The Long Blondes Live Review @ The Amersham Arms (London) - 11 Mar 2008
The Long Blondes
Live Review
Them being put on a pedestal by indie press royalty, the NME, since 2006, I thought it might be a good idea to finally go and check out this Sheffieldian quintet play a pint-size venue. I also thought I'd be killing two birds with one stone by paying my first visit to the Amersham Arms, the newly hyped South London pub and gig venue, and forecast rival to North London institution, the Dublin Castle. I hit the pub by 7.30pm, which was already crammed with ardent fans, who'd come to make the most of proximity with their idolized band, led by brunette stunner Kate Jackson...
Just to be told that they were only due on stage at 10.30pm- a gross enormity given the location of the venue...
After sheepish patience from the crowd, Kate (disappointedly dressed down) and the boys and girls took to the stage and introduced a couple of new songs_ which presented a new age and much darker outlet than their original rockabilly pop_, including the upcoming single Century, off their soon-to-be-released album The Couples.
The band proceeded with another 6 or 7 songs, including "classics" (aficionados would say) like Lust in The Movies, Once and Never Again and Weekend Without Makeup.
As a pure novice to their showcase, I suffered extreme frustration from the worryingly static "performance" delivered by both the female rhythm guitarist and bassist. Kate's badly-pitched vocals being disguised by overkill reverb didn't help either... Only the drummer managed to distract from the band's mediocrity.
But while the audience seeked compensation for their 2 hour-wait with an encore, the lethargic quintet left the stage after just 45 minutes.
All in all, at risk of being redundant, from a purely novice point of view, The Long Blondes really sounded like déjà vu: a bit like watching Gwen Stefani, Blondie and the Ramones jamming. This said, while all these three acts did managed to reach ears throughout the world and over the years, I firmly stand by the fact that the Long Blondes will only remain a local phenomenon. As for their performance last night, let's hope this was only a warm-up for their April gig at the Forum- if so, it would be shame to have travelled that far just to watch a rehearsal.
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