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Newsletter
No. 25
Messidor
CCXIII
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Gorky Plage, Glastonbury, Greece and the
gerstenmalz of Germany
With
traditional showbusiness high spirits, the
latest multinational BSP touring programme
concludes in the dockside bars of Hamburg.
The moon has risen and Right Said Fred
track You're My Mate is playing on the
jukebox at The Kapitan's Kabin. BSP band
members and stage crew chomp noisily on
monkey nuts - eaten in the proper manner,
shell and all. We can tell you for a fact,
it is every bit as heady as the times when
George Formby would tour the African
desert in an old Humber van, kipping
inside while his pianist and glamour girl
bedded down under a van-side canvas
lean-to. Notwithstanding, just how did we
get here?
The
particular evening has been driven to the
heights by beer, haunting anecdote and raw
in-concert performance. A short while
earlier, BSP concluded their set at the
Hamburg Dock venue. Not only did this
feature an uncommon rendition of the track
No Red Indian, but it was one of the
finest BSP shows ever. For two nights only
- Berlin and Hamburg - BSP have been back
on the road with their old friends The
Killers. Golden years, golden years. How
this Killers band have grown. How they
have flourished and filled out since the
days they supported BSP at Lincoln Bivouac
and Cardiff Club Ifor Bach. Now the tables
are truly turned, with BSP honoured to
support at these two German shows. These
days the Killers tour juggernaut features
walk-in wardrobes and a particularly fine
and gentlemanly concert crew. But we are
pleased to relay that this band have lost
none of their odd combination of quiet
courtesy and inspiring joie de vivre.
After
the Hamburg show, fiercely bearded drummer
Ronnie grins like his face done gonna
break. Singer Brandon smiles and shows off
his stage wear - a nice tight red
mini-mac, seemingly co-designed by Mary
Quant and Inspector Clouseau. However,
bassist and Who fan Mark tops even that
with a supernatural little tale relating
to Who bassist John Entwistle. It seems
that the night Mr Entwistle died was also
Markâs birthday. Not only that, but
where exactly did Entwistle peg out? Las
Vegas, hometown to The Killers. If this is
not proof of rock-legend bass-player
spiritual transference then we donât
know what is. Monkey nuts, Mary Quant and
the Mark-Ent mind-meld, it rarely comes
more compelling than this. But let us now
backtrack, back to before this night.
Recent
British Sea Power overseas touring began
on 10 June with the first ever BSP trip to
Russia. The majority of the BSP party flew
from Heathrow. However, notoriously
seasick BSP guitarist Noble chose another
route - from Halifax, Nova Scotia, all the
way by ice-bound convoy to Archangel. From
this northerly Russian port, it was but a
short journey by road, rail and
horse-drawn troika to the BSP concert in
Gorky Park.
Playing
in the open air next to the Moscow river
and beside a big wheel just like in the
screen adaptation of The Third Man, BSP
were clearly gratified to be rocking in
this vast, astonishing land. Staged by
Time Out Moscow, the show was a fine one,
punctuated for the first time in BSP
history by fireworks and pyrotechnics. To
warm up after his icy cruise, Noble even
toasted his foot in the incendiary
outpouring of a Roman candle. What a silly
lad. Better still, one young lady dashed
onstage to present Yan with a substantial
floral bouquet.
By
the time BSP reach the closing Rock In A,
all sexes, both male and female, are
allied in joyous abandon. Immediately
after the set, a bearded man comes up to
tell us that he had only previously seen
one band from west of Kiev. It was The
Scorpions and he tells us that BSP were
even better. Firm praise.
After
the show there is only time for a quick
bar-room debate on General Lebed and
whether imperious Russian gymnast Svetlana
Khorkina was right to pose nude for
Playboy. Moscow, what a great place and
what wonderful, friendly people. For
instance when we got back to hotel, there
were around 20 young women waiting to
beckon us over with big smiles and wiggles
of the hip. Where else would you ever get
people hanging around in a hotel lobby at
3am just ready to chat and laugh with
strangers? Still, that's Russia for
you.
In
St Petersburg, the band are pleased to be
booked into a Swedish-designed hotel which
the Rough Guide To St Petersburg bills
thus: Mainly used by Finns on booze
cruises, but also for sport and ballroom
dancing competitions.
Having
quickly boozed with cruising Finns and
done a quick dance with determined
heptathlete Denise Lewis, BSP leave for
the show. It turns out the concert is not
in St Petersburg itself, but out by the
sea some 50 kilometres north-west along
the coast. On arrival, BSP can hardly
believe their good fortune. Regulars to
the BSP newsletter service will know how
we are always banging on about the glories
of the Karelian Isthmus and the
inspirational drift of mists across The
Gulf Of Finland. Of course, not one of us
had ever been there - until tonight.
There
is no mist, the sun is shining. But here
we are, looking out over the glorious,
early-evening light-aircraft greys of The
Gulf Of Finland. Tonight at least, the
mood is as much Mediterranean as solemnly
neo-Nordic, but no one is complaining. We
are here and about to witness possibly the
strangest BSP show yet. Let us set the
scene.
