Friday Night at Cafe Oto
This Friday I went to see my good friend Isnaj Dui perform at a relatively new arts venue, in a rather overcast Stoke Newington, called Cafe Oto.
Despite a slightly awkward journey I was very impressed with the venue. Its white brick walls and concrete floor gave it a blank canvas feel that made it seem anything was possible in its confines (although I’d imagine this might be an acoustical nightmare for anything in the direction of a drum kit.) On the menu was the usual selection of bottled organic beers and wines, although I seemed to drink the ginger beer for most of the night - it was really amazing ginger beer, after all.
Isnaj Dui gave a beautiful recital of haunting flutes and electrodulcimer which caused quite a stir amongst the audience. On second was Suzy Mangion whose melancholy vocals and sombre rendition of Down Town sent many a shiver down my spine.
All in all a very interesting if not off beat evening.
Manson’s Return to London
It’s been a long time since Marilyn Manson has done a London gig, favouring festivals instead, he hasn’t been here since 2003’s Grotesque Burlesque at Alexandra Palace. In that time we missed the Against All Gods world tour and the first leg of the current tour aptly called The Rape of the World.
So it was with huge anticipation that I made my way down to Wembley Arena last night to see what I’d been missing… and I had been missing a lot.
The show was absolutely amazing! I had deliberately avoided any online discussions of the tour once I was sure I was going to get to see it, so I had no ideas as to set list or what theatrics to expect… Other than a certainty that the show would open with If I Was Your Vampire and end with The Beautiful People, I had a completely open mind.
The opening was incredible - only surpassed by the full rendition of Antichrist Superstar at the end (complete with suit, banners and spontaneous bible combustion.) The band played pretty much everything you’d want them to, from old favourites like The Reflecting God (which almost stole the show) and Lunch Box through to Manson staples like Disposable Teens and Rock Is Dead. New tracks were surprisingly sparse but very well received… There was more than one girl wondering round in Heart Shaped Glasses!
The only way I could have been happier is if they’d played The Nobodies and Great Big White World… But I’m far from complaining! The set list was:
- If I Was Your Vampire
- Disposable Teens
- mOBSCENE
- Tourniquet
- The Irresponsible Hate Anthem
- Are You The Rabbit?
- Sweet Dreams
- Lunchbox
- The Fight Song
- Putting Holes In Happiness
- Heart Shapped Glasses
- Rock Is Dead
- The Dope Show
- The Reflecting God
- Antichrist Superstar
- The Beautiful People
The Intrepid Fox: What’s in a name?
Did you know that The Intrepid Fox is named after the Whig politician Charles James Fox (1749 -1806) who won a hotly contested Westminster election in 1784. It was unusual of a Liberal politician to win such a traditional and important London seat as Westminster…
I didn’t know that until recently… I was surprised that London’s largest watering hole for The Beautiful People was named after a politician, I guess the pub hasn’t always been the home of the Goths and Rockers! I wonder what an eighteenth century Goth would have looked like - stripy tights and stompy boots not having been invented and all!
The hole is where the heart is…
Anticipation for Manson’s Eat Me, Drink Me seems to be gathering pace fast. The MTV in Italy has the realise date pencilled in for March 23rd, which is not that far away.
Then Kerrang in the UK announced that Manson would be performing, as I suspected, at this year’s Download Festival. I hope they do a gig in London too… as much as I want to see them live again, I’m not a festival goer and never will be! A full list of (pretty much) confirmed dates can be found on The Heirophant.
The most exciting thing so far was this interview in Rolling Stone, reported by The Heirophant today:
Things got really interesting, though, on Saturday when the S.S. Drove out to the Valley at the behest of Marilyn Manson. The S.S. joined Manson in his rec room, where we worked our way down the belly of a bottle of German absinth, and were blown away as Manson debuted his new album, Eat Me, Drink Me. The key cut is “If I Was Your Vampire,” a six-minute epic with the lyric “The hole is where the heart is.” If anyone thought Manson was down for the count, think again.
I wonder how much for the new album was written post Christmas Eve?
The Intrepid Fox Reopens!
Last night I went to the Cro Bar with the guys from work (except for Rob, he was home playing Nintendo) and while we were en route to the bar we called into one of the many guitar shops on Denmark Street to get another quote for my Les Paul. While we were in there Timmy was recognised by one of his many mates, who told us the good news:
The world famous Intrepid Fox, which closed down a few months back, was reopening that very night!
The new location is where the Conservatory Bar (a trendy gay bar we ended up in for my birthday in 2004) used to be. It’s situated in the shadow of Centre Point, just round the back on St. Giles street, across from the church (click the map on the left for a more detailed Google Map).
Once we’d finished for the night I took a minor detour on my way home and checked it out. I didn’t get inside (far too busy) but I did take this extremely dark photograph which I have enhanced as evidence I’m not making it up:
OxJam @ ArtsDepot in North Finchley
A friend of mine is organising a rock night in aid of Oxfam on 27th October 2006 at the Arts’ Depot in North Finchley (London, U.K.) and I said that I’d plug him on my blog… so I have!
More info on his space.
Meanwhile… back to work for Tommy!
