Frank Black - Shepherds Bush Empire, London
It's always tough to know what to expect from Frank Black live - sometimes he's incredibly respectful of his history with The Pixies and early solo success, other times he ignores it like the various name changes really are different people. Fortunately tonights Sunday night show was more of the former than the later.
Kicking off with a short 7-song solo acoustic set, Frank looked great kitted out in a black suit and shades. First song was early-ish single "Headache", quickly followed by a pair of Pixies favorites "Velouria" and "Cactus". After stopping "Velouria" part-way through because he forgot the words, and a fair bit of out-of-tune strumming - it was pretty clear Frank Black hadn't passed the day unrefreshed, and was reasonably "loose" (which I believe is the polite way of saying half-pissed). To his credit, he acknowledged his predicament, advising the crowd he should have stopped at his second drink instead of going for the third, and warning tonight would be a very unprofessional show.
Well with a few false starts, bum notes, and a dropped microphone here and there - unprofessional it may have been, but highly entertaining it most certainly was.
With a very tight, and seemingly pretty young, three piece band keeping things on track. Surprisingly Black didn't play guitar with the band at all, instead launching himself around the stage as they ripped through a tight 50 minute set featuring songs from all through his solo career.
Not surprisingly - the freshly recorded and soon-to-be-released 'BlueFinger' got a decent airing - highlights for me were the blistering first single "Threshold Apprehension" and "Tight Black Rubber" (with Frank seeming to relish shouting th refrain "I'm all killer, no filler!"). Balanced with this, a few songs from his 1993 self titled debut were also played, including "I Heard Ramona Sing" in the acoustic set, "Ten Percenter" to kick off the main band set, as well as "Old Black Dawning" and "Los Angeles".
In between was a mix of solo material ranging from his 13 album (closer to 20 if you include live releases!) solo carrer. Highlights for me were the Roxy Music cover "Remake Remodel" (recorded on the 'Men in Black' CDsingle back in 1995) and a solo "Horrible Day" in the acoustic set.
'BlueFinger's "You Can't Break a Heart and Have It" segued into a manic cover of Fat Boy Slims "Rockafella Skank" with Frank Black literally mounting the bass drum and singing directly into the drummers face. This led to a bit of drama as the crew frantically reassembled the partially demolished kit as the band closed the show with 'Dog In The Sand's "Robert Onion".
Full Setlist:
solo acoustic:
01 Headache
02 Velouria
03 Cactus
04 The Water
05 Sir Rockabye
06 Horrible Day
07 I Heard Ramona Sing
with the band:
08 Ten Pecenter
09 Thalassocracy
10 Freedom Rock
11 Massif Central
12 Remake Remodel {Roxy Music cover}
13 Lolita
14 Deadmans Curve
15 Los Angeles
16 Six Sixty Six (a-capella)
17 Tight Black Rubber
18 Threshold Apprehension
19 Old Black Dawning
20 Captain Pasty
21 Manitoba
22 California Bound
23 You Can't Break a Heart and Have It
24 Rockafella Skank {FatBoy Slim cover}
25 Robert Onion
Kicking off with a short 7-song solo acoustic set, Frank looked great kitted out in a black suit and shades. First song was early-ish single "Headache", quickly followed by a pair of Pixies favorites "Velouria" and "Cactus". After stopping "Velouria" part-way through because he forgot the words, and a fair bit of out-of-tune strumming - it was pretty clear Frank Black hadn't passed the day unrefreshed, and was reasonably "loose" (which I believe is the polite way of saying half-pissed). To his credit, he acknowledged his predicament, advising the crowd he should have stopped at his second drink instead of going for the third, and warning tonight would be a very unprofessional show.
Well with a few false starts, bum notes, and a dropped microphone here and there - unprofessional it may have been, but highly entertaining it most certainly was.
With a very tight, and seemingly pretty young, three piece band keeping things on track. Surprisingly Black didn't play guitar with the band at all, instead launching himself around the stage as they ripped through a tight 50 minute set featuring songs from all through his solo career.
Not surprisingly - the freshly recorded and soon-to-be-released 'BlueFinger' got a decent airing - highlights for me were the blistering first single "Threshold Apprehension" and "Tight Black Rubber" (with Frank seeming to relish shouting th refrain "I'm all killer, no filler!"). Balanced with this, a few songs from his 1993 self titled debut were also played, including "I Heard Ramona Sing" in the acoustic set, "Ten Percenter" to kick off the main band set, as well as "Old Black Dawning" and "Los Angeles".In between was a mix of solo material ranging from his 13 album (closer to 20 if you include live releases!) solo carrer. Highlights for me were the Roxy Music cover "Remake Remodel" (recorded on the 'Men in Black' CDsingle back in 1995) and a solo "Horrible Day" in the acoustic set.
'BlueFinger's "You Can't Break a Heart and Have It" segued into a manic cover of Fat Boy Slims "Rockafella Skank" with Frank Black literally mounting the bass drum and singing directly into the drummers face. This led to a bit of drama as the crew frantically reassembled the partially demolished kit as the band closed the show with 'Dog In The Sand's "Robert Onion".
Full Setlist:
solo acoustic:
01 Headache
02 Velouria
03 Cactus
04 The Water
05 Sir Rockabye
06 Horrible Day
07 I Heard Ramona Sing
with the band:
08 Ten Pecenter
09 Thalassocracy
10 Freedom Rock
11 Massif Central
12 Remake Remodel {Roxy Music cover}
13 Lolita
14 Deadmans Curve
15 Los Angeles
16 Six Sixty Six (a-capella)
17 Tight Black Rubber
18 Threshold Apprehension
19 Old Black Dawning
20 Captain Pasty
21 Manitoba
22 California Bound
23 You Can't Break a Heart and Have It
24 Rockafella Skank {FatBoy Slim cover}
25 Robert Onion
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