two pics of the marquee outside "the Empire"

So here I was, in London for the second time in my life, and I was going to see Dirty Pretty Things (from now on in this review to be referred to as DPT, because I'm just too lazy to type it all out). The fangirl inside had been going "squee-EE!" ever since the gig had been announced by the gigsandtours newsletter. I'd been warned by my Duranie buddies that the acoustics inside Shepherds Bush sucked bigtime, but it didn't matter in my mind. I was going to see DPT :)

the opening act, Hot Club de Paris (who are, inexplicably, from Liverpool)

Given my condition, there was no way I could get a stalls ticket, so me and my Duranie friend Taylor got tickets for the balcony (Level 2 to be exact). Taylor, bless her, she doesn't like DPT at all and she went with me for moral support - what a trooper! We were able to sit pretty much dead center, right on the edge of the balcony. It cracked me up that there were two girls, probably less than 10 years of age each, jumping up and down in their newly purchased DPT t-shirts, while their bemused mums looked on. I can't imagine my other mother EVER agreeing to go with me to a rock gig that early in my life. I mean, she'd be a totally different person if she did do things like that. (Granted, she did take me to my first couple rock concerts when I was older, but, I dunno, I really doubt my mother would be a proponent for a band that has an "explicit content" sticker on their album.)

So, the opening act was Hot Club de Paris. Cheeky Scousers they were. I'm not sure what to make of their music...I think I'm just averse to extreme headbanging when I *know* what good music certain Scousers of history's past have made. Or I'm just not a headbanger type. They were okay. To be fair, they seemed like the right kind of opening act for a band like DPT. Hot Club got the crowd going with "Shipwreck" and some other one about "your face looks funny"...? If you're a Hot Club fan, sorry, I wasn't really paying attention to the song titles. I was rocking back and forth in my seat, biting my nails, and getting anxious for DPT to show up. While we were waiting for DPT's set to start, Taylor noticed a bloke in the stalls wearing a military uniform outfit (ala the Libertines' "Up the Bracket" video), but she was convinced there was no way he'd be able to breathe later when the floor got full. I never saw Mr. Military and Taylor never saw him again, so he must have disappeared into the crowd, ditching the jacket...so that was disappointing. Wherever you are, show yourself!

Can't really explain why, but Shepherds Bush has had this mythology in my mind for a while, because it was that particular venue that Led Zeppelin did a memorable show there. Or maybe when I first started reading up on LZ, that name always came up and was burned into my mind, as it had a weird name. Shepherds Bush? What would a shepherd be doing in a bush? Looking for his sheep? It's one of those weird names, like the Cambridge Corn Exchange (where I've never been). In any event, I knew this venue had its place in history. Of course, Duran Duran played the Empire too.

Setlist from nme.com.

Tired Of England (I love this song, can't wait for the new album!)
Wondering
Chinese Dogs
The Gentry Cove
Suits Punks Military (new number)
Deadwood
Doctors And Dealers
Blood Thirsty Bastards (Tim Burgess of the Charlatans singing lead)
North Country Boy/You Can't Always Get What You Want (Tim Burgess singing lead on Charlatans/Stones medley)
You Fucking Love It
Best Face (new number)
Gin And Milk
The Enemy
Plastic Hearts (new number)
I Get Along (lone Libertines number in the set - woof!)
Come Closer (new acoustic number)
B.U.R.M.A.
Last Of The Small Town Playboys
Bang Bang You're Dead

So DPT took the stage at nearly half past 9, a good 20 minutes or so later than the expected start time of 9.10. They started with "Tired of England." Can I say I just love this song? If this and the lovely acoustic harmonies of "Come Closer" are what to expect from the new DPT album due out in September, I am stoked. Other notes:

• "Wondering" gave me chills, as I'd walked down Lambeth Road and checked out Carl's fave shop on Lower Marsh Street, Radio Days, a couple days earlier
• "Chinese Dogs" sounds completely different - and better - live, the bootleg recordings don't do it justice. Didz - you rock man. Totally.
• A surprise after "Doctors and Dealers" - the introduction of Tim Burgess of the Charlatans. He came on stage bundled up in a beige trenchcoat. He must have been roasting like a jacket potato dressed like that. I don't know what he was thinking. And I can't be the only one who half-expected him to run out to the park across the street from the Empire and flash parkgoers.
• Despite the nice surprise, I don't think he did "Bastards" justice. He had to read the lyrics off a sheet of paper - I'm sure most of the people in the building that night could have sung it better than him. I wasn't too impressed.
• I had hoped for more Libertines songs, but I knew that was wishful thinking, especially after Carl had said recently that he doesn't want to do those songs anymore at gigs.

More pics (my picture-taking skills, as you can see, are utter shite):

the backdrop, with the drawled heart. pretty nice, innit?

blur blur and more blur. at least you can somewhat make out all the members. from L-R: Didz Hammond (bass), Carl Bar?t (guitar, lead vocals), Anthony Rossamondo (lead guitar) and in the way back, Gary Powell (oops, I almost typed Gary Cooper!) on the drums.

this looks like several red devils prancing around the stage, but what I was trying to get was the second from the right red blob, which is actually Tim Burgess

the last pic before my camera battery died that night. Murphy's law that it's the only one in focus and decent! Carl is the one in the blue French football shirt, in the middle.

As I'd been warned, the acoustics in the venue were total rubbish. It reminded of my first-ever rock 'n' roll gig at Merriweather Post Pavilion, in 1998. But the boys were in fine form. They were jumping up and down, running and prancing around, and they looked like they were having a good time. All the songs seemed rushed, which was a shame b/c I think they could have been so much more. Though I'm thinking the people in the stalls wouldn't agree with me. Some people like DPT rough around the edges, I think.

I guess DPT is considered mainstream in England. Days before I saw DPT live, I heard a retooled version of "Bastards" used as background segue music on the BBC's drama "Waterloo Road." That's almost as odd as Morrissey's "First of the Gang" showing up in the background of MTV's "Laguna Beach." Speaking of mainstream, you couldn't escape the news of Pete and Carl's impromptu "mini-reunion" a couple days before I arrived in England. And what is this I hear, Pete Doherty working with Stephen Street? As a Smiths/Mozzer fan, I'm intrigued. Stephen Street, really?

But what I'm really waiting for is the new DPT album. Bring it on boys!

posted 02.05.07
moved on over 07.09.09
gig-going habits