Having 'invented'? Straight Edge and with Dischord Records' community-minded goodwill, Ian Mackaye has been characterised somewhat as the Harold Bishop of hardcore - good natured and useful, but pious, asexual and very badly dressed. Despite taking place in a Salvation Army hall, tonight's gig is an education to anyone doubting the fun in his music.
Indeed the all seated nature of the show does seem to play upon some of your biggest fears of how it could all turn out - Mackaye up on dais, preaching to the converted, in this case Fugazi/Minor Threat/Embrace/Egghunt/etc fans - the space between the songs is filled with tirades against Bush, Regent Street's Temple of Apple and rampant commercialism in its many forms. However, unlike the barked sloganeering of his younger self, the matured Ian of The Evens has a poetic, witty turn of phrase, an admirable way with words, with songs built upon deft metaphors linking the personal and political.
Importantly, though, this isn't just an Ian Mackaye show. Sharing lead vocals and providing brilliant rhythmic accompaniment is Amy Farina, formerly of The Warmers. Being life-partners seems to have brought a lot of the sensitivity in their music to the fore. While Fugazi are far from macho, Ian's frequent, surprisingly beautiful falsetto still comes as something of a shock. Another effect it seems to have is in the sensuousness of some of the instrumental passages. Along with That Fucking Tank, The Evens are a fantastic advert for the potential of the Baritone guitar, alternating between plucked bass lines and chunky strumming, both entwined with Amy's delayed drums. It doesn't sound in the slightest incomplete, but perfectly crafted and realised. Like a more bijou, better performed version of Fugazi's debut EP, loaded, crucially, with an obscene amount of hooks; every song has a brilliant melody, lyric and rhythm in there.
The Evens' biggest headlining gig in their short history is memorable for all the right reasons. At a time when even Radiohead are choosing to play V, Mackaye tutoring a church full of punks and indie kids through a mass sing-along is both inspired and inspirational.
I thought...
the cringeiness of his pub politics preaching completely tainted the night and it's music. and the p.a. was far too small for that venue.
"THE POLICE WILL NOT BE EXCUSED, THE POLICE WILL NOT BEHAVE!"
oh dear...
so maybe the evens arent the band for you?
cos its an integral part of what theyre about.
and the ways he goes about his politics are much more sound than most. instead of just getting the crowd to sing along, he explained the lyric, what it meant, what inspired it, instead of just expecting people to buy it dumbly.
also, the lyric in question is a lot more intelligent than you seem to think, in the context of the song.
no way.
His polititcs. is. his. music. How did you not think that some sort of political discussion was gunna be involved. It thought he turned down his politics that night too. I think he realises that the kind of people that come to his shows are gunna be political themselves and bored to death of it anyway.
So well done for underplaying this Ian.
Great review too.
he said...
that when he goes on peace protests it's the police that cause the trouble, hence the lyric.
THEN... he wanted the audience to sing it and got slightly annoyed when his request wasn't greeted with great enthusiasm.
oh dear...
he wasnt annoyed
it was a fucking pantomime! could you not see the humour in that? him and amy were doing good cop/bad cop to humorous effect.
audience: *half arsed singing*
him: "well you obviously cant be bothered"
amy: "well maybe they need another try!"
him: "oh ok then"
audience: *full bodied and unselfconscious singing*
it was all played out really hammily and winkily.
i like..
the way you say "him and amy"
haha..
why?
sorry..
that was a bit of a cheap shot.
what i'm saying is; as a casual observer, he appeared to be a naive-political preacher.
now i'm in the position of a casual observer who gets the impression one needed to be a fan boy on the night to appreciate the post-ironic sincerity and so feel a little bit alienated by the apparent elitism.
surely not?
is this still referring to the fact that
for 2 minutes during the set, he made a really obvious reference to pantomime, as a technique to have people join in more, loosen up and have more of a good time?
to be quite frank...
the tone of the whole night felt pantomime.
how so?
the preaching
was excessive and naive. now this could have been because of 2 reasons.
1) because of misinformed social judgements
2) because as you and the reviewer suggest, a "play" (the pantomime reference) on his material that night and possibly his own status.
now my problem is with regards to these 2 reasons is:
1) oh dear
2) do i need to be a fan boy to have appreciated the night?
didn't realise
you are the reviewer. so reason 2 is just you.
Some
of the politics was a bit 'obvious' how might you say but it was still a good gig. I'm just a bit confused how he said he was in England when the last US election took place so did he actually vote? and if not, does he really have any right to moan about the government?
im pretty sure
that a guy who's been involved in political activism for over 20 years knows how to get his vote done by proxy.
re:2
as ive already said once, and didnt say much to the contrary in the first place, the only pantomime bit was when he was pretending to be pissed off at people for not singing along. 2 minutes.
and what were the misinformed social judgements?
I think
Button just likes to hear their own opinion on something. He/She doesnt have much of an arguement.
and I what exactly does 'obvious' politics mean? Whats going on now and with the Middle East could said to be one of the worst catastrophies in the last fifty years. And we're (the UK) all involved. This is the closest to World War 3 that our generation has ever seen (and hopefully will ever see)and its our government taking us all along for the ride. I'd rather people were talking about this stuff than thinking that its all old news and we need to get on with something new. We can't move on till all this crap is over.
Dont talk about 'obvious' politics when the largest problems are staring us in the face and affecting us all.
interesting fact:
me, buttons and, according to crablin, you, beastman, were all in the bar area of cargo at the same time last night.
i had a chat with buttons he seems very nice, but i cant really see his point. i disagreed with a few things that mackaye said, but didnt feel preached to, and i', generally very sensitive to such things.
hmmm
at the end of the day its only people that are lazy both musically and politically that would take offence at someone actually making goddam effort like Ian Mackaye. Shame on the robots...
i think he might have been annoyed...
cos at the church that refrain was incredible to hear, the audience this time round weren't as good, i don't think
everyone clapped for 'all these governers' cos it was the free-download song off southern...
GAYS SUCK
What a forest of cocks you all are.
wut?
great show!
For all the people moaning about it, i thought it was fantastic.
Great venue! especially when he explained about trying to take the music away from the (Carling-like) commercial venues which i absolutely agree with and wish more bands would try to do. (congrats goes to upset the rhythm too!)
whens the last time you sang along at a gig, it was fun!
plus the venue lended a lovely reverb sound to the baritone, drums and all our voices.
I
sing along at most gigs.
haha
the 2 retards who argued for this whole thread should be shot. don't you ever stop typing your pseudo-intellectual teenager crap and think...."wow, i really have too much free time!"??
...and to actually talk about the music rather than the politics...
the penultimate song was effing beautiful.