The
venue tonight is The Jet Set Plage and,
this time, the event is staged by Time Out
St Petersburg. The Jet Set Plage is
situated in the dispersed settlement of
Komapobo. The name translates as Mosquito
and you do not wonder why for long. The
insects are everywhere, biting down on any
exposed skin. It matters little - the
evening is splendid and the venue most
pleasantly atypical. The Jet Set Plage is
a big, open-air beachside bar. There is
wooden decking and a big circular swimming
pool in the middle of the dancefloor.
Indeed, if you were dropped in blindfolded
you would think you were in Ibiza before
the north of the Eurasian landmass.
Enhancing the Ibizan air, the DJ plays
pumping-in-your-face happy house like DJ
Sun Spangle manning the decks at Cafe Del
Mar. A man built like a compacted Action
Man robotically swings his buttocks while
continually talking into a mobile phone.
As
the sensual disco throb abates, BSP take
their stations. Heads garlanded with
leaves, they launch into The Scottish
Wildlife Experience. Within 30 seconds the
500-strong crown divides approximately
into two. One half are smiling with a hint
of disbelief that suggests this may be one
of the strangest things they have ever
seen. The other half are grimacing with a
hint of disbelief that says this may be
one of the most unwelcome things they've
ever seen.
By
the time BSP head through Remember Me into
Larsen B, half the crowd are baying and
throwing their arms into the air. The
other half cower and groan by the bar at
the back. Surveying events, Yan and
Hamilton smile widely before repeatedly
voicing the tour catchphrase: I...
LIKE...YOU. This expression is delivered
midway between Terry Thomas and Boris
Yeltsin and now the BSP boys begin to
apply it to a particular quarter.
Insistently, Yan beckons two girls and a
boy on stage. This leggy, trio have been
previously employed weaving through the
crowd and smiling imperturbably while
waving big Time Out flags. Now they
maintain this activity, but instantly,
effortlessly become part of the BSP live
show.
As
BSP rev into Lately, Noble begins to throw
fruit into the crowd. Not the soft
strawberry or tomato. Rather the solid
lime or apple. They connect with a
somewhat disturbing impact. As Lately
reaches its climax, Yan jumps from the
stage, does the 10-yard dash and hops into
the swimming pool. A pretty girl leans
over to soundman Joe in the mixing booth.
"When... when will they finish?" she asks,
a peculiar mixture of pain and apology
etched across her brow.
Wet
or nay, Scott is right back on stage for
the start of Rock In A. As BSP reach the
ultimate conclusion, Noble grabs a roll of
gaffer tape and starts winding round our
trio of leggy Russian flag-wavers, binding
them tight into a flag-waving cluster.
With the sun setting over the sea, the
last note rings out. As the house music
pumps out one more, the flag girls are
left disentangling a knot of tape from
their lovely tresses. They don't stop
smiling for a second.
Back
from the former USSR, BSP play a May Ball
staged in June at Clare College,
Cambridge. The men of BSP all learned to
read, but none attended the honeyed
heights of the British educational
triangle. But the band enjoy their day in
the sun - playing a concert on the longest
day of the year as the punts glide by on
the Cam. Peter Ackroyd, David
Attenborough, Siegfried Sassoon and
Richard Stilgoe all attended Clare and BSP
are honoured to join them, if only for one
night.
Other
entertainments at the ball include a wide
selection of soul and Motown from
SpunkyFunk, a giant Scaletrix set and
Girls Go Bang! who are here direct from
supporting the Gucci Soundsystem. BSP play
in the Fellows Garden, alongside a
fairground, Circular Champagne Bar,
Doughnuts and Chocolate Fondue. As the BSP
set ends, one all are happy in the
knowledge that Breakfast Bags will be
available at 5am.
From
Cambridge it is onward to Glastonbury.
Yes, it rains a bit - indeed all BSP tents
are flooded - but hardly enough to stop
one enjoying the falafels and Johhny from
Razorlight taking his shirt off. BSP enjoy
a nice few pints of Woodforde Wherry,
champion ale from Norfolk, then get down
to business.
The
Brakes play a fine set in the Guardian
Guide Tent and then BSP make ready for
their headline spot at the Leftfield Tent.
This marquee is a real hotspot for
socialist lobbying and sweat-free
T-shirts. BSP are delighted to line up
alongside Teasing Lulu, Babyshambles and
the Unite Against Fascism Debate with
Billy Bragg and Jerry Dammers. BSP come on
stage after Sonic Audio, a fearsome
Leicestershire gang who bring on Shaun
Ryder to guest on a version of Jumping
Jack Flash. Shaun - aka X - grunts like a
real un and occasionally bellows JOOMPIN
JACK FLAHHHR YUH! Truly a legend of dark
indie-dance taking things right back to
the primordial funk soup. We mean, did
even Can ever get this pagan?
BSP
walk on to a big swelling crowd, quite a
few of whom are carrying partisan clumps
of ivy or an oak bough or two. Ascending
from the mire, BSP turn in a truly
electrifying set. If you were there you
saw it. After the band walk off, a
spontaneous cry of SEA POWER! rings out
for minutes. Even X gives his assent.
