Who Needs Drummers?

Wednesday, 20 February 2008
by fiona
filed under About Us and Announcements
Comments: 12

It’s Saturday night and the first Last.fm Presents of the year is upon us. Somewhere amid the packed room is Lachlann Rattray of Gay Against You. On stage, his normally bespectacled partner-in-crime Joe Howe fears he has lost him forever. “If you’re not me, please sit-down” Lachlann requests (after locating his microphone) in a last ditch attempt to be reunited with his band mate.

It’s hot in here. And shambolic. And this is almost what we expected when we decided to ask Last.fm chart toppers Gay Against You to headline our February show. Almost, only better.

The rest of the line-up are equally as impressive, Pagan Wanderer Lu‘s cynical songs of everything mundane and Look Look (Dancing Boys)‘s insanity-fueled punk mean that tonight is free of drummers and bands of more than two members. In their place we’re offered a menu full of bleeps, shouting, dancing and, well, swearing.

The crowd at times don’t seem to know how to react to any of it, expressions ranging from bewilderment through to excitement and from awkwardness to all-out enthusiasm fill the sauna-like Old Blue Last.

Gay Against You however are the real stars, loud, messy, energetic and all over the place. They prowl the crowd, turning indifference into grins and getting us to sing along. At times, I fear for my life as the floor feels like it might give way under the weight of however-many dancing (and sweating) bodies struggling to stay upright.

As they finish the crowd barely thins, as people opt to stay, dancing their way into the early hours of the morning to the White Heat DJ‘s indie disco and Tack! Tack! Tack!‘s Swedish pop.

Thanks a lot to everyone who came down and made this such a successful night and apologies to anyone whose clothes were ruined by sitting on the floor.

Comments

  1. coxy
    20 February, 16:31

    Photos taken by…?

    coxy – 20 February, 16:31
  2. Phyltre
    20 February, 18:51

    Man, I’d sure love to hear about how fingerprinting is progressing, or get some of those promised statistics about how many people are submitting the fingerprints, or how the new Last.fm client that had it integrated is doing.

    I’d like to hear about those “user-facing features” you mentioned in December. Or the re-enactment of the user-vote model you talked about in August. That post about “Edge Cases” five months ago was fun and interesting…guess there just weren’t any more as you guys continued gathering fingerprints without really mentioning it to us. And I’d love to hear something, anything, about Musicbrainz integration progress or lack thereof. Didn’t they mention you guys reached an agreement?

    Oh well, I guess I’ll just make do with these pictures of a singer with tape on his face and yarn hair.

    Phyltre – 20 February, 18:51
  3. Jonty
    20 February, 18:53

    @coxy: Russ of course.

    Find them all here:
    http://flickr.com/photos/russss/sets/72157603881577973/

    Jonty – 20 February, 18:53
  4. Matthew Ogle
    21 February, 12:24

    @Phyltre:

    We try to make the blog a mix of everything we do. And sometimes we take nights out from geekery and put on live music. (Music is why we’re all here, after all!)

    Matthew Ogle – 21 February, 12:24
  5. lalla
    21 February, 16:09

    Those scots who played were mental

    lalla – 21 February, 16:09
  6. James I
    21 February, 17:51

    How do we find out when last.fm presents… are taking place??

    James I – 21 February, 17:51
  7. drummer
    21 February, 18:38

    Who needs drummers, you ask? Well, good bands do! :-)

    drummer – 21 February, 18:38
  8. phil collins
    21 February, 18:46

    I feel personally insulted by this article. What do you know about gating hi-hat frequencies and bass drum reverb? Nothing. That’s what.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Phil_Collins_awards

    phil collins – 21 February, 18:46
  9. martind
    22 February, 10:16

    James I,

    just keep an eye on the Last.fm presents group for announcements :)

    martind – 22 February, 10:16
  10. Nicolas
    22 February, 20:01

    Finally an update!

    Too bad it’s a little UK audience-oriented, but whatever.

    Nicolas – 22 February, 20:01
  11. webslinga
    22 February, 22:41

    Sounds and looks great

    webslinga – 22 February, 22:41
  12. scotspunk
    2 March, 15:05

    “Finally an update!

    Too bad it’s a little UK audience-oriented, but whatever.”

    What’s wrong with that?
    The people who collect monies on behalf of musicians is why it’s a ‘little UK audience-oriented’.

    If the yanks were not so greedy, you would probably see more of the likes worldwide, and more often. (Look at how many US internet radio stations have had to close)

    Great Britain IS the music scene, and well worth keeping an eye on. I’m sure we can all rely on Last FM to do that.

    :@)

    Last FM rules!

    scotspunk – 2 March, 15:05

Comments are closed for this entry.