| Norwich UEA, 18 March 2005
First, a complaint. Not about Erasure's performance,
but about the quality of Norwich's street signage, the poorness
of which prevented my wife and I arriving until 7.45, which meant
we missed Piney Gir's brief slot, arriving just in time for
Client's eight-song set. Notwithstanding missing Piney, and
ignoing the fact that this is the second time something beyond my
control has stopped from seeing her perform live, the most galling
aspect was that our late arrival ensured we had the worst possible
'view' of the stage. Which leads me on to my second complaint, which
is against sixties, concrete unversity concert venues - the UEA
pillars were an exceptionally ill-advised architectural faux
pas.
Client
As per usual, Client were accompanied by the hirsute Joe
Wilson, who took up his position behind a table top crammed
with all manners of effects to patch in sequences and deliver seemingly
inaudible backing vocals. Now, as any likeminded heterosexual male
would tell you, you wouldn't ordinarily spend a lot of time looking
at Wilson at a Client gig, if you can help it. However, that's exactly
what I found myself doing, since I had a perfect, unrestricted view
of him, whereas I was only able to catch fleeting glimpses of the
diminutive Kate Holmes and the dominating presence of Sarah
Blackwood, but I know they were wearing the blue 'air hostess'
uniforms familiar from the sleeve artwork of second album City
and its singles.
Now, despite my fondness for Client and their synth
sound, they really piss me off live. Not because their songs aren't
performed well but quite the reverse - I think the way they perform
certain songs on stage is actually far better than their album equivalents
- in my view, this is true of all of City's singles, but
most evidently on 'In It For The Money', where the studio version
suffers from a lack of low end. 'Pornography' actually sounded better
without Carl Barat's nasal tones.
Setwise, it was a pretty even mix of tracks from
Client and City - 'Client' ('Did she just say "Fuck
off"?' said someone near me with evident surprise), 'In It
For The Money', 'The Price Of Love', 'Radio', 'Here And Now', 'Don't
Call Me Baby', 'Rock And Roll Machine' and 'Pornography'. My favourite
song was probably the gleeful pop of 'Don't Call Me Baby' (introduced
by Blackwood as being for anyone who'd ever been in love).
'I've never seen a good support act,' remarked someone
else near me authoratitively, 'They have to be mediocre to make
the main act look good.' I thought they were good, generally well
received but generally viewed as nothing more than a mildly diverting
stop-gap before Erasure took the stage; typically, the biggest cheer
they received was when Blackwood said 'I hope you enjoy Erasure'.
How can so many people miss the point?
Erasure
I was able to see even less of Erasure than I had of Client, and
so I truly hope they do record one of the tour dates for a DVD.
I could hear perfectly, however, which makes the on-demand double
CDs produced by Live Here Now a rather ironic, if essential, memento.
I saw a lot of the actual stage set over the heads
of others in the crowd, which featured tall tree shapes designed
to look like the front cover of Nightbird, bathed in sensual
purple hues and evoking the same organic textures as on the 1990
Wild! tour. I could hardly see Andy Bell at all, but
I gather there were at least three costume changes, including some
feathers, a pearly king (queen?) jacket and a dressing gown. For
Vince Clarke, Ann Marie Gilkes and Val Chalmers
there were just two costumes, the first finding Vince wearing a
tweed 1920s flying uniform, complete with Biggles-style deerstalker
with a small satellite dish on the top; the second was a club singer's
gold lamé suit with Ray Charles sunglasses.
They came on to the instrumental '91 Steps' mixed
with 'Rock A Bye Baby', to rapturous applause. The fans, via an
EIS poll, had voted for the songs, and these were cut with songs
from Nightbird - 'No Doubt', 'Breathe', 'All This Time Still
Falling Out Of Love', 'Because Our Love Is Real' and the beautifully
sad 'I Bet You're Mad At Me'.
The fans' choices included the big hits - 'Oh L'Amour',
'Sometimes', 'Ship Of Fools', 'Chains Of Love', 'A Little Respect',
'Stop!', 'Blue Savannah', 'Chorus', 'Breath Of Life', and 'Always'
(nothing from Erasure, Cowboy, Loveboat or
Other People's Songs); there were also some quirky choices
of singles ('Who Needs Love Like That', 'The Circus', 'Drama!'),
all of which were votes well cast, the latter receiving a rapturous
reception despite it being well known as one of Andy and Vince's
least favourite songs; there were also some inspired non-singles
- 'Hideaway', 'Phantom Bride', 'Knocking On Your Door' and 'Rapture'
which found Vince rapping into a telephone to allow Andy time to
get changed.
For me, it was excellent to hear some of Erasure's
less obvious tracks, and something like 'Drama!' (the first single
I bought) was actually quite an emotional experience. Andy followed
'Rapture' with a near accapella song that was unfamiliar to me and
could be from his forthcoming solo album. Strangely, they didn't
play the new single 'Don't Say You Love Me', which at the time was
three days away from being released.
As Erasure fans have come to expect, there were
some very humourous sections, notwithstanding Vince's rapping (mumbling
may be more appropriate, bless him) - the introduction to 'Oh L'Amour'
where Andy deliberately sang 'West End Girls' instead, prompting
a hurried back-up from Vince, and Andy calling Vince 'The best shag
I ever had' to intentionally embarrass him. Camp showmanship was,
however, strangely less evident tonight; I hadn't really noticed
until someone near me commented that the performance was 'more mature',
and I happen to agree. Furthermore, compared to my last Erasure
concert (Leicester 2003), it was certainly a whole lot slicker,
with a much bigger budget and better sound and programming.
Blind views of the stage aside, as well as the annoyance
of some piss-taking oiks at the back, this for me proved that Erasure
have entered a phase of renewed vigour and confidence, producing
some of their best songs and performances in their twenty year career.
Long may it continue.
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