Belle and Sebastian: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, 9th May 2006
Belle and Sebastian arrived in town to promote their new album (The Life Pursuit – well worth picking up, much better than Dear Catastrophe Waitress), and to honour the great unwashed masses of Brussels with their cultish divine presence.
This would be my second time seeing them live, the last time being in Clermont-Ferrand two years ago, in a highlight of what was a very shitty year living in France. And for those who’ve already had the pleasure of seeing them live, you know what to expect: tight, well-performed music from the septet (with special mention to Mr Stevie Jackson on guitar), as they all instrument swap several times and do a superb job with whatever they happen to be playing at the time, and witty audience participation from Stuart Murdoch (which, much to my delight, included insulting Americans a lot this time round). Old songs are freshened up with some new arrangements, and new songs are played to urge those who haven't bought the new album to venture to FNAC and purchase it. This time they were even good enough to include some older b-side material which was recently re-released on Push Barman to Open Old wounds (another worthwhile purchase), such as Belle and Sebastian, a song which predates the band and where they ultimately took their name.
One thing that was disappointing, though, is the band’s continued reliance on tracks from If You’re Feeling Sinister... When I saw them in France, the entire encore was made up of tracks from that album, complete with the stage being bathed in red light. Obviously it is not only their best, but also their most well-known album, and these are songs that the less die-hard fans will be familiar with, but I can’t help but feel that they’re using it as crutch. After all, they have a very large back catalogue, and yet I'm reasonably sure that they didn't play anything from Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant or The Boy with the Arab Strap (nothing from Storytelling, either, but I’m not going to complain about that), and only one track from Dear Catastrophe Waitress, I’m a Cuckoo (again, the best known track and the band’s 2nd highest charting single ever). I’d like to see them do a gig without playing a single track from that album. It would certainly be refreshing.
I was paranoid about going to the gig alone and more than a little self-conscious about looking like a loner, which was really only a problem before the band came on. I adopted a ‘waiting for friends, where the fuck are they’ pose, and once the band comes on, everyone ignores each other anyway. And occasionally I lost interest as songs with extended solos got to the point of being overindulgent. But Belle and Sebastian are an overindulgent band, and that’s one of the reasons we devoted fans love them so much. All in all, an enjoyable night.
This would be my second time seeing them live, the last time being in Clermont-Ferrand two years ago, in a highlight of what was a very shitty year living in France. And for those who’ve already had the pleasure of seeing them live, you know what to expect: tight, well-performed music from the septet (with special mention to Mr Stevie Jackson on guitar), as they all instrument swap several times and do a superb job with whatever they happen to be playing at the time, and witty audience participation from Stuart Murdoch (which, much to my delight, included insulting Americans a lot this time round). Old songs are freshened up with some new arrangements, and new songs are played to urge those who haven't bought the new album to venture to FNAC and purchase it. This time they were even good enough to include some older b-side material which was recently re-released on Push Barman to Open Old wounds (another worthwhile purchase), such as Belle and Sebastian, a song which predates the band and where they ultimately took their name.
One thing that was disappointing, though, is the band’s continued reliance on tracks from If You’re Feeling Sinister... When I saw them in France, the entire encore was made up of tracks from that album, complete with the stage being bathed in red light. Obviously it is not only their best, but also their most well-known album, and these are songs that the less die-hard fans will be familiar with, but I can’t help but feel that they’re using it as crutch. After all, they have a very large back catalogue, and yet I'm reasonably sure that they didn't play anything from Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant or The Boy with the Arab Strap (nothing from Storytelling, either, but I’m not going to complain about that), and only one track from Dear Catastrophe Waitress, I’m a Cuckoo (again, the best known track and the band’s 2nd highest charting single ever). I’d like to see them do a gig without playing a single track from that album. It would certainly be refreshing.
I was paranoid about going to the gig alone and more than a little self-conscious about looking like a loner, which was really only a problem before the band came on. I adopted a ‘waiting for friends, where the fuck are they’ pose, and once the band comes on, everyone ignores each other anyway. And occasionally I lost interest as songs with extended solos got to the point of being overindulgent. But Belle and Sebastian are an overindulgent band, and that’s one of the reasons we devoted fans love them so much. All in all, an enjoyable night.
posted by Ryan Stephens at 12:07 PM
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