The Indi Bar 04/02/2011
WINDOW CLEANERS SCARBOROUGH
WINDOW CLEANERS SCARBOROUGH
Tonight finds me at The Indi Bar in Scarborough with the lovely Lizzie to see Regurgitator being supported by The Brow Horn Orchestra and, first up at 8.30, Tomas Ford. This show sold out almost immediately and expectations are high.
Lizzie and I are veterans of Ford's shows and great appreciators
of his quirky theatrical, cabaret-confrontationist style.
Ford is not one to stand limply onstage, hoping to draw the attention of an audience who would rather socialise than listen. He is quite prepared to push himself deep into the crowd, take it to the people if you will. I've seen him leave the venue entirely on one occasion and,with the use of a wireless mic, sing from the pavement across the road, but that was another night and he was headlining.
Tonight he is the first supporting act and there are conventions to be observed. The audience, many of them Ford first timers, are treated to the condensed show . . . Songs brutally terminated mid stream, the plug literally pulled, routines abandoned if he feels they are going nowhere and, of course, audience members molested and messed with if his holiness feels they're taking themselves too seriously. A word of advice, if you think that hat makes you look less bald, don't wear it out to this man's show. He loves the shy bald guys.
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| Tomas Ford |
claustrophobic feel.
The smiles say it all. One girl compliments him and he stops to agree, "It Is a good show isn't it?"
Old school and new age technology combine to provide the music, this is a one man show, covers like Kylie's Can't Get You Out Of My Head work alongside current(ish) release, I Feel Dirty, which, he says, audience members may have heard on Triple J,"If you've been hallucinating." I've seen this show many times before but it is always different.
Crowd surfing, piss take and story time, (check him out some time, you'll see what I mean), are all essential aspects of this show and it is over far too soon.
Next up is the impossibly young looking Brow Horn Orchestra. Apparently only half of the usual contingent have shown tonight, which is just as well because The Indi's stage is TINY.
A smooth sound with an impeccable trumpet/trombone brass section, which for some reason reminds me of how The Specials used to sound, is on offer tonight. Band members share singing and rapping duties and produce a rich, full sound.
The Lovely Lizzie bought their album, Can't afford This Life, as a gift for her friend, Diana and I put it on my I Tunes, but my connection with this band goes deeper . . . The drummer, Ben's girlfriend's sister, gave us her black cat when she had to move overseas. So you see there is almost a family connection here.
I saw Regurgitator supporting Devo a couple of years ago at Metropolis Perth, but this is a completely different matter. where the Devo gig was half attended and the older crowd were appreciative of the support's musical excellence in a comfortable air conditioned venue, tonight's audience are younger, drunker and out for a riotous good time. The atmosphere is rough, crowded and hot. I love it. As usual the girls are having the worst of it and the band have to plea for a more peaceful approach.
And the songs? Kung Fu Sing, Lick my . . . , Sucked A . . . , Song Formerly Known As are all there. I Like Your Old Stuff is a very surprising omission.
After Tomas Ford's and Brow Horn Orchestra's sets where one song drifts into another or meanders off on a tangent, these songs are short, sharp and brutal with clear beginnings middles and endings. Regurgitator are excellent.
Leaving the venue I reflect on how The Indi is the last remaining coastal venue with any real credibility. The White Sands next door has been mothballed and forgotten. The Castle and The Scarborough, demolished and replaced with units. We really are very lucky to have this place still and I will keep returning while quality line ups like this are playing.
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