Post by Admin on Jul 19, 2011 10:13:48 GMT -5
My Last Act of Bravado, ctrlaltdelete
By David Douglas
The Brickyard, Carlisle. Friday 1st August 2003
What better way to start the month of August than with a nice gig down at the Brickyard? That’s what I thought, so I decided I’d get there early. Too early. I turned up at 8:30 to find not a soul around. Looking around, I eventually found someone who knew when the doors were opening, in half an hour. “Who’s playing tonight then?” I asked, expecting four names. I got two.
“Ctrlaltdelete and My Last Act of Bravado tonight. Other two dropped out”. Fucking great. Well at least there was still two, I decided it was time to head out for a pint before opening time.
After much debate on whether Bruce Willis was actually a schizophrenic or not down at the boardroom with a good friend, it was time to head back. The doors opened and we were greeted with… Yet again, not a soul. Except for Chris (Ctrlaltdelete), who had crowned himself atop the stage on his throne of drums. I was hoping for more than this. The crowds had to come in. There must be more than this!
So it was after a few more pints down my neck and a few more strangers drawing in from the street that the gig finally got underway. It was now nearly Eleven, and I’d been sitting there for hours. I was looking forward to some live music getting underway.
Ctrlaltdelete took the stage first this time and the blue screen was thrown on again. More Atari games. I couldn’t be distracted this time though. I was used to this. I had trouble keeping my eyes off the screen when Pang appeared, but I held back. I had to review the music, not Friggin’ Pang.
First off was “Ben’s Slow Song”. Ctrlaltdelete are obviously a little slower with names than they are with creating music. Ben (Guitarist) plays a slow, almost acoustic sounding introduction overlying a sample, which I think was in German. I wish I’d asked what it meant, I don’t speak German.
The bass kicks in along with the drums. Just when you think the song is going to thrash out, it stutters and rebuilds itself.
Looking back at the audience one last time, I feel a little saddened that the thirty to forty or so people here aren’t really watching. They sit and talk to each other, some turn to see what all the fuss is about, but none really pay an interest. Then Laura’s Song kicks in.
“You want Danger? I’ll give you danger”, a sample used much appropriately for this song. I Can’t Lose if I Don’t Let You Win is a song that burns your ear drums with a passion. Chris roars, Ben fights out and Laura conquers all that stand before her as this song grabs everyone’s attention. This was more like it. This was deserving. This was fun-time.
Anger Management, an instantly recognisable song to anyone who owns the demo, and arguably the best song on the demo. All three of them seem to have perfected their timing, they know this song inside, outside and sideways and it shows as smiles are flashed between each other. Apart from Chris, Chris just gurns, understandably. Anger Management is powerful and vital to Ctrlaltdelete live set. Ben strikes the guitar with controlled rage, you can see it in his face, and if you can follow his hands, you can see it in them too.
Sofi’s Phonecall followed, which I feel is not as vital. It’s a great song and it has beautiful moments, but I don’t feel that the band really live the song as well as the others. Followed by Phosphenes, which is reminiscent of Aenima era Tool, especially Pushit. Chris’s slow drumming gradually builds. The introduction is so slow to this song you can sit and lap it all up, and just be absorbed by Pang. When the song does kick it they play brilliantly. Ben seems unstoppable. Laura visibly concentrates on ever note as she closes her eyes.
Finally, the audience begins to draw in from the streets. Like the rats to pied piper, they were lured by the sound and, perhaps, the smells of Ctrlaltdelete. Or maybe they were just bored. They’d made it in time for their last two songs anyway, the first of which was called…“New Song”, a brilliant example of Ctrlaltdelete’s ability to keep their timing. There’s a complete contrast between raging speed and serene beauty. New Song is almost a slow song at heart, but it creeps up behind you with an eerie violent undertone. A knife in the back to those who aren’t expecting it. Laura has obviously been practicing for the past couple of weeks with a vastly improved skill at her fingertips, quite literally.
Song number 7 (Which didn’t even have a title) pushed their set over the edge say they could wave it goodbye. The feedback finish tops off the song, and looking back at my notes, I wrote “My knees are vibrating”. Which can only be a good thing.
So that was Ctrlaltdelete, and that was amazing. Yes, there were mistakes. Yes, they don’t move that much on stage. Yes, Ben always wears that fucking Commodore T-shirt. But that’s not what Ctrlaltdelete are about. They’re about love and hate, black and white, chalk and cheese. They’re the oxymoronic band of the future. Go them.
