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The crowd queuing outside the UEA student union tonight are more local
teenyboppers than students the UEA residents (perhaps jaded by another
former Libertine now having cancelled three scheduled gigs in their
city) seem more interested in the open air, end-of-term carol service going
on around the corner. Somehow the contrast works perfectly - Salvation Army
and mince pies, old Albion in the depths of the Fens.
The faithful being very faithful, they've got here early to secure a
place at the front and so once the doors open, the floor is immediately
heaving, providing a good-sized crowd for openers Hot Club de Paris,
whose Scouse humour, three-part barber shop trio harmonies and cheeky banter
with the audience works much better here than it did as a warm-up for
novelty rock maestros We Are Scientists barely a month ago. Their rockabilly
tunes and energetic show goes down well. Note to self - must remember 'pop
utensil' as an alternative for 'bass guitar' for future reviews.
Next up is Swedish garage rock supremeos Mando Diao who should be
much, much bigger than they are and prove it again tonight with manic,
shouty punk energy at ear-splitting volume, dedicating a song to Cuban
Tony Montana in the process. Bjorn Dixard and Gustaf Noren share and
swap centre stage with the kind of chemistry last seen on stage with the
band we're trying not to mention tonight. They set the stage perfectly for...
...Dirty Pretty Things, coming to the end of a tour and a year that has
been a hell of a transition, a time to build on the past and look back on it
without letting it consume them. They've been one of the year's most
inconsistent bands - lacklustre at the Luminaire and Carling 24, producing
one of the gigs of the year at the Astoria - but here they're on top form,
aided and abetted by trombones that provide a nice journalistic link into
the extra brass they're showing tonight, as proud of the new material
they're showcasing as they are of the old Libertines standards (Death on the
Stairs, I Get Along, France) and Jam covers (In the City) that it sometimes
feels they use too much to pad out a set not yet capable of standing on its
own.
The new songs are in many ways more of the same, with lyrics (again)
about voices inside your head and lines like "Don't get comfortable out
there/Don't pretend life's always fair" but sung in such a way that you know
they're doing something about this rather than letting it get them down. On
the strength of tonight's show, the second album will be stronger, ballsier
and more brassy than Waterloo To Anywhere, as though they're now clear on
exactly where it is they're heading. The Good Old Days and Death on the
Stairs' message to "just say ta'ra and leave him behind" feel like a real
watershed, something they're taking to heart with the confidence in
themselves to really do it.
With more material to come in the New Year,
they'll finally be able to and, when they do, their set will be stronger for
it. As songs such as Gin and Milk, You Fucking Love It and Deadwood become
more familiar, the stronger they sound and The Gentry Cove is still the best
single not released this year. I Get Along, as usual, rounds off the
four-song encore and ends a night of incessant crowd-surfing, with Carl in a
playful mood fronting a band who at last look ready to retake the world.
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