From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V12 #162 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Wednesday, October 17 2007 Volume 12 : Number 162 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 1) [jonathan.chiddick] Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 2) [jonathan.chiddick] RE: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 2) [Brian Price ] Re: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 1) [John McJunkin Subject: RE: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 2) Great reviews Jon! For those of us who couldn't attend the UK shows at least we can imagine the magic you felt those nights. Very well written. One question that comes to mind is in regards to Thomas' relocation back to the UK. Is it permanent? I seem to think he mentioned it was for the time being, but maybe he sold his US home and did pack it all up and move. Anyone have any more insight? I'm just curious. We were spoiled here in the US when he started touring again, and now he will get to do the same to our UK counterparts. :) Brian > To: alloy@smoe.org> Subject: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 2)> From: jonathan.chiddick> Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:26:10 +0000> > > Thomas rounded off the night in appropriate style alone on the stage with> Airwaves and the overall performance was the best ever IMHO. It was even> better than Scala and that's something I never expected I would say.> The sheer energy of the evening was enthralling. There is nothing like playing> a decent sized standing only venue. This is the only way such music should be> appreciated IMO. Sitting at tables with cocktail waitresses flitting back and> forth is my idea of how to not to enjoy music. I'll take my Dolby where I can> get it but Dolby ` la Islington Academy is my first choice.> > It was obvious to all present by the expressions on Thomas's face that he was> floating. The performance was pretty-much flawless. Everything worked and> vocally Thomas gave the best set so far as far as I can tell from recordings,> concerts and reviews. Everything was tight. The songs were plentiful. The vibe> was amazing. I still can't quite believe that all happened!> > One thing was clear to me from my close vantage-point. Thomas is an excellent> one-man-band, that is clear, but judging by the way he was continually> glancing to his right grinning at his old partners in crime, whilst knocking> out those tunes like they had never stopped... Thomas likes playing *in* a> band and it really suits him. I certainly hope that we see and hear more of> this in the future.> > After the end we hung around until we were thrown out of the venue! The after> party was by invitation only and due to the number of guests there were only a> few lucky people sporting golden wristbands...> > Five of us staked-out the door for a while hoping to catch Thomas on the way> out when magically, thanks to some sterling pre-gig lobbying by a treasured> forum member, the tour manager offered up the goods. We got the golden> wristbands and were allowed back in.> > Upstairs there were about a dozen or so people including Thomas, Mathew and> Kevin and we had some really nice time chatting, getting stuff signed and the> obligatory photo's. (I personally don't like the photos bit as I feel it is> too intrusive so I didn't take any. Others did so there are plenty of them> with me in them for a change which makes for some nice memories of the> night.)> Cambridge was full of technical difficulties and a liberal sprinkling of> family members so I wasn't surprised when there was no opportunity to say hi> after the set. In Islington, if I hadn't managed to get the magic tickets to> the after-party I would not have been at all disappointed after such a> completely brilliant night.> However, things worked out. I had come a long way for this and was rewarded by> an unsurpassable night. Getting a quick chat with Thomas is always a nice but> tonight was great because of the whole evening's vibe.> > Clearly the Scala gig had a much bigger impact on him than we could have ever> hoped. He told the story about how Scala came about as a warm up for the> Wireless Festival. - which then turned around in significance after the 800> Scala sold out so quickly. Thomas explained his feelings as he arrived at the> venue to see the huge snaking queue disappearing right out of view up the> street. When he came on stage he did so to such a reception that it moved him> beyond all expectation. He explained that as a result of that one night he> made the decision to relocate with his family back to the UK. Very touchingly> he thanked every person that was at Scala for showing him just how much the UK> actually meant to him. In his words the reception he got that brilliant night> made the decision for him. (see! I told you it was massive!)> > As a summary: holy cow. That was the best ever. The large and appreciative> audience was ecstatic and the content of the show was, well, nothing short of> amazing. One of the highlights for me was I Scare Myself. It was the first> time I had heard it played as it was scrubbed from the set-list in Cambridge> due to lack of time. I got to meet up with the band and so many people from> the forum that I had only ever written to before and it was brilliant to be> able to witness such a unique event together.> > There are loads of other reviews and photographs on offer at> www.thomasdolby.com take a look if you are interested in reading more.