Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Simon Goddard Reviews SPW's Monster Ball Performance


Blogger, Simon Goddard of Simongoddardwords.blogspot.com gave a great review of SPW's Monster Ball performance at the O2 Arena. Check it out
"But before the awe of Lady Gaga, a few words on support act Semi Precious Weapons. Imagine if a violently drunk Rufus Wainwright had decided to form his own New York Dolls tribute act but in his pie-eyed madness had accidentally employed three acrobats recently fired from the circus for performing lewd acts on a trapeze. More specifically, singer Justin Tranter reminds me of the bastard son, or possibly daughter, of Wayne County. A filthy tongue, a wonderfully wicked sense of humour and the daftest of songs (“Sticky with champagne! It’s okay! It’s her birth-day!”). All the while his band tumble behind him in a state of bewildered glam dementia. Their bassist is still waiting to be told that there are ways to play his instrument other than stood on his head in an inverted T-shape. The guitarist seems to be practising for the non-existent Olympic sport of cymbal-vaulting. The drummer is merely insane.

Bear in mind that this was a Saturday night at London’s 02 arena where several thousand parents had taken their children to see what they think is going to be a normal pop show. You could almost hear the collective hotdog-gag of disbelief the moment Tranter first opened his mouth to announce “I can’t pay the rent, but I’m fuckin’ gorgeous!” Semi Precious Weapons are well named in that they’re not so much a band as a bomb of cartoon outrage. By the end of their set, most under-twelves had doubtless been dragged out of the main arena by flustered parents incapable of answering “Mummy, what’s a motherfucker?” That they’ve been let loose in public on so large a scale is a stroke of subversive genius for whom we can thank Gaga herself. Tranter and Gaga are old friends who first played together in New York in 2006 in front of twelve people. “So I’d like to thank you,” Tranter told the 02, “for being more than twelve fucking people.”

The fact Her Ladyship insisted on Semi Precious Weapons opening her Monster Ball underlines a fundamental truth: underneath her glittering outer-shell of dance-yourself-silly pop euphoria, the nucleus of Lady Gaga is pure punk rock. The theme of the Monster Ball is a rallying cry to weirdos, freaks and the disaffected to unite as one in celebration. “To be set free.” The real freaks, as Gaga tells us, are outside. “And we’re locking the fucking doors!” Behind the disco glitter and grease, Gagadom is, absolutely, the same as Smithdom: the collective triumph of the outsider....Read More

Also While we're on the topics of concerts check out these awesome videos of our boys fucking DESTROYING the UK.


Here Are Some Vids of Their Performance in Glasgow





 
Our Boys Getting The People at the O2 Arena in Dublin "Wet & Excited"



Semi Precious Weapons being FAB at the West Rocks in London 02/26/2010

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