British Sea Power Roll Call

Wow, I thought maybe they'd burned themselves out early, but it sounds like the whole set was as lackluster as the last 35 minutes. Got there at 11:30 and was very disappointed…they seemed so bored to be playing for us…on the other hand, Kasabian blew me away.

As brennser said so well, meh.

Just felt like they were lacking energy, even the old stuff. Some highlights, but few and far between. Good talking to brennser as well. and meeting tbmtt.

Am I the only one that was certain his voice was completely spent. I felt he was struggling all night. Very monotone vocals because of it. It seemed to me the new material was done at a faster tempo than I was ready for. Another thing… no foliage! What about the beat up owl decoy? Yeah, mediocre is about right, but still a very good show compared to your average "show"… but not entirely BSP…. but I'm saying his voice was whacked (so therein lies the blame).

the new album is not as good as the first

Originally posted by lily1:

i haven't heard the new album yet. how does it compare to the prior release?

it sounded like he either had a cold or was coming off a cold. his voice was very raspy. that's the first thing i noticed.

Originally posted by myuman:
Am I the only one that was certain his voice was completely spent. I felt he was struggling all night.

Sadly, I agree with the above posts….It was a very mediocre show. The crowd could tell that the energy just wasn't there, and thus wasn't as active as usual. Towards the end, they tried to do their usual end of show antics, but it felt forced. A few of us up front managed to convince Nobby to jump into the crowd, but he lasted two seconds crowdsurfing then fell to the floor, got up again only to barely make it to the stage. I am glad I was there to support my favorite Cumbrians, but knew in my heart Kasabian was just a short walk down u street blowing an audience away. Oh well.

On the bright side, I really enjoyed Feist. Completely solo singer-songwriter type that I usually find rather boring, but she had good rapport with the crowd. She sounded a little like a solo, toned down, female Jeff Buckley I thought.

i'll add to the consensus that it was a somewhat lackluster show last nite. it sort of felt like watching a practice. nice songs, played well, but that's about it. and this is coming from someone who could care less about onstage theatrics and all that kind of stuff. (as in, the lack of foliage didn't bother me at all.) it was my first time seeing them, so i can't compare it to any past shows. i do know that they played just about every song i wanted to hear in the first 25 minutes of the show, and they sort of rushed through them all so i was like, "oh, well now what?"

still, great lead guitar lines. "remember me" is one for the ages.

Now I don't feel so bad about the Capital area's construction crews preventing me from making the show.

hey ggw - are you talking about the back up on 395 last night - that was wild! I eventually got out at Pentagon City and got over the river another way

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Now I don't feel so bad about the Capital area's construction crews preventing me from making the show.

Yeah. I finally escaped at Wash Blvd and took the Roosevelt only to find that L Street was shut down at Pennsylvania. I spent another 15 minutes inching around Washington Circle. It was almost 11:15 at this point so I just threw in the towel.

Originally posted by brennser:
hey ggw - are you talking about the back up on 395 last night - that was wild! I eventually got out at Pentagon City and got over the river another way

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Now I don't feel so bad about the Capital area's construction crews preventing me from making the show.

I finally rolled into work and don't have much to add to the above reviews. I had not seen BSP before so I have no comparison, but the first half was much better then the last half. On a side note I was mildly impressed with Feist although she did not have enough voice to overcome the constant chatter. Nice seeing Brenster again and meeting Redsock.

To those who this was a first time BSP experience, I feel I must defend the lads…

I saw them perform at the Black cat twice before, once opening for The Libertines, once headlining on their own. Both times were fantastic. The onstage energy was great and their playing was dead-on. I do rather miss the WWI ear uniforms and foliage, it was a nice touch that I hoped would simply become their staple throughout their careers. I heard glowing reviews of earlier shows on this tour, such as those in texas, where the band and crowd were both very into it and something about a wicker stag being paraded around/destroyed.

As for the second album, it's similar, yet different. The raw driving energy release that was a good half of "Decline of…" is replaced by more of a introspective lush sound. I look at British Sea Power as being about a musical journey, the fist album is the excitement of getting friends together and heading out into the wilds to camp and romp and chase down the fauna. "Open Season" is the time during the trip that you spend some time just sitting or walking, imbuing the nature that is around you, and appreciating the flora. "Drape yourself in greenery, become part of the scenery" is the phrase that sets the mood for the album. I think esentially what I'm trying to say is, each album is two sides to a coin, and complement each other, rather than stand opposed.

Sorry that the BSP show wasn't better…Echo & the Bunnymen (in Philly) on the other hand were incredible. The show wasn't even sold out, I got a great spot in front of Will and his playing was superb. Mac looked a little padded around the waist, but hell can he sing even while chain smoking. It was a strictly oldies-but-goodies set (one new song), and they played for almost 1 hour and 45 minutes. No "Do It Clean", but just about everything you might want to hear was there. They opened with "Going Up" and did a mind-blowing version of "Over the Wall" and "Loose" by the Stooges. Awesome show.

bsp were great the first two times at the black cat (both times shoeless), but now just seem worn out, there are rumours that they will be back in the fall.
yes the new cd is dull.
the boys need to get rid of the footwear that they have been wearing during the last two average gigs at the black cat.

Dr. Sushi checking in: With regard to the raspy vocals: a few other singers in the past weeks have sounded pretty weak. A few of my local musician friends have been so affected by the pollen counts, they've lost their voices entirely. Perhaps that explains last night's probs. and Butch Walker's vocal probs. on Mon. night…I'm sure the BC smoking crowd/bad ventilation doesn't help either.

Crowd story: the BSP sound guy and I were gagging and laughing at a couple draped over the front of the sound booth…talking, screaming and making out thru the show…at one time the guy threw his arm back and almost knocked a few switches down…what IS it with that place? Are those guys really music fans? Why do they stand out there when there are perfectly (awful) soft fake leather couches in the back to make out and "conversate" loudly on? Still puzzled!!! :roll:

Originally posted by BadSushi:

Crowd story: the BSP sound guy and I were gagging and laughing at a couple draped over the front of the sound booth…talking, screaming and making out thru the show…at one time the guy threw his arm back and almost knocked a few switches down…what IS it with that place? Are those guys really music fans? Why do they stand out there when there are perfectly (awful) soft fake leather couches in the back to make out and "conversate" loudly on? Still puzzled!!! :roll:

sorry, i hadn't seen her in like 2 weeks.


kidding…i was standing right around there, but missed the sideshow apparently.

They were probably down on the floor, dry-humping by then…sheesh!