[lost control]

me & mrs lc going tuesday evening, anyone wish to meet up .get in touch.
adam neil, pidgeon, anyone else.
cheers dave

[adam_neil]

All being well I'll get to the Pool for 5.
Might wanna go get a bite to eat, curry maybe. We'll see.
Film starts at 7 doesn't it? If so then plenty o' time.

See ya soon.



Adam

[adam_neil]

Well, a good time had by all tonight at Liverpool Picturehouse, I'd say an estimate of about 35 to 40 punters, the Q&A was lively - lots of what seemed well thought out, sensible valid questions ie. nothing cringeworthy like the last time Hugh was in Merseyside at Newton-le-Willows heckling him with "D'ya have a Rogan Josh?!" *yawn* Was refreshing not to experience that type of input for a change. Apologies if the following info has been touched upon in previous reviews but Hugh was asked would he consider changing the 50:50 format of his gigs and confidently informed us he was giving thought to performing Hoover Dam in it's entirety for the first part of the show and then obviously some Stranglers numbers. If this materializes next year I am sure a lot of fans will head home happy.

Anyway onto Blueprint. I thought it was well put together and certainly worth making the effort to see. I was still feeling the effects today of the booze fuelled weekend I had up in Scotland, not much sleep etc, so to be honest it would have been convenient for me to have just buggered off home after work and wait to see Blueprint on the upcoming CD/DVD release. But yeah, glad I went. It was cool to see this at a cinema. I enjoyed the interspersed Robert Elms interviews, they added credibility to the film and were quite interesting.

So is Hoover Dam played live fuckin great? I would have to say no it's not. Overall it's good but not great - there's a difference. For me some of the songs left a lot to be desired at times in the context of his previous solo albums especially when one looks at the consistency in quality and lyrical genius weaving it's magic with equally clever melodies on those albums. Where it does excel and work very well indeed are Trowbridge, Beat Of My Heart & Pleasure of Your Company. All the lyrics on this album are very well crafted, typical Hugh - how often has Hugh laid down throwaway lyrics over the course of his career (?) Hardly ever. Maybe with more listens I will see more in some of the songs that I found myself thinking "Is that it?" . Notably GTTC, WSOTT, PKR. I didn't have the same views on for instance Delightful Nightmare, Bangin On or Within You Or Without You because I was already familiar with those songs. PKR (the instrumental) is a case in point. Some moments in this reminded me of the efforts of some college kid indie band whose guitarist hasn't been playing long. There were some interesting bits in it but I was left with the feeling that Hugh is capable of far better. We all know what a great unique guitarist he is - the solo in Beat Of My Heart showcases what a fuckin genius he is at melody. Tremendous.

To sum up I don't think the Hoover Dam/Toe Rag sessions encapsulates what Hugh's fully capable of. It's not the best work he's ever done by a long shot but it sure is competent with essentially some potential classics with anthemic quality. For example I was impressed by Caz's playing on the album she compliments it well. I guess reading between the lines one will assume I've not been blown away by this body of work, with respect to Chris Bell I believe had Windsor or Robert Williams been at the drum stool then I'd rate this set of tracks a tad higher.



Adam

PS Was nice to talk with Dave again (Lost Control) & Mrs Lost Control. Also the chap who runs the Baz Warne site (if you're reading I have a terrible memory forgive me for not remembering your name this happens a lot!). Great people, great vibe.

[PaulinLondon]

A great read Adam and appreciate your take on this.

Paul

[adam_neil]

Cheers Paul.

I'm looking forward to hearing Hoover Dam on vinyl. For this particular new release given the 'all analogue' circumstances I'll post a seperate review once I've experienced that. The review above of course is just my take on the Blueprint film.


Off to bed now, like.



Adam

[ThruBeingCool]

Excellent review Adam. Looking forward to eventually hearing the differences between the 'Blueprint' versions and what I've got on download.

[Claireinblack]

Thanks for the review Adam

[lost control]

great night had by myself & mrs lc ,spent sunny afternoon shopping for trip to paris on monday , then had a nice bite to eat at our fav french bistro. .little shopping theraphy for mrs lc then off to the fact picture house.
first time for me but mrs lc knew the place so bottle rose for her , soda for me relaxed people watching waiting to go see film.
around 5.50 in enters young adam neil ,greetings made & pidgeons excuses lol and updates in social activities made we climb stairs to top floor enter our seats.adam a few rows back.
blueprint ,hoover dam on first hearing /seeing was very good .like the edit from hughs direction but reminded me a few times of the white room video,and also johnny cash,s san quitin film which was on sky arts recently.
tracks stood out very well on first hearing but wasnt too keen on pleasure of . hugh was on fine form and comented on my question being great & first time asked .relating to first time bef tracks where aired back in 2000 but not much of hd has been aired live .because as hugh stated they where produced with electric in mind wheres bef where written for acoustic therefore the newer stuff took longer and only a few had time tio be aired live.
so thanks to hugh ,charles ,adam neil & geoff (bazs site) for a great evening . great film ,people ,places.
cheers dave
ps hugh,charles commented on my hugh crackerjack forum tee as hugh signed it down the front. well pleased.