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| From | "David Bash" <bashpop@earthlink.net> |
| Subject | IPO Liverpool |
| Date | Sun, 26 Oct 2003 08:31:49 -0800 |
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I still haven't entirely come down from the high I felt during my entire
stay in Liverpool. First of all, the city is very charming; very
working-class and down to earth, and everyone was cordial and cool. My
girlfriend Rina and I had great fun walking around Liverpool, checking out
the Mersey (we didn't have time to take a Ferry 'cross it) and the docks
area, with all their rich history, as well as the ample shopping areas not
far from The Cavern. We also took in a couple of Beatle Tours: The "House
Tour", in which we were allowed entry into the childhood homes of Paul
McCartney and John Lennon, was very enlightening, as was the "Magical
Mystery Tour", on which we saw Penny Lane and Strawberry Field, among other
landmarks.
Matthew Street, on which The Cavern Club is located, is as you might
imagine, very much oriented towards The Beatles. The Cavern Pub, which is
right across from The Cavern Club, is a cool afternoon hangout, and houses
several early photos of Cavern Performances as well as lots of Beatle
memorabilia. The Beatle Store was also very cool (I almost bought a John
Lennon fitted cap, but I guess that will have to wait for next time), and
next time we'll definitely hoist a few pints (well, pints of Diet Coke for
me, anyway) at The Grapes, in memory of John Lennon. One particular Matthew
Street highlight occured after the IPO shows were over, particularly on the
weekend: there are several pubs near The Cavern, and there were an amazing
number of people walking around, many of them barely able to do so. Lots of
boisterousness happening, amplified all the more by taking place in a very
concentrated space. I found it remarkable that most of the women were
scantily clad and bra-less, even in the sub 50 degree weather (I'm told they
will absolutely *never* wear jackets in the after hours pub environment, no
matter the temperature). Robbie Rist had the best line about the
experience, saying that "even women who are over 50 were wearing
'cleavacious' outfits". Did Robbie just coin a new word there?
Doing the shows at The Cavern was a complete joy. The staff was very
professional, accomodating, very easy to work with. The two-stage format
was very effective, leaving very little "dead time" between performances and
allowing attendees to go back and forth between stages to take in as much of
each band's performances as possible. The sound on both stages was really
good as well, and the sound engineers knew not to make the volume level too
loud, thereby eliminating bleed between stages.
As much as I love all the IPOs, IPO Liverpool was particularly special for
me because there were so many bands whom I'd never seen, as there were a
large percentage from the UK, Sweden, and Spain who had never been able to
make it to the States. The standouts of those I'd previously never seen
included:
Noisecandy: a really cool young band whose bright modern pop songs should
definitely be on the radio.
The Suns: One of Liverpool's finest bands, another bunch of youngsters who
have a great future.
Cheese: It was great to see a favorite album of mine, "Let It Brie", come to
life!
Ricky: Formidable harmonies and tight songs.
The Celebrity Squares: Lots of variety, and handled every sub-genre with
skill and taste.
Serf: Combined modern pop and blues for a very unique experience.
King Louie: A tremendous band, doing sophisticated power pop all the way.
Sweet Apple Pie: Totally lived up to the quality of their CD. Their bright
pop/psych could definitely fit on Rainbow Quartz.
Pendletones: I was shocked at how much more amped their live set was than
their CD, but that's the direction in which they're going, and it's a good
choice!
The Jessica Fletchers: This Norwegian band is definitely one of Rainbow
Quartz's finest.
David Scott: The lead singer/songwriter of The Pearlfishers' solo
performance was simply divine.
The Get Outs: The Buzzcocks incarnate. What more can I say?
The Jetset: As good as they ever were, I'm sure.
Pugwash: Also lived up to their discs (they did an impromptu set of a
capella Beatles tunes after the show was over)
The Winnerys: A Beatlesque band who fit absolutely perfectly at The Cavern.
They were so good and so well received, they got two encores!
AntiProduct: Excellent glammy stuff, and leader Alex Kane is the
quintessential performer.
The highlight of the whole festival for me was probably Tony Rivers and The
Castaways/Harmony Grass. They hadn't played together for 32 years, but
their harmonies were so spot on that it was both mind and knee buckling. I
know how much work they put into this show, and I want them to know just how
much it paid off.
I want to thank every Auditeer who went through great expense of both time
and money to make the Trek to Liverpool, as well as every band who played.
I also want to thank again Jean Catharell for everything she did to help
make IPO Liverpool a success.
All I can say is: I can't wait for next year!!!!
Liverpool Rules!!!!!
Take Care,
David
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