Hello folks,
since I might be the only fellow subscriber who's seen yesterday's show in
Hamburg (except The Clientele and JC, of course), I guess - as an exception
from the rule - some reporting back on my behalf is in order.
After crossing three state borders, The Clientele arrived safely in Hamburg
for the sound check, a radio interview and some Italian food. Even I didn't
really know what to expect when we returned from the restaurant to the
venue since this was basically a last minute gig not being able to be
promoted until four days before the show while the rather popular London
outfit Hard-Fi played another venue in eyesight. To my, and I guess
everyone else's surprise the smallish venue (capacity of 120 people) was
rather crowded when we returned and by the time The Clientele entered the
stage, a "Live! Tonight" Sold Out!" (Beatle Hans & The Paisley Perverts)
would definitely have been in order. Thankfully, a completely sold out show
(I'm sorry for the people who were refused admission). "Bright Sunny
Smiles" (The Television Personalities).
The show itself can easily be described in three words:
Pure P!O!P! Magic
I've seen almost a dozen shows by The Clientele over the years and am more
than glad to report that I've never seen them more spontaneous, playful and
tight than last night (not that any of the previous shows were less than
excellent, mind you, with a slight exception regarding the sound of the
second Berlin show).
They played a relatively long, but naturally always fascinating set which
reads as follows:
01. Five Day Morning
02. E.M.P.T.Y.
03. I Can't Seem To Make You Mine
04. The Violet Hour
05. Lamplight
06. Joseph Cornell
07. As Night Is Falling
08. What Goes Up
09. A Picture Of Dorian Gray (The Television Personalities - introduced by
a sweet dedication to Dan Treacy)
10. Tracy Had A Hard Day Sunday (The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band)
11. Saturday
12. I Had To Say This
(set list ends here)
13. 6 am Morningside or Five Day Morning (or even both?)
14. Since K Got Over Me
(Alisdair said (again) "We don't believe in the idea of encores anyway"
when they realized there'd be no way the crowd would let them leave the
stage through the overcrowded room without playing more songs anyway. §;^D)
15. Reflections After Jane
16. We Could Walk Together
17. [Yet Another Song] (a song from the _Strange Geometry_ album, if I
remember correctly)
Writing about highlights wouldn't do this show any justice, because this
event was one single highlight lasting about 75 minutes.
Having said that, the cover version of "A Picture Of Dorian Gray", albeit
rather different in sound, actually betters the original album version, let
alone any live version by The Television Personalities (my favourite ever
combo, I shouldn't hesitate to add, but The Clientele come in as a very
close second especially following such a flawless second album).
The crowd was very polite and pleasant. Every song was followed by about
240 clapping hands and when there was silence before the next song (once or
twice) you could have heard a needle falling down on the floor. I spoke to
a couple of friends afterwards who've never heard The Clientele before and
they were all overwhelmed by the sheer and instantly recognisable beauty of
their dreamlike songs.
Needless to say that the very polite and pleasant boys known as The
Clientele were very happy with the show, too.
Besides, the interview done yesterday will be broadcasted on Monday and
available worldwide for your enjoyment on Tuesday:
http://www.fsksundayservice.de/interviews/index.html
http://www.fsksundayservice.de/sendungen/index.html
http://www.fsksundayservice.de/playlists/2005/KW41.html
Thanks again for a magical show, Alasdair, James and Mark, I think you've
gained a fair number of new fans yesterday.
Please make sure to come back again soon, you're always very welcome!
For fans in Stuttgart, Paris, Spain, Portugal, Canada and in the US of A,
do your friends a favour and tell them not to miss The Clientele when they
play in your part of the world.
May the stars shine bright for you
Andreas
The rain it raineth on the just
And also on the unjust fella
But more upon the just because
The unjust steals the just's umbrella
(Charles Baron Bowen)
PS Hullo K!E!I!T!H!, nice to see that you fully fell for The Clientele! How
about the Pipettes ( http://www.thepipettes.co.uk )? I'm perfectly fine and
I hope the same goes for you!
"Go watch the lacewings fly":
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