Week 12 – Wednesday 23rd March – Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff – Elbow - £27.50
“Anticipation has a habit to set you up for disappointment in evening entertainment, but…”
It was the first time this year that we were actually going to see a band I can admit to genuinely loving.
Sorry You Me At Six, but the truth had to come out eventually.
When I say genuinely loving, I mean it. In all senses of the word.
Emotionally. Spiritually. Physically.
Well, maybe not physically, unless you count the body part.
My love of Elbow dates back to the first time I heard the song 'Forget Myself 'on a cold, lonely night about five years ago (I’m talking about the band now, don’t be childish). That song led me to the album Leaders of the Free World which, to my surprise, was their third. It’s a brilliant album, so I decided to check out the two that preceded it, Asleep in the Back and Cast of Thousands.
Both of those, are brilliant albums. I sensed a pattern emerging.
At this point they were still a relatively small band, but a couple of short years later they literally exploded, in a shower of guts and Guy Garvey’s gristle.
There may not have been any real explosions but their sales rocketed with the Mercury Prize winning fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid.
Everyone seemed to love it (I, of course, decided it was brilliant), and Elbow barged into the public’s consciousness as a result.
I’m sure some of those who had been Elbow fans since their inception may have felt a tad rueful at this point, having lost their prized secret of sorts to the mainstream, but being a third album wonder I had no such worries. I can relate to that selfish pang though, it’s how I’ll feel when Fjords hit the big time.
Following in The Seldom Seen Kid’s considerable footsteps, just a couple of weeks before tonight’s gig Elbow released album number five, Build a Rocket Boys! which, it must be said, is also very good. Ok, it’s brilliant.
So there it is: Five brilliant albums, dozens of great songs and the most expensive ticket of the year so far, which is where the anticipation comes in.
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Joining Sandro and I for the first time in over a month were those loveable scamps Ryan and Jess of Brum. During the taxi ride from their house to town, Ryan of Brum revealed his shocking fact of the day; Chesney Hawkes didn’t even write his massive hit The One and Only.
I was understandably distraught. What would Zowie Bowie think!? Twisting the knife, Ryan stated that the song was in fact written by one Nick Kershaw, and thankfully the Taxi driver was on hand to advise that Kershaw was “a singer in the 80’s” (full of useful information these Taxi drivers, you know).
It gave me a whole new insight into the world’s greatest song, and I spent the rest of the journey wondering if Nick Kershaw would rather be Chesney Hawkes, or vice versa. Who is the one and only?
On Ryan of Brum's recommendation, our pre-gig pints were an interesting concoction called Blue Moon, which were accompanied by a lovely pre-gig steak at Henry’s on Park Place. Thanks to Jess of Brum we paid far less than we might have otherwise. She suggested running before we got the bill.
We ran all the way to the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff (or Motorpoint Arena for short) which is the new official name for the CIA. Supporting band, Villagers, were finishing off their set when we arrived at around 8 o’clock. Like Elbow, Villagers' debut album was nominated for the Mercury Prize so let’s assume they were entertaining and that it was a shame to miss them.
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Screens on stage showed each member of Elbow in individual Harry Potter style moving portraits. At around quarter to 9 they each left their frames and wandered on stage, dressed in smart suits. It was a magical entrance. Sorry.
“We’ll be playing quite a few new songs tonight,” Garvey declared, and he wasn’t lying. Most of the songs they played came from their two most recent albums, with no songs at all from their first two, which was a shame because their brilliant y'know?
They kicked off with slow burning opener 'The Birds' and Garvey then confidently predicted “I think you’ll know this one,” before they followed it up with a fine rendition of fan-favourite 'Bones of You'.
'Lippy Kids', an ode to children with lips and a highlight of the new album was next and outstanding. Accompanying the following song, 'Mirrorball', was an amazing light show which, curiously enough, involved a giant mirror ball (or disco ball to me, you and Disco Stu) that descended from the ceiling and reflected the lights spectacularly all around the arena.
The affable Garvey walked onto the elongated apron of the stage (which isn't usually a feature of the CIA) and enquired as to who in the crowd had never been to an Elbow gig before. Sandro and I were among the majority whose hands were raised (or should have been). Ryan of Brum looked on with pity.
