| Oxes / Lapsus Linguae / I'm Being Good / Foe - London, The Verge Monday 17th June 2002 |
First up were London three piece Foe. This was only their third gig, and their debut to the London crowd that they know so well… the previous two being support for The Dillinger Escape Plan in Liverpool and Leeds. Formed from the ashes of the legendary Geiger Counter, the nerves were clearly showing when they arrived onstage. The sound is more paired down than their previous incarnation, but they’ve lost none of the heaviness. In fact the sound is clearer and less confusing, as, with only one guitar the tune is always discernable. The audience were caught out with ‘Blood Moss’ and it’s false ending, and the sixty-second ‘It’s Been A Hard Year For Mr David Cyberman’, played at a hundred miles per hour, was so good they played it twice. Complicated time changes, fast fretwork, that infamous chugging and mental drumming were the hallmarks of tonight’s performance. They left the stage with the crowd jumping and baying for more, clearly putting most people on their back foot with the shear gravity of it all. Rest assured they will be playing more live dates than Geiger Counter ever did, so watch out.
I’m Being Good suffered at the hands of the sound engineer tonight. Arriving late, they simply plugged in and away they went. Some interesting stuff going on here for a band who have been around for a long time, but not venturing out much these days. From heavy to scream-core all the way to quietly whispered vocals, this band have a wide range. This was the first time I’d caught them live, and I’ll make the effort to seek them out again, with hopefully a better sound.
Lapsus Linguae had just hotfooted from down the road at The Monarch, where they played an opening set, but couldn’t resist an offer to play with their mates from Foe. Only one bar into the opening number and Penelope Collegefriend already had his trousers round his ankles playing the guitar, not unlike Captain Sensible used to do… except you couldn’t really visualise him wearing a tutu! This band continue to amaze, and are unlike any I can think of at the moment. From the all out shout of ‘The Terse Crimp’ with it’s confusing playing, it then suddenly and unexpectedly veers into the most beautiful piece of piano playing imaginable, and with lines such as “I can piss vinegar; I shit cement”, they certainly keep the audience transfixed. After a string breaks during another song, P.Collegefriend throws himself into the crowd while still singing, and then slam-dances with a couple of punters, which promptly stops them from annoying everyone else. They lost it a little in the middle of the set, but pulled it back magnificently to end a great show... and they out Oxed Oxes in the process!
You know all about Oxes... wireless guitars, dribbling, pulling faces, standing on boxes, wandering around etc. I’ve seem then too many times to appreciate them anymore, and seem a bit of a one trick pony. There was a marked lack of wandering around at this gig – maybe because the place was so small, but the audience seemed to lap it up anyway.
skippy