> > Cheers all,> Jon _________________________________________________________________ Boo! Scare away worms, viruses and so much more! Try Windows Live OneCare! http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/purchase/trial.aspx?s_cid=wl_hotmailne ws ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:07:42 -0700 From: John McJunkin Subject: Re: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 2) Please tell us they shot video! On Oct 15, 2007, at 5:26 PM, jonathan.chiddick wrote: > > Thomas rounded off the night in appropriate style alone on the > stage with > Airwaves and the overall performance was the best ever IMHO. It was > even > better than Scala and that's something I never expected I would say. > The sheer energy of the evening was enthralling. There is nothing > like playing > a decent sized standing only venue. This is the only way such music > should be > appreciated IMO. Sitting at tables with cocktail waitresses > flitting back and > forth is my idea of how to not to enjoy music. I'll take my Dolby > where I can > get it but Dolby ` la Islington Academy is my first choice. > > It was obvious to all present by the expressions on Thomas's face > that he was > floating. The performance was pretty-much flawless. Everything > worked and > vocally Thomas gave the best set so far as far as I can tell from > recordings, > concerts and reviews. Everything was tight. The songs were > plentiful. The vibe > was amazing. I still can't quite believe that all happened! > > One thing was clear to me from my close vantage-point. Thomas is an > excellent > one-man-band, that is clear, but judging by the way he was continually > glancing to his right grinning at his old partners in crime, whilst > knocking > out those tunes like they had never stopped... Thomas likes playing > *in* a > band and it really suits him. I certainly hope that we see and hear > more of > this in the future. > > After the end we hung around until we were thrown out of the venue! > The after > party was by invitation only and due to the number of guests there > were only a > few lucky people sporting golden wristbands... > > Five of us staked-out the door for a while hoping to catch Thomas > on the way > out when magically, thanks to some sterling pre-gig lobbying by a > treasured > forum member, the tour manager offered up the goods. We got the golden > wristbands and were allowed back in. > > Upstairs there were about a dozen or so people including Thomas, > Mathew and > Kevin and we had some really nice time chatting, getting stuff > signed and the > obligatory photo's. (I personally don't like the photos bit as I > feel it is > too intrusive so I didn't take any. Others did so there are plenty > of them > with me in them for a change which makes for some nice memories of the > night.) > Cambridge was full of technical difficulties and a liberal > sprinkling of > family members so I wasn't surprised when there was no opportunity > to say hi > after the set. In Islington, if I hadn't managed to get the magic > tickets to > the after-party I would not have been at all disappointed after such a > completely brilliant night. > However, things worked out. I had come a long way for this and was > rewarded by > an unsurpassable night. Getting a quick chat with Thomas is always > a nice but > tonight was great because of the whole evening's vibe. > > Clearly the Scala gig had a much bigger impact on him than we could > have ever > hoped. He told the story about how Scala came about as a warm up > for the > Wireless Festival. - which then turned around in significance after > the 800 > Scala sold out so quickly. Thomas explained his feelings as he > arrived at the > venue to see the huge snaking queue disappearing right out of view > up the > street. When he came on stage he did so to such a reception that it > moved him > beyond all expectation. He explained that as a result of that one > night he > made the decision to relocate with his family back to the UK. Very > touchingly > he thanked every person that was at Scala for showing him just how > much the UK > actually meant to him. In his words the reception he got that > brilliant night > made the decision for him. (see! I told you it was massive!) > > As a summary: holy cow. That was the best ever. The large and > appreciative > audience was ecstatic and the content of the show was, well, > nothing short of > amazing. One of the highlights for me was I Scare Myself. It was > the first > time I had heard it played as it was scrubbed from the set-list in > Cambridge > due to lack of time. I got to meet up with the band and so many > people from > the forum that I had only ever written to before and it was > brilliant to be > able to witness such a unique event together. > > There are loads of other reviews and photographs on offer at > www.thomasdolby.com take a look if you are interested in reading more. > > Cheers all, > Jon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:46:12 -0400 From: Merujo Subject: Re: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 2) On 10/16/07, John McJunkin wrote: > > Please tell us they shot video! Oh man, I hope so, too! I know that TMDR had someone shoot the ICA concert -- the guy who shot it posted that he had done that over on the forum. Let's hope for the same for this one! Lucky, lucky, lucky London folks! (And traveling Finland folks!) Melissa - -- "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." - -- Leo Tolstoy ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:27:41 -0700 From: John McJunkin Subject: Re: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 1) I have tears in my eyes. On Oct 15, 2007, at 5:26 PM, jonathan.chiddick wrote: > > Dear alloy friends, > I don't post much here these days but for the sake of those of you > that don't > read thomasdolby.com regularly here is my hastily thrown-together > review of > Islington. 