Throughout, Guy showed his good humour and charm, thanking the audience for wolf whistles when he took off his jacket (Sandro had been practicing), and even announcing that statistically, Cardiff gets more sunshine than Milan.
“I read it on the Internet,” he said.
He also praised the talent of the musicians accompanying them on strings, playing down his own and the rest of the band’s talents in comparison, which is self deprecation or false modesty depending on whether you see Garvey as a lovable, schlubby everyman poet, or an evil genius.
Ryan of Brum called out for older Elbow songs such as 'Red', 'Newborn', 'Bitten by the Tailfly', and 'Any Day Now', but nobody was listening. Not even Jess of Brum.
I was still hanging on to faint hopes of hearing 'Forget Myself'.
'Mexican Standoff' would have been nice too.
Or 'Leaders of the Free World'.
Or 'Fallen Angel' or 'Fugitive Motel'.
Or 'Grace Under Pressure', 'Powder Blue', 'Asleep in the Back', 'Scattered Black and Whites', 'Switching Off', and maybe 'My Very Best' but I suppose they didn’t have all night.
Instead they played a few more songs from the new album before dipping into the back catalogue for the only known mention in popular music of Stockport Supporters Club, with the song Great Expectations.
That song, like most of Elbow’s stuff (and most of this set) rewards patience and repeated listens, but they do also do songs that offer immediate satisfaction, and one of them followed.
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The incredibly good 'Grounds for Divorce' shook the arena, and is one of Elbow’s best in my opinion. With deceptively emotional lyrics about the death of a close friend in a three and a half minute catchy rock song. Sandro was weeping like a baby. After I’d changed his nappy, he grumbled that they’d used the song too early in the set. That must have been what set him off.
The subtle growers (an Elbow specialty) 'Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver', 'Puncture Repair' and 'Some Riot' followed before a wonderful performance of The Seldom Seen Kid’s 'Weather to Fly'.
They finished off their main set with 'Open Arms', the new albums worthy successor to the song they are now arguably best known for, the ubiquitous 'One Day Like This' (which was clearly being saved for the real finale).
Garvey told the crowd that Elbow will have been together as a band for twenty years this June, which triggered a chorus of “Happy birthday to you!”
Before they left for the obligatory encore, Guy revealed that a man on one of the balconies named Adrian Jones was the person seated furthest from the stage.
He encouraged us to give him an ovation, and suggested that we sing “Adrian Jones” to a tune of our choosing to persuade them to return for an encore. I racked my brains desperately for a suitable tune, but decided this was no time for 'ooh eeh, ooh ah aah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang'. Sandro’s suggestion of The Shoop Shoop Song was rejected and 'Hey Jude' was the best anyone else came up with.
Elbow returned with a beautiful 3 song encore of 'Starlings', 'Station Approach' and 'One Day Like This'. 'Station Approach' was dedicated to one of Guy’s five sisters. He told a story of their early days before the band had any success, when they’d had some expensive equipment nicked and she’d given them the money to enable them to be able to afford replacements, a deed worthy of a song dedication.
Before the inevitable closer, Guy told us we’d been beautiful (it was dark) and praised the “Brilliant” (he likes the word as much as me) Villagers, before they launched into a memorable performance of 'One Day Like This'.
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It must be said that Ryan of Brum and I were both slightly disappointed at the lack of songs from their earlier albums (although it was perfectly understandable), while Sandro of course wasn’t overly impressed with the early use of 'Grounds for Divorce' in the set, but you can’t please everyone all of the time. (Nor would you want to; some people are just not very nice. A certain Mr. Hitler for instance. Always bashing poor Richie around.)
So in respect of Alex’s wise warning there was an element of disappointment, but they were never going to play for the four or more hours that I’d have happily watched for, and on the whole it was a more than satisfying show from a truly brilliant band.
“Tonight there’ll be some love!” Turner continues in 'The View from the Afternoon'. True in terms of the music. But considering I was going home with Sandro, thankfully it didn’t apply in a physical sense.
There wasn’t even any elbow action.
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March26-4 – Larry Miller - ✓
5-11 - Daedelus - ✓
12-18 - Benjamin Francis Leftwich - ✓
19-25 - Elbow - ✓
26-1 -?
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