My Last Act Of Bravado follow next, a three piece that I was looking forward to hearing. Then they came on wearing suits, which made me think of the blues brothers and put me off a bit. But then the blue screen came on again. It showed varying relays of television channels, from the September 11th you-know-what to Dirty Harry. It was a nice mix. I didn’t realise how nice until they started to play.
The suits fit their music perfectly. They’re like Reservoir Dogs on stage. This was smut-rock, if ever there was such a thing. I couldn’t hear the lyrics because it was like some drunken slur but it fit. Then the Porn came on the blue screen. That fit too, like a soggy jigsaw. Their first song rattled along a sleaze-addled track and then they stopped. Dead. Problems.
In between the first and second song, the Guitarist and Bassist began a shouty competition which started with Guitarist asking “Am I actually in tune?” and ending in him shouting “Shut up you hair-cut bastard!” to the Bassist. It was funny, and it showed that the band didn’t really care. It’s that whole Rock ‘n’ Roll image summed up in a two minute gap.
By track 2 there was an increase of vocals demanded for the guitarist. It didn’t help, he still sounded like a pissed up dad at his daughters wedding, but now it was just louder. And sleazier! The second track was hard and fast, and I noticed that the Drummers face was constant. He didn’t actually change his expression once. He looked almost faux-terrified.
I began thinking that it was odd, a band like this playing next to Ctrlaltdelete. My Last Act of Bravado sound like the anti-art playboys, compared to Ctrlaltdelete’s wildly contrasting, spiralling songs. My Last Act of Bravado were smut-fun land, but strangely the two worked well together. It’s like having a delicious pudding after your lip-smacking Sunday dinner.
The rest of Bravado’s songs played much the same, dirty slurry shouty power-rock. They’re like Electric Six without the smile-laden grooves, just a sinister grin before they douse you in petrol and cut your ear off. It was just a bonus that porn was being played at the same time. God bless them.
“That was our last gig” grumbles the Bassist down the microphone. It’s been said a few times before, but if this is their last gig, at least the burnt out rather than faded away. And they played porn.
I went home elated, drunk and in need of chips. With gravy. And perhaps a sausage. One thing though, let’s just hope that next time there’s a good gig on, people will come in from the rain and be blessed with a live band or two, with a wealth of musical talent in their hearts. And if not, well, busking is always an option. Or prostitution.
By David Douglas
The Brickyard, Carlisle. Friday 1st August 2003
What better way to start the month of August than with a nice gig down at the Brickyard? That’s what I thought, so I decided I’d get there early. Too early. I turned up at 8:30 to find not a soul around. Looking around, I eventually found someone who knew when the doors were opening, in half an hour. “Who’s playing tonight then?” I asked, expecting four names. I got two.
“Ctrlaltdelete and My Last Act of Bravado tonight. Other two dropped out”. Fucking great. Well at least there was still two, I decided it was time to head out for a pint before opening time.
After much debate on whether Bruce Willis was actually a schizophrenic or not down at the boardroom with a good friend, it was time to head back. The doors opened and we were greeted with… Yet again, not a soul. Except for Chris (Ctrlaltdelete), who had crowned himself atop the stage on his throne of drums. I was hoping for more than this. The crowds had to come in. There must be more than this!
So it was after a few more pints down my neck and a few more strangers drawing in from the street that the gig finally got underway. It was now nearly Eleven, and I’d been sitting there for hours. I was looking forward to some live music getting underway.
Ctrlaltdelete took the stage first this time and the blue screen was thrown on again. More Atari games. I couldn’t be distracted this time though. I was used to this. I had trouble keeping my eyes off the screen when Pang appeared, but I held back. I had to review the music, not Friggin’ Pang.
First off was “Ben’s Slow Song”. Ctrlaltdelete are obviously a little slower with names than they are with creating music. Ben (Guitarist) plays a slow, almost acoustic sounding introduction overlying a sample, which I think was in German. I wish I’d asked what it meant, I don’t speak German.
The bass kicks in along with the drums. Just when you think the song is going to thrash out, it stutters and rebuilds itself.
Looking back at the audience one last time, I feel a little saddened that the thirty to forty or so people here aren’t really watching. They sit and talk to each other, some turn to see what all the fuss is about, but none really pay an interest. Then Laura’s Song kicks in.
“You want Danger? I’ll give you danger”, a sample used much appropriately for this song. I Can’t Lose if I Don’t Let You Win is a song that burns your ear drums with a passion. Chris roars, Ben fights out and Laura conquers all that stand before her as this song grabs everyone’s attention. This was more like it. This was deserving. This was fun-time.
