From: Alyona Tsirline <alyona@ibm.net>
I usually love going to the Royal Festival Hall because of the great
acoustics and spacious seats. However, tonight was different. It was
just wrong for Elliott to play in front of a comfortably seated audience
(smartly dressed thirty-somethings) on a stage marked with 'No Smoking'
signs. Eventually, some lively boys and gals came down to the stage and
boogied a little despite 'security regulations'. Even though the show
was astounding, I didn't get that usual warm, intimate feeling. Elliott
had one dancer on stage, Nicky, who was doing some sort of an
interpretive dance bopping up and down on the podium behind the band.
Elliott himself seemed tense, unlike Sam, as if he was really pissed off
at something or someone. Could feel rage seething through every note of
'Amity' and '2:45'. Some songs were very up-tempo and energetic. By the
first encore, Elliott mellowed out a little and did his 'happy or sad
song' routine which brought some good memories from his last ULU
appearance.
I remember someone asking about the merchandise: they sold some vinyl
LPs (Roman Candle, XO and Elliott Smith) and two types of T-shirts, one
dark and one gray.
That's all from me. Can't wait for the next gig, whatever venue it'll be
at.
Alyona
From: miss.lynsey@evil.co.uk
yeah, i was there, at the side of the stage upstairs... the view wasnt't bad,
but i was extremely annoyed with the people downstairs who decided to go down to
the front and dance (there were even some idiots dancing during 2.45am - you
just can't and shouldn't dance to that song!)- i just thought they were being so
inconsiderate, as they totally blocked the views of all behind them; not to
mention that being where they were was a fire hazard!... i just thought the
behaviour of some people was awful. and as for the girl dancing on stage, she
looked like she was about to collapse-probably overdosed on heroin!.. she looked
so anorexic and junkie-like! she was even thinner than i am (+ i'm just about 6
fuckin stones!...) i think she must've threatened elliott for him to let her
dance onstage!!! sam had this look on his face as if he was thinking 'what are
you doing??' and he generally looked really depressed and uncomfortable (kept
scratching his head and the back of his neck and faced the other way a lot of
the time), esp. when the people came closer to the stage. however (i have to say
this!) sam looked extremely sexy with his little tshirt and cute short
haircut!... it's a shame he wasn't v. happy.
and elliott seemed to be quite bored... i think the best part of the show was nr. the beginning when they did 'everything means nothing to me' - it was so beautiful and i sat there with a warm feeling inside and a smile on my face! (it sounded fantastic, esp. as sam was really trying very hard to get his voice to sound right, and you could see how much effort he and elliott were putting in.) that was the only point of the evening when i felt like that. usually at elliott smith gigs, i feel that way for the whole show and days after...
oh yeah, elliott did 'st ides heaven' by himelf which was brilliant, but load of blokes were shouting, which ruined it a bit!...
overall, it was a good gig-but not the best. the attitude of the fans just got on my (+ my friend's) nerves. i hope reading will be better!.... um, is anyone going to see him in edinburgh?? i don't know whether to go, as i don't really wanna travel up there alone! i haven't been able to convince any of my friends about it either! oh well...
this message sounds a little bitter or bitchy, doesn't it? sorry if i've offended anyone who was there, but that's the way i feel..
lynsey, xxxx
http://fiji_online.tripod.com
From: "Francois Drouin" <francois.drouin@voila.fr>
Just a few more comments about this show.
I had a talk with Elliott's soundman after the show, and as Lynsey wrote
:
- yes Sam didn't look very happy. Actually he was sick. He just made an
10 seconds appearance at the aftershow party, saying that he was going
to the bus.
- yes, Elliott seemed to be quite bored. None of the members of
Elliott's band enjoyed this venue (more supposed to be for classical
music concerts), just like Elliott himself.
I just prefered this show than the Manchester one, because the sound was
much less loud. But the atmosphere was much better two days before.
I had some more talks.
- Elliott may play Australia next November.
- Elliott may do a whole tour in France, next October (during the first
two weeks)
T-shirts will be available very soon. They should have appeared in
London, but i didn't see them. Actually I didn't even see the stand I
saw two day before.
Francois