Pavilion Theatre, Brighton UK

[SludgeFeast]

Arrived to find a ‘Sold Out’ sign next to the door, with a long queue of people still hoping to get in. The venue was small, but not tiny. There were no barriers between the stage and the crowd, meaning you could grab both of Watt’s ankles if you felt the need (However seeing the amount that he sweats, I didn’t !).

J looked knackered. He was playing with his eyes half asleep until Ron arrived He only muttered about a dozen words all night. Also, Watt was slightly subdued (for him). There were no wild kicks into the air at all. He had a problem with the speaker closest to him – all he could initially hear was George, but he carried on regardless until it was fixed in time for the next number. The overall impression was that MAYBE a bit of tour fatigue was occuring.

The good news – It was LOUD, probably louder than Shepherds Bush Empire, but still nowhere near Astoria levels.

The very good news – Bobby Gillespie wasn’t invited back to dirty J’s stage again.

The mosh pit – strange place to be at the best of times, but with only one person involved early on, it evoked visions of someone trying out their brand new pogo stick, whilst waiting on a crowded train platform. Weird.

By halfway, the mosh throng had grown considerably and had learnt that you can move backwards, forwards and sideways, not just up and down. However it was all or nothing – you didn’t move to four feet to the left or right in stages, it was like 2 people on adjacent trampolines, who were on a high speed collision course. There was one plucky stagediver – the best you could say was that the crowd almost caught him before he hit the floor……..

It was pretty much the same set as before, with Alone added but the Everything Flows medley dropped – which was a shame as it was excellent before.

My aim of the night was to get one of George’s sticks after the show as a once in a lifetime momento. Having seen him walk calmly to the front of the stage yesterday and give his sticks to the first two raised arms, I knew what had to be done. I arrived at the show early, positioned myself at the very front, got slapped around a bit by the moshers and Freakscene finished the show. My moment had arrived. Hands raised, screaming out for George I was the only one looking in his direction (everyone else was watching J & Watt disappear……..He stood up…….and broke with tradition by randomly throwing the sticks into the crowd, but alas, nowhere near me !!!!!!!

I asked Dave (J’s roadie) if any souvenirs were around and to his credit he did look around, but all of the set lists etc had already gone. I guess he was also distracted by the requests by a number of young females offering their availability for an after show ‘party’ with the group.

All in all, another great night – I shook hands with J, Mike and Ron whilst they were on stage, but only Watt came back afterwards to speak with the crowd. He is a real showman – anyone who asked for bodily contact was met with a firm handshake and a few words. I may have found a hero approaching Mascis level …..

An oddity of the night, the Stooges songs were met with as much (if not more) enthusiasm as the Dino & Fog tunes. It might have been because everyone was well stewed by then but Ron did seem to be VERY popular. (He is back off to America Today, but was given a real ovation). Watt took vocals and with "TV Eye" & "Wanna be your dog", even Iggy would have approved – Ron certainly did. You do want a line to be drawn if it goes any further though – JM & TF should not turn into just a Stooges cover band, maybe that’s why they went as ‘Hellride East’ at the Knitting Factory ?

Anyway, great version of Ammaring – it seemed a little stuttering yesterday at the beginning, but sounded great today – slowly at first, then veering off to a great J & Mike jam, before returning back to the Album version and a gentle ending.

Sorry to go for so long (if anyone gets this far !). I only hope that you all get the same opportunities I have to see how live music should be. I doubt it gets any better than this.

SludgeFeast

[kockney]

I really enjoyed the brighton gig despite only getting there with 10mins to spare before the fog went on stage after a high speed 2hr drive from up north owing to mothers damn parachute jump.

Sound was loud but well balanced and not the usual sludgefest. Watt appeared to have finally learned what order the notes go in and was very good as a result. When Garrrison Keillor came on stage I was surprised but it turned out to be this Ron Ashworth fellow who delivered a guitar master class on how to play a blinder without breaking sweat.

He also demonstrated how much The Fog benefit from a second guitar – it stops the emptiness when J solos

What did stop was the PA toward the end, only the backline and monitors were working. This made the vocals on the last numbers inaudible to wimps like me standing a little way back but the sound from the backline was good.

Yes J looked tired but it seemed to keep him on course and so there were some fine guitar solos as result.

Much better than that mess of an Astoria gig I thought. And a pleasantly un-squashed venue altho my shoes got glued to the floor by spilt beer and I could only sway to the music like a ‘weeble’toy (weebles wobble, but they dont fall down)

Kockney

[AGAP]

Hey,

Thanks for the cool reviews…glad you worked out a deal so you could check out the show SF, seems you got the best part of that one!!!

Asheton is one of my fav guitar players but I agree turning the Fog into a Stooges cover group isn’t going to happen. This has been a pretty long tour for Mascis, gotta wonder if having Asheton on the tour is kind of a keep it interesting type thing. They definitely seem thrilled to be playing with him…and who can blame them. Pretty thrilling though to see it, don’t forget to check out the hbo webcast on the 19th..should be amazing.

Allison [img]images/smiles/converted/wink.gif[/img]

[ScreamingTree]

Sounds like it was cool, wish I was there! What I want to know is: has anyone been taping these Europe shows?

[SludgeFeast]

AGAP – Time will tell how good the deal was….CC Bill will arrive soon !

Anyway, I think your spot on with the Ron Asheton appearances comment. J seemed to wake up completely when Ron was introduced.

Ron was awesome and as Kockney said, he barely broke sweat. J, Mike & Ron all played together for "Alone". It sounded very similiar to the Bizarre Fest 97, but enhanced by the third guitar. "Alone", was not necessarily familiar terrotory for Ron, but you would have thought he’d played it a thousand times before.

The 19th can’t arrive soon enough…..

[Javro]

Hey Sludgey

I watched George right through the last track and willed that stick right into my hand.

Did anyone see the support. Jesus. Miming over DAT until one of them pulled out a geetar and proceeded to play….

F. For five minutes. Works if you are My Bloody Valentine maybe, but not here.

This was without a doubt the best I have ever seen any of them play. Yeah J looked "tired" , (although I reckon stoned was a better bet), but if he can play like that tired, beware when the man is feeling lively. Mike Watt was worth the entrance money alone (see earlier comments about Ron/Watt looking like David’s Mellor and Bellamy). Just Like Heaven was a real treat. Only problem was the gentleman in the grey shirt just behind me – loon.

Oh and happy birthday to the guy who was stood next to me (even J wished him so).

[Js body double]

hey javro, i got the sticks too, they have got quite a few rim shots on them!
who is the loon u r talking about, the one with the red cap and no teeth?
or the on e with really long hair?

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[stav]

Just to add my thoughts – yes, it was much better than the Astoria.

I remember thinking to myself during it, how could anyone in the whole world not dig this stuff? Smiles all round and they were really rocking – surely one of the best gigs for a long time.

I think Watt and J complement each other, and the bass playing was much better than before, although the better PA may have helped.

[Javro]

BodyDouble (won’t ask why)

no teeth. Please say that is not you. I was the bald one. Still am, in fact.

Yeah – the stick was so badly chipped that it gave me splinters as I caught it.

[Js body double]

no i am not the guy with no teeth, he scared the shit out of me, he was so fucking crazy aaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

[eggwater]

It seems you got a similar crowd to Manchester..everyone went wild when they played the Stooges…I think it was badly promoted but people saw that Ron Asheton was on and it was they who turned up…no one seemed to know any of the Fog stuff either. [img]images/smiles/converted/cool.gif[/img]

[Author]

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