Anger Management, an instantly recognisable song to anyone who owns the demo, and arguably the best song on the demo. All three of them seem to have perfected their timing, they know this song inside, outside and sideways and it shows as smiles are flashed between each other. Apart from Chris, Chris just gurns, understandably. Anger Management is powerful and vital to Ctrlaltdelete live set. Ben strikes the guitar with controlled rage, you can see it in his face, and if you can follow his hands, you can see it in them too.
Sofi’s Phonecall followed, which I feel is not as vital. It’s a great song and it has beautiful moments, but I don’t feel that the band really live the song as well as the others. Followed by Phosphenes, which is reminiscent of Aenima era Tool, especially Pushit. Chris’s slow drumming gradually builds. The introduction is so slow to this song you can sit and lap it all up, and just be absorbed by Pang. When the song does kick it they play brilliantly. Ben seems unstoppable. Laura visibly concentrates on ever note as she closes her eyes.
Finally, the audience begins to draw in from the streets. Like the rats to pied piper, they were lured by the sound and, perhaps, the smells of Ctrlaltdelete. Or maybe they were just bored. They’d made it in time for their last two songs anyway, the first of which was called…“New Song”, a brilliant example of Ctrlaltdelete’s ability to keep their timing. There’s a complete contrast between raging speed and serene beauty. New Song is almost a slow song at heart, but it creeps up behind you with an eerie violent undertone. A knife in the back to those who aren’t expecting it. Laura has obviously been practicing for the past couple of weeks with a vastly improved skill at her fingertips, quite literally.
Song number 7 (Which didn’t even have a title) pushed their set over the edge say they could wave it goodbye. The feedback finish tops off the song, and looking back at my notes, I wrote “My knees are vibrating”. Which can only be a good thing.
So that was Ctrlaltdelete, and that was amazing. Yes, there were mistakes. Yes, they don’t move that much on stage. Yes, Ben always wears that fucking Commodore T-shirt. But that’s not what Ctrlaltdelete are about. They’re about love and hate, black and white, chalk and cheese. They’re the oxymoronic band of the future. Go them.
My Last Act Of Bravado follow next, a three piece that I was looking forward to hearing. Then they came on wearing suits, which made me think of the blues brothers and put me off a bit. But then the blue screen came on again. It showed varying relays of television channels, from the September 11th you-know-what to Dirty Harry. It was a nice mix. I didn’t realise how nice until they started to play.
The suits fit their music perfectly. They’re like Reservoir Dogs on stage. This was smut-rock, if ever there was such a thing. I couldn’t hear the lyrics because it was like some drunken slur but it fit. Then the Porn came on the blue screen. That fit too, like a soggy jigsaw. Their first song rattled along a sleaze-addled track and then they stopped. Dead. Problems.
In between the first and second song, the Guitarist and Bassist began a shouty competition which started with Guitarist asking “Am I actually in tune?” and ending in him shouting “Shut up you hair-cut bastard!” to the Bassist. It was funny, and it showed that the band didn’t really care. It’s that whole Rock ‘n’ Roll image summed up in a two minute gap.
By track 2 there was an increase of vocals demanded for the guitarist. It didn’t help, he still sounded like a pissed up dad at his daughters wedding, but now it was just louder. And sleazier! The second track was hard and fast, and I noticed that the Drummers face was constant. He didn’t actually change his expression once. He looked almost faux-terrified.
I began thinking that it was odd, a band like this playing next to Ctrlaltdelete. My Last Act of Bravado sound like the anti-art playboys, compared to Ctrlaltdelete’s wildly contrasting, spiralling songs. My Last Act of Bravado were smut-fun land, but strangely the two worked well together. It’s like having a delicious pudding after your lip-smacking Sunday dinner.
The rest of Bravado’s songs played much the same, dirty slurry shouty power-rock. They’re like Electric Six without the smile-laden grooves, just a sinister grin before they douse you in petrol and cut your ear off. It was just a bonus that porn was being played at the same time. God bless them.
“That was our last gig” grumbles the Bassist down the microphone. It’s been said a few times before, but if this is their last gig, at least the burnt out rather than faded away. And they played porn.
I went home elated, drunk and in need of chips. With gravy. And perhaps a sausage. One thing though, let’s just hope that next time there’s a good gig on, people will come in from the rain and be blessed with a live band or two, with a wealth of musical talent in their hearts. And if not, well, busking is always an option. Or prostitution.