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Inspiral Carpets - Live At Brixton Academy (Mute)
UK release date: 26 January 2004
Inspiral Carpets - Live At Brixton Academy

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track listing

1. Intro
2. Joe
3. Directing Traffic
4. Generations
5. Bitches Brew
6. Two Worlds Collide
7. This Is How It Feels
8. Weakness
9. Move
10. Caravan
11. Keep The Circle Around
12. Sackville
13. She Comes In The Fall
14. Find Out Why
15. Come Back Tomorrow
16. I Want You
17. Dragging Me Down
18. Commercial Reign
19. Pounding
20. Butterfly
21. Saturn 5
22. Uniform

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Taped on the Inspirals' "comeback" tour last year, this record of an especially memorable night at the Brixton Academy shows that, although the former princes of baggy may no longer be cool, they are entering middle age with rather better grace than some of their contemporaries, not least their former roadie, one Noel Gallagher.

This tour was the Inspirals' first headliner for nine years, roughly the same time that they disappeared from view, lost amidst the transient Britpop deluge. That was, and is a shame, because the band had infinitely more personality than any number of Oasis clones - does anyone still remember Salad?

Tracks like Joe, This Is How It Feels and Two Worlds Collide have a certain bruised majesty, not to mention poignancy, given the Inspirals' relentlessly downward career trajectory, and there must have been barely a dry eye in the house when Tom Hingley pleaded: "What have I done with my life? Is this the end, when two worlds collide?"

This "greatest hits" show, featuring the definitive line-up of Hingley, Clint Boon, Craig "Noddy" Gill, Martyn Walsh and Graham Lambert, could have been embarrassing, like a late '80s version of those awful "Back To The '60s" tribute shows. That it's not is down to the sheer, remarkable, energy of the performances.

Nor is this just another shoddy, in-concert rip-off. The camerawork enhances, rather than detracts from the songs, and there's enough backstage and pre-concert footage to generate the feeling of a genuine musical event, which of course it was.

As for the songs themselves, well, all the greats are here although the inclusion of Doves' Pounding as one of the encores seems rather out of place. For the most part, however, this is instant nostalgia for a generation weaned on The Stone Roses and all things Madchester.

The extras are great too, including the wonderfully psychedelic animations that formed the backdrop to Keep The Circle Around, Butterfly and This Is How It Feels. There's also some bizarre footage of the Inspirals paying a visit to the majorette team that turns up during She Comes In The Fall (the same troupe used in the original video apparently). This is pretty strange but is probably one of those moments that made the gig especially memorable for those fortunate enough to have been there, and who will be shelling out their hard-earned cash for this souvenir of the occasion. And who can blame them?


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