Elbow can, on rare occasion, be difficult to fathom. Or rather
it should be said that it can be difficult to fathom how one should react on those
occasions. On CD they’re considerably formed Northern British melancholics; rich
poetic observations and unfussy particulars, reinforced by numerous sturdy musical
accomplishments. Almost musical documentary makers, they truly do appear fashioned
from melodic granite. Take this into a living-breathing live environment however
and the points of definition shift somewhat. We doubt that they’re being purposefully
contrary, they give a disciplined performance, but some of the finer details are
inevitably blunted, lost to the rafters, or even superseded by the blanket charm
that Guy ‘The Nicest Guy In Indie’ Garvey hauls around in abundance. Elbow
gigs are increasingly Guy-led experiences, the cult of his personality being tricky
to resist. It does give the songs and their contexts an even more human reference
point. In addition to the vividness of his expression, he is up there on display
along with all of his flaws (chain-smoking, stubble-harbouring and tonight, complete
with wooden-cain, hobbling – not to mention carrying an unapologetically ‘cuddly’
frame, hardly Franz-chic), cracking bad jokes, making bunny ears on his own silhouettes,
on a mission to form a bond of kinship with 5000 people simultaneously. But while
this may have become one rewarding highlight of seeing Elbow in the live arena,
it also threatens to infect the guarded, personal sanctuary of their songs. You
never expect the hypnotised-seriousness of a Mogwai or Spiritualized crowd at
an Elbow gig, but you give them an inch and they take a tube up the Victoria line
into town. Or may as well have. Audience static reaches a disrespectful nadir
during gob-smackingly tender readings of gravel-dashed ballads ‘My Very Best’
and ‘Great Expectations’. The surplus, generation-binge ‘ambience’ jars disrespectfully
with their contents, which lies ultimately ignored. And while you can’t help but
feel proud for a band like this filling the impressive cavern of Brixton Academy,
when it’s also guilty of robbing them of the intimacy they deserve, how do you
balance that equation? Some bands are enhanced tenfold by this venue, Elbow seem
regrettably handicapped by it. Take away the external factors though and,
aside from a slightly aimless reworking of ‘Powder Blue’, they are near faultless.
The full creeping consciousness of ‘Station Approach’ defines them as it does
on record, firmly showcasing their capabilities, emotional and otherwise. A spotless
‘Switching Off’ has slight-of-touch down to a tear-extracting art-form, ‘Newborn’
is a slalom you might know upside down in reverse but can still find surprises
tucked away in, and unexpected monster-glam b-side ‘The Good Day’ is a surprisingly
motivational inclusion, if a touch out of character. This should have been a triumph,
and in some ways it was, but we’re left feeling empty and at odds with our logic.
They were, we feel, let down by their cast of thousands. Relevant sites:
http://www.elbow.co.uk
James Berry for Crud Magazine 2005©
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| 04/05 British Sea Power - Live - Scala, London
04/05 Eels - Live - Royal Festival Hall, London
04/05 Doves, Elbow, Longview - Carling 24 , Manchester
04/05 Joy Zipper, ICA London
04/05 The National - 100 Club, London
04/05 Redjetson / Liberez / Twentysixfeet - Marquee, London
04/05 The Warlocks - Bethnal Green Working Men's Club
12/04 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - ULU, London
12/04 Elbow - Live -Brixton Academy, London
12/04 Franz Ferdinand - Live - Alexandra Palace, London
12/04 Morning Runner - Kings College London
12/04 Carling Weekend Reading Festival 2005
12/04 Sigur Rós - Brixton Academy, London
12/04 Crud Top 20 Albums 2005 |  |
January 2001
July - August 2001
September - October 2001
November - December 2001
January - March 2002
April - July 2002
August - December 2002
January - March 2003
May - August 2003
November 2003
January - March 2004
April - September 2004
October - December 2004
January - March 2005
April - December 2005
January - August 2006
September - December 2006
January - September 2007
October - December 2007
January - May 2008
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