Betty reviewed the Afghan Whigs at the Liquid Rooms last January so has got some previous. On this occasion Mr Dulli (who BM has the major hots for, that broken nose and side-parting makes Betty very, oh where is the laundry basket… ) was doing a stripped back (oh yes, Greg, please, me first) set of mainly Twilight Singers numbers, with a few Whigs and several covers, although no Bowie action (he has been doing ‘Modern Love’ as a closer, not that BM stalks him or…)
On a dank Wednesday the audience waited for doors to open and had to endure the end of the pub quiz, sorry but tracks by U2, The Cult, Waterboys and Simple Minds do not a pub quiz make. And by the way, how many Beatles were on the cover of the Abbey Rd album sleeve? (answer at the end of this review, keep you reading, schmukers).
So after we filed up the stairs (it was a 85% male audience, mainly out on day release by the looks of things, would expect nothing less!) the support act started. These guys were a duo from Spain (yes?) and have worked with GD, co-written and back him during his own set – and they have some quite good numbers of their own, keyboards and guitar/bass combo, not bad at all and apologies not enough time to research them.
By around 10pm (late for a school night, but Dulli may not be a parent, if not he is free to impregnate BM at his leisure), the main act appeared – there were no drums but off and on there were 6 musicians on the stage, providing solid backup to Dulli’s guitar and piano.
The man himself was in fine form, after his tour manager warned the audience about flash photography (the signs were fairly strong, and BM gets this, woe betide anyone who tries this with Greg, punch your light out quite literally…)
The band did ‘Bonnie Brae’, and covered ‘Black is the Colour’, and also did ‘Teenage Wristband’, however not all the classic Whigs tracks were revisited by any means, and even ‘Do the Beast’ numbers got short shrift.
The gig ended around 11.20pm, late for a school night, but having tried out some new songs, he seemed satisfied with the performance – he still has charisma, a sublime singing voice and deserves the applause at the end – a legend and a survivor, he is BM’s man of February.
(and the answer is five, four guys and one VW, nuff said)