Wandering over in the backstage compound,
he addresses BSP: "Nice one! Not bad for a
bunch of students. Pretty good trees too."
With that he is away, looking for Tango
and Kit-Kat.
Glastonbury
is followed directly by a flight to Greece
for the Rockwave festival. The band fly at
39,000 feet over Brindisi and hope they
might be able to invoke the spirit of Mimi
Parent and the Exposition interRnatiOnale
du Surrealism (making EROS, obviously).
The papers have news of how some fool has
dug up rare Lady's Slipper orchids at
Silverdale golfcourse. The tour manager is
thinking back to the time when Madonna
tried to make him the main beneficiary of
her last will and testament and the time
when Kate Bush asked if she could buy him
a bicycle. These are the issues that must
be addressed in Greece.
Rockwave
takes place in a rustic locale outside
Athens. The stage faces a big,
pine-covered mountain and there is cold
Vergina beer for all players. There are
also lizards, cicadas and goldfinches. The
spinach pies and vegan triangles are quite
delicious and it is quite possibly the
best organised festival that BSP have ever
played.
BSP
take the stage around 6pm and get the
sun-kissed girls and boys in a tizz. Job
done, they slump back in the heat, supping
frozen margaritas and getting ready for
the next two bands - only the freakin
Secret Machines and goddamned Sonic Youth,
mate. Secret Machines are fine, but Sonic
Youth are excellent. They've been doing
this for years if not centuries now, but
tonight they have exuberance and chutzpah
to shame the teenager. Well done Sonic
Youth, well done Rockwave.
After
Greece, it on to Germany and back where we
started. In Hamburg, Berlin and Dortmund
there are almost too many attractions to
enumerate. On arrival in Hamburg, Noble
befriends Mark Owen of Take That and gets
all the band on the guestlist for his show
at the Logo club. Boy is it hot in there.
BSP are also pleased to spot two new
flavours in the Ritter Sport range of
squared chocolate bars - Ritter Blutorange
and Ritter Heidelbeere. Look out for them
on your own high street soon.
The
band also find time to pop in for the
Seestucke exhibition at Hamburg
Kunsthalle. This sombre and evocative
array of seascapes truly thrilled the
hungover group mind. Imagine how they
gawped at the sheer expanse of Copenhagen
Roadstead by Anton Melbye, the amazing
detail of Abend Am Meer by Carl Gustav
Carus. Best of all, there was Eismeer by
Caspar David Friedrich. Hey, here was a
guy doing pretty much what BSP were trying
to do with their song Oh Larsen B, but
beating them to to punch a cool 181 years!
We are telling you, even The Killers could
not do that. And them boys are good.
Thank
you for your time. Next stop Italy and the
Arezzo Wave and Spaziale goosefairs. News
will follow.
Yours,
Old Sarge
NEWSBLAST!
British
Sea Power feature on the Isle Of Wight
2004 DVD, filmed live on stage at the Isle
Of Wight Festival. The DVD features one
track from BSP - Stretch And Flex With
Ursine Ultra (aka Rock In A). That is
right, BSP doing it with famous stage bear
Ursine Ultra at one of the
creatureâs last appearances before
being made involuntarily redundant.
Several renowned BSP admirers can spotted
in the front row and the BSP performance
is real bright and breezy. Even so, think
carefully before buying - notwithstanding
guaranteed in-focus additional footage of
Groove Armada, Steve Harley and Jet. Out
now. Certificate: exempt from
classification.
BOOKBLAST!
Back
in the good old days, BSP would
occasionally recommend a book. Now back
and bolder than ever they are recommending
three at once.
a)
The Shining Levels by John Wyatt. An old
BSP favourite this one. Indeed, the
seasoned BSP observer may know already how
this book was an inspiration for the Open
Season album and the track True Adventures
in particular. A gentle autobiographical
tale of kicking off the traces and going
to live in a hut in the Lake District, it
is sure to calm even the most devoted
crackhead. Who could forget the bits where
he cooks stew and makes friends with a
deer? Currently our of print, but
available via the megaweb.
b)
Scapa Flow by Malcolm Brown and Patricia
Meehan (Pan Grand Strategy Series).
Believe it not, the Orcadian natural
harbour of Scapa Flow has a life even
beyond its inclusion in BSP classic
Carrion. This oral history of Scapa Flow
is a motivating read and tells you how to
keep going even when it is cold: "Snow
outside now, but the fellow you've chummed
up with has a hip-flask of the best rum in
the world and he's pleased for you to have
a swig." Note: available from the
booksellers of Waterloo at a cut-price
£2.99.
c)The
Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay
by Michael Chabon (4th Estate). You may
well know this one already - after all, it
won the whole-hog Pulitzer Prize after its
publication in 2000. A virtuoso WWII-era
tale of two NYC-based cousins who create
the Hitler-busting comic superhero The
Escapist. It also masterfully depicts New
York Gotham as young Josef Kavalier frets
and fulminates over how he can save his
Czech parents from real-life Nazi tyranny.
Beautifully written, hugely moving
stuff.
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