Not exactly, no. I think he was an amalgam of a few different war poets. I’m sure Christopher had Siegfried Sassoon In mind and I know he is also interested in a couple of other British war poets so I’m sure he was taking ideas and direction from all of these.
What is your interest in WWI?
I’m not sure why it holds such a fascination for me but it’s something I keep coming back to. I had already read quite a bit about WW1 before I even learnt about my Grandfathers’ generation’s involvement in it. That just made it that little but more personal. Obviously I have worked on several projects which have WW1 connections including ‘Let England Shake’ and this recent ‘Edgar Bourchier – Horrors of War’ album. A few years ago I was also enlisted to compose the score for a documentary by Sam Neill presenting the history of the Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) troops which took part in WW1 and what happened with that alliance through to WW2. In fact, my next release will be ‘Waves of Anzac/The Journey’, an instrumental album featuring music from the documentary.
How do you choose the musicians you want to play and work with when it comes to another artist, and how do you do it when it is for one of your own projects or records.
To me this is a strange question. I would have thought this was obvious – like hiring anyone for a job based on how well they will do the job. If I am choosing musicians for my own project I have to take into account many factors but mostly their suitability to the music I am trying to make – what they could contribute, which would be their natural style? I don’t ever work with session musicians apart from string players playing my arrangements so it’s all about having a good stylistic connection. The same applies if I am helping other people decide about who to work with.
Which is your favourite instrument to play and which is your favourite instrument to compose.
I think my favourite instrument to play is the drums. For composing I don’t have a preference but obviously most things I compose would be on guitar or keyboards.
In a recent interview with Louder, that challenged you to choose twelve favorite songs from your long musical career, you said of The Birthday Party, and I quote “Our mission in The Birthday Party was to destroy rock’n’roll from within. We knew we wouldn’t, but it was worth trying: by using its own history as ammunition against it, killing it with its own germs. And having fun trying to do it. Unfortunately, we failed.”
Speaking strictly from a musical point of view, we are in absolute disagreement. The Birthday Party were one of the rare, really fundamental and exciting bands of the late 70’s and early 80’s. They saved rock’n’roll by then and still do.
That was my point. You misunderstood what I was saying. Clearly we were trying to make something valuable and relevant by fighting against the accepted version of rock’n’roll. It was something which began with punk and new wave but really, not many people had tried to turn the music upside down. Most of the punk/early new wave stuff was just loud, faster, nastier rock’n’roll. We were trying to say what you can present and play can be so much more than that – find your own voices, stop copying so much of what already exists. But that is the tendency of human nature. And anyway, most music listeners are pretty unadventurous and conservative in what they want to listen to. That is why our mission was always impossible on some level. However, in taking that path we managed to create something unique and exciting. That was our aim, that was the point, ultimately. Our conceptual mission to destroy rock’n’roll from within failed, of course, but the resulting music was what we are left with and that was a great success.
What kind of legacy do you think The Birthday Party left in rock’n’roll history?
I have no idea. I cannot analyse that. For me, I can’t be objective.
On what This measure identifies its aesthetically revolutionary and overwhelmingly creative sound in new generations of bands within your musical niche?
Like many otter bands and artists across the last 30 – 40 years we probably had a large influence on people who are interested to make something original and challenging for the listener. That’s has to be a good thing.
In 2010, in a radio interview with French blog Meltingpod, you spoke about your departure from The Bad Seeds. You were not kind with Nick Cave, enumerating in detail your hurts and disappointments towards him and the band. How do you see the huge success of the Bad Seeds today? What does it feel like to have been primarily responsible for what the group was, and became, and no longer being there to enjoy the laurels?
It’s strange not being in the band anymore but I am very glad not to be there. I think all I’ve ever really said about Nick publiclly is that he was very unkind to ME in the last year of being in The Bad Seeds. If that is unkind to him then it is an endless circle. He was very unkind to me at that time and gave me no option but to leave the band. We are good friends and talk with each other whenever necessary. We have a good relationship. I love the guy. Are you trying to stir up trouble here? It’s ancient history.
A lot has been said and written about your genius, but what was it like to work and be friends with Rowland S. Howard? In your opinion, what is the main aspect that differentiated him from other great artists you’ve collaborated with, such as Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Anita Lane or J.P. Shilo?
Each of these people have their own style and way of conducting themselves and their ability, or lack of it, with being in the public eye. Rowland was never geared to being on top of the management aspects of having a career or leading a band. He was quite disorganised about this stuff and wasted years sitting around between projects. Drugs played a role in this but it was also a situation created by the fact he was only ever writing 2 or 3 songs a year. In the last 10 years it was even less that that. However, I would always argue for quality over quantity. He was a difficult and impractical man but also fantastically entertaining and a true gentle soul. It’s hard to explain the complexity of these situations but I loved making those last 2 solo albums with him. I’m very honoured to have been involved in those albums.
How important are art and poetry in your life?
Art in general is very important. Poetry? I don’t read much poetry. I have start trying to include it in what I read but it’s not something I connect with as much as I would like. In general I probably spend a lot of time each day listening to music, watching films etc. and reading. I always try to go to exhibitions or galleries if I am travelling and have time off in a city. This is just normal for most artists.
You’ve created an Instagram account to denouce architecural crimes and misdeads in Melbourne – Melbourne Architectural Disasters. How important is architecture and urban planning to you? Are there many Architectural Disasters in Melbourne?
In general this is a worldwide problem driven by capitalists and developers. Controls have been diminished and they are designing and building far too much rubbish, especially in new world cities. That account is just trying to have a bit of fun with it. In general it is a horrible thing and they are ruining the character and soul of some of these places.
In a scale of 1 to 10, how instagramable is Misha, your cat?
How would I know? I can’t review myself.
Whatever Happened to Anita Lane?
Anita is living in Melbourne and has 3 grown boys. I suppose much of the last 25 years was spent raising them and trying to be responsible. It was a bit difficult for me to prioritise working with her any more after ‘Sex O’clock’ (which by the way will be finally released on vinyl soon) because she refused to do any interviews and does not want to perform live which made promoting the album almost impossible. It seems a bit unfair on one level but I have so many things I can be working on that it just seemed better to focus on future projects where months of work was not simply lost. I love my recordings with Anita but I like my time to be well exploited if possible. She is still around and I was hoping to have her sing a couple of songs on ‘Intoxicated Women’ but we couldn’t seem to get it organised so I used other singers.
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