10.10.07 > > When I got back to my hotel room at god-knows-what o'clock I was > expecting to > write the first post about the concert but on logging in I was > surprised to > see that two people had beaten me to it! > I had just seen a once in a lifetime event and after it was over > spent a > couple of hours chatting over a steady flow of beers with the > founder of > Thomas's first label. Happy Birthday records... I learnt quite a > lot! Anyway, > I digress. > > I can't even start to explain how special Islington was. I was > originally > intending to see every show of the UK tour but work canned that I > idea and > could only do 2 but last night was the important one. The result > was nothing > short of MEGA. > > Setlist: > Karma > Flat Earth > Europa > Submarines > Girlfriend > Ferrari > Cube > Sieve > Jealous Thing > > (With Kevin Armstrong and Mathew Seligman) > I Scare Myself > Science > > Hyperactive > Airhead > > (with Lene Lovich and Les Chappel) > New Toy > Sway (duet with Lene) > > Sauce > Airwaves (encore) > > Thomas opened with Karma which was a surprise as it was a first, > first track > as far as I can remember. As I was right at the front I noticed > straight away > that there were two guitars hiding in the back of the stage and > after chatting > with Lene's husband Les in Cambridge the night before I knew that > he and Lene > would make a guest appearance but that only explained one guitar... > It was clear that Thomas was vocally well fit for the night as he > tore through > the first number and seemed to be really fired up for it. The whole > place was > erupting with applause and shrieks of joy. > The second track was Flat Earth which is my all time favorite and > brings a > tear to my eye whenever I hear it played live. The equipment seemed to > behaving itself well and by the end of the track Thomas had hit his > stride. > The venue was large and had a very good PA and lights. The whole > stage set-up > seemed to work really well. > > Thomas then went through Europa in standard style and then > performed the > semi-ambient Submarines telling the story about the expiry of a SW > module > causing him to play without bass or snare drum. This semi-ambient > version was > a joy to hear as it is a really nice new angle on a song that is > known so > well. > > Thomas then welcomed the newly named 'hot sauce horns' to the stage > and they > were really blasting. It is quite incredible to believe that they were > completely new to the material just a week ago! I was lucky enough > to have > quite a long chat with the trumpeter, Kevin Robinson, in Cambridge > who is a > charming and thoroughly fascinating and funny guy. This is one > experienced > trumpeter. A member of Simply Red, he has done tour and session > work with a > myriad of stars including Ray Charles and Tom Jones! > > The next song was Girlfriend and this was a great relaxer. I was > well aware of > the original version and this was IMO far better. If you haven't > heard it then > get yourself a copy as soon as it is released. > > There then followed a trio of Aliens songs, Ferrari, Cube and > Sieve. The horns > really made these oh-so-well-known tracks jump out. > > The next song was a new one called Jealous Thing. It is a latin > influenced > track that reminds me a lot of bossa nova rhythms. It's a really > nice song and > it is stuck in my head so well that I can replay a largish chunk of > at will > now - which is a good job as we are going to have to wait for the > album before > we can hear it again :-( > > Thomas then announced that he wanted to introduce some special > guests. I was > totally speechless when he brought Seligman and Armstrong on to the > stage. > That explained the guitars then! > The first song was I scare myself and it was beautifully executed. > They had > not played together since LiveAid in 1985 and had not even had time > to run > through the whole number beforehand but it was magically delivered. > Considering that Mathew lives in Japan these days it was a miracle of > organisation that they managed to end up on the same London stage > at all. For > me this was a dream come true as I thought the chance of ever > hearing that > early lineup on stage was something I had missed 2 decades ago! > The trio continued with Science. This is the song I usually like > least but it > was turned around 180 degrees for me by the guitars. The bass > performance by > Mathew was fantastic and made that old track really come alive. > There is > nothing like a really good bass player and Thomas has had a few of > those over > the years, but Mathew excelled that night and they all seemed to be > really > enjoying it. > > There then followed Hyperactive and Airhead which exercised the > horns again in > great fashion. Thomas has really honed his chops with these > numnbers now and > was a great deal more relaxed playing than I remember from a year ago. > > As I knew that Lene and Les were playing the surprise was gone for > me but the > performance was spectacular. Lene looked pretty much exactly the > same as those > heady days of TOTPs in 1981 when New Toy was charting. There was a > slight > technical glitch that delayed the start of the song for some > moments but then > she gave a terrific energetic performance and was thanked heartily > and very > noisily by the whole audience - on and off stage! I never expected > to have > such a flood of magnificent happenings all in one night. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:19:21 -0400 From: "Rochelle" Subject: RE: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 2) I concur. Fabulous review! Thanks for including the set list. To think he did 'I Scare Myself' again is wonderful... Rochelle - -----Original Message----- From: owner-alloy@smoe.org [mailto:owner-alloy@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Brian Price Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:05 PM To: alloy@smoe.org Subject: RE: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 2) Great reviews Jon! For those of us who couldn't attend the UK shows at least we can imagine the magic you felt those nights. Very well written. One question that comes to mind is in regards to Thomas' relocation back to the UK. Is it permanent? I seem to think he mentioned it was for the time being, but maybe he sold his US home and did pack it all up and move. Anyone have any more insight? I'm just curious. We were spoiled here in the US when he started touring again, and now he will get to do the same to our UK counterparts. :) Brian > To: alloy@smoe.org> Subject: Alloy: Islington Tales! (Part 2)> From: jonathan.chiddick> Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:26:10 +0000> > > Thomas rounded off the night in appropriate style alone on the stage with> Airwaves and the overall performance was the best ever IMHO. It was even> better than Scala and that's something I never expected I would say.> The sheer energy of the evening was enthralling. There is nothing like playing> a decent sized standing only venue. This is the only way such music should be> appreciated IMO. Sitting at tables with cocktail waitresses flitting back and> forth is my idea of how to not to enjoy music. I'll take my Dolby where I can> get it but Dolby ` la Islington Academy is my first choice.> > It was obvious to all present by the expressions on Thomas's face that he was> floating. The performance was pretty-much flawless. Everything worked and> vocally Thomas gave the best set so far as far as I can tell from recordings,> concerts and reviews. Everything was tight. The songs were plentiful. The vibe> was amazing. I still can't quite believe that all happened!> > One thing was clear to me from my close vantage-point. Thomas is an excellent> one-man-band, that is clear, but judging by the way he was continually> glancing to his right grinning at his old partners in crime, whilst knocking> out those tunes like they had never stopped... Thomas likes playing *in* a> band and it really suits him. I certainly hope that we see and hear more of> this in the future.> > After the end we hung around until we were thrown out of the venue! The after> party was by invitation only and due to the number of guests there were only a> few lucky people sporting golden wristbands...> > Five of us staked-out the door for a while hoping to catch Thomas on the way> out when magically, thanks to some sterling pre-gig lobbying by a treasured> forum member, the tour manager offered up the goods. We got the golden> wristbands and were allowed back in.> > Upstairs there were about a dozen or so people including Thomas, Mathew and> Kevin and we had some really nice time chatting, getting stuff signed and the> obligatory photo's. (I personally don't like the photos bit as I feel it is> too intrusive so I didn't take any. Others did so there are plenty of them> with me in them for a change which makes for some nice memories of the> night.)> Cambridge was full of technical difficulties and a liberal sprinkling of> family members so I wasn't surprised when there was no opportunity to say hi> after the set. In Islington, if I hadn't managed to get the magic tickets to> the after-party I would not have been at all disappointed after such a> completely brilliant night.> However, things worked out. I had come a long way for this and was rewarded by> an unsurpassable night. Getting a quick chat with Thomas is always a nice but> tonight was great because of the whole evening's vibe.> > Clearly the Scala gig had a much bigger impact on him than we could have ever> hoped. He told the story about how Scala came about as a warm up for the> Wireless Festival. - which then turned around in significance after the 800> Scala sold out so quickly. Thomas explained his feelings as he arrived at the> venue to see the huge snaking queue disappearing right out of view up the> street. When he came on stage he did so to such a reception that it moved him> beyond all expectation. He explained that as a result of that one night he> made the decision to relocate with his family back to the UK. Very touchingly> he thanked every person that was at Scala for showing him just how much the UK> actually meant to him. In his words the reception he got that brilliant night> made the decision for him. (see! I told you it was massive!)> > As a summary: holy cow. That was the best ever. The large and appreciative> audience was ecstatic and the content of the show was, well, nothing short of> amazing. One of the highlights for me was I Scare Myself. It was the first> time I had heard it played as it was scrubbed from the set-list in Cambridge> due to lack of time. I got to meet up with the band and so many people from> the forum that I had only ever written to before and it was brilliant to be> able to witness such a unique event together.> > There are loads of other reviews and photographs on offer at> www.thomasdolby.com take a look if you are interested in reading more.> > Cheers all,> Jon _________________________________________________________________ Boo! Scare away worms, viruses and so much more! Try Windows Live OneCare! http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/purchase/trial.aspx?s_cid=wl_hotmailn e ws ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V12 #162 ****************************