Belle and Sebastian - 11/13/2003 - Orpheum, Boston, MA
"with the story of the way it should be, with the story of Sebastian and Belle..."
Things things things. What to even say about such a glorious and long awaited event? Well, first of all, I've not seen that many woolly scarves and well-fitted corduroy jackets in one room in a long while. Mmm, it felt like a convention where we should all get little name badges at the door and then have a vote at the end to pick winners for best costume and most congenial attendee.
My amiga Spiffy J told me once that she always feels slightly odd at Belle and Sebastian shows, because they aren't really that dance-y and people tend to sit through them. As we're still in that age range where sitting at a concert is something associated with being either a) your parents or b) a young child dragged to a folk show, this requires some adjustment. (Err, with some subjective, and hippie parent related, associations there, of course.) Watching a room filled with scenesters trying to look tres tres casual, dignified, and hip with their sitting, and with their bouncing while sitting, is amusing.
Anyway, enough with the atmosphere, as lovely, refined, and wooly as it was.
Yes, everything everyone has ever told me about Stuart Murdoch and his cuteness is true and then some, however my heart still belongs to Stevie and Sarah. Stuart uses his voice very well, he knows where it works and how to get the best effect, but he doesn't have a traditional, strong, singing voice and live he doesn't get more than one take at it. Sarah has a similar voice to Stuart, but seems to have the ability to nail her parts each time, no cracking. Stevie's voice is just lovely as far as I'm concerned and he can sing to me any time.
What I said earlier about the sitting in chairs situation is a semi-lie. People didn't sit quietly in chairs throughout the night. In fact, the crowd got really into it and there were several points where the entire audience did stand. And boogie, which the band enjoyed immensely and commented on frequently. Actually, this concert may have done wonders with my audience participation trauma. Throughout the course of the evening there was clapping and then snapping. The sound of the audience snapping absolutely made "Roy Walker" and I fully acknowledge that the song would not have been the same without it. So I guess there are times when audience participation is definitely of the good. No mooing or barking was required of us though, for the record.
I love being at a concert and feeling like I've discovered a song all over again. After being forced to listen to "Piazza, New York Catcher" again I feel like I've heard a whole new song and I've fallen in love. Overall, all the material from the new album translated to a great live performance. They got to jam out and bring in the guitars throughout the evening, but I think my favorite moment came in the quiet part of "Step into my Office". The music and noise fades to almost nothing and there's just a long moment of "do do do doot" harmony. They nailed it and it absolutely made me tingle it was so perfect.
For the show's obligatory cover song, they did an extended version of the Charlie Brown theme music. This may have been chosen because they were pleased with the crowd's dancing. In any case, the kids at the front proceeded to dance just like the ones in the cartoon. Actually, they pretty much danced like that all the night long. It felt quite fitting.
I wish I could remember the proper order of the songs, because they closed out the show really well. "Stay Loose" was in there. Stuart complained about how long the song is, and did jumping jacks to prepare, but they nailed it. The song gets so loud and then everything crashes at the second to last verse and becomes completly hushed and quiet. The harmony there is so nice, then they deliver the line "television is hysterical laughter of people," everything jumps back in to motion again and the guitar boys jam their hearts out.
Really, that's what most of the night was about. Highs and lows, crashes and peaks, harmonies and electric guitars. All I can report was that it was good, life is good, Belle and Sebastian are good, and I departed a very happy kt.
