London, Queen Elizabeth Hall 14 March 2005
This event formed part of the South Bank Centre's
Ether festival, and found Githead supporting Krautrock
über-legends Michael Rother and Dieter Möbius. Tonight
augmented for only the second night by a drummer (presumably The
Beat Monster has hung up his sticks). The new boy - Max Franken
(of Malka Spigel's band Minimal Compact) - obviously
done good; at the end of the penultimate track Colin Newman
flashed him a grin and a thumbs up at the end of said number's seemingly
out of control, but no doubt meticulously mapped out, jam.
Arranged an a small unit in the centre of the stage,
Robin 'Scanner' Rimbaud and Malka Spigel take stage left
and right; a bespectacled Newman takes the centre. Spigel and Newman
are dressed in black long-sleeved T-shirts and baggy trousers; Rimbaud
goes for a tight-fitted T-shirt, while our straggly-haired drummer
breaks ranks altogether. They don't use visuals. They don't use
synths. They play ten tracks, some culled from the Headgit
EP, some from the forthcoming album, Profile.
As per Headgit, they open with the instrumental
'Reset', which in turn unfolds into 'Fake Corpses'. An audience
member announces that she can't hear Newman's vocal, which makes
the next song's 'chorus' of 'It's always one thing or another'
very appropriate. One of the new tracks, 'Alpha', it is a prowling,
aggressive track that intensifies as it progresses.
After another audience member yells 'Oi!'
from the back, Githead glide into the dubby bass and digitally-augmented
drums of 'To Have And To Hold', which is followed by another new
track - 'Cosmology For Beginners' this one featuring a spat - deadpan
vocal from Newman;'so make your feelings known' he sings.
After the song slides to a halt, Rimbaud announces 'I normally use
a computer...and the string's broke. So I'll just ask uncle Colin...'
Newman and Spigel look concerned, as if expecting this to happen;
Rimbaud only played guitar live for the first time in 2004. After
about thirty seconds, Rimbaud confirms 'We're going to swap guitars,'
while strapping on Newman's guitar. 'It's like the end of a football
match where they swap shirts...It's like wearing someone else's
trousers.' 'That's what you tell all the girls.' Newman retorts,
strapping on his small black guitar, a regular feature of Wire
concerts, and they kick into 'Craft Is Dead'.
Another new track ('Option Paralysis'), a long and
occasionally vociferous track with vocals that recall Wire's 'Silk
Skin Paws'. An instrumental number follows, featuring a deep, dub
bassline from Spigel, called 'Antiphon'. The edgy, cyclical 'Profile'
is delivered precisely, and the set concludes with another new one
('Raining Down') on which Malka sings lead, the guitar threesome
also feeding in long, fuzzy, 'dugga dugga dugga' sections.
On my way out of the Queen Elizabeth Hall's concrete
shell, someone remarked 'same riff as Newman's always played'. Whatever
- it's still just as effective. Sleek, honed, calculated and sharp
- and brilliant.
Set list
Reset
Fake Corpses
Alpha
To Have And To Hold
Cosmology For Beginners
Craft Is Dead
Option Paralysis
Antiphon
Profile
Raining Down
Thanks to Colin Newman for clarifying the